January 2022 Trip Reports

[mco65]

Made it to Buc-ee's in Warner Robbins. Gas was $3.21, so Gas Buddy was wrong or it jumped overnight. 3 more hours before our stop for the night.

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j

I was gonna mention, if you didn't stop in Adairsville, you get another shot just south of Macon! Love Buc-ees... can't drive past it without stopping...

Was gonna ask, are you pulling a Ford Explorer? I thought you could flat tow explorers???

 

[tigger92662]

Looks like many RV's in the background

 

[PaHunter]

I was gonna mention, if you didn't stop in Adairsville, you get another shot just south of Macon! Love Buc-ees... can't drive past it without stopping...

Was gonna ask, are you pulling a Ford Explorer? I thought you could flat tow explorers???

He uses the trailer so he can also tow his car which he can not flat tow. So with the trailer it makes no difference which he loads.

 

[Teamubr]

Not Lake Louisa this time. We are just north of Gainesville at a Boondockers Welcome host. Our first time doing it, but this one night paid for the annual fee.

Tonight we are at Emerald Oaks Farm. The are 3 other campers here around a pond.





Gorgeous night. In the 60's. Millions of stars out.

We did make a stop at the Florida Welcome center to check the GPS. It was the first warm air we felt this trip.



And now the bad news. Hopefully the only bad news for the trip. It appears the new inverter we put in last Summer decided to quit. We were on the generator last night to make sure the refrigerator, furnaces and engine block heater would run all night. About 2am I woke up and all the outlets that go through that inverter were dead. I was checking things when we got here tonight and the inverter thinks it is making power, but nothing is going to the camper. I bypassed it and everything is working again. I'll bench test it when we get home. It is possible the connection block broke, but it is too much work to get it out now. All is good on generator or shore power, so no big deal.

Plan is to be on the road around 7am and get to the Fort around 9.

j

 

[Teamubr]

Looks like many RV's in the background

This Buc-ee's was as bad as Gulf Shores. I was in a no parking zone. It was the only place all the way around the building that I fit. I got lucky when I pulled in and had a pump straight in with nothing on the one side. Campers and cars everywhere.

Was gonna ask, are you pulling a Ford Explorer? I thought you could flat tow explorers???

We had planned on hitting the Buc-ee's in Warner Robbins. It was a good distance from home for a fuel stop.

Like Chris said on the trailer. I have several cars and only the Explorer can be flat towed. I bought a Brake Buddy, but this Explorer has over 100,000 miles on it and is the last year for this base plate. When the used car market settles down, I'll pick up another Explorer and set it up to flat tow. It is a lot easier, but then I wouldn't be able to bring the fun cars.



j

 

[garneska]

Glad you are settled in. Bummer about the inverter. I can tell you we would be of no help. I have to ask all you guys when we have problems. Though I think Bert could install an AC after all our issues we fixed with ours.

dinner was at trattoria al forno. I had shrimp pasta and Bert had gnocchi. It’s 9 pm we are in bed. Hopefully asleep before 10. My alarm is set for 2:30……again

 

[ilovedisneymm]

We are at a Bucees in Dayton Beach right now getting fuel and hot apple pies. Those things are scrumptious!

We are ahead of schedule and going to linger closer down to the fort.

question

Anyone have any recommendations on where to stop over generator friendly parking lot or campground that would be both open & close to the fort?

We are just going to wing-it, just like everything so far this trip…

 

[Teamubr]

Glad you're getting close, Melissa. I don't have any ideas for an overnight. Most Sam's or Walmarts and Cracker Barrels allow it, but Florida is strange with their regs. That's why we are at this Farm.

I always call ahead and ask if I can overnight.

See you tomorrow.

j

 

[garneska]

It is day 3. I am up and on the bus again. It is also 3 am.

See you all later this afternoon. I will be the one walking slowly

 

[Teamubr]

We are here. 1624. This is the 3rd site to get one we fit on. Still setting up. Pictures soon.

According to the race tracker. Kris is almost done.

j

 

[garneska]

I finished. Knee was in till mile 9. I started dropping my hip on the other leg so after 10 miles of that, my hip flexor was screaming at me. I ran some of it with another friend. We walked most of the last 2 miles. My running gait was very bad so I did not feel like making it worse.





I have showered, slathered on the A&D, and now waiting for my beer and a burger at Big River Grill. Then off to the fort.

 

[Teamubr]

Our site.





Kris and Bert came by for a bit. We went looping and found Melissa and family then came back to my site for a while. Boomer1 (Krista) stopped and we had a nice chat until Kris and Bert had dinner reservations.

We are on our way over to MK to find some dinner and see the new night time show.



j

 

[garneska]

We got to see @Teamubr thanks for taking us looping. @ilovedisneymm thanks for the honey. Your kids are so grown up. @Boomer1 thanks for letting me pet briar. Great seeing everyone. Had dinner at Jaleo. It was good, but I forgot pics. We basically had a charcuterie board and wine, but for today it was enough.

Some pics from the marathon. I actually took some since I was slow.







Tomorrow is Epcot.

 

[Teamubr]

Casey's for dinner. It was good. A quick your through the Haunted Mansion (35 min wait) and now waiting for the show.



Main Street looks great. Christmas decorations are still up.



And a little reflective inspiration an the walk back.



Great weather. 73 degrees.

j

 

[bama_ed]

The Christmas decorations stay up in the parks for the Marathon weekend, Jim.

When you go back to the parks in the coming week, you should notice the removal of decorations over a period of a few days.

Does the Fort still have decorations up in the public areas like the Meadow TP and down around Trails End? The little bus depot sheds would have some garlands out as well.

Ed

 

[Teamubr]

Ed,

Decorations were down at the Fort. I wondered if they just left them up in the parks for the races. I told Ian to enjoy them as they may be gone in the morning.

j

 

[Boomer1]

Briar and I were glad we could meet up with Kris, Bert, Jim and Donna yesterday. Other than a trip out to Orlando for some supplies we spent the day reading and relaxing at the site. Today we will venture over to Magic Kingdom. I will try to swing by Melissa’s site later.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

We checked in and got all set up yesterday.

Traveling 1200 miles and then some over the last three days with five people living out of a truck and camper can get a little messy. I knew Sunday would be devoted to just getting settled in, so I didn’t make any plans but that. Kids are old enough now they can ride their bikes and explore while hubby and I get the work done. He got the truck and camper and golf cart all cleaned up as they were covered in a heavy film of dirt and salt and I worked on restoring the inside. How the heck do I need to do laundry already? But I’m not….just pile it over there.

Kris, Bert, Jim, and Ian came by for a visit. That was nice! Wish you all could have stayed a little longer. Hopefully our paths will cross again this trip. Around 5 we went looping and down the the Trading Post. Sadly, it was closed. And I do mean sadly! What the heck ya mean, you now close at 4pm? Whaaaaaat!!!
And so we need to go to the Meadows. They use to have a variety of everything…..from socks to hats and everything in between (things that I needed for trip) that they just plum did not have! They use to have 7 different kinds of little girl swims. They had ONE! And so I asked the mean lady at the Meadows if the Trading Post had more swims for kids and she said no, none. I left and was complaining to hubby about it on the way out and some guest told me I better go back in and get that swim cause it will be gone tomorrow. That guest is probably right. And so I did. There was only one in her size left. I went back and got the sassy mini mouse swim. Why does Mini Mouse need to look so sassy on a little girls swim? Tone it down, Disney!

Then we went to the food truck for some dinner. Folks, they no longer have beef on the menu. What the heck ya mean, you don’t have hamburgers? We be cattle farms and beef is what’s for dinner! And so I ask…..and so it be true. No beef. You can get pretzels and FF and snack stuff and wine, but where is the substance?!?! So we went down to get Trails End to go…..that was a mistake! And we left before we could get our order in. The kids had a wonderful time playing on the new playground and that is really nice. As for me? I cried a few tears over in the corner out of sight for a while. Things are not what they use to be and that is a hard pill to swallow.

Well, it’s early morning here. Everyone is still sleeping soundly and I’m enjoying some coffee. It’s Monday and we have all week to make it the best we can! And so I will.

 

[bjschil]

We checked in and got all set up yesterday.

Traveling 1200 miles and then some over the last three days with five people living out of a truck and camper can get a little messy. I knew Sunday would be devoted to just getting settled in, so I didn’t make any plans but that. Kids are old enough now they can ride their bikes and explore while hubby and I get the work done. He got the truck and camper and golf cart all cleaned up as they were covered in a heavy film of dirt and salt and I worked on restoring the inside. How the heck do I need to do laundry already? But I’m not….just pile it over there.

Kris, Bert, Jim, and Ian came by for a visit. That was nice! Wish you all could have stayed a little longer. Hopefully our paths will cross again this trip. Around 5 we went looping and down the the Trading Post. Sadly, it was closed. And I do mean sadly! What the heck ya mean, you now close at 4pm? Whaaaaaat!!!
And so we need to go to the Meadows. They use to have a variety of everything…..from socks to hats and everything in between (things that I needed for trip) that they just plum did not have! They use to have 7 different kinds of little girl swims. They had ONE! And so I asked the mean lady at the Meadows if the Trading Post had more swims for kids and she said no, none. I left and was complaining to hubby about it on the way out and some guest told me I better go back in and get that swim cause it will be gone tomorrow. That guest is probably right. And so I did. There was only one in her size left. I went back and got the sassy mini mouse swim. Why does Mini Mouse need to look so sassy on a little girls swim? Tone it down, Disney!

Then we went to the food truck for some dinner. Folks, they no longer have beef on the menu. What the heck ya mean, you don’t have hamburgers? We be cattle farms and beef is what’s for dinner! And so I ask…..and so it be true. No beef. You can get pretzels and FF and snack stuff and wine, but where is the substance?!?! So we went down to get Trails End to go…..that was a mistake! And we left before we could get our order in. The kids had a wonderful time playing on the new playground and that is really nice. As for me? I cried a few tears over in the corner out of sight for a while. Things are not what they use to be and that is a hard pill to swallow.

Well, it’s early morning here. Everyone is still sleeping soundly and I’m enjoying some coffee. It’s Monday and we have all week to make it the best we can! And so I will.

Melissa, enjoy all the Fort has to offer. We arrived home to “you know what kind of weather”!! We did so much swimming and sauna sits. Also utilized the other pool for late nights and early mornings.

We did not try the food truck, except the GC had French fries. They loved them. We did four parks, and saw the most amazing fireworks at Epcot. We snagged a table and chairs next to Rose & Crown. Got there at 3:00 and enjoyed some beer, kids are old enough to go on rides, we people watched, and just rested our weary feet. We love the fish at their order-up window. Best spot to sit, but you have to snag early. we then Cheated, and went to the Beach Club and ordered a van to take us back to the fort. It cost us 16.00. Have so much fun.

 

[ilovedisneymm]

Thanks, Barb.

Kids have caught three fish so far and we have the sweetest spot in this here whole campground.

You have nothing to complain about today, Melissa. So just stop it! Ahh, the calming sounds of the boat whistle.