Our trip report begins!!!

[CampingBandit]

We hit the road this morning, left only 40 minutes behind our planned departure time. Weather here is lousy so I won't miss it.

So excited - even bought some new christmas decor (I promised myself I wouldn't do that) so can't wait to arrive and start the fun. We have a ressie Saturday night for Whispering Canyon so we'll have all afternoon to do something fun and decorate our site...we'll play it by ear. I'm all about spur of the moment this trip (only two ressies the whole week)...so we'll just wait and see!

DH has stocked up on car games for the kids... we should have created a game where you count how many Walmarts we see.... Only been in the car an hour and I've seen three already...

Thank goodness for laptops and cell cards...or I would have to read a book or something archaic.

Kids are watching "Up"...Bandit is farting. A pop-up just passed us. Think they are headed to the fort too?

[OK GRUMPY]

Oh how Fun! I can't wait till my turn! Have fun and a safe trip! Keep us posted

[kaguilbeau]

Originally Posted by CampingBandit

A pop-up just passed us. Think they are headed to the fort too?

That's funny! I always ask myself where the passing campers are headed. If they're pulling a golf cart, I always guess Fort Wilderness!

Hope you have a wonderful trip. Post when you can, we all love to read about it.

[camperhappy]

Have a safe trip and a great time! We are traveling from Central Illinois and I agree, the weather stinks and I am glad we are heading to the Fort in 6 days!

[datgrt@fw]

I hope you and your family have a 'Great' vacation! Enjoy Fort Wilderness and Christmas time at WDW!

Safe Travels,

Doug / datgrt@fw

[Jasperann]

Have tons of fun!!! Can't wait until it is our turn...lol

I love the fact that you can post from the car during your drive down. Maybe I can figure out something like that... Wonder if they sell a week worth of Online usage any where...

[CampingBandit]

Woke up at 5am. Surprised by the alarm, actually could have slept a bit longer. This is unusual, most times when we go on vacation I am unable to sleep and usually wake up in the wee hours. I recall one year before our annual Wisconsin fishing expedition, waking at 3am to use the bathroom and in my groggy state, kicking the foot of the bed and breaking my toe, upon which I announced to my startled husband, “I guess we can get up now.” No broken bones this trip - just some achy joints…

Our target departure for today was 6am. Hoping to make it to the pit stop before dark. We have never set up camp in the dark. In the heat, yes, rain, yes, cold, yes, but dark…not yet. We pulled out of the driveway at 6:39. Not bad, not great. DH insists it was loading all of the kids’ things that put us behind schedule. No, it was all the things we should have done last night….LOL

He just announced to me he forgot his sunglasses. In 2005 on our trip to DW he spent a day and a half searching the local stores in Orlando/Kissimmee trying to find an appropriate pair, which were then broken within 24 hours when he sat on them one of the rides.

I gave a lot of thought to how to organize the car for such a long ride. I won’t bore anyone with the details but Bandit likes it. He gets to sit in the middle of the front seat with us and he’s very content this way, as opposed to how we usually have things and he’s in the back constantly trying to jump up front with me. Of course the kids were in the car all of 10 minutes and had my perfectly organized system dismantled entirely. Garbage, papers, DVDs are everywhere now. Just wait till they try to play Yahtzee.

DH has begun his travel ritual of listening to sports radio and grazing on Good n’ Plenty to stay awake.

My first yawn….and I’m beginning the phase “we’ll need to stop soon” (so Bandit can get walked, of course). Pricey gas $2.89 a gal. Stopped in Paxton, IL for 10 minutes for gas and well, never mind. Back on the road. 2 hours between stops, about average for us.

The long boring stretch of I-57 has my mind wandering. What DID my folks do with us when we drove out to Colorado in 1976? No I-pods, DVDs, DS games…. We were all about finding Stuckey’s and license plates and how MANY times can you play the alphabet game??? I do recall we had a favorite ritual of yelling “WWEEEEE” at the top of a hill and you had to hold it until the car reached the bottom….oh such fun we had.

Not a lot of stops past the Effingham exit…we need to stop for gas and “facilities” again and there isn’t much along this stretch of road. Making good time… it’s about 10:36 we’ve been in the car about 4 hours and we are about half-way to our first pit stop. I’m watching “August Rush” on one of the portable DVD players now..it’s ok. Yes, we have to stop again...we are getting a whopping 7mpg...it's gonna be an expensive trip.

11am…found a very nice truck stop in Farina. VERY clean, spotless bathrooms, much cheaper gas than the first stop. These things stand out at me. Had a nice Subway, though my daughter wanted Easy Mac…her jaw hurts so noodles are easy to eat.

DH has consumed an entire box of Good N’ Plenty. The kids are watching Benji. I found some DVDs at Wallyworld for $5 each, one is a 4-pack collection of Benji movies. I figured they would enjoy them, having not heard of Benji before. So far so good, very little bickering. They are finding license plates. Georgia! Eureka….

Did you know there is oil near Salem? Several of those pumping things along the highway…

Oooh Tetonka… oh, never mind it was just a cow.

Only 263 miles to Memphis...

[thecplusplusguy]

This is awesome. Its like I'm driving down with them.

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Now its like when we were kids!

Dan

[Lil' Lisa]

[LuckyinGa]

This is great. Sharing your excitement and looking forward to updates. Enjoy and have a wonderful time.

[dblr]

Originally Posted by thecplusplusguy

This is awesome. Its like I'm driving down with them.

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Now its like when we were kids!

Dan

I don't care who you are that ther's funny.
Love reading about your trip looking forward to ours next year.

[campingpug]

263 miles to Memphis, Graceland, Blue Christmas, Elvis singing Blue Christmas, Porky Pig singing Blue Christmas. Porky Pig as Memphis BBQ.
Great trip report.

[Born 2 Fish]

God speed John Glenn,,
urr, umm,,I mean, hope ya'll hava safe great trip.

Originally Posted by thecplusplusguy

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Don't make me turn this car around !!

[DaveInTN]

Hey CampingBandit....WAKE UP! Time to hit the road and give us an update! Where are you?

[CampingBandit]

Originally Posted by DaveInTN

Hey CampingBandit....WAKE UP! Time to hit the road and give us an update! Where are you?

Sorry DaveInTN - and you have yourself a lovely state!

So we stopped AGAIN… and again…. I told you we were taking it slow. Stopped for lunch at about noonish and then 90 minutes later stopped for more gas. Ok, maybe we’re getting 9mpg….

Here’s Bandit enjoying the ride:


Tetonka! No really this time….at exit 37!!!

Metropolis – home of the giant Superman statue that no one else in my family wanted to go see…

Crossing the Ohio river now…Welcome to Kentucky! Oooh look, a Florida license plate! It’s a sign!

The ride through Kentucky was uneventful and kinda boring, I actually snoozed a bit till DH hit a bump (I think he did it on purpose so I could converse with him to keep him alert…)


We arrived at Clarksville RV park about 3:30pm. So 9 hours to travel 450 miles with 4 stops. 3 tanks of gas. Ugh.

Looks like a former KOA based on the office. Very clean, some seasonals…close to the highway but inside the camper with the tv on and the furnace going I don’t hear much. You don’t even notice the Chinook army helicopters from nearby Ft. Campbell…much…


Okay for an overnight stop, I guess, a bit pricey though. To charge an extra $6 for my kids in the off season for an overnight stop is kinda silly if you ask me, but I guess these small operations have to stay in business for us so in reality I guess I don’t mind paying. I probably would have paid the $40 rate if they called it that instead of $34+6 which made me roll my eyes, KWIM? Just tell me flat rate of $40 next time.

Set up was quick – none of your usual outside setup necessary since we wouldn’t have a fire or sit under the awning. So that’s nice. We had a quick dinner – love those Stouffer’s skillet dinners for camping. Even my picky eaters like it – the Alfredo Chicken flavor. Then a nice hot shower and an evening relaxing. Watching Survivor (our t.v. is digital and plenty of stations to choose from.) OMG Russell found the Immunity Idol AGAIN!!!

Going to turn in early – targeting a 6am start again, the GA trek is 530 miles so we should be okay if the Atlanta traffic isn’t too bad.

Good Morning!!! Slept GREAT. Didn’t hear the highway at all. Only one Chinook about 9:30 and then I was out. It’s 5am now, DH said, should we pack up? Naah…not yet. Bandit it is in his happy mode…he doesn’t understand why everyone else isn’t up and why I haven’t found his leash. He just loves camping.

I should perhaps take some pics of the CG but it’s cold out and dark and eh, well…not feeling like it. So we’ll start packing up in about an hour and hit the road again.

Decided to wake Dave up at 5:30. Here’s our site just before we left…not a lot of room eh? Like I said, an overnight just fine.


All packed up we hit the road at 6:52! 8 Minutes ahead of our original plan...

Stopped 5 minutes later because of this pesky escape window that tends to come undone by itself. Had to get off at the exit and fix it and turn around in a lot to get back on the highway. Stupid window. Now we’ll be late.

Enjoying the rolling hills of Tennessee. Can’t get the “Take the last train to Clarksville” by the Monkeys out of my head...



DD says “I never thought looking at rocks could be so fun” as we admire the countryside near Nashville.

Great. Traffic jam. Either morning rush-hour or an accident? Being that its 7:45 and we’re near Nashville, I’m guessing the morning rush. Today’s going to be a long ride, I can tell. Yesterday seemed to go much quicker, today I’ve been in the car not even an hour and it seems like forever…oh, we merge with 65 and here’s a car with a flat. Seem to be moving again – but definitely a morning rush. Ooh! Downtown Nashville! Prettyiful…

This is a neat building.... reminded us of Batman….

oh there is the Titans stadium too! Wish we had time to see Nashville. Some day when we are full-timers (no he doesn’t know yet) we’ll make it to Nashville.

Boy you sure have to pay attention to the signs thru here - lots of lane changes to stay on I-24. Dave said he would feel much better when we're out of the Nashville "chaos" - this coming from a Chicago commuter...LOL … I won't tell him I need to stop for a bathroom break. Peeuuuw…Tennessee skunk….smells a lot like the ones in Illinois.

Uh - oh…really bad accident going the other direction. Highway shut down - Hope the people in that car are ok, it was pretty bad.

I have a request from one of the rugrats to use computer now.


I’ll post again after we get to Georgia. Thanks for all the nice posts!