December 13-17, 2009. Days 147-151 Disney World.

Wow! Who knew it would so much better to go to Disney World during Christmas. We just finished 5 wonderful days at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds on Disney World property and we loved it. For those of us with RVs it’s really the best way to do Disney. You get a great site with level concrete pads and all the hookups. You have access to all the Disney transportation via numerous buses that serve the campground or you can take a boat ride right from the CG to several other places like the Contemporary Hotel or even go straight to The Magic Kingdom. Once you are there to those places you can get right on the Monorail system and to many other places too. On two days that’s all we did was take the Disney transportation around to see the hotels all beautifully decorated for Christmas and for the kids to ride the Monorail and boats. Of course they loved that. We also went one day to The Polynesian Hotel in our bathing suits and had a fun, relaxing day at the pool. You aren’t supposed to do that because each hotel has signs that say the pool is for the guests of that particular hotel but because we did this on December 12th the pool was more than half empty and we don’t think they really cared because there was plenty of space available.

One day we left the park and went to a place called The Fun Spot. It’s a small carnival type amusement park with several rides but best of all it has 4 different go-cart tracks. For one price you can ride everything all day as much as you want. We had asked the kids if they wanted a day at The Magic Kingdom or a day riding go-carts and they instantly yelled “Go-carts!” Kevin and Jim were very glad they did because they seemed to have the most fun of all although once Kathleen got started driving we couldn’t get her off the tracks. We ended up spending 8 hours there, from 12 noon to 8 PM. When we left we were all exhausted.

Each night there was plenty to see. The CG had a Character Review and sing along near the pool and then you could walk a short distance to the lake to see the fire-works from The Magic Kingdom. Speaking of the CG pool it was great too. It had a nice big slide and a great water play area for the little kids.

The best part of this whole stay is why the beginning of this blog entry says Christmas is a great time to come to Disney. You should have seen the many RV sites decorated for Christmas. Some RVs were as decorated as any house we’ve ever seen and probably more decorated based on the size of the campsite they were parked at. We went out each night to the different CG areas to see new and better sites than we had seen the night before. It was truly amazing and really brought us The Christmas spirit we had not felt yet. We loved it all and were sad to leave on Friday the 18th but we were still happy too because we were heading to Pensacola to see our son Thomas.

December 10-12, 2009. Days 144-146 Daytona Beach FL.

We just spent three fun days here in Daytona Beach FL. We got here on the 10th after driving down from Savannah, mostly along the coast of Florida from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach along the A1A Highway. We took that route to see the ocean and to see if we could find an RV park right on the water. For most of the drive however, between the highway and the ocean are houses, built up on a mound so you cannot see the water at all. I think they are built up on a mound to act as a high water protection for the houses and the highway. We did have some periods where we could fully see the ocean so it made the drive worth it. We also found one RV Park on the ocean that we could have stayed at but it was too far from our destination and it was high priced too. We stayed in Daytona Beach at the Nova Family Campground. It was a nice park with very friendly staff in the office. Mary, who claimed to be the owner, was very fun as she gave Jim and Kevin just as much trouble, maybe more, as they gave her. We also met some nice people that live there for extended periods. One was Mr. Mike, an elderly man Kevin got to know, who was going to be 90 on his next birthday. The 11th was mostly a day spent at the RVs doing school work and business for Kevin and Jim. Kathleen, Jamey and the girls did go do some shopping too but mostly the day was spent in the park. On the 12th, we all went to a huge flea market to do some shopping. We had also gone there the day before but got there right before it closed so we had to come back. They say if you walk up and down every aisle you will walk 3 miles. It certainly seemed like it after we were done. After the flea market we went down to the beach and Kevin and the boys actually got in the water and body surfed in the waves for a couple hours. Rachel and Maddie got in a little too. It was very cold at first but then they got used to it. The waves were good and high enough to really have fun. We all enjoyed driving on the beach too. Kevin had come here 32 years earlier for his senior trip after graduating high school and he pointed out the hotel he had stayed in which was still open. Unfortunately much of Daytona Beach is nothing like it used to be. Many places are in poor shape or closed. There are some new buildings south of the old area, that look good, but the main area is very depressed. It was sad to see. When we got back to the RV park Kevin took the kids to the pool to swim some more. It was also to wash all the salt water and sand off themselves too. We really enjoyed our time here in Daytona.

December 8-9, 2009. Days 142-143 Savannah GA.

On Tuesday the 8th we drove from Charleston SC to Savannah GA. It was an easy 110 miles and took just under 2 hours. We went straight to the Savannah Oaks RV Resort to set up camp. We chose this place because it seemed really nice based on its description on the internet. It probably was a very nice place, perhaps, but it isn’t anymore. It certainly isn’t a “resort”. Since it was a short drive we spent the rest of the day completing school lessons and setting up. Kevin and Jim also replaced Jim’s roof antennae that a broke off earlier in the trip. Of course we also made Jim cook dinner for us on his campsite wok grill. It was awesome again. It seems he can cook anything on it. Maybe we should see if he can make pancakes on it.

On Wednesday the 9th we went to downtown Savannah, after completing a day of school. We started at the waterfront where they have so many awesome little stores. We planned to then go to see some buildings and such but after only being by the water for a half hour it started to rain really hard with thunder and lightning. We then heard a weather bulletin announcement on the radio about how bad it was going to get. Because our campsite was 14 miles away we decided we needed to leave to not get caught out in bad weather. It did rain pretty hard most of the way back but by the time we got to the RV we had gotten to the other side of the weather and all was well.

December 6-7, 2009. Days 140-141 Charlston SC

On Sunday the 6th, we had our internet church time and then went to see downtown Charleston. As we were leaving the park we saw an RV about to leave that had NM plates so we stopped to say hello. It turns out it was Dave and Holly Slade, a couple we knew from our old church Calvary Chapel in Albuquerque. We talked to them for a little while and found out they have also been on an extended trip in a new RV they bought this past summer. It was good to visit with familiar faces. When we got downtown we planned on walking around to see the old buildings and shops but when we got down there the police were blocking off the roads to prepare for their Christmas Parade so we stayed to see that. It was a nice treat because we had not been feeling the Christmas spirit much even though we had bought a small Christmas tree that fits up on our RV dash and some lights to decorate with too. The parade was great and afterwards we went back to the RV because about an hour after we got back we expected our friends, Jim and Jayme Nelson, the couple we met in NYC from Albuquerque, to come in. We had been planning on meeting back up with them and it had taken until now for it to work out, about two months since we had seen them last. It was great to see them. We would now be traveling together for a couple weeks. We had really missed Jim’s cooking so Kathleen had all the fixings ready for Jim to whip us up some great stir-fry. It was awesome as usual.
On Monday the 7th we all drove over to see Fort Moultrie on Sullivans Island. We had wanted to go to Fort Sumter but we missed the time available to take a ferry over to the island. Fort Moultrie is another fort in the Charleston Bay that was used to protect the city. It was really interesting to see. The kids really enjoyed running around the fort and going into all the underground bunkers. We learned a lot about east coast defense over the years these forts were used during various wars. After touring the fort we drove back to downtown Charleston and walked around some shops and outdoor market areas. We went to one place that had been used during the slave trade years to sell slaves being brought over from Africa. We had recently read about the slave trade ships and how awful it was for them to be brought over that way. We had seen some memorials in Jackson MS and Columbia SC that told the story of it so this was another good opportunity to learn of this sad time in our history. After a little touring of the downtown we found a place to have dinner. We were there a little early and drinks and appetizers were half price so we all ordered a couple appetizers each and shared them. It was a good day of touring Charleston, learning more US history and with some good fun mixed in.

December 5, 2009. Day 139 Sumter SC.

On Saturday, December 5, we left Columbia SC, after spending a couple hours at the great Flea Market they have right there at the campground. Kevin and Kathleen both love to go to Flea Markets. This day we moved from Columbia to Charleston and on the way we drove through Sumter SC, a town Kevin lived in from 1965-1968. He had not been back to the house there since they moved away. In fact, no one in his family has seen their house since then either. It only took an hour to get there and we found it with no problem. The house, although small, especially since 7 kids and parents all lived in it, looked really good. While sitting there in front of the house a man from two doors down came out to talk to us. His name is Mr. Fulcnham. He was an eighty something year old man who had been in WWII. He spent some time telling us about the neighborhood and then about his time in the war. He had gone ashore at Omaha on D-Day and all the way to Germany before being captured and held as a prisoner of war for 6 months. Kevin was much more interested in talking to him about his time served then about the neighborhood. He did tell us some things but finally said it was still hard for him to talk about so we asked no more. After we left we drove on down to Charleston and camped at a real nice campground just south of town called Oak Plantation RV. It was late when we pulled in so we set up camp and settled in for the night.

December 2-4, 2009. Days 137-138 Columbia SC.

On December 2 we left Valdosta to drive to and through Griffin and Jonesboro GA to see two more of Kevin’s old houses and then on to a city just east of Atlanta since we would be going on to Columbia SC the next day. After being on the road for only an hour it started to rain. Then it kept raining all day sometimes very hard. The forecast was for heavy rain all day throughout the SE. Just North of Macon GA Kevin decided not to go to Griffin and Jonesboro because it would be too hard to get out in the rain to actually see anything or to take any good pictures. Kevin had also been to both those houses just recently so it wasn’t as important to him to see those two. He made a new route and turned toward South Carolina, and in a short time, 3 hours, we arrived in Columbia, at 4:30. This would be our 36th Capitol to visit and only 1 of the 8 we would see on this second leg of the trip.
On December 3rd we got up early and did a day of school. The kids have been doing real well and have adjusted to having school Monday thru Friday from 9-12:30 instead of school only on days we were traveling. They are doing a better job too with remembering things from one day to another. After lunch we headed downtown. Our campsite was only 5 miles from the Capitol so it didn’t take us long. It seemed like it had been a while since we had been on a Capitol tour and we had been missing it. SC has guided tours of the building and a nice young lady did a good job of describing all the special features. This Capitol had quite some history to it since it had been started to be built right before the Civil War. They had to stop for a while and when General Sherman marched through town he actually shot some cannon balls at it. There are still 6 marks on the walls were it was hit. That was cool to see.
On Friday the 4th we did a day of school then went and looked around Columbia some more. We had some grocery shopping to do also. Later that night we had a very special visitor come have dinner with us. Kevin’s nephew Kyle goes to the University of South Carolina. He came over at 6 and ate and visited with us. It was a great visit, hearing all about his first semester as a freshman at USC. He also is so grown up now. It had only been a couple years since we had seen him but now he was so big and handsome. Seeing Kyle made our trip to SC really special.

November 30- December 1, 2009. Day 134-135 Valdosta GA.

On Nov. 30 we left Pensacola after saying goodbye to Thomas,:(, and drove to Valdosta GA. Kevin’s niece, Melissa, the one from the September wedding we went to, lives in Valdosta. Kevin also lived in Valdosta from 1971-1974 so this was one of those places to go to see a house Kevin used to live in. We had so much fun with Melissa and her husband who is also Kevin. We brought our WII game in from the RV and played doubles tennis almost all day. We really had a blast laughing at each other and having some very impressive volleys. We were able to camp right there at Melissa’s house. Rachel loved their two dachshunds, Murphy and Lilly and played with them all day. All of us actually had a good time with the dogs. Murphy is not usually friendly with people but really took to us all. He was great. It was a good visit and Melissa and Kevin are a wonderful couple and really great hosts. Kevin said family can visit anytime as long as they give him enough notice to let him leave town before you get there. He’s a great guy.