Living in an outdoor hotel...

...yup, that's where I live - in an RV park, aka an outdoor hotel.

Let me explain, but first an aside:

When I was 11, I saw the Hitchcock movie, "North By Northwest". Do you remember the scene at the beginning where Cary Grant strides through the lobby of the Plaza Hotel to the elevators? At that time he actually lived there.

(Another aside, courtesy of IMDB.com: Mr. Grant once phoned hotel mogul Conrad Hilton in Istanbul, Turkey, to find out why his breakfast order at the Plaza, which called for "muffins", came with only one and a half English muffins instead of two. When Grant insisted that the explanation - most people eat only three of the four halves brought to them - still resulted in being cheated out of a half, the Plaza changed its policy and began serving two complete muffins with breakfast. From then on, Grant often spoke of forming an English Muffin-Lovers Society, members who would be required to report any hotel or restaurant that served fewer than two muffins.)

I digress....


When I saw that movie at my tender age, I fantasized about living in a hotel....having my room cleaned every day, crisp white sheets every night as I climbed into bed...my personal valet bending over me, asking: "Is there anything else I can do for you, madam?" The cheerful - and properly subservient - doorman saying as he holds the door open, "Hello Miss Kendall, and how are WE today?" Hmmm.....ah, yes.

SCREEEK! (fingernails across the blackboard)

Back to reality!

My RV park is definitely not the Plaza, but it has its delightful moments. I love telling people that I live next to the beach; I always get the same response: Oh wow! Really?? And then when I tell them that I save $1000 a month on rent by living in an RV, they have their looks of grudging admiration.

This is how things work at my park: People check in, driving in with their RVs, after 1 PM. Most come on a Friday and stay until 1 PM Sunday, just like at a regular hotel. They pay approximately $50 per night for a space, which includes hookups for basic cable, electricity, and water. It takes them a few minutes to hook everything up, then they are free to explore the beaches or the lovely town of Half Moon Bay. Lots of guests bring their bikes and spend the day in town, wheeling back in the afternoon.

Because I live here full-time, I'm one of the "Monthlies". There are around 20 Monthlies here, who have lived here for varying amounts of time. I'm the newbie, having been here for only 9 months (one couple has been here for 17 years). The people who come in, then leave after 1 or 2 nights as in a hotel, are predictably called "Nightlies". Our park is quite strict and has a lot of rules, which is a good thing. It's quiet at night; we have a resident manager who doesn't put up with any funny business. It's also peaceful during the days. Motorcycles are greatly discouraged; we can't keep storage sheds in our spaces, and Monthlies can't work on their cars or RVs when they're here. We can only wash our RVs twice a year. Sometimes the rules seem a little too much, but in all I'm grateful. I've seen other parks in the SF Bay area, and mine is by far the nicest.

There are some hotel-like features that I love. I no longer have to pay a gardener - the landscape person does all the gardening. I don't have to pay for water or electricity, and although we get basic cable included in our rent, I pay for a higher level of cable and internet with Comcast. There is a front desk (well, an office actually) and they have some supplies that come in handy at times - ice cream, bread, milk, and the occasionally crucial RV toilet chemicals. They treat us like guests and guard our privacy. Another plus: if we feel like moving on, we don't have to give any notice. We don't have to clean and hope for a refund of our deposit, because we had no deposit. We just move on.

Because my space has a great view of the ocean when my row is empty, I always rejoice when we're not busy. These past few months of winter have been heaven!

My view

I'm always dismayed when someone pulls in next to us - there goes the view for a few days!

And then there are the dogs. I think on average, 95% of RVers have dogs who travel with them. Some of the many unusual breeds I've seen:

• Basenji
• South African Mastiff (I don't know how I recognized that one)
• Affenpinscher
• Afghan Hound
• African Wild Dog
• Shiba Inu
• Black & tan coonhound
• French bulldog
• Bedlington Terrier
  

And then there are those more common, scary-looking ones who actually are sweethearts after we've been introduced:

This little guy just wanted to play, but my Chihuahuas were too intimidated.

I've hated saying goodbye to some wonderful people: the couple from the San Joaquin Valley who come for a month every year, bringing fresh vegetables from their farm as gifts for the Monthlies. The two ladies from Sacramento, great conversationalists who fed me wine and a sumptuous dinner the first night they were here. Alice and Bob and their beagle from Silicon Valley, regular Nightlies who were here for 3 weeks last summer, and invited me to all their family dinners when their grown children visited on weekends.

Yes, I live in an RV....and it's not always fun. It's cold enough 3 seasons out of the year to have the heaters on 24/7. Sometimes the the wind and rain off the ocean feel like they will sweep my 5th wheel away to the distant mountains. It rains so much in the winter that no matter what I do, my front entry turns to mud. My shower is so small I can barely turn around in it, and my refrigerator is the size of a large bread box. But there are the good times to outweigh all the bad ones and sometimes I'll find myself thinking, "Are these the good old days?"