Headed down the highway we played SkipBo and Uno and the boys watched DVDs and played games on the cell phones and DS. That was truly a live-saver. Having an 8 year old and an 11 year old in a moving vehicle for 10 hours could be ridiculously painful for all concerned. As you can see imagine, the boys were able to entertain themselves with Nintendo DS, movies, iphone games, etc. while Carlene and I enjoyed a glass of wine and conversation. The men were upfront with nonsense stuff like driving and finding a campground in which to spend the night.
One bit of advice if you purchase a motor home or travel trailer...take a couple of short trips in it before attempting a longer trip. Get familiar with your vehicle! As we were traveling through Louisiana toward Alabama the temperature outside the RV was 106 degrees. It was at least that hot in the coach of the RV. Why? Because, the AC went out. We traveled on through the heat until I finally called the service department of Motor Home Specialists (where we bought the RV and 8 minutes before closing time) and talked to my new best friend, Tim. He said, "No big deal! (He wasn't in the sweltering heat to realize how big of a deal it really was!). Easy fix. You've tripped a breaker on the generator." When I explained that we had already checked the breakers he said, "Inside AND OUT?" Oh. Didn't realize there were breakers outside...ON THE GENERATOR. We pulled over, flipped the breaker and were instantly rewarded with cool air flowing through the cabin. That's why Tim is my new best friend. Back on the road, we travelled on to Mobile, Alabama, to spend the night at a little campground called Shady Acres.
Once we set up...which involves turning on the automatic levelers and turning off the engine, we fixed dinner. We had Dover's Delicious Enchiladas (a friend's quickie recipe that starts with taquitos), salsa rice and beans. A quick and easy meal that we put together in about 20 minutes. After that it was showers and off to bed.
Okay...Mobile is not a small town. But at Shady Acres they have a small town mentality. When we got ready to leave Sunday morning we could find NO ONE to tell us our cost of stay or take our money. NO ONE. There was a phone number to call for the manager. He hasn't yet set up his voice mailbox! Finally, Carlene found a cleaning lady who told her, "Chuck is at church. Just leave a check for $24 in the office...or run your own credit card through the machine." LOL!!! We left a check and headed out. In 427 miles we were at Fort Wilderness, the campground on Disney property. That's about 8 or 9 hours of driving. When we stopped for gas the boys conned Aunt Carlene into chips, sour candy and a drink. Back on the road, Trenton called his Dad and Scott to wish them Happy Father's Day...and we were Florida bound.
Once we arrived in Ft. Wilderness we again set up camp and had dinner. This time it was my mother-in-law’s recipe for Mexican Chicken. Showers and off to bed.
Day 1 in Disney World equaled Epcott…quite possibly the best of the parks we visited. Day 2 was Typhoon Lagoon, a great little water park with a wave pool which was too powerful for one-legged me, but Trenton enjoyed it. I enjoyed floating down the Lazy River on an innertube. Afterwards we went to Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours where we had dinner reservations. Typhoon Lagoon was fun but all that sun and water wore us out completely. Day 3 took us to Hollywood Studios which, in my opinion, was boring and a waste of our time. Day 4 found us at Animal Kingdom. It was fun. We had a great “Safari” ride and our guide, young Josh, couldn’t give his speech for laughing at our boys’ ridiculous comments. Trenton claimed to have never seen a black or white rhinoceros…only the regular kind. Then he asked Josh, “Is white the new black?” Josh laughed out loud at that one. Day 5, our last day at Disney World, we went to Magic Kingdom where we had spent virtually no time. We did as much as we could do before the torrential downpour hit. Afterwards, back at the campsite, we went to dinner and another thunderstorm came through. I had to ride the scooter back to the RV in the rain. I was soaked and freezing by the time I got there!
We broke camp this morning and are headed back home. We had a great time at Disney World and will do it again in a few years when Carter is old enough to enjoy it. I got to ride several roller coasters…my favorite ride. Trenton got to ride different rides, trade his collector pins and meet his favorite character, Pluto.
I would call this first outing in the motor home a success!
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