We left Savannah to head for the warmth of Florida! We left late in the day, so even though it only took a couple of hours to get there, it was too late to check in to a campsite. We planned on staying at the St. Augustine Walmart. Staying in an RV in a parking lot has its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages:
- We are within walking distance to a store that carries just about everything we need at a low cost.
- There is constant video surveillance.
- You can get a glimpse of the population based on the fellow shoppers at Walmart.
- The only thing within probably walking distance is a Walmart or other commercialized businesses (most of the time).
- There is constant noise from the traffic and people coming in and out of the store. Not to mention the sounds of the shopping carts being collected.
- Although you can get a glimpse of the population, we're not going to make any friends at a Walmart.
The next day we got up and headed to St. John's RV Park. It's on the same property as a flea market and farmer's market.
The park had the most irritating hours: 8am-10:30am and 2pm-5pm. We arrived at 10:45am that day. With no one there to check us in, we had to figure out their confusing map and find an open spot to wait for the office to open.
As we were backing into the first spot, someone rushed over in the pouring rain to tell us that was their spot. We apologized and headed to another spot that the map had labeled as vacant.
We got out to plug in and noticed there was a welcome mat at the site = Someone else is staying there. Once again we get back into the RV, back out, and pull into yet another site.
We settled in and waited for the office to open. There was finally a break in the rain, so we took the dogs out to do their business. There were so many anthills! Poor Suede got one of her back legs all eaten up! =[ And this happened in the area the RV park designated for dogs!
Finally 2pm rolls around and we get to check in. The owner of the park was a very nice lady. Right before we pay and as I'm filling out the paperwork, the owner asks the dreaded question, "What kind of dogs do you have?" We don't like answering this question so we just say that we don't know what kind of dogs they are, "They're just rescues." She then goes on to explain that their insurance provider is extremely strict about Pit Bulls. If they see a dog that even LOOKS like a Pit Bull on the premises, they would fine the park. After dealing with so many stressful situations, this was it for me. I ripped up the paper and walked out. I look up as much information as I can on everywhere we plan on staying (especially their pet policy) to avoid situations like this. If you don't allow Pit Bulls then maybe you should post a sign or put it on your website! Josh met me back in the RV and told me the park owner was "sorry" about the Pit Bull ban and that she even owned a Pit and wasn't allowed to bring her dog to her own park. Whatever. Find an insurance company that isn't racist against dogs! It's the deed not the breed. She was very nice though, and didn't charge us to dump our tanks nor the electricity we used for the couple of hours we waited for the office to open.
Stressed out, we headed back to Walmart to look up other parks in the area. It just wasn't meant to be for us to stay in St. Augustine, FL. We found a handful of parks in the area that were just too expensive (some even $50+ a night) or had dog restrictions (breed and/or weight).
After researching outside of the St. Augustine area, Josh found an affordable place in San Mateo, FL that met all of our needs. We decided to cut our losses and make the forty-five minute drive southwest just as the rain decided to slow. I was disappointed to miss out on exploring the town, but like the Stones say, "You can't always get what you want."
No comments:
Post a Comment