One of the main reasons I bought my Silver Streak was because last year I got a teaching job mid-year and had to find quick temporary housing. The job was only until the end of the school year so an apartment was out of the question. I ended up renting a cabin at an RV park. It worked just fine, but was about the same cost as a cheap apartment. I had a feeling that the next time I got a job it might be under the same circumstances: interview one day, get the offer the next, move the next day, and teaching the day after that. Having a trailer would certainly remove a lot of the stress of finding a place and packing everything up. It’s kind of like a giant suitcase on wheels that I can have ready to go at a moment’s notice.
This week I had an interview out in Brownfield, Texas. If you have no idea where that is don’t feel bad because I don’t think anyone does. It’s west Texas almost to the New Mexico border. It was a long drive. I felt the interview went well and decided to check out some of the RV parks nearby while I was there. The “RV Parks” in Brownfield were little more than overgrown lots and looked as though the park and RVs had been abandoned. I had to drive about 30 minutes into Lubbock.
The 1st park, Mesa Verde, was nice, a little too nice (despite the lack of trees which would have been really not pleasant in West Texas summers). I noticed all of the RVs and trailers looked like they came brand new right off the lot. I went into the office to ask if there was some kind of restriction. There was a wall of enlarged photos that were some of the junkiest, craziest lookin’ trailers and makeshift RVs that I have ever seen. Yes, there was a restriction. The lady was very pleasant, but I could tell that she wasn’t going to let my Rocketship into her park and I certainly didn’t want any pictures of it on her Wall of Shame. >_<
She told me that Loop 289 RV Park would have the same restrictions, but the nearby Camelot RV Park might not. I drove past 289 on the way to Camelot and saw that it too had nothin’ but newer model RVs. When I got to Camelot it looked like a lot of newer ones as well, but I decided to go into the office to check because it was actually a nicer park. There were large trees that the other two parks didn’t have. The woman at Camelot had to be one of the grumpiest old ladies that I’ve met in a while. I came in and said hello and she just glared at me for a few seconds before “WHAT!?” in the tone of what do you want? I told her that I had a vintage trailer and does she have any restrictions. She snapped that it better not have any dents, missin’ parts, or stuff hangin’ off of it, which mine of course does. Hahahaha! I didn’t care for her attitude anyway.
I then went to the KOA Campground, which upped my daily commute to at least an hour. They too had a restriction of only 2000 or newer. I was really surprised that the KOA had the restriction.
So then I started to think about why they had these crazy restrictions at every park in the Lubbock area. I suspect it has a lot to do with all the migrant farm workers. The Principal said that 80% of the students were children of Mexican migrant workers which gives an idea of the population. I really think they are tryin’ to keep the migrant workers out of the parks. I can see havin’ rules to keep the parks tidy, but to have only 2000 or newer models is a bit extreme way to do that.
The reason I put the postcard picture is so you can see that even new Silver Streaks had that dull silver look when they were new. They were never shiny like an Airstream. The lady at the first park thought I had an Airstream and said that the old ones look a lot like the new so I could just polish it up. ^_^;; Actually Silver Streaks have all the look of an oxidized Airstream. But I’ve lived in an Airstream and still say the Silver Streak has a better layout. My dad even says it pulls much easier than my Airstream did which is interesting because it’s boxier.
Anyway, I had to take myself out of the running for that job because I want to be able to live inexpensively in my Rocketship so I can recover my savings, pay down my student loans, and get back on track with my Roth/IRA. There were other reasons, but that is the primary one.
XOXOX,
Loch
RocketshipPilot 