I toured Arcadia Oaks Assisted Living. It seemed to be very family-friendly. The only drawback that I saw for my mom was just that the apartments were not large enough. They had 2 large apartments, but they're not available. Otherwise, I loved the people, I liked the management, and I liked the place. They had an outdoor garden, and my mother enjoys gardening. Three meals a day were included. People were sitting in the common area that were watching television together. Two ladies were putting a puzzle together, which are things that my mother enjoys doing. They provided transportation to doctors and grocery stores if they chose to go. The size of the room was more than adequate for her needs, but we were instructed to find a place where she can take some of her treasures. They're still working on some of the storm repairs, but they have a generator they can operate 24/7. They had shutters that were already on the windows. If I was looking at it from a storm perspective, it's a safe place to be.

My mother is moving into Arcadia Oaks Assisted Living. I toured that place last Saturday, and then yesterday I took my mom up there so she could see it because I thought she at least deserved the courtesy of seeing it and she was very happy with it. The first thing that I noticed when I walked in there was the smell. Is it an odor or is it an aroma? And this place, the first thing that I notice is, it does not stink, it's open, and it is airy and it's light and high ceilings. Everything about this place to me is to bring people together. You want to encourage people to meet other people in all the common areas, with the dining area, where they can watch TV, where they can just sit and chat, and play cards, bingo, and play cornhole. Whatever it is they want to do, they can either stay in their room if you want to, or you can come out, and you can walk around, and you can be social like me. I was reading the menu for the month, they've got trained chefs, the menu is prepared by chefs. They've got the courtyard, you can get your nails done, and you can get your hair done. Those are things that I think my mom might find useful. I can't find one negative thing to say about this place. This place is just all top-notch and for $2800 a month. This place is providing the same amenities as other places which are $8,000 a month. I love the place. I love everything about it. I don't have anything negative to say about it. So hopefully this is going to be a smooth transition by the weekend. The room was huge, and the ceilings were vaulted. You don't feel like you're in a cage or you don't feel like you're in this little bitty cramped room. Another thing I like is, for instance, the person might have a fall factor, and they might fall in the shower. Their showers are huge, you just walk right into them. There's no ledge, there's no step over. You go in there and then they've got these beautifully installed wooden plank seats. My mom here at this house, I put a shower chair on, so she doesn't fall, but you don't have to do that there. The beautiful thing is you just walk right in. There's no shower curtain, but the way it's designed, the water just goes right into the drain, but the grab bars are all the way around. I can't say enough about the room. They even help with the furnishing because I said, what do I need to bring? The executive director, Deedee, she's the one that's been taking care of all of this. If you need help with the bed and chairs, you need to bring your own TV, but I don't think that's asking too much if you're going to help me furnish the rest of the room. Just very, very accommodating. I can't say enough positive stuff about these people. They go out on shopping excursions. They bring a van in and all these little old folks line up and get in, and they go out and do their thing and come on back. They have games and activities and they bring in entertainment, and bands just to keep these folks energized and entertained, and to where they can interact with each other. I noticed that their staff -- I just felt that these people were interacting with these residents. Some of these people had three and four of these elderly residents just talking to them, just engaged in conversation. To me, that means everything, if someone's going to try to interact with my mom, that's everything. If you need help with your medication, there are people there on site that will help you if you need help with bathing, there are people there on site for that, if people are incontinent, they've got people there that are equipped to deal with that and trained for that. That makes me feel good that no matter what my mom might need, there's someone there that can help with that. If I had to pick the place for me, Arcadia Oaks is where I will be.