Heading out, one lap around the USA!

[lhuff]

It sounds like y'all have been having a great adventure and have seen and experienced so many things. Keep up with the reports and have a safe journey.

Laura

[RoadTrippers A & R]

West across Florida to the Gulf:

We're heading out from Walt Disney World to the Florida Gulf Coast for 3 days camping on the beach.

We learned alot about Disneyworld.

With out a doubt, the best RV camping we've found anyplace.
Nothing even comes close.
We can see why the camping alone without even visiting the theme parks is big to East Coasters.
Many have their Golf Carts, and RV's custom painted in Disney Characters, and this kinda trip is their lifes passion. An annual, standing WDW reservation is their familys annual vacation.

The way to see the theme parks is in the morning at opening, then collect fast passes, hit the waterparks through the afternoon, then take advantage of the late magic hours and re-visit the parks.

The Disney bars were something else. I've met some characters in my lifetime, but the Disney bars are excellent.

The Beach Bar at Typhoon Lagoon is dripping with beautiful girls of all cultures, from all over the planet.
Brits, Cubans, Southern Girls, French, Canadians, they all hang out there, and they are all chatty, most seemingly want to connect with someone for the nite. String bikinis are here to stay. Other swim suit styles come and go, but butt floss, like Levi jeans, will always be in style too.

I had several blisters on my right foot, so avoiding walking, I spent my fair share of time there with Alice who was tired of walking and turned the kids loose. We met one guy and his wife that had every Disney Character tattoo'd someplace on their body. You name the character, they'd point to it.
I ran Meiko, then Cleo, Geppetos gold fish, and Dis-Honest John by them and yep,, they had the tattoos.
They own'd a computerized machine shop in Orlando and didn't have to sweat employment interviews with all the ink.

We met a group of airline & corporate pilots that stay at the resort often. They spend their off days meeting girls at the bars. The Typhoon Lagoon bar they say is the best daytime bar in all WDW. It' the place from January through October.

The chix way out-number the guys and that's always good. The single moms have sitters already lined up for the evening.
Then the hook-ups made at the Typhoon Lagoon bar, will carry over to late nite hook ups at Pleasure Island which is full of clubs and nite life.
The single life is alive and thriving at WDW. It's on fire.

Food at WDW is vastly improved over our last visits.
The Bomma Buffet dinner at the Animal Kingdom resort was recomended to us here in RTA, and it's excellent.
Different food from the norm, and they really pull it off well.
Nice atmosphere too.

A duck dinner, that is,, ya duck in then ya duck out and that's nice after a long theme park day.

Absolutely have your reservation conformation numbers along with you at WDW. Line 'um on your computer up and print them and have them in hand when you arrive at the restaurant.
No clue why they loose the reservations, but they do.
Your conformation number will be essential in that case. You will not get seated otherwise no matter how sore you get. All the WDW restaurants are booked up and packed.

When you're sitting waiting to be called for your table (in spite of reservations, you'll still be que'd for a spell), if you don't have the pager, other groups without reservations will hustle in and answer to your name to steal your table, so beware of that too. Expect it.

It's usually a New York City family with 6 O'clock Mugs for faces, dads with names like Jules or Duncan or Herme.

The pre-paid meal plan is excellent. It's good at all 135 restaurant at WDW.
The snacks can be those big, giantic candied apples, seemed all the treats were included,,, and all gratituities too.

Alice and I thought the MGM theme part sucked, but the kids loved it.
The Prime Time Diner is fun, but dinner there is 2 plus hours easily, the food bland. Very bland.

Gasoline and diesel is 50 cents a gallon cheaper on WDW property than minutes away in Orlando.

That's it for now, if any tips and tales pop up on this leg, we'll check back in.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Ross & Alice,

Thanks for the continuing excellent report from your trip. Lots of interesting info here. Will you be making your way down to the Everglades?

There is a RV campground that I really enjoyed (as a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of the Orlando area) -- It is the Lake Cypress RV and Fish Camp near St. Cloud, Florida. Don't dangle your feet in the lake water after dark...

If you get over to Crystal River -- space #40 at the Crystal Isles RV resort has (or at least it did back in 1995..) really nice shade and there are plenty of 'gators in the canal just behind the park. Saw some of the largest dragonflys I have ever seen there.

Keep those reports coming...

Mark

[RoadTrippers A & R]

Good tip Mark, the State of Florida is beautiful.
We're now in Destin Florida, West of Panama City on the panhandle.
We're camp'd on the sand on the beach.
The sand is pure white, a fine powder, absolutely beautiful looking out across the water.
A warm breeze flows in off the Gulf of Mexico.

Many people come up and say hello.
Local Southern folk from Mississippi, Alabama, and especially Louisana.
A nice change from the crusty east coasters.
They've camped here for 20 to 30 years they all tell us.
They all moved back a row when the park sharply raised the prices on the beachfront spots.

They usually want to know what Californians are doing here.
They notice our license plates:
"Don't you have beaches and Disneyland in California?" they sometimes ask.
I answer; "Sure, but the Civil War was fought in the South & East., and we have kin in Baton Rouge."

I then mention we're doing a hot lap around America, and they usually mention they'd like to do the same one day.
Often they mention Salinas Calif as a destination, so we'll have to review that furthur, that's a new one.

10 oz beers are the choice all around the campground.
"Yeah, we can get the 12 oz'ers, but we've always drank the 10'z. So the breweries specially can and send them here to select areas in the South"- we're told.
Traditions die hard in the South.

When I was a kid, the little green 7 oz bottles of Coke tasted better than the bigger bottles, but compairing them in this case might be a big stretch.

We had lots of credits left on our WDW dining plan, so my wife went to the gourmet markets at WDW and Pleasure Island marketplace and cashed them in on food.
Really good food.
The RV refer and freezer is stuffed and we'll be chowing it for at least the next week.

Fireworks are serious in the South.
Even the supermarkets sell stuff banned in most the rest of the country.
Multi stage mortars, cherry bombs, brutal and beautiful rockets sold at fireworks stands seemly most everywhere in the South.
There is always, everywhere, the one family that drops a weeks pay on Fireworks and a great show goes on all night.

The kids are rolling outta bed, so if weather permitting, we'll be on a days adventure in the Gulf of Mexico.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Fireworks are serious in the South.
Even the supermarkets sell stuff banned in most the rest of the country.
Multi stage mortars, cherry bombs, brutal and beautiful rockets sold at fireworks stands seemly most everywhere in the South.

Some day you will have to make a point to being in Las Vegas on the 4th of July. My neighbors employ 6 and 8 inch mortars and fire rockets from their backyards that rival anything I have ever seen at professional firework shows. All of these huge fireworks are illegal as they can get -- but... "it's Vegas baby"...

I answer; "Sure, but the Civil War was fought in the South & East.,

Don't forget that Nevada was made a state (without the usual requirements) just so the Union could get that much-needed gold... There were some skirmishes here in the West between union and confederate troops.

Enjoy the ride!

Mark

[RoadTrippers A & R]

Driving over the Shenandoah Trail

[RoadTrippers A & R]

Mesa Verde cliff dwellings.
Note foot and hand holds to climb around this room.

[RoadTrippers A & R]

Today sends us west outta Florida to Baton Rouge Louisiana.
Wife has kin there and we'll stop by to visit.

Hangin' out on the beach in Destin, Florida was teriffic.
Boogie boarded all day with the kids.
Gulf water seem'd warm compaired to the cold water beaches in Los Angeles that will turn your feet purple.

The campground has two excellent pools. an excellent playground for the kids, and a singer & band atop a patio that was really good.

Lots of people just do laps all nite long around the park in their golf carts, stopping to gawk at anyone checking in. The gawking is unique to Florida we're told by the Louisiana folks.
Must be, we've never encountered it before until WDW, St Augustine and here.

Florida has many private beaches. Very rare in Calif, and no private beaches anyplace in Hawaii at all.
You can spot the Florida private beaches, they're empty.

Much stronger dog control at Southern campgrounds.
"Ya can't reason with drunks or dog owners" one employee told us.
Starting to see no-dog campgrounds in the west, but it's been happening here in the South for quite some time we're told.

It's either the barking or the owners not cleaning up after them that is the problem. Maybe 1 outta 10 owners will control their dogs barking and clean-up after them we hear.
That's pretty accurate I'd say from our experiences. Often the first chore at a campground when we check-in is cleaning up after someone elses dog.

WDW had mostly no dog loops, and very strict controls on the camping loops where they allowed dogs. A dog hotel was at the entrance to the campground, with a walking area with bags and shovels.

I missed one good pic in Durango. A sign said: "no second chances, irresponsible dog owners ejected first offense. They poop, you scoop."

Another weld has pop'd on a wheel so we'll be stopping off for yet another tire & wheel repair. Most likely when we roll through Texas.

OK, off for two days of mostly travel & visit kin.

[UKCraig]

I am really enjoying your reports and, especially, the photos. The one of the Appalacian Trail is fantastic, I hope you'll be printing that one and hanging it on your wall when you finally get home!

[RoadTrippers A & R]

Biloxi Mississippi.

We pulled into the Wall Mart. I would imagine Biloxi has several.

We had to park on the outskirts of the parking lot, next to the Subway sandwitch store.
This SubWay does a booming business. Lines out the door.

Minutes earlier, a customer pulled a long barrel 38 and rob'd the place.
Sitting right outside the front were 2 County Sheriffs in their unmarked Pensacola Blue GMC Equinox, washing down their Subway sandwitches with sodas as the robbery went down.

As the robber exited the Store, the LEOs (Law enforcement Officers) tackled him and took his 38, and hooked him up.

Minutes later, the store back in business, the story of the robbery loosing nothing in the telling by all.

-----------------
Then over to the near-by truck stops.

Biloxi has several resort areas and Indian Casinos nearby.
Thugs have 100's of ways of stealing credit cards from vacationers.
They have to turn them into cash fast before the card gets reported.

So,,,,,
At the nearby truckstops, the thug walks up to you as you're filling your rig and the story goes like this:

" My grandmother and I are heading home and are outta cash, can we fill your rig on our credit card, and you give us cash".
I blow the punks off, and they vanish.

They choose RV's because we pump more, but more importantly, the employees in the stores view is blocked by our rig, and they don't see the thug in action.

It happened again to us this afternoon. I just say we're not interested.

So the guy vanishes,, and then a Pensacola Blue GMC Equinox towing a small travel trailer pulls up to the pump next to us.
A pretty chix get out and stands next to the pump.
The thug appears outta nowhere, and tells his tale to her.

The back doors of the GMC fly open, Leos step out the thug takes off and is tackled on the hot Mississippi asphalt, hooked up, and then hauled off after a few questions.