Top 5 Accessories For Your RV

These are the top 5 accessories for your RV that can make your travels easier. Because sometimes it just takes a few accessories to make your life either. During our travels we have found a few must-haves to make our travels easier.

 

Top 5 Accessories For Your RV

Shark Genius Hard Floor Cleaning System

We wanted to find something that would clean our floors without having to get on our hands and knees and do a great job. After some research, we bought the Genius Steam Pocket Mop.

 

Steamer in action

 

This steamer isn't the cheapest, but it's pretty reasonable around $120. It came with 2 mops which is really nice, and it's easy to buy more if you need them, like this six-pack for $30. What we love about this steamer is you can just throw the pad in with your wash once it gets dirty, keeping cleanup to a minimum. It also has 3 levels of steam, depending on how bad your floor is. If you have some really bad spots on your floor, just flip the mop and hit it with steam directly. Pretty cool!

shark genius steam mop

Water Pressure Regulator

We thought a water pressure regulator was kind of a nice-to-have, but we took ours off for a few days to test an issue with our icemaker. What a mistake! The PEX connection in our master bath started leaking, causing water to get all over the floor (and even worse, under the tiles). The cold hard truth is you NEVER know what kind of pressure you are going to get at a RV park, and your RV is not equipped to handle high pressures (even worse than a house for sure). You can get a decent one here.  Check out our in-depth article for more information!

 

 

 

 

 


Oldsmar Trail Hiking

We have spent most of the Winter of 2021 in Tampa, close to the city of Oldsmar. And one thing we discovered is that Oldsmar trail hiking is far more interesting than you would expect. Even though it is very urban in this area, they have done a decent job of making a set of hiking trails, connected by mostly residential streets. They claim there is 11 miles of trails, and that sounds about right!

Oldsmar Trail Hiking

What we ended up doing is starting at the center of the Oldsmar parks (which has the most parking lots) and then breaking our hikes into three distinct sections, each with unique quirks and features - each hike allowing us to get easily up to 8 miles round trip on a bike or a hike.

Oldsmar Trail Map
Oldsmar Trail Map

Our Oldsmar Trail Hiking Starting Point

We always start our adventure at the same spot - one of the many parking lots at R.E. Olds Park or the parking lot at Veterans Memorial Park. We could start Sheffield park (they also have free parking) or xxx.  Mobely park is another option, but that is paid parking so unless you want to start at that one because of the beach (not that great of a beach) then don't bother.

We found it easiest to go down Lafyette road (off Tampa rd/580 and opposite Race Track Rd) to get to these parks. 

 

R.E. Olds Park and Veterans Memorial

 

The parks themselves have plenty to offer - a lot of playgrounds for the kids, restrooms, pavilions and decent access to the water. The parking has always been safe, and the crowds have been pretty decent (although this is winter during a pandemic, so your mileage may vary). Once we park, we then have 3 major loops we can take depending on our mood. Each require some surface street walking, but will reward you with some very pleasant trails and access to even more parks and beaches!

Lake Tarpon Canal Route

Our first route and probably favorite goes to the Lake Tarpon Canal and ultimately to the Oldsmar Sports complex/BMX park (shown as Canal Park on the map above). If you start at R.E. Olds Park, once you get through the park (which is a nice walk itself) you will then be on surface streets. Not too bad (you will pass the Herp shop, which sells reptiles), and Jack Willie's bar. Once you pass Jack Willies you have to cross 580 - be careful! The drivers here are crazy! Once you have crossed 580, go past the railroad track and look to your left - you will see the trailhead entrance. 

 

 

 

Some of the sights along the way!

 

 

Once you're on the trail it's really nice! This takes you through Moccasin park which has a few dirt trails that you can explore. The main trail through here is paved and has well-maintained wooden bridges. After you walk this part of the trail, you will enter a residential street (3rd photo). 

 

 

Walk down this street for about 10 minutes and you will make it to the Harbor Palms Nature Park trailhead.

 

 

 

This is the map to Sheffield park (click to expand):

 

 

At the end of this section is Sheffield Park. The park has ball fields, basketball court, playground and a nice pavilion. Most importantly it has bathrooms! You are roughly at the 2.5 mile point if you start at R.E. Olds Park.  So plan on at least a 5 mile hike if you make it to these bathrooms! There is also free parking available if you want to start from this park.

 

 

 

Mobely Beach Route

 

Cypress Park Route