*Tent on Wheels at DISNEY* Second Star to the Right, and Straight on 'til Morning...

It’s hard to imagine that it’s here - finally here! - because we've had this trip on the books for nearly a year and a half; but here we are! Heading out for the Most Magical Place on Earth! 

RDB and I had everything packed, safety checked, and ready to go by Saturday afternoon.  Perhaps the hardest part of leaving was taking the critters over to the kennel for their stay.

Once they were settled in, we took off for the first leg of the trip- a ‘short’ drive of ~4 hrs from Houston over to our first KOA of the trip in Denham Springs, LA (just a little East of Baton Rouge).

We rolled in after dark (because we didn’t leave home till late afternoon, thanks rain!) and found our spot for the night.  RDB and I both noticed that this was the most crowded KOA we’ve stayed at yet; they are definitely getting as many campers in as they can. But for us? We didn’t even unhook, we weren’t going to stay long.  

Early Sunday morning we were back on the road, crossing over state lines, stopping at Love’s to get refueled, making our way to Florida.  I had a heads-up from several travelers on our Facebook pages to get the SunPass toll tag when we crossed over into Florida.  I’m pleased to say, the Florida Welcome Centers had hospitality down to a T: we were treated with a fresh, cold cup of Florida orange juice, and a booth where we could purchase and activate the toll tag. There was even a display forDisney's 50th Magical Celebration! 

Sunday was our longer driving day- getting from Baton Rouge over to Perry, FL.  It was about ~7 hrs, so that we only had a short ~3 hours on Monday to get in to Orlando.  RDB is always so awesome at making sure we get where we need to go but today, he encouraged that I give hauling the camper a try - and I did! It's a bit nerve wrecking, but it was the perfect day for it (once we were past the rain that we keep playing leapfrog with this trip).

We made it into our second KOA stop - the Perry Holiday KOA - well before nightfall and took the opportunity to run over to the Wal-Mart and pick up a few forgotten items.  I was really impressed with this KOA - the host asked if we would like an escort to our spot (didn't need it, but heck, first time we were offered, so sure!)  We were in awe at the giant, old trees draped with Spanish moss.  The entire town has a very old-south kind of feel to it. (Kid you not - the picture below was from the Wal-Mart parking lot!)

We settled in for the evening with a bottle of Champagne, a bottle of Florida OJ ;-) and whatever we could find on local TV.  I took the opportunity to do a bit of decorating around the camper (I"ll post more once we get to Disney, and I've decorated the campsite, too.).  An early night in, and then our last leg of the trip: about ~3 hours drive over to Orlando. 

We woke up to that same rainstorm we’ve been playing leap frog with this trip, know that we had plans to meet up with SAM for lunch once we got in to Orlando; S and I have been colleagues for nearly a decade and he works on the Virtual team with me, too.  We were timing it out to met up right after RDB and I got in to the KOA; but I completely forget to change the analog clock in the camper (the only alarm clock I’m using this trip) and so when we crossed over time zones the night before, the alarm was set but was an hour behind.  Opps!  Either way, SAM are cool with being flexible (“You’re on Florida time now!” He replied when I texted him to say we were running late)

We had a premium site (#120) at the Orlando/Kissimmee KOA and I am really impressed with the amount of space that it’s giving us.  There are lots of amenities here, too, from a kids playground to heated pools and a dog park (yes, we’re missing our Diesel at this point!). 

We made our way over to the American Social restaurant that SAM suggested for lunch, and had the place practically to ourselves.  I was tickled pink by the cuteness overload that was my PB&J Old Fashioned.  Dinner was great, and the conversation even better- we hung out for nearly four hours! And we definitely want to try to have dinner with them again before we leave (thank goodness for flexible plans and rest days!)

It’s hard to imagine that this trip is finally here! And with a safe trip across, perfectly placed KOAs to stop  at, and great friends to welcome us to their city and start our vacation- it can only get more magical from here!

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Be sure to check out our other posts from Tent On Wheels at DISNEY!  

*Tent on Wheels at DISNEY* We're going to Disney World!

Diesel Mouse didn't get to come with us this time. :-(

Hi! Welcome to our Camping Adventures! We're excited that you joined us - from those who've been along for all our camping trips, to those who saw our website following the camper down the highway, and those who maybe received a little pixie dust gift along the way! We're so glad you stopped by to check out our little corner of the blogosphere!

A quick introduction - that's me, big teethy smile and all, and the handsome guy with the epic beard in the background is my hubby, RDB. The Dobie-dork up top with the mouse ears is our doberman-kid, Diesel.  RDB and I have been together for over a decade now, living in south Texas, enjoying each other's company and camping as much as we can, Diesel in tow most times.  We even got married on a camping trip (puppers got to come along on that one!).

We've gone from camping in a tent to a pop-up camper (when I started this blog, we were in our Tent "On Wheels") to a few different pull behind travel trailers and toy haulers, to the one we're in now named The Castle! (There's a crazy story behind our #HasslefortheCastle - it's our third fifth-wheel camper in less than eight months' time...) 

All that aside, we're taking our Castle to the Magic Kingdom for my 4th(x10) birthday this year!  Hello Fort Wilderness Campground, here we come!

I'm so excited to be able to spend a milestone birthday at The Fort and be there for Disney World's 50th anniversary celebration!  We'll have several days in the parks, plenty of time looping the campground in the golf cart, and I can't wait to spread some joy with the Fort Wilderness Scavenger Hunts  - it might be my birthday, but I'm excited to be the one giving away the gifts!

Be sure to bookmark this blog, and check back over the next few weeks as I'll post about our road trip from Houston to Orlando, fun in the WDW Parks, what we did around Fort Wilderness on our rest days, the VIP BackStage Experience at Universal Studios, a trip to Johnson Space Center (and hopefully getting to see a rocket launch  - I'm a bit of a space geek) and so much more!

Looking forward to lots of fun, and glad to have you on the journey!

-SJB

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PS - Feel free to stay a while and look around! The word cloud on the right will take you to tagged posts and the Blog Archive will take you back thru ten years of camping. If you're not seeing either of those you might be on mobile view - if so, hit the "View web version" link at the very bottom of your screen. Enjoy!

Blogging: Behind the Scenes #2

Just because she doesn't come camping, doesn't mean she can't be on the blog.  

My little editor is sleeping on the job!

Old Favorites

 Somewhere in the past serval months the remnants of the All Campers Welcome Club mentioned a trip to Stephen F Austin State Park this weekend; so, I booked us a site for several nights, and then didn't think much of it.  I tried to keep my work calendar light on Friday so that maybe, maybe we could get out to that side of town before traffic, but it never seems to work that way (add to that the insane amount of continuing education I need to complete by March and I'm one busy boss lady. By the time I was done with work, RDB and I decided to have an early dinner at Torchy's and then drive the hour out to the park afterwards.

Yep. Continuing Ed.  Making sense of things beyond insurance licensing.

I put a roll-call post on Facebook to the friends who were in the ACWC and got a ping from JSP  - she and DP were int he park, along with Mr Airstream, both just a few sites down from us.  We set up camp and then walked over to spend some time chatting with our dear friends; neither of us were sure how we knew that the other was going to be in the park this weekend, but were so glad that we could hang out and catch up.  A few other former members of the club were coming in for lunch on Saturday, so we made a point to drop by again and hang out.

We slept in Saturday morning, all snuggly and warm.  It was a beautiful day Friday, but the weather turned cold pretty quickly overnight.  Needless to say Diesel is still one of the most spoiled dogs we know - sleeping on a heated dog bed, with his fancy fleece lined jacket, and then getting to curl up on the bed with us every morning (and to be honest? That morning snuggle buys us an extra hour or tow before having to take him out for a walk, so it's worth it for us, too.)

Saturday morning, we went into town and had a late breakfast at Tony's Restaurant. We'd been before, on a camping trip to SFA as well, but I realized that I hadn't written them a review.  Definitely worth coming back and having it again!

Right outside the park, is the San Felipe De Austin State Historical Site. It wasn't complete the last time we were here, so we made it a point to drop in this weekend and I'm so glad we did! It was a windy and cold afternoon, so we practically had the entire museum (both inside and out) to ourselves.

It's interactive and excellently done and absolutely worth the $10 admission (there's a discount if you have a State Park Pass).  Not only does it walk thru the history of the town of San Felipe, but they've also taken time to find several historical families in the local area and trace them back to the time period of Texas' Independence. 

I was drawn to the printing press and loved that you were actually encouraged to touch the plates there in the display. As I tap-tap-tap away on my laptop (while watching Super Bowl XXVI) I can't help but think how blessed I am as an author to be able to enjoy the technology of today, and not have to place every single letter of every single word into a plate and press that onto individual pages.  Oh, and that when I mistype, I can simply hit the backspace and the error goes away, versus having to start all over again.  (Not to mention how much I appreciate the red squiggly line of spell check!)

Another impress advancement in technology was the large electronic touch-sensitive mural.  We rounded the corner and at first, it just looked like a back-lit panel, but as you stood there for a moment, you'd notice small movements: the swishing of an animal's tail, flames licking the hog on a spit, the rippling of waves in the water.  But it wasn't just these small movements that made this mural so interesting.... each of those white circles throughout were 'touchable' - giving you the ability to bring up even more visual artifacts and pictures.

It. Was. SO. COOL!  This museum had some many different ways to engage with the history of the very land we were standing upon. After the Battle of the Alamo, and the massacre at Goliad, the Mexican army was relentlessly pursuing the newly independent Texan army eastward, the citizens of San Felipe knew that their town was in sites of the advancing army.

"The enemy has demanded a surrender...
I have answered the demand with a cannon shot."

Pulling into the parking lot of the historical site, RDB and I just had a conversation about how rugged and strong the settlers would have had to have been to come to 'wilds' of Texas and now here they were, running for their lives in front of an advancing army and having to make the impossibly difficult decision of burning their homes and shops to keep the raw materials out of the hands of the enemy. 

There was another section outside - a reenactment village with printshop and blacksmith, school, and other buildings - but with the cold and wind, RDB and I opted out of that part of the exhibit and went back over the park.  JSP and our friends had gathered together, and J/D came in for lunch as well. It was really great to get to chat with them all.

The evening continued to get more windy, and more cold, so we all went our separate ways. Diesel was glad for us to be back at the camper.

One pic from my lap....

...and another from RDB's....

...and one when he finally settled down to sleep.  Again.

Sunday morning JSP and DP came over to check out our new digs.  We talked for a while as they loved on Diesel (who can resist, right?) and then we packed up to head home.  It was a great, albeit short, trip and we're already anxiously excited about the next time we bring the camper out .... as we're taking the "castle" to the Magic Kingdom for my 40th birthday!

We were in site #3 at Stephen F Austin State Park: very level both side to side and front to back, with 30a and full hook-ups.  This park is exceptionally particular about their check-in rules: no one, and I mean, no one, is allowed to check in before 2pm.  I received two emails (one at time of booking, and another the week we were to arrive) along with a phone call the day of our first reservation, giving specific instructions about not arriving early unless we anted to wait at the headquarters until check-in.  sure enough, as RDB and I were leaving the park just a few minutes after 2pm, we had to pass several campers on their way in.  So, we'd highly recommend, if you're leaving out in the afternoon - be sure to leave before everyone else is making their way in at 2pm or wait till 2:30 so everyone else can get settled - the park roads are not really trimmed well enough for two campers to pass without someone brushing the tree limbs. 

We've stayed here several times before: Numerous Naps, The Greatest Gifts, Halloween Weekend and the Bridge is Out

For (not many more) camping photos, go here.

For a video drive thru of the park, go here.