We are still here!!!

What’s up with this? I can’t figure it out but the people across the street from us are from MN and have 13 kids. 5 of the 13, who are the oldest (girls), live in Michigan. The other 8 are here, ranging in age from 17 to around 7 and all are home schooled. They go between their motorhome and a park model in another part of the park. I think the Dad mostly stays in the motorhome and the mother in the park model. Mom & Dad are friendly because we see them together so I don’t think it’s a divorce or separation situation. I think they just want to get out of the cold. Not sure how they make their money. I see him on the phone a lot so maybe he day trades or something. What kind of a life is that for those young kids to be around old farts all day? You might be wondering how they can be in a 55+ community. They say that 80% of the people who are her must be over 55.

We had a great time on Pete’s birthday. We went with a group of 14 to “Al Capone’s Dinner Theater”. It was an Italian buffet, drinks, and a show. The show was about gangsters and the ladies from that time period. All the waiters and bartenders were also part of the show. It was supposed to be just as if you were in that time period. They knew it was Pete’s birthday so he got special treatment.


They have some fun activities here and on Saturday we went to a sock hop. We dressed the part. I don’t think I ever had a poodle skirt when I was growing up so this was a first. We even found an empty pack of cigarettes for Pete to roll up in his sleeve. It was fun.

We drove the coach to Fort Myers on Sunday. We needed some work done on the coach at an RV dealer there. It is 110 miles from where we are staying. On Monday we toured around while we were waiting. We ended up in Cape Coral just southwest of Fort Meyers. While there we remembered that the Downtowner Car Wash (on 7th Street in St. Paul), where we usually get our cars washed, had a car wash in Cape Coral. We hunted and found it and ended up talking with the owner, Jay Montpettit. They bought this car wash because a few years ago while they were vacationing in Cape Coral they wanted a car wash and waited over an hour at this car wash for that service. They knew they could do better and bought the company. His son and several other people from MN now run it here and, of course, it is a nice place to HAVE to visit.

We also drove out to Pine Island that same day. I don’t know why they call it Pine Island although there are a few pine trees on it. It really should be called Palm Tree Plantation island. The island is probably 15 to 20 miles long and is filled with palm after palm after palm trees, all various kinds, being grown. It is really interesting to see.
Florida is so flat you can roll your head all the way around, if you could, and still have a great view but when we went to Pine Island we drove over a bridge and I thought as we drove over it that “This must be the highest place in all of Florida”.


BIG NEWS!!!!! We just signed the papers yesterday and we will now be land owners in Florida. We close the end of February on a lot here in Deer Creek. We are in another section than the one we are staying on now. Our lot that we purchased faces the golf course so we will have a view. The lot has a decorative concrete slab that is around thirty feet wide and 70 feet long. It has rock and decorative native plants on each side, so no grass to take care of. On the golf course side there are three palm trees and more plants. It has a shed with a washer, dryer, sink and toilet in it. We will take a picture when we get our coach on it. The rent on lots is really going up here and sometimes lots are hard to find in Florida. Now we don’t have to worry about where we are going to stay. We are close to restaurants, shopping, entertainment and a lot of our friends. If we decide to go somewhere else some winter we can always rent out the lot. We are pretty excited about it.