First TR - a little Disney, a lot of fun, Christmas 2014

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

I also loved the dancing with your daughter story.

[dblr....Rennie 224]

So far great photos and updates, keep up the good work and I enjoy following along!!!!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Taking a quick break from the trip report... As mentioned, the 10 year mark is officially today. We met a doctor at Hopkins who broke the news to us that our daughter had a brain tumor and that they took her for surgery about an hour later. We later found out it was a cancerous brain tumor called an ependymoma. She had a couple of more surgeries and had 6-weeks of radiation treatments.

Today Paige is a beautiful and vibrant young lady. She is an exceptional daughter, big sister, friend, student, and goofy kid. We're eternally blessed that she's free of side-effects, long-term effects, and physical deficits. She's above grade level in school and has even completed a couple of 5k runs. I love this girl to pieces!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Now that's a great update!

 

Is that photo on the bench from the Butterfly Conservatory in Key West?

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Now that's a great update!

 

Is that photo on the bench from the Butterfly Conservatory in Key West?

 

TCD

Yep, that's exactly it!

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Love It!! Can't Wait To Share My Bethanie's Story.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Today is for celebrating!  Congratulations to you all!

[Helmsey......Todd 134]

Congrats on 10 years!
And, after reading that I finally  know what in the world your screen name is. I have been trying to decode that forever and just never got around to asking you :D

[dvccamper 32]

Congrats again on your daughter's progress, she's beautiful!

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Taking a quick break from the trip report... As mentioned, the 10 year mark is officially today. We met a doctor at Hopkins who broke the news to us that our daughter had a brain tumor and that they took her for surgery about an hour later. We later found out it was a cancerous brain tumor called an ependymoma. She had a couple of more surgeries and had 6-weeks of radiation treatments. Today Paige is a beautiful and vibrant young lady. She is an exceptional daughter, big sister, friend, student, and goofy kid. We're eternally blessed that she's free of side-effects, long-term effects, and physical deficits. She's above grade level in school and has even completed a couple of 5k runs. I love this girl to pieces! 

Love It!! Can't Wait To Share My Bethanie's Story.

 

Feeling like we need to start a "Kids Beating Insurmountable Odds" or "Our Miracle Stories" thread.  Two of our eight grandchildren were both with severe, life-threatening conditions.  I've shared a little on other threads.  But it is so heartwarming to hear the stories of others and to know that these dear, irreplaceable children do survive!

[alexwyattmommy 181]

I am so happy to see the 10 years! 

May there be 10 times more years to come.

[Northerngirl--Lori 5]

Best update ever!!

[Clark W Griswold 24]

Congratulations on the milestone....We wish her MANY more HEALTHY years !!!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

First, thank you all for the kind words. I can't bring myself to respond individually. It's a huge and wonderful milestone, but also extremely "heavy". It's hard to describe; so I won't. :)

 

Now, we left off after Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I think I forgot to mention that we went on the Jingle Cruise, but came away with very few pictures. It was just too dark to even try. I'll check my camera for pics, but I don't know what we'll have. I do imagine that this trip report will have a follow-on pictures report once I'm finally able to go through it. Should be good and never ending.

 

In the spring, we purchased season passes to Sesame Place and got their "Super Grover" passes or something like that. That gave us free admission to all of the parks and preferred parking at them. Also some discounts which we occasionally took advantage of. It was also cheaper to buy them there, too. The only catch- they were only good to the end of the year vs. 1 year from when we purchased them (meaning we got shorted by a couple of months-- so maybe they weren't an actual savings! . Over the summer we spent quite a few days at SeaWorld and Aquatica. But, it also meant that we could get one last day in at SeaWorld for the year.

 

As usual, our plan was to get up and out "early". As is typical, I think this is the day that my kids slept super late and then we had a slow morning getting up after that. If I recall correctly, we ate lunch before we headed into SeaWorld, it was that late.

 

When we arrived, SeaWorld was super busy. The clerk at the parking booth told us that "preferred parking" was sold out. We got parked in the boondocks with the rest of the regular schleps. I'm not sure that any of my pictures really do the crowds justice- but it was worse than anything we had previously seen and that includes both WDW and Universal parks between Christmas and New Years in 2012.

 

Holy long preamble. NOW, onto the pictures!

 

Our son MUST have a map:

 

One of MY favorite activities is feeding the sting rays:

 

My daughter doesn't like to have her hand under them (I'll be honest- kind of wigs me out too), but she does like to pet them.

 

At some point, little dude crashed for a nap:

 

But, fortunately he was awake for the special Elmo show:

 

We missed our chance to feed the dolphins, so instead we went under and watched them for a bit:

 

(Super SeaWorld hint- this room is air conditioned and makes a great place mid-summer to go each lunch if you pack your own lunches. We did this fairly often.)

 

After nightfall, we checked out the ice skating show:

 

 

Our seats weren't great for the show, but it was pretty neat looking out over the lake:

 

I also missed my opportunity to take food pics (you very rarely get them with me). But the burgers on soft pretzel rolls were just shy of amazing.

 

We waited for the Polar Express ride. Because of my son's height and wife's motion sickness issues, we opted for the "walking version". I hadn't done the "walking" version before and definitely won't spend the time on it again. It's basically going into a room and watching an abbreviated version of the movie. But, the train is cool:

 

There were singers doing a cappella songs who were actually quite good. My family are suckers for live music, so we listened for a bit. No pics or video- you're going to imagine it!

 

We then split up, my daughter and I "speed walking" as quickly as we could to Manta to try and get a ride in before the park closed. We've ridden it many times before, but kept putting it off this trip to avoid the lines. We missed it. Daughter was bummed. She's a good kid and got over it quick. :)

 

They make it snow, and son loves catching the snow:

 

And that was our evening. Like I said, our pictures didn't show the insanity of people. Like whoa.

 

 

Next up was packing up and leaving Clermont to head down to Miami on Sunday morning.

 

My wife brought the slide in and then had to put it back out to get something. On its way out, it got stuck again. This time I was a little better armed with a kid who fit on top of the slide, knowledge with where the slide controller was, and a hint that I might have a wiring issue to the one motor.

 

The campground was good. I called them and said that we wouldn't be able to checkout by 11am. They were decent about it. My family waited while I tried different things and talked to myself through ideas:

 

I ultimately got the slide in. As we were on our way. Our destination was Larry and Penny Thompson Memorial Park. I made reservations a month or so before hand as I had heard it was a popular snow birding destination and wanted to make sure we'd have a spot for 2 nights. It was like 1/2 the price of a nearby private campground and was still full hookups.

 

It's also an interesting layout with a bunch of "pods". Each pod has a bathhouse and some or all have laundry facilities:

 

I called on our way to find out their "late check-in" procedures since we got such a rough start that morning. I'm glad I did because my assigned site number had changed. That would have been a trick!

 

We apparently drove quite a bit of the FL Turnpike. It cost about $35 to drive from Orlando to Miami on it. There was only 1 moment of traffic as we were minutes behind a bad accident. The turnpike rest stops have windshield washes that I've never seen before:

 

We got settled into our site. If I recall, the slide didn't fight me a whole lot going out that night. I was thankful as I just didn't have it in me. The exciting news was that my in-laws were catching up with us from Pennsylvania. They thought they'd be getting in around 10pm but ended up there around 8pm. The kids were ecstatic.

 

I was happy that my boats made it safely and without issue:

 

As you can see, parking is a little snug with multiple vehicles.

 

Our new site backed right up to the bathhouse. Typically we wouldn't have liked this, but we actually had a bunch of laundry to bust through. The laundry/bathhouses are decent. Here's the laundry area:

 

And I scoped out the showers just because:

 

My father-in-law used them. He said it was decent, but no temperature control.

 

Here's our site from the backside:

 

On Monday, I had to work (boo!). During the day, my wife and her mother went grocery shopping for our last "mainland" shopping trip (hoping to save a little money). And my father-in-law took the kids for walks checking out the campground. They came back and said that one of the campers had a pig. And I quote, "a big pig. not like a little pig,a big pig." I still expected a cute little pot bellied pig. But, on Tuesday- sure enough, this lady was taking her pig for a walk:

 

I have so many questions... none of which I asked. I did mention this on the Forest River Forums and heard that this was considered a therapy pig and that it unexpectedly got fatter than it was supposed to. Click for that post.

 

So there you have it- someone takes their full grown PIG camping and it's not an euphemism for their husband.

 

On Tuesday, December 23, we headed for Key West, but I think I'm at a good picture count, so I'll stop here...

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I love Key West.  Really looking forward to your pictures!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, that 's a big pig.

 

I think there were other things I was going to comment on about that update, but all I am thinking about now is that big pig.

 

Wow.

 

Great job getting the photo.  I wouldn't have imagined that big a pig if you said you saw a big pig in a campground.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

We tailgate near some people who bring a pig. I feel kind of bad when I'm cooking up BACON.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

We a saw a little pig at the campground in Gatlinburg.  But that is a big pig.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

As Jim Gaffigan says, "Pigs are magical creatures. They eat apples and turn it into BACON."

I think these people have the right idea- it's a pet AND a meal!

[ependydad...Doug 176]

So, Tuesday, December 23 is the morning that we left from Miami to go to Key West. My goal was to leave no later than 9:30 or 10:00 figuring that if the slide gave me issues (and it did), we wouldn't be majorly delayed. If I recall correctly, we got on the road between 10:00 and 10:30, so my plan worked. I did learn to read the slide's controller and reset it and whatnot. Slightly less annoying once I was armed with some information, but still pretty sucky. I did get my first indication that it might be a wiring problem as we did "something" and it magically started "working". It was like it went into Mighty Mouse mode and was 4x as fast as it usually is. Who knows.

 

For the drive, my daughter rode with Grandma and Grandpa. That left my wife, my son, and me in the truck. They stopped to swing by a Publix to get a Sunpass for the turnpike (which, the irony is- they didn't use it on the way down TO Key West). That held them up by a good 45 minutes to an hour. It was ok, they knew where we were going.

 

The drive off of the mainland and into the Keys was pretty uneventful. The water, was stunning. We tried various "out the window" photos, but it just didn't do the water justice. Here was my attempt while my wife watched the road and took the wheel:

 

And here was her attempt:

 

Pretty, but missing that "wow" factor. Unfortunately, all of the pull offs seemed to dead end. Being a 22' truck pulling a 42' fifth wheel and being right about 59' hitched up- I couldn't take chances at pulling over. Until I caught sight of a pull off AND could see a bit further on that it had an entry. That meant easy off, easy on. (Note to self: warn the wife before intentionally veering off the road and braking hard.)

 

But it was worth it. It's almost even worth-it enough to play with the clone tool to remove the power poles and lines, but I didn't:

 

We did realize it probably wasn't a good idea to leave our son in a running truck along side the highway, so I stayed back while my wife checked out the water and she stayed back while I ran up and took some pictures.

 

Here's what the pull off looked like. Notice the truck now no longer has antlers and simply has a bad pimple:

 

That was a nice stop. We drove on and the 7 Mile bridge was very cool. Remarkably NOT intimidating.

 

It only took us about 3 - 3 1/2 hours to make it to our destination- Bluewater Key RV Resort. The gate is very "ohh la la":

 

My son had just fallen asleep, so my wife went inside to get us checked-in. We were a little surprised by a $20/night fee for her parents to be with us. I thought I included them in the reservation, but maybe I didn't. Who knows. A little stress because that added up for our 9-night stay. But, we were there.

 

I'm going to do a follow-on post here, because I have a crap-ton of photos of our site and the resort that will likely exceed a one-post limit.

[jengarynew adventures 0]

Congratulations on 10 year!!!  May God bless you with man, many more.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

A woman escorted us to our site and her daughter showed up to help me park the camper. Their arms were flailing and waving and they smiled the whole time. It would have helped if they gave me an overview of what their hand motions meant or gave me an indication when they were motioning to me vs. each other. My wife have a system- they messed with it. We did get parked on the 3rd or 4th try and after they left, a friendly neighbor came over chuckling. He said he always "fixes" the parking after they leave. So we did- straightened up on the site, backed up a little more, and got it just right.

 

But now, our site looking from the road back through:

 

From the back of the camper looking to the front:

 

The slide took a little bit of fighting. I ultimately managed to bump and jiggle the wiring to the one motor and it started right up working. It waited just long enough to anger me good and thorough before it did, but it worked and I was happy. While we were setting up, my in-laws got there and the boy woke up. You can tell my kids are awake, they're eating:

 

And then we toured the site. Here's part of the tiki hut and boat dock:

 

Here's some of our tiki hut:

 

And our table that was bloody heavy to move and the top wobbled:

 

Everyone went out to check out the boat dock:

 

 

She's just testing the water:

 

And an iguana scampered past:

 

There was only one thing to make the day complete and that was to go swimming!

 

 

 

That day, my mother-in-law setup the Christmas tree and we started putting out some Christmas decorations around. All dinners were served in the tiki hut:

 

I'm not a Jimmy Buffet fan, but apparently I like Margeritaville beer. Festive, isn't it:

 

 

And now, I'm going to jump around days-wise a little bit because of the way that I organized my photos. Here's a few random other photos in my "Bluewater Key" folder.

 

First, we noticed a fair amount of jellyfish around the boat dock and quite a lot more back in the canal. They were all small- 5" round at the top was a rarity as the biggest. None of us got stung, fortunately.

 

We didn't learn the next tip until 5 days or so into our stay. But, at night- go out to the boat dock with flashlights and look in the water. Shrimp eyes apparently glow orange when a light is shone on them. We saw lots of shrimp, some cool fish and various other things. Unfortunately, we didn't see any lobster or crab at night (though, I did see a crab one day while I was swimming). Here's one of the fish that we saw:

 

Breakfasts are always yummy and here's a rare food picture for me! One morning my wife made eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns. It was delicious.

 

The laundry facilities were decent:

 

Though someone apparently washed their dog in one or two of the washers. Their was HAIR EVERYWHERE. We opted not to use that one. Here are the dryers:

 

I wish this note was more prominently posted. I saw lots of people walking out in the shallows. Lots of wildlife out there, apparently:

click for larger

 

What else, what else? The boat dock provided much entertainment (and stress at the same time):

 

 

And relaxation:

 

Remember our mischievous elves? Well apparently one night, they thought rescue practice in the tiki huts was a good idea!

 

I do enjoy all of the things that you see in the campground. It's no pig, but it was a talking bird:

 

Finally, woe is me. I did have to continue to work while we "vacationed" in Key West. Here, I have a server error while my father-in-law schnoozed.

 

I'll stop here for now- when I come back, I have pictures of our actual Christmas decorations, Christmas Day, a failed attempt at watching the sunrise, and Key West. WHEW, so much.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

I realized that with my daughter's anniverary, I didn't go back and respond to these. Again- thank you greatly for the kind words. I've clicked the "up arrow" on each of your responses, but I just can't even respond to each. (hugs)

 

Your MVMCP update was great!

 

How long was your wait to meet Sandy Claws?  We went to the very first MVMCP this year, back in November, and the Sandy Claws line was insanely long.

 

Please keep writing!  I am very interested in the pig incident.

 

TCD

 

The wait for Sandy Claws wasn't bad at all. There were maybe 7 or 8 families ahead of us. It would have been quicker (but I wouldn't have wanted it) because Jack interacted with each family for a couple of minutes. It was easily in my best character interaction experiences. The other, remarkably, are the ugly step-sisters- we've met them a few times and have been rolling in laughter each time. Once, they called the evil Step Mother over to our table to give us grief collectively. Fun times.

 

 

Great update! I loved the story about the dancing, but hate to hear about the lost Ellie.

 

The dancing was so much fun! The funny thing is, second Ellie has gone missing in our house. His replacement has been Bambi! He's even been watching the Bambi movie on his iPad quite a bit.

 

Your son riding the roller coaster made me laugh. So much fun!

 

It was HILARIOUS! As funny as the second-time was, nothing could top the first one. Still makes me laugh. :)

 

I also loved the dancing with your daughter story.

 

It was pretty awesome. It also reminds me that Disney isn't just about making my wife happy. I'm a cynic, but I do enjoy it.

 

So far great photos and updates, keep up the good work and I enjoy following along!!!!

 

Thanks, Rennie! This is fun.

[PGHFiend 140]

Great TR. Congrats on the 10 year cancer free anniversary. We have a 2 year old niece who is 1 year free of Neuroblastoma. 

On a side note, why do we all love to camp? It must be something with adventure- because there must be something special about anyone who wants to spend vacation worrying about blowouts and stuck slides, roof leaks and broken AC units.

Stay handy my friends!

AP

[dblr....Rennie 224]

WOW Doug that is one awesome looking place to camp, looks like a future trip there needs to be planned, even at the higher price it looked worth it.