The Great Outdoors

[Mmgulfcoast]

We are currently on the East coast of Florida looking for a new home base. The last three hurricanes have decimated the area I have lived in the last 16 years on the west coast and it seems the mid east coast of Florida has been relatively untouched. We were going to move out of state but are hard-pressed to find another location other than Florida that gives us the year round warmth (we like 80plus), humidity, proximity to water and other things important to us.

We have visited TGO to look at all the options and really like the community. It is self contained including RV service dealer on site and the surrounding area has everything you would need.

We checked out Thornton Creek in Arcadia and while the resort was beautiful and the casitas are what we are looking for the area was a big NO.

What is the complaint? We are just not sure... and the executive suites we were interested in are almost as much as the houses. We want a home base not a live in year round every day.

Nature, trails, outside activities are important.

I have searched and searched online but it doesn't seem that these type of RV communities advertise.

It needs to be on the east coast, south, near water or mountains. Anyone have suggestions?

[traveldawg]

We live in TGO. Have for about 17 years. We built a house in 2008 after owning a pad for a few years. We lucked out and were able to take advantage of a housing down turn so we got in for a good price. The house prices are now back up or above where they were back in the mid 2000's. But there are some great deals there.

When we traveled (extensively and for up to 6 or 7 months) we always had a house watcher and with the 24x7 live guard at the gate we felt the house was OK when we were gone.

Aside from the politics and bickering typically found in most forced HOAs, we like it there (we don't much participate in the politics or such and avoid such conversations). In all our travels we never found anything like it. And if you compare housing prices and Florida HOA fees you will not find a less expensive place to live with all the amenities and services provided.

Originally we thought we would just have a pad and executive suite (maybe a port) but someone older a wiser told me that at some point in life it would be better not to have any living quarters that involved stairs. Having had one knee replacement and a bit of back issues, the advice was spot on. And, having lived there a while, we have watched people age out of RVing and move into houses when they no longer wanted to deal with (or couldn't deal with) steps.

Just adding my 2 cents...... Hope you find what you want.

[Mmgulfcoast]

Hi traveldawg

Thank you so much for your reply. Everything I’ve heard and read has been so complimentary to TGO. You wonder how can it be so great. Driving through though every single person you pass is smiling, happy and waves.

The community checks off every single box I have less one item. The style of the houses would not be my choice and almost all of them are the same with slight variations. But that’s what happens when you have a massive RV garage attached and that is number two on my list so it outweighs not having the perfect floor plan. My coach has that☺️

Your reply has helped. I’m going to stop wondering how the neighborhood can be so great and just get serious about trying to find the house that will fit our needs. When we viewed the house that is the top contender a large deer sauntered by through the yard. Right beside us like a sign telling us this is the best place ever.

And the fact that when people are aging out of RV’ing , they’re going into the cottages after selling their coach i but staying in the neighborhood means a lot.

[TampaDave]

Lifelong Florida resident here. If you want to get away from the hurricanes, you want to get away from the coast.

Orlando area deserves a look, there are some nice developments in Davenport and Clermont. Both are world class for golf and bass fishing. Clermont used to be fantastic for road biking; traffic and development have made that a different kettle of fish but I imagine there are still places to ride. Not much ATB biking in the area. Both are close to Disney so your all your remote cousins are gonna be hitting you up for a place to stay all the time. But notwithstanding The Mouse, Orlando is a great town.

Ocala area is also worth a look. Horse country, lots of woods. Good for off-road biking (motorized or not) and some nice rivers to paddle. Decent health care for a small town.

Hurricane-wise, your odds are better inland -- less likely to get flooding for example -- but you still gotta get the heck out of dodge when a hurricane is coming. Especially if they have dwellings in the development. They do make hurricane proof cottages -- check out Cornerstone Tiny Homes for example -- but that's kind of a new thing and hasn't caught on yet. Your average mobile home / park model kinda thing is gonna get shredded, sending debris flying everywhere. RV's (5th wheel, destination cottage etc) tend to weather the storms better but carports and sheds go into orbit. You're not gonna want to ride it out no matter where you are.

Titusville isn't gonna get you away from the hurricanes but nothing in Florida is. Colorado gets you away from hurricanes. Which is where we go in the summer. Which is fine; let's face it, summer weather in Florida is spectacularly bad.

[Bears Dad]

Take a look at Mt Olive Shores North (make sure NORTH) in Polk City, FL. East side of Lakeland.

[Warhorse6]

Try Arlington Ridge in Leesburg, Fl. Halfway between Ocala and Orlando. One of the safest hurricane locations in Florida. It’s a 55+ gated community with 64 homes with attached RV garages. About another 1000 homes without, but there is an rv storage lot onsite.

[Toby Dog]

Anybody want to share what or where TGO is?

[Warhorse6]

Titusville, Fl. By Cape Canaveral.

[Mmgulfcoast]

Originally Posted by Toby Dog

Anybody want to share what or where TGO is?

The Great Outdoors development. I am shocked how few RV'ers know about this including myself until a few months ago. Put in TGOresort.com





Thank you all for your posts. I will check into those locations.

My desire to be close to salty turquoise waters drives my need to be close to a coast. Everyone tells me NASA has never lost a building, a roof, nothing. And they only get "skimmed" here. Lets hope that continues. It WAS that way in Englewood until the "smart people" decided to remove the bones from the ancient burial ground off Venice beach. Ever since... well lets just say we are no longer protected.

[Mmgulfcoast]

Originally Posted by Bears Dad

Take a look at Mt Olive Shores North (make sure NORTH) in Polk City, FL. East side of Lakeland.

Thank you.
Exactly what I was hoping to find. We will be checking into this. It appears to be very similar to TGO but newer with nicer units.

Proximity to coast is going to have to be the tradeoff...

[Chezhead]

You might also want to look at Lake Ashton in Lake Wales, FL. We have lived here for the pat 15 years and love it. It is a 55+ retirement community with many traditional S&B stick houses that have RV garages. The development is totally built out now, but there are now resales available.



See below for one of the reseller sites:


https://www.lakeashtonresales.com/

[Toby Dog]

Originally Posted by Warhorse6

Titusville, Fl. By Cape Canaveral.

Thank you

[traveldawg]

Originally Posted by Mmgulfcoast

Hi traveldawg

Thank you so much for your reply. Everything I’ve heard and read has been so complimentary to TGO. You wonder how can it be so great. Driving through though every single person you pass is smiling, happy and waves.

The community checks off every single box I have less one item. The style of the houses would not be my choice and almost all of them are the same with slight variations. But that’s what happens when you have a massive RV garage attached and that is number two on my list so it outweighs not having the perfect floor plan. My coach has that☺️

Your reply has helped. I’m going to stop wondering how the neighborhood can be so great and just get serious about trying to find the house that will fit our needs. When we viewed the house that is the top contender a large deer sauntered by through the yard. Right beside us like a sign telling us this is the best place ever.

And the fact that when people are aging out of RV’ing , they’re going into the cottages after selling their coach i but staying in the neighborhood means a lot.

Did you look in the Hidden Lakes section? You know - the one behind the gate in the already gated community

Few houses look alike. Some (the developer built houses) have similar floor plans, but for the most part all the houses are different. Downside: probably the most expensive section there.

[TampaDave]

Originally Posted by Mmgulfcoast

Everyone tells me NASA has never lost a building, a roof, nothing. And they only get "skimmed" here. Lets hope that continues. It WAS that way in Englewood until the "smart people" decided to remove the bones from the ancient burial ground off Venice beach.

Roll of the dice.

If you look at how the prevailing winds work, it's kinda hard for a hurricane to hit the mid gulf coast (Tampa Bay area) but not impossible as we recently saw. Basically it's a hundred year event, but when it gets whacked, hoo boy. The entire east coast is downrange (for late season storms anyway). Also, getting skimmed may be good for the inland folks but it's really bad for the beaches and bays. If they say go, I'd go

RE burial grounds, what were they thinking? That said, ours did us a fat lot of good. The one in my daughter's neighborhood seems to be working. I guess some have better juju than others

But, you know, what's the point of having an RV if you can't bail when a storm is coming eh. No biggie, just pack er up and go. Be advised, if you bail to North Carolina, as we often do, the storm will follow you, much to the consternation of the locals ("You again? What are you bringing this time?") although it doesn't usually make for trouble. Usually. (Hot tip: start home before the storm gets to Carolina, hook left down 27 through Georgia, it'll be sunshine the whole way)