Look out Fort here we come...February is booked.

[SouthAlabama5er]

Congrats on booking PaHunter, we will be there February 6th thru 13th, hate we will miss yall!

 

[PaHunter]

We looked at earlier in the month, but it conflicted with the DW having a week long trip for work. Hate that we will miss you also, but your trip report will make our wait for the trip more fun.

 

[PaHunter]

Well attempted my first oil change on the tow vehicle. Not so good, can't get the oil drain plug to come loose. Ended up calling my garage and will take it up to them, a 45 min drive. Good thing is I have a fumoto valve to replace the plug with so this won't be a problem again. Just frustrating when something I have done on other vehicles doesn't go the way it should.

Well it took the dealer with an impact wrench to remove the drain plug and the oil filter the guy was hanging off it to break it loose. Not sure who put them on but they were way over tightened. Garage installed the new valve so now oil change is just a quarter turn to drain then change filter and fill up in the future.

 

[jbrostek]

Glad you had a great Thanksgiving weekend! We are now at the 75 day mark and just last night Caren started moving money around to pay for the APs we are getting this year (I gave her a check for my AP.) She is going to order it on her rewards card to get the points for the trip. We spent a quiet Thanksgiving together, just the two of us and the pups. Caren had caught a cold on Tuesday, so she spent most of it resting and recovering. We still had a great time watched a bunch of Charlie Brown holiday DVDs and started decorating her house for the holidays!!! Friday I had to work for a client I do some consulting for and update their network to move their HQ from Alexandria to Woodbridge. After that we had a second Thanksgiving dinner with neighbors next door to me. Saturday morning I was off to the track for the final event of the year and to clean/pack up and shut down the RV before the first big freeze got here. Racing was good but the car counts dropped quickly when the rains on Sunday showed no sign of letting up before end of the event. The event finished around 4 and by 6 the RV was cleaned, vacuumed, mopped, all the counters wiped down, mirrors cleaned, packed up to tow and of course winterized by about 6:15. I was home before 7 for a nice dinner plate of leftovers with Caren and watched the Muppets off the DVR.

At this point we are both focused on Christmas, once I am past that we can work on vacation mode!!! Of course I will be making the final payment on the campground stay in a week or two so that leaves all thats left to pay for down to food, fuel, overnight stays and of course spending money for the trip. The RV still needs to come home, but that was planned to get it from the track in the next week as I did not have the RV spot read for last night.

I have run into that before on new to me vehicles. But glad you got the oil change taken care of. I am at 178k, oil and fuel filters are due at 181 so I will do it in Feb when I can. Since I have access to a heated shop it makes that sort of stuff possible in mid winter. Looking forward to getting on the road to vacation, but I still have a holiday, a new year and an awards banquet before then.

 

[PaHunter]

So we are getting closer, now down to 74 days. 14 more days until online checking and FP's. Been busy around here as the weather has been good. New camera to learn before the trip in Feb, hope to get some good pictures while we are there. Need to finish up some work on the trailer , and Sunday is looking good for that with a high temperature of 60 plus. DW working late so I have to make dinner here shortly when she gets home.

 

[dmaxphil]

Must be exciting! What camera did you get? And post a picture of your rig in your Towing thread. So far the only pics of Chevys are Ed and mine. We are outnumbered by the Ford crew.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

We are outnumbered by the Ford crew.

He said that like it's a bad thing....

 

[dmaxphil]

 

[Teamubr]

We are outnumbered by the Ford crew.

As it should be...

j

 

[PaHunter]

Must be exciting! What camera did you get? And post a picture of your rig in your Towing thread. So far the only pics of Chevys are Ed and mine. We are outnumbered by the Ford crew.

Getting excited, will get even more so after the holidays. I upgraded from a Canon 60D to the 6D. See if I have a picture of the new truck around here. I have been backing up my photo's to an external drive and taking them off my computer to make room for this Feb trip.

 

[jbrostek]

We are at the 64 day mark. Finalizing the magic band color selections and online check-in opens up in a few days, but we learned from the past that all the sites in the grand gathering need to check in around the same time or it gets all sorts of messed up. Caren already ordered the APs and we are all set to pick them up/activated them on Sunday when we arrive.

Tomorrow I will bring the RV home from the track, after several soaking days of rain things where just too soft to go move it without the possibility of sinking into mud at the track. After several mostly dry days we are in a good enough position to pull it out and bring her home.

In 2 weeks we head to NC for Christmas with her family, and then my family is coming over after we get back. I am hoping she wants low key for new years, I really could use a mostly low key evening after all this holiday travel.

Canon 6D is not a bad choice for an upgrade, I am still using my Nikon D40x. She is tried and trusty even at only 6mp, I may upgrade one day but she just keeps shooting great pictures so why spend the money. I also have a Canon elph I carry around usually in my back pocket on trips. Great for a quick snap or video compared to trying to fumble with the phone. Plus with the AP photopass is included so no need to purchase memory maker. Which we used a lot last year and got over 400 photos out of it so well worth it!

In the next 2 weeks just a preflight check for the short tow down to NC, prep the house for having the family after we return, and start wrapping up the gifts.

Once we hit the new year the trip planning and preparations will ramp up quickly!!!

 

[rajak73]

Must be exciting! What camera did you get? And post a picture of your rig in your Towing thread. So far the only pics of Chevys are Ed and mine. We are outnumbered by the Ford crew.

WHAT?????? You must have missed the pic of the chevy duramax on page 1. LOL

 

[PaHunter]

Just for DmaxPhil I got a picture posted to the Truck and Towing thread.

 

[dmaxphil]

WHAT?????? You must have missed the pic of the chevy duramax on page 1. LOL

Oops. Missed yours.

 

[dmaxphil]

Just for DmaxPhil I got a picture posted to the Truck and Towing thread.

Thumbs up!

 

[PaHunter]

Well another Friday, everyone is out fighting for a seat to watch Star Wars. I am busy planning and studying maps and planning some more. 66 days left, so need to decide on FP's and do online check in next week. Dinner at our house Christmas eve, then Christmas day at my parents. Have a project I am working on for the trailer, will post pictures later.

jbrostek, have a safe trip down and back to NC.

 

[jbrostek]

54 days to departure here. Campsite is paid for, APs are waiting for us to activate. That is about as far as I got for the trip, though the excitement is growing.

Tonight and tomorrow I load and up prep to head to NC with the trailer to spend Christmas with Caren, her kids and family. We return home on Saturday and I have my family coming over on Sunday. However, while I prep the RV to head to NC, I will start some of the conversion from the race season to the vacation. I already put away most of the racing related stuff, but there is some more to pack away under the bed. If I have time, or while I am in NC I will empty out the storage and reorganize it like I usually do for the FL trip.

Thanks Chris, I may not be on the boards much till next week. So I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable time with loved ones.

--James

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Well PaHunter we are 46 days out from check in. Got our FP booked and Magic Bands ordered. We have a few dinning reservations, Trails End the day of check in for Supper, Breakfast at Ohana one morning and Hoop Dee Doo Review.

The way my work schedule is looking I'll have two weeks at home and work for 7 days (I work offshore in the oilfield) then I get home Thursday night and we leave Friday night at midnight heading down. So I have two weeks to get the camper cleaned up and packed up and hopefully I'll be able to get some hunting in. I'm getting excited! One thing that will be nice is that Diesel is $1.64 around home, I look for it to drop to about $1.50 good for travel, bad for us who work in the oilfield! Hope everything is going well with your plans and packing. I believe I wasted my time winterizing our 5er, they are giving it to be 78 on Christmas at home, oh well better save than sorry! I'm already dreading scrubbing the camper!

I forgot to mention that we are packing both summer and winter clothes, last year it got down into the 30's at night, and warm enough for shorts during the day. It's been a warm winter so far but we aren't taking any chances, we paid $35 for 2 sock hats and 2 pairs of mitts last year in MK, we won't be making that mistake again!

 

[PaHunter]

Well PaHunter we are 46 days out from check in. Got our FP booked and Magic Bands ordered. We have a few dinning reservations, Trails End the day of check in for Supper, Breakfast at Ohana one morning and Hoop Dee Doo Review.

The way my work schedule is looking I'll have two weeks at home and work for 7 days (I work offshore in the oilfield) then I get home Thursday night and we leave Friday night at midnight heading down. So I have two weeks to get the camper cleaned up and packed up and hopefully I'll be able to get some hunting in. I'm getting excited! One thing that will be nice is that Diesel is $1.64 around home, I look for it to drop to about $1.50 good for travel, bad for us who work in the oilfield! Hope everything is going well with your plans and packing. I believe I wasted my time winterizing our 5er, they are giving it to be 78 on Christmas at home, oh well better save than sorry! I'm already dreading scrubbing the camper!

Randy,
Fuel price dropping are good when vacationing, not so much when you work in that field. I am a certified Commercial Diver, never got down to GOM. Did a lot of inland work, mainly power plants. Our plans are coming along, working on what we want to FP, dinner ressie's made. Now looking at stopping at Kennedy Space Center sunday before we come to the Fort. Yeah, well hopefully my winterizing will get some use before we travel, not used to it being this warm, this late in the season. And yes, not looking forward to the camper's bath either.
Chris

 

[PaHunter]

Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all through the house we all were waiting for our fast passes to unlock. Tower of terror, 7 Dwarfs Mine train, Expedition Everest, and Toy Story Mania, just passing the hours for now it's a waiting game.