I love this “Grandparents at Play” sign on the way into Lake San Marino RV Park. It certainly reflects most of the residents here. LSM is a “55+ Active Adult Community” that also happens to let a few youngsters like me come stay with them on a temporary basis.
I had stayed at this park back in March for a week when my mom and I were visiting family and friends in Naples, and so when Mom said she’d be going to Florida again in November, I checked availability at LSM to see if I could get a good rate like last time. Since it was still a bit early for main snowbird season (Jan-Mar), they were running a special where the monthly rate was only $100 more than the weekly rate.
I rolled in on Nov. 1st along with about 25 other snowbirds and the staff really had things ready for us—a complimentary cold bottle of water, our registration packet jammed full of activity calendars and local info, and many guys on golf carts to lead us to our sites. I pulled into Site 193, put a few leveling blocks out, and the View never moved again for the rest of our stay!
I had to work every day, so left most of the planned activities to the seniors, but they were busy! Daily shuffleboard matches (with a bleacher section no less), weekly horseshoes, twice a week bike rides and golf outings, and nightly card games. I was kind of glad all I had to do was sit in front of a laptop all day!
My neighbors for the month were Bob and Sally, full-time RV’ers from Paducah, Ky. They were a lot of fun and Millie loved getting her daily back “massage” from Sally!
Our street was half made up of snowbirds from Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, and the other half from Canada (mostly Quebec). It was great to go for morning walks and be greeted with a “Bon Jour” from one of the Quebec folks!
Millie made friends with a dog about her size named Ginger who was from Missouri. The two of them would meet at the dog walk area nearly every day to play. We also found a far corner of the park where Millie could get off her leash for a few minutes to play frisbee. One couple used to come out on their patio each evening just to watch her jump and catch those frisbees!
One day, I came back from emptying the trash to find that Millie had been keeping my seat warm … and no doubt, texting her pal Ginger down the street again!
But perhaps the cutest thing was the night we heard loud meowing outside the RV. I looked outside to see a little kitten beneath Bob and Sally’s RV. It looked like it might be really hungry, and since it was Thanksgiving weekend, I put some of Millie’s dog food and a bowl of milk out on the patio to see if the kitty would take it. A few minutes later, I started hearing the sound of kibbles crunching, so I stuck my camera out the door to get a quick shot. Turns out, there were actually 3 kittens enjoying Millie’s food that night, but they were so skittish, I could only get 2 of them to pose. So cute though!
After nearly a month, I really had grown fond of Lake San Marino and it’s friendly community. I hope to return to spend a full winter season there next time. The warm 80-degree days and moist Gulf breezes really spoiled me!
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