Our Future Home Site

This winter we stayed at Deer Creek Golf and RV Resort in Davenport Florida.  We had been here a couple of years ago and really enjoyed our stay.  This visit we were considering purchasing a lot to build a small home with a covered RV port. Davenport Florida is a great location for us.  Its an easy drive to Orlando and Sanford International Airports and 20 minutes to most Disney attractions. 

During our stay we met many great and interesting people.  Deer Creek is a winter home to many Americans as well as Canadians.  They are referred to as "Snowbirds" but some residents live here during the entire year. The community has RV port homes, manufactured homes, park models and RV lots, many with storage sheds.  The Deer Creek Resort is made up of five distinct sections.  Each section is exclusive and has its own rules and regulations.  Amenities include an 18-hole executive golf course, swimming pools, tennis courts and numerous clubhouses including the main central clubhouse.   

During our stay we both joined and played in the Men and Women's golf leagues as well as Thursday and Sunday's couples leagues.   Kathy won the Ladies Club Championship.  It's true, I have a picture of her and her tiara.  During our stay, we narrowed our focus for purchasing a lot down to either Osprey Point or Regal Pointe because we felt those two sections offered the best possibility to be able to build what we ultimately want to have.

The people we met throughout the park treated us as though we were already owners and lifetime friends.  We were invited to many parties and events. We both agreed that this would be a great place for us.  A perfect place to live and have our RV right next to our house.  Our future plans are to stay in Davenport Florida 5-6 months of the year and travel during the others.   

In March  2012, we decided to purchase a lot in the Regal Pointe section of Deer Creek Golf and RV Resort.  Our lot is located at 1121 Deer Creek Blvd, Davenport Fl, below I-4 on Hwy 27.  This section is exclusively for Class A motor homes. 

This is a view from behind our motor home looking over the lots behind us.  Although our lot has 1050 square foot of pavers now, when complete it should look similar to the below photo.

Our home will be the reverse of this one.  Our motor home will be facing inward and the home will be on the right side.  The port will cover the motor home as well as a parking area in the front for the van and golf cart.  

This  is the gated entrance to the Regal Pointe section of the community. 

Here's a photo of the pool and hot tub area of the clubhouse.  The pool is heated which helps during those chilly winter days

The inside of the clubhouse is very relaxing with many couches and chairs as well as a big screen TV for Wii bowling. Something is going on almost every night of the week.

There are many dances, parties and Branson type shows that are open to residents.  Wednesday and Fridays are my favorite nights,  we play Texas Holdem Poker which attracts many victims including myself.  A very large kitchen area is perfect for hosting dinners and larger events. 

The fitness room includes treadmills, stationary bikes, an elliptical  machine, weight machine and TV for keeping you active during your stay. 

The clubhouse also has a small library and computer center as well as washer and dryers for doing laundry and complete men's and ladies restrooms with showers. 


Even though we are very happy with our new lot and our long term plans to build, we still intend to go west next winter season, so we do not expect to be back at Deer Creek until late in 2013.

Blog Catch Up Time

Just to update you on our travels since our last post in July 2011.   From July - November we spent most of the time at Kathy's Mom's farm in Indiana. Our goal this visit was to get Mom on a 15-year plan - By that time Mom will be 90 years old and we think she might consider moving by then.  We looked at things around the farm and asked "will that last another 15 years".  If the answer was no, then maybe it needed to be replaced, removed, etc.   Mom had the trees over the house trimmed, had the old chimney removed and a new roof put on the house. Also, the front porch roof was repaired after storm damage.

Mom also had new windows installed in the garage.  We painted the garage floor which looked great. 

We painted the outside of the first barn and Mom had a contractor enclose another with an entrance door and new metal garage door.  

  
The same storm that damage the porch roof split this tree.  The tree had to be removed so we contacted a local tree company to do the work.

Here you can see the crew in action.  


Kathy's brother Mike pitched in and removed all the scrap metal  from the farm.  I help mend the porch ceiling fan and painted the front porch railing.   In addition to everything else that was done, we also added a gravel site to the rear of the house which included a 50 AMP service for our RV.  

Kathy's Mom knee required surgery and healed very quickly this summer and all is well at the farm. In addition to all the work that was done on the farm, Kathy found time to catch the remaining farm cats and had them spayed and neutered.  You would not believe what a gigantic effort it took to get this accomplished.   


In early October our refrigerator cooling unit died.  We were contemplating installing a residential refrigerator.  After careful consideration, we decided to travel to Shipshewana IN, and have an Amish cooling unit installed.  We would highly recommend the Amish cooling unit to anyone that needs to replace their existing cooling unit. JC's refrigeration did an excellent job.     


We also found time to visit our great friends Ron and Jennifer Webb in Bracebridge ON.  Ron is the CPGA Pro at South Muskoka Golf and Curling Club.  During our visit, Ron invited us to play Bigwin Island.

To get to the course you have to take a shuttle boat.  You can see the clubhouse ahead in this photo.  Ron was an assistant Pro here early in his career. The island houses million dollar estates and is one of the premier golf courses to play in Canada.

Here we are at the first tee. Fore!

You can see how beautiful the condition of the course was during our round. Looks like a painting. 

The finishing hole is exceptional.  We had a great time visiting our Canadian friends in Bracebridge ON,  and look forward to our next visit. 

We also had a chance to visit Mike and Sharon Felter (Drifter) in Michigan to help change out his Norcold refrigerator to a residential unit.  Once the unit was removed from its location, we could not get it out the front door without removing the cooling unit.  It took another hour to get it loose and out it went!

We left Mom’s farm in Indiana on the 15^th of November.  We stayed Indiana a little later than normal to attend a wedding in Wisconsin.  Hello Boothy's, Milem's, Kathy and Keith  .  We visited lots of friends in November, both at the wedding and on our way to our current location in Davenport, FL near Orlando.  For some reason most of them were Canadians, don’t you know?    

We told Bill and Olga we would stop by Destin sometime for a visit.  It only took us a few years.  We had an opportunity to golf and enjoy a great seafood dinner right on the water.   Their hospitality was exceptional and the weather was excellent.

During our visit to Destin we stayed at the Destin Army Recreation Center located on the inter coastal canal.  A small but very nice place for a weeks stay.  We would highly recommend this facility for all our military friends.  

Coast to Coast Grandkids Tour - Canyonlands NP (July 2011)

Canyonlands National Park provides many spectacular views looking up, down, and across a seemingly endless expanse of canyons.  I never imagined that sand, stone and rocks could be so beautiful and amazing.

We hiked the 1/2 mile Upheaval Dome Trail. The strange formation consists of a huge circular pit, about a mile in diameter and 1,100 feet deep, surrounded by rings of uplifted rock that were originally several thousand feet under the ground.

No one knows exactly what caused this phenomenon. Our video of Upheaval Dome.

After stopping at the visitor center, a ranger suggested we hike Whale Rock Trail which is one mile in length. 

 Kath and the boys pause for a photo OP on our way up the the formation.

You start out going through a short valley with plenty of trees prior to getting to the base of the

hill.

Here we are walking along the whale's belly. It is very slippery and we caution the kids to stay away from the sides. Does not look that high!

This long sandstone formation looks like a giant beached whale that came ashore on the Island in the Sky. We thoroughly enjoyed this hike.

Coast to Coast Grandkids Tour - Arches NP (July 2011)

The sultry red rock landscapes of Arches National Park are among the most dramatic in the country.

Balanced Rock is one of the favorite places to see while at the park.  Who knows when this thing will fall off its pedestal.

Dave and Ryan waving during our primitive loop trail walk. 

The park boasts over 2000 stone arches, including the world-renowned Delicate Arch, a favorite spot for gazing at the sunset, and the 306 foot long Landscape Arch, one of the longest arch formations in the world.

Kathy and the boys decide to take a rest at Double Arch before continuing our walk.  

This formation is know as the Pot Hole Arch.

Delicate Arch is a 52-foot (16 m) tall  freestanding natural arch. It is the most widely-recognized landmark in Arches National Park and is depicted on Utah license plates.  The Olympic Torch Relay for the 2002 Winter Olympics passed through the arch.

The boys have to climb everything and anything here in Sand Dune Arch.

Think we can balance three people on this rock?

I hope Ryan's Mother does not see this photo!

Jake trying his hand at rock climbing.  He found one of the cool places among the rocks.  The further you get to the inside of this crevice the cooler the temperature gets.  It was very hot during our walk.

That's right, Dave is on top of the rock with Ryan.  I honestly do not know what goes through his mind sometimes.  Now, get off the rock!

Now Dave gets both the boys in action.  I thought this area was for kids only!

Landscape Arch at 306 feet long.  On September 1, 1991, a 73-foot slab of rock fell out from underneath the thinnest section of the span. This was captured on video by a Swiss tourist who happened to be behind the arch at the time. On the sound track of the video, another hiker can be heard saying "I don't think I want to walk back under there!"

Jake decided to complete the Junior Ranger Program here at the park.  Here we are at his swearing in ceremony.  He and Ryan completed four Junior Ranger programs last year during our vacation.