Awake: 6:43am Temp 51 sleep 6+43 mostly sunny overnight @ Frostproof, FL.
A casual morning; Kathy watches her favorite TV shows & continues reading her novel while I nonchalantly go on with the campground availability search.
Around noon time, we take a drive to downtown Frostproof, FL, approx (10) miles from our campground, population approx (2,500). We visit the post office & mail a few letters & we check out a church to possibly attend tomorrow…oops, it turned out to be, not Catholic. After scrutinizing the Futral Foodway grocery store & buying nothing, we return to our motorhome & change clothes suitable for our next adventure.
Larry, Jo Ann, & Christie Noelle (a Shih Tzu dog) all greet us @ the door promptly @
4:00 pm. We haven’t seen this couple since 2003 @ a Newell rally in Key West, FL. What we didn’t realize is that J & L have lived in Lake Ashton, FL (an adult gated community with a large area of houses that have attached motorhome garages) ever since 2004. That same yr, K & I, with friends, explored Lake Ashton out of curiosity to check out the construction of these attached motorhome garage houses. Today these 750 acres are loaded with so many homes; we barely recognized the area @ all.
1st things first; Jo Ann gives us a tour of their beautiful home: a very nice & spacious guest room, then another bedroom converted to a studio for Jo Ann’s jewelry making, an then the masterly master bedroom with a huge closet to die for. The living room was aesthetically warm with a lanai that is nearly as large as the living room with glass pocket doors that open fully. The kitchen was modern, open, & convenient but Kathy couldn’t find any new ideas after examining it closely. Then comes the moment I’ve been waiting for; the motorhome garage.
Wow! Only a door away & we see all of the (2) car garage + a fraction of their Newell motorhome around the corner. Larry tells us: “the motorcoach garage is about (60) ft long & (16) ft wide; ceiling height also (16) ft.” He has (2—50 amp) electrical receptacles near the large garage door opening & a sewer receptacle further inside. @ the other end of his coach garage is a workshop & a smaller garage door. A separate air conditioner is assigned to cool the M H space. Everything I could see is well organized & squeaky clean. They also gave us a tour of their new 2008 Newell. That concluded the inside tour & next we are honored to have an outside tour of the Lake Ashton amenities.
With Larry driving the car, our 1st stop was the fitness center where Jo Ann exercises several days a week; then a short drive to the club house with a fairly large library, a billiard room, computer lab with (5) computers, oversize heated pool, 4-lane bowling center, grand ballroom, arts & craft room, basketball court, theatre, & racket ball court. (2) 18-hole championship golf courses & the new updated pro shop rounded out our tour. I may have missed a few amenities, but Jo Ann, assured us that there is no lack of activities for one to do.
From here, with Larry behind the wheel, we head over to the town of Winter Haven & the Longhorn Steakhouse. L & J are meeting (4) other couples & the (12) of us will be sitting down for dinner together. K & I share a filet steak with baked potato & a salad. Most of the people Larry & Jo Ann hang out with have RV’s & attend rallies together. Some of the people we met tonight: Bill & Harriet, Nancy &? Sandy & Bill, & Sally & Hershel were all very friendly.
After our meals are paid for, we say our goodbyes to the new gang & talk about the possibility of seeing them @ the Perry, Georgia rally in March. Then Larry puts the peddle to the metal & zooms us back to their driveway where our car is parked; we thank them for the home tour, motorhome tour & Lake Ashton tour + the opportunity to join them for dinner with some of their friends.
Jo Ann worked daily & diligently to get us tickets for the special performance @ their club house tonight….only to find out: the plan flopped. She was so disappointed & apologized many times. We didn’t want them to be late for the show so it was a quick goodbye for now as they sped off for the club house & we casually puttered down the road to return to our campground around 8:45pm. We sort of felt bad that they felt bad but, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Finished watching: “You Can’t Take It With You” with Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore, James Stewart, Edward Arnold, Mischa Auer, Ann Miller, etc. George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart play about eccentric but blissfully happy household becomes prime Capricorn. 1938. Oscar winner for Best Picture & Director; a great story with a super good message.
Lights out: 12:05am
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