Winter Warmth!
Who: Paula and Gary (with parents and aunt and uncle mixed in)
When: January 31-February 13, 2022 (as I am typing this, it is the last day of 2022, so I’m thinking to myself that it could be worse.) When we returned, try as I might, I could not find my planning notebook anywhere. I recently came across it and all my receipts, so with the help of that and my pictures, I am attempting to try a trip report. I did complete a pre-trip report way back when, but have NO idea how to link it here
Where: Fort Wilderness for the first time!
Why: It’s been 5 years since our last trip. Unfortunately, my (now) DH does not love Disney as much as I do, so although he really does enjoy it when we’re here, and the Fort really made an impression, he doesn’t feel the pull I do ☹. However, he does like to get away from the cold and snow and agreed to this trip because after the Disney portion, we are heading to the Daytona 500.
Without further ado: TRAVEL DAY!
We left Northeast PA the morning of January 29 and headed south pulling our 5th wheel camper. It was a balmy 18 degrees, and I froze as we hooked up! Spirits were high as we pulled out and were on our way around 9 am. I packed lunch as we haven’t pulled the camper on a trip this far and knew there were some places that wouldn’t be easy to pull in and out of. We stopped at the VA rest stop around 1:30.
We saw snow until we hit South Carolina!
We stopped in South Carolina at a Cracker Barrel for the night. We pulled around the back of the restaurant around 9:30ish. It was about 26 degrees! We knew there had been a cold snap, but jeez!! We stood in the kitchen eating some sandwiches for supper and I said I thought we were going to have to go to bed with all our clothes on, coats included, and take off a layer or two as we warmed up. We only put out the bedroom slide and Gary fired up the furnace. It warmed up quickly and we were asleep soon.
We woke up around 6:30 the next morning, washed up and headed into Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they serve mimosas at breakfast! (We are from PA and our CB’s do not sell alcohol).
What can I say? We’re easy to impress!
I think we were back on the road by 8:45 or 9 at the latest and finally hit Florida around 12:30!
A stop or two for diesel (ugh) and bathroom and we were in our spot for the night at Tropical Palms by 5:00.
A nice campground not far from Disney property. We got set up, I cleaned the floors in the camper and Gary hosed down the outside. It was a mess from the snow and salt on the roads on the way down. This place was nice for one night. We wanted to get to Florida the night before our reservation so we could get to the Fort first thing in the morning. After we got as settled as we needed to be for one night, we headed out on a ride to see what we could find for dinner. We settled on a Denny’s that was close and wasn’t too busy. After that we headed back and made sure things were ready for the morning.
A few thoughts: This is the first time we’ve (and by that, I mean Gary as he does all the driving) pulled a camper this far from home. We bought this camper the previous October and used it at our Creekside site for 4 weeks until the season was over. So, it was still new to us. The night before we left, we got the camper all loaded up, clothes, toiletries, refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards. We were talking over dinner and Gary mentioned he was a little nervous about the trip. NO!! Don’t tell me that! Because now, I’m nervous too
Well, it was all for nothing. Shortly after we were on the road, he was feeling pretty good, and getting used to pulling 37 extra feet behind him. We had only bought the truck about 6 weeks before and it was a good move on our part. Some nice bells and whistles that made towing a bit easier!
Who: Paula and Gary (with parents and aunt and uncle mixed in)
When: January 31-February 13, 2022 (as I am typing this, it is the last day of 2022, so I’m thinking to myself that it could be worse.) When we returned, try as I might, I could not find my planning notebook anywhere. I recently came across it and all my receipts, so with the help of that and my pictures, I am attempting to try a trip report. I did complete a pre-trip report way back when, but have NO idea how to link it here
Where: Fort Wilderness for the first time!
Why: It’s been 5 years since our last trip. Unfortunately, my (now) DH does not love Disney as much as I do, so although he really does enjoy it when we’re here, and the Fort really made an impression, he doesn’t feel the pull I do ☹. However, he does like to get away from the cold and snow and agreed to this trip because after the Disney portion, we are heading to the Daytona 500.
Without further ado: TRAVEL DAY!
We left Northeast PA the morning of January 29 and headed south pulling our 5th wheel camper. It was a balmy 18 degrees, and I froze as we hooked up! Spirits were high as we pulled out and were on our way around 9 am. I packed lunch as we haven’t pulled the camper on a trip this far and knew there were some places that wouldn’t be easy to pull in and out of. We stopped at the VA rest stop around 1:30.
We saw snow until we hit South Carolina!
We stopped in South Carolina at a Cracker Barrel for the night. We pulled around the back of the restaurant around 9:30ish. It was about 26 degrees! We knew there had been a cold snap, but jeez!! We stood in the kitchen eating some sandwiches for supper and I said I thought we were going to have to go to bed with all our clothes on, coats included, and take off a layer or two as we warmed up. We only put out the bedroom slide and Gary fired up the furnace. It warmed up quickly and we were asleep soon.
We woke up around 6:30 the next morning, washed up and headed into Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they serve mimosas at breakfast! (We are from PA and our CB’s do not sell alcohol).
What can I say? We’re easy to impress!
I think we were back on the road by 8:45 or 9 at the latest and finally hit Florida around 12:30!
A stop or two for diesel (ugh) and bathroom and we were in our spot for the night at Tropical Palms by 5:00.
A nice campground not far from Disney property. We got set up, I cleaned the floors in the camper and Gary hosed down the outside. It was a mess from the snow and salt on the roads on the way down. This place was nice for one night. We wanted to get to Florida the night before our reservation so we could get to the Fort first thing in the morning. After we got as settled as we needed to be for one night, we headed out on a ride to see what we could find for dinner. We settled on a Denny’s that was close and wasn’t too busy. After that we headed back and made sure things were ready for the morning.
A few thoughts: This is the first time we’ve (and by that, I mean Gary as he does all the driving) pulled a camper this far from home. We bought this camper the previous October and used it at our Creekside site for 4 weeks until the season was over. So, it was still new to us. The night before we left, we got the camper all loaded up, clothes, toiletries, refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards. We were talking over dinner and Gary mentioned he was a little nervous about the trip. NO!! Don’t tell me that! Because now, I’m nervous too
Well, it was all for nothing. Shortly after we were on the road, he was feeling pretty good, and getting used to pulling 37 extra feet behind him. We had only bought the truck about 6 weeks before and it was a good move on our part. Some nice bells and whistles that made towing a bit easier!
