OFFICIAL OCTOBER 2017 pretrip and trip report!

[tltay2005]

Still trying to get a ressie for this October....but.... I did score for 2018!

 

[Bdev13]

Probably early but we booked our campsite on the way down. Stopping at KOA South Point in SC off 95. Long first day but should make it 6 hours to the Fort our second.

 

[ruthies12]

I better get on booking my spot for the way down too I guess. We are coming down I-75 from Kentucky, through Tennessee, then through Alabama. After reading through some old threads it looks like a good place for us to stop will be Twin Oaks in Alabama.

Unfortunately we can't leave until oldest DD gets out of school, though I'll likely take her out an hour early so we can leave at 2 in the afternoon. It's 9 hours from our house to Twin Oaks according to google maps so that'll put us getting there at 11 to 12 at night depending on how long our stops take. That'll be a late time to stop but I think it will be worth it, it will put us going past Atlanta late in the evening when rush hour should be well over with and leave us only 5 more hours the next day.

And it shouldn't be too bad if we can get a pull through spot, we will plug into electric so we have air conditioning and that will be all we do, I'll have water in the tank for using the restroom so we'll just go straight to bed once we park without doing any other set up. I won't even bother putting the slideout out

So Twin Oaks it is unless someone on here has a better suggestion off of I-75?

 

[ruthies12]

Can anybody recommend some good gas stops along I-75? We are a 36 foot long class A towing a jeep Cherokee but we need gas, not diesel, so we have to plan ahead and get easy in and outs.

And now I'm trying to imagine trying to go to sleep when I'm only 5 hours from Disney that night, just added Ambien to my packing list!!

 

[Teamubr]

Can anybody recommend some good gas stops along I-75?

I started to tell you about the truck stops I used to hit along the way, but then I saw you needed regular gas. I have an auxiliary tank now and can make it to the Fort in 1 stop from St Louis, so it isn't as critical

I would get on the Pilot/Flying-J and Love's web sites. They typically have RV lanes. Flying-J has a nice map by interstate feature where you can see the locations, services and prices.

And like everything else these days, there's an app. for RV'ers that shows the same thing. https://pilotflyingj.com/rv-services/

j

 

[BnD]

We will be here Sept 30th to Oct 8th. Hoping to get back in the 900 loop.( We are currently on site 930 and love the location)..

 

[dalir]

So I made reservations for four people.

Hey ED - I have a question about this. We are in a similar boat. I made reservations for 4. But, there may only be 3 people coming. It is still up in the air. Do I call and change the reservation when we know? Or do I just show up with the 3 people? What do you recommend?

 

[bama_ed]

Hey ED - I have a question about this. We are in a similar boat. I made reservations for 4. But, there may only be 3 people coming. It is still up in the air. Do I call and change the reservation when we know? Or do I just show up with the 3 people? What do you recommend?

Well I will tell you dalir that I did the same thing this past trip in January when I made some ADRs for 8 people but we ended up with 5 at the last minute. So I just showed up with 5.

Most places were fine-no-problem about it but the only exception was Be Our Guest in the MK for dinner. The hostess out at the far end of the bridge where you check in literally told me that since I had fewer people, we would have to wait an extra 20 minutes past our ressie time. Huh?

In your case with 4 possibly going to 3, you could call and change it or maybe do it on-line but if it were me i would let it ride. I would think that they would end up seating a party of 3 at a table that could accommodate 4. So for planning and seating people, you're tying up the same table. But if you want a clean conscience, make the change.

Bama Ed

 

[peg110]

From all that I heard going from a Reservation of a higher number and showing up with less people is less of an issue. Also going from 4 to 3 is not typically an issue (or any even number DOWN 1 to an Odd Number) either because, for example, they don't have a lot of tables that only seat 3 (or any odd number). So like Ed said, I'd let it ride.

Going UP from 4 to 5, for example, might be a bigger issue. Likewise, it's probably less of an issue if you are going from 3 to 4 (for the same reasons... a party of 3 will generally be seated at a table designed for 4 anyway).

Now in Ed's case going from 8 to 5, at what is probably one of the busiest (currently) ADR locations, even though the number was going lower, they would rather save the "Larger" table for an actual group that might be larger. If it wasn't such a high demand ADR, I doubt that they would have batted an eye at his change.

 

[ruthies12]

All right got Twin Oaks booked for October 4th so we can stop and get a little rest (hahahahahaha like I'm really going to be able to sleep) on the way down. Lady on the phone was super nice and will leave our site number on the door and we can leave cash or check in the night drop box. We are pulling dd out of school an hour early that day to get on the road at 2 pm, so hoping to be pulling in Twin Oaks at 11 pm, but may be closer to midnight.

The autograph books I made for my dd's have arrived and are super cute and I still can't believe they were only 13 bucks! Probably the cheapest thing about this trip......

I'm at 100 days exactly!! Tomorrow I will be doing the double digit dance!

 

[PaHunter]

I'm at 100 days exactly!! Tomorrow I will be doing the double digit dance!

Alright, another one joining the Double Digit club !!!

 

[peg110]

Our next dates are only tentative but it looks like we may be somewhere around Christmas time 2018. (Probably leaving home on 12/26 checking in on 12/28) So that puts me well into the 3 digit club.

 

[ruthies12]

I wanted to try out posting pics on my phone so thought I'd post the start of my beach cart. The wheel assembly went together quite easily and seems strong enough.

 

[Teamubr]

View attachment 247330thought I'd post the start of my beach cart.

Doesn't look like it will carry much and would be hard to pull.

Have fun with the rest of the assembly and congrats on getting the pic to post.

j

 

[bama_ed]

Alright, another one joining the Double Digit club !!!

I still got a few weeks to go.

 

[ruthies12]

Thanks for the lol Teamubr! Some parts I needed just arrived yesterday so I'm hoping to get more done on it tonight. I'll have to post more pics when I get it all done. It's going to be quite fancy if it turns out the way I want with umbrella holders and a built in table. I take my vacationing very seriously!

Posting the pic from the phone using the resizer app was sooooo much easier than uploading to photobucket. I'm hoping to actually post real time pics from the fort on my next trip, I always love it when other people do that.

98 Days!!

 

[North of Mouse]

Can anybody recommend some good gas stops along I-75? We are a 36 foot long class A towing a jeep Cherokee but we need gas, not diesel, so we have to plan ahead and get easy in and outs.

We basically have the same set-up as you, except we don't tow to Disney. We almost exclusively fuel up at Flying J's/Pilots. We can't 'back up' when towing so we like the RV lanes - most 'other' regular stations are too tight for a long unit (ask peg110 how he knows ). Also, I check the 'gas app' ahead and know our stops. The prices are usually the lowest also.

 

[ruthies12]

Yeah we can't back up either. I checked the flying J website and they are few and far between on our route unfortunately.

We have had good luck with pumps that are parallel to the building instead of perpendicular. There are usually only 2 rows so we may have to wait a minute, but getting in and out is a lot easier. Last summer I used google maps street view to scout out our stops ahead of time and find pumps parallel to the buildings or with RV lanes and that seemed to work really well, DH swears it saved him quite a few grey hairs. I will probably do the same for the Disney trip, just thought I'd see if anybody knew of good exits before I start searching.

 

[peg110]

We basically have the same set-up as you, except we don't tow to Disney. We almost exclusively fuel up at Flying J's/Pilots. We can't 'back up' when towing so we like the RV lanes - most 'other' regular stations are too tight for a long unit (ask peg110 how he knows ). Also, I check the 'gas app' ahead and know our stops. The prices are usually the lowest also.

Funny thing is... I was in a Pilot/Flying J. It's just this one did not have RV lanes. Their regular lanes were fairly large.... Alas, I guess not quite large enough.

 

[PaHunter]

Funny thing is... I was in a Pilot/Flying J. It's just this one did not have RV lanes. Their regular lanes were fairly large.... Alas, I guess not quite large enough.

Yes but was it a true Pilot/Flying J Travel Center or just a Dealer ?? Found that the dealers are typically older gas stations that were bought, renamed and are smaller. I know if it lists as a dealer on their site, I typically skip those. And also I know not all the travel centers have RV lanes, nice to have a diesel and use the truck pumps.