It is a busy time at the park, the contracts for the 2020 season are ready, so everyone receives an invitation back to the park along with the invoice for the new season. There are a total of three options to pay for the next season, to try to suit each persons budget and ability to pay. It is also a time of year when the habitual rule breakers get taken to task…whether it’s for not having a car pass or not paying for guests…so we have heard a lot about new rules. The rules are no different then they have been over the last ten years, we are just starting to enforce them so some of the long term guests have there noses out of joint, and a lot a problems are coming to light.

The contract or license of occupancy has been designed by a lawyer for the group of Ontario camp owners and has been in place for a lot of years, it was drafted by a group lawyer and has stood up in court on numerous occasions. So if it works, don’t mess with it. To reduce two pages of legal into it’s simplest form the contract is for one vehicle, two adults and two children under nineteen, and everyone listed by name on the contract. So far so good now we have a park fee charged for everyone not on the contract that comes into the park, should be simple but it’s not…

The first issue is the second vehicle, if you want to have a second vehicle there is an additional charge $225 for the season or $5 per night. If you want to have family visit you can buy a seasonal guest pass that gets a vehicle, two adults and two children which is $250 for the season or it is $5 per vehicle and per person per night. So a family of four visiting for a day $25, so the seasonal makes a lot of sense. But here is where it takes a turn if you want to let some one use your site when you are not here, you have to notify the office and they pay half of the over night rate which is $30, the issue becomes liability the park needs to know who is responsible for that site at all times. And the guests now take on the responsibility for abiding by the rules so if there is an issue it will land back on the original contract holder but we know who is responsible.

The problem is that the long term guests are just ignoring the rules, which is followed by pleading ignorance for a contract that they signed less than a year ago and is the same as the contract of the last number of years. It’s a case of the rules need to be applied evenly across the park and guess who gets to be the enforcer…yes yours truly. And if you want me to ride you like a rented mule just be that lipy one who has to have the last word or threaten me and I will be up your business like no tomorrow, and the more annoying I get with each little infraction and the more satisfying it is to me to watch them squirm…I know kind of miserable prick aren’t I…lol.

Oak Grove is a 55+ RV Resort located in LaBelle Florida, it is a new park with approximately 150 sites with classification “Standard” “Premium” and “Super”, all sites are large with pavers the premium are pull thru or on one of the two lakes, the Super sites seem to be corner lots on the lake. There are also 24 park model sites all located in one area.

Amenities include a heated pool, pickle ball courts, pétanque courts, shuffleboard, horse shoe pits, dog run, laundry, comfort station, community centre, and a club house. All campgrounds advertise wifi but they never step up and provide any bandwidth and Oak Grove is no different, a strong signal but no bandwidth, there is always talk of some people streaming and possible signal theft, but the reality is what they provide is intended for email and little more….and the cellular signal is so weak in some areas of the park that hot spots are ineffective as well.

Short comings of the park, simply it’s not done….as a full time traveller we have certain expectations one being a finished site, grass, stone, whatever the area climate demands most sites beyond the pavers are just dirt and weeds with a few strips of sod here and there. There is no gate security so people can just drive through the park, there is night security but nothing during the day. Picnic tables are also simply just expected, we do not depend on them because sometimes they are a little rough, but here they are dispensed upon request and only while supplies last and seem to have become such a valuable commodity that people were picking them up as rigs left the park, and now the park sends a stake truck and a couple of workers to pick them up when some one leaves….it has became quite amusing. And as I sit writing this review with my coffee before eight in the morning the crew is putting up a wood fence on the property line, behind our coach, we would be ok with a nine o’clock start but seven o’clock is no good…just saying

The park owners Dan & Lorraine are very nice, but I’m sure they are becoming hardened with all the demands and complaints, some warranted but with a few hundred seniors each thinking their needs are not being met, as well as the few special people that fall into the park jackass role….every park has one or two and if you don’t know who it is, it could be you….

Most of the concerns I think fall into the growing pains category, the site we are on is less than eight months old, the second lake at the resort wasn’t here a year ago, so let’s see what changes happen by the time people return this winter. The question that is the telltale is would we return to the park and the quick answer is no….although we have met many great people and have added to our RV family and this park has given us a lot of activities the distance from the beach which is Laurie’s main reason for enduring Florida’s humidity is just too far and that’s one of the parks features it’s far enough from the busy of the attractions that is reasonably priced.

As far as rating the park that was less that two years old it would eight out of ten, good amenities, good community, and with a little time and maturity will climb even higher.