Walkerfiend family's 2nd (annual?) trip and travel/transportation mishap report.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

^{It is fun following along with you on your vacation!  Thanks :)}

[WalkerFiend 22]

What an awesome day. The geek in me was geeking out at your greekness. Lol

LOL! I guess as an "adult" I enjoy the place at a different level. Heheh.

[WalkerFiend 22]

Great update!

I'm glad to hear that Ben enjoyed getting spiked.

It was great to meet you and the family, and it sounds like maybe next time I need to bring you a spike too.

TCD

Thanks and thanks again! I think Ben and I can share though. I read elsewhere that the Spike supply might be gettin a little depleted.

[WalkerFiend 22]

Thanks for the kind words. This is a lot of fun for me to write. I'm Working on the next installment but work and my grass and the holiday weekend are competing for my time.

Sorry for the delay.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

LOL! I guess as an "adult" I enjoy the place at a different level. Heheh.

I do as well. I could sit for hours just observing all the comings and going of the park. If you haven't already, read the book Behind the Magic. I could spend a day just looking for and at all thr things thr book lays out.

[WalkerFiend 22]

Was anyone else even there for Mary Poppins? Looks like you have the station to yourselves. I love the enthusiasm of your trip report and seeing your beautiful family having such a great time. But my feet hurt each time I read your total steps for the day!

As I recall it, we started up the stairs and she was standing outside, went in as we got to the top.

When we went inside I think there was one family already in there and we were next.

Several more folks got in line just behind us.

It was strange come to think of it. We'd never been able to just walk right up to one of the characters like that before.

[WalkerFiend 22]

I do as well. I could sit for hours just observing all the comings and going of the park. If you haven't already, read the book Behind the Magic. I could spend a day just looking for and at all thr things thr book lays out.

Thanks! Been looking for a book. I'll have to add that to my Christmas list! :)

[WalkerFiend 22]

Hope everybody is enjoying a long Holiday weekend.  Let's continue.

 

For some reason I do not have a lot of notes or pictures for today.  I'm not sure if I've lost some, or if we were just so busy that we didn't take as many.  Oh well, here we go:

 

Saturday: 6/13 Back to Epcot!

We slept in some today and didn't leave the campground at about 10:45.

 

This time, Ben wanted to ride the big ferry boats, so we rode to MK, and got on the ferry to the transportation hub.  From there we caught the monorail to Epcot.  The masses of people were still headed in the opposite direction into the MK and we practically had the ferry to ourselves. 

 

 

The first FP was for Test Track.  Our impatient vehicle guru Ben just wanted to drive the car already!  But we had fun playing at the consoles first anyway. 

 

 

 

 

After some shopping (mom got a new Mickey tshirt) it was off to Spaceship Earth.  The kids like Spaceship earth.  I like that we are sitting down and that it's cool!  The rains have left for awhile and now the heat is on!

 

Now it's time for a cool down and a quick rest before we head off to see the World one more time. 

 

 

We had another FP, but is was SO hot and so far away that we actually decided to skip it and head for some lunch.

 

Today the crowds are larger and it looks like both boats are running.  We rode one across the lake to Germany, then went to lunch in the America area at Liberty Inn.

 

(what could possibly go wrong here?  LOL - no, nobody dunked themselves - but I thought about it!

 

While we were there We stayed to see the American Adventure movie.  Ben and I had missed this one last year because we'd taken a bathroom break, and then watched the patriot show (I can't remember what they called it) outside.  

 

 

Somehow It's even warmer today.  We walked through some shops in Germany and a building in Norway (art of Frozen).

 

And then we walked, and walked, and walked...  We had skipped most of this side of the World the other day because we were tired. Took a break for awhile at the Mexico pavilion and rode the Three caballeros boat ride for a cool down.  (I have not one picture form here - and I am almost certain that we’d taken some.  humph!)

 

Then we walked and walked and walked some more. Hah.  How are my legs even more tired today?  I mean we rode the boat across...   I do love this picture from Germany with Maddie and the Pickle tree:

 

 

Anyway it is quickly approaching dinner time and the kids are ready for the pool so we head out.

 

Took monorail to transportation hub, and again caught ferry boat back to the MK.  This worked out again as at this time of the day we were headed in the opposite direction of most of the crowds.  

 

 

 

 

You can see me here with the backpack, playing family Sherpa...  A dad's job is never done!   :)

 

We'd had zero mishaps today and I had not really even thought of the gremlin, when suddenly the ferry crashed into the barrier at the dock at the MK!

 

Uh, this wasn't a quiet, gentle bump either.  There was a fairly loud crashing sound, and a pretty violent jerking motion. I saw more than one person nearly knocked off of their feet. Luckily there were very few people on board.

 

As I looked at the pilot house (or whatever it's called.)  I could not hear what the captain said and, I think it was maybe better that way.

 

Nobody was hurt, we docked the rest of the way without incident and all was well.

 

The captain didn't really look mad or upset at this point, but I figured this was not the best time to stop him and explain my gremlin theory!   :)

 

Then we hopped the boat back to the Fort.  Everybody is ready for hopefully uninterrupted pool time this evening.   :)

 

I didn't make any notes about where we ate this evening for dinner.  I'm pretty sure we either had something at the pool, or just had something simple at the camper.  Then it was off to the pool.

 

Is the chlorine even stronger today?  LOL!  It will positively burn your eyes...

 

We stayed at the pool until it was time to get cleaned up and head back to the beach for our nightly viewing of the EWP and Fireworks.

 

Tonight I check the Pedometer and can't believe my eyes.  Then I checked DW's to be sure: 

 

Pedometer : 18,597 (8-9ish miles). 

 

How did we manage to walk even more today?  I don't know, but my feet can tell.

 

Stay tuned.  Tomorrow is "Fort Day".   :)

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

8-9 miles!!! Wow did you loose any weight after this trip was said and done? Seriously with all the walking and sweating I would think you could eat whatever you wanted and everything would even out in the end.

[WalkerFiend 22]

8-9 miles!!! Wow did you loose any weight after this trip was said and done? Seriously with all the walking and sweating I would think you could eat whatever you wanted and everything would even out in the end.

 

Well, I didn't go into every dietary detail here in the report - haha - but - we uh, ate well.  If I recall it right the DW and I ended up about where we started in the end.  So, at least we did no damage!  :)

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Then that's a win

[WalkerFiend 22]

Holiday two for one special - today only - bonus post!!!  :)

 

Sunday, 6/14 Fort Day!

 

We made the very purposeful decision months ago to schedule NOTHING today.  We just wanted a day to actually spend some time looking around the Fort and relaxing.  

 

 

We also figured that if bad weather had really been a problem, we'd have this as kind of a make up day.  Just a flexible, no plan, no schedule day on vacation!  

 

I think this is one disadvantage of Disney.  It seems like, as great as it is, you have to schedule everything...  It's vacation!!!  I'm not always very good at planning.  That's one area where (thank goodness) my wife is my balance.  I know I drive her nuts sometimes with my laid back attitude towards scheduling and planning.  I certainly understand how important it is for a vacation like this, but I still don't overly enjoy that part of it very much.

 

We did have a breakfast reservation at Trails End.  I think we could have made out without reservations to tell the truth, it didn't seem full, or really even busy.  

 

 

The food is good and we started off on our day about nothing.  The plan was really just to hang out at the Fort all day and do whatever.  And so we started doing this!   :)

 

Since we were already here at the settlement we went over to the TriCircleD ranch to see the horses and stables.  

 

 

 

From there we took a walk around to the Backyard Barbecue area.  Nobody was around and so I took a (non trespassing) pic or two of the old River Country.  I've seen some tall cherry picker type machines located here from the boat a couple of times and some fairly bright lights on one night...  We can't see any equipment today from this perspective though.  As far a I can tell, there is still nothing happening here, just kinda ongoing slow decay.

 

 

It's funny that my iPhone automatically has tagged many of the pics I've taken here as being at "River Country".  I also noticed that the ticket(?) booth still has signs from the RC days.

 

 

I wanted to do some more exploring. It's getting HOT and fast!  The ladies weren't really interested in a lot of walking after yesterday, but I talked the boy into it and so we compromised.  

 

While DW and DD went and did some shopping (I think there was some ice cream involved as well.) Ben and I took a walk down the beach toward the canal. Old maps show a nature trail going across the canal and into the woods.  I knew we couldn't get across the canal anymore (can we?) but I wanted to see this area.  We did manage to get a peek at the old cabin in the woods. Well, I'm pretty sure that is what it is anyway.

 

 

Then, just across the fenced and locked gate across the water control lock/dam thingy...

 

 

We could see what I can only guess is what is known as the Big ### Bat House(?).  Uh, no bats to report...  But it's daytime...  

 

 

It's starting to get pretty hot and Ben is campaigning for some pool time so we headed back.  On the way there is this point and wow!  What a great view of the MK.  I wonder if the view of the fireworks would be better from here, and if there is a closer place to park the cart?  I've got this place filed away for additional exploration on future visits if we are that lucky. 

 

 

Once we had all regrouped we decided we were ready for some quality pool time.  I'm not sure exactly how long we were actually in the pool but it was a great time.

 

And all four of us got sunburn - oopsy!

 

Somehow even our SPF 9,000 sunscreen was no match for the midday FL sun on our pasty-pale winter bleached skin. Even though we'd been at the pool almost daily we got pretty red, pretty quick.  Time to rethink the afternoon plan just a little. 

 

Luckily it wasn't an awful burn.

 

With some soothing lotion applied all around...  We decided to head back out during the heat of the day to do some resort hopping for awhile.  We hopped on the boat to MK and then onto the resort monorail.  

 

We skipped the contemporary for the time being and made our first stop at the  Polynesian to nose around. 

 

 

It's here that we saw and got our first ever Dole whip to share!  Yum! I'm not sure where you can get Dole Whips, but I wish they'd go national!  :) I'd heard of them but I guess we'd never seen them during our entire stay until now.

 

While in the gift shop we found a pretty cool set of posters at the gift shop before we made our way back to the Monorail.  It's a neat set because it included posters for some attractions that no longer exist.  They will look great down in our toy room someday when I reclaim that space for my home theater.

 

(That may be some wishful thinking on my part, but a guy can dream!) 

 

 

Another thing we learned: Purchases made at one resort can't be delivered back to your resort. That only works at the parks.  Oh well, no biggie, we didn't buy much.

 

It is interesting to see the elaborate pools and slides here at these resorts.  Yah, they are pretty darn cool, not a doubt about it...  Not sure I'd trade any of it in for the Fort though.

 

Next stop: The Grand Floridian resort.  We looked around for a few minutes.  Uh.  It's beautiful.  It's not my style.  I actually felt slightly out of place in such an upscale locale.  I remember telling the kids not to touch anything!

 

 

I noticed an older woman sitting in the lobby (just by the bird cage and out of view on the left of the pic above) as we made our way around and didn't think much about it at the time.  She kinda just looked at us as we went by.  Then all of a sudden in the elevator my wife mentioned that she'd just remembered reading about a lady that visits here on a regular basis just to talk to people.  

 

Not sure if that was her, or if the story is true.  She kinda caught my eye as we passed, and I was thinking more along the lines that she'd figured us out as one of "those trailer people" and so I didn't speak.  

 

Heh.  Had I been aware of the story, I surely would have at least stopped to say hello... Just ask my wife!  She says I'll talk anybody's ear off!  

 

Now finally we're head back to the Contemporary.  

 

We ate again at the Contempo Cafe and then did some Shopping.  I found this really cool t-shirt that made me laugh out loud, sadly, they didn't have in in my size.  

 

 

Oh well.  One for two on the t-shirts...  From here we ventured down to the docks and hopped  the resort boat across to the Fort.  I kept hoping we'd get to ride with the singing captain, but no such luck.  

 

 

(See family Sherpa in action the pic above)  :)

 

Now that the sun has settled some, we feel safe to go back to the pool without roasting ourselves the rest of the way.  We spent a long time at the pool just relaxing.  

 

 

Finally we make our now customary trip to the beach to see the EWP and Fireworks, looping our way (going and coming) to see all the other Mickey lights and decorations.

 

No gremlin visits today!  

 

Pedometer : 10,534 (ahh,,, that 4 or five miles felt easy!)

 

Tomorrow is our last day at Disney. Stay tuned! :)

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Ahhh my kind of day. No plans, no agenda just relax and go.

[WalkerFiend 22]

Well, we have a sick one at home today, so I'm going for  the trifecta...

 

Monday 6/15.  Our last day at Disney...

 

7:52 AM:

One thing I've noticed, or noticed at lot less of on this trip are the geckos.  

 

 

Our site in 1400 last year was covered by what seemed 100 geckos per square foot!  This year, there are plenty, but much less than last.  I don't know if it's just because of our location, if the geckos have had a bad year... 

 

Or if it was the giant Owl?

 

This Owl is HUGE.  At night you can sometimes see it sitting on the fence just outside the comfort station here in 1300.  As a matter of fact I walked right past it one evening without even seeing it until another guest pointed it out and told me that he'd just watched me walk right past it.

 

I would not be surprised if this Owl was well over two feet tall.  Huge, beautiful creature.  Sadly, I never got a picture because of the poor lighting.  Do they eat geckos?  Humph.  I think they do.

 

Ok so onward we go!  No signs of rain today and it is extremely hot! 

 

We have another fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain, followed by Splash Mountain.  There are no gremlins so far today and everything is working well so far.

 

We're in the front two rows this time and I got soaked!  These pics make me laugh though :)

 

We wondered toward our lunch destination and saw that the line was short, so we went on Small World one last time.  (At least it is cool!)  :)

 

For lunch we went back to Pinocchio Village Haus again since we're already right next door.  The Pixie dust must be strong here!  We got our food and then, believe it or not, we again got seated at the window overlooking Small World!  We were literally at the table next to the one we were seated at a few days ago!  The kids had a great time again waving to the folks as they passed us on their way into Small World. 

 

Magical.  :)

 

What are the odds of this happening?  

 

 After lunch our final fast pass was for meeting Anna and Elsa!!!  We went to the wrong entrance first, quickly found our way, and my prince and princess got to meet Disney's. 

 

 

 

 

I said a few days ago that it seems to feel cooler here at MK than it does at Epcot...

 

I might have spoken to soon.  

 

We head over for a visit to Tom Sawyer's island - even in all of the shade it is very hot!  We had fun exploring here for awhile...

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the few boats we missed riding this year!  

 

 

...then we took the raft back to the mainland and headed to the Frontierland station for our last train ride for this trip.  

 

Took train from Frontierland to Fantasyland and then wondered over to Tomorrowland for one more visit to to People mover.  And. Then, yes, one last visit to Carousel of Progress!

 

We are pretty much roasted at this point and the kids are almost chanting: Pool! Pool!

We strolled back to Main Street where we naturally had to pick up a Starbucks (yes-addicted), some cold water for Ben, and some Ice Cream for Mom and Maddie.  

 

One last look around...

 

 

Then -headed back to campground.  

 

 

Back at the fort we stopped at the camper long enough to cool down some and just generally, relaxed for awhile. 

 

We realized at this point that we were in danger of leaving some meal and snack credits unused.  To help use them up we decided to get another Trails end pizza to have for lunch on the road tomorrow.  (I've read complaints about the pizza.  It's OK.  Not the best I've ever had by any means, but it's Ok IMHO.) 

 

Tomorrow morning we will get take out breakfasts, muffins, sticky buns, snacks from the trading post, and some candy treats to take with us us as we head home.

 

When we come back next year (my Wife will smile at that statement) our Ben will be charged as an adult for the Dining plans, even though he eats like a bird, and is PAINFULLY picky about what he will eat.  I'm thinking next time we come, no more Dining plan.  I think we can do better on our own, easily.

 

Well, now it's off to the pool for the last time!   We ate our dinner there at the snack bar and stayed until dark.  

 

 

Finally I had to drag them out of the water to go see the EWP and Fireworks.

 

We climbed into the cart and headed to the beach.  It's a day of "lasts" for this trip but we've had so much fun!  

 

I am not happy to leave, but, I am satisfied that we have made the most of this trip and made memories that the kids will keep forever.  So, oddly I'm kinda happy in that respect.

 

So without thinking very much about it, as we walked out onto the beach to wait, I looked down at my little girl and said something like: 

 

"This will be the last Fireworks for this trip."

 

I should have known I was in trouble when she looks up and says: "The last time???"

 

I should have known, but I didn't catch on, and said:

 

"Well, yes sweetie. We have to start home tomorrow."

 

And clueless dad here was a little shocked, and a little heartbroken when his beautiful, happy little girl started to cry. Sobbing actually. Not a fit or tantrum...

 

She just honestly didn't realize that the time to leave was here.  

 

I hate making anybody cry and her most of all.    

 

A coupe of years ago she hit me in the shin by accident and it hurt like heck!  I yelped loudly in shock and pain.  She though she'd really hurt me badly and cried.  I felt like a real ass then, as I do right now. I'd cut off my arm right now if I knew that by doing so she'd never have to cry again!

 

While I made a mental note to tear up my parent-of-the-year application form...    

 

Mom (as always) knows just what to do.  By the end of the fireworks the storm has passed and she's recovered. Not thrilled to be leaving, but happy again, as we head off for one last round of looping on our way home and to bed. 

 

On the bright side...  Well. I tried to tell myself that she musta had a pretty darn good time to not really be aware that the time to leave was already here.  That cheered me up some.  

 

It also made the geek in me think of the late Steve Jobs' fabled "Reality Distortion Field"... I think that the one here at Disney is working at full power!

 

Off to bed. Tears and all...  It's the perfect day to close out our visit.

 

Pedometer 15,153 (6-7ish miles.)

 

Tomorrow: We bid farewell to the Fort and start our three day journey home.

 

But. The Gremlin decides to come with us...  

 

That three day trip is going to take us 6 days to finish... But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

Wanna ride along with us on our way home?  Stay tuned...

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

You've done such a great job with this trip reporr! I've really enjoyed reading along! :)

Hot...yes, Disney can definitely get hot! Mix with that all those steps and mercy, it's no wonder you didn't gain any weight, even with all the eating Dining plan...convenient, but financially we've never found it to work for our family. If they offered a super great deal on it, we'd probably add it though :) Dole Whip. ..you know what, we've never had one of these. All these trips and not one. Our 3 year old is allergic to peanuts, but before we found that out, we'd always get frozen bananas. ..then we discovered the Mickey Bar :) One of these days we will need to try a Dole Whip

Last day....makes me sad just thinking about it Always sad to leave the Fort...

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Sorry you have a sick one at home. Ah last day at WDW..yes in all my years of visiting I have cried upon arrival and have shed tears as we have left.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Poor little girl, my godson, when he was little, cried every time we left the MK.

 

6 days to do a 3 day trip...oof

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Sorry you have a sick one at home. Ah last day at WDW..yes in all my years of visiting I have cried upon arrival and have shed tears as we have left.

Right there with ya!! :)

[WalkerFiend 22]

Yah - Whatever this virus is has kept her home all week.  And cost us a lot of sleep.  So, I'm a little behind.  I wanted to combine a couple of days here, but I think I'll make this a short update and get another posted later on if I don't fall asleep!  :) 

 

Thanks again for your kind words.  

 

Tuesday:  6/16

 

We’re headed home today…  

 

You know you have had a good time at the Fort and Disney if you try to use your Magic Band’s PIN to open the keyless entry on your truck!  :)

 

We took our internet kit back to the Meadows Trading Post and used some left over snack credits for some sweets for the long drive home.  Then we're were off to Trails End for a takeout breakfast for Maddie and I, and some muffins and cinnamon rolls for our trip home.

 

Ate at the camper and started to get everything secured and stowed for travel.  It’s not even 9AM and it is hot as a furnace!   

 

Finally came the sad time to take our good friend the golf cart back.  Rinding the bus back to 1300 one last time.

 

By 10:30 there is not a lot left to do. All we need to do is pull in the slides, roll up the awning, hitch up and... Oh no!  I have to stow the Shore Power Cord...  I hate the Shore Power cord on our camper!  It’s the type that is hard wired inside a just-about-too-small compartment…  It has also laid outside all week, so it’s covered in sand from the rains.

 

Ick!  Time to try to put the Genie back in the bottle!

 

One foot at at time I clean the sand off while trying to master the double secret combination of twisting/stuffing the monster back into it’s hole.  

 

And a second try, and a third, and  a fourth!…  Over and over my nemisis battled me! 

 

Finally with somebody from the the Fort Staff orbiting around our site…  (Obviously waiting of us to be gone.) I finally got the dang thing stowed!   Yes it was an absolute tooth-and-nail battle!  It looked like I had ran a marathon by the time I got it in there.  Sweat from head to toe.  Sheesh!  I think I need to mod this hateful thing so it just connects at both ends and stows in a tub.

 

We finally pull out of and bid farewell to 1303 at 11:30!  

 

 

Maddie's face is priceless in this pic. 

 

 

One last look at Spaceship Earth...

 

Today’s trip (now that we are finally on the road), backtracks our route:  I-4, to 1-95 back to Savannah South KOA.  The trip was uneventful  but the HEAT!!!  90 at Noon, 94 at 3PM… Eating in the camper is not an option today!  Thank goodness for Denny’s!

 

Reached the campground at about 5:30. A quick check of my weather app on the phone said that the temp had risen to 98, and the little “Current Conditions” icon just has the single word “Hot” along with picture of a blazing sun and cactus!  LOL - Yep...

 

We did a quick setup without unhitching and got the AC fired up, then Ate our Trails End pizza for dinner.  Mom stayed behind in the camper when the kids and I Went to pool for a few hours.  (This pic is from last year - it's a really nice pool as I'd mentioned earlier.)

 

 

Actually we stayed in the water until the pool closed.

 

Even though I am still wearing my Magic Band…  Slowly we seem to be emerging from the “Disney reality protection shield”.  :) For the first time in days I started paying serious attention to the real world again…

 

And I didn’t like what I am seeing:  Tropical Storm Bill?  When did that happen???  The drive home is starting to look nasty!  Not thrilled with the prospect of driving basically a whole day or more in pouring rain…

 

News reports are telling of flooding.  Some major roads and even interstates on our route home closed at times due to flooding back in Ohio…  More heavy rains forecasted to come.  

 

Now I know where the FL rain has went!  Right now it looks like day three of our drive home will be very-very rainy.  Not looking forward to this at all…

 

Oh well, off to bed.  I'll check again in the morning.

 

Pedometer : 8209

 

Next up:  Plans change, and the return of the Gremlin...  :)

[WalkerFiend 22]

Wednesday 6/17: 

 

Today is going to be a long one.  The route is I-95 to I-26 to Columbia, SC.  Then onward North on I-77 and back to Fancy Gap, VA.  Retracing our route.  The weather calls for heavy to possibly Severe thunderstorms along the northerm most leg of our path in the late afternoon and into the overnight.  With my luck, just as we need to set up camp!

 

I was not looking forward to today, or the final leg tomorrow, which promised a lot higher chance of yucky to downright severe storms.

 

But all of that was about to change.  We stopped for lunch near the junction of I-95 and I-26.  Even at noontime there was no thought of eating in the camper as we’d done a couple of times on the way down.  Already the temps are in the high 90’s.

 

During lunch Abby looks at me and says: “I’m not ready to go home yet.”

And I say: “Neither am I.”

 

We are big fans of the Smoky mountains.  We were married there, and every single year since, we have managed to return to Gatlinburg for visit.  Last year we’d extended our return trip by a few days to meet Grandparents in Gatlinburg.  Just a few days revisiting our favorite places.  This year (as a cost saving move) we’d decided to skip the Smoky's for the first time in our marriage.

 

After lunch while the kids are going potty, Abby looks at me as says: “It would be stupid to back to Gatlinburg again wouldn’t it?”

 

Well,  We had plenty of time, I did not need to be back to work until Monday…  So why not!?!

 

As long as we can find a place to stay.  Last year we stayed at Twin Creek RV Park just off the parkway, and very close to downtown Gatlinburg.  We really enjoyed our short stay there, and so, on the spur of the moment…  We called and found that we’d have no problem staying for a couple of days.

 

New plan!  We’re going to hang out at Gatlinburg  Thursday and Friday, and head home to Ohio on Saturday.  The advantage is that most if not all of the weather nastiness will have pulled away from our area by then.  Score and score!  I am thrilled at not having to drive through it.

 

We sprung the news on the kids, and the idea was approved by all!  :)

 

 

(What did we do before personal electronics?)

 

And so,  instead of turning “right” at Columbia, we head straight.  The new route is I-26, to I-40, to the Foothills parkway, across to 321, and backtrack a tad to Twin Creek.

 

The revised plan would make us miss most of the bad weather, but not all.  

 

 

As we climbed into the mountains a storm started.  Nothing severe.  We proceeded on our way and managed to pull into Gatlinburg at about 7:30.  Tired and happy to be back at another place we all love.

 

 

(The view after the rain, crossing the Foothills Parkway - we'd pulled out to let traffic pass.)

 

We got a great site right next to the creek. (This pic is from tomorrow or the next day, but thought you should get a peek.)

 

 

We’ve had no real issues today.  As we get parked on our site and start to level the camper.  Then the wife points at one of the trailer tires and says:  “That tire looks low.”  I tapped it with my toe, and tell her I think it’s just sitting on the leveler funny and I’d check it later.

 

I was wrong.  The Gremlin has returned…

 

Later in the evening as I finished hooking up the hose and open the grey water drain valve I lean against the tire and.  It is flat as a pancake!  

 

I’m tired.  It can wait till morning.  I’m extra thankful that it held up until I was parked in a safe place, and that I’m in an area sure to have 100 places that can fix or replace a tire easily.  I was not supposed to be here.  Good luck, Pixie dust?  You decide!  LOL.

 

Tomorrow, we get a new tire and see some sites in the Smoky Mountains!

 

Pedometer : 5557

[Seals 111]

 

After lunch while the kids are going potty, Abby looks at me as says: “It would be stupid to back to Gatlinburg again wouldn’t it?”

 

 

I've had a similar conversation with my husband many times at the end of vacations. Ours has often been stopping in Williamsburg VA, totally out of the way but one of our favorite places, during the trip back to SC from NJ. We've never been sorry and I hope you weren't either.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow, there are quite a few updates I didn't get a chance to comment on.

 

I know I busted your chops earlier about some of your FP+ choices, but I have to say I like your style:

 

-great choice taking the MK boat, ferry and monorail to Epcot- why not?

 

-good idea to plan a Fort day.  It looks like your gang really enjoyed that.

 

-that spot you found at the end of the trail with the view of the MK is a good place to watch the fireworks.  Back in the day, they had speakers rigged up in the old cabin, and would blast the fireworks soundtrack from there.  They still stop the wagon ride there for fireworks and the EWP, but I don't think they have the fireworks soundtrack available anymore.  If you want to check out the fireworks view, you can park your cart at the outlet from the 300 loop, and it's not a far walk back to that spot.  But, it is dark.  And buggy.  And, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to hear the soundtrack.  But the view is still very special.

 

-good job going for Dole Whips at the Polynesian.  Those attraction posters you asked about are a great purchase.  All three of my daughters have a set, and they have some of the posters framed and hanging in their apartments.

 

-good job visiting Tom Sawyer Island.  That's a place too many people skip.  But, it's a great place to get away from the crowds.

 

-very cool about your last minute stop on the way home.  Great idea.

 

-and wow about that flat tire.  What if you had been on the road when that happened?

 

Looking forward to the rest of your report, but a bit bummed that it's nearing the end.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

I've gotten behind on my reading over the last few days but finally got to read your last several updates.

 

I'm like your daughter.  I cry every time I leave the MK on our last night.

 

Looking forward to hearing about Gatlinburg.  It's been a good while since we've visited there.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Okay... so apparently several of us female Fiends (and maybe a few male too ), cry when we leave the Fort.  Ahhh... the Fort.

 

The KOA in Savannah... we were suppose to say there next weekend, but plans changed and I'm now flying home (eeckk... I hate to fly!  ) to see family.  Glad to know that you found it decent; might be somewhere that we consider at a later date.

 

TN, such a pretty area :)  Nice spot!  I like all the cement and all the foliage! 

 

Praise God that you were not traveling on that tire!  What a blessing.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I meant to comment on your campsite, too:

 

 

So, you had a bench mounted there on your patio?

 

I can't say I've ever seen that before.

 

I like the patio, though.

 

And you need a longer post for your Mickey light.

 

TCD