Nothing stolen from my campsite last night, so that is a huge relief. I haven't walked the dog yet, so I don't know how the rest of the RV park fared. I really know only a handful of people here but because folks see me ride my bicycle so often, they tend to stop me when walking the doggy to tell me of the latest thefts or vandalism and to tell me to lock up my bicycle.
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| Ferocious Guard Dog "I'll keep an ear out..." |
I don't exactly blend into the scenery as neatly as I think. I pedal around on a red bicycle with a singing kooky dog in the front basket plus dual rear baskets for cargo which might contain garbage or dog toys or groceries. I have long hair blowing in the wind when most folks my age tend to have very short hair. I often wear a hat or headband tied around my forehead to keep my hair from blowing in my face. Some days I braid my hair, other days my hands don't want to cooperate to do that, so I tie on a head band and go. This also catches my sweat and keeps that from dripping into my eyes.
I don't have any sneakers and ride with Croc shoes, a strange choice in bicycle gear, I even ride with flip flops some days, crazy as it sounds but my pedals grip whatever shoe I am wearing, so I haven't had any trouble with my odd selection in footwear.
If it's cold I wear gloves and arm warmers made out of old socks with boots on my feet and sometimes a scarf wrapped around my neck. My doggy wears his little coat and if it's real cold, then I wrap a blanket around him up to his chinny-chin-chin. He loves this but it does look a wee bit strange.
To say the least!
I get cold real easily, so I am sometimes all dressed up for cold when others from the arctic north are riding around on race bikes in shorts and T-shirts staring at me with all my winter gear piled on.
I've been seen wearing a long dress on my bicycle instead of pants because that is what I happened to be wearing when I decided to hop on my bicycle. I don't go real fast or real far, but I sure have fun getting exercise. (At least I tell myself that over over.) That dreaded 8 lettered word! Oh some days I get to going pretty fast and actually pass a few riders. Having the seat back does make it easier to pedal because I can push harder with my legs. Riding with my doggy though, makes it harder to ride a bike, but I enjoy having him with me most of the time. I just wish he didn't sing.
My "Day 6" bicycle is unique in that it has a big comfy seat with a back support plus high handle bars, so that there is no pressure on my hands. Add to that my goofiness in adding streamers to my handle bars, so I guess I accidentally stand out just a wee bit when I go riding around.
If I were riding in Amsterdam, I would just blend in with the thousands of other bike riders that tend to dress up uniquely and enjoy customizing their bicycles.
Back to the crazy campground...
I forgot to mention that a few days ago, several bicycles had their tires slashed and a motorcycle trailer with 2 motorcycles inside had his 4 tires slashed on the trailer. This was night before last, I forgot to mention it in my last post.
Rampant speculation as to who or why this insanity has attacked this peaceful campground is far and wide. Everyone has their own unique ideas about this mess.
I saw a movie awhile back, can't remember the title, but it was about a bunch of thugs hired to terrorize an apartment building so the residents would move out so that a developer could snatch it up for cheap. This is a county owned park that has a day use park with tons of activities as well as a section for RV's and campers. So I don't think the theory that someone wants to snatch up the property is valid. But it does seems that possibly someone or several someones would prefer the RV's and campers to move out. The restrooms have been vandalized many nights, another bit of insanity.
By day the park is heavily patrolled by police, rangers, sheriff, citizen's patrol (no idea who they are) but I don't see any patrolling at night. Maybe they patrol when I am not looking.
The chaos does have campers talking and thinking about moving but no one has moved out because of this that I know about. Only problem is that this is January in Florida. RV parks and campgrounds are pretty much booked solid for monthly stays with January and February being the busiest months. In other words, finding a park with a monthly rate or one that accepts monthly rentals at this time of year without prepaid reservations is like finding a needle in a haystack.
The priciest parks tend to have some vacancies, if you can afford their ridiculous rates. Some campgrounds in Florida go for over $2,000 a month! You read that right, over two thousand dollars!
The state parks have a 14 day limit. Most state parks below the freeze line have no vacancies as folks tend to book the winter month sites the minute the reservations open up on the internet. If you don't grab a spot in those 30 seconds, you are out of luck.
I have a reservation where I am staying and they have penalties for cancelling it. Whether they would make an exception due to the high crime is probably unlikely, given that the park is governed by a county board of politicians. Government agencies are notoriously non flexible.
It seems all the sites in here are booked up. I don't think anyone has left. When someone pulls out of a site, another camper seems to set up a few hours later.
I honestly don't know if the police or rangers are doing anything about the sudden rise in crime. Others say they are not. It's hard to know what to believe.
Years back when I was first looking to buy a bicycle I was checking thrift shops and pawn shops. The thrift shops seemed to never have bicycles and the pawn stores had plenty but the prices were ridiculously high for something used. I think it's odd that anyone would pawn a bicycle that they owned so I often wondered if I bought a pawn shop bicycle if someone would claim it was stolen and take it away again.
Life is goof.
Sorry about being so long winded, I guess this nightmare is just on my mind waaaaay too much.
Well it has distracted me from my plumbing woes, which I must get back to fixing. All things take time and patience.
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Life is goof!