TCD is Thankful for Thanksgiving @ The Fort 2014

[alexwyattmommy 181]

We did Stitch our first year at Disney.  My youngest cried and refused to get Stitch's autograph or photo, forever.  We still don't have one with him and Stitch.

We also had to do that EO thing for part of our Disney Youth program.  That was horrible too.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I'm going to post a second update today- trying to get to the Turkey.  Which we won't do with this update.   Or even the next.  But it looks good for the one after that.

 

I don't want to rush this one too much, but I do need to hurry it along, for reasons I will go into in tomorrows update(s).

 

We left off with me being disappointed by the fact that the Christmas music was not playing at the Meadow Trading Post.

 

The girls were going to sleep in this morning.  We had agreed to skip breakfast and maybe have some kind of light late morning snack.  We were going to eat our Thanksgiving dinner at 1:30.  So, the girls chose to sleep.

 

That meant I had plenty of time for looping.

 

Which I took full advantage of.

 

I decided to head back to the full hook up loops for a look around.

 

This swampy area is to the right of the drive that leads into the full hook up loops. That water is behind the outside sites at the beginning of the 1700 loop:

 

 

This is a side view of the overachievers' site on the 1600 loop,  That storm got them good. There are deflated inflatables just lying there in the mud:

 

 

This pond is in front of the 1900 loop Comfort Station:

 

 

The lake was back in the middle of the 1900 loop:

 

 

I didn't get a good shot of it, but there was water pooled behind the outside sites toward the end of the 1900 loop:

 

 

If you look over there near the trashcan, you can see that someone is tossing a wrecked EZ up awning frame. The storm must have done a number on their awning:

 

 

The same camper was in the first site on the outside of the 1800 loop as was here when we were here at the beginning of November:

 

 

He has a cool hot rod with a license plate that says "E Ticket" :

 

 

From here by the first site, I turned back to look at the last outside site.  Those campers were also here earlier in the month, and Marty said that maybe this was the site of a Fiend known as Bippity Boppity Boo-Karla.  For whatever reason, Karla hasn't posted on FortFiends for a while, which is too bad.  I met Karla and her husband once, and I think that is the husband out there straightening up their inflatables, but I'm not sure.  He was back inside by the time I finished my loop around the 1800 loop:

 

 

After looping 1900 and 1800, I headed out and hit 1500.  I wanted to see how things looked there.  The first couple of sites were empty.  And then I saw a large Class B, followed by the people who bring full sized appliances every year.  There were a bunch of folks out on that site, staring right at me as I looped by, so I didn't snap a photo until I was past them and looking back. This is what I saw from there.  Note the giant wood pile there stacked next to the tree.  These folks were not playing around:

 

 

Right around the corner- there were some folks who had managed to squeeze a good sized travel trailer into a tent site:

 

 

Looking at the tennis courts from outside the 1500 loop, look how water is pooled there next to the canal:

 

 

There was a very nervous looking turkey walking around over there.  You can see his shadow there on the pine tree near the middle of the photo, and he's right next to his shadow:

 

 

There was a whole rafter (that's what a group of them is called) of Turkeys over to the right of the lone Turkey.  I sized them up, and picked the one that we would be cooking up in a little bit:

 

 

This canal isn't usually scummy, but the rain stirred up the scum that is usually parked in other places:

 

 

I then hit the 1600 loop.  This is a shot of the back of the site with all the stuff on it on the 1600 loop,  I was trying for a shot of the dishwasher, but it must be on the other side:

 

 

Here's another look at the water ponded on the outside of the 1700 loop:

 

 

Then it was time for the 2000 loop.  We had looped through there the night before, but there was no point in taking photos as it was too dark, and most of the folks were in bed because of the cold night.

 

The night before, we noticed that there were a bunch of sites that had U-Haul trailers on them.  I can't say I've seen that before, so I wanted to get a better look.  This site had two trailers and two cars, and who knows what else packed on it:

 

 

This is another site on that loop.  It also had a U-Haul:

 

 

Another site.  Another U-Haul:

 

 

And again. This one had no tent.  Just that tarp covering the back hatch on the car. I reckon they slept in the car:

 

 

That's a lot of U-Haul trailers.  And I didn't get them all.  There were hoards of people on the other sites with U-Hauls, and they didn't look like the type who would appreciate being photographed for a TCD TR.

 

Right past the U-Haul gang, there was a large group who hung this illuminated sign on the tree in front of their site:

 

 

That sign says JW.org.

 

Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

No comment.

 

One of the U-Haul gang got a site on the other side of the JW's:

 

 

To recap, right there on the 2000 loop, we had the U-Haul gang, the JW's and we weren't done yet. What's this?:

 

 

It's the Big Blue Tarp people!

 

They have a big blue tarp, and they're not afraid to use it.

 

They also have plenty of vehicles.  To heck with that two vehicle per site rule:

 

 

The Big Blue Tarp requires a lot of rope and knots-check out what's going on there on the left in this photo.  I wish old Lars could see this:

 

 

After seeing that Big Blue Tarp, these folks with an average large tarp must have been very jealous:

 

 

Since I was in the area, I decided to go and check on the teepees.  Looks like they all still had wet blankets back here:

 

 

They were doing some work around the fire pit, but I don't think the fire was lit yet:

 

 

Hey- here's a TeePee person's car.  Look at the custom plate.  And the stickers on the back window. We have Grumpy Cat flipping the bird, and Will E. Coyote.  And some huge decal in the middle.  I don't know what that is, but based on the other two, maybe it's best I don't know:

 

 

Well, we're at the photo limit, but we're not done with the morning loop.  We will pick it up right from here in the next update.

 

That one will include a TCD Real Man of Genius Award, so you don't want to miss that.

 

TCD

[weekender 5]

 

If you look over there near the trashcan, you can see that someone is tossing a wrecked EZ up awning frame. The storm must have done a number on their awning:

 

 

 

Thought for a minute that you got a shot of my quick shade canopy frame.  Mine was the same way since the rain collapsed it.  Needless to say I did not attempt to fix it this time.

 

 

 

 

 

The same camper was in the first site on the outside of the 1800 loop as was here when we were here at the beginning of November:

 

 

He has a cool hot rod with a license plate that says "E Ticket" :

 

 

 

I was across from them 2 Thanksgiving's ago.  They come every year from California and stay a month.  Very nice folks.

 

 

 

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Daw gone page 3, but I'm in. Great TR so far. 

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Daw gone page 3, but I'm in. Great TR so far. 

[fowlandfishmommy 10]

Loving the report!  We are very close to our big trip to China.  Hopefully early January.  We are still working to find/discover/unearth the rest of the money we need to travel.  :)  Say some prayers for us!  I'm still trying to find time to read.  Oh and everyone better go on a great trip to the fort over Christmas and hurry up on those reports so I'll have something to do on that really long flight!  
 

Also, I have some friends that were there last week too.  2 families lots of kids, one big 5th wheel.  They had a really good time!  (really!) 

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

 

He has a cool hot rod with a license plate that says "E Ticket" :

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man... I'm glad we missed all of the rain; that's no fun

 

The E ticket guy.  LOVE him! :)   I miss the tickets.

 

The people with too many cars (also parked on the dirt) and the football sized tarp.... they irritate me.  Actually, not sure who frustrates me more, the (my guess) locals who take over the campground... or Disney who looks the other way 

[parrothead7368 aka Norm 101]

I think the Rangers don't do anything in the 2000 loop, is because they would have a major brain hemmorage from all the volations and writers cramp to boot.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

[disney4dan 68]

Great report so far - and the hammock rocks!  I know it was too cold to really enjoy on a Thanksgiving trip, but have you ever tried sleeping in one?  Best night sleep I've had in a long time.

[disney4dan 68]

Also looking forward to learning how you cook your turkey while camping.  We know the rules say no open fires so that rules out one of the options....

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

Hey, I am loving my big blue tarp that is over my tent. I am sure the rain fly would have leaked if I didn't have it. :)

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Hey, I am loving my big blue tarp that is over my tent. I am sure the rain fly would have leaked if I didn't have it. :)

 

The issue is not the tarp (at least not for me)... the problem is the people on the site and that (chances are) they were loud, messy and disturbed other guests.  From our experience (which I realize is limited so I don't mean to generalize) it seems like those who violate the rules with too many cars and too many people on one site, have a negative impact on other guests.  It's not cheap to stay at the Fort, so having rude people (and a management that allows the rules to be broken) is upsetting.  We've had times where large groups were loud late into the night, their children would all but run you over on their bikes and those same bikes (and balls, scooters, etc) were simply left in the middle of the road...one night there were 3 young girls in the bathhouse (where there is only 4 shower stalls), each was taking a shower and they talked through the walls to one another about how great the water was and how there were going to "take their time"; meanwhile there was a line of ladies waiting to take a shower.  Rude.  That's what the issue is.  No concern for others... so upsetting.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Daw gone page 3, but I'm in. Great TR so far. 

 

Hey, there's nothing wrong with page 3.  Or page 4, for that matter.  Welcome!

 

Loving the report!  We are very close to our big trip to China.  Hopefully early January.  We are still working to find/discover/unearth the rest of the money we need to travel.   :)  Say some prayers for us!  I'm still trying to find time to read.  Oh and everyone better go on a great trip to the fort over Christmas and hurry up on those reports so I'll have something to do on that really long flight!  

 

Also, I have some friends that were there last week too.  2 families lots of kids, one big 5th wheel.  They had a really good time!  (really!) 

 

How exciting for you!  I wish you all the best with your journey to add that new member to your family.

 

2 families with lots of kids in one 5th wheel?  No thanks.  Just kidding, I'm sure they had a blast.

 

Man... I'm glad we missed all of the rain; that's no fun

 

The E ticket guy.  LOVE him! :)   I miss the tickets.

 

The people with too many cars (also parked on the dirt) and the football sized tarp.... they irritate me.  Actually, not sure who frustrates me more, the (my guess) locals who take over the campground... or Disney who looks the other way 

 

Yes, that was some very bad rain.  I'm glad I missed it too.

 

Disney used to be very strict about only having one car per campsite.  There used to be CM's who would come around and tell guests they had to move their cars, and people did.  That stopped several years ago, and now we have sites crammed with three or four cars, and people with stuff everywhere.  The one car per site rule worked for 35 years.  I don't understand why they abandoned it.

 

I think the Rangers don't do anything in the 2000 loop, is because they would have a major brain hemmorage from all the volations and writers cramp to boot.

 

Best Regards,

Norm

 

Yes, and Disney would have to have full time Rangers and staff to deal with irate customers for a while. But it could be done.  Problem is that it would cost money, and they don't want to waste any of their precious profits on something as useless as improving the guest experience.

 

Great report so far - and the hammock rocks!  I know it was too cold to really enjoy on a Thanksgiving trip, but have you ever tried sleeping in one?  Best night sleep I've had in a long time.

 

I have tried to sleep in my hammock a couple of times.  But, there's a nice bed inside the camper that is always calling my name.

 

Also looking forward to learning how you cook your turkey while camping.  We know the rules say no open fires so that rules out one of the options....

 

There were no open fires for the turkey cooking.  I'll try to get to the details today.

 

Hey, I am loving my big blue tarp that is over my tent. I am sure the rain fly would have leaked if I didn't have it. :)

 

Sorry to break it to you, Jeff, but you don't have a Big Blue Tarp.  At best, you have a medium tarp.  I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you, but you deserve to know. 

 

The issue is not the tarp (at least not for me)... the problem is the people on the site and that (chances are) they were loud, messy and disturbed other guests.  From our experience (which I realize is limited so I don't mean to generalize) it seems like those who violate the rules with too many cars and too many people on one site, have a negative impact on other guests.  It's not cheap to stay at the Fort, so having rude people (and a management that allows the rules to be broken) is upsetting.  We've had times where large groups were loud late into the night, their children would all but run you over on their bikes and those same bikes (and balls, scooters, etc) were simply left in the middle of the road...one night there were 3 young girls in the bathhouse (where there is only 4 shower stalls), each was taking a shower and they talked through the walls to one another about how great the water was and how there were going to "take their time"; meanwhile there was a line of ladies waiting to take a shower.  Rude.  That's what the issue is.  No concern for others... so upsetting.

 

I know exactly what you're saying, and I agree with you.  I really don't care if people have blue tarps, or if they park their cars off the pavement,  or even if they have more than ten people at their site, as long as they're not being loud and rowdy and annoying others around the loop.

 

The Comfort Station thing is something that my daughters complain about too. One time on this trip, there were two teens who had commandeered the sink area so they could do their hair and make-up.  They wouldn't move so other guests could wash their hands or use the sinks or mirrors.  Where did these kids get the idea that it was OK to do that?  Brats.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

The blue tarps! I almost spit Diet Coke on my computer. 

 

I think the UHaul people need more stuff on their sites. 

 

I'm glad I decided to do a last minute Christmas trip. With only 2 park days, we would have been washed out Monday and Tuesday of that week. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The blue tarps! I almost spit Diet Coke on my computer. 

 

I think the UHaul people need more stuff on their sites. 

 

I'm glad I decided to do a last minute Christmas trip. With only 2 park days, we would have been washed out Monday and Tuesday of that week. 

 

The U-Haul people had plenty of stuff.  I meant to point out in this photo that the two women you see in this photo were using one of those portable camp sinks to wash their dishes.  The dishwater was draining right on to the ground:

 

 

And you're right- you would have had awful weather that Tuesday.  You made a good call not coming.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time.

 

It's still Thanksgiving morning.

 

At some time I will need to shoot one of the turkeys and pluck it so it could get cooking, but I still had time before I needed to do that.

 

So, I continued to loop.

 

That was awesome.

 

I've been to the Fort for Thanksgiving many times, but every time in the past we've loaded up in the morning and headed back home for a big Thanksgiving gathering with Mrs. TCD's family.  I loved that I didn't have to do that today.

 

We are still looking at the Tee Pees:

 

 

The fire pit we saw being dug yesterday is over there by the orange cones.  Soon, they will light a bunch of charcoal just like the Native Americans used to do:

 

 

Even though they were going to be roasting a bunch of turkeys soon, the tee pee folks were all gathered under their dining tents having breakfast:

 

 

There's a lot of tee pees here:

 

 

Nobody likes a wet blanket:

 

 

This site on the 2000 loop backs up to the group camping area- they have a tent set up off the back of their pad, and it looks like they've got a big group there.  Remember these people, you will be hearing about them again later in the report:

 

 

When we were here yesterday, the big tee pee you see there in front of the comfort station was still being set up. Now you can see what the final result looked like:

 

 

Note the yellow extension cord in that last photo.  It ran around the pole with the red top here:

 

 

And then over to that rectangular tent. Those tee pee folks were smart- they had electricity:

 

 

That's enough tee pees for now.  Now, we are heading back to the regular loops.  This is the back of a site on the 2000 loop- there was a lot of standing water between the sites on the outside of the 2000 loop:

 

 

Next, I headed to the 300 loop. There was a set-up there that I wanted to get some photos of.

 

This is it:

 

 

 

We had looped past this site the night before and saw that they had 3 or 4 tents set up under that big tent.  And couches and TV's in there too.  You could see inside better at night, but you can kind of see some of the couches in this photo:

 

 

That looks like a lot of fun, but I would hate to be camped next to that group.  They had more than ten folks staying on that site. And they were loud.

 

But, they also get the TCD Real Man of Genius Award.  Who goes to that much trouble to tent camp?  They are geniuses, though- I'll bet none of them had wet blankets like the tee pee people did after the storms on Tuesday.

 

I took this photo for Shannon/Santa.  He was on this site earlier this month.  If he was still there, he would have a waterfront site:

 

 

Since I was in the 300 loop, I needed to head out the back way and check on the BABH and my favorite spot.  So, out we go:

 

 

When the sun's in your eyes, you can't even see the top of the new Four Seasons resort popping up above the tree line at the end of the canal:

 

 

Nothing new seemed to be happening with the BABH.  I really don't think there's any bats in that thing:

 

 

I caught some Disney employee in a company truck goofing off back here:

 

 

Whoomp there it is:

 

 

The MK looks so nice and peaceful from across the lake.  But this was 8:51 am on Thanksgiving morning.  I'll bet it was crazy over there.

 

This is the future site of the new Fort Wilderness Dining pavilion.  According to the previous rumors and leaked plans, it was supposed to be open in 2010.  I still think it will eventually happen:

 

 

A thoughtful CM left the fence behind the Settlement Trading Post open, which allowed me to check on the status of the refurbishment of the covered wagon that has been parked back here for about a year now.  It looks like they're getting ready to start any minute:

 

 

Maybe when they start that, they'll fix the sign that marks the pedestrian path which has also been missing for about a year:

 

 

Hey Jason and Beckers- look how the canal that runs behind the 100 and 200 loops isn't scummy:

 

 

This is the post where the sign for the pedestrian path is supposed to go.  What's taking them so long to put the sign back up?:

 

 

While I was looking at that sign post, I took another look over at the covered wagon.  You know what?  They have really let this thing rot away.  Look at the wheels now:

 

 

They have a very nice collection of sheds here behind the Settlement Trading Post, don't they?:

 

 

It makes me sad to see site 114 without a single Christmas decoration on it:

 

 

I have always like the Pioneer Hall Christmas decorations, but I don't like what they did to the tower that used to be on the roof:

 

 

 

I headed in to Trail's End to get a cup of coffee so I could grab a rocker and sit on the porch and listen to some Christmas music. 

 

Hey, look what's there on the porch.

 

A hula hoop creation:

 

 

There's only one person I know who has those kinds of skills.

 

They wouldn't make her work on Thanksgiving, would they?

 

I soon found out, and you will too in the next update.

 

TCD

[BuckeyeFortFan 35]

Thanksgiving at the Fort....and you got out of spending time with the in laws?  'Tis good to be TCD. 

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I know many excuses for not getting to my housework.  But needing to read the latest update to a TCD TR is one of my favorites. :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanksgiving at the Fort....and you got out of spending time with the in laws?  'Tis good to be TCD. 

 

Indeed.

 

I like my in-laws, though.

 

But, Thanksgiving has gotten out of hand as the younger generation has aged and they now bring girlfriends/boyfriends, and plain old friends.  More and more there are people there who we don't know.  And, we spend most of the time talking to people that we rarely see except at Thanksgiving, and not much time with each other.  I was looking forward to the first Thanksgiving we've ever had with just us.  Plus, I loved not having to leave the Fort.

 

I know many excuses for not getting to my housework.  But needing to read the latest update to a TCD TR is one of my favorites. :)

 

I'm happy to help.

 

There's another update coming soon.

 

And, hopefully yet one more.

 

I'm going for a triple update day.

 

I'll explain why at the end of the third update.

 

Looks like your house is going to be messy.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

 

 

TCD

 

Beautiful!  I never get tired of seeing your photos from here!

[Beckers 1,136]

Hey Jason and Beckers- look how the canal that runs behind the 100 and 200 loops isn't scummy:

Wow! It was gross and scummy our whole stay!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Beautiful!  I never get tired of seeing your photos from here!

 

And I never get tired of visiting that spot.  It is the most peaceful place in WDW.

 

Wow! It was gross and scummy our whole stay!

 

I know.  That rain flushed out all the scum.  I'm sure it's already making its way back by now.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

In case you didn't already guess, that hula hoop creation on the Trail's End Porch was, indeed, created by Ms. Josie.

 

I was surprised that she had to work on Thanksgiving morning, but there she was.  I guess her shift ends by noon, though, so she had time to go home and cook her turkey.

 

I wished Josie a Happy Thanksgiving, and we had a short chat. Trail's End was really busy, and she didn't have much time to talk.

 

I had gotten my first look at the Fort Wilderness Christmas tree the night before.  I didn't take a photo, though, as a big patch of lights right in the middle of it was out.  Bad show.  I had faith they would get the tree fixed quick, so I figured I would get a photo another night.

 

Here's a daytime shot of the tree:

 

 

They have the little Christmas tree on the porch again this year, along with the all-inclusive, politically correct, Happy Holidays sign:

 

 

All of the inside decorations at Trail's End appear to be the same as always:

 

 

It was quite busy around Trail's End for breakfast.  Busier than I thought it would be considering that it was Thanksgiving morning:

 

 

I wanted to take a peek at the decorations inside Pioneer Hall, so I headed around the corner:

 

 

And took a peek:

 

 

I think I'd really like to go to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue when the Christmas decorations are up.  Maybe I'll need to do something about that.

 

I wanted to sit on the porch and listen to the Christmas music, so I headed there:

 

 

These new tables and chairs already look beat up and cheap:

 

 

The picnic tables were all still there, thank goodness:

 

 

One of the three rocking chairs left on the porch was available, so I parked it for a while.  This was my view:

 

 

I sat there for a bit, but it wasn't very peaceful or relaxing.  There were too many people around waiting to go in to Trail's End.  Several couples walked up to where I was sitting, hoping that there were more rocking chairs around the corner.  They were disappointed to find that there were not.   I decided to give up my seat and let some of the guests waiting to have the rocking chairs.  Plus, I had something to check on anyway. 

 

Did you notice in those last few photos that there were some workers doing something on the other side of the Christmas Tree?

 

What could be so important that these guys had to be out here at 9 am on Thanksgiving morning to do it?

 

I had to check that out.

 

Here we are- two guys-two work carts.  Is one of them Brown Paint Guy?:

 

 

Nope.  No BPG.

 

It was FPG- Fence Post Guy, and he was going to town cutting this fence post (or rail?):

 

 

There's a bunch of new fence posts there on his cart.  Looks like he was in for a busy morning:

 

 

If you think about it, there are a lot of post and rail fences around the Fort.  These FPG's must be the ones in charge of them all:

 

 

Thank goodness they were on the job to save us from having to spend Thanksgiving at the Fort with sub-par fence posts.

 

Seriously, though, that couldn't have waited until after Thanksgiving?

 

I needed to go and check on River Country, so I headed there.

 

There's some of the FPG's handiwork there.  And look there in the background-it's a Ryder truck leaving after making a delivery to Trail's End.  I hope they were delivering some frozen pizzas, because that's what the TCD gang will be having for Thanksgiving dinner if I don't come through with the turkey:

 

 

The River Country ticket booth is decorated for Christmas:

 

 

The dining pavilion is decorated too.  They still have the scarecrows and fake hay out for the photo op.  The snowpeople must not come out until after Thanksgiving:

 

 

All the gates on the green fences were closed and locked to prevent people from sneaking in to the bad part of River Country and taking photos of the rotten mess back there:

 

 

The fake hay bales and plastic pumpkins were still out, but probably not for long:

 

 

This gate has some kind of new reinforcement on it.  That ought to cut down on the embarrassing photos:

 

 

Another look at the dining pavilion:

 

 

And the scarecrow:

 

 

It was getting near time for the turkey hunt, so I needed to go.

 

But, I just had to take a look at the beach:

 

 

The old River Country water fountain.  I used to tell my kids that the water there came from the Fountain of Youth.  There's no way I can get them to fall for that anymore:

 

 

Good old Clementine's Beach:

 

 

It was a gorgeous morning.  As I sat here taking in the view, I noticed that the speakers on the beach were playing music, and it didn't seem to be Christmas music:

 

 

Although I'm sure the Magic Kingdom was busy, there weren't a lot of folks waiting at the boat dock:

 

 

Looking back from that spot:

 

 

As I mentioned, the music coming from the speakers was quite loud, but I didn't recognize it as Christmas songs.  I decided to get closer so I could hear better:

 

 

This speaker was really pumping out the music.  And it wasn't Christmas music.  I thought they played the same music throughout the Fort, but this definitely wasn't the same loop that was playing up on the porch:

 

 

It was almost time to begin the preparation of the things I was going to be cooking today, so I decided to head on back to the site to get things ready.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Here we go.

 

The third update for today.

 

Enjoy this one, because the next one won't be until next week.

 

This TR is going on a hiatus.

 

We left off on Clementine's Beach.  These fishing guides were either coming back from or getting ready to head out for an excursion.  That would be a fun and different thing to do on Thanksgiving morning:

 

 

I enjoy sitting down here by the beach.  If that DVC ever gets built here, the area in this photo is going to be covered by a huge building:

 

 

It amazes me that they have never even suggested that there is any plan to build anything on the opposite shore of Bay Lake.  I sure hope they never do-it's an amazing view:

 

 

I thought there was a new Fiend camping on the 500 loop, so I took a loop around to look for her sign.  I didn't see it. But I did see these poor Garnett and Gold Flamingoes:

 

 

These folks did a good job lining up their inflatables along the side of their narrow site:

 

 

Here's something rare-an empty site on Thanksgiving.  This also gives us a view of the pond in the interior of the loop:

 

 

These folks had their screen room set up in front of their site, practically on the road:

 

 

Here's some big time rule breakers.  Not just one, but two open campfires.  And to top it off, they are Dolphin and Cane fans.  Obviously a bunch of dummies:

 

 

After the detour around the 500 loop, I made it back to the site.  I checked the temperature, and saw that it had warmed all the way up to 59.4 degrees as of 9:48 am:

 

 

That's a bit on the cool side, but the sun was shining.  I'll take it.

 

I had an errand to run before I got cooking.

 

We needed some more ice.

 

I had an extra big cooler with me on this trip, as I needed to save the refrigerator space for food.

 

I had purchased a couple of bags of ice at home yesterday morning.  I got two ten pound bags for just under $5.00.  I saved one of the empty bags for research purposes.

 

People sometimes complain about the price of the ice at the Fort, and I wanted to check and see if those complaints were valid.

 

I headed to my favorite ice machine.  I found out years ago that there's one ice machine that gives out more ice than the others.  And it still does.

 

Here we are.  Note that someone's bag overflowed and they weren't prepared to capture the extra ice:

 

 

The machine still requires just 8 quarters:

 

 

The bags provided at the ice machines say that they are 7 pound bags.  I brought a 10 pound bag with me for this experiment.  I pushed in the quarters, and my bag was full:

 

 

There was more ice in the bag from the machine than there was yesterday when I bought the bag from the convenience store:

 

 

See, 10 pounds:

 

 

Did you know that they put nutritional information on ice bags?  I didn't.  I'm glad they did.  Now I know that there are 40 servings of ice in a 10 pound bag, and that there is no fat or calories in my ice.

 

As I was picking up my bag of ice, a fellow walking by said hello.  It was Jeff/Gots2Pitt from here on FortFiends!  He was camped in a nearby loop, and we had a brief chat.  Jeff told me about a really cool thing his kids got to do in the Magic Kingdom.  Hopefully, he'll share that story and his photos in a TR!  It was good to see you, Jeff.

 

When I got the ice back to our site, it was on.

 

I plucked the turkey, and put the dry rub on it and got it into its basket:

 

 

That's a 16 pounder.

 

I was kidding about the plucking part.

 

That's just a regular Butterball turkey from Publix.

 

I took it out of the bag,  removed the stuff from the cavities, and sprinkled on the dry rub.  The instructions for the rub suggested that I put oil or butter on the bird first, but I was afraid that would make the skin too dark.  The rub seemed to stick fine without the butter or oil.

 

The twins were up and enjoyed witnessing the turkey preparation.  Those are Twin #2's hands over there on the right with a piece of GAG chicken that she was enjoying as a late morning pre-turkey snack:

 

 

At 10:37 am I dropped the basket with the turkey in it into my Charbroil Big Easy Oil-less Turkey Fryer, and I started it up:

 

 

I first heard about these Oil-less cookers from fellow Fiend DaveInTenn.  He cooked a turkey at the Fort a few years ago, and told about it in one of his Trip Reports.

 

I thought the oil-less cooker sounded great, and I got myself one.  But, to this point, I had only used it to cook a couple of turkey breasts.  Never a whole turkey.

 

I PM'd DIT before the trip to ask him a couple of questions about the cooking of a whole turkey, and he reminded me to make gravy.  I hadn't planned on that.  I never got much in the way of drippings from the turkey breasts I had cooked.  But Dave told me that I'd have plenty of drippings from the whole turkey.

 

These cookers are cool. There are no open flames.  And no boiling oil:

 

 

I wasn't sure how long I needed to cook the turkey, but I had watched a few YouTube videos, and they all said you need to cook by temperature, not time.  Luckily, I have a wireless meat thermometer that I got as a gift several years ago, and it has a setting for turkey:

 

 

That photo was taken at 10:57, about 20 minutes after the turkey started cooking.  The interior temperature of the bird was now 48 degrees, and it needed to get to 180.

 

The cooker comes with a wire lid, but you're supposed to leave that off while the turkey is cooking:

 

 

Based on what I had seen in the videos, I guessed that it would take 2 or 2 1/2 hours for the turkey to cook.  I hung around the site, and enjoyed the beautiful morning.  Here's a look back at our site from the old FWRR tracks:

 

 

I took this photo at 11:46, about an hour after the cooking started. The turkey was already looking good:

 

 

At one point I took a walk up to the comfort station, and snapped this photo of an inflatable on one of the 800 loop sites on the way back:

 

 

At just a bit past 12:30, the thermometer told me that our turkey was ready.  Awesome.  Just a bit longer than two hours to cook the turkey.

 

The only problem with that was that we weren't going to eat until 1:30, and Mrs. TCD was supposed to be arriving with Rocky at any moment along with some of the items she prepared at home this morning.

 

Luckily, Mrs. TCD and Rocky arrived right on time, and we agreed to move up dinner to 1 pm.

 

I had a few more things to prepare, but first I needed to take Rocky for a walk:

 

 

We had the pet walk to ourselves:

 

 

Rocky liked the railroad tracks:

 

 

Rocky didn't even mind getting tied up to a tree like a dog:

 

 

I got busy heating up some of our side dishes.  Twin #2 put on her pilgrim girl hat and helped with the gravy:

 

 

And I got the bird out of the basket and got ready to carve it:

 

 

That bird was a thing of beauty.  The skin looks dark in the photo, but that was from the rub.  It wasn't burnt.  It was perfectly cooked.

 

I'll have photos of the turkey carving and the rest of the feast in the next update.

 

But, that won't be until next Tuesday, at least.

 

I'm going out of town tomorrow, and won't be back to town until our redeye lands Tuesday morning in Tampa.

 

Yes, I said redeye.

 

The twins and I are going on a little trip out west.

 

To Disneyland.

 

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning.

 

Isn't that going to make for an epic trip report?

 

See you on the flip side.

 

TCD

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

CAN.  NOT.  WAIT!!!  To read that report!

 

Have an amazing time!!!   :yay:  :bravo:  :worship: