CJHokie

Never been to dollywood but we normally hit the smokies once a year. We normally stay up in elkmont. No hookup but there are generator loops. Been there with and without a generator and it is great. It is about a 20 minute drive at max over the Gatlinburg bypass from pigeon forge.

We have drove through the rv parks in pigeon forge and have not been impressed. There are a bunch out I believe 321 to the east of gatlinburg. Some were rated well on good Sam and they looked nice when we drove by a few months back.

I will probably always stay at elkmont though. It is my happy place in the smokies.

My uncle in Knoxville was going on about Elkmont back when we had a popup, and I know my cousins have been there for the lightning bug synchronicity thing, but now we are too big to go there. 

We use the ones from Aldis, only had 1 leak, and it was pulled pork that I was trying to chop up a little more, so I might've poked a hole thru it.

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Interesting.  Have yet to make it to the Aldi near me.

You forgot the most important ingredient, a Crock Pot Liner!

I loved those when they came out, but then I noticed they leak every time. I guess it saves scrubbing stuff stuck on the sides, but it annoys me.

Well, I'm sure this will go over well here, but it's still funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQnYfkDO5Ks

Get this, she thought the Redskins played in Wash. State

Wow

Is this person a foreigner or she dropped out of school in say, kindergarten?

To paraphrase Groucho Marx....I don't care to belong to any club that would have me as a member.  

I always forget that quote and am amused when I hear/read it.  

I've spent much of my life having people tell me "you don't sound like you're from New York".

States are big, diverse places.

I've spent much of my life having people ask "where on earth are you from?"  

Apparently no one has ever heard a hillbilly before.

My favorite was when I was at Virginia Tech, which is like 95% NoVa/DC/MD people.

them: where are you from?

me: Southwest Virginia

them: but this is Southwest Virginia

me: keep driving 5 hours southwest of here and you'll still be in VA!

When I moved to Florida from Arlington, VA, which as most of you know is right across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.,  I worked with a lady who thought I was from Washington State.  Had never heard of D.C.

 

And my Dad grew up in Lakewood, NJ he did not have the Joisey accent either.  But he spoke German until he started school so his accent had a German flavor.

Lol, wut?  How can anybody living in this country have never heard of DC?  That's literally the craziest thing I've read in a while.

well, no that is true...in fact, some people just like to be here

 

however, Mo and I use both Facebook and Twitter as recruitment tools

 

we also use GG's, signs, shirts, mugs, etc, etc.

 

 

 

 

and of course, person to person recruitment

I feel bad that I was never recruited.  Am I not good enough for this place?!!? 

Yes. Please do DH would like him to come to Nebraska.

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We need a coach at VT.

As much as we love Frank Beamer, it was time.

The only problem I have with Jersey week is the disproportionate number of guests from the Garden State. Get ready for a lot of hair gel and Yo's.

TCD

Lol, I was going to say something similar but didn't want to offend the New Jerseyans here. 

And we didn't know what was going on until someone told us.

Its not the store that makes it great, its the employees.

My MIL was visiting from NH, it was pouring rain when she was leaving publix, the store employee said leave your cart here, walked her to her car with an umbrella, directed her to drive to a loading area and loaded her car in the rain,  oh and BTW they have a no tipping policy I have tried and tried when they do stuff like that and they will never extend their hands

 

if you think the touchscreen ordering is nice at the deli, try the online ordering, I click what i want, and as i stroll past the deli area its sitting in a bin with my name on it, along with my sub's

Agreed, they do have some great employees.

But HT also tries to take your stuff out for you (I always decline) and most of them won't let me bag my own.  I do online ordering from them occasionally and they bring the bags out and load them up for you.  No tipping that either.  My problem with them is they always have outdated stuff.  You really have to check the dates on everything you buy there.  

I think what I did at Publix was what you are talking about.  The screen said "online ordering" and it was in the bin waiting when I went back after shopping. Of course I didn't know there was a bin and asked the man working at the deli, who walked me out to the bin and showed me where the stuff was.

I agree, sure wouldn't do WDW Christmas Week. Sounds like they transition from Halloween to Christmas pretty quick. That's good to know. That first week of Nov. sounds good, but I think it's Jersey Week too. Anybody been at WDW during Jersey Week? Crowds?

I have unintentionally been there during Jersey Week. It wasn't super crowded but definitely much more than we were expecting.

Ah, that was back when we had a decent fall break and the kids were young enough to miss school days.

Same here.  And, I've never been to the Ford or Edison homes.  I know where they are, but have never been.  I have been to Hemingway's.

 

I also have never fed lettuce to a manatee.  I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

 

Even so, my score is up there.

 

TCD

I have lived in VA or NC my whole life and scored 14.

Isn't mosquito season year round? It is here now.

I didn't know Kroger bought HT.

 

My nephew lives in Cornelius NC where HT hqs. is or it's nearby.

 

The HT there is like a lab, they try out all the new ideas there.

 

We've shopped there, in Shirlington, and Nashville.  They are a little on the pricey side like Publix, but they do have some good sales and they have the cheap sub sandwiches on Friday?

It was a couple of years ago.  They kept the HT name.  Some of my FB friends were talking gloom & doom at the time and I thought they were being silly, but sure enough they have gone downhill.

I'm pretty sure the HT HQ is down in Matthews, as I know exactly where the building is that I think is HQ, but they may have something up in Cornelius as well.  It's all Charlotte suburbs anyway.

They do have 1/2 price foot longs on Friday, and they are actually really good (I like the bread a lot).  My husband & I started going there on Fridays for lunch after he retired from his day job, but now I can't eat bread anymore.  

Well, Publix has made it all the way to parts of NC, so their fame is spreading.

 

They are getting competition from Harris Teeter in some areas.  That is a great store.

We have one in Huntersville.  I occasionally shop there when I'm nearby, but it's not close enough to be my go-to.  Haven't seen anything to make me think it's the greatest grocery store ever yet, though.  They are building a closer one but haven't even started yet.  My HT (2 mi. away) has fallen quality-wise since being bought by Kroger, so I will probably switch to Publix when it opens.  

The best thing IMO is that you can order deli meat on a touch screen and then shop and pick it up.  The HT deli near me is about the slowest thing in the history of the world.

wowza

First Tampa then Disney?

 

Maybe Disney is waiting for a co sponsorship with Google like they do with AT&T to provide campers with a Magical wi-fi experience...

 

Google to explore bringing its fiber optic high-speed Internet service to Tampa

 

 

TAMPA — Google announced Wednesday it may bring its ultra-fast Internet service, Google Fiber, to Tampa, a prospect that could eventually allow customers of all providers to drink from a fire hose of data after long sipping from a faucet.

 

If Google Fiber does eventually come to Tampa — the company insists it isn't a certainty — analysts said it will undoubtedly disrupt the existing Internet and TV marketplace and benefit consumers by pressuring other providers to offer faster, cheaper service.

Google said the service offers Internet speeds of a gigabit per second of data transfer on a fiber optic network — fast enough to download a movie in seconds. That is nearly 100 times faster that the U.S. average for residential customers.

But Google said it will do it at a fraction of the cost. In other markets, Google charges $70 monthly for its Internet-only service and a plan with both gigabit Internet and TV for $130 monthly with channels generally comparable to other companies

Google has been installing internet in the 'hood next to mine. They people were all like ha ha, now they're mad because Google has hit like 6 gas lines.

I am still jealous, though.  Only option we have is Time Warner Cable, and while pretty fast, we have a weak signal coming into the house that they won't fix.

And they pump it for you!

 

That freaked out my granddaughters when we gassed up in NJ on the way to NY.

 

They wanted to know what that strange guy was doing to our car!

We did not get gas in OR but I remember reading while we were there that they have the same law.

$1.92 in Concord, NC

:thtray:  Welcome!  Glad you're here!

 

We live in Atlanta and I agree with your wife... I too would be fine if I never saw it again    The drivers here (no, I'm not from here) are horrific.  That being said, not sure that I would make my trip longer, by driving a different route, but maybe the one you mentioned does not do that?  Carol is correct... if you wait until later, it's easier to handle.

 

We've always driven straight through to the Fort, so I don't actually have anything to add on where to stop (sorry), but I wanted to jump in and say "hello"!   I'm sure some other Fiends will be by closely to say hi and possible offer up some suggestions.

We drove through ATL last year on the way to Destin and hated it so much we rerouted on the way home to drive across the panhandle to Jax and then north.  Actually bumped side mirrors with a tractor trailer in stop & go (mostly stop) ATL traffic.

And welcome, new guy!

I'm guessing they will also be this strict during Christmas weeks? The friends we are camping with have family staying off site that were going to come visit.

You are correct- 500 is the closest premium loop to the dog park.

 

And 500 is a Fiend Favorite.

 

You made a good choice.

 

TCD

Oh, good.  Hopefully we'll get in it.

I would say 97% of campgrounds with wifi we have stayed in had crappy wifi. I think it's just really hard to get a good signal to everyone.  I do think even Disney will struggle with that.  Obvs they will have to have many access points in a campground that size.  

One example, we stayed at Ruby's at Bryce Canyon.  Pretty big as far as campgrounds go, but a fraction of FW.  And they seemed to really be making an effort on the wifi.  We could get 4-6 wifi networks in our camper and not one of them was consistent or reliable.

I just don't know logistically if it will work.  Maybe the magic, mystery cables will solve that.

So, we ride our bikes everywhere and don't care about being near anything but the dog park and our friends.  I requested the closest premium pet loop to the dog park, and I see on our online check-in it says loop 500.  A look at the map shows that probably is the closest. We stayed in 300 last time, so my husband said he remembers 500 and it will be good.  

Recap:

We have a 40' MH towing a Jeep.

Our friends are checking in 5 days later. They have a 32' TT, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Pet loop

Dog park

Should we stick with loop 500 request? I guess once we have a site #, I will have her fax in a request for the ones on either side of us.