Florida Wrap Up or It's All About the Butts.

We arrived in Florida in mid January and overstayed our welcome until the end of May. It was a nice visit. We enjoyed a couple of different areas and really got to know them very well. Lots of exploring was done and good times where abundant. Wait for it. But.............

"Lessons Learned", is what I should have titled this blog. We really learned a lot about wintering in Florida. We were under the impression that you had to get there early and book a spot in one camp ground the entire winter because they are full and have waiting lists. I am sure in some areas like Key West that is true, but .......(there's that word again) in central Florida it is not.

Our first month we stayed at Wekiva Falls. It was a huge campground near Sanford Florida. It never filled up. They had lots of empty spaces. It was also the nicest campground we stayed at except for Ft. Wilderness. The next 2 months we stayed near Tampa at Southern Aire RV Resort. It was maybe 50% full the entire time we were there. The rest of our time was spent between 2 campgrounds because we joined Thousand Trails. So we stayed at Thousand Trails and Lake Magic. Both were far from full but....... (word again) it was late in the season now. We stayed a week in Ft. Wilderness and they were very empty. I wish their rates would have reflected that but........ ().() no.

Lessons learned now. We joined Thousand Trails (a campground membership) because financially it was cheaper than staying a month and 1 or 2 weeks at a campground. The problem we had with this is that you have to move every 14 days. That is why we bounced around between Thousand Trails and Lake Magic. Also the amount of rules imposed on us. Like at Thousand Trails you could not wash your RV even though they ran sprinklers all day. Also you could not do any maintenance at all. We had tire issues and I was going to pull them off and get new ones. They said "no", but...... ().() they gave us a card of someone who will come to your sight and do it for you. I had to hook up and drive to the tire shop and back again. They had mobile RV techs going in and out of the campground all day long. I think they must get a piece of the action.

Lesson learned: We got to Wekiva Falls in January and the nights were a little cool. So we used our propane fire pit. We emptied our propane tank , so I took it in to exchange it. Emptied it again in 1 week. So I took it in again to exchange. Then I noticed the sign at Publix which said. Propane exchange. 15 lbs. in small print. They were putting 15lbs. instead of 20lbs. Then I noticed it at all of the propane exchanges I saw.

Lesson learned: We were enjoying the warm winter weather in sunny Florida, flocking with the rest of the Snowbirds. We were told of the great migration that starts April 1st. We really didn't believe it but..... we witnessed it first hand. April 1st arrived and all of a sudden the RV parks looked a lot emptier. Amazing to behold. I can understand because after April 1st it got extremely hot quickly.

Our son and his new fiancee came for a visit. They were going to visit for 12 days and wanted to take in the attractions that make Orlando famous. Disney and Universal along with some beach time thrown in. We moved the RV over to FT. Wilderness. Disney's campground. That is what the perfect campground looks like in our eyes. Immaculately clean. The bath house is nicer than most peoples houses. That is the only camp ground that I will pay over one hundred dollars a night for. But....... not for too many nights though.

It was a very hectic 12 days. We always feel that we need a vacation from Disney after we had just been to Disney. Long days of sun and fun and of course battling the crowds. To say the least, we really enjoy it there. They opened the new Avatar land while we were there. Animal Kingdom on opening day was a mad house. Just the line to get into that section snaked around to the front of the park and was actually growing to the exit of the park. The wait times for the rides where ranging from 180 minutes to 250 minutes. Needless to say we didn't even get in.

I think Heather really enjoyed herself. She had never been there before. It was fun to listen to her scream and gasp. There is too much to list of everything we did so I will just end with some pictures of the our fun times.

At-At at Hollywood Studios.

Mt. Everest at Animal Kingdom.

Roman and Heather on Main street USA.

Opening ceremony at the Magic Kingdom

The new light and fireworks show at Magic Kingdom.

Universal Studios.

Roman and Heather getting soaked.

Fire Breathing Dragon at Gringotts.

Roman and Heather and their new portrait.

Till the next adventure.