keith_h

Thanks for the information about the parks. Gretchen, no rush on the fence height. Thank you for the ideas. While I had planned plenty of walks since we have miles of walking paths all within a few blocks of the house I was still trying to figure out what to do about vigorous exercise. Our current house isn't really laid out well for a fence so I had been leaning to build a 50 - 100 foot covered run but even that would be a lot of work/cost clearing trees when we plan on selling in the next couple of years. One of the criteria for the next house is it has to be easy to fence. The flirt pole is a great idea as we have plenty of open space for something like that and it would work when we travel as well. I was also wondering about a retractable leash as some folks seem to be against them for the breed. I thought using it with a martingale collar and not allowing too much slack would allow the dog a little freedom to roam. By using it regularly I would think the dog would come to recognize the collar tightening and back off. I wouldn't let a dog off leash outside where we live. Too many tree rats, rabbits and cats with nearby busy roads. We are just starting our journey. We have a breeder in one of the neighboring towns I am hoping to get with to meet the breed and talk about acquiring a dog. We aren't beyond considering a rescue animal but they don't seem to be very common. While we would gladly take a puppy if we had the opportunity we would rather get an animal between 6 months a 2 years old. Again these are all things we were planning to discuss with the local breeder. We have owned more traditional breeds in the past (Golden Retriever, German Shepard, etc). Mostly large breeds. As Rene gets closer to retiring, I'm already retired, we have talked about getting a dog that wouldn't be too big or small and would travel well with the confined spaces of the truck and trailer. Travel is also the reason we would prefer a bit older dog. We are traveling more the closer Rene gets to retiring and trying to house break a puppy on the road just seems like an effort in frustration. We also want a dog that can handle the longer hikes we take when doing traditional park camping or weekend walks. The Whippet along with its other attributes seems to fit our lifestyle in a number of areas. By the way, I know it was a little tongue in cheek but I think the "snobbishness" is a good trait. At many of the places we go to there are people with other dogs so the ability to ignore them is a great in my mind. Much like crossed fishing lines the last thing I want to do is untangle a bunch of leashes.

We are starting to plan a trip to WDW sometime next year. By that time we will likely have a new family member and I was wondering about a couple of things related to our four legged friends. We are working on getting a Whippet. I'm not concerned so much about when we are away as we are going to crate train the dog. While they are couch potatoes during much of the day they only stay that way with some vigorous exercise each day. My concern is more about exercise for a dog that hits 35 mph before you can blink your eyes. - What is the height of the fence at the Fort Wilderness dog park? While many Whippets aren't jumpers some are (especially of they see a squirrel or rabbit they want to bring home for your dinner). - Are there any other fenced/confined places where I could take the dog out for a while to run off the excess energy? Doesn't have to do with WDW specific and we would be looking at a fence height of 5 feet or more. I'm also planning to call Best Friends to see what they might have available for day use as some of their rates don't look too bad for a vacation.

What we really need is a diagram that shows all of the companies that make the various parts for these manufacturers. I think almost everything is made by 2 or 3 companies.

I wonder if it means the Fort will be losing some sites?

We have a smaller trailer at 21 feet and our previous was about 18 feet. We've always stayed in the premium sites as we like the extra room and the privacy of being able to be away from the loop road. Some sites have the utilities closer to the front where others are further back. This can affect where you put a smaller trailer on the site. We've had times where we were able to park the trailer near the back of the site and others where it was closer to the middle so we could reach the hookups (sewer in particular). As to loops we like 1300 a lot. We don't have young ones but there is a playground near the entrance to the loop. The bus stop is just outside the entrance as well. It can be somewhat noisy during the day being close to the Meadows pool but it quiets down around dinner time. Although it is now a Meadows Premium loop we like 1400 too. The main thing to be concerned about there is the basketball court near the entrance. It can be noisy well into the night so it is better to be further back in the loop.

Nothing personal but we would never move to Florida. We are happy with central and western North Carolina with four seasons and moderate winters. Right now we are leaning towards the Pinehurst and Southern Pines area as it would put us about 20 - 25 minutes from the grandson. Both have pretty much everything we are looking for and land prices are reasonable to where we can have enough room to also build a good size RV barn. We are also considering the Hendersonville and Asheville areas up in the mountains but that turns into a 4 hour drive to see the grandson. The mountains are sure nice though.

I think a lot of retirees are like Rene and myself. We aren't looking for a place that is geared to retirees or a retirement community. In our case we are looking for an area that has a decent sized walkable downtown with plenty of local restaurants and shops, has a vibrant arts scene, close by outdoor activities and not too far from an urban area. Here in NC this type of an area usually has a healthy mix of all age groups though they do tend to be younger over all. Admittedly we don't really know the region well but we have seen some areas in the Orlando metro that appear meet these criteria as well.

Where are they all coming from? Florida is still a popular target for retirees from the North East and Upper Midwest. I expect many of them are in a position house wise where they have plenty of equity from their current large house to pay cash for a retirement house in the Orlando area.

We usually leave on Saturday so what we like to do is get the trailer hooked up then park in the overflow lot. We will then take the bus back to Trails End for their brunch before we hit the road. Not only does it allow us to skip a lunch stop but it leaves the rest of our nights open to visit other restaurants.

There are two types of Chorizo. The Mexican style which is ground and cooked as crumbles and Spanish which is a hard cured sausage. We can get the Mexican style easily around here but the Spanish style is usually only found in specialty shops or the high end grocer.

If it looks like there is room and if it was me I'd try parking it at the cabin then see what they say. At worst you will come back to a note telling you to move it. You know the old it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission thing.

Gotta keep separating those dollars from the guests.

It looks like it will be a nice area for the kids.

Good to hear things are resolved and your trip was saved.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope y'all made it to someplace safe.