Goooood morning from the fort!!!!! We made it with only one minor issue to speak of which is all we can ask for.
Saturday was a cold cold cold cold, oh did I mention cold? Morning. We pulled out of the driveway just short of 8am (closest to 7:30 we could manage was the goal and I was happy.) We started heading SE to meet up with friends on the route to I95. By the time we got to I95 all 3 families where less then a mile apart heading southbound. At first I was thinking this won't be too bad of a drive south, then just south of Fredricksburg the winds shifted from N to NW. Let the tale of staying in my lane begin!!! We ticked off the miles but our speed was down due to the winds and we finally made it to our first stopping point of the day JRs in Selma, NC.
Well for those of you that know what JRs used to be it was like a massive country store with low priced smokes and cigars. Great for RV shopping when you needed something cheap for the kitchen or bath. Well unless you want smokes or cigars do not stop in, they have removed ALL merchandise and are focusing only on tabacco products. Needless to say I still wanted a few new cigars so I took care of that part of the trip, but I was seriously hoping to find an item or two for the RV.
Thanks to the winds all day I had to make a fuel stop a little early in SC and take on another 62 gallons, those winds where just killing me mileage wise. About 8pm after the stop we where parked for the night at Point South KOA, exit 33. Another family had arranged pizza to be delivered to my site about 20 minutes after we got there. It was perfect timing as I had just finished dealing with water and walking the pups after their dinner. Of course Caren found many ways to stay entertained and the pups did rather well as always by sleeping most of the way
My guard dog did a wonderful job keeping watch that our magic bands would not be stolen.
Sunday morning we all got up had breakfast and started to prepare for the road. Caren walked the dogs and took them to the doggie park for me while I got things loaded up. And that is when we found the minor issue. While checking over our trucks my friend john found his inside dual flat. Looks like sometime after dark Saturday he hit some debris and blew out a sidewall. Luckily we come prepared (including I brought my cordless impact) and the tire was changed quickly before we hit the road. The drive south on Sunday was great, no major winds to speak of, mostly blue skies and light traffic and we ticked off the miles. That was until we got to Orlando, then it hit a crawl, and I mean a serious crawl in traffic. 45 minutes to go 11 miles and passed I think 3 or 4 accidents involving 4-8 vehicles.
But while traffic (and the idgits around me might make me look a little serious) we where still on our way to the happiness place on earth. (ok that picture was taken earlier in the trip but I had my serious face on.) I do run the GPS for traffic conditions, not that I need to know the way to Disney.
After all that traffic we finally got there!!!
This was just at 4pm that we arrived. Once we where checked in, golf carts unloaded and backed into my site 416 it was about 5:30. Then came time to start the wash down. Due to the snow showers we got on Friday night there was tons of salt down and the golf carts as well as the RV was covered. Caren helped me as we gave the two golf carts a proper wash and salt removal, and then worked with me to get the salt spray off the RV too. The truck still needs a good bath but that can wait.
Once all that was done Caren and I worked on the setup inside and out, there is still some more setup to do but finally we all hit that moment and went to trails end for the dinner buffet. We had a great meal together and lots of laughs about the trip down. It is Monday morning, I have some work to take care of at 7:30am that will take me about an hour or two to finish up. I think we may head to Epcot today, activate our annual passes and just take a lap around world showcase. I know one family is planning on a down day in to recover from the trip south, but I have to talk to the other family.
I hope to keep filling you with updates and pictures, but we shall see how that goes once I am in full disney mode (or a late night at Jelly Rolls)