We Are Back

Well our first major trip has come to an end.

We traveled a total of 2810 miles over 16 days and passed through most of the states on the East Coast. The trip down via I81 was pleasant and for the most part smooth. We reached just short of 3000 feet in altitude and then worked our way back down as we got to Florida.

Our trip back on I95 was less nice as there are many places where this road is "bad"; pot holes, ruts and other nasty driving.

Now for some highlights ---

We had great weather for two weeks. We were rained on one evening at WDW and even that was not so bad; except for the blister that I got because my shoes and socks got soaked; the poncho did keep the rest of me dry. No rain (of the H2O type) while driving, but in Florida; both going and coming; it rained "black bugs"; what mess it made on the front of the RV.

We stayed at a Wal-Mart, Deer Trail Park (VA), Fort McAllester (twice; once each way), Beverly Beach; a Jellystone Campground, Cherry Hill (just outside of Washington, DC) and of course Fort Wilderness at WDW. The Georgia reservation folks are required to give this long list of refund conditions related to canceling 3 days in advance and special considerations for weekends and holidays; even when you call them and tell them you will be there in a few hours; rules are rules I guess.

The Safari at Animal Kingdom is great. This is not like any zoo; there are acres and acres of space that the animals get to roam in. There are all kinds of critters, both large and small, all over the place. We went there multiple days and could go back again I'm sure.

Magic Kingdom, MGM and EPCOT were good; but for the most part we knew what to expect there. In Magic Kingdom we did Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain (this is a very deceptive ride) as well as other things; but no Tea Cups or It's a Small World. The Pirates ride has Jack Sparrow at least three times that I found.

Getting reservations at the World Showcase restaurants is possible if you try early enough. The German Beergarten has good food and a nice show. The played some danceable music; but I did not want to compete with the little kids that took up most of the floor. B J Thomas did some shows at EPCOT; nice music, but no place to dance.

The highlight of MGM had to be the Tower of Terror.

We went to Downtown-Disney and the Boardwalk areas. We watched a Red Sox game at the ESPN Club and listened to some music at the House of Blues. Checked out a number of stores and picked up a number of new CDs. We found a B J Thomas CD with the old hits that he sang at EPCOT.

While we were there Fort Wilderness hosted a Half-Iron Man Tri-Athalon. There were something like 2500 people entered. We saw some of the bikers returning for the start of the run; they just kept coming and coming. More power to them.

We walked, rode buses, boats and the monorail to get around WDW; all-in-all not too bad. I'm don't think having a car would have been any better in most cases.

Well that's all for now we will post some more pictures over the next few days. I'll likely come back and add some more later.

We had a great time, I'm looking forward to more opportunities. Driving the MH was not bad at all. It was real nice that we could stop anytime and rest; eat or take a head break. The cats did OK - Pepper was more adventurous when we were underway; Oliver just found a cozy spot under one of the chairs while we were driving. Once we stopped they were out and about; looking out the windows and sleeping up on the dashboard.

One last item - on the way home today the Red Sox won and the Yankees lost - that put them 12.5 games behind. I think this might be some type of record; of which I'm sure the Yankees are not boasting. But let's not get carried away; things can change.

Homeward Bound

It is now Sunday, May 27, 2007. I guess I now remember the day and the date. It is a somewhat sad day. We are heading home.

It was a wonderful RV vacation. We stayed at some wonderful RV parks. We rode water rides, saw wild animals, rode in flight simulators, walked the hallowed halls of the Smithsonian, … and much. much more.

But, the time has come to get back to everyday live. It is always a “good thing” to get home: To see the home that you left, still intact and discover that everything is ok. In that split second when you are still on vacation and you know that all is well at home, that is the best. But, soon reality sets in and you know that vacation is over. Going back to work is a small price to pay for such a great vacation!!

Happy Trails to all. I am sure will we post more about future travel.

Headed for Virginia

We are off. Hopefully, the wind has abated a bit – the forecast said it would – and we will make it to Virginia. We are planning to spend Friday and Saturday just outside of Washington DC. So, we are trying to plan a short day (on Friday) to avoid the beltway hassle. We are trying to arrive around noontime on a Friday of a holiday weekend. Not sure if that is good or bad. Perhaps, there is no good time!!

It is clear and bright and seems like it will be a pleasant day.

Our second stay at Ft. McAllister was as pleasant as the first. But, we had a different site on a different loop and the drive out made Steve say that if you are not careful, you could play a pinball game with your rig and the trees!! Some would say that it is not rig friendly. With our 34-footer, it is fine. But, I would not want to drive a 40-footer down these road. But, then again, I wouldn’t want to drive a 40-footer anywhere!!

Some Pictures

Here are a few pictures from last week. They are just random shots that I liked.

This one from Magic Kingdom, just in front of the castle

Illumination at Epcot



B.J. Thomas Concert


Animal Kingdom - Safari Photo


Tree of Life - Animal Kingdom

Today is Wednesday, May 23, 2007

We have left Florida - it is a distant memory. Well not all that distant - about 400 miles or so. And not "a" memory - more like a billion. But, it is now history and we have said goodbye to Fort Wilderness and Mickey and Minnie and the whole cast of characters.

We left "The Fort" at about 8:40 this morning. We had a bit of traffic in Jacksonville. And while the traffic was generally good, the driving was tough. Route 95 is just not a good road and there was construction at every turn. Add to that a high wind and it was a day we decided to cut a bit short.

We had planned to get into SC, but instead, we stopped at Ft. McAllister in Richmond Hills, GA. We stayed here on the way down and liked it. So, we thought we would give it another try.

It is a quiet, forest setting that just seems so nice. There are birds and squirrels and trees galore. And it is very rustic. We are not really roughing tonight. We have good internet connection and TV reception. But, the Red Sox-Yankees game on XM seems to cut in and out (we will find the right location for the antenna!). But, we are hearing enough to know that it may be a long night for Schilling.

We just went out for a walk and as I walked down the path, the memories of this past week, seemed to come flooding back. I couldn't help it. I just kept asking the same questions that I have asked all week:

Do you think we just missed the Outpost Yellow bus? What time does Magic Kingdom close? Which park is open late tonight? Do you want to take the boat to Magic Kingdom and then the monorail to Epcot - or do you think the bus would be better? Should we Fast Pass this ride?
Where do you wnat to go next?

Tonight these questions have no meaning!

Tomorrow our goal is southern Virginia. Hope the wind subsides.

Happy Trails.

The Best and Not the Best

We have been at Disney World for a few days so let’s do some evaluations/comparisons.

The Best Attraction: the Safari Ride at Animal Kingdom

The Best Theme park: Animal Kingdom

The least favorite Them Park: MGM Studios. (BTW, Magic Kingdom is second and Epcot is third. MK gets a higher rating because it just seems to be magical – and brings out the child in all of us.)

The Best Ride: Tower of Error (yes, Tower of Terror is in MGM. Go figure – the best ride is in the least favorite park!)

The Best Mode of Transportation: Boat from Epcot to the Boardwalk.

The Worst Place to get a Blister – any place that you have one!

The Worst thing about Disney World - we haven’t found it yet!

One more day. And that day includes a facial. It will have to be good!!

What day is today?

I think today is Saturday!! I can’t really be sure, however. In 2 days, we have done 3 parks. We have not “done” the entire park (although my feet and legs would beg to differ). But, we have been selective and chosen what we wanted to do. Among the highlights are: Dinner at the Biergarten, watching BJ Thomas in a live concert and walking in the rain with the plastic ponchos that we had with us and did not have to buy. All these were at Epcot. We rode the Tower of Terror and Star Wars at MGM; and rode Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain and The Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom. Today is starting a little more leisurely. I see some pool with our name on it.

The Next Visa Commercial and "Stuff"

Visa Commercial

In my mind the next Visa Commercial should go like this….

Cost of an quick overnight stay at Wal-Mart - $0

Cost of an overnight stay on the edge of a National Forest in Virginia, in the quietest woodsy area of Georgia and right at a sea wall in Florida - $40 average.

Cost of the gasoline for the motor home for these overnight stays - A gazillion dollars and rising.

Cost of taking as much stuff (see the next section) as you can jam into your own motor home and travel on the highways and byways of the US and find spectacular, new favorite places. This is priceless.

But, I don’t think they will make that commercial!!

Stuff

When I mentioned “stuff” I am reminded of George Carlin. He had a skit that talked about everyone and their “stuff”. We collect all of our stuff and buy bigger houses to keep our stuff. And sometimes we take a subset of our stuff, put it in suitcases and we travel. He did a much better job at talking about it, though.

But, I feel that we took a subset of our stuff and loaded it into the motor home and we took off. We have a lot of “stuff” with us. And to date in this trip we have not discovered much of anything that we have forgotten. Except for the bug cleaner and the Windex!!

You all know that WDW Commercial…

You know the one. Some sports figure that has just won something is asked where he is going now. In recent years, we have seen some of the Red Sox and Tom Brady reply. I am going to Disney World. But, the burning question is: “What do you do once you get their.

Well, here is our story. We checked in quite easily and found our site. After the rig was all set, what was the first thing that we did? We washed the rig!! All this wonderful Disney property around us and we did the mundane. Once it was clean, though. We took off.

First, it was the Magic Kingdom. We did the Tiki Birds, Pirates of the Caribbean and Country Bear Jamboree. Then we went to Epcot. We had dinner at the Biergarten. Food was very good and the oompah-pah music was fun. We watched Illuminations (light show/fireworks). They were spectacular. We ended the day gong back by the MK and watching the end of their fire works. The is was off to bed – finally.

WDW is in Sight

We have arrived!! We were delayed a bit – we needed to stop for some bug cleaner!!

Just ahead I can see WDW and we are just outside of Ft. Wilderness. Hey Mickey, Hey Minnie – we are here!!

Raining Bugs

As we drive to WDW, it’s raining – raining bugs. I have never seen so many bugs on the windshield. I know that an earlier post said they were 15 per sq. inch. That was exaggeration. But, not this time – they are all over. I have now updated this post with pictures!!

Beach Front View

We stayed at Beverly Beach Camptown. A great place right on the ocean. It is between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. I will post pictures of our ocean front view a little later. But, it is time to take off. We are headed to Walt Disney World - Ft. Wilderness. We should be there by noon time.

BTW, the weather is beautiful - hot - in the 80's at least but a bit cloudy. I know that Florida could use the rain. So, I guess we are in for some rain. But, at least it has held off while we are travelling.

Happy Trails.

Florida bound

We left Ft. McAllister at a late hour. We took the time to sleep in a bit, listening the several conversations between the birds. We don’t have much ground to cover today. But, at 12:25 PM, or so, we crossed into Florida. We have arrived!!

The Next Day has Started

At the beginning, I used day numbers and then I used days of the week. I think that is about to stop. Yesterday, as we were driving, my husband was making reservations for our stop tonight. I heard him say: "I would like reservations for tomorrow....that's right...whatever tomorrow's date is." That about sums it up. I don't know what day it is - I do know that is seems like a nice, warm, southern day. And it is very quiet and peaceful here in this little piece of paradise.

So another day starts - whatever day it is - and I assume the adventures will continue.

Have to go for our morning walk and then ... Who knows - but something will happen.

Bye for now

What you see going down the road

The view for the driver's and passenger's seat of a Class A motor home is quite good. You feel like you can see the entire world!! Here are some pictures that I shot throught the windshield.

And sometimes you see this that frighten you!! An a long downhill grade, we saw this - fortunately we only saw the sign and the ramp, we never saw a runaway truck!!

Ice Cream

When we camped – in that previous, younger life I mentioned, we never had ice cream. That would have been impossible and certainly not anything that we would have wanted. In more recent years, when we were boaters, we did not have ice cream. We had a sail boat that had an ice box. It was a very efficient ice box. But, as good as it was it could not keep ice cream. So, it was a treat to pull into some harbor and get ashore and walk in the village and find an ice cream shop and eat some ice cream. That was a treat.

We just had ice cream for dessert. Some would say that we are camping in the woods of Georgia and we had ice cream. I don’t think we are camping. I don’t know what it is, but it is very nice and certainly want to keep doing it.

More tomorrow.

Tuesday Comes to an End

We made it to our destination – Ft. McAllister State Park in GA. It seems like a lovely home for the evening. We have a large woody site. And there is a boat ramp just across the road. And we seem to have a good broadband connection and a reasonable XM signal. So, we will be able to catch the Red Sox game.

Travel today seemed to be a bit easier than yesterday. Of course, it came after a very good nights sleep. Tomorrow will be a shorter day. We are headed to Flagler Beach to camp right on the beach.

After my post on roughing it, I have to share our menu for tonight. We have had the requisite glass of wine and chips and salsa!! We are waiting for Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin cooked with apples and carrots, with a side of snap peas. Haven’t decided on dessert yet, but not sure that we need any!!

The cats are quite intrigued with the squirrels and birds right outside their window. They have been good travelers, although not enthusiastic about it all. Oliver, the male, generally keeps to himself, hiding under on of the chairs. He will venture out when we are stopped. Pepper seems to move from hiding place to hiding place, coming out while we are under way to check out our progress and watch the road go by.

Happy Trails – Florida here we come!!

Roughing it

Back in the days when I was younger, "roughing it" meant backpacking in the White Mountain National Forest with 35 pound packs, eating freeze-dried food from aluminum foil bags and battling the black flies.

Now, in my "older" days, roughing it means pulling the air-conditioned RV that has heat if needed and an oven and microwave in to a lovely campground. And losing the XM radio signal and not having enough broadband signal to be on-line.

My, how times have changed for me!!

Gladys

WE have a new friend with us. Her name is Gladys. She is the voice from our navigation system. Gladys always alerts you that you should turn in 2 miles. Or, "just ahead bear left". Occasionally, she does get upset with us. If we decide to go investigate or find a gas station. She says, in a somewhat irritated voice, one that you would use fora child that has just done the same bad thing for the hundredth time "just ahead, turn around". I am sure that the voice provides that information with the same emotionless tone as any other directions. But, I DO hear the impatience. Makes want to go off course all the more. I must be that child!! But, Gladys is with us for the entire trip!!

Day 3 Underyway

We left the campground at 8:00 AM this morning. It was a quite, pretty, sunny morning. We took a scenic VA byway back to the highway - it was very nice.

We did have to stop along the way to clean the windshield!! It had been done yesterday when we pulled into the site. But, looking through it into the sun verified that it was not cleaned well!! So, we did it again.

Yesterday we had lunch in VA and today we are lunching in SC. Yesterday, we just pulled off the highway and parked in a parking lot. Today, we are in a rest area just off the highway. It is actually very nice. It has a picnic area and the view of the passing traffic is interesting.

We will be underway soon. Our destination is Georgia for the evening. We have about 3 more hours of driving. But, we could change our mind as we go.

Talk to you soon

Day Two is Completed

Three more states today. After we left PA, we traveled through MD, WV and VA. We stopped just off US 77 in Wytheville, VA. We found some information on a small campground that borders Jefferson National Forest. It is a small, quiet place. We walked a bit after supper and I was able to dabble my feet in a Virginia Creek. It is a lot like a NH brook, just a lot warmer!!

Route 81 is a very scenic road: Lots of rolling hills and farms off the side. We did find a bit of a traffic jam and it happened while I was driving – it cost us about 20 minutes so it wasn’t really too bad.

BTW, I am the female of the travel group and, to answer your question before you ask it: Yes I have driven the RV. I am not yet a comfortable driver, but I have done it. And each trip I get more comfortable with driving.

By now day is done, both cats and the husband are napping. So, I guess I should quit for now and call it a night.

More fun tomorrow!!

A moment of Silence

As we traveled down US 81, we passed very closes to Blacksburg, VA, the home Virginia Tech. A moment of silence and respect for those that lost their lives and our heartfelt condolences to all those friends and family that survived them.

Day Two has Begun

Good Morning!

The oatmeal has been cooked and eaten, the windshield has been cleaned, the compass re-calibrated, and we are ready to go. Today's goal is to drive down 81 in PA to route 77 in VA. That is our target for this evening.

The sun is bright, the temperature is a bit cool, but it seems like it will be a great day.

Talk to you soon.

Day One - Completed

We have stopped for the first night. A lovely Wal-Mart in Wilkes-Barre, PA will be home for the next few hours. So, for the first day, we have been in 4 states – RI, CT, NY and PA.

After much consideration and wondering if we should go over the GW bridge or the Tappanzee Bridge, we avoided the entire issue and decided to take Route 84 across CT and Route 81 down through PA and onto VA.

What have I learned today:

1. The windshield of the RV is large and offers a great view. But, at 15 insect hits per square inch, all those dead bugs make a very dirty windshield. This was not a problem in all the cold weather camping we did – no bugs!!
2. When you, sitting in your RV, pass up an 18-wheeler, you can look at the drive eyeball to eyeball, if s/he chooses to look in your direction!
3. As former (I can’t say “old”; today is my birthday and I won’t use the word – it has been used enough today!!) sailors, who sailed for many hours and traveled from Watch Hill to Block Island, Narragansett Bay or Montauk, we never had to adjust the compass for variation. Today, after only 4 or so hours, we have to adjust the compass. Bummer!!

Well that is about all for now, sleep well.

Adventures Ahead

It’s May 13, 2007 and we are off on our grand adventure. We have the RV loaded with clothes, food and necessities – those being CDs, DVDs, snacks, food for several days, as well as two cats, Pepper and Oliver, and Steve and I – and a lot of “unnecessities”. Who can travel without the mp3 player, a couple of extra pairs of jeans and don’t forget the backgammon set and wine!!

In a short while, we will begin our trip to Florida. Join us on our blog as we travel to Walt Disney World and back. We will try to blog daily. Equipped with our new broadband connection, we may even be able to blog as we travel down the highway.

Happy Trails,

Connie and Steve

Life Gets Too Busy

Sometimes life gets too busy to be able to blog. But, fortunately, it does not get too busy to travel and take the RV on a few adventures.

Since the last entry we have been to Charlestown (RI) Breachway. It was mid April, but it was the best weekend weather-wise. We walked the beach and had a quiet relaxing time.

We travelled to NH - Meredith Woods. And this trip was in the last week of April - and the weather was more like October. Cold and rain all the way up and back. We enjoyed the campground and the trip. But, I want just one trip where the heat doesn't have to come on because the overnight temperature drops perilously close to freezing.

This past weekend we went to Fisherman's Memorial in Narragansett RI. Lovely campground and a great time. We met some new and old friends from the Rhody Winnies group and had a wonderful time. Saturday had great weather - sunny, sort of warm, but with some cool wind. I had hoped that this trip would be the one without the requisite heat. But, it was not to be. As soon as the sun set, the temperature began to drop and it was quite cold overnight. Oh well maybe the next trip will be heatless!!

We are leaving soon for Florida - I understand that it has been in the 90's there. Finally, a trip without the heat. Sure hope the air conditioning is working!!

Happy Trails.