Upon Further Review

 2012 Jan 22

Maybe I have been harsh in my judgement of this RV park. After talking with our across the road neighbors, who are from Cleveland, it seems that many of the RV parks maximize their space, especially those closer to the beach.  One resort that they checked out which offers actual gulf front camping on Fort Myers Beach, has space issues exactly like the ones we have here AND they charge $700/week! I guess if I were the owner of a piece of property down here I'd want to maximize my profits, as well.

Confessional time. I was asking the gentleman from Cleveland if he heard the music around 3:30 am the past couple of nights. He said he hadn't, but mentioned that on Friday night he was awakened in the middle of the night by a beeping sound. As he described it, "like that back up beep you hear on trucks". Said he couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but it woke him from a sound sleep. I was embarrassed and therefore did not admit that said beeping had been coming from our coach. It seems that the CO2 detector was acting fidgety, and "chirping" as we call it, once every 5 minutes. We were basically unaware of it for some time. We realized there was a problem because Greyla was panting excessively, which is how she responds to the high pitched noise. Now I don't think the sound JP heard was that 5 minute interval chirp. But when Raymond read through the manual, and reset the alarm, there was a very loud repetitive chirp which I'm sure is what woke our neighbor in the middle of the night. Sorry, JP and Jill.  That should give you an indication of how close together we are in this park.

Anyway, last night we walked outside the park on the boulevard to get a sense of how near or far things are from us. The ice cream shop is right next door to the RV park. Next to that is the farmer's veggie stand. Raymond talked to him this morning and he said he'll be back in the afternoon from the farm with fresh picked green beans, brussels sprouts, broccoli and greens. That is very cool! Next to the veggie stand is a strip mall which contains a haircut place, which I may try. Across the road is another strip mall with an odd assortment of clientele. There is some sort of gambling place, followed by an few businesses like tax services and then at the other end, was New Hope Church. I'm curious about that. It doesn't seem to have a web presence and Siri can't find a phone number for it, so I may have to stroll up there and see when services are. There is also another little strip mall with a grocer in it and a bar that Raymond visited during the second football game yesterday. And you can see the Target, which is on the opposite side of the road from the park, but only about a half mile away. This is the first park we've been in where there were so many services and stores within walking distance, which is a big deal to us, since we do not yet have a towed (toad) vehicle.

Raymond just came back from the pool, where they have a Tiki bar set up, selling soft drinks, hot dogs and burgers. The only thing I haven't yet discovered is if there is a library on the property. Each park we've been it that was an Encore park, has had a library, even if it was simply a book shelf in the corner of the recreation hall. Although, Pioneer Village had a separate, dedicated space, with shelf lined walls, seating and more than just books.    

I even encountered my first French speakers today and they were friendly! Perhaps being so close to your neighbor breaks down some of those barriers, like language.  Maybe I'll fess up to JP and Jill about our late night chirp, or maybe not...