It was another nice day with one element that complicates a travel day. The wind was very strong out of the east. Luckily I didn’t have a long distance to travel. There were still a couple of gusts that I really felt. Like the last few days the temperature peaked in the mid eighties.
Site 25 at Lake Louisa State Park in Clermont Florida.
I finished packing up this morning and pulled out of the KOA just before the 11AM checkout time. Once again I needed to kill time before checking into my next stop. Checkout time at Lake Louisa State Park is 1PM, so it isn’t a good idea to arrive before that time. They’ll let you check in early if the site is empty, but in my experience on a Sunday afternoon many people checkout at the last minute or even late. My choice was to return to the rest area on Interstate 4 nine miles west of US 27 that I used for the same purpose on Thursday. I spent two hours in the parking area nibbling on snacks and chasing random information on the internet. The return trip back to east on I-4 to US 27 north took extra long. There was an accident that backed up traffic for several miles. I arrived at Lake Louisa State Park at 1:45PM. So overall I took almost three hours to go twenty miles up the road to my new destination.
One of the local residents at Lake Louisa State Park.
I’ll be at Lake Louisa State Park until Friday. The weekends are all fully booked. I plan to continue to visit the theme parks while I’m here, but also get in some hiking around the state park. It is nice to be back in a natural setting after two plus weeks in rather congested RV resorts.
The wind was stronger today, but the overall weather remained very nice. The wind kept the temperature down. It peaked in the mid eighties and went down quickly late in the day.
Blossom of the day.
I spent a lazy day around my RV home getting a few tasks accomplished. After moving Thursday, going to a theme park on Friday and moving again tomorrow, I needed a relaxing day. I watched a lot of TV and walked around the RV park a couple of times.
Surprisingly there were many new arrivals at the RV park today. Several came in at about the same time and were parked on neighboring sites, so I’m going to assume they are traveling together. Another clue is that they were all from states in the mid west. It is not unusual to see two or three RVs traveling together, but this was a group of five or more.
Cleared land beside the RV park.
The clearing of the land next to the park for condos or apartments is really going to change this park. The pine trees and brush that used to occupy the site provided a buffer from the noise of the road and blocked some of the lights at night. Right now there is the sound of earth moving equipment during the day. I guess the buildings, once built, will provide another form of buffer from the road. Unfortunately, many RV parks in Florida are getting development very close. I haven’t actually seen any that have gone out of business recently to allow development. That kind of change took place in the 1990s in the central Florida area.
Here are some more pictures of the fireworks from yesterday’s visit to Magic Kingdom. These were taken with my phone. It captured the fireworks a little differently than my Canon camera.
The nice weather continued today. The only change was the wind direction. It is now out of the east bringing a little more moisture off the Atlantic Ocean. The temperature peaked in the upper eighties.
Cinderella castle at night.
From the side at sunset.
The Beast’s castle.
My day began with some grocery shopping and ended with a trip to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Overall it was a very busy day filled with traffic. I left my RV home just before 4PM with a plan to get to the Magic Kingdom in time to watch the 5PM Flag Retreat Ceremony in font of the railroad station on Main Street. It is only about 16 miles to the parking lot, but I didn’t take construction and traffic into my calculation. The best routes have ongoing construction. I made it to the parking lot by 5PM, but it took another twenty minutes to get across the Seven Seas Lagoon to the Magic Kingdom. The ceremony had just ended when I arrived.
Crowds were much better today than Monday. The wait times were all significantly less. I got to ride some of the more popular rides with reasonable wait times. Peter Pans Flight was listed at 50 minutes, but was a bit less. Haunted Mansion was thirty minutes. Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin was twenty minutes early in the evening and only ten just before the fireworks, so I rode it twice. The Journey of the Little Mermaid was listed at twenty minutes, but it was a walk on. Walking the entire length of the queue without stopping took more than a couple of minutes, but it was a lot shorter than twenty minutes.
The Little Mermaid.
I watched the fireworks from behind Cinderella castle. It doesn’t give you the whole light show on the buildings and the perfect framing of the fireworks above the castle, but it is much less crowded. You are actually surrounded by fireworks. The small stuff close to the castle is on one side of you and the big aerial bombs are in the other.
The trip home from the Magic Kingdom took longer than trip to the kingdom. The big hold up was getting to the parking lot. The lines for the monorail and ferry boats were both long. I can only imagine how bad it would have been right after the fireworks. I waited close to an hour before I departed.
There was a little less wind and a little more humidity today. The sky remained mostly cloud free, so the sun was able to heat the air into the upper eighties. Staying out of the sun was key to remaining comfortable outside.
I was up early to allow plenty of time to finish packing and depart Tropical Palms RV Resort before the 11AM checkout. My timing was pretty good. I turned in my key card at the gatehouse at 10:59AM. The only hitch in the departure process was squeezing into the dump station. The branches along the dump side of the facility were hanging a little low. I had to stay well away from the branches and the necessary hole in the ground. That meant I had to put out additional sewer hose to accomplish the dump.
Three miles down the road was my first stop. I filled the motorhome’s gas tank with one hundred and ninety plus dollars worth of liquid gold. The station was a trade off of five cents a gallon more for ease of access. The only down side is it was a quicker than normal stop. There was a high credit card authorization limit so I only had to pass the card through the machine once. I was trying to wast time until I could check in at my new location at 1PM. It was around 11:30AM when I finished my gas stop.
I took a very winding route toward my destination using local streets. I reached the Interstate 4 and US 27 intersection where my destination is located at noon. Instead of proceeding to the campground I got on I-4 westbound. About 8 miles down the road is a rest area that proved to be a good parking location for an hour. I returned eastbound on I-4 to my destination shortly after 1PM. Overall I managed to travel double the actual distance in about four times the amount of time it should have taken to travel fifteen miles.
Site 53 at the Orlando Southwest KOA.
I’ll be at the Orlando Southwest KOA until Sunday. I was last here at the beginning of February. There has been a big change since then. The big lot beside the campground has gone from pine trees to brown dirt. The area is filled with big earth moving equipment working on site prep work for condos or apartments. Nobody seemed to be sure. I’ll probably find out next year.
Today’s weather was a repeat of Tuesday. It was a bright sunny day with lots of wind and low humidity. This is the third day with very similar conditions. The result is a heightened fire danger. Most of central Florida has Red Flag warnings issued. Tomorrow and Friday are expected to be similar. By Saturday the humidity and rain potential returns.
On my alternating day schedule for theme park visits today should have been a day at one of the theme parks, but it is also my last full day at this location. I chose to focus more on doing errands in the area and getting ready to move tomorrow. One of my goals today was scoping out a gas station to fill the motorhome’s tank. The station I’ve used in the past is in the opposite direction from the most logical direction of travel, but it still seems to be the best bet. It has easy access, doesn’t seem to be too busy and isn’t outrageous with its prices. I’ll just travel on local roads most of the way rather than Interstate 4. My biggest problem tomorrow will be killing time. I have to be out of here by 11AM and can’t check in at my destination until 1PM. From experience I know both places are rather strict. I have to stretch 15 miles into two plus hours of travel.
Traffic along the tourist part of US 192 in Kissimmee was horrible this afternoon. The good news is the area is looking more prosperous than it has the last few years. There are fewer empty parking lots and buildings for lease. With increased business comes more traffic. I managed to stop at every light going east and then again returning west. The traffic lights can also be a savior. I wouldn’t have been able to turn into Camping World without the help of the traffic light cycle. As it is I had to wait several minutes. It wasn’t worth it. I didn’t buy anything. Although they did have lots of mattresses for RV beds. I’m just not in the market for one.
The weather continued its current run of warmth, wind and low humidity. The temperature climbed a few degrees above yesterday’s highs into the upper eighties and the blustery wind continued.
That over the shoulder look
Today turned into a low energy kind of day. After yesterday afternoon at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, I was tired last night. Walking from one side of the theme park to the other and back a few times all the time dealing with crowd navigation took more out of me than I thought. I was slow to get up this morning and really didn’t want to do much all day. I got a few chores accomplished and took a few walks around the RV park, but I didn’t get involved in any big tasks.
This RV resort emptied out on Sunday and more on Monday, but today it seems to be filling up again. I like that people are arriving to make up for the departed residents. On Monday as the last few RVs that had been here when I arrived departed, I was feeling left behind. It is a strange feeling that has no real justification since I never even talked to any of them, but it tends to happen occasionally. This time perhaps it is because we all “survived” last weeks episodes of severe weather. I have a couple of more days here before I move on.
Turtle with just enough head above water to eat the green slime.
The temperature climbed a few degrees higher than Sunday, but otherwise was very similar to the post rain Sunday weather. That means it was windy and not very humid by Florida standards. The temperature peaked in the mid eighties during the afternoon.
Crowds were thick on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom.
The Main Street Philharmonic in front of the castle.
My plan for the day was to spend the afternoon into the evening at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. I know that Monday’s are usually a very busy day at the Magic Kingdom. Tourists that arrive on Sunday for the week want to get their park visits started on a high note. That means a visit to the Magic Kingdom. My rational for going against that fact is the time of year. This period of time is between the spring break weeks and the start of the summer season. It is considered a slow time of year for the parks. The world didn’t get the message. The park was packed with people. Possibly this period is getting marketed heavily around the world. I heard lots of foreign languages and English with an accent being spoken today. The bottom line is it was hard to find any wait times under an hour.
Statue of Pluto.
Pluto at the end of the parade.
The second handicap to today’s visit was of my own making. After parking in the Scar 413 section of the parking lot, I tried to pull out my phone to take a picture of the parking lot marker. It helps to find the car later in the day. Today there was a problem. I left my phone on the charger back at my RV home. The plan was to have it fully charged for the afternoon at the park. In addition to the normal issues with not having your cell phone security blanket with you, a whole additional set of theme park phone dependencies come into play.
Without my cell phone I didn’t have access to the My Disney Experience app. I had my plastic annual pass card and a magic band that allowed me into the park, but I’ve been using the phone lately. The app also gives me access to the tip board that lists wait times and show schedules. I either had to find one of the few wait time boards in the park or show up at the attraction and check the wait time. Perhaps the biggest drawback is that I couldn’t mobile order food at the counter service restaurants. It would be necessary to wait in the long line for one of the limited cashiers. Luckily I wasn’t planning on using the added fee Genie Plus service to get quicker access to the rides in the Lightning Lanes. It is next to impossible to use that service without a smart phone.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as seen from the Lillie Bell paddle wheel on the Rivers of America.
Native birds along the Rivers of America. A family beside me on the Lillie Bell thought they were fake.
The Country Bears Jamboree.
I spent the afternoon at some of the less popular attractions that I haven’t seen in a while. They are still fun. I added in watching some of the street performances, the afternoon parade and one of the better rides. I waited about fifty minutes to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. It was the only top tier rides with a wait under an hour that I saw all afternoon. During the fifty minute wait I experienced the biggest downside to forgetting my phone. I had nothing to keep me entertained or distracted during the wait.
A look at Tron the newest ride at the Magic Kingdom. I don’t think it is for me.
Around 6PM I ran out of energy. My original plan included staying for the 9PM fireworks and then some. Dealing with the crowds all afternoon combined with the probability that the fireworks were going to be an even bigger mob scene made the prospect of hanging around another three to four hours unappealing. Once again the lack of my phone came into play. If I could have hid away in a corner and played with my phone for an hour or so to recharge my energy, I might have stayed. The revised plan is to return to the Magic Kingdom around five or six another day while I’m in the area.
One of the animatronic birds in the Enchanted Tiki Birds show.
The final severe weather event of the last several days of unsettled weather began about 5AM this morning. I woke to the sound of heavy rain on the roof. When I got up to check the windows, my phone indicated that there was another tornado watch for the Florida peninsular as well as a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings to the east of my location. At my RV home the weather was a lot of wind driven heavy rain and maybe some thunder and lightening. I closed the windows and went back to bed. The rain was coming to an end when I woke up a little before 8AM.
Blossom of the day
The day turned into a bright sunny day with much lower humidity, but oh boy was it windy. The reports indicated the wind was steady over 20 mph out of the west northwest. There were gusts much stronger. My slide room awnings were flapping in the wind and a few small branches fell from nearby trees. The temperature peaked in the very comfortable low eighties. If you could ignore the wind, it was a very nice day.
The head of a small alligator above the surface of the creek. It is facing away from the camera.
The RV resort returned to sleepy mode this afternoon. The weekend RVers were gone by the 11AM checkout. As the day progressed the people who leave their RVs here during the week closed up and departed. The place went from noisy and active to quiet and laid back. I much prefer the current state.
This evening the weather delayed launch of the Falcon 9 Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral took place. I interrupted the creation of this blog to go outside and watch the rocket’s red glare. It is such a clear night that it was possible to watch the rocket in the eastern sky for several minutes. I didn’t see the boosters return. I am too far inland. Watching the launch from the Jetty Park on the coast is obviously better, but there is something special about seeing the red glow climbing into the night sky from about fifty miles away. It was a nice way to end the day.
It was overcast and humid this morning. The forecast called for thunderstorms in the late afternoon and again during the night to follow. Sometime during the day the forecast changed. A tornado watch was in place for most of the Florida peninsular south of Ocala and it started to rain with the rumble of thunder in the distance early in the afternoon. This evening the tornado watch remains and the forecast for the overnight is very confused. Some forecasts are calling for severe weather overnight and others are down playing the severity. I guess it means stay tuned.
Around noon I drove to Disney Springs to check out the shops and entertainment. I fully expected it to be busy since it was a Saturday, but the weekend also brings out the entertainment. There were several solo artists and duets on the various stages around the area. Local school groups were also using the main stage to entertain. Bigger and more well known bands take the stages later in the evening.
Crowd outside the Disney store at Disney Springs.
I wandered through the whole area and stopped in a few of the shops. The crowds weren’t bad for a weekend day. Inside the shops there was plenty of room to move around. On the paths and walkways you had to have patience behind the large groups that travel abreast blocking the way for passers by. Overall pretty typical for Disney crowds.
The rain moved in earlier than I expected, so I cut my visit to Disney Springs short. Instead of having an afternoon meal under an umbrella in the rain, I returned to my RV home and cooked my own meal. The rain held off at the RV park until later. I was able to get in a brief walk around the RV resort. One of the little alligators was crossing the road in front of me as I took my walk. It didn’t know if it should retreat or hurry across the road so it froze and just looked at me. I gave it plenty of room and it finally continued on across the road back into the water.
Why did the little alligator cross the road? The culvert pipe under the road was filled with water.
It was cloudy and wet this morning. As the day progressed a few light showers passed through the area. The forecast called for thunderstorms possible severe through evening. They erred on the side of caution. The area of concern shrunk to an area on the east coast of the Florida peninsular during the noon forecast, but the off and on light showers continued for a while longer. As night approached the clouds started to give way to clearing. The bottom line is the weather threat kept me from doing anything outdoors that wasn’t near shelter.
I spent the day watching TV and chasing random information on the internet. The weather wasn’t bad enough to prevent me from getting in a couple of walks around the RV park. The retention pond in the park is home to several small alligators. Today two were on the bank doing their best imitation of a downed tree branch. I walked to within fifteen feet of one before I changed course. The little gator didn’t care.
As the afternoon progressed the park started to become more active for the weekend. New RVs arrived to occupy some of the empty sites and people arrived to occupy many of the RVs that remain vacant during the week. There seem to be a lot of people that park their RVs here as weekend vacation homes.
This evening I walked up to the Old Town Entertainment District. Friday night is the Muscle Car Show and Cruise. There were close to 100 cars tonight including about a dozen Corvettes. The engine noise as the cars cruised up and down the Old Town cobblestone roads is impressive.
Rob's Rambling Road Trip 