Thursday, March 23, 2017

Back to Harbor Lakes - and we keep learning

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You know the saying: It doesn't rain, it pours! Well, it poured rain on our second day here. A torrential rain with gusty winds that lasted about an hour accompanied by the occasional lightning and thunder. And what did we learn? That our roof patching job did not, I repeat DID NOT, prevent the rain from seeping into the trailer.

It wasn't everywhere. A few spots in the overhead storage above our table (the weird thing is that water was dripping from the base of the cabinet but there was hardly any water inside until later on when it finally accumulated on the bottom - but nothing dripping from the top. On the other side of the entrance door, the wall had streaks of water coming down from the moulding between the wall and the ceiling. So we had two large bowls collecting rain under the cabinets, multiple towels to absorb the water pooling on the bottom and towels on the floor at the base of the weeping wall.

I was so discouraged! My plan to repair the roof ourselves was a total fail! The next day we promptly went to work removing the loose grey tape (the cheaper one) where it had lifted and applying Dicor (a sealant approved for rubber roofs) all along the tape seams. The Everbond tape was still sealed tightly but a few places where there had been only a very small hole had been covered only with the grey tape and that didn't work. We also noticed where in one spot, the roof was caved in slightly. I tried to build it up with Dicor as best I could. The neighbour told us to rub the Dicor in circles with our finger in order to eliminate all air bubbles and to make sure it seals the edge of the tape. I had never heard that before as Dicor is a self-levelling sealant so you normally just apply and let it settle. It was really handy to have a mobile ladder as we could both work at it - I on the roof and Glen on the ladder. We now are confident we covered every possible crack. We'll just have to cross our fingers when the next torrential rain comes down!

This time we are parked right behind the pickleball court. It's kind of fun to hear to ping pong of the ball and the laughter coming from there. I have to convince Glen to play a game with me or I'll have to introduce myself to a threesome as a possible fourth player. There is also a petanque field which also seems like fun. The balls are thrown in a sand court - not rolled. I'm not too sure what the goal is but a lot of people play it. This park is the poster child for older people being active and having fun! A lot of them seem to have friends with them. That would be my dream - to have family or friends camping with us. It's hard to infiltrate an already formed group of friends. That's why the free camping is much easier as no one is there for a long period of time. We're all in the same boat. A lot of people here spend every winter here for the whole six months. It becomes a community.

It's been colder for the last few days. I'm already going stir crazy from spending more time inside. I keep looking for things to fix or change. While doing some laundry with my little hand-cranked machine, I cleaned the whole bathroom. While I was waiting for the machine to fill with water I scrubbed the shower track (which I hate and would gladly remove and replace with a shower curtain but Glen is so afraid of change!), I meticulously cleaned the stopper in the sink, I wiped the shower walls and wiped clean the faucets. I then cleaned the medicine cabinet's mirror and wiped the countertop with a disinfectant cloth. I just had the toilet to do to complete the job. You must understand that my little machine only takes small loads that have to be spun dried afterwards - it takes time. I also soaked a few of the loads as the clothes were getting grungy with ground-in dirt. Everything was hung up to dry on my handy extend-a-line that sits neatly on the remaining part of our ladder. I love air drying the clothes! It makes them smell so fresh!

Even though I wouldn't rate this campground as the friendliest (meaning staff), they do have the best temperature for their pool. Just right! You still feel refreshed but don't have a shock going into it. Most people just hang around in the pool and talk. It's a great place to meet and greet! They also provide pool noodles which I love to use as I can float around or swim with it under my arms or sit on it and pretend I'm riding a seahorse. I must get my own for when we go back to Canada.

Their activities surpass a lot of other campgrounds. The people here are spoiled with lots to do!

We got to spend a lovely afternoon with acquaintances from my life with horses, Carrie & Ron Bova, who took us boating to a lovely dog beach where the turquoise water is shallow and we can walk and play with the dogs without having to get really wet. It was such a nice place but only accessible by boat. Then Carrie suggested we go to this tiki hut restaurant where there are slips for the boats to dock at and they even allowed the dogs to come with us. We sat in the shade with Carrie's three standard schnauzers quietly waiting for us under the table while we ate appetisers and drank "Arnold Palmers", a drink made of iced tea and lemonade. There were men cleaning fish right by the entrance to the boat slips and a multitude of pelicans were staying around looking for handouts. Carrie & Ron bought a very nice canal home in Englewood where they have a dock for their boat right in front of their property. They even have a nice view of the bay from their living room! How cool is that?




















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