Halloween 2008 at the Fort

[Tri-circle-D]

The TCD gang is back from another visit to the Fort. We almost always make it for a trip in October, but have never before been at the Fort on Halloween night itself. Well, this year, we were there, and we live to tell the tale.

We checked in on Thursday, 10/30 at around 12:30. My ressies were for a full hook up site, but I had faxed the campsite assigner earlier in the week and asked to be upgraded to a premium site, if available. As some of you may remember, I was last at the Fort earlier in October, and stayed on the newly improved 500 loop. When I left the Fort on October 6, there was still a lot of work going on in the 800 loop.

To my surprise, when I checked in on the 30th, I was assigned to site #818. The reception hostess told me that the loop had just opened moments before.

I can also confirm that golf cart rentals are now being handled at check in. We had reserved a cart on this trip, and we were able to complete the rental agreement right there in the check in lane. That is convenient, but it also slows the check in process. It was not busy when we checked in, but I can see this becoming a problem on busy days. Anyway, the way it worked on this visit is that we signed the cart rental agreement, and there were castmembers standing there just outside the Reception Outpost door. After checking in, I just pulled up a little, handed the young lady our rental agreement, and she pulled a cart up from the carts that were parked there. It all went pretty smoothly. I am not sure what happens if you check in very early or very late, or if you are picking up your cart sometime other than at your arrival time.

So, anyhow, we check in. The oldest DD (17 years old and licensed driver-so it's all legal) agrees to drive the cart back to our site, and we are on our way back to the 800 loop.

As I enter the loop, I see that it is empty. Are we the first campers on the new 800 loop? As I pull around the curve, I see another camper getting set up. So, we are the second campers on the loop. Not bad!

But, the first campers got a sign!:

Like the great philosopher Ricky Bobby says; "if you're not first, you're last!" Story of my life!

Some of you might be wondering what goes on at the Fort on Halloween. Well, I'm here to tell you. Here you go:

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Also, here's a copy of a letter that was in the check-in packet. I don't recall seeing this before. Since the cooler weather is upon us, this might answer some questions that some of you might have about campfires:

The rule about wood in the grills is something that I don't recall seeing before. I know that I have seen a lot of people burn wood in the grills. It will be interesting to see how this is enforced. And, I am not sure what the deal is about artificial logs. Seems like someone didn't proof this letter very carefully.

Back to the report.

The DD's decide to head off for a bite to eat at the MK while dear old Dad gets camp set up. We agree to meet back at the site at around 4 to get ready to head over for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

TCD

 

[RvUsa]

I have been waiting for the report, and now I want MORE MORE MORE! Can't wait to see the rest!!!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I forgot to mention something about the first campers in the 800 loop. Turns out that this whole thing was rigged. I chatted with this fellow over the weekend, and it turns out that his son is a castmember there at the Fort. The son works at the Tri-Circle-D ranch, and works both as a carriage driver, and as the Headless Horseman! So, I declare the award to be void, and I am requesting that the certificate be awarded to TCD.

Any how, we get camp set up, and put up some of our decorations:

Hey-look who it is hanging out in the screen room with the DD's. Zac Efron from HSM! Wow!

We do some goofing around:

And, then we are off to see the golf cart parade!

We actually signed up for the parade, but our number was something like 127. The schedule said the parade was going to go on from 6 to 8, and I have seen photos of the 4th of July parade. We were planning to head over to the MNSSHP before 7 pm, so we opted to just watch the parade.

Turns out the first contestant number was 111, so there really were not that many entries, and the parade came and went in about 15 minutes. We just watched from the front of the 800 loop. Here are some photos:

I like this guy- light on the decorations and puffing on a big cigar!:

I have seen this cart around the Fort on previous visits. These folks were camped on the 1500 loop:

Looks like the competition for the Halloween parade is a lot less than for the 4th of July. I am going to remember that for next year.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

So, the parade is over, and we head back to our site to get ready for the Halloween party at the MK.

Somewhere along the line on this first evening, I ran into Des1954 (Deb) and her husband Rick. We chatted for a few minutes. Nice to meet you both.

So, how is the new and improved 800 loop.

I like it.

I like it better than the 500 loop.

The 800 loop is a bigger loop. The sites on the outside, along the back of the loop back up to a canal, and beyond that a heavily wooded area. There is all kinds of new landscaping around the sites.

Here are some photos from behind site 818 at sunset:

Pretty nice, isn't it?

And, you won't believe what we saw there on the other side of the canal one night. I will tell you about that later, as I am going to give this report in chronological order.

So, we head off to the party.

These are the only non-Fort photos that you will see in this report, so bear with me:

We get back from the party at 1 or so, and hit the hay.

Tomorrow is Halloween, and we have a big day of fun planned!

TCD

 

[AuburnJen92]

I was bummed that we didn't get to meet you and your family. Maybe next time.

 

[2goofycampers]

Great start as usual TCD. We were gonna leave Oct. 30 in 2009, but after seeing the activity schedule I think we will be staying longer, and coming in a bit later.

BTW

 

[loveDmouse]

I just love your reports. You are awesome! Keep up the good work.

 

[clkelley]

Great pictures!!!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

OK, so those of you have read my body of work know that I strive to uncover something new and never before seen on each of my trips. It gets harder and harder to do. But, with all of the changes at the Fort, I usually do have something new and different to share after every trip.

So, how about on this visit?

Well, here's something that I have never seen before. On Friday morning, at about 7 am, hot air balloons were flying right over the Fort. Here they are as seen from the 800 loop:

What do you have to say about that?

Ho hum?

Well, I have more.

First, please join me on my morning patrol of the campground.

Even though someone already beat me to the punch and posted a photo of the new picnic tables, I have some photos of these for you, as I have something unique to point out here:

See that shelf on the grill? The new grills on the 500 loop don't have those. Also, as of this past weekend, the 500 loop still had old picnic tables. I imagine that will be changing soon. In addition to the expanded concrete, the other new improvement is that the stumps that house the electric and cable connections have been painted.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

On Friday morning, I hopped onto the TCD spy mobile, and headed out for my morning inspection. Here is the TCD set up on site 818:

Note that the giant pumpkin has not yet been strapped onto the spy mobile's roof. That will be soon remedied.

So, I head out and go around the 900 loop. Here I run into Disboard member clkelly. She is there with a bunch of her T@b friends. Looks like they were having a good time. She tells me AuburnJen and maybe Stacktester should be arriving on the 900 loop sometime today.

I head out to loop the 1000 and 1100 loops. It doesn't look like any cable installation work has been done on the 900 or 1000 loops, but it does look like work has started in the 1100 loop.

I recall some recent questions about whether there are any campsites next to cabins. There are places on the 1100 and 2100 loops where cabins and campsites back up to each other. Here are some photos of what that looks like:

Could be fun if you know each other, but maybe not so much if you don't.

I had heard that the 2000 loop was closed. The entry was not blocked off real well, so I took a spin around the loop to see what was going on there. This was pretty early in the morning, so no one was working yet. I don't see any signs of cable installation. I think this was just for landscaping work. There are empty sod pallets in the loop, and new sod on the ground. Some of the site markers have been pulled out, as has a recycling bin stand.

Here is what I saw in the 2000 loop:

The interesting thing is that they let guests in to the 2000 loop on Friday afternoon. They were all cleared out by Sunday, and I presume that work resumed on Monday.

Same thing in the 400 loop. Lots of workers in there on Thursday, and on Friday morning. Looked like mostly tree trimming. On Friday afternoon, the loop filled up with campers, but by Sunday afternoon, the campers were all out, and the workers were back in there with their tractors blazing. Interesting times at the Fort.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

As I continued on my patrol that morning, I looped around the 1700 loop, where I saw a magnificent inflatable Florida Gator. I knew that this had to be the site of the famous Gatordad. As I was creeping around looking for him, a blue golf cart pulls into the site, and I meet good old Gatordad. And shortly thereafter, I got to meet Gatormom too! We chatted for a while, and I headed back to base camp. The DD's should be getting up soon.

I got the pumpkin strapped on to the spy mobile:

And got the DD's out of bed.

I impressed one of the TCD DD's with my Eagle Scout skills by making her cereal box into a bowl. Do you know that my 13 year old daughters had never seen such a thing? Shame on me :

We put up a few more decorations around the site:

And, before we knew it, it was time to check out the Halloween pet parade!

You know I couldn't miss that.

And, I am glad that I didn't, because I saw something that I never saw before at the Fort at the pet parade. And, I will bet you anything that you have never seen what I saw before either.

Just wait, you will see. . . .

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I know what you're thinking.

You are thinking that there is no way that TCD can show you something new.

Well, I'm telling you you're wrong.

So, you saw on the schedule above that there is a pet parade on Friday morning.

I'm there.

Here is what I see. Looks like a bunch of dogs in costumes:

Wait a second, one of these dogs looks a little different.

Take a closer look:

Does that dog have a big white stripe down its back, or is it just me?:

Dude, that is no dog. It's a skunk!

What the heck?

Yep, that is definitely a skunk! And, check out the dog in the skunk costume. Shouldn't the skunk have had on a dog costume?

Here the contestants march on from the dog park toward the 300 loop:

Just when I think that I have seen it all, this fellow comes running up:

What is this?

I am as intrigued by the owner (is that Clay Aiken?) as I am by his dog:

I'm sorry, but this costume bothers me even more than the lady with the skunk:

So, who has ever seen a skunk in the Fort.

Raise your hand if you have.

I didn't think so.

TCD, you've done it again!

TCD

 

[Gatordad]

bueno agent 511

 

[Tri-circle-D]

Oh, I should have mentioned that the late entry (the dog with the Mickey Mouse costume) won first prize in the dog parade!

Go figure.

That poor lady who dragged her skunk all the way there must have been bent.

TCD

 

[Tri-circle-D]

bueno agent 511

Muchos Gracias

TCD

 

[clkelley]

I HAVE!!

You mean this skunk??

Her name is Grace, and she is a sweetie. There was also another skunk in our loop who was all white and her name is Marilyn. She's not as social as Grace is, so our friend didn't take her to the pet parade.

 

[clkelley]

That poor lady who dragged her skunk all the way there must have been bent.

TCD

She's a sweet lady. She lives locally and was the organizer of our T@B rally. (She does have quite a menagerie though). She brought 4 dogs and two skunks to the Fort with her. She left the more exotic animals such as the chameleon, parrots, and other assorted critters at home.

 

[loveDmouse]

I HAVE!!

You mean this skunk??

Her name is Grace, and she is a sweetie. There was also another skunk in our loop who was all white and her name is Marilyn. She's not as social as Grace is, so our friend didn't take her to the pet parade.

What a cute little thing.

 

[des1954]

What a cute little thing.

Are you referring to Grace or Carol's husband, Rick??

TCD....as usual, you have outdone yourself!!! It was great to meet you, and as I promised, I did not blow your cover by taking a picture of you!!

 

[loveDmouse]

Are you referring to Grace or Carol's husband, Rick??

I was talking about Grace.