My First RV Park

After Puerto Del Sol didn’t have any openings, I found Sea Breeze RV Park and Resort. It was closer to my apartment than Puerto Del Sol so it was easier to commute back and forth to clean out my apartment.

I moved in the first day I had my RV. When I pulled up, I was a little confused at where the check in was, but that was because the office looked like a little house. It had a porch that wrapped around two sides of the house and the landscaping around the office was decorated with lots of yard ornaments. I didn’t see any gnomes, but lots of little ceramic and wooden animals, decorative flags, those glass yard orbs and even a little covered wagon. The whole place is so cute and homey – very reminiscent of the yards and barns around my grandmother’s house.

I got a pull through spot, which was nice because it was easy to get into the site. I was right across from the laundry rooms. A short walk from my site was Nueces Bay. It was a really nice walk that circled a little inlet complete with an island where birds would hang out, a fishing pier and dog park. I don’t really fish, but it looked like it would be comfortable. I have cats so I didn’t have any use for the dog park.

I spent the first week and a half moving my things from my old apartment to the RV. It took longer than it should have because I got a little lazy, but my sister helped me get back on track.

I became a little obsessed with checking how full my tanks were. Every time I left the bathroom, I would check the levels, so I emptied my tanks pretty timely.

My kitchen is just like my kitchen in my apartment, except no dishwasher, but I’ve never really minded doing the dishes. And I missed having a gas stove like I had before I moved into an apartment. I haven’t used my oven yet. I have to light the pilot when I want to cook something in the oven and It makes me a little nervous.

I wanted to stay until the end of February and ended up having to move sites at the beginning of the month. I was in the pull through area and had to move to the area they called the valley. It took about an hour to break down the RV and move it. I unhooked the sewer and water hoses, moved in the room slides and unplugged the RV from shore power. Since we weren’t going far I put all the cats in the bedroom and shut the door and bungee corded Ande’s cage in so it wouldn’t roll and drove over to the new site. My car still wasn’t able to be towed so I walked back over and got it, then set camp back up.

When I opened the bedroom back up, I could only see two cats because one was hiding under the bed spread. It was the first time they had been in the RV with it moving. All the animals seemed to have adjusted okay otherwise. Ande seems to like the new envirnoment and his ability to get closer to me, even when he has to stay in the cage. Creepers and Mo like sitting on the dashboard and sleeping in the driver’s and passenger’s chairs. Salem took a little longer to settle in, she spent the first week of the move in the bedroom.

Although I did have some problems with the cats. Creepers has always liked to try to get outside, even though she is afraid of strangers, and she continues to try now. She was successful once when I was trying to do the laundry. She went out under my feet and got under the RV. She was exploring and wanted to climb up under the RV. I had to go under, pull her out and take her back in.

Because of Creepers, I had to “baby” proof the stove. I came home one night to my LP alarm going off. It took me a few minutes to figure out what it was, because I’d never had it go off before. But once I found it and silenced it (really muted it) I couldn’t figure out why it was going off. I turned off the propane and aired out the RV. I took off the monitor and it looked like the monitor was about six years old. I Googled and it said another reason the monitor could be going off was if it was nearing the end of its life. I turned off the monitor and turned the propane back on. I turned the stove on to make sure I hadit back on correctly. I only lit one burner, but two lit. I came home a few nights later to the same, but saw how it happened. Creepers hit the burner knob with her foot. I used some cap erasers to stuff under the knobs until I could get some stove knob caps from Target.

As obsessed as I was about checking my black and gray tank levels, I paid no attention to my propane levels. It was completely empty before I noticed. Luckily I still had access to my apartment and a hot shower. But I still had no heat in early February. The propane company for the park delivered on Thursdays and my tank went out on Sunday. There was one night it got down in the 30s. I gave Ande another blanket, gave myself another blanket and three cats cuddled up next to me. And two of them run very hot, so we survived!

I really like this place, I’m here for another week. I wouldn’t mind staying longer, but the rent seems higher than what I remember being quoted on the website. Its completely worth it, its a great place, great location, has great ammenities and the staff is so nice and acccomadating. Just more than I expected.

Trying A New Way

During a thunderstorm, do you ever look out the window at the storm and take comfort that you and yours are warm, safe and dry. I don’t always take the time to look out and think about it, but it always satisfactory when I do.

Its a nice feeling, until I realize that I left something in my car. Then I have to debate how much I really need whatever I left in the car and either go out in the storm or go without. Its a weird jump but I remember telling a friend that one day I wanted to live in a motorhome and carry my house with me whereever I go. Her reaction was to laugh and ask me if I wanted to be a hermit crab.

This was a few years ago, but when I realized people actually do this, I decided this would be my goal for this year. I wanted find something and move in, in the fall of 2020 or spring of 2021. I have three cats and a parrot, one of the cats beeing a nine month old kitten I found on the side of the road last Memorial Day. He’s a good little kitten, but very much a kitten and I need to get the the kitten and middle cat used to a leash and harness. I thought this would be plenty of time for Mo, the nine month old, to settle down a little and find a home with space to put Ande’s, my parrot, cage.

I looked at floor plans online, but unlike a house or apartment its really hard to see how much room you really have. Even if I didn’t find a motorhome with enough room for Ande’s current cage, I needed to find one with space find a smaller one and then find a smallerone. Just before Thanksgiving I thought I would actually go out and look at motorhomes. I live in a tourist town near the beach so there are a lot of RV parks around and a handful of dealerships. Turns out most dealerships, or at least the ones in my area, don’t sell motorhomes. Only two dealerships had any on the lot and even then less than five.

About a week before Christmas I looked at one that was a great fit for everything I needed and was half the price I had looked at. I couldn’t help but to jump at the opportunity. It was a used motorhome so it needed a couple of cosmetic need from the mechanics. Normally this style has a couch, but I guess the origional owners didn’t like the couch and had it removed. They put in two recliners, which I still haven’t figured out how they had enough room to recline them where they ended up placing them. I thought I would just unbolt one of the chairs and put Ande’s cage there. I picked up the rig about two weeks after I signed the papers. They needed to fix the awning over the living room slideout.

I was excited but dreading all the work it takes to move. I’m still moving, so still have that feeling of dread. My other fear was that I wouldn’t be able to figure out how to run the motorhome properly. One of the mechanics, Tony, walked through everything on the day I signed the papers. But over the course of the two weeks I was afraid I’d forgotten everything he told me.

About three days before I picked up the RV, I started looking for an RV park to start out at. I really wanted to start off at Puerto Del Sol at the north end of North Beach in Corpus Christi. I figured this would be a great place, close enough to my apartment to take my time moving in, close enough to work that I it would still be convient and with great views. Although its not in the best part of town. I called them during my lunch break. They were very abrupt with their “no”. I asked if they had availability; they asked how big my motorhome was, they immediately said “no” without hearing the dates I wanted to stay.

I had bought a 31′ home. The kitchen has more counter space then my apartment. From inside it seems so big, but when I park it next to another motorhome, it looks small. I like it, its small enough for me to feel comfortable driving (with cameras) and large enough to live in comfortably with three cats and a bird.

After my rejection at Puerto Del Sol, I called the Sea Breeze RV park in Portland, TX. They had an opening, not for the full amount of time I wanted to stay, but were willing to work with me to get me a slot. I moved in that Saturday afternoon after picking up the RV.

Like I said earlier, I was a little nervous about hooking up and running the motorhome. Tony gave me a review, I bought a couple of hoses and RV toilet paper. Apparently septic safe toilet paper isn’t enough, and I’m not about to take a chance stopping up my black waste tank. Ick! My sister drove over to the park with me and things were pretty simple to set up. Plugged in the RV into the 30amp plug turned it on and hooked up the city water hose.

We moved all four animals over which took a little bit of time. I let Ande take his time to get into the carrier on his own. Creepers and Mo, the oldest and youngst of my cats, loaded into the kenels quickly, but Salem, my largest cat, fought me hard. We got everyone over and took some clothes and other things I needed over in two trips and went to dinner. We were exhausted.

My problem arose when we got back and it was cold and I had no hot water. I live in south Texas, so since it was hot during the day I hadn’t thought about the propane and I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on. We consulted the owners manual, but couldn’t figure it out from the instructions (no pictures or diagrams). There were more warnings than instructions. I didn’t want to play around with it to much and have a potentially dangerous accident. Around eleven pm, I found a YouTube video that showed me how to turn it on. Success, I had heat! But it hadn’t been on long enough to have hot water, so I had a cold shower.

Three of the animals seem have settled in, all except Salem. Ande and I read a story or part of a story every night which she likes. She came out when I read to Ande, otherwise she mostly stays in the bedroom and is ususally hiding when I come home from work. She’s never moved before, so hopefully she settles in soon.

Sea Breeze RV Park is right on the bay. I want to walk around and explore the park, but so far its been dark or quite foggy when I’ve gotten home from work. Its still on my to do list. Maybe tomorrow or this weekend.

My Trip to Oso Bay Wetland Preserve

Today I went out to Oso Bay Wetlands Preserve. I’d been wanting to go out there for a few weeks but something always just kept being more important.

As I was driving out there, I saw a large metal sculpture of a heron with a fish in his mouth looming on the horizon. As I drove up, it turned out, it was a welcome to the preserve. The parking lot was well landscaped and clean.

The learning center was closed, it being Sunday, but I could still walk the trails. There was this cute little crayfish climbing out of the marsh and under the porch of the learning center and there were lots of little fish swimming in the pond.

Around the back side of the building was an open area with some low balance beams (which I did cross), some plastic stumps (which I did walk across), a cute bench with woodland creatures carved into it and a small man-made waterfall. I sat on a bench and watched the waterfall for a while. A painted bunting came for a drink of water and a rest before taking off to finish his day.

I got up and started down the trails. The ground beneath me was a clean brown gravel that crunched when I walked (it was a very satisfying sound), all the trees where green and lush and ready to hide any small creature, and the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds floating, a beautiful day. I started following a gecko down the path. Every path I went down, there seemed to be a large brown bird flying across the path. It was always too far away to see what type of bird it was. I did see vultures, black-necked stilts, pelicans, cardinals, egrets, herons, sea gulls along with the painted bunting. There wasn’t much water in the bay, but still enough for he animals to get what they needed. I want to go back when there is a little more water.

I cam across a crossroads and took a right along a yellow, “cobblestone” (sort of) path. I got the feeling this path was wet a lot, there was a bit of mud. I had to dodge large fire ants, bees and wasps and keep my footing in the mud. But I made it to the prairie outlook and the end of this yellow brick road.

On my way back from Pelican Porch, the furthest outlook I walked to, on my way to the playground, I was looking at a small tree. In one of the branches, there was a small mess of twigs. I looked closer and it turns out it was a bird’s nest and it had a baby bird in it. It raised its head, I guess it was waiting for its mom to bring back with dinner. The walk back was full of little ones, more geckos to follow back (so I didn’t get lost), mocking birds flying around and a Texas tortoise eating the plants along the side of the path. To top everything off on the way back to the car a caracara flew over the lot.

I spent about three hours out there. It was about a thirty minute drive from my house, but I would definitely go back. I would want to go back when it was a little wetter and earlier in the morning so the temperature is a little cooler, although it is south Texas. I suggest bring a hat and water bottle and make sure you look around and take everything in.