It's just a waiting game on the property. Phase 1 completed, Phase 2 to allegedly come next week.  After they get done with that, I will get out there and mark the pads with stakes.  I will also check to see the grade. There is going to be one unless I have a hundred truckloads of dirt (just guessing, really don't know how many truckloads it would take) to level it out,  

My views of how this park is going to be built change with the prospect of how much money it will cost to do certain things.  I can't seem to get this guy to give me a quote on digging out a pond. If he doesn't want to do it or just wants to do it after the fact, he should just tell me.  I can get someone else in there to do it.  But I'm not going there with him right now. 

What I have been doing is looking at other parks as I drive by them on my various trucking journeys and seeing what kind of grade/slope they may have.  Several of them, after taking a billionth look and actually looking at that aspect - are on pretty good grades.  This isn't desirable by any stretch of the imagination, but all of them are at least 75% filled up with RV's.  

I am starting to take these complaints online with a grain of salt.  I instead am looking at the sticking points the owners of the parks that have been in the business for a while are stating.  Dogs are actually one of the biggest complaints of both the park owners and guests.  Barking was my first thought, but no, that's not it.  It's dogs shi***** all over the place and their owners not cleaning up after them, even if you provide bag stations with trash cans to dump it into.  

That is a bit disconcerting and I can see how that would be an irritant for everyone but the dog's owner, apparently.  

Even WiFi. Yes I will try to provide it, but whatever you put up? Someone is going to complain about it.  It didn't work here!  Oh well! I put it up, provide your own! I might not tell them that, but it's really been a bit perplexing to me that people that absolutely must have wifi don't just supply their own? I don't rely on wifi anywhere when I'm trucking, I have Verizon unlimited with unlimited hotspot.  It works almost everywhere, there are a few places it cuts out, but my property isn't one of them. In fact, at the rear of the property I noticed the other day I have 3 out of 4 bars of reception. That's plenty, I can stream movies and youtube with that kind of reception.\

But, like any provider, there are weak spots on the property, still at least 2 bars tho.  

The bathhouse is still priority, but the real complaint about bathhouses is that they aren't clean.   If I can get one put up, it is going to be small to start with and it is going to have a once a day cleaning/restock.  

I definitely want a pool. It will be a standout attraction.  In this area, there are no pools at RV parks.  This isn't a must have for everyone, but it is a great amenity to put in for appeal.  Especially in hot East Texas summers. Now, whether that pool gets put in at the beginning or later one? I don't know yet. 

Dogs are going to be allowed, regardless of the problems they present.  Too many people have them and shutting them out would be turning away customers.  It will just have to be outlined in the rules that dogs are not to be left alone, all dogs must be on a leash everywhere in the park excepting in the doggy park and any time the dog poops, it needs to immediately be cleaned up with the caveat that any guests found leaving dog crap on the ground will be asked to leave. I will have a dog station at the park and one somewhere in the campground away from the park for people to deal with their pet's waste.  

I've toyed with the idea of building a dog run on a couple of the pads - chain link with a gate - for people to simply let their dogs have a little outside time without the owners having to constantly watch them or keep them leashed.  I would charge extra for that.  Or, have the entire grass area fenced in with gates.  I am thinking of things that won't cost a fortune that will give guests a better experience.  I've never seen any parks with fenced in lounge areas, I have only seen one with a chain link fence between the lots.  Yup, money. Not something I would want to do on every lot. Just a couple to see how popular it might be.  

Interestingly, some people want privacy at their site and some people want it all open for attempts at being sociable with other campers.  Again, my views of how this thing is going to be set up change as I come to a better understanding of what people really want versus a few people posting stuff on line. That is their personal opinions, which is fine, but they don't always speak for a majority.  If I had had this park built and done with a year ago, I would have had several mistakes that I would have regretted and would be trying to correct. 

Somewhere down the road a large canopy with sitting areas will be provided. That will not happen at first, it's just too costly.  I will focus on the sites and getting them nicely appointed with amenities that people want.  And if we're dreaming, a small hotel.  There are many people that want to have their guests where they are visiting be able to stay at the same place.  There are Park Model "RV's" that can be used for that - it's pretty much a mini-mobile home - or a flat out hotel with around 10 rooms - nothing huge - to put them up in.  

Anyway, I can dream all day long. Instead, I just wait lol.  

Went to Oklahoma 2 days ago.  Got back that day - out of drive hours with 7 miles to go, I switched to another mode and finished it out.  I'm not going to "stay" somewhere 7 miles away from the yard, government regulations be damned.  I made great time hitting most of the lights on green and not encountered traffic stalls anywhere.  Just what happens on a weekend.  I had yesterday off because of it and we are a day in between runs right now. So it's 2 days off, but I best be getting sent out tomorrow.  

And I took Addler out a few days ago with the 7 year old.  It was a light misting rain going on, nothing that stopped us. But after we got into the woods a bit, a clap of thunder and then it began raining, enough that the boy was soaking wet by the time we got back to the car and Addler wasted no time going straight to the SUV and jumping into the back.  It was just good to see Addler his normal self after that surgery and everything that occurred afterwards.  

I think I might take him today, no rain and the temps are coming back up after a few nights of sub-freezing temperatures.  Other than that? Just working on my room. Slowly taking shape. It takes a while to go through papers and determine which ones I need to keep and what I can chuck in the trash.  

I also decided to buy no parking signs for the plot of ground where the trucker is parking his truck - on my land.  His truck is tearing up the front of the driveway and I don't like it.  I'm certainly not going to have this guy destroying it once I get it fixed. I haven't seen his truck parked there for a while - I was going to put a notice up on his window.  He's OTR and not home often, but his few stops at home are destructive.  Im very likely going to take down the gate as well. It's in my way and it doesn't need to be there and I don't have to allow it.  They can take me to court, I suppose, but my reply will be to move it in front of their operation, not a thousand feet away from it.  

Finally? No one wants a war with Russia. Well, not normal thinking people anyway. It's not something I relish in my mind as some sort of fun thing to engage in. But, Russia is pushing the limits with getting closer and closer to Ukraine's border and over into neighboring countries.  Some of those are NATO countries and any assault on them, even if by accident, really needs to be met with an answer.  Watching hospitals and schools being bombed isn't helping the situation.  So, is our President weak and yellow bellied not wanting to engage in a no fly zone or is he smart and wanting to avoid a direct war with Russia? Well, the experts are full of varying opinions, that's for sure.  About the time Russia asked China for help? That's where we should just say screw it, give them the fighter jets and see what happens.  

And what happens when this war is over and whoever wins? The cities are destroyed.  So much wanton destruction and the aftermath will be a large swath of uninhabitable structures that will have to be razed. Where will they get the money to rebuild all of this? I suspect that depends on who wins. If Russia wins, we are certainly not going to give the russian government money to rebuild what they destroyed. It seems impossible that the Ukrainians could win this war, but if they do, I suspect the world would pour out the money, materials and even the physical labor to help rebuilt it.  

With that, I'm offa here. I'm losing fat on the Keto diet - but these 16 hour stretches sometimes get a bit much. 15 more minutes and I can eat, lol.

G'day