182G in Orlando, FL

I just wanted to say hello and that my wife and I are recent owners of a barely used 182G. We're planning to get all our camping in before the Florida weather turns hot and muggy. 

I had been camping by tent before the RV, but my wife wasn't into that. I'd go with the Land Rover club I was a part of; camping & off-roading. On one camping trip I met a British couple who had a modified Land Rover 110, which they turned into a mini RV and traveled South, Central and North American and looked up Land Rover clubs in each region they explored to see if they could hang out. 

I invited them to stay at our house in Orlando and when my wife saw their Rover RV and learned about their adventures, she got the bug to do some level of adventuring as well.

"What if we got an RV of our own?" she hugged and tugged down on my arm. "We could take the kids on adventures and camp and explore like the Welsh couple." She urged.

The next day the idea hadn't floated off. It was back in double force and built in her mind day-by-day. By the third day I was actively looking. The following week we hit an RV show. 

I got excited about this off-road RV made in Australia called the UEV 490. Check it out, it's truly amazing. Unfortunately, my wife and I didn't have that kind of money to invest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpauUSmtJmA

Ultimately, I came up with two models: the mpg and the r-pod. The r-pod was the final choice and we were in the used market so it was between two models. I liked the wrap around seating dinette and bunks and the pop-out bed model. She didn't like the pop-out variant. 

The other model we both liked included the "garage" area as they call the back port that opens to reveal a sink and cooking prep area. Having a little entertainment area was a big plus as well.

Less than a week later, searching on the net, I found a 2011 182G for sale at a really competitive price. She pushed me out the door to travel the hour and 45 minutes to go see it and it was in near perfect condition. Essentially un-used. Everything worked. It was perfect.

Cha-ching went the till, and it was ours. The end. Or, rather, the beginning.

Cheers all !!

I agree that would be great. Cedar Key is another place on the list. I'll definitely reach out to you when I head up that way or to Manatee Springs. 

The Florida Land Rover Club I'm a member of has bi-annual rallies for all of Florida and they try to mix up the locations a bit to make it easier for all members to attend at least one rally per year. Florida's a big state, but some members make the trip whether they have to travel 2 hours or 5. 

Maybe we could do the same and then break the state up into sub-regions. Just a thought.

I've seen other groups use their forum to help people find their region:

CAMPING MEETUP'S

-2013

--North America

---Northeast

----New York

-----Up State

---Southeast

----Florida

-----Central Florida

Not sure if that's an option here, but it might help facility community experiences more readily. Just another thought. Anyhow, I'll look for your post and maybe sometime before it it gets too hot we could grab a group site. I wonder how many Floridians are here.