Building a small RV park, Part 3

[J&JD]

I realize if I were the park owner my thoughts would be much different. That said, being a serious rver, every site that is used for permanent housing takes a spot away from the rv community. JMHO.

 

[Jim]

I realize if I were the park owner my thoughts would be much different. That said, being a serious rver, every site that is used for permanent housing takes a spot away from the rv community. JMHO.

I understand, but this isn't permanent housing. This is an extension of the RV life where you can enjoy the lifestyle with friends who don't have the freedom and joy of having an RV.

In my vision, it's a multi purpose site, with a Tiny home on one side and an RV site on the other. Think of it as a place to take your RV and enjoy the views, or if you don't have an RV, you can drive your car up and stay in the tiny home, or if you have an RV and your friends don't, it's a place to where you can park your RV and your non-rv friends can stay next door to you in the tiny home. Or lastly, if your desire is to use your MH and the tiny home both, you can park next door and make them both your home on the mountain for the time that you are here.

It's an all inclusive place that fits the needs of just about everyone. And believe me, the views and the temps are awesome up there !

 

[J&JD]

I understand, but this isn't permanent housing. This is an extension of the RV life where you can enjoy the lifestyle with friends who don't have the freedom and joy of having an RV.

In my vision, it's a multi purpose site, with a Tiny home on one side and an RV site on the other. Think of it as a place to take your RV and enjoy the views, or if you don't have an RV, you can drive your car up and stay in the tiny home, or if you have an RV and your friends don't, it's a place to where you can park your RV and your non-rv friends can stay next door to you in the tiny home. Or lastly, if your desire is to use your MH and the tiny home both, you can park next door and make them both your home on the mountain for the time that you are here.

It's an all inclusive place that fits the needs of just about everyone. And believe me, the views and the temps are awesome up there !

Again, not being the park owner, I tend to lean on the rv owner looking for a site side. . Fighting for a space during peak season is certainly not fun for rvers. I also feel that those that rent homes are a totally different group than those that are engaging in the rv lifestyle. If you have an rv park then it should be an RV PARK, not an rv park/motel. Am I totally off base here?

 

[RKins]

Jim said that the new sites are reached by a road that is probably not suitable for an RV. So I guess you'll have to ignore the new sites.

 

[bpaikman]

To be honest, I never expected to do more than the original eight sites. But obviously that has changed, and it looks like we'll have a minimum of 15 sites, and maybe up to 20 or more.

Although I retired 11 years ago, I'm not the kind of person to sit back and do nothing. Hence, I'm always looking for interesting things to do. Building an average RV park would be easy, but not stimulating. But building an RV park that is on top of a mountain, and setting up the sites to provide each RV with the optimum long range views, that is truly challenging.

The road going up this mountain will have to be 30' wide to accommodate traffic that moves both directions. And once at the top, we need to providing the driver of a 45' Class A or lengthy 5th wheel, with enough thought-out space to navigate and park comfortably.

It's fun, challenging, and when it all comes together, rewarding. If somebody gives us a 5-star review and says, "OMG, we drove up the side of a mountain, parked at the top, and we could see for miles!" Well, that will make it all worth while!

And at the end of the day, hopefully we can make a little money to pay for Ryker's frisbee addiction.

View attachment 17572

Oh my that is a gorgeous pup! And Kudos to you for all your thoughtful planning - you're doing great.

 

[Jim]

I also feel that those that rent homes are a totally different group than those that are engaging in the rv lifestyle. If you have an rv park then it should be an RV PARK, not an rv park/motel. Am I totally off base here?

Try to look at this for the unique offering that it is. Where else can you take your Dutch Star and have the benefits of a casita at the same time? This perk is usually reserved for someone who owns an expensive lot in a high end resort. I'm just making it a reality for those who don't have the resources to buy into such a place.

From a business perspective, it makes good sense. I don't know the future of the RV park industry, but if the bottom falls out of it, I'd like to have the fallback position of being able to serve multiple interests.

On an also important note, the Winter temps out here are not appealing to most campers, so 6-months out of the year the park remain empty. Having a few casitas on the mountain changes that!

 

[Jim]

Rained for the last couple of days, so I haven't gone up to the top for pictures. But here are a couple taken this AM from my deck. It's the same mountain that the new sites will be looking at, so the view should be pretty much the same from there as it is from my house.

It's so much nicer when the trees have their leaves, but it's still pretty nice even now.

 

[Jim]

Same view with leaves. Could you camp here? It would be tough, right?

 

[purring along]

Rained for the last couple of days, so I haven't gone up to the top for pictures. But here are a couple taken this AM from my deck. It's the same mountain that the new sites will be looking at, so the view should be pretty much the same from there as it is from my house.

It's so much nicer when the trees have their leaves, but it's still pretty nice even now.

View attachment 17905
Nice

 

[Jim]

Still no leaves on the trees, so get a green marker and put a bunch of dots on the screen. Anyhow, lots of progress over the last week or so. If I were following the typical model, there is enough room up here for 10 or more sites. I'm putting in 4. Each site will have beautiful long range views and I've positioned the sites to where they are visible to their neighbors, but not offensively so.

We should start seeing some greenery pretty soon, and then these sites will really "POP".

 

[Neemer]

You da man, Jim.

 

[Jim]

You da man, Jim.

Two more weeks and it's going to be awesome up there!

 

[sheridany]

Me like Jim’s toys. How about a big equipment playpen to dig holes and move dirt while you are at it for a fee. I know @Neal would be there often. Drone park and a big equipment playpen what else could one want?

 

[Neal]

 

[Neal]

I remember when growing up going to camp for the summer and enjoying camp activities such as canoeing, archery, etc. Would be fun to have some outdoor recreation at Camp Jim.