QUICK TRIP

Made a quick trip in the motor home to see our kids.  It was great to get back on the road, even for just a short jaunt.

There was a birthday to celebrate and a baseball tournament to see.

    

At the baseball field, I made some new friends. These boys weren’t on Ethan’s team but they thought I looked friendly anyway…

And my cousin, Fifi, came over to play. She jumps on the dash to look out the window; she teIls me everything that is happening out there. When she’s seen enough, she bounces right back to the floor.  How does she do that?

It was easy to stay entertained because if we weren't out somewhere, people came  to visit us at the motorhome.

And if we got tired, we would just take a nap – no matter where we might be!

We had a lot of fun. The time went so fast, before I knew it, I was home again.

WOOF!

Disney World

Here's a little something about one of our favorite places to go...

Disney World, specifically Fort Wilderness, was a favorite trip for my people. For me, it was OK. Mickey’s Fort Wilderness really is pleasant but there’s not a lot for dogs to do except go on nice walks and enjoy a good chew on sticks or pinecones  around camp or sniff at aardvarks when they wander into camp. I didn’t care for the pet kennels because their air conditioning broke and, as you know, I’m very sensitive to heat. People are responsible for walking their dogs even if they stay in the kennel so

Mike decided I would be more comfortable in the motor home with the air conditioner on. He was good about coming back every four hours so I could go out and stretch my legs. We saw another dog who wasn’t so lucky. He was also left in his motor home and sat up on the dash in the hot window waiting for his people to come back. Even that night when we went for our last walk, he was still sitting there watching out his window. I think Lady, Tramp and Pluto would have been very disappointed in his people. Just so you know, pets can only stay at Fort Wilderness if their RVs are hard-sided, no popups or canvas sides. All people who travel with their furry or feathery friends are put in “pet” areas of the campground.

My people really seemed to have a great time, though. I hear them talk about how they sure would like to go back…

We did enjoy our stay at DisneyWorld. Fort Wilderness is really a nice place to stay because the spots are just beautiful, all the amenities are so clean (even after a big storm the clean-up crew is out immediately), and Disney transportation is so convenient, you can ride your bike to all the bus and boat pick-up spots. Here are some of the things we were able to squeeze in:

Animal Kingdom – Expedition Everest, “Festival of the Lion King” musical-theater show, “Finding Nemo” the musical, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris

Blizzard Beach – great water park, loved the whole experience

Downtown Disney – Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba (Downtown is fun, with lots of places to spend your money. We enjoyed eating at Cap’n Jack’s Restaurant and Raglan Road Irish Pub.)

Epcot – Trying to eat at least one food item from each ‘country’, the Coral Reef Restaurant, Mission Space, Segue Tour and Test Track

Fort Wilderness – Hoop Dee Doo Musical Revue Dinner, Mickey’s Backyard BBQ, and the pontoon ride to watch the night-time fireworks  

Grand Floridian Hotel – Perfectly Princess Tea Party at the Garden View Lounge. (It’s really expensive, a once in a lifetime event for most families, but worth the look on my granddaughter’s face as she mingled with the other little girls, Rose Petal the hostess, as well as Princess Aurora.)  

Hollywood Studios – 50’s Prime Time Café, Backlot Tour, “Beauty and the Beast” Musical, Great Movie Ride, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Rock & Roller Coaster (actually made me home-sick ‘driving’ down the imagined 101), Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater (We also did Fantasmic, Star Tours and Tower of Terror but California has those, too.)

Magic Kingdom – Carousel of Progress, Hall of Presidents, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club, Tony’s Town Square, (Enchanted Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain replicated in California)

Wilderness Lodge – great swimming pool, Whispering Canyon Café (games along with great family-style BBQ)

The Disney Dining plan came with our RV package through AAA – the only way to go. We had more than enough food for our stay there. I think it actually saved us money, something you can’t say very often if it involves the Disney franchise.

Don’t know if we’ll ever get to go back as it’s kind of far. It’s something you should try to do at least once. We sure have wonderful memories about that trip!  -D

BE READY TO TAKE THE LONG WAY

I had a slow week so Dana’s going to do the honors this week. Archie

Time is the nemesis of every RV traveler who has to plan around their work schedule while flexibility is the key to stress-less RV trips. And once you get on the road or, sometimes, even before, your plans can change.

For example, we planned a motor home vacation to visit the east coast residence of that famous mouse.  I’d saved up enough vacation time to cover our drive to Orlando, Florida, 12 days of fun at the park and and then spend the rest of our time site seeing throughout the state until we knew we had to head for home.

This big of a trip, for us, takes a lot of planning which we started four years earlier. My boss gave me her blessings when I asked. At the time, I didn’t know she was planning to retire a couple of years before we went.  It was four bosses later when it was time to go. My present supervisor, having only been in her chair for less than a year, wasn’t quite as excited about our trip but she knew we had been planning this for quite some time, so off we went.

The initial plan was just to see Florida cities and sites, that is, until assorted relatives got wind of our trip and didn’t think it would be too much trouble for us to swing by and include them in our itinerary.

There was an uncle who wanted us to stop by the cabin he’d just finished building in the mountains, after all, Georgia bordered Florida. My father-in-law, who lives in Nashville, knew we would be swinging by to say “hello” so when could he expect us?  A grand-niece would be graduating from high school in Kansas and wondered if we were planning to stop for the celebration since we would be headed west by then - an invitation was in the mail.  My folks were going to Omaha at the time and “wouldn’t it be fun to ride home together?”  Oh, and we might as well stop to see Aunty in ‘Vegas, which really was on our way home now.  So our original route to and from Florida would now take us from Florida, to Georgia, up through Tennessee, to Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Nevada before heading back to California. 

We realized, we weren't going to get to see the Florida Keyes this time. Although nothing like our initial plan, we still had fun.  We did get to see the cabin and some gorgeous waterfalls in Georgia,

I didn't get to see the waterfalls...

but I did meet Thunder and Starla. - Archie

Then we were on our way to Tennessee - beautiful scenery.

 where we visited the home site of my father-in-law and a Confederate soldier.

Then it was on to Branson, MO

I compared statures with Trigger - what do ya' think? - Archie

Do you see what I see?                                                                                   Got it!

where we stopped to see sites - a stop with no relatives but, it really was on the way.

OK - you know if there is water around, I'm gonna find it! - Archie

Made it to Atchison in time for the graduation and dropped by Amelia Earhart’s birthplace, right next to the great Muddy.

We swung by Omaha and picked up my folks traveling home via a route, we learned, has been used for a long, long time. 

We made some great memories with my folks as we traveled home. Next thing we knew, we were in Colorado where we soaked in a hot tub as we watched snow fall in the Rockies at the end of May.

In case anyone wants to know, I love the snow. - Archie

The best benefit?  Happy faces all along the way - everybody was glad to see us and we have the pictures to prove it.

Oops!

Just realized – I missed last week. Lots of action - a visit from Mike’s mom (from Kansas), Mike’s UCLA eye appointment (surgery seems to be healing nicely) on Thursday, and then a nephew’s wedding over the weekend. Now, getting back to a normal routine…

We did travel a bit in the motor home – down to see the kids and grandkids so great-grandma could visit. I relaxed – a lot!

Tried gravitating food from a new victim’s plate







Got pestered by my new cousin, Fifi

Of course, I was left behind for the UCLA trip, but I heard Dana complain about the traffic, so it was probably just as well.

I didn’t get to go to the wedding either - the way it goes for most dogs. At least I didn’t have to go to the kennel - like Kramer did! So, all in all, it was a good week.

See you next time…