No satellite + terrible campground wifi + terrible cellular service = total frustration!
Working remotely requires a decent Internet connection. Otherwise, you end up fighting with connectivity, which really keeps you from being productive. And if you don’t have a good satellite signal, none of your TV shows will record and you’re limited to local cable stations. And that is exactly what we’ve been fighting with since we arrived at this KOA in Mims, FL.
Add to that the fact that the streets in this campground are barely wide enough to drive on, which has required me to move our car two times to allow other RVs to leave the campground, and we’ve about had it here. When it comes time for us to leave, they are going to have to move a couple of people around or we won’t be able to make a return getting out of our site.
Oh yeah, and half of the park (literally) consists of permanent residents, many in very run down RVs with junk over the place (hard to believe KOA allows this), and we walked by some very questionable people this evening. If we stay on the side of the park where the pull through sites are (where big rigs are parked), it is much cleaner and you see lots of people out walking around in the evening. It’s a totally different feeling, but it’s still a strange feeling knowing half of the park is the complete opposite.
All of this is what prompted us today to go looking for other RV parks to stay in for the next two weeks. We are trying to say in the general area because it is close to the beaches and also close to Green Cove Springs, where we have to return to get our drivers licenses (hopefully soon).
Sadly, every other place we looked at in the vicinity had their own significant drawbacks. Examples below:
- Seasons of the Sun: this place is literally next door to the campground we are in. It is a VERY clean campground, has a security gate, large clubhouse, pool, tennis courts, shuffleboard, you name it. And it is about half the price of where we are staying! So why aren’t we moving to it? There are only three Wi-Fi hotspots that the entire campground has to use, so I’m not confident that it will be any better than the Wi-Fi where we are. Second, and most significant, is the fact that they have several ponds with alligators in them! RVs are literally parked on the banks of the ponds and people spot them regularly. They’ve even observed them on the walking trails. NOPE! I’m out!
- Sonrise Palms Christian RV Park: this place is more like a field with RVs parked in it. The ground looked pretty uneven and not much cleaner than where we are staying currently. Not worth changing to it, not knowing if the Wi-Fi is any better
- Joy RV park: just around the corner from Sonrise RV park, but didn’t look as nice and there is a very sharp turn getting into the park that I don’t know we would make.
- Great Outdoors RV and Golf Resort: this is a massive 2600 acre RV resort! I’ve never seen anything like it. Security guards that you have to check in with before you could even get on the property, and then you go to the office to inquire about sites to rent. All of the sites are supposedly nice, landscaped owner sites that are rented out, and they appear to look pretty nice from the brochures and pictures online, but we weren’t able to drive around inside to see for ourselves without actually renting a site (that makes me suspicious of how nice it actually is when you get inside). It was a bit pricier than all of the other places, but it looked like it would be worth it. Until I found out there was no Wi-Fi! So we would be living off of our cellular hotspot for two weeks and that would use a ton of data. NOPE! I’m out!
- Orbit RV park looked nice, but it’s a 55+ park so we are too young!
- Sugar Mill Ruins RV park: very close to the beach and it got great reviews, but it has dirt roads and tons of trees. That is no fun as it gets everything covered in dirt when people drive through…. ask me how I know!
- Spacecoast RV Resor: Adults only!
- And one other that I can’t remember the name of, but it was a 55+ resort.
Sooooo, we will continue looking for other places in the vicinity. It’s frustrating that it’s hard to find a nice clean place that allows kids and can fit big rigs. And if we find a place like that, it has to have Wi-Fi that works.
We also went by Walmart today to look into getting a Verizon hotspot (since AT&T is marginal), but we’re still researching phone options. We also found out from the man in the electronics department that the city we are staying in is in kind of in a dead spot for any carrier, so that’s just great!
So the search continues…