Bama Ed's Retirement Camping Thread For Spring 2021

[bama_ed]

And four to go.

 

[bama_ed]

Your intrepid reporter was GO this morning. I tried a new route that left me only 20 miles of interstate driving. Part of it was a route I'd taken many times (T-town to Dothan) but instead of going down to I10 and running through Tallahassee, I went from Dothan to Valdosta on Hwy 84 through some small towns and such so that I could get to my overnight stop.

My overnight stop is one used by our own @tigger92662 which was the Jennings KOA barely across the Florida state line on I75. It is only 3 miles south of the Florida Welcome Center.

The folks were nice at the KOA and had pre-assigned me a site far from the pool/comfort station but granted my request and got a very close end site. It's fine for an overnight stay.

I followed the @team bradfield advice to towing in retirement and only went 365 miles today. A stop here, a lunch drive through there, another stop, and got in at 3pm Eastern.

As happens sometimes, when I pulled in with my Aliner leaving it hitched and just dropped the rear jacks and plugged in then popped the roof, somebody was there within 5 minutes wanting to ask about it.

There was time to break out the puzzle and start the sorting straight side pieces from non-.

Progress with help from DW.

I like this puzzle with its vivid colors and clean graphic design. Hopefully it will go smoothly. Besides the puzzle picture on the lid, there is a separate larger poster to refer to which is helpful.

Turned clocks forward an hour today going from Central to Eastern time. Tomorrow will move them up again to Daylight Savings. That's a two hour move from this morning at home so no rush to leave out tomorrow.

Temps here were high 91F and low tonight of 55F. It was feeling really nice after the sun went down. But the yellow pollen is out already on the picnic table benches.

Ed

PS - yep, ask the guy wearing the black shorts about the yellow pollen on the benches.

 

[Sjm9911]

The new ride compliments the a liner ed! Looking good.

 

[tiggerdad]

Ah, Zingers!

This party getting off to a grand start indeed!
Safe travels Ed. Interesting route. How was the tow? This vehicle compared to the prior TV?

 

[tigger92662]

My overnight stop is one used by our own @tigger92662 which was the Jennings KOA barely across the Florida state line on I75. It is only 3 miles south of the Florida Welcome Center.

Glad that worked for ya, and yes the staff is very nice there.
It is indeed a great overnight stop and one of the few places that can fit all 68' of my rig and trailer LOL

 

[bama_ed]

Ah, Zingers!

This party getting off to a grand start indeed!
Safe travels Ed. Interesting route. How was the tow? This vehicle compared to the prior TV?

Interesting kinda - a few old towns in Georgia with beautiful old houses. Not going that route again though. I got cold feet about going via Atlanta to get to the KOA on I75 in Jennings because even if I left at 6am Central, it would be 1030am Eastern before I hit the Six Flags exit which is where traffic has started backing up for the I285 turnoff from I20. And the last drive down somewhere between Atlanta Airport and Macon the SB traffic was VERY heavy (slowing for no seen reason, complete stop for 15 seconds, the like - very stressful for towing). It finally opened up below Macon then.

The vehicle is great - strong, handles well. One interesting thing, though. Both yesterday and today, I reset the MPG calculators on the dashboard at the start of each day. Yesterday via Hwy 84 (practically no interstate miles) I got 15.6 mpg in the morning which is 1 mile better than the Suburban. But in the afternoon in south Georgia and into Florida, I turned on the AC and the mpg (still with the base numbers from the morning included) started to drop down to 15.1.

I only got 14.5 mpg in the Suburban but that was generally consistent with or without AC. Today all interstate miles and in the morning to St. Augustine 16.5mpg (no AC). After St. Augustine, with AC finished at 16.1 mpg. So I"m a little surprised that the YukonXL takes a bigger hit from the AC load than the Suburban did. Anybody got any ideas? (not WHY it drops but why the drop would be more in the newer vehicle). The only thing I can thing of is the old Suburban ran all its cylinders/valves all the time (V8) and the newer YukonXL drops those it doesn't need at any given time. Resulting in better mpg. But when the AC is turned on, it needs more valves/cylinders. Might run AC all the way going home to see what that number turns out to be.

But on to pix and minimal commentary.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

This morning we left the Jennings KOA and rolled smoothly down to St. Augustine and bought gas at the new Bucc-ees on the north side of StA which has only been open about 3 weeks (another one is being built north of Daytona and opens in about one week from now). The StA one is at exit 323 west of I95 which is where the World Golf Hall of Fame is.

This trip hopes to include visits to 4 Florida lighthouses on the east coast.

The climb is 219 stairs which the brochure says is equivalent to 14 stories.

Downtown StA in the distance.

Nice view from outside at the top. I used my Eiffel Tower posture - plant my back against the wall and slide all the way around maintaining a firm back press against the wall and DON'T LOOK DOWN! Here is a panorama toward the ocean.

First fridge magnet of the trip which will join the Key West Lighthouse magnet on our fridge at home (as will any others from this week).

Nice place to visit $15 pp. In a tight old area of StA Beach, though. Lots of cars there on a Sunday morning and the local boat ramp parking lot across the street was already filled and overflowing. But I found a shoulder to park on a short walk away.

We arrive at our destination in the next post.

Bama Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Short easy roll about 2 hours down to Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral next to the cruise ship port and across the channel from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base and the Kennedy Space Center. We stayed here two years ago at this time of year so we are familiar and like it here. The ocean is a short walk away. I got this site reserved two months ago because I have a short trailer - sites for longer trailers book a year in advance.

I can put the Yukon on the grass behind the big tree.

Was in the sun a few hours this afternoon but later it was in the shade. And all morning it will be in the shade.

Yeah the ocean is just right ..... over ..... there .....

Those two big cruise ships out there are the Disney boats just waiting ..... and waiting .....

Warm day. Nice wide beach while the tide was low.

Temps should be highs 75-80F for highs here and in lower 60s for nightly lows for the next 5 days or so. No chance of rain in that time span.

Bama Ed

 

[4077]

Great start to your trip! Enjoy and safe travels. I hope to be in FL on April 3 at Kissimmee KOA and Disney Springs!

oh...Aliner and Yukon look great together at the site!!

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Looks good. Weather envy all over the place as I sit in the rig near STL with rain smattering the roof and it's in the 40s.

 

[Syndrome]

Love the A-liner ! Looks good behind the white Yuburban !
We looked at A-liners a couple years ago , when we were in the market for a smaller RV for "quick , easy towing" road trips . The same dealer that sold A-Liners also sold NuCamp's , and we decided on a NuCamp T@B 320s. We like to pitstop overnights for a quick sleep on-route , and felt the A-liner would be harder to use in that respect . They are VERY roomy though once set-up .
I will have to agree with you on attracting attention with a small unique camper/RV . Every time we use the NuCamp "Teardrop" , it usually entails various tours, and answering lots of questions throughout our stay ! Its kind of weird ....... we can be staying smack dab in the middle of million dollar coaches at a campground , and everyone seems to gravitate to our "cute, little" teardrop , lol .
Sometimes if we actually want to relax for a trip and not attract attention , we will use our larger Keystone Outback "normal" camper . Since its just "normal" , it just blends in with the rest of the campers , lol .

Here is a picture of our little "quick and easy" camper for road trips . Sometimes we use the Burb to tow it, and other times we use our AV (as pictured) . The AV can NOT handle our Keystone Outback , lol .

 

[JETS70]

Great pics We stayed in one of the little cabins at Jetty Park a couple of years ago before we did a Disney Cruise. Several good places to eat around the Jetty Park area. Continued safe travels.

Steve

 

[Bishoparc]

hose two big cruise ships out there are the Disney boats just waiting

Think they'd mind if I just swam out and got onboard?

 

[bama_ed]

Funny, Syndrome my story is the same but opposite. Our dealer in Atlanta sold both Aliners and T@bs. The T@bs felt too cramped inside and my Aliner Expedition is the biggest Aliner with a 14' box and 8.5' interior height at the peak. The only T@bs I did like were the clamshell models with the kitchen area in the back under a rear hatch. Overnight pit stops take less than 5 minutes to pop the roof and plug in. (We stay hitched up when we can). I also toured the T@b plant in Ohio where they are manufactured along with the Little Guy and Cirrus pickup trailer. Somewhere I have a post here and will find it and link it.

EDIT: My T@b factory tour from 2015 - https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...orvette-factories-updated-5-16-11-16.3455780/

Think they'd mind if I just swam out and got onboard?

No, Arc, just isolate yourself in the buffet kitchen, only come out at night, and nobody should mess with you....

It was a lazy start to the day today. As I said previously, two hourly clock moves in two days caught up with us and we slept in today. Did a little grocery shopping (hopefully for the last time here other than the seafood market) and then relaxed at the campsite until after lunch. I sure do like my site - especially this big tree that gives it shade:

I don't know what kind of tree it is. There are some red flowers still up on the branches and under it on the ground. Here is one of them:

Does anyone know the name/type of this kind of tree? I would stay in this site again.

Worked on the puzzle. It's a good one in that it has several little sub-pics that you can focus on and weed out some of the pieces to get to the fill parts.

Finally in mid-afternoon we piled into the YukonXL and rode over to Disney Springs where our ultimate destination was Raglan Road for a 545pm ADR.

Dinner in the next post.

Ed

PS - I've also toured the AirStream factory which is also in Ohio

 

[bama_ed]

It was a smooth hour and five minute ride into the Lime Deck at DS. Interesting that along the Bee Line Highy (528) coming in the Virgin Express high speed rail line is being graded along the south side of it for 20 miles (that I saw) from I95 to Hwy 417 where I got off (about 8 miles before MCO). But it's real progress.

Got a ground parking spot in Lime just after rolling in so fist pump there - no endless circling or climbing ramps to the next level. It's just like it was in October.

We roamed - quick in and out of WorldOfDisney (outside queue to enter but moved quickly) all the way around to Rainforest Cafe and then across the bridge by the old Empress Lilly and took our seat to wait at Raglan Road after checking in and requesting a table in the center room.

It had been over 90F in Orlando today and it was still warm so I needed just a wee bit of something to wet my lips:

Well it was more than a dram - it was a full pint and a half. And don't call 9-1-1 either: the barman out front of RR did top off my drink and I left the stand with a full cup and no foam (the red ale Crooked Can).

We got the fabulous Bert-Man table smack in the center of the room. (at least I think it was @hgarnes who posted a picture not long ago like this one). It was close enough to touch the dance podium:

Funny aside - I sent my mom this picture and she admonished me not to look up the girl's skirts while they were dancing. I replied back that I would NEVER do such a thing. < besides with the black stockings and black ruffles under the skirt you can't see a darn thing except pitch black anyway >

For an appetizer we got the "Kiss Before Shrimp" which were absolutely delicious:

It was so good we were already several bites in before I remembered to take a picture of what was left.

I got the "Let There Be No Rush Pork" which was pulled pork in a patty shape (easy to pull apart) with a sweet dark glaze outside of cider and caramelized apples over mashed potatoes mixed with some creamed cabbage.

DW got a favorite of hers, "Shepard's Pie" with beef and lamb in a red win jus with mashed spuds browned on top.

No room for dessert.

A 3-man band performed a good set during our meal preceded by one guy and two girl Irish dancers (I saw the shoes up close they all wear and they are VERY sturdy, to be sure).

Ed

PS - supposedly another SpaceX launch this coming Saturday night right after midnight .....

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

Good looking grub and fingers crossed for the launch.

 

[Syndrome]

Funny, Syndrome my story is the same but opposite. Our dealer in Atlanta sold both Aliners and T@bs. The T@bs felt too cramped inside and my Aliner Expedition is the biggest Aliner with a 14' box and 8.5' interior height at the peak. The only T@bs I did like were the clamshell models with the kitchen area in the back under a rear hatch. Overnight pit stops take less than 5 minutes to pop the roof and plug in. (We stay hitched up when we can). I also toured the T@b plant in Ohio where they are manufactured along with the Little Guy and Cirrus pickup trailer. Somewhere I have a post here and will find it and link it.

EDIT: My T@b factory tour from 2015 - https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...orvette-factories-updated-5-16-11-16.3455780/

Ed

PS - I've also toured the AirStream factory which is also in Ohio

Yea, aint going to lie Ed, it can be a little "tight" inside . Its great for sleeping and having a potty "on the road" while traveling (came in handy during the 2020 covid summer traveling ) , but its like a game of Twister in there with two adults . Super comfortable for sleeping though.
Now to add to that, we got a new Golden Retriever "Pup" in 2020 , and he is pushing about 70-75 lbs now . Its getting a lot more cramped now, lol . We love it, but sad to say , it might be going up for sale soon . Just getting too small for us. We much prefer our larger "more comfortable" camper lately .

I would have prob gone with the A-Liner , but the wife refused . She grew up camping in pop-ups and she did not want to revisit any form of that ........so the T@B was it !
Still remember the episode with "Slim PotatoHead" (if you follow him) when overnighted on the side of the road with the A-Liner still fully collapsed . To Funny .

 

[bama_ed]

If you ever DISMeet with us, Syndrome, you'll have to bring DW over to see our Aliner Expedition. (We have a potty too).

I'll never forget when I brought @tiggerdad and his DW, DD1 and DD2 to see the Aliner for the first time years ago and sit inside it. His DW said, "I like this". Or words to that effect. My brother's chin hit the floor right there. That was when they had a bumper pull. With three ladies in his travelling party, though, an Aliner would not have cut it as his girls grew up. But his reaction was priceless nonetheless.

Oh and the "Pup" ain't pup-sized no more. I understand that the T@b may have to find a new owner.

I can see my future, however, in about 20 years when I buy a beach condo and get a cabin at the Fort and move on from the Aliner. But that's a long way down the road - by then my travelling days will be behind me.

Back on topic, let me upload pix to Photobucket and then we will get to today's update.

Ed

 

[bama_ed]

Today was the day to visit the Kennedy Space Center right up the road from Jetty Park campground.

We had visited its gift shop two years ago during our stay but this was the chance to see the exhibits and movies again. We've done that twice in the last 25 years but it was time for a refresh. Bought the tickets online last night, had the email with the QR codes on my phone so we were good to go.

For two adult with fees, etc. KSC is about $60 per person plus a $10 parking fee. The KSC bus tour to the Apollo/Saturn V command building was included with admission but today (Tuesday) was only the SECOND DAY this had run since being closed for a full year due to the pandemic (will not say its name). So we rode the bus, saw the Saturn V, and some more great stuff that had been under lock and key for a year since yesterday.

We got there about 1030am (10am rope drop) and the choices were a little overwhelming at first.

I am a space nerd and follow SpaceX and the other (laggards) faithfully (Blue Origin, Boeing, etc.) so I was in my element and DW was along to make sure I didn't go full out-on-the-ledge-nerdy.

First thing we settle on to see was the Space Shuttle Atlantis. There are only 4 retired Orbiters (if you count the glider Enterprise) and Atlantis did 33 missions in 28 years. I worked with a lady during my career who was the wife of a Shuttle Mission Specialist out of Huntsville, AL so I was aware that very (smart) real people flew in space and ran those missions.

Atlantis is there at KSC and very well presented.

In a prior life at Pratt & Whitney, I shared a desk quad (4 person desk area) with an engineer who was working on a Space Shuttle Main Engine replacement (the engines on the orbiter in the first round were junk and had to be replaced after each mission - hardly "resuable"). But his team job was to develop one that could be reused. Wish I knew how it turned out for him....

One thing I came away with after seeing an Orbiter this close is the "texture" of the skin. The white tiles look smooth in videos but they have a fabric/weave look/texture about them.

Panorama of an open Atlantis.

How about DW's preferred view (backseat driver)?

Never knew the Shuttles had that "kick plate" to protect their engine nozzle on the rear but guess that protected them from particle damage during touchdown/rollout.

Of course, what DIS Camping trip report would be complete if you didn't include the Astronaut RV (AirStream) that carried the astronauts to the launchpad.

I remember 1981 when the first shuttle mission took off with Crippen and Young as the crew. Atlantis flew the last shuttle mission in 2011. Not bad for 1970s technology.

The bus tour in the next post.

Bama Ed

 

[Sjm9911]

Ed , have they updated it at all? I remember going like 12 years ago and nothing was changed and it looked run down. Paint peeling off the stuff outside and tons of rust on the stuff. I was disappointed.