Preparing for the Future - Looking Around

(Wauchula, FL) -  The Weather guy says it's 10 degrees colder than normal this time of year, but we sure warmed up nicely today.  About 79 degrees with a nice breeze.

We went out for lunch and checked out the county library and found the post office. I had a letter I needed to send priority mail, so now we know where that's located.  The library is really nice, so Jim will be going at least once a week to catch up on his favorite magazines.

One of the questions we get about our full time living is, what are we going to do when we can't travel anymore? We went to the Escapees SKP Co-Op Park last Friday and got all the info about it.  After discussing it for a couple of days we decided to pay the $500 fee and get on their waiting list for a site.  We consider it an investment in our future.  It's a beautiful park, with lovely landscaping, friendly people, and lots of activities.  The park is owned and operated by the residents.  You pay a lot fee for the rights to your site, and a reasonable annual maintenance fee.  Then the site is yours to occupy any time you want, and for as long as you want.  Plus, if you're away you can put it in the rental pool and make some money by renting it out.  Later if you wish, you can sell the lot back to the park for whatever their current lot fee is.  So financially it makes a lot of sense.  The downside is the waiting list.  Currently it's about an 8-10 year wait.  We figure we're just starting out, we want to see the USA and Canada, so it will give us time to travel and yet have someplace to call home in our later years.  We'll still be young enough to travel and then return to our site for the winter months, and if or when we decide to settle in one spot we can live year round there in our Cameo, or move a park model onto the site.  What if we change our minds while we're on the waiting list?  We can drop off the list any time and get our $500 back.  All we lose is a $25 administrative fee.

We're excited about our decision.  It's a nice feeling of security knowing we have a place to settle down in the future.  But until then we have a lot of traveling to do!  We're looking forward to the six months here in this area, then visiting friends in eastern Canada next summer.  We're hoping in the future to maybe winter in southern Texas or Arizona where a lot of snowbirds go.  We're not planning on always coming to Florida, it's just more convenient this year.   We have wheels, and the USA has a lot for us to see!

We came home and grilled a couple of pork chops just before it got dark.  It was a productive day, and our future is a bit brighter.