Lake Magic Encore RV Park

After a harrowing day yesterday figuring out what to do about my bank card that had been hacked, we settled in to the Encore Lake Magic Park in Clermont, FL. An update on that is, Wells Fargo did an awesome job helping me sort things out. I've already been reimbursed for the fraudulent charges even though they still have to dispute the charges with the merchants. Yay!

Lake Magic is close to Disney World, within 7 miles, and we are thinking about going there, MAYBE, because Sparky has never been to Disney World. We picked up some brochures from the office like we usually do, to read about the area. We are here for just three nights and two days, so we're gonna have to move quickly if we do tour Disney World, AND we're going to have to agree on which park section to see. Eldo has been to Disney World many times, so he is really not too picky about which one he sees. It's just that it's kind of expensive, but we've gotten some tips about where to get discount tickets and it's NOT from the street shops leading to Disney, that advertise with gigantic signs, shouting, "DISCOUNT TICKETS HERE!"  Stay tuned, we might be going.....

Our site at Lake Magic #233

Lake Magic RV park is a very nice park....level, spacious concrete sites, but very little shade...It is surrounded by pretty apartment/vacation rentals. It has two pools, laundry, shuffleboard, pickleball and a small lake...our site, #233, a pull through, has no concrete patio and the ants (fire ants? wonders E. nervously) are everywhere. The sign at the office says to let them know if you are concerned and they will come and spray. Sparky got bit just the other day and YES, WE WANT YOU TO COME AND SPRAY! Man, those fire ant bites are PAINFUL! Those little boogers are tiny, tiny, but they come with a BIG bite and leave a nasty, pus filled sore the next day. UGH! Here is another view of the park....

We love the pool, it's very pretty and it has shaded areas for sitting...

Our first full day here...Eldy woke up and went outside to enjoy the early morning sunrise. He saw about TEN hot air balloons come floating by. Knowing that Sparky loves nature photos and events photos, he came inside to the bedroom and whispered, "Sparky, are you awake?" Sparky was fast asleep so SHE MISSED A GREAT PHOTO OPPORTUNITY! Rats! Eldy did not get any photos of the balloons, he tried with the camera phone, but just missed the bunch. Sparky caught an errant balloon that seemed to be part of the group, but was having difficulty staying in the air. Next time, Eldo, YELL for Sparky to come out and what's going on! I guess these balloon outfitters are regulars around the area, and they have been known to land in the park! Bless his heart, he knew she needed her sleep with a bad shoulder that had been keeping her up at night for the past couple of nights. But, first night on the sleep number bed and she was out like a light!

The park has a little laundry room with a beautiful shady porch just outside it for waiting for your laundry to get done...nice touch!

Free cable TV, 30-50 amp at all sites, you pay for Wi-fi (3.00 a day Tengo Internet services), seasonal cottages available to rent for 60.00 a day, or 1850 monthly (ouch!) Four hundred seventy-one full hookup sites, seventy pull thrus, 45 foot maximum length RV. There is pickleball and tennis....There's a boat launch and a lake--Lake Davenport, at the back of the park, it's big enough to kayak in! This park is part of the Florida Max Pass that we obtained at the Tampa RV show, so we are staying for FREE!  We are only going to stay three days, because that's the maximum stay allowed to move to the next Thousand Trails/Encore park without having to stay out a week of the system. We're kind of checking out the Thousand Trails parks this year in preparation for next. Since the Tampa RV show was in January, we've got till the end of next January to use our Thousand Trails zone memberships and the Florida Max Pass.  This park charges 35.00 a day at this time of year (April) and 180.00 a week, if you don't have the Max Pass. Great rates, but this is April.... We really like the park and highly recommend it!

That's the latest on the park for now.....We're heading over to check out the Thousand Trails park in Orlando later today, and the Florida Mall where there is an M & M store...(Sparky's in trouble already, she LOVES peanut M & M's. The last time we visited an M & M store in Las Vegas, Sparky had a stash that lasted for months! explains E.)  See you there tomorrow!

Sleepless in Sarasota

Nothing exciting going on at Sun 'n' Fun today....Boy, has the place cleared out just like every other Florida park, and it's quite quiet! We like that....plenty of room at the pool and not so many kids to watch out for on scooters dashing around all over the place.  The last major dinner at the Boondocks restaurant is tonight, called the Las Vegas Revue.  There is poolside music from 7-10 PM, so we'll probably go check that out. They have a canine body language class for dog owners--"What is Your Dog Saying?"  This park definitely has some interesting things going on. Looked like a LOT of people signed up for that as there are a LOT of pet owners in the park. They have at least two dog parks in the park, so this is a pet friendly place, that's for sure!

We've been having trouble with our chairs lately....Eldy's rocker, is on its last legs...GASP! He absolutely LOVES his rocker, but the sun has deteriorated the fabric so much that it's coming apart. Sparky did a hand sewn repair job once, but maybe it's time to get another one.

Repair lasted for awhile

Our mesh chairs, the zero gravity mesh chairs that are so great to recline and take a nap in, are coming apart at multiple grommets and the fabric is separating and stretching beyond repair. Sparky has already re-threaded the elastic through one of the chairs, and replaced the fabric but it's time to replace at least one of them. And we are NOT anywhere NEAR the weight cut off of 300 pounds, and no, we are not cuddling on the chair together, haha.

Off to Camping World! Not only are we having chair problems, but we're having BACK problems, Sparky, mostly. Back in October, we bought a foam mattress. It was supposed to be  ofexcellent quality, not on the cost factor of a Memory Foam mattress, but dense enough to be of good support. HA! Here we are six months later, and the foam is permanently indented with our shapes and it's not recovering. Sparky's back is painfully reacting daily to having slept poorly supported on the mattress so we're going to try and replace it with a sleep number bed. According to the mattress people we purchased the foam mattress from, it is guaranteed for a certain number of years, but the dents have to be ridiculous in depth, and we can't wait till we get back to Indiana (another six months) to complain and fuss and probably no avail. You can't tell the dents are there by looking at it, but you certainly can when you lay on it! So we are investigating the Sleep Number Bed at Camping World today as well. We had one in the old coach and it was WAY better than this darn foam mattress! They will get rid of the old mattress for us, but can't donate it to a good cause because of health rules and regulations. Somebody probably wouldn't have minded a foam mattress less than seven months old for a spare bed, but that's the rules. At least we don't have to cut it up ourselves which is what the Sleep Number Bed Store in Sarasota said we should do with it! They told us that the Sleep Number Bed Stores do not keep ANY beds in stock. You have to order it through the store and pick it up yourself.  That surprised us. It seems that the local store/company did not have any interest in providing customer service. So we decided to go with Camping World and an RV Sleep Number Bed, which only has one model of bed but multiple sizes to choose from, specifically for RV's.

A short time later and a visit to the HUGE Lazy Days/Camping World facility in Tampa, and we are on the way to replacing the mattress with a Sleep Number bed...it's on SALE, the installation is on SALE, so it's a done deal. WE'LL TAKE IT!..Back we go Tuesday for the install...Sure hope this helps Sparky's back!

After looking at lots of different reclining chairs, it appears that the really nice fabric on the chairs that Camping World offers is probably going to see some hard wear being pulled in and out of the bays. They don't have the open mesh style any more, at least not on the floor. The cloth fabric seems like it could easily snag, and Sparky just decided she isn't using her recliner zero gravity chair much for naps or kicking back. She LIKES this black Coleman chair a LOT and it's extremely comfortable to sit in. SOLD!  And this time, we decided to purchase the warranty package for a few extra dollars in case we have problems with fabric or frame. Out of three chairs we have purchased in the last three years, all three have had problems within the first two years...Design is mainly the problem, and sun and weather/rain damage has caused the rest. Might as well get Eldo a new rocker. Maybe we'll spray it with fabric protectant coating and that will help it last longer. We're good to go now!