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.
