East Coast Spring Vacation 1

It's been nearly a month since we embarked upon the vacation that will be detailed in the next few posts.  We had planned this time for some time, as we do with most of our trips.  We knew it would be early in the season due to Parker's spring break being so early this year.  We weren't sure if we would be able to de-winterize the Airstream or not before going.  As it turned out, the weather didn't cooperate and we embarked upon our trip with the red stuff still in the plumbing and jugs of water for drinking until we got to warmer climates.  Not to be totally outdone, my job had one up it's sleeve, too.  We were supposed to leave home on Tuesday night.  It turned out I had to work very late that day, so the trip leaving time was moved to Wed morning.  In the end, it probably wasn't bad.  I was dreading boondocking in a parking lot (again) in freezing temps.

As sometimes happens, this trip got combined with a business trip.  It allowed us to add one of our favorite stops to the trip: Williamsburg, VA.  This time, we didn't even buy Williamsburg passes.  But, we stayed in our favorite campground at Newport News, VA.  Not a whole lot new here other than the kids riding bikes as usual.  Oh, and I managed to hit a deer while staying there; not in the park, though.  Luckily, the damage was not trip-ending and it was a company truck, so no worries about paying for damage!

Riding bikes at Newport News City Campground

One day the kids will understand the ramifications of what this device once was.  For now though, they find it a must-have photo op.

This seems cool to do, too.

A colleague of mine suggested this place in Wilson, NC.  It's called Parker's so we had to stop.  Definitely not your chain restaurant and not too far out of the way.  Plenty of camper parking.

Yes, shorts in March.  We were in FL.

One of just many forts (National Parks) that we visited on this trip along the east coast.

We took the scenic way back to the truck.

Sometimes they are cute.  Sometimes.

The boardwalk over the swamp to another fort.

Ahoy, matey!  Actually, these telescopes are pretty cool.  We gave in to them both spending $25 of their collected birthday money on these.  Amazingly, they work quite well.

The fort that we went to see.  I forget the name now, it's on the FL coast just south of St. Augustine.  This was apparently a torture point.  There was a lot of stuff about prisoners and killing.  There was a free ferry to the fort, but we could not visit due to a storm in the area.

This was the parking lot at the fort.  Awesome trees.

What would a trip with the kids be without a zoo visit?

Actually, this was a zoo and alligator park in St. Augustine.  I was wary of it at first especially because of the price of admission but in the end it was well worth it.

Parker doing the "Parker slump" because he's tired of waiting for  us.

It was mating season or something for a lot of big white birds in the zoo.  Lots of people with really high powered cameras.  It sounded like an explosion when a bird would take flight from the rapid fire shutters of all the cameras.

Winter Improvements

The weather the past couple of days in our neck of the woods was incredibly good.  The family took this as an opportunity to finish some improvements to the Airstream and the Argosy.  Some new parts were purchased but needed to be installed.  Both campers will get used soon for camping trips, so they needed to be cleaned out and have some things checked out.  I didn't put water to either of them...still too soon for that.  But, here's the improvements worth noting:


Airstream:

We removed the overhead light fixture when a Fantastic Fan was installed a couple of years ago. The bedroom has been kinda dark sometimes since.  There's a couple of other lights in the bedroom, but none ceiling mounted or that really throw light in the center of the room.  I found this 18" light bar as a new product at http://led4rv.com/.  It works very well, although I would have liked it in warm white instead of bright white.  Right now, only bright white is available.  I think in the future I will add more of these and maybe even completely remove the not-used center vent in our trailer and replace the light fixture there with one of these bars, too.

A new LED light bar in the bedroom. 

As our boys have gotten older, they do less and less well with sleeping in the same bed.  Since our Airstream only has two double beds, there's not a great way to separate them unless Andrea and I are willing to separate at bedtime as well (not happening!).  Recently, we also swapped bed space with the kids.  We used to sleep in the mid-bedroom and the kids were up front.  While this was OK and offered us (the parents) the slightly bigger and more comfortable bed, it became an interruption to the kids' slumber when we wanted to get a late night snack, a refill on wine, or clean some dishes.  So now the kids are in the mid-bed and the parents are up front.  I had desired to do a complete re-do of the front sitting / sleeping arrangements, that didn't happen this winter.  What we did manage to accomplish was a bunk for the kids.  While not an original Airstream bunk, I was able to score original wall brackets and ceiling hooks.  With those and some help from an Airstream bunk professional (thanks Steve "byamcaravanner"), Andrea and I were able to fashion a bunk for the Airstream.  It can be lifted and stowed at a higher level so that full use of the couch can be made when not folded out into a bed.  There's also enough of a gap at the "head" end that both top and bottom beds can get reading light.

New bunk in the center bedroom

Last but not lease for the pictures, there is a new tongue jack.  I wasn't thrilled about spending the money on a new one of these when the old one was working OK, but the cover on the old one was severely cracked for some time and totally broke last year.  I had searched for a replacement cover, but the old jack was not made anymore and although the manufacturer is still in business in trailering supplies, they no longer make tongue jacks.  No parts available   I thought of making up my own fiberglass mold and trying to replicate the cover myself, but that proved to be way more time and effort than a new one was.  Based on discussion and recommendations that I found on AirForums, I opted for a Barker.

New tongue jack

I didn't take a picture of it, but it's worth mentioning about the battery.  I purchased a single Optima Blue Top 4 years ago.  It has worked flawlessly.  Toward the end of last camping season, it seemed like the battery was getting weak.  We spent a couple of nights needing to run the tow vehicle in order to have enough voltage to run small things like the water pump and a few lights when boondocking.  Also, the old tongue jack would barely lift unless the tow vehicle was plugged in.  Through some experiences with the Airstream this winter in the barn, I started to suspect the charging system or the battery.  I managed to narrow it down to the battery based on advice found at Optima's website.  My battery just wouldn't take a full charge!  Long story short, with an old-fashioned non-automatic battery charger, a volt meter, and some careful over-watching, the battery was brought back to life.  It now holds a nice 12.8V charge with no loads. This is compared to the 11.7 that it would hold but lose quickly previously.  Maybe the first camping outing will make a liar out of me since there will be a couple of boondocking nights where the furnace will be needed.  But for now, I'm happy.


Argosy:

No pictures of improvements to the Argosy (motorhome), but the list is: Cable TV outlet inside and outside connection were fished through the wall.  An identical flat TV mount was installed so that the TV can be easily shared between the Airstream and the Argosy.  The front bed has a new wood plate under it.  I'm not sure how the 3/16" synthetic plastic-wood board made it all those years, but it was looking pretty sad, so I replaced it.  The over-door light was fixed.  Who knew the inner door frame was so easy to get off (no kidding!).  The motorhome is also getting a new trailer electrical receptacle   There was an old 6 pin on it when we bought it, but the last time it was used was in the mid 90's and the receptacle clearly had better days.  For an upcoming rally, we plan to use the Argosy but we're obligated to bring the firewood and soem other supplies.  Usually we bring those in the truck or with our small SUV and trailer, but there's no more SUV and there's no way I'm driving the Argosy and the Excursion there!

Not really camping, but...

This isn't really a post about camping with my wife and kids, but it's nevertheless near and dear to our camping life.  The Airstreamer's Club (TAC) now has a blog (http://theairstreamersclub.blogspot.com).  This is intended to replace the newsletter currently written by yours truly.  For my followers, please follow the TAC blog for the latest in club news.

The TAC Disney Rally

Probably the best part of the stay at Disney...the other Airstreamers, or at least those people camping with us even if not in an Airstream.  I've not been to a TAC rally yet that I didn't like.  The amazing thing, I think, is that no matter what the time of year, there's other kids there and someone's usually even planned food or activities for the kids.  This rally was no different.  During the meet and greet (no pictures, darn it!) there was a pack of kids running all over the place.  Ages ranged from about 4 to 11, I think, yet they all managed to play together.  The parents were left to enjoy the company of the other adults with the occasional shout-out just to know where one's kids were and the occasional collision in the dark which resulted in a crying kid for a few seconds.

The greatest unplanned happy hour that I've ever been to occurred at this rally.  It was on our "fort day" (a day which you stay at the fort instead of going to a park).  I had been out bike riding and socializing while Andrea and the kids took a nap.  I ran in to one rally-goer that was jones'n for a happy hour.  So, I went back to the 300 loop where a large portion of the TAC ralliers were and started knocking on doors.  The last one I got to was way ahead of me.  He had a full spread cooking including special considerations for the kids.  A quick post to the Airforums rally thread and a couple of direct emails and all of a sudden there's a line of TAC ralliers streaming in to the 300 loop on bikes and others walking from their camper already in the loop.  It was rather fun cooking by lantern and flashlight.  This event generated the only pictures I took of the rally, but I think they are some of the best pictures I took the entire time at Disney.  This is what it's all about.  This is what made Disney fun for me.  It made the whole trip worth it.  The pictures need no captions.

Walt Disney World, Part 2

So this is where I make my critique of Disney.  The campground...awesome.  I wish we would have paid for one LESS day at the parks and done an additional day at the campground.  There's virtually endless bike riding; restaurants and stores on-site, a couple of heated pools, and Chip & Dale's campfire sign-a-long.  In the end, I don't think I'm going to be pushing to go back to Disney anytime soon.  Perhaps I'm spoiled living where I do in that Cedar Point is 1.5 hours away and there's 3 other amusement parks within a day's drive; but the 1.5 day drive to Disney combined with the price of park admission just wasn't offset by the fun factor.  The kids really liked the rides; the characters were kinda so-so.  Nevertheless, this post is mostly about the character breakfast that we went to (thanks, Grandma!) and the Chip & Dale campfire sing-a-long at the campground.

Daisy Duck in safari garb.  We were in Animal Kingdom for breakfast, thus the outfit.  Mason was not interested in a picture.

Parker was thrilled to see Goofy.  Mason, not so much.  Goofy was trying to get Mason to join the picture.

Parker is trying to identify the animal by using the charts overhead in the safari bus.

Rhinos! And Mason's head.

The sing-a-long dude.

Chip signing the boys' autograph books.

Chip and the boys at the campfire sing a long in  Fort Wilderness

Walt Disney World, Part 1

So finally on November 4th we arrived at the ultimate destination of the entire trip...Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL.  Disney has been somewhat of a Holy Grail for us.  We had planned to go there about 3 years ago but the plug was pulled due to some unexpected expenditures for an ailing pet.  So, some 1.5 years ago, the idea was presented to have a TAC (The Airstreamers Club) rally at Fort Wilderness which is Walt Disney World's campground.  So, of course, we signed on.  After 1.5 years of discussion and planning by a number of people, the date was finally upon us.  For all by Andrea, this was the first time to Disney World.  Even so, her last time at Disney was when she was 6 so even the check-in "cast member" at Fort Wilderness awarded her a "first time visitor" badge just like the rest of the family.  We checked into FW (Fort Wilderness) at about 12:30pm so we weren't going to a park that day.  Instead, we hit-up Downtown Disney and then went back to the campground in time for our meet and greet.  Unfortunately, I neglected to take any pictures at the meet and greet.  I think this was mostly because it was dark.  Something that I've never had to consider in a rally is daylight savings time.  Usually when this time of year rolls around the campers are long since winterized and stored in the barn.  So, when the meet and greet started, there was still some daylight.  By the time is was over, we were trying to find hors d'oeuvres and wine bottles in the dark.  So, still great for socializing...not so great for pictures.

At the T-shirt shop in Downtown Disney.  We didn't buy shirts, but the  pose-behind setup just couldn't be resisted.

The dragon and boulder in the background is all made out of Legos.

The dragon is Legos, too.

This was an "archaeological dig" site in Downtown Disney.

Parker had to have a Perry.  He chatters if you squeeze his foot.  Parker was having conversations with Perry on the bus ride back to the campground.

Of course, Mason had to have a Lightning McQueen car.

Taking the sea life quiz before going into "Talking with Crush"

One of the hands-down best things we did while at Disney was the "Special Agent P" adventure in Epcot.  There isn't a lot for kids at Epcot, but this was a diamond in the rough.  It was even fun for the adults.  You stop by a kiosk and a cast member gives the kid(s) a cell phone.  The phone is specially programmed to work the kids through a mission for Special Agent P (Perry's alter ego, for the non-Phineas and Ferb-watching readers).  You have to select one of the countries within Epcot and then go there.  The phone is setup to work specifically in that country.  You go to where it tells you or shows you and then you have to perform a task or give a response to the phone.  It was really neat in that Parker would enter the response and then something would happen right before us.  Honestly, it was awesome event as an adult.  I wish we would have started it sooner because there was something to do in every country of Epcot but we only did one.

Reading a message for Special Agent P

Obtaining a top secret message from an informant.

We found a clue!

This picture doesn't really do the experience justice.  Parker took a picture of the Norway sign and  then it opened (think window blinds) and played a song and movie.

Waiting for the Toy Story ride.  All rides at Disney have an entertaining wait.

In line to meet Buzz and Woody

This is in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" play area.

Here comes Handy Manny!

This was an unplanned food stop.  Our plans for the entire trip were to go back to the camper for all meals.  We found that we didn't execute that well so this day we went to the Wolfgang Puck Express restaurant in Downtown Disney.  Wow, what a treat and for not more $ than we'd spend for the family to go out at home.  So, Foodie stop #4...brick oven pizza and spaghetti.  It was GREAT!

The boy eats like his daddy.

Salty Water

For the kids, the ocean is known as "salty water."  They like to visit it for the waves and to collect sea shells (Parker in particular).  Being in the mood for some meandering type driving and sight-seeing, we planned a two-lane-road, scenic route from New Orleans to Disney World which included two overnight stops along the Gulf of Mexico that would allow the kids to get some salty water time.

Our first stop was Gulf Shores, AL.  It was the off-season, so there really wasn't anyone around except locals and snowbirds.  Perfect!  The water was still warm enough to swim in, at least for the kids and I.  We stayed at the Gulf Shores State Park which has a top-notch campground.  And with your stay there, you get free access to the park's beach access area.  The park was a bike riding haven.  Parker did awesome riding almost through every loop looking for other Airstreams.  There were two, one of which we had met back at the Bayou Segnette State Park in New Orleans.  As much as the park had to offer, this would be an example of a poor playground.  The "playground" was not much more than a bank of 6 swings.  But, if we would have been staying more than just overnight, we would have partaken of many of the other features of the campground that most other campgrounds, let alone state parks, have to offer.  But, the main attraction for us was the beach.

Searching for shells

Parker's collection from the day

Not a great haul, but there would be more to come.

The next beach stop was one that I specifically picked out due to it's location.  It was St Joseph Peninsula Park in the Florida panhandle.  The park is as it's name implies.  It's at the end of a peninsula in the gulf.  It was nice because all sites (in the one camping area) are within walking distance of the beach.  The sites were all sand and although close together, offered good privacy and seclusion due to the dense growth between each site.

Walking to the beach from the campsite

Boardwalk over the dunes

Beach!

This beach ended up being better than Gulf Shores due to seclusion and layout.  The seashell population was much better, too.

That's me waaay out there in the water.  I never found where the water got too deep to still walk.

The campsite.  The Airstream looks nice in palm trees.