RocklandRVers Christmas: Read About 12/20 w/Chezp&Statelady01 About This Page:

[Nala]

I love to read a trip report from a fellow FW fan! Great update. And I too want to work for Walt Disney World and live in Celebration. But I have to hit the lotto first.

Can't wait for more.

[RocklandRVers]

Days 11 & 12 (Tuesday, December 28 & Wednesday, December 29)

These were probably the warmest days of our entire trip and since they were our last 2 full days we wanted to spend them enjoying the warm sunshine before heading back to the frigid winter back home in NY. Both days were essentially the same routine with us making full use of our Family Watercraft Rental Plan. DW and DS took out a little wave racer while I took out a pontoon boat. After about an hour and a half each day they would turn in their tiny boat and join me on the pontoon boat and spend another hour and a half cruising around nearly every inch of Bay Lake and SSL.

Day 12 started off bit different. I had nearly forgotten all about my Disney Visa rewards dollars I had on my card and decided to start the day off with breakfast at Trails End using some of them. This morning DS tries something new: Corned Beef Hash. He ate the spoonful he took although he wasn’t totally crazy over it. I enjoyed the ham and cheese breakfast lasagna. Oh and can’t forget the Mickey Waffles. I like mine with the strawberry sauce rather than maple syrup.

As usual we were on our boats. Day 12 being the nicer of the two days, I put the top down on my boat to catch the bright sun. At one point I found a nice sunny spot out of the main channel over near River Country and stopped and just sat their. DS and DW roared up in their boat and stopped to talk. They were ready to join me and “sunbathe”. I guess my being still alerted a patrol who sped over from across the lake by the Contemporary. WOW was that boat fast! The CM asked if everything was OK. I said that we were just chatting and enjoying the gorgeous day. She said she had seen me stopping once in a while and was thinking I was just having fun, but that she just wanted to make sure and that she wouldn’t bother us. She reminded us to wave her down if we needed anything. As DW and DS headed off I chatted a bit longer with her. Hey when a pretty girl stops to chat with me, I am in no hurry.

She was from California (I joked later with DW that she was a typical “California surfer girl” type) and had been with Disney in their college program and had stayed on. I told her she had the best job in Disney; getting to hang out in the sun all day on the lake and being the only ones allowed to zip around so fast in the speedy Boston Whaler. She laughed and said some days she feels like she has the best job, but sometimes when the lakes are full of boats zipping around, it gets kind of hectic. I could see that. Some of the people driving those boats shouldn’t be out there. I don’t know how many seemed like the rules were not made for them. One guy in a wave racer drove through a roped off area on the north side of Discovery Island that was filled with jagged rocks just under the surface. Someone up there liked him because I was sure he was going to either tangle the motor in the ropes or crash into the rocks. He was so lucky.

Anyway our conversation had to come to an end as she noticed a shuttle boat coming through the canal between SSL and BL. She headed over to warn off some of the wave racers as the boat approached. I drove off for the FtW dock and waited offshore for DW and DS to pull in and join me.

Once onboard with me, DS wondered if I was in trouble or something. DW chimed in with, “you know your Dad. He likes talking with pretty girls.” We all laughed as we backed away from the dock. It was nice in the sun. DS laid up in front and said he wanted a tan. I told him that we might get some color, but that the winter sun is not nearly as strong as it is in summer so don’t expect too much.

All good things must come to an end and we were getting thirsty and hungry so we headed ashore and back to camp. Shamrock deserved to enjoy some sun too, so we let him outside for much of the afternoon.

Since it was so nice both days, we cooked out on the charcoal grill. We went to a grocery store and got some stuff for two nights. Day 11 we had steak. DS has turned into quite the grill master. I told him they were almost as good as the Yachtsman at about 1/10 the price.

Before we could have dinner on Day 12, we had some work to do after enjoying the day on the lakes. We had to return the minivan to Alamo and get things packed up for our early departure tomorrow morning. Everything went smoothly with the return and we loaded up the car in the trailer. We had really put the Gem to good use this trip! Then we loaded up the suitcases and DS’s bike and everything battened down for the 1200 mile trip home.

After dinner, we enjoyed the nice evening sitting around the picnic table talking about how much fun we had and how fast these 12 days had zipped by. DS once again brought up how much his cousin Mark would enjoy Disney and how they could go on rides together such as Space Mountain and Rock n Roll Rollercoaster. I reminded him that 2005 might be a tight year financially as we would be moving ahead with building our new home. I had already thought about the possibility of having him join us for a short trip down during their brief April break, but budget was the issue.

After making one last walk around to make sure we had everything, we went inside and got ready for bed. We wanted to head out early as we anticipated the roads would be busy as we got closer to home and wanted to beat the New Year’s Eve traffic.

[debsta922]

Great report...By your countdown it looks like you'll be taking your nephew after all...just don't forget your camera this time!

[Jillybean]

A great end to a great trip!

You have such a wonderful family!

Jill

[luvnwdwgal]

What a wonderful Christmas vacation you all had!! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

[BritDisFan]

What a wonderful trip you had, thanks for sharing it with us.

Karen

[Tara O'Hara]

Wow! I am very sorry that this report is coming to an end!! I thoroughly enjoyed it!! Thank you for sharing!!

[chezp]

What a great couple of final days you guys had - it sounds like you had a lot of fun and got your money's worth with the Family Watercraft Rental Plan.

[mom2my4dwarfs]

What a wonderful trip! Thanks for sharing.

[RocklandRVers]

Day 13 & 14 (Thursday, December 30 & Friday December 31) HEADING FOR HOME

We are up at 5:00 am. DW walks the dog while DS and I get set to pull out. We had everything all set so all that needed to be done was to turn DS’s bunk back into passenger seats and unhook the electricity. We pull out of our loop and stop at the 1800 loop comfort station for showers. We would wait and have breakfast on the road.

Once out on I-4 we joined the commuters as traffic was building. We must have missed the peak rush hour by getting an early start since we zipped right along. Once back on I-95 we had a decent ride with no delays and made great time. As usual DS and DW slpet a good part of the trip as did Shamrock. It is kind of lonely driving all that way, but I am used to it. I just put on the radio and motor onward. Actually most of the time one of them would join me in the “cockpit” and keep me company so it really wasn’t that awful.

After their naps we talked about stopping for the night at a Comfort Inn in Rocky Mount, NC where DS and I had stayed on our way home in July. It was a nice place that accepted pets and had a place to park our RV & Trailer combo. I wanted to make sure we had a room so I called their national 800 number and made a reservation.

We arrived at about 6:00 and got a room 2 doors from where DS and I stayed last summer. While I collapsed on the bed, DS and DW walked over to Wendy’s. I don’t know how truck drivers do it. After 12+ hours on the road I still felt like I was driving. It was a little hard to unwind.

We ate dinner and watched TV. DS was glad to have cable again. What would we do without HBO? At least this helped me relax and by 9:00 I was dozing off. I heard DW tell DS to shut off the TV and go to bed a couple of times. Finally he gave in.

Day 14: New Year’s Eve

DS had set the alarm on his phone for 4:30 am. That was just a bit early so we dozed for about another half hour and then took turns in the shower. We grabbed a couple of cups of coffee from the complimentary continental breakfast and headed off.

Back on I-95 it was foggy, but we had the road nearly to ourselves. As we got more into the mountains, the fog got heavier and our visibility was getting lower. Cars in front of us were barely visible and I cut back to about 50 mph. Truckers, however, zipped past us. I guess as long as you can see the centerline and the shoulders of the road you just barrel onward. Not me though. What if someone stopped? How could they stop in time?

The fog lasted for several miles and even as we crossed over into Virginia, but did at least lighten up a bit. It was then that we began to notice some snow on the grass off the sides of the road. YUCK! White Stuff!

Even though it was still early, I decided to take I-295 to bypass Richmond. Shortly after we got on the fog was quite a bit lighter and we could return to normal speed without worrying.

The white knuckle ride this morning was tiresome. I pulled off into a Cracker Barrel just to rest my eyes while DW walked Shamrock who was indicating he needed some relief. After his needs were met, DW was nice enough to go inside to get me a large cup of coffee. Ahhh! I needed that! After a couple of sips, I felt refreshed and got back on the road. As we neared Fredericksburg, we had a decision to make. Do we continue on into DC/Baltimore/Delaware on I-95 and take the chance of hitting the tail end of morning rush hour traffic and possible construction delays or take an alternate route I had read about using US 301 to bypass the big cities. I pulled off the exit that was the beginning of the alternate in Virginia and fueled up at our favorite Flying J. After gassing up, I took out my trusty road atlas and sat for a moment scanning the radio channels hoping to zero in on a DC station that would give me a traffic report. I guess we were still too far out so I decided to try the alternate since it was a turning out to be nice day and we might just avoid sitting in a parking lot later.

According to what I had read, the distance following US 301 and I-95 is virtually the same. The only difference was 301 had lower speed limits and went through some small towns. Compared to some of the traffic tie-ups we had experienced through that corridor on I-95 in previous trips, a slower but steady ride was certainly welcomed.

As we got on that early morning it was kind of creepy in that we were alone on this unknown road. It was a nice four-lane highway that meandered through the Virginia countryside. It was also much more scenic than I-95. We did go through some little towns in Virginia and Maryland that had crossings at grade rather than exits found on the interstate, but it only slowed us up for a few miles. We went through Annapolis, MD which is the home of the US Naval Academy. It was a nice old city.

Just outside of Annapolis we cross over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. This is a long (about 5 miles) narrow bridge with separate spans of 2 lanes in each direction. It was quite a nice view on this sunny morning.

Here is a photo of the bridge I found online:


In no time we were headed through the rest of the Maryland’s Eastern Shore recreational and ocean regions and on into Delaware where we got off US 301 and headed north on US 1 which eventually got us back onto I-95 just before the Delaware Memorial Bridge. We got over the bridge without any delay and on to the New Jersey Turnpike.

Once on the NJ turnpike we know we are almost home. We stopped for gas at one of the service centers and since we had skipped breakfast, grabbed some lunch and headed back on the road. Although traffic was fairly heavy, it was moving steadily. We get off the northern end of the NJ Turnpike and onto US 17 for the final 30 miles on to home at about 2:30 pm. Right on schedule!

As we get into Paramus, NJ we see nothing but brake lights across 3 lanes and even the shoulder. We stop dead. We inch along. OH NO! We wonder is this volume from people getting off work early for New Year’s Eve? We had hoped to avoid just this scenario by getting here early. We see police cars trying to get by on the shoulder which has now become a fourth lane. Next were tow trucks. Uh oh an accident. After inching along for an hour and a half (GRRRR!) we get to the start of the mess and the tow truck was just driving away with one car on its flat bed and another in tow. Now traffic opened up and it was like the Daytona 500 behind me. I just kept the speed limit and moved over to the right lane and let them pass me.

Finally we pull into our driveway about 4:30. We had been listening to the weather forecast during our traffic tie up. Amazingly the weekend was to be rather warm in the upper 50s to near 60! NICE! I just pull in and tell DW and DS we can unload stuff over the weekend. Lets just call it a night.

We did visit DMIL for about an hour. She realized how tired we were and told us goodnight.

Once we got home we realized we had nothing for dinner. Luckily our local pizza joint was taking orders. After dinner I was really tired. New Year’s Eve or not, I was going to bed. DW was too. DS vowed to sit up until the ball dropped.

The next morning we found out DS didn’t make it to see New Year’s and had fallen asleep. It was a tiring trip. Good to be home, but also sad that 2 weeks had gone by so fast.

We spent New Years Day unloading the RV and re-winterizing the tanks. After we got that all done, DS and I covered it for the winter. HO HUM! Now vacation season 2004 is officially over.

DW was visiting her Mom so DS and I take a drive to pick up some items at a convenience store since most everything else is closed for the holiday. We note that the laundry drop off was open. Hey that will save us from slaving over loads of laundry all weekend. I stop in to make sure and confirm it was. To my surprise, the attendant tells us that if we drop off the stuff now, it will be done tomorrow after 2:00. HOW COOL IS THAT!

I tell DS, lets surprise Mom by using the drop off service. We head home and grab the laundry bags from the trip and raid all the hampers in the house and load it into the SUV. After weighing it in, we get our receipt and go pick up DW. Surprise honey! No laundry to do this weekend! All we need to do is go grocery shopping tomorrow and the rest of the time we relax. I got a big hug for that one. Nice way to end vacation!

[Tara O'Hara]

What an awesome report!! Than kyou so much for sharing it here!!

[kronos77]

I enjoyed your trip report so much, sometimes I miss Jersey where I was born and raised but I do like being close to WDW. Look forward to your next trip report.

[MegglesMom]

Terrific report! Thanks for sharing it with us...

[Jillybean]

Great, great trip report! I even enjoyed reading about your drive home - - the route through the countryside sounded just beautiful!

Loved the fact that you took your laundry out to be done! That was terrific!

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us!

Jill

[Caldercup]

Wow - what a great trip report. I love how slow and easy the last couple of days were. Must have been so relaxing.

Looking forward to your trip with your nephew!
Eileen