Just Whipperwhirl

My parents are dying to do this - I'm not sure it will happen.  They have a 6000 square feet home full of stuff!  Plus barns full of more stuff! They bought a class A 2007 Vectra last year and swear they are hitting the road in 3 years.  I will believe it when I see it!

Thanks TCD - I had forgotten about that - we may give it a go in the morning.
I really wouldnt have had them do anything differently. This is a vacation desination - not main st USA - if they can't ride their bikes here - without anyone yelling at them to get off the rd - than where can they ride them? Anyway - my son has already forgotten the whole incident - my husband doesnt care - he rather drink beer - so its all past tense.

Devores, it sounds like we may have crossed paths, and I am sorry if it was us. My two cents for what they are worth... I have taught my children the rules of the road, and I frequently look behind me to see what they are doing. One safety concern I have with both riding a bike and a golf cart on Ft. Wilderness property is that golf carts have no horn or signal light capability. The only time I heard the person that yelled was when they were passing me, saying "Get off the road". Electric golf carts do not generate a lot of noise. I agree that there are many children just "cut loose" on the Fort, and I do not want to be considered one of those parents. If you happen to swing by our site again, Whip and I would be more than happy to meet you!

We arrived at the fort about two hours ago and my husband was already almost in a fist fight. My family (sans Momma and Baby) we riding their bikes through the loop (200) and they were yelled at to get out of the way. Now my 8 year old is just learning how to ride without training wheels - he is a bit "all over the place" - but come on - yelling at a little guy to get out of the way - hold your freakin horses. All I can say is that guy is lucky it wasnt Momma bear on the lead bike - he would be having an 18 speed surgically removed right about now.

We arrived at the fort about two hours ago and my husband was already almost in a fist fight. My family (sans Momma and Baby) we riding their bikes through the loop (200) and they were yelled at to get out of the way. Now my 8 year old is just learning how to ride without training wheels - he is a bit "all over the place" - but come on - yelling at a little guy to get out of the way - hold your freakin horses. All I can say is that guy is lucky it wasnt Momma bear on the lead bike - he would be having an 18 speed surgically removed right about now.

We arrived at the fort about two hours ago and my husband was already almost in a fist fight. My family (sans Momma and Baby) we riding their bikes through the loop (200) and they were yelled at to get out of the way. Now my 8 year old is just learning how to ride without training wheels - he is a bit "all over the place" - but come on - yelling at a little guy to get out of the way - hold your freakin horses. All I can say is that guy is lucky it wasnt Momma bear on the lead bike - he would be having an 18 speed surgically removed right about now.

That green M&M is mine! Damn - its just a half - Ill take it anyway.

If anyone is still looking for an invite - PM me also - I have finally mastered whats going on there.

I'm going to sue myself for being such an ass all the time and forcing myself to be in a hostile and stressful living environment. I plan to take myself for both things I own. Then I'll appeal it and run it out forever. That'll show me, huh?

Well, enough distractions from the important stuff! I was about to launch into what I recall about a several month trip across country when I was a kid. Sort of a very late trip report I guess, seriously cut back due to the effects of time on memory and old age setting in!
If I recall correctly, it was between 2nd and 3rd grade for me, 3rd and 4th for my brother. Parents took us out of school probably early May with the blessings of our teachers and school system. My parents told us the teachers thought it was a great idea because we would learn so much more on the road. I think the teachers were just happy to see us go and not return!
This was the early 1970s, we had a Chevy truck with a cap on it pulling a pop-up trailer. The gear was stored in containers on the top of the cap and in the PUP, back of the truck had a section of plywood decking placed sideways across the top of the bedrails with a mattress on the floor of the bed, misc. gear and clothing stored on where it would fit. This was in the day when seatbelts were almost never used and my brother and I rode on the plywood "shelf" laying on bedding and were able to talk to the parents through a slider window between the cap and truck. When we started fighting and arguing, they closed the window. Problem solved! The plan was to use the PUP most of the time, but staying the back of the truck would work on long mileage days when we just wanted to park for the night and go in the morning. It ended up that we spent most of the nights in the back of the truck due to the convenience and comfort; wanted to spend more time seeing the sites around each area.
On a practical side, my parents bought dozens of prepaid film envelopes and saved them up for the trip, would drop of the roll wherever we were and the pictures got delivered to my father's parents back home - they loved this, sort of like an early photoblog delivered every once in a while to their mailbox. That was how they followed our trip. My brother and I sent post cards to our class mates as part of the "early release" agreement.
My parents also set aside a savings account with my grandfather on the account. They would transfer money to us via Wells Fargo whenever we pulled into different cities.
The good:
* We saw 21 states, multiple National Parks and incredibly scenic areas that I may never get back to see again
* It instilled a wanderlust in me that will never be quenched. I still dream of road trips and adventures
* I have vivid memories of many things like hiking in Glacier National Park, swimming in Lake Tahoe, the smog of LA in the early days that would make my eyes water, street side bands in Tijuana and the smell of camping in the redwood forests.
* To this day, whenever I smell a skunk smell, I have a picture perfect memory of the last part of our hike back from Grinnell Glacier along this beaverdam pond that had a mirror finish with a long v-shaped ripple from the beaver heading across the pond - there just happened to have been a skunk spray somewhere in the area that I associate with that memory. It was a great day.
* Learning how to cook outdoors and adjust to being so close to family for so long - I think this is missing now with all our distractions like smartphones and laptops.
* Watching my dad deliver hot food to a young couple in the site next to us while we all waited out a daylong downpour in Washington state. We watched them spend a long time in the deluge trying to light a cook fire in the rain with gasoline, so my dad broke out the coleman stove underneath a tarp off the back of the truck and fired up a hot meal on the tailgate.
The bad:
* the Arab oil embargo hit while we were on the road and getting fuel became a challenge and downright dangerous at times. With vehicle plates from Massachusetts, I still recall our family being told to leave and go home in several western states as everyone fought to get fuel and waited in long lines. Long haul truckers had begun to carry firearms to defend their fuel while stopping to rest.
* I recall hiking out of the Grand Canyon after sunset (to avoid the heat of the afternoon) listening to the sounds of people throwing beer bottles over the side. Only two trails were open that summer because the trail crews could not keep up with the volume of trash being thrown on the side of the trail. Remember "Give a Hoot, don't pollute"?
* Clean water was not always available, some places had some foul water supplies.
* Tony Orlando and Dawn "Tie another ribbon round the ole oak tree" - years of therapy and drinking will not scrape that from my grey matter. And it was on AM radio. In every city. In every state.
The ugly:
* I still gag when I see cans of Ravioli
* Walking to an outhouse in the pouring rain when the call of nature will not be ignored.
I guess if you are seriously considering this, I can say that there will be a boatload of memories made as a family that will not be possible any other way, and it will be a life changing experience. Not always fun or easy, but my morning commute isn't easy every day either. I say, dare to be different. Let me know how it goes! Send pictures.

Im so glad I posted here - I had no idea there were other full timers with kids onboard - I will definately be in touch with questions. Both my husband and I read a book on the subject today - still excited about it - so inspired by all the blogs we are finding online. Lots more research and planning to be done - but I dont see us turning back now - my mentality about everything is already shifting.

Its kind of cute - They can do better though.