Christmas and Tropical Palms

We just wrapped up two weeks at our favorite Orlando-area Thousand Trails park - Tropical Palms Resort.  This resort is quite hard to get into and, having now booked out the rest of our stays through the winter, I can tell you this is the only time we'll make it in here this season.  In addition to being the closest Thousand Trails park to Disney World, it is also the best maintained park with the most amenities of any Thousand Trails park in the Orlando area.  The laundry room alone is worth the stay!  For the first time we weren't even able to book the 'elite' site here, so we were 'stuck' in a premium site nearer to the back of the park.  Still a great experience, but because of ongoing construction (they're expanding the park - good news for next year!) it was a pain to get to our site.

This is a terrible picture of our campsite but the only 
one we managed to take...

We only had a couple of days to take advantage of the proximity to Disney World before our annual passes were blocked out for the holiday season, but we made the most of them!  We saw the Candlelight Processional at Epcot for the first time and it was just beautiful.  Andy Garcia hosted the evening we visited and he had some entertaining commentary, but overall it was just a reverent telling (and singing) of the Christmas story.  It was absolutely beautiful and definitely put us in the Christmas spirit!  We also saw the new Harmonious nighttime show at Epcot (impressive!) and finished our cookie stroll.

The Candelight Processional

Close up of Andy Garcia reading the Christmas story

Our reward for finishing the cookie stroll!

We also spent a few hours at Animal Kingdom, catching the new Kite-Tails show (Lion King version).  It was neat!  Lots of handheld and jetski-held kites.

Animal Kingdom Christmas tree

Simba in the Kite-Tails show

We enjoyed several quiet days at Tropical Palms after we couldn't go to Disney World, and for Christmas itself we drove (just the car) back 'home' (to the adjacent towns where we grew up) to Virginia to spend a couple days with both sets of parents and most of our siblings (Aaron's brother and my sister).  It was great to see everyone but the drive home the Sunday after Christmas was awful, so if we end up doing this again we definitely need to figure out an alternative RV storage in Florida so we can travel some different dates.  This trip kind of came up last minute when my sister decided to spend Christmas with my parents, and we'd already booked all of our stays through the holiday season so we were a bit inflexible in our travel plans.

All ready for Christmas morning at my mom's house (pre-kid
destruction)

Merry Christmas everyone!  And a happy new year!

Peacock Baby!!

Ok, so less of a baby and more of a teenager...but we'll get to that.  We're finally back in Orlando, land of sun and warmth and Disney!  Our first stop (since we had to be out of the Thousand Trails system for a week after our last stay) was at Magnolia Park, an Orange County park sadly a bit of a hike to Disney World...that said, I think it might be my favorite county park, so I was still happy to stay here!  Now, you may recall from our stay last year that this park sports a decent population of peacocks - much to our surprise, this year we saw a juvenile peacock in the crowd!  We noticed fairly quickly that there was one more peacock than last year, and as we watched the peacocks we realized there was a not-quite-right colored male hanging out with the females all the time.  Must be the new baby!!  Very cool.

Our campsite at Magnolia Park

The juvenile - he was skittish so I had to zoom in from 
far away - note the speckles on his breast (the adults don't
have those).

The juvenile peacock with the peahens - note how he has a much
bluer head than the females, which is why I'm assuming he's a male

For completeness, an adult male

We're just making an assumption on the juvenile male based on the fact he didn't exist last year and looking at his emerging colors, but honestly I had trouble finding information online so I *could* be wrong, don't quote me!  I did see something that said male peacocks don't begin developing their tails until 2 years old, which would be consistent with his presumed age and current tail growth (nonexistent).

We tried out our new waste tote for the first time!  This allows us to haul wastewater from our holding tanks to the dump station at parks like this where we're not on sewer, without having to drive the RV to the dump station.  Before we bought this, I used to collect each dishwashing's water and carry it in a bucket to the restroom's outdoor sink to pour down the drain, so this was a huge improvement!  It was great to use the RV sink like normal and only have to have Aaron haul wastewater once during our stay.

Hauling the tote to the dump station

With just about a week left before our Disney annual passes blocked out for the holidays, we spent several days in Disney World even though it was a long-ish toll-filled drive.  We were able to experience Epcot's long-awaited new Space 220 restaurant, ride Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, and see the holiday decorations at all the parks.  

Inside Space 220 at Epcot - the idea behind this restaurant is that 
you take an 'elevator' to a space station, and once there the 'windows'
show you a view of Earth far below, with astronauts and spacecraft
floating by.

Also at Epcot - one of the many bronze statues Epcot put out 
for the 50th anniversary celebration.  This is Rocket from 
Guardians of the Galaxy.

Decorations at the main pond in Hollywood Studios

Christmas decorations on Main Street, USA (Magic Kingdom)

We'll see Animal Kingdom at our next stop.  Overall this was a great stay and we're glad to be back in Orlando!  

Sunshine Holiday Daytona

After Thanksgiving we took a short hop to the Daytona Beach area and stayed at the Sunshine Holiday Daytona RV Resort, part of Thousand Trails.  As soon as we arrived, our new neighbors came over to welcome us and offer any assistance we might need during our stay - so friendly!  On the bad side, they put us way in the back of the park with the permanent residents, where the roads were narrow and people weren't so careful about keeping their cars out of the roadway.  From talking to our new neighbors, it seems common for the office to put longer-staying Thousand Trails members in the back of the park, reserving the front for short timers and/or full paying customers.  I guess this makes sense.  

Our campsite at Sunshine Holiday Daytona

My sister came down the first Saturday we were there with her family and we all went to the light show at Daytona International Speedway.  The lights were lovely and very well done but we were VERY disappointed that you can't drive on the track during this event.  Aaron and I had been to the light show at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and most of the show is on the track and you can drive on the scary sloped part...unfortunately we expected the same here and got the kids' hopes all up...they were sorely disappointed.  So I'd say the Daytona speedway lights are overpriced for what you get - you can get the same kind of show in city parks around the country, being at the speedway didn't add anything unique since you just drive under the bleachers.

Christmas-y sign for the speedway

Only in Florida!

We spent half the week at my sister's place helping take care of the kids while my brother-in-law was out of town.  While we were there we were able to see a SpaceX launch from their front yard!  It was very cool.

SpaceX Launch

We also saw my nephews' first flag football game before leaving the area.  I learned a lot more about what flag football actually is...apparently I really didn't know how it worked before!  We were so exhausted from Thanksgiving and busy with helping my sister that we didn't get out to see much else in the area, so this post is probably a little boring!  We'll try to do better next time :-).

Thanksgiving in Florida

It finally came...Thanksgiving in Florida!  Ever since I moved farther south than the rest of my family (when we moved to Charlotte in 2012), I've been begging the rest of my family to come south for Thanksgiving, rather than have us go to the frigid north.  Of course, what with us living in small spaces and not having kids, my pleas fell on deaf ears.  Finally, this year, with my sister now living in Florida, my wish was granted!  My sister hosted Thanksgiving at her townhouse in St. Augustine this year, and for once I didn't have to leave the warmth to celebrate with my family!

Since my sister does still live in a townhouse while they wait for their GIANT house to be built nearby, we stayed nights in our RV for the week.  We stayed at the Clay County Fairgrounds RV park, which actually exceeded my expectations.  Although the reservation system was a little worrisome (I didn't get a proper confirmation, just an email saying they received my request and would be in touch if they had questions/concerns), as the day approached things actually went great.  The camp host emailed the night before with our site number and a map of the campground (this is an unusual perk!); when we got there, the camp host came over to welcome us; the small park had secure access, level and wide sites, and good water pressure.  The night before we left the camp host sent another email reminding us of our departure the next day.  Overall I was quite pleased with the campground for what it was (somewhere to sleep - we're not talking a resort here), and it had pretty easy access to my sister's place.  The biggest downside to this park is that they close for months on end for actual events that happen at the fairgrounds...but it worked great for Thanksgiving week!

Our campsite at Clay County Fairgrounds

Though the weather was a little chilly for the area, it was still much better than anywhere to the north!  The Florida Thanksgiving did not disappoint :-).  We spent 3 days with the larger family cooking, eating, and having fun.  Friday after Thanksgiving my aunt, my sister, and I continued the family tradition of fall apple butter making - something I've been doing with my aunt since I was a teenager.

The 'formal' photo of my family across the street from the townhouse

Ready to eat!

With my aunt and my sister and the fruits of our labor

Disney, Disney, and More Disney!

But not the Disney you think!  Ok so I'll admit aside from one small comment on storage, this has NOTHING to do with RVing, but we spent 3 weeks traveling doing this so I figured I'd update the blog so you don't get too bored ;-).

We just took the Panama Canal/repositioning cruise for the Disney Wonder.  This ship has its summer season in Alaska and then spends the winter in the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean (not that it had a summer season this year due to COVID...but it was still on the west coast).  It traveled from San Diego, California to Galveston, Texas.  Since we were flying across the country anyway, we decided to tack on a stay in Anaheim, California to visit Disneyland for the first time before the cruise.

So, first things first...the flights.  Aaron and I both flew regularly for work and pleasure before leaving our day jobs, and for the most part we had no significant problems.  I don't know whether it's COVID and related staffing and supply shortages or just bad luck, but both of our flights were canceled!  We knew a few weeks ahead of time that our midday Southwest flight from Galveston to Jacksonville was canceled and we were rescheduled on a flight that got back at 11pm (not so great for my brother-in-law, who was due to pick us up).  But then our American Airlines flight from Jacksonville to Anaheim was canceled less than 24 hours before scheduled takeoff!  They rescheduled us for the following day, but given that we already had park reservations in Anaheim that would be wasted if we arrived a day late, Aaron scrambled to get us on a flight from Jacksonville to Los Angeles that got in late at night.  This lost us a half day in Anaheim and added an expensive Lyft drive from Los Angeles to Anaheim.  Overall we decided that it's just not the right time right now to fly anywhere, and we plan to avoid it if at all possible until all these COVID repercussions have passed.

Aside from the flights, our trip was awesome.  We stayed at the DoubleTree Suites within walking distance of Disneyland...well, *I* think it was walking distance, Aaron was a little grumbly about it.  To be fair, after a day walking around the park, walking another mile back to the hotel was a little rough.  We bought a 3-day park pass to Disneyland, with two days at Disneyland itself and one day at Disney California Adventure.  We think this schedule worked great!  Neither park is huge, and we ended up arriving at park opening and leaving by 2-3pm each day (the nighttime fireworks weren't going while we were there), and this let us see everything we wanted to see without burning out.  Lines overall were pretty short, particularly before noon, and significantly shorter than Disney World.  A huge difference we noticed between Disneyland and Disney World was that most of the Disneyland queues are outside - an indication of milder/less rainy weather in Anaheim?

I felt that Disneyland was a slightly altered version of Magic Kingdom at Disney World (or more accurately, vice versa, since Disneyland came first).  Unsurprisingly there were a lot of duplicate rides, though most (aside from Rise of the Resistance) were noticeably different between the two parks.  By and large we thought the Disneyland rides were better than their Disney World counterparts, which was cool.  My favorite different thing at Disneyland was Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes, in which you and 20 of your closest friends actually paddle yourself around the lagoon!!  It reminded me of a similar canoe ride we did in Montreal along the fur trade route (not in an amusement park).  Another different ride I particularly enjoyed was the Storybook Land Canal Boat - though this is definitely presented as a little kids' ride, I really enjoyed seeing all the miniature versions of buildings from various Disney stories - this one reminded me some of Madurodam in the Netherlands.  

Outside the entrance to Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Getting ready for our canoe ride

Agrabah from Aladdin on the Storybook Land Canal

My favorite of the two parks was definitely Disney's California Adventure.  Certain aspects were reminiscent of areas of Epcot and Hollywood Studios in Disney World, but overall it really just felt different and definitely had a lot of different rides, including my favorite of the whole trip - Guardians of the Galaxy- Mission: Breakout.  This was their replacement for Tower of Terror, but it wasn't just a new face on the same ride - they seriously changed the sequence of the drops such that we were completely surprised from the first.  The decorations for the ride were incredible.  While there we also enjoyed the other ride and many shows in Avengers Campus and I particularly enjoyed some of the rides on the Coney Island-feeling Pixar Pier.  We lunched at Pym Test Kitchen in Avengers Campus, and everything there was comically over-or-undersized (in keeping with the theme of Pym particles from Ant-Man).

Disney California Adventure (the entrance is very similar to Hollywood Studios)

Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!

3D Tile Image at the Ancient Sanctum at 
Avengers Campus

Lunch at Pym Test Kitchen - note the
oversized chicken/undersized bun

At the end of the week, we took a train down to San Diego and walked two blocks to the cruise terminal.  Unfortunately either Disney or the port or both just really weren't ready for the added complexities of COVID testing before a cruise.  We had to wait a half hour (or more?) after our designated boarding window in harsh sun before we were able to go inside and take our COVID test, then another 45 minutes to get the results of the test before we could board.  However, that was the end of our troubles!  The cruise was AMAZING, the best we've ever taken.  We stopped at 4 ports and had a massive 10 days at sea - just what you want on the entertainment-centric Disney Cruise Line.  

We had a lot of firsts - the first passenger ship through the Panama Canal since COVID, the longest cruise by a large cruise ship since COVID, the first fireworks at sea since COVID (not clear if this was for the ship or for the industry).  The crew had been on the ship just two months before our cruise started - one month of training and a month of sailing - and I think as a result we all formed closer relationships than we would have otherwise.  Our waiter and assistant waiter were AMAZING and made all of our food experiences better.  

Because it was such a long cruise, there were long series of things like "Anyone Can Cook" - where the onboard chefs show you how to prepare dishes you've had in the dining rooms - and the dining team's series of noon presentations on things like cheese, oil and vinegar, origami, napkin folding, and table setting.  Each sea day held these things and a ton of origami, 3D crafts, drawing classes, scavenger hunts, and random things like knot tying and a virtual bridge tour with two bridge officers.  Of course the transit through the Panama Canal was a great bucket list experience!  It was particularly neat to observe after my research for my PhD on the much much smaller canals in Britain - the operational details were very different of course!!  The thing that surprised me most about the canal was just how close you get to cargo ships traveling the opposite direction in the lake in the middle of the canal.  This was also our first trip on the Mexican Riviera, and thus our first time at Cabo San Lucas and Puerta Vallarta.  We visited Cartagena for the first time on the Atlantic side of the canal, and headed back to Cozumel, which we have visited several times.

Technically this was a Very Merrytime 
cruise, and the ship was all decked out
for Christmas!

Formal night with Daisy and Donald!

Los Arcos at Cabo San Lucas

We toured a glassblowing factory - apparently this is a 
Mexican turtle because it has a sombrero and is drinking a 
bottle of tequila

Tasting at a tequila factory in Puerto Vallarta

Pirate night!

A winning day!  I won 'chip it golf' (golf with a velcro-wrapped
ping pong ball against a felt 'green') and we won 
brainteasers trivia together

Entrance to the Panama Canal - the Cocoli Locks

On deck with Captain Mickey and Captain Minnie

We ate brunch at Palo during the Panama crossing - they finished
the meal with a 'Welcome Back' message in chocolate - here
as we saw earlier on Carnival, all the staff were SO happy to have
passengers and a job again!

Exiting the canal at the Agua Clara locks

At the largest fort in the Americas in Cartagena

Our boat for the boat building competition - 
it had to hold a can of soda and still float

On the beach in Cozumel

This is a pretty decent photo of the whole ship

All of our crafts and prizes from the cruise!  We were busy!

Our awesome dining team!!  Wika on 
the left and Blake on the right.

We have so many more awesome photos and stories from the cruise but I'm trying to exercise restraint on an already very long post!  It really was absolutely amazing to spend so many days on the ship and have the opportunity to get to know the crew a little better than we normally can.

And finally...back to the RV...overall it survived quite well for three weeks in storage, with one exception....we had an unwelcome guest!

A comfy mouse nest!

A mouse had run all over the RV leaving trails of feces, and built its nest underneath our bed.  All of the remaining food in the RV was in secure cabinets, so it didn't get into any food, but it chewed a silicone pastry brush that doubtless smelled of food and pulled batting from Aaron's comforter to make its nest.  We set traps but still haven't caught it, so I think it was away from the RV (perhaps scared by the engine under its bed) when we left.