Wind Crest resident Norm Fox recently spent nearly six weeks driving 8,415 miles to visit every open Erickson community nationwide.
In this first part of the series, we’ll find out why he did it, learn some differences and similarities among communities, and reveal some unique development stories.
When Norm Fox sat down to chart a mid-March road trip, the plan was to visit friends and family in Texas and Florida. But shortly before putting rubber to the road, his trip snowballed into a cross-country adventure that would capture widespread attention.
The initial purpose of Fox’s trip was to revisit places he had lived or traveled with his wife Sandie, who passed last year. “Since I was going to be in Florida, I figured I’d go ahead and visit more family on the East Coast,” says Fox. “After that, I thought: ‘Geez, I’ll be close to the other 17 Erickson communities, so I might as well visit them too.’”
While others may have been reluctant to travel that far without anyone to ride along or share the driving, Fox didn’t hesitate about journeying solo. “I love driving,” he says.
A familiar feeling: friendliness
One of the first similarities Fox noticed after visiting several Erickson Retirement Communities was the staff. “They were almost universally friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic,” says Fox.
Another common denominator was the dynamic atmosphere in the dining rooms. “Some were more lively than others,” he explains, “but all were full of friendly conversation just like Wind Crest.”
Among the differences was the mode of dress, which was most evident at some communities out east. “Some tended to dress more formally than we do— specially at dinner,” says Fox. He also found that not all fitness and aquatics centers were open 24 hours like they are at Wind Crest. Sometimes he just couldn’t resist dropping some of Wind Crest’s features into conversations. “The folks in Houston salivated when I told them about the mountain view from our pool,” he recalls.