60 days out - so much to plan still!

[loislane]

I can't believe we're finally in the home stretch and counting down until our trip!

We're still trying to figure out some stuff - hubby wants to drive straight through from upstate NY and I think I want to stop somewhere decent for the night. Gotta hash that one out soon obviously.

Working on menu/meal planning. Right now, our tentative plans are to eat breakfast in the camper daily, treat ourselves to lunch in the park most days, and have dinner at the camper after our afternoon swim/rest. I'm trying to come up with some options for dinners that won't just repeat our lunch choices - meaning I don't want to just grill burgers every night. I'm thinking some grilled chicken, ham steaks, maybe I'll do pulled pork in the crock pot one day, and I'm open to meal suggestions as well.

Our plan right now is to drive down with the fridge on propane and maybe just a few things in there to help it hold the cold - some bottled water or such - and then hit the grocery store down there before we check in. I guess I'm still new enough at this that I'm worried about something going wrong during the trip and losing our perishables. Not worried about pantry items and those will be stocked, for the most part, before we go. Except bread - it always seems to get squished! LOL.

We're also looking at a soft-sided cargo carrier for the popup roof, since we have racks up there and figure that will keep us from having to cram the back of the car full. We are hoping to pack light, but I know from experience that things pile up fast.

Two quick questions. We plan on bringing our little dorm fridge as a supplement and keeping it outside and stocked with (non-alcoholic) drinks. Anyone here had a problem with doing that?

Second - the vinyl windows on the popup have some black marks on them - looks like grease or something. They've been there since we got it, and I haven't been able to scrub them off. Anyone have any tips for getting rid of them or a particular product that works well cleaning popup windows?

Thanks in advance.

Getting so excited!

 

[jbrostek]

My first trip was just as exciting and confusing all at the same time. Luckilly I was traveling with seasoned vets who have made the trip many times. Since you are talking about a popup, if the fridge will run/stay cool on the way down without issue then store as much as you wish in there. If you are worried about it, you could always freeze what can be frozen before loading it up for the trip down.

I dont think you will have an issue with a small fridge for extra storage, the power pedistals all have a 50A, 30A and 15A outlets, so you can run the fridge seperate from your camper. I would say out of sight out of mind placement of the fridge, but I am not sure I would worry any more then that. We keep an ice maker outside of one of our groups RV out entire stay and have yet to been told otherwise.

As far as traveling that really depends on how much time you have/want to take to get down and back up. I am not yet at the point where I have tons of vacation time to spare, so leaving from VA we generally make the trip in 2 days with the first day of about 12 hours total on the road (about 8.5 hours of drive time once you consider stops for fuel and food) and then another 6 the next day with just one stop for fuel and lunch.

Since your further north you should look at the total travel time you have and where you wish to stop on the way. Do you plan to stop at campgrounds or hotels?

 

[super_camper]

Second - the vinyl windows on the popup have some black marks on them - looks like grease or something. They've been there since we got it, and I haven't been able to scrub them off. Anyone have any tips for getting rid of them or a particular product that works well cleaning popup windows?

Thanks in advance.

Getting so excited!

Try Mr Clean magic eraser. It's a mild abrasive and can scratch some surfaces so try it out first where its not noticeable.

 

[jbrostek]

Try Mr Clean magic eraser. It's a mild abrasive and can scratch some surfaces so try it out first where its not noticeable.

You could also research into boating isinglass cleaners and polishes.

There are some detailing products out there and others recomend denatured alcohol and even lemon pledge. the eraser might be too apprasive, even as mild as it is.

 

[MedicBill]

We're still trying to figure out some stuff - hubby wants to drive straight through from upstate NY and I think I want to stop somewhere decent for the night. Gotta hash that one out soon obviously.

South of the Boarder is a great place to stop when driving from New York. It's like the 3/4 mark.

 

[loislane]

Thanks everyone!

Getting so excited for our trip as I morph into Disney Mania Mama! LOL

 

[jbrostek]

South of the Boarder is a great place to stop when driving from New York. It's like the 3/4 mark.

We like to stop there on our way back to NoVA from disney. Its perfect for an overnight to me. Far enough off the roads that noise isn't an issue, not all that bad getting in and out of spaces, gated access, and most of all cheap.

 

[loislane]

We like to stop there on our way back to NoVA from disney. Its perfect for an overnight to me. Far enough off the roads that noise isn't an issue, not all that bad getting in and out of spaces, gated access, and most of all cheap.

Do they require reservations or can you pull in and request a site? Probably no place does that anymore, which makes it hard to drive until you feel like stopping and find a place.

 

[jbrostek]

We have never set a reservation with them, but the only time I used them during prime camping season (we do disney in January timeframe) I called ahead when I was an hour out to make sure they where not full.

 

[loislane]

Well, I ended up calling Santee Lakes Campground in Summerton, S.C. Picked that one because it's about 14 hours from home (I figure 14 hours is about what I'm good for in the car - LOL), it's close to I95, it's a Good Sam park, so we'll get our small discount, and the majority of the sites are pull-through so it should be easy to get in and set up fairly quickly.

It was pretty informal - they just took my name and she gave me our site number in case it's late when we get there. I figure if for some reason we need to stop earlier or DH wants to just keep driving through, it's not a big deal - but we have the reservation if we need it.

(Now I hope I just don't get a barrage of "We stayed there and it was horrible" responses. LOL)

 

[jbrostek]

No complains about Santee Lakes Campground either. We stayed there a few years heading northbound. I will say take a moment to walk the path to your site there, the first time I pulled into Santee Lakes I got all turned around trying to get to my site and while it wasn't that bad it was still pretty tight moving around a 38' DP with 15' trailer loaded up with the groups golf carts.

 

[SunshineCamper]

Meal suggestions: Crock Pot!

I used my crock pot over and over again for meals. We took a trip to DC a few years ago and all dinners (well most) were in the crock pot. We had breakfast in the TT and lunch in the DC area. We came back to our cooked dinner in the TT. All we had to do was pull out fruit or salad to go with the meal each night.

It saved so much time after walking all day (relating as well to the WDW parks). I bought a crock pot cookbook....it said, 5 ingredients or less...yep that's my kind of cookbook. I assembled each meal after breakfast and turned it on before we left.

We saved money and saved me thinking..."I do not want to go back to the TT and cook". Which made me happy.

We also do pulled pork in the crock pot.

 

[loislane]

Meal suggestions: Crock Pot!

I used my crock pot over and over again for meals. We took a trip to DC a few years ago and all dinners (well most) were in the crock pot. We had breakfast in the TT and lunch in the DC area. We came back to our cooked dinner in the TT. All we had to do was pull out fruit or salad to go with the meal each night.

It saved so much time after walking all day (relating as well to the WDW parks). I bought a crock pot cookbook....it said, 5 ingredients or less...yep that's my kind of cookbook. I assembled each meal after breakfast and turned it on before we left.

We saved money and saved me thinking..."I do not want to go back to the TT and cook". Which made me happy.

We also do pulled pork in the crock pot.

Thanks - my daughter dug out the crock pot cook book she bought for me a few years ago and we picked out some stuff. Other than some quick meals like kielbasa or some ham steaks on the grill, pretty much everything else will go in the crock pot. Several things, like taco meat and pulled pork, I think I will make at home and freeze and then just pop in the crock pot on low in the morning with a little added liquid. I was already thinking that the crock pot was the way to go!