Chily Expeditions: Lakepark RV resort December 2013

So we left Midland very early in the morning on 12/5/13 as we saw the weather on the radar was going to be ICE. We needed to stay ahead of it. We also had to be in Florida in 3 days so I could start my job on Monday. We drove to the south side of Ft Worth, TX where we met Rudy and Bev for lunch. We had a fun lunch at Applebee's, but had to keep it short as the ice storm was fast approaching. At least we were still ahead of it. It's one thing to be in an ice storm in an RV when it's parked, but you definitely don't want to be in one when it's moving down the road. We got back on the road and didn't stop till we got to Ajax, LA. We had managed to escape the ice storm. We stayed at Country Livin RV park there. The guy in the office told us about a quaint little BBQ joint across the street. After settling in, we walked over there. Great BBQ and soul food. The owner/cook (very old man) sat in the eating area on a sofa watching TV. We struck up a conversation with him, as we were the only ones in there. An interesting old man who was very difficult to understand because of his thick, southern accent. It was still fun listening to him.
The next morning we headed down the road again, and made it as far as Marianna, FL. There, we stayed at Arrowhead RV park. It was a passport America park (which means if you are a PA member, and you stay at one of their campgrounds, the fee is usually 1/2 off). As we finished checking in, the manager asked that we not leave before 0800. Asking someone who is trying to make time to stay till 0800 is like asking us to not leave until noon. Not going to happen! This was an interesting place. The site was not big enough to accommodate us, so the manager had us pull up till we were partially in the road ahead of us. He said no one ever uses that road anyway. Of course they don't. Later that night, the Class C next to us decided they needed to go on a beer run. They apparently didn't have a car, so drove their RV, missing our RV by only inches. Very scary! Later, another truck decided to use the road no one ever uses to wriggle through our RV and the camper ahead of us. The next morning, we hear someone outside leaving near our RV. Kirk runs out there to find someone leaving BEFORE 0800, and they need to get by our RV. We tell them we can be up and out of there in 15 minutes. They decided not to wait and went through another site. So, we decided not to wait either, and headed down the road. I'm sure he had the RV police after us :).
On 12/7 we arrived at Lakepark RV resort in Ft Myers, FL. Except for the sign, you can't see this place from the road. As you drive in, at first glance you think you are in a trailer park, then as you get to where you are going, it's great! Robby, the manager had custom built an RV site just to accommodate us. This guy is great. He will go out of his way to please you. He even put in a small deck, and put our site overlooking the lake. We absolutely loved it there.
I started my job at Coral Trace nursing home in Cape Coral, FL on 12/9. As sometimes can go with the travel part of working, I got my two weeks notice my first day on the job. They had hired a permanent SLP while we were busting our fannies to get there in 3 days. Anyway, again, it was a blessing in disguise. We hated to be leaving our RV park, but we were fortunate to find another one in Hernando, FL. While at Lakepark, we enjoyed the neighbors, listened to a concert directly across the lake from our campsite featuring The Band Perry, Joe Nichols, and many other country bands. It was also getting close to Christmas while we were there. Being our stay was going to be short, we decided not to put up decorations. Well, with getting cut short at my job, and missing my kids (the time of year ya know), I was feeling pretty down. I came home from work one afternoon to find Kirk had put up all the Christmas lights inside the RV to cheer me up....which it did. I know he always wants everyone to think he is an old grouch, but he's a great guy and I love him. Since we were only in Ft Myers for 2 weeks, we tried to get to some of our favorite places from last time we were there 3 years ago. We headed to Bonita Beach, known for their sunsets, and ate pizza at Doc's on the beach. While we were eating our pizza on the beach, we watched an Irish TV crew filming "50 Ways to Kill Your Mother". It was about one of the producers taking his mother all over the world and having her participate in dare devil type activities. This one on Bonita Beach was having her parasail and jet ski. Very fun to talk to and watch them. We also drove over to Seminole Campground where we stayed 3 years ago, and visited with some of the regulars there. The hardest part about leaving, was telling Robby we had to go. We promised we would stay with them again whenever we were in the area.