Sunday, February 16, 2014

We arrived at Fort Wilderness at Disney World on Friday, February 7.  We were very lucky with our site, there is a paved path directly across from us, which helped tremendously in getting backed in.  Here's a picture of the parked rig from the path.

Saturday was a hamfest  in Orlando.  A hamfest is a convention/fleamarket for amateur radio operators.  I dropped Steve off at the fairgrounds for the hamfest so I could do some running around.  I headed for one of the outlet malls, stopping at a Walmart on the way and picking up some supplies.

Orlando has at least 3 outlet malls.   One used to have a Pfaltzgraf (sp?) outlet that I found some great bargains at.  Unfortunately, they  have closed all their outlet stores, so I was mainly going for the Disney outlet.  Thanks to Big Blue's GPS, I made it to the outlet mall, only to find it packed.  Literally.  There were no parking spaces.  It was like it was Christmas.

Since I knew there was another outlet mall with a Disney Store, I keyed in the address (thanks to my iPhone) and headed south.  Traffic was terrible.  I made it to the second outlet store, only to find the same problem.  There was, however, a Publix grocery store nearby.  Since they carry gluten free bread, I stopped there for our perishable supplies.  And then I headed back to the campground and Obi.

Poor Obi.  He has not taken to travel.  He doesn't like to be left in the trailer, but he does okay when we do leave him.  He doesn't like driving in the truck, either, although he doesn't shake anymore.  We keep his thunder shirt on him most of the time and it seems to help.

Later I rescue Steve and we plan to head for Animal Kingdom in the morning.  We went on the safari and had lunch at Tusker House.  We didn't know it was a character meal and so were surprised by visits from Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy.

Sunday night we met up with Chris Black, a friend from my ITAP days.  He moved down here several years ago.  It was great catching up and seeing his daughter again.

Monday Steve took off for Cape Kennedy.  He had an interesting day, while I did laundry and some cleaning.  Tuesday we went to the Magic Kingdom and had lunch in the Be Our Guest restaurant in the Beast's castle.

Later, we take a break for a cold snack.

 Wednesday was a day for running around.  We dropped Obi off at a kennel for the rest of our stay at Disney, as we expect to be out most of the days.  Obi never likes being kenneled and usually barks as we leave, but this time, after a bit of pouting, he trotted off with the lady without a backward glance.

One of the places we used to visit is Skycraft Parts.  This place has a little bit of everything.  The only thing we found that we needed was a set of funnels.  But its a fun place to poke around in.

After Skycraft Parts, Steve and I tried a restaurant recommended by Chris, 4 Rivers Smokehouse.  It was delicious!  We also made a stop at the outlet mall, which was only somewhat less crowded.  I did manage to find a top.

As we headed back to Ft. Wilderness, a front moved through.  The clouds were thick and threatening and soon the skies opened.  The rain poured for hours.

Thursday we had an appointment to have new front jacks installed in a town about an hour from here.    Steve drove the trailer down, while I went to the All Star Sports hotel to wait for Natasha's family to arrive.  Here's my little Maria!  She talks with her hands already!

Thursday afternoon we went to Epcot.  Steve called with the bad news that the trailer wouldn't be done that day.  We scrambled around and were able to get a room at All Star Sports.  Steve packed an overnight bag for us and headed back for Disney.

Friday we headed for the Magic Kingdom.  After lunch, I listened to the piano player at Casey's Corner.  We've stopped and listened every time we've been at Disney since our first trip in 1973.

 The kids around started dancing and were having a great time.

Then Steve and I headed to pick up the trailer.  It's fixed and now has automated front and back jacks and leveling, which turned out to shorten our set up time by quite a bit.

Saturday the group went to Disney Studios.  I've been struggling with a sore foot and decided to take the day off.  Resting my foot proved to be a good idea and I got lots of rest.  I was ready to hit Animal Kingdom on Sunday.

Sunday Mike had to leave and head back to Dallas.  The NBA All Star break is over and the Mavericks have a game on Tuesday.  Natasha, Olga and Mari go home on Tuesday, we leave on Tuesday also. (Mike is the director of player development for the Dallas Mavericks.)

So, I'm up to date.  We just finished watching Downton Abbey and it's time for bed.  Natasha has decided to go to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow, so we'll meet up with them there.

Stay tuned!

Deb

Thursday, February 6, 2014

We just spent the day at Lion Country Safari.  It was nicely placed for a stop between the Everglades and Walt Disney World.  They have a KOA campground next door and tickets were included.  They have a drive through safari and apparently conditions were right as a lot of the animals were active, running and playing.  The two male lions even had an altercation while we were there.   There was a keeper in the area in a pickup truck who drove between them when they broke apart and visually separated them.  They each settled down with a female lady near by and all was well.

But most of the animals seemed frisky today.  The zebras were kicking up their heels and most animals were up and moving around, sometimes blocking traffic.  Even the chimpanzees were active.

The drive through part of the  park is divided into 6 sections.  The first section was labeled Las Pampas, named after grasslands in South America.  

 They had Llamas and storks

 Ostrich's cousin the Rhea, the South American Tapir (behind the white Rhea) and large Aldabra tortoise.  The tortoise around the park were especially active compared to what we are used to.

The Nile Lechwe were new to us.  From the Nile valley, the mature males are dark. The females are light.

Also new to us was the kulan from central Asia.  They look like donkeys and are a relative of the horse.  They can run up to 45 mph.

Here is one pair of the lions after their altercation.  All is well.

This was the sign as you entered the lion area, which was double fenced.  I don't want to be there when they have to close the gates.

We haven't seen any camels at zoos for awhile, but there were two here.

There were lots of ostriches, most of whom had their feathers all ruffled out.

  And the Watusi cattle were there.

 There was a large herd of white rhinoceros and one black one.

 They also had a large herd of frisky zebras.  I picked a picture that just showed one, as the group shots made me dizzy. Too many black and white lines!

The giraffes were too far away to get a decent picture.

After the drive through safari, we had lunch at the restaurant in the walk around area of the park.  There were other animal displays, more birds, parrots and flamingos.  We listened to one animal talk on flamingos and attended a small animal show, where we got to see a small hedgehog.  They are cute!

All in all a fun day.  Tomorrow we head for Disney!

Deb

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

I forget how many stars there are that we just don’t see in populated areas.  We stayed two nights at Midway Campground in Big Cypress National Preserve and will be here at Long Pine Key Campground in the Everglades for one more night.  The clear skies are filled with stars at night.  At Midway, there are about 30 trailer sites around a pond.  When I took Obi out at night, there were a multitude of stars, the sliver of a moon hanging over the horizon and a few trailer lights reflecting in the pond.  It was peaceful and serene.

Midway Campground in the daylight

Since we left Dallas, we had been having trouble with the right front trailer jack.  Sometimes it wouldn’t go out all the way, sometimes not in all the way.  We had some work done on it in Houston, which lasted for a night or two.  By the time we reached the villages, Steve had decided that he should be prepared for complete failure.  So he and Uncle Eep spent the afternoon  at Home Depot and then in Eep’s garage fixing up a substitute.  Which turned out to be very wise, as the next morning when we were getting ready to leave, the jack would come up only about 4 inches from the ground.  We made it to a local RV dealer, where they removed the jack entirely.  The dealership was great.  They had a nice waiting room (dogs allowed) with plenty to read.  The motor home sitting outside the door was on sale for a half a million dollars  and I swear they had 100 of them out back.  Way out of my league.  But they took good care of us and we were on our way to Bradenton, Fl.

So we are now limping along with a makeshift jack.  Steve has an appointment to have hydraulic jacks installed on Feb. 13 by a dealer who specializes in that.  Hopefully that will solve the problem.  If anyone wants more details, email Steve.

We were late getting into Bradenton (7:30) and it was dark.  The lady at the entry kiosk gave us a map to our site and assured us that there were plenty of fifth wheelers around there to help us get backed in.  We drive around and find the site is a 90 degree back in with a big metal box on one side and a raised picnic platform on the other.  Luckily, two neighbors came out, looked at the site and suggested we call and tell them no way.  There was one pull through site on the other side of the park available and we were able to get parked relatively quickly.  Did I mention it was raining?

It was still pouring the next morning.  We had laundry to do and Steve was taking the truck in for it’s 5000 mile check up.  He helped me get the laundry going and took the truck in.  The laundry was just finishing when he returned.  We were at 4800+ miles and they wouldn’t do the checkup and oil change.  GM pays for it the first two years, but not until after you reach 5000 actual miles.  So maybe we’ll do it in Orlando.

One of my uncles lives in Cortez, just outside Bradenton, so we called him and had lunch with him and Shelia.  They were going to take us to an outdoor fish market, but it’s outdoors and it was still raining.  So we went to a restaurant on the beach.  It was fun to watch the ocean and catch up with family.  We had dinner plans with Ken and Rochelle Burns, so it was on to their place.  They have a condo that overlooks a wilderness area and has a launching spot for their kayaks. It’s a great location.

Then we headed for Big Cypress National Preserve and the Midway Campground.  Big Cypress is just north of the Everglades and might as well be part of it.  It has finally stopped raining.  We see lots of birds and alligators along the canals.  Various attempts to drain the Everglades have occurred over the years and the canals seem to be remnants of that activity.

While at Big Cypress, we stopped at a photographer’s gallery, Clyde Butcher.  He’s the Ansel Adams of his day.  He only shoots in black and white.  While he takes pictures around the globe, he has focused on the Everglades.  He has some beautiful pictures.  Check them out on line. This sculpture is out front.

This is supposed to be the dry season, but it has poured buckets.  I think that, as well as the higher temperatures, has contributed to fewer wildlife sitings.  But we’ve still seen egrets of many kinds, anhingas, white ibis, white pelicans, brown pelicans and the endangered wood stork.  We even have a cardinal that was attacking our back window.  We saw the white pelican this summer on our road trip.  They summer on the lakes in the west and winter at the ocean.

I’m sitting at our picnic table in Long Pine Key Campground.  Steve has managed to get us Internet access, although it’s the only utility we have.  It’s shaded and there is a nice breeze which is good since it’s 85 degrees.  We drove down to Flamingo today, which I think is the furthest south you can take a car in the park.  It’s campground has electricity and a reputation for lots of mosquitoes.  Some lots also have a distant ocean view.  This campground requires a reservation and was booked up when we were looking for a place to stay, so we returned to Long Pine Key, where we stayed last year.  It has a picnic table, fire ring and paved spot for a trailer at each site, but nothing else.  There are central restrooms and a dump station and potable water available.  With the senior discount, it’s $8 a night.  We can easily manage dry camping for several nights, although I managed to run our batteries out last night with the vent fan trying to keep cool.   Steve will charge them up again today with the generator and we’ll see how long they last tonight.  He thinks they probably need replaced.

We have stuff that runs on 12 volts and stuff that runs on 120 and I’m beginning to understand what is what and what I can use when.  Oh, and then the stuff that runs on propane or electric - the hot water heater and the refrigerator.   And I need to make sure to charge my computer when we have 120 or the generator running.  The extra long battery life on my computer will come in very handy I’m sure.

While we were at Flamingo today we had lunch at a shaded picnic table overlooking the ocean.  I could have sat there all day.  There was a strong breeze coming from the ocean keeping it nice and cool. This was our view at lunch.

If you look at the second picture closely, you might see two canoes out on the water.  There is a lot of canoeing and kayaking here.  There are even canoe trails through parts of the Everglades.  I'm not sure I'm up for canoeing in an area with both alligators and crocodiles.  But lots of people do.

The sun has gone down and the generator needs to be shut down soon (quiet hours), so I'll sign off for now.

More adventures later!

Deb