The Lottery

Just what we need. More uncertainty. That was my reaction to an email that I received yesterday concerning our site reservation for the fall. Most RV parks and resorts that offer seasonal rentals provide a first right of refusal for the next season. Our site here in Ontario works that way. At the end of the season we are asked if we are planning to return and if we want to remain in the same site. Simple process. We say yes, we pay the deposit and we come back the following year. If we say no, the site goes into the available rental pool.

For whatever reason, our site in Florida changes the process every single year. First year we had to wait in a line all through the night to secure our site. Well, not me. Lorraine went in around 10pm the night before and stayed in the queue until the office opened the following morning at 9am.

Second year the owner changed the process and it was a simple first right of refusal.

We had to cancel our reservation this year due to the pandemic and the Canada/US border being closed to non-essential travellers. We were told by the park owners not to worry about securing the same site for the following season. When the time comes in January, we were told, just submit the reservation deposit and we will have our site.

That made such a difference at the time. But something changed since then.

All site rental reservations will now be awarded through a lottery. Yes indeed. Identify the site(s) you want to rent. Your name will be drawn at random, presumably from a box, and if lady luck is smiling, you might get your choice of site. Assuming, of course, that your ticket gets pulled before another one that is looking for the same site.

Sigh.

I’ve had more than enough uncertainty about where we will be able to park our coach during this pandemic.

Last thing I want to be doing is playing a lottery game for a rental site for the coach.

We’ll find out in a couple of weeks if we have a site.

Wish me luck. I could use some.