Lucky Clover RV & Mobile Home Park

Lucky Clover RV Park is located at 635 E. Eau Gallie Blvd., Melbourne, FL. This park is mainly a mobile home park with RV sites along the outer street. Normally we try to avoid parks that are mainly mobile home parks because the people don't seem to be as friendly but we were in Melbourne during the sno-bird season and had to take what we could get.

The lots were a nice size and each one had a trash can that you had to put out on trash day. Most of you will laugh at this but this is one of the little things you miss doing when you are always moving. At most parks you have to take your trash to the park dumpster but a few will pick up your trash bags at the front of your lot. There was just something homey about having a real trash can and having a garbage truck pick it up in front of your RV.

The laundry building had a privacy fence around a large area that had clotheslines available for everyone to use. I was always fascinated by watching my grandmother hang out the clothes on wash day and there is something relaxing about being able to hang your clothes out to dry so I took advantage of this.

Lucky Clover RV Park is big enough to get in some pretty nice walks and the road that runs in front of it has wide sidewalks so we got plenty of exercise. The area was really nice and we were close enough to walk to Wal Mart if we needed to pick up something.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Lucky Clover RV Park and would definitely stay there again if we go back to that area.

Wilderness RV Park Estates

Wilderness RV Park is located in Silver Springs, FL. This is a gated park but there is a night security person who you can call using a radio kept in a box at the campground entrance who will let you in and guide you to a site if you arrive after hours.

This is a large park that is divided into 3 sections. They have new section that is just for Class A motorhomes with concrete pads and patios and storage sheds. There is another section that was designed to accomodate park models but there are several RVs in this section also.

The 3rd section is located at the front of the park and is where they park the short timers. This section is the older part of the park but they are doing upgrades on the sites and buildings. There are a lot of sites for sale here and several of the lots have already been purchased by individuals. Some of the lot owners are very territorial so you have to be careful not to accidently get on their lot....with your vehicle or your pet.

This RV park is very pet friendly and has a fenced in area where dogs can play off leash. Wilderness RV Park even has "doggy pots" mounted on posts at every 3-4 street corners so you don't have to carry used poo bags with you through your whole walk.

Wilderness RV Park is a nice well kept campground and most of the people we met were very friendly. We were lucky enough to be able to stay in this park twice and the only drawback we found is that cell phone and internet service were kind of sporadic since it is located in a rural area. Wilderness RV Park does have Wi-Fi available for an extra charge but we made due with our wireless card.

Woody's RV Resort

Woody's RV Resort is located at 4414 US 27S in Sebring, FL. Woody's RV Resort does not have a website at this time. It is located right on the highway and there are a few baby trees but nothing to give any shade.

We found Woody's RV Resort after we had been told to head to Colorado right after getting set up in Buttonwood Bay RV Resort. When we left Buttonwood Bay, we drove for about an hour and a half and got a call to turn around. The company wasn't ready for us to head to Colorado after all and wanted Dave to work the Sebring job after all.

We really wanted to go back to Buttonwood Bay RV Resort but we knew we wouldn't be in Sebring long and hated to go through another hour of set up time. Woody's RV Resort was right on the highway and had plenty of open pull throughs so it was easy to get into.

The manager was really nice the night we checked in and the park was clean. The manager's wife was not dog friendly or even very people friendly. We paid by the night since we knew we would get a call to leave at any time and it was very difficult to find someone in the office to pay. When we did stop in to pay, they were not very pleasant to deal with.

Woody's RV Resort is one campground that I would not want to stay at again.

Buttonwood Bay RV Resort

Buttonwood Bay RV Resort is located in Sebring, FL. We arrived at this park and were thrilled to see all the beautiful trees and the lakes. This is an older park but well kept. It is a little difficult to get into the campsites with a large RV.

We arrived in the afternoon and I could hardly wait to get set up so I could walk through the park with Beau. It took a while to setup since it was a little difficult to get into the campsite. We were put in the older part of the park where the lots were large but the streets were narrow so it took quite a bit of manuevering to get into our site.

It took about an hour to get into the campsite and hooked up. Just as we were finished and ready to relax for a little while before exploring Buttonwood Bay Resort, Dave got a call telling him they had decided to send him to Colorado for a job instead of doing the Sebring job.

We were very disappointed that we could not stay at Buttonwood Bay Resort and hope to go back at some point so we can fully enjoy this campground.

Okeechobee Resort KOA

Okeechobee Resort KOA is located in Okeechobee, FL. Lake Okeechobee is only a quarter of a mile away so this is a great place to stay if you love to fish!!

Like most KOAs, this campground has Kamping Kottages and Cabins but unlike any other KOA we've ever stayed at, this one has a 9 hole golf course for the avid golfers! We were told that the Okeechobee Resort KOA is the largest KOA in the US.

There is plenty of room to walk and the sites are large. There is a fenced in area for small dogs to play off leash.

The RV park is very well kept and our stay here was extremely pleasant.

John Prince Park Campground

John Prince Park Campground is located in Lake Worth, FL. This is a county run park and is absolutely beautiful!!! It is a big RV park with plenty of room to walk and it is inside the John Prince Park so you can walk through both parks without having to get out on any roads.

This park wraps around a large lake where you can fish, boat, ski or jetski. We were surprised to find a lot of the campers were locals who just loved to come to the park for the weekend. One of the campers could look at her house from her campsite and boated back and forth if she needed anything!!!

We saw iguanas of all sizes running around the park. I had never seen an iguana close up and it was fascinating to watch their activities. The larger iguana were a little scary looking but they all jumped in the water if you got too close to them so they definitely were not dangerous.

If you want to stay at John Prince Park Campground, you would be wise to call ahead. It is a very popular RV Park and they book up fast for the weekends. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring this park and can see why it is so popular.

Boyd's Key West Campground

Boyd's Key West Campground is located in Key West, FL. It is a pretty good sized park and sits right on the ocean. The landscaping throughout the park is beautiful and there is a boat ramp so you don't have to go anywhere else to launch your boat.

The people in the office and working around the grounds are very friendly. We were there just before the sno-bird season started and the park was pretty empty. There were several campers who came through for a few days to go crab fishing. They were all happy to tell me about their experiences and how they actually catch crab by hand!

I saw my first sand crab here and it looked like a big spider with a shell. It gave me a scare when it popped out and back in a hole in front of me.

As most of you know this is an island at the southern most tip of the US. What I didn't realize was that Cuba was only 90 miles away from the southern most tip of Key West!

I didn't find any dog parks nearby but they did have a stretch of beach where you could take your dogs. When we were there the beach was pretty deserted but it was very well taken care of and beautiful.

Boyd's Key West Campground was pretty expensive compared to RV parks in the main part of Florida but with the limited amount of space on the island, I'm sure their expenses were pretty high too. If we ever get sent back to Key West, I would definitely stay at Boyd's again.

Fleetwood RV Park

When we are moving to a new job site, I try to find a RV park that is under 10 miles from the station where Dave will be working. Because of this we sometimes wind up in park that we normally wouldn't stay in.

Last week we were sent to Jacksonville, FL and it was very difficult to find a park within 15 miles of the jobsite. After hours of searching the internet and the park directories we have, I finally found Fleetwood RV Park. This park is less that 2 miles from Dave's jobsite and less than 6 miles from a really nice dog park.

The only way I found out anything about this RV park is through a review that someone else had written. I don't want to slam other bloggers but the review I read did not match up with reality. We probably would have stayed here if we had known what the park was really like but it is quite a shock to read a glowing review and then arrive to find it was almost all false. Rest assured that I write what I see.

Anyway, back to Fleetwood RV Park. It is what I would consider a medium sized park. It has a mobile home section in the back of the park, about 8 pull through sites in the very front of the park and in the middle is an RV section where the long term residents stay.

The park is pretty old and the pull through lots aren't very big but this time of year there aren't many people traveling through so there's plenty of room. There are some decent trees in the middle and back of the park so you do get a little shade when you walk the dogs. Most of the RVs are really old and the park is pretty rundown.

The residents all seem pretty friendly and the manager is very friendly. There are several cats running around the park that have been left or dumped by various people. The manager collected all of these cats and had them fixed so the park is not overrun by feral cats. These cats are very well taken care of. I am so impressed that the manager cared enough to get them fixed and take care of them.

The ducks you see in the picture are all over the park. There's probably a dozen adults and over 2 dozen babies running around. They are fun to watch and the babies are soooo adorable.

Word of warning, we had 2 problems while we were here. They do not take cash and only accept Mastercard or Visa. They accidentally charged my card for an extra week and I had to go through my bank to get it fixed so watch your account closely.

The second problem is extremely irritating. We have a mail forwarding service since we move so much. We arrived here on Friday and on Monday I called our mail service to have the mail sent here. Tuesday I talked to the park manager to let her know a package was coming here for us and she said she would let us know as soon as it arrived. By Thursday I hadn't heard anything from her so I started checking the office every day. Each day I was told it had not arrived. Finally, 1 full week after the package was sent I called my mail service and found the package had arrived here on Wednesday and was refused by the office. Luckily I had delivery confirmation on the package or I would have no idea what had happened. When I went to the office to find out what happened, they had no recollection of the package arriving and that it was my tough luck.

We stay at a lot of RV parks without any problems. We've been at the Fleetwood RV Park 1 1/2 weeks and have had 2 problems. At this point I would have to advise anyone against staying here. It is just not worth the aggravation.

Helpful RV accessories

There are a few things that help make RV travel a little easier.  

You always want to make sure you check your tire pressure before moving your RV.  We bought a new RV and found that it had bad tires on it so now we extra vigilant as to tire pressure.  Here's a great 11" tire gauge that will reach dual tires or deep hub wheels.  We struggled with regular car tire gauges for a year before we found one of these.  It takes my husband much less time and effort now to check all 12 tires.

If you haven't already done so, you need to replace the garden hose with a drinking water hose.  You know the funny taste water has when you drink out of a garden hose?  When you use a drinking water hose, the water tastes like tap water from your house.

While we're on the subject of water - using a Brita Water Pitcher is a great idea.  Even though the drinking water hose makes the water taste like tap water, water is different in every RV Park you go to.  In the beginning we bought bottled water to drink but it seemed like we were always having to run to the store to buy more.  The Brita Water Pitcher replaced the need to constantly buy gallons of bottled water.  We are very happy with the Brita Water Pitcher and the water tastes better than most bottled water.

We started out using blocks of wood behind and in front of our tires to keep the RV from moving once it was disconnected but wheel chalks work much better.  They stay where you put them and they are much lighter and easier to store.

One of the biggest problems is not being able to see while you are backing your RV into a campsite.  My husband would love to have a rear camera so he wouldn't have to totally rely on my directions.  I try really hard but sometimes I just can't stay in view of his mirrors.  By installing a Sony RV Color Rear Camera you greatly decrease the risk of backing into things that will not only damage your RV but could cost you money to repair the campsite or neighboring RVs.  

There are many more items that will make RV life a little easier but this is enough for you to consider now.

Confederate Dog Park

Confederate Dog Park is located in Jacksonville, FL at 956 Hubbard St. in the Springfield District.  It has been closed for the last 6 months for remodeling and was just reopened on Friday.  Confederate Dog Park will have its official grand opening this Friday, June 12.  

Our first visit was on Sunday and there were 4 different local people with their pets that came and left while we were there.  Every one of them made us feel very welcome in the park and was happy to share information about the area.

From what I was told, several years ago the area had been run down and had become populated by a lot of drug dealers, addicts and prostitutes.  Somehow a group of people got together and started fighting to take back the area and turn it into the neighborhood it used to be.  

These people formed a neighborhood watch group and with the help of police and private security, they gradually made the area less profitable for the law breakers.  A historical society was formed and houses began to be restored to their former beauty.

Confederate Dog Park is absolutely beautiful and as you can see, my dogs were very happy there.  There are shade trees and benches placed all around the park so you won't be standing out in the hot sun playing with your dogs.  

The park has a small dog area and a large dog area.  In both areas a water fountain has been installed  for people and a metal waterer for dogs.  The dog waterer is set up so that the old water drains out to prevent it from getting dirty or too hot.  When your dog needs a drink, you just turn the tap and he can have all the fresh water he wants.

All the people involved in restoring the Springfield area should be extremely proud of what they have accomplished.  It really restores your faith in people to see a transformation like this taking place.

Sanlan RV Park

Sanlan RV Park is a nice big park and pretty true to their website.  It is located in Lakeland, FL just off the interstate.  There are shade trees scattered through the park and most of the campsites have concrete patios.  They are in the process of upgrading several sites so you also have the choice of parking on pavement for an additional charge.

There are open fields scattered throughout the park also and the lots are big enough to park your rig and your vehicle.  The permanent park models are concentrated around the outskirts of the park while the transients are down the middle.

As you drive into Sanlan RV Park there is a lake sitting on your left.  There are benches to sit on while you are fishing, a picnic area and a 10 foot alligator to be found sunning on the beach or swimming in the lake.  Yeah, I said a 10 foot gator.  This guy doesn't hide and we see him almost every time we drive by the lake.  The office staff said he's been known to steal fish off people's fishing lines.

This will really interest all you golfers - there's a 27 hole golf course at the back of this park.

They also have some nature trails if you want to get out and do some exploring but be prepared to actually be a part of nature.  The dogs and I hit the trails yesterday afternoon and got much more than we expected.  Several areas of the trail are nicely shaded but there is a lot of water bordering the trail.  You know what fresh water means in Florida.

The trails map indicates several lakes or ponds but it looks like there is quite a bit of dry ground surrounding the trails.  Wrong!  The water came right up to the trails but in most places there was a decent bank so you didn't have to be too concerned with the gators joining you.

I could hear the gators grunting as we walked by which made me a little uneasy but not overly concerned - not until I got to the area they call Banana Lake Run.  There were no banks here but there was quite a bit of brush and downed timber.  We had barely entered this area when I heard a gator grunting and soon realized it was following us in the water.  At this point the lake lived up to it's name.....we ran!!!!!

Unfortunately, I am very directionally challenged and at this point all the signs started saying "wildlife trail" instead of "nature trail".  The last thing I wanted was more wildlife so we kept going and going.....You guessed it - I missed the trail back to the campground and the one I was on dead ended at a padlocked gate.

There was no way I was going to go back the way I came so I climbed the gate and managed to raise it enough to get my dogs through.  Katie is only 40 lbs so I could have lifted her if I had to but Beau is 80 lbs so one or both of us would have gotten hurt if I had tried to lift him over.  I was so proud of him - he's 11 years old and never had to crawl under anything before but he squeezed through when I asked him to.

We wound up in a cow pasture and had to crawl under, over and through a total of 4 padlocked gates before we got back to the park.  I hurt so bad this morning that I could barely get out of bed.  I have had enough Florida nature to last quite a while so we're going to stick to walking around the park.  

There is a very nice dog park about 15 minutes away from here.  It's very clean and well kept.  They have agility equipment for your dogs to exercise and play on.  There are some grass covered dirt mounds for them to climb and automatic waters.  

The only drawback I see with the Sanlan RV Park is that while their site rent is very competitive, they put in some additional charges that add up.  You are allowed to have 2 vehicles and your rig or RV counts as one so if you have 2 cars or a truck and a car, they charge you $1.80 per day for the extra vehicle.  Also they charge $1 per day per dog and you have to buy a $5 permit to wash your vehicle or RV.

When I was in the office buying my wash permit, I asked about the dog fee.  I was told that it was the fee Sanlan RV Park charged for the aggravation of putting up with the dogs.  My opinion is that while this park does allow pets, it is definitely not what I would consider pet friendly.  

Some of the restrictions dog owners have while traveling are due to irresponsible owners not picking up after their pets.  No one likes to step in dog poo so please carry bags with you while walking your dogs and pick up what they leave.  We don't want to get our pets banned from any more areas.  Thank you.

Paradise Island RV Resort

Doesn't the name conjure up visions of a peaceful, tropical paradise?  Paradise Island RV Resort's website made this place sound big and wonderful and the reality was a bit of a disappointment.  

The park is located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL right next to a Walgreens which was very handy but the park itself was very cramped.  Fortunately we were just there but we would have had a lot of trouble getting our unit in and out of the Paradise Island RV Resort during the sno bird season.

There was only one road that was wide enough for two cars to pass.  The campsites had a decent yard but they were not deep enough for most people to park in front or back of their RV.  We had to park in the front yard which crowded the lot next to us.  Most of the parked vehicles crowded the road so there was no way to drive through them with a RV in tow.

We were asked to walk our dogs on the dog walk which I didn't mind until I saw that it was very narrow and also filled with parked cars.  Being the off season, the park was pretty quiet and no one complained about the dogs being walked through the park.

The office people and nighttime security were very nice and helpful.  The park was just not what it was built up to be.  All things considered, the Paradise Island RV Resort was okay but if we go back to Ft. Lauderdale, we'll try a different park.

On the bright side, I found a wonderful dog park at Snyder Park.  They have a wonderful fenced small and large dog area with an agility course.  There are benches and pavillions scattered through the dog park for people and pets to relax and/or socialize.  Across the parking lot there was a lake with a dog swimming beach.  The areas were never jam packed but Beau and Katie always had other dogs to play with.