We listed and were under contract in 6 short days! And we sold the house today! One step closer to being on the road.
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Meet Chippy
This is Chippy. Its Elis’ go everywhere be there stuffed toy. We have decided to take her on as our mascot. So we will be posting pictures of her in our adventures.
We have a Midwest Geobash coming up. We’re pretty excited, it is a camping/activity we have had planned and paid for since March. This will be our 4th geobash, it’s a fun-filled weekend of geocaching. This will most likely be our only camping until we hit the road and launch our Full-time RV lifestyle once we sell our home. So we had to pick up our RV, Chester at the storage lot to get it ready. Lots of changes as we will need to completely empty it and repack it with a different mindset. As well as we plan to make some modifications. Some things that didn’t seem too pressing or important are very important now as we will be calling Chester home.
This is our current camping map. We have been to other places but have not RVd there as a family so they didn’t make the map. Jim growing up Air Force and me Army, and then our own service time we have visited or lived in many more states and countries than we show here, but we want this to be our family story. We are pretty excited to start filling this map in.
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1st yard sale done…
Well, we have made it through our first-yard sale. We discovered Sundays aren’t really good days for a sale. We did unload a lot of stuff. But we have so much left to go.
There is a lot left to do while we get ready for a while on the road exploring the United States and making lots of family memories. We do already know quite a lot about the full-time RV lifestyle. But there is so much to learn and decisions to make.
I hope to have more great news soon as we continue this journey we are on
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The Great Escape!
Wow! It has been a while since I have posted here. And oh how things have changed. We suddenly have a very free schedule when Jim was let go with a restructure at work. A lot of fears rushed in at first, but then relief. We literally have a world of possibilities now. Thank God we learned about Dave Ramsey and learned his lessons. We have no debt and own all of our things except a small mortgage left on our house. So we have decided to sell most all of our things and the house put a few the girls’ things in storage. Then we’re moving into our RV and embracing the full-time lifestyle while Jim takes advantage of the new way of finding jobs and maybe even working online. Our goal is to end up near my family in Georgia or even Florida, but we don’t know where God will take us in the meantime or how long it will be.
We are big Youtube fans and follow lots of full-time RVers. We have dreamed and schemed and talked about how nice it would be to be able to see things and not have a short timeline. Or knowing we couldn’t take our RV that far and make it back within vacation time. So we do know a little bit of what it’s gonna take, but still so much to learn.
I am going to start pouring more into this blog and our own Youtube channel as well as setting up a facebook group. I hope you will follow along and keep us in your prayers. I will post a link to our facebook group once it’s ready. You can check out the videos I have already uploaded to our channel by following this link. to my Mothers Day video And I guess I should add, no we don’t think we’re gonna be rolling in money from Youtube, a blog, and Facebook. We do think this is an awesome way to share our adventure with friends and family and maybe make new friends.
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2016 Christmas Tree Do
We got our tree put up and decorated last weekend. I managed to pull together some pictures and video and make a video to put on our youtube channel. It is really more of a home video collection than anything, modern day home movies. Eli really wants a youtube channel and it’s a good way for us to keep our memories and be able to see them later and share them with friends and family across the miles. It is a bit harder than I thought it would be. I either forget to take videos. Or I think I have done a great job to later find extremely short video clips instead of videos. I am sure over time the videos will improve and be more video than compilations with mostly pictures. But we are making and documenting memories and that is what is important.
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Thursday September 22nd Fort Wilderness WDW trip Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom
Still playing catch up with my travel journal…
Thursday we started off in Animal Kingdom. We did walk around and saw quite a bit more this time than we have before.
We got our Wilderness Explorer books and worked toward the end badge, although we knew we wouldn’t get it all accomplished this time around. We all learned some new things.
We ventured out to Rafiki’s Planet watch for the first time. The train was a bit interesting the way you faced out to one side instead of having both sides visible. We got to see some characters we have not encountered. We also had a cold and sweet treat after we visited the petting zoo. We also learned some new things in the area.
We debated for months if we would ride Expedition Everest, we aren’t incredibly adventurous. We don’t do upside down, I don’t really care for hanging rides, and some that don’t go upside down are just too intimidating for our sense of adventure. Eli was adamant she would not be riding it, which is fine. Ali finally decided she would like to give it a try. So with short wait times we asked about the rider switch policy. So Jim and Ali went first while Eli and I did her Wilderness Explorer activity, got a cold drink and looked around the gift shop. Very quickly Ali and Jim were back and Jim and I went. It was a great ride! We loved it. And Eli was thrilled she didn’t have to try!
After Everest, we made our way through the dino area making our way back to the parking lot. Had to get back to the pups and have lunch. It was wonderful to have them with us. But I don’t think I would take them to Disney again. It is probably perfect for those who get up early morning all the time anyway and their dogs are used to being home alone all day locked up. But we are not morning people, and our pups are used to having us there most all the time and having the freedom of a doggie door with a spacious back yard whether we are home or not.
The Electric Light Parade is being moved. So Thursday night was our last opportunity to see it on this trip and before its move. So after lunch, we headed back to Magic Kingdom. We didn’t realize there was to be the show projected onto the castle before the parade. We did know we would need to get seats early, so we made our way over to try and get a good spot. Because of the show we were a bit late for a “good spot”, we were heading for. We got caught in the crowd and couldn’t get any further, but that was just fine. We ended up on the curb just in front of the castle and front row for the show and parade. I tried to get a video of the show unfortunately, a good bit of the focal points are blocked by a lamp between me and the castle. I did get most of it recorded and it is in the video below. Ali got most of the Electric Light Parade, but I haven’t got a copy of it yet.
Another first for Ali! Short ride times and we hopped on Space Mountain, again with rider switch only this time Ali wanted to go again. She really loved it.
Check out our Youtube video here or on our youtube channel. Don’t forget to give us a thumbs up if you like the video and subscribe so you are the first to know when a new video is loaded.
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Wednesday September 21st 2016 WDW Fort Wilderness campground and Ohana Breakfast
We got up Wednesday morning and drove over to the Polynesian. We had Ohana Breakfast reservations. It seemed much faster paced than I recall from our last time. But it was fun and the food was delicious and plentiful. Stitch was happy to see his picture in the girls autograph books with them on Castaway Cay and did a little dance. We really enjoy doing character meals, getting to have them come to you while you have a meal is great. Especially when done during regular park days. Eli didn’t want to participate in the parade this time, she chose to watch the others go by.
We used the comfort stations washing machines and dryers to do up our laundry. That made it pretty nice when we got home not having so much to deal with.
We also got to enjoy some time at the pool in the afternoon. The girls really enjoyed going down the slide and playing with the camera in the water. We got some pretty good video and pictures.
We had time to ride our bikes around a bit. It was really fun. The map looks massive and I was a bit concerned but the distance wasn’t a problem at all. Turned out to be about a mile from our site to the Settlement. I never managed to get a video of Elis set up. It was pretty cool a towable bike for littles. I wish we had found it years ago.
We had dinner that night at the Trails End buffet. It was really good. Although the restaurant didn’t look near as big as I thought it would be. They also do the Hoop De Doo Review next door. So when we went for dinner we got our picture taken by the trees with our photo pass. I think those may be some of my favorites.
2016 Fort Wilderness WDW trip Part 4
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September 20th WDW Fort Wilderness and Magic Kingdom
We took the boat to the Magic Kingdom from Fort Wilderness Campground. This is a great way to get there. We really enjoyed riding back and forth during our stay. It was always nice and relaxing.
We rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train it was awesome! We really would have loved to get a chance to ride again, but just never managed it during the trip. We love the video you get with your Disney Photo Pass. We finally were able to ride the train around the Kingdom! We have tried so many times but never managed it with the girls. We also rode the teacups, neither Jim or I can ever remember riding them before. And this was Elis first time checking out the Tiki Room.
We had dinner reservations at Be Our Guest. When I got the reservations had no idea the Halloween parties were started so early in September! Our reservation was only 5 minutes before the party started. We don’t do Halloween so this didn’t make us very happy; we had hoped to enjoy the Magic Kingdom after dinner. By the time we got done with dinner we were pretty much done anyway and ready to head back to the RV and our pups. We were escorted out of the park! Kind of funny in a way, but very helpful to us. I would never have taken the path he took us and we were out of there pretty quickly. No someone trying to scam and stay into the party may not have been so happy with this. We were thrilled! He told us the parade was about to start, but he managed to get us to the gate without so much as a glimpse of it.
We did enjoy the dinner at Be Our Guest and were seated in the main ballroom. We had thought of sharing dishes and even asked if that was permitted. It was, but we ended up just each getting our own meal. Which was good, I don’t feel the portions were as big as other places we have eaten. Everything we ate was delicious though and yes we tried “the grey stuff”! It was nice to visit with Beast after, although Eli didn’t think so. She stood off to the side with our bags. Unfortunately Beast doesn’t sign autographs. They do allow you to walk around after your meal and explore the castle/ restaurant. So you can see all the rooms, not just the one you dine in.
Check out our video of the day below or on youtube. Or watch our It’s a Small World video by clicking the link.
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2016 Elkhart Indiana TwinMills Thousand Trails RVMH Museum
From July 2016
This was a first for us. We left one destination, the 2016 Midwest Geobash in Wauseon Ohio and went to another destination. We headed off to Twin Mills Camping Resort an Encore campground we were able to use with our Thousand Trails Zone Pass. The campground was in Howe Indiana. The campground was really nice. We were able to get a full hook up for the RV which has been rare for us during this Zone Pass experiment. If this was a bit closer to home we might renew that pass.
Our goal was to visit the RVMH Hall of Fame in Elkhart Indiana. I don’t know how long I have wanted to go there. But it was worth the trip. We really enjoyed it. It’s funny how so much in the RV industry has changed and yet how much has stayed the same. We definitely recommend it to any RV lover or history buff.
Of course, we did manage to find a geocache at the RVMH Hall of Fame and a few very close by. That of course always makes us “smilie”.
We had lunch at Das Dutchman Essenhaus in Middlebury Indiana. We got the special treat of cool seats and enjoyed a really nice buffet.
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September 19th 2016 WDW Fort Wilderness and EPCOT
It rained quite a bit in the night. The rear of the site pretty much became a swamp. But it was very cool with the sounds of the critters and the birds looking for breakfast. The sounds of the bull frogs in the very early morning hours was nice. I got a nice little video of the birds having breakfast the next morning while I let the dogs out.
We decided before this trip to try and do lots of things we have not tried before. We rode rides Jim and I couldn’t remember riding in our lives. And we had a really good time. Thankful for the Salute Passes available to military families we were able to have 4-day park hopper passes. Four days always makes me feel rushed, but without it who knows how infrequently we would be able to go. And we get to experience all the parks.
My big safety tip for those with children. Every morning after everyone is dressed each girl gets her own picture taken with whatever bag, hat, sunglasses for the day. If they have sunglasses or hats I get a picture with and without. This way I have a good record, helps me organize pictures from the trip and last and hopefully never to be used pictures to help find them should they get lost.
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| We found Mary Poppins this time. It was so much fun for the girls to interact with her. I love our video of the experience! |
This time, we got to ride the new Frozen Ever After the ride and made it further around the World Showcase than we ever have. We tried some crazy CocaCola flavors. Ali decided she likes the infamous Beverly. And Jim and I really liked VegitaBeta – This Japanese beverage combines apricot and passion fruit flavors. The one Eli liked was Sparberry – This raspberry cream-flavored soda has been a favorite in Africa since 1955.
The sky really opened up about an hour or so before our fast pass on the Frozen Ever After ride. So we ducked into the Mexican area of Epcot world showcase to get out of the rain. We rode the Three Caballeros ride for the first time ever. This was a very nice ride and a great little market area in the building. On our way out Ali caught sight of Donald and we made a quick u-turn and got in line 2nd to meet with him. It was fun. He kissed the picture of Daisy in the book next to his page on the photo/autograph books we made for the girls.
After we rode Frozen Ever After we hung out for a while in the gift shop. But the rain wasn’t quitting so we started to head back. We found visiting with Anna and Elsa with a 5-minute wait! So we ducked in took our ponchos off again and had a fun little visit.
Still raining after that we put the ponchos back on and moved as best as we could from one shelter to another trying to make our way out of the park. We did stop by to see Joy and Sadness but decided the line was more than we wanted to wait. We found a snack cart for the mandatory Mickey bars and back to the rv.