JoDo Chasing Rainbows

We moved into our RV on April 13, 2018.  We moved from a 2600 square foot house into less than 300 square feet.  We sold not only our home but all our furniture.  What we could not sell was donated or gave away.  We only kept the basics.  We have a tiny storage unit for items it was hard to part with.  During our short time in the RV we have also donated or sold half the items in the unit.  We have until next April 2019 to decide on the rest of our stuff.

We sold our house but I was not ready to leave my job so we needed to stay in the Atlanta area.  There are not a lot of parks.  We decided to stay at Stone Mountain Heights RV Park in Mountain Park, GA.  This park is right off highway 78 near Stone Mountain Park.  The best thing about this park was that it is across the street from the Xpress Bus stop.  This bus has a stop one block from my old office.  This was a huge selling point since we sold Edonna’s car the week we sold the house.

I really enjoyed this park.  It is a RV park not a resort.  Most of the folks who stayed more than a few days’ work in the area.  We met a traveling nurse, welders and contract workers at Coke.  The laundry room was the social hub for this park.  Wifi works only at the laundry room so folks would bring along work when they did laundry.

We stayed in lot 19 which was across from the laundry room.  In this spot we could access the wifi from our coach.  That was a sweet deal.  I loved how large the park was.  I could safely walk and ride my bike within the park community.  The office staff was so helpful.  They knew we were (still) newbies.  They were helpful in getting our coach level the first time.

Now let me tell you why this park is not, a resort.  This is a place to live and work.  If you are looking for bathrooms, showers, potlucks or fire pit roasting this is not the place.  You will have relative privacy since the lots are not too close together.  The lots are gravel and most have a patio area where you can set up your chairs. If you are looking for a quintessential camping experience than go to Stone Mountain Park RV Park.  If you are looking a quick overnight stay or a long term stay because of working in the area then this is the place I would want to be.

Laundry specifics:  Wash $2 per load; Dryer $.25 for 7 minutes (gas dryers so items dried quickly)

Close eateries: Applebee’s, Krystal’s, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Burger King, Waffle House, Hardees, Marco Pizza, Metro Diner, and a few more…

Sundries: Walmart, Kroger, CVS and Lowesa

Gyms: Planet Fitness and LA Fitness

USPS is less than one mile.  The post office is walkable from the park.

Buying an RV is a very personal decision. There are many companies and floor plans. We started our research on You Tube. We quickly decided that we wanted an enclosed coach so 5th wheels and travel trailer were excluded. We know length should be 30 feet or less. We knew class Bs would be too small. At first we did not want any slides. We stuck to that logic until our first RV show.

I would highly recommend going to a show. Usually there are a variety of dealers along with many types of RVs. Take the time to peruse the different models. I am so glad that we did. It helped us make an informed decision. We quickly realized that having at least one slide would open up the living area. That is important on the rainy days when you will be inside more.

Our list of must haves included:

• Separate bedroom door
• Walk around bed
• Separate sink and shower area

We realized that any coach less than 24 feet was not going to meet this criteria. We also felt that most class A were too large for us, even those under 30 feet. We fell in love with the class C. We ended up buying a 2016 Coachman Freelander 29KS. It was funny that this coach met all our criteria but it was not part of our original short list.

I have no complaints after living in our coach for two months. It is roomy. It just fits us.

Coachmen Freelander 29KS floor plan