DaveInTN

I sure hope we can make it. We sometimes have family commitments over the 4th but you know how that goes. I also like the Townsend KOA, although the sites can be a bit tight like a lot of places there. But it is removed from the craziness and easy to get to for those coming from the south or west. And it is close to Cades Cove.

GAG Me With A Fry
We pulled out of the Atlanta South RV Resort early…I think around 7:00 or so. And we hopped back on I-75 south. I figured we’d get some miles behind us before stopping for breakfast. By the time we got to Macon, we were all complaining a bit about hunger, so we pulled off at one of our favorite breakfast places. And I know it is one of livluvsdisney’s fave places too!

We parked the trailer across the road from the Chick Fil A in a plaza, and I handed the camera to one of my daughters to carry while I got Anna out of her seat. That daughter handed it to another daughter, who mistakenly thought I wanted the camera placed into the TT. So, it never made it into the restaurant to photograph our breakfast. But I assume you’ve all seen a Chick Fil A chicken biscuit before…in my opinion one of life’s greatest pleasures.
After a great breakfast, including some conversation with the restaurant’s manager who explained how they are introducing chicken tortilla soup this winter (Yum!), we hit the road again. INC snapped some candid photos of me driving.
My candid serious look.

My candid stupid look.

Yes, quite candid. As Hank Hill once said...I look like a jackass!
We pressed on, and made decent time through GA and FL. Took the Turnpike to 429, and before too long we saw this sign.

Ah, good old Western Way.
I normally am a proponent of taking 535 down from 429 to Vista Blvd, rather than going all the way down to Western Way. And now I remember why. 429 is so dang long! Just when you think you are almost to Disney that road goes on forever.
But it wasn’t long until we saw this!


And then, of course, the Magic Kingdom gates themselves!

The booths were decorated for Christmas.

A quick right turn, and then we saw the most blessed sight in the World!

Notice how the Fort Wilderness sign was not decorated yet when we arrived on the 16th. Within a few days it would be, per TCD's trip report showing the sign decorated when he arrived that weekend.
The security guard was on top of his game, and we were soon being directed to check in.

I love how INC got him in my mirror. Reminds me of a pic someone else posted recently showing the guard in their mirror…was it TCD?
We pulled up to an empty lane. No waiting!


I had used online checkin, and our process was very fast and smooth! I had faxed a site request in 5 days earlier requesting a site backing up to the canal in 500 with room for our trailer, van and an easy up. I asked for 528 or similar, but we were given 523. I was disappointed! 523 doesn’t directly back up to the canal. But, once we pulled into the site, I was absolutely thrilled! This site is HUGE! We had tons of room for our stuff…even more so because I decided to park the van in overflow. I loved this site.
After putting out the slides and hooking up, I took the van to overflow and swapped it for our super fast, 6 passenger Kenny cart! And then we headed straight to Pioneer Hall to order our standard first night dinner…the Giddyap n Go!
We LOVE the GAG. And the primary reason? No, not the chicken. Not the mac n cheese. And certainly not the cowboy beans. While those are all very tasty, the primary reason we love the GAG is the big, crispy steak fries!
On previous visits, we have been given an entire chicken bucket full of steak fries. That bucket of fries, along with about 20 packets of ketchup, and I am in HEAVEN.
So, I ordered the GAG, all white meat, with mac n cheese, fries and biscuits. While waiting, the kids played some checkers.


Anna didn't do too well. She's more of a chess player, being Russian and all.
I snapped a pic of the horrible Nescrappe machine. Man, I miss the real brewed coffee. But at least we got used to the instant crap in Russia and can actually drink it and somewhat enjoy it.

It wasn’t long until our chicken was ready. I excitedly grabbed the bags that the Trails End clerk so carefully packed for us, and headed out to a picnic table on the side porch. And here is our bounty.

Say what??
Where’s the bucket of fries?? Oh, wait. They just gave us a bag of fries. Well, that’s ok. That’s still a lot of steak fries. But wait…those aren’t steak fries. Those are standard Disney floppy fries! Yuck!!
I wasn’t pleased.
Stella wasn’t pleased.

Anna wasn’t even pleased, and she never even had the old steak fries.

But, truth be told, I enjoyed my meal anyways. The chicken is still good. And you can’t beat the ambiance of eating on the porch. Not in a million years.
Despite having to choke down cold, floppy fries, it was still an awesome meal, in an awesome place, with the best wife and kids any man could dream of having. At least in my humble opinion. So I consider our first night back at the Fort, and Anna’s first night EVER at the Fort, to be a complete success. Floppy fries and all.
Coming up….Breakfast at Kona Café, and I’m A Blessed Man!

Ok, got the video on youtube. Will try posting here... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pei4x-yXMs&feature=youtu.be

The Beginning

January 16, 2008.

The dead of winter in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The sun rises around 10:00am and sets by 3:00pm. It is a cold and dark day. (How do I know this? They’re ALL cold and dark in Russia! But I digress.) A woman pregnant with her 9th child heads to the hospital to deliver. This in itself is remarkable, as she has aborted the previous 7 pregnancies. But despite prenatal testing indicating this child has Down Syndrome, she carries to term and delivers a baby girl. And, as occurs in 95% of Down Syndrome births in Russia, she abandons the baby to state custody. Another orphan among 700,000 in Russia.

The fact that she was born at all, after her birth mother’s history, is a miracle. Absent logical conclusions, we can only assume that God intended for that child to be ours from the very beginning. He only took a different path for her, maybe to illuminate the situation these children face over there. But regardless, on January 16, 2008, our daughter entered this world.

At two weeks of age, the little girl, named Anastasia Orlova, was sent to live at Baby Home #1on the outskirts of St Petersburg. She lived among several dozen orphans, many of them typically developing kids.



But little Anastasia, or Anna as we named her, wasn’t typical. She has Down Syndrome. And unfortunately, in her society, that makes her worthless. She has no chance of being adopted domestically. No Russian family ever visits or inquires about her. Even her birth mother, who lives in the neighborhood, never once calls to check on her. So she spends her first few years in the only home, and the only neighborhood, she would know up to that point, never venturing beyond the courtyard.





By the time she is 2, she has been identified by Reece’s Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministry as an “at risk” child.



In the Russian orphanage system, children with DS that have not been adopted by age 4 are transferred to mental institutions. They are considered “unadoptable” at that point, and do not do well. Many don’t survive a year in that environment.

And so, it was through Reece’s Rainbow that we learned of Anna. Our future daughter…and future Fiend.

Prior to starting down the path to adoption, we had been visiting the Fort twice a year in our motorhome. And for the last couple trips, we had annual passes. We had a blast! But around the time of what would be our last trip in the MH, in March 2010, God presented a bit of a detour to us. He put the idea of special needs adoption in our hearts. And that process took most of our time (not to mention our money!) for the next 18 months. We sold our motorhome. I honestly wasn’t sure whether there would be any trips to the Fort in the future. But once we made our first trip to Russia and met Anna, I knew that kid was a future Fiend. We are blessed that she is a healthy and happy little girl. And so this past winter we bought a TT and I began planning this trip.

My little girl is a miracle! She is full of life! And throughout our long and difficult process of adopting her, you Fiends were there with us every step of the way. You provided moral support. You showered our older girls with love, cards and gifts when Christy and I had to travel for an extended period to Russia without them. And you have been family to us, sharing in our excitement. That is why, just 10 days after we returned home to the States with Anna, we traveled to Stone Mountain for the Fiend Grand Gathering over Memorial Day weekend. Some people thought we were nuts for traveling so soon. But we wanted to share our joy with our Fiend Family.






 
We had a great weekend at Stone Mountain! But despite all the fun we had, a true Fort Fiend like Anna needs to make the ultimate pilgrimage. A trip to the Fort itself. And so the planning continued, the final details were hammered out, and on the afternoon of November 15th, we pulled out of our driveway to complete the journey of our littlest Fiend.

Well, my fine Fiends, it’s time for me to begin this trip report. The DaveInTN gang just got home from spending a wonderful Thanksgiving at the Fort. And what a great trip we had! 10 nights at our favorite place on the planet, beautiful Fort Wilderness. I’m excited to share with you all everything we did, everything we ate, and everyone we visited with. But a word of warning to y’all…we did not plan any park days on this trip. Our plan was to relax, spend time with Fiends, and bring our little Anna to the Fort for the first time. Oh, and to EAT. If you live for park pics, or if you don’t enjoy some good pood forn, this may not be the trip report for you. For those of you with nothing better to do, let’s get going.
But before we get rolling….it is my custom to present headlines in my trip reports; the highlights of our trip that I will build this report around. I also like to keep my readers interested due to the incredibly boring commentary that will unfold on this thread over the next couple of weeks. So, without further adieu, here we go!
In this report, you can expect to read:

The Beginning
Wetlanta
GAG Me With A Fry
I’m A Blessed Man
Now I Have TWO Princesses To Mock
Loop De Doo
Slap That Duck!
My Super Fast Dead Kenny Cart
Is That A Moose??
Ohhhh…..(wait for it)…..HANA!!!!
and, What Do Russia, Costa Rica and Wisconsin Have In Common??

So, where do we begin? At the beginning, of course! Only in this case, the beginning requires us to take a step back in time for a moment. We need to venture a few years into the past before we can make sense of the present. This was a special trip for me. And I'll explain all that in due course. But for now, let's start at the beginning....in the past.
So, if you’re ready, step into the Delorean, buckle up and let’s go! Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas. We’re about to hit 88mph!

Yes, we saw them as well. I don't know what the price is, but you are required to provide your past two years tax returns and a recent paystub to rent one.

Since 2goofy has posted to the report, I'm going to jump out of chronological order in my pics here for a minute to share something with y'all. 2goofy (Mike and Jan) were camping in the 600 loop Thanksgiving week. I think they are in 600 every year for Thanksgiving. We were fortunate to get to meet them and spend some good Fiend time with them, including a visit during TITWIT while Mike was in extreme pain from an accident I alluded to above. And after tasting some of Jan's punch, I wouldn't be surprised if that had something to do with it. In any case, I want to share a pic of a gift they gave us....a real deal, Fort WIlderness tire cover!

They had purchased it several years back at the trading post for their trailer, but since moved into a MH and weren't using it. And now it has a cherished place on our trailer!! Thank you Mike and Jan for thinking of us and passing along a new cherished possession!

Yes, I'm here. Diesel pusher. Got it. No problem.
Hello? Tennessee Lottery Commission? Are you out there?? :rofl2:

Thanks Stef! And maybe I could sell facelifts at the Fort, Anna style. I could advertise "Russian Facelifts". Any takers?
I likely have a couple more somewhere in the pictures. I'll try to post more. Maybe I'm on to something here, like Leslie's girls' faces in her trip reports. Only creepier. :rofl2:
Yay for Stella! First SM ride is a right of passage for young Fiends the world over.
I wasn't sure what to expect taking Anna on HM, but she liked it. The only ride she had any problem with was Pirates. And that was only because of the drop in the dark. And I don't think she was scared from the drop, so much as she was scared cause I was screaming like a schoolgirl in her ear.
First, you must go to the Plaza for the fries before they disappear. I wouldn't at all be surprised to see them go the way of Aunt Polly's and the Mike Fink Keelboats.
Second, yes, I do hold a grudge. Be careful.
Third, the SM photos were completely candid. I had no idea there was a camera on that ride. Really.
And finally, I am indebted to my cousin, and will pay the kindness forward when I can.
Hey Donnie, thanks for the comments. I am cherishing these times with my girls before they grow up and move on with their lives, leaving memories behind. You know as well as I do how the teenage years can be. Ya gotta take the good with the bad and just roll with it sometimes.
The blond curly one is Gwen. And it was Isabel that was forced to drive your cart in circles after your lugnuts loosened and the wheels came flying off. :rofl3:

How many times can you use the word beautiful in a TR, without it being redundant?
Ahh, who cares! You have a beautiful family Dave. The girls look like they had a blast at MK. Your "relative" should be proud that he was able to do that for you guys. He must be one heck of a good guy. :heart:
You should really be thanking Anna, your face looks great, and real plastic surgery is very expensive!

Ok, got the video on youtube. Will try posting here... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pei4x-yXMs&feature=youtu.be

After the carousel, I headed over to the Plaza to check in for lunch while INC stayed back with whoever wanted to ride the teacups. I am always willing to forego the teacups, especially right before lunch. :barf:
While waiting for our table, Anna enjoyed hanging out on my head.


I think she's giving me a facelift here.

We were seated on time, and got a nice table right by the windows looking out at the castle.
Our waitress was nice, but a bit of a ding dong. She messed up Emma's order twice, and forgot other things as well. But when you are a party of 6 or more, it doesn't matter how the service is; you pay 18% gratuity automatically. Oh well, she was friendly enough we would have tipped well anyway. But sometimes it burns your britches to pay 18% without a say...especially for a buffet when all they do is bring you one diet coke! :argh:
Anyways, we ordered and our food didn't take too long. INC got the chicken strawberry salad, with field greens, grilled chicken, strawberries, gorgonzola cheese, and a white zinfandel vinaigrette dressing. She like it.

Anna had the kids grilled cheese. It was good...I tried a bite!

One of the kids had the grilled chicken sandwich. It had ham and cheese on it.

I had the tuna salad sandwich on croissant. Look at those awesome fries!!!!

Gwen had the club sandwich.

Lunch was quite good. We always enjoy eating at the Plaza. And if they ever get rid of those fries and go to the standard Disney limp fries, I will probably stop going and just stick to CHH.
After lunch, there was a show starting up in front of the castle, so back up on top of Daddy went Anna.

Somebody is getting sleepy.

This is a good show.

Looks like the Ho crashed Cindy's party.



I actually feel sorry for this clown. He's dancing with a Ho, and his hair looks plastic.

I bet he doesn't know she lives with 7 men.
The true stars of the show.


And that's that.
At this point, we went back to Space Mtn to check out the situation. It had reopened finally, so we grabbed FPs for that afternoon. The girls went off to ride the Peoplemover while INC and I sat with Anna, who had fallen asleep in her stroller.

Then we switched places, and Emma and Gwen sat with Anna while we rode.



Why is this so funny?

When we were finished on the PM, it was time for our Space Mountain FPs!
We are big fans of SM. And this was to be Stella's first ever ride!!
That's a big deal. And she was excited. And nervous. But Stella is a coaster fan, especially for a 5 year old. Her favorite ride is BTMRR. From the time she was 3.
So off we went to SM!

I don't know who was more nervous.


Getting closer now!

Before long, we were loaded up and off we went! I sat behind Stella and kept my hands on her shoulders. Mostly to give her comfort, but also to ensure me she wasn't falling out. :rofl3: But not to worry, they haven't lost a kid on Space Mountain in at least a few months.
I was proud of my girl!!

We all had a good ride. And again...if you're gonna make that face, I'm gonna post it.

So that was that. And we still have MORE Magic Kingdom coming up, plus a bonus evening at Epcot!!! Can you believe how much we are accomplishing in one day???
Oh, and stay tuned....because Now I Have TWO Princesses To Mock!

Slacker??? I posted an update this afternoon on pirated wifi just to satisfy my fellow Fiends.
Slacker?? I think not!

He is a good guy. Like all relatives you'd like to strangle him now and then, but he's a good guy nonetheless.

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.

Our first morning at the Fort was a gorgeous one. INC and I did what we love to do every morning at the Fort...we enjoyed our coffee outside under the awning. The temps were a bit chilly that first morning, but nothing a sweatshirt or pullover couldn't handle.
I had made an ADR at Kona for breakfast at 9:50. We were up and ready much earlier than that, so we headed down to the Settlement, grabbed another cup of coffee from Trails End, and headed to the resort boat.





We docked at the Contemporary and headed inside. After taking the elevator up to the 4th floor, we caught these CM's decorating this year's Gingerbread Tree.



Now that's remarkable. Think about it. An enormous Christmas tree constructed of gingerbread and other edible items. 17 feet high! The design is inspired by the artwork of Mary Blair, who designed the characters of "it's a small world" as well as the huge mural on the wall of the Grand Concourse at the CR. Remarkable. And only at Disney. Those CM's are not amateurs. They are professionals. They don't come cheap. The materials are not cheap. (Imagine how much 136 pounds of honey costs?) People complain all the time (sometimes rightly so) about how expensive Disney is. I myself complain at times. But it is details like this tree that put that into perspective a bit. All of these things, like the tree, the gingerbread house at the GF, even the beautiful decorations that grace each and every bus stop at the Fort, cost Disney money. And Disney World would not be the same without them.
Ok, so after admiring the tree, we headed up one more floor to the monorail station and took off toward the Poly.

Stella seems to end up in front of the camera often.

We arrived at the Poly safe and sound via the high tech, highway in the sky!
Yes, Lou. I love the monorail. :rofl2:
And I also love the Poly. We seem to find ourselves there several times each trip. I'm not necessarily a fan of the overall design of the resort, with all the dark brown colors (although the Fort is full of dark brown paint and somehow I love it there ), but the "feel" of the Poly is incredible to me. And I love the tropical landscaping.

The Kona Coffee Bar always catches my eye. One of these days we are going to sit at the counter and just get pastries from this case.

But to date, we have not done that. Maybe next trip.
We were quite early for our ADR (like 45 minutes early), but I checked in at the podium and they seated us within 5 minutes or so.
And within another couple minutes a carafe of their Kona blend coffee was sitting in front of me. :jumpforjoy

I would love to try the french press pot of the real Kona someday. But INC is not a fan of french pressed coffee. And I don't want to drop $8 on coffee just for myself. But someday. Maybe when we get those pastries.
Anna was enjoying pulling her dress over her head.


I ordered the Steak and Eggs. It was pretty tasty.

Stella and Isabel had Mickey pancakes.

I expected the pancakes to be the standard Mickey shaped ones you see on Kids menus, but they way they did it here gave you a heck of a lot of pancakes! They both were stuffed.
INC had an omelet. She said it was good. We both swapped our breakfast potatoes out for fruit. Didn't want to be too weighed down at this point of the trip. Which is why neither of us ordered the Tonga Toast. Even though we both wanted the Tonga Toast.
We would remedy that later in the trip.
But on this morning, one of the DaveInTN gang did order Tonga Toast.

And she wasn't sharing! :popo:
After all that food, we were quite sasified heading back to the monorail. For the trip back, we took the monorail to the MK to hop the Fort boat from there.
When you are visiting WDW and not planning on doing any parks, is it cruel and unusual punishment to march your kids right past the front gate without going in? :rofl3:
Regardless, we soon were on a boat headed back to the Fort.

Won't be too long and this boat will be gone forever.


I thought this was a cool looking boat.

And that was that. Our first morning was a hit. We were back at the Fort for some downtime. I spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon decorating the site, and we then awaited the arrival of a guest.
Coming up...I'm A Blessed Man!

Ok, got the video on youtube. Will try posting here... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pei4x-yXMs&feature=youtu.be

The Beginning

January 16, 2008.

The dead of winter in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The sun rises around 10:00am and sets by 3:00pm. It is a cold and dark day. (How do I know this? They’re ALL cold and dark in Russia! But I digress.) A woman pregnant with her 9th child heads to the hospital to deliver. This in itself is remarkable, as she has aborted the previous 7 pregnancies. But despite prenatal testing indicating this child has Down Syndrome, she carries to term and delivers a baby girl. And, as occurs in 95% of Down Syndrome births in Russia, she abandons the baby to state custody. Another orphan among 700,000 in Russia.

The fact that she was born at all, after her birth mother’s history, is a miracle. Absent logical conclusions, we can only assume that God intended for that child to be ours from the very beginning. He only took a different path for her, maybe to illuminate the situation these children face over there. But regardless, on January 16, 2008, our daughter entered this world.

At two weeks of age, the little girl, named Anastasia Orlova, was sent to live at Baby Home #1on the outskirts of St Petersburg. She lived among several dozen orphans, many of them typically developing kids.



But little Anastasia, or Anna as we named her, wasn’t typical. She has Down Syndrome. And unfortunately, in her society, that makes her worthless. She has no chance of being adopted domestically. No Russian family ever visits or inquires about her. Even her birth mother, who lives in the neighborhood, never once calls to check on her. So she spends her first few years in the only home, and the only neighborhood, she would know up to that point, never venturing beyond the courtyard.





By the time she is 2, she has been identified by Reece’s Rainbow Down Syndrome Adoption Ministry as an “at risk” child.



In the Russian orphanage system, children with DS that have not been adopted by age 4 are transferred to mental institutions. They are considered “unadoptable” at that point, and do not do well. Many don’t survive a year in that environment.

And so, it was through Reece’s Rainbow that we learned of Anna. Our future daughter…and future Fiend.

Prior to starting down the path to adoption, we had been visiting the Fort twice a year in our motorhome. And for the last couple trips, we had annual passes. We had a blast! But around the time of what would be our last trip in the MH, in March 2010, God presented a bit of a detour to us. He put the idea of special needs adoption in our hearts. And that process took most of our time (not to mention our money!) for the next 18 months. We sold our motorhome. I honestly wasn’t sure whether there would be any trips to the Fort in the future. But once we made our first trip to Russia and met Anna, I knew that kid was a future Fiend. We are blessed that she is a healthy and happy little girl. And so this past winter we bought a TT and I began planning this trip.

My little girl is a miracle! She is full of life! And throughout our long and difficult process of adopting her, you Fiends were there with us every step of the way. You provided moral support. You showered our older girls with love, cards and gifts when Christy and I had to travel for an extended period to Russia without them. And you have been family to us, sharing in our excitement. That is why, just 10 days after we returned home to the States with Anna, we traveled to Stone Mountain for the Fiend Grand Gathering over Memorial Day weekend. Some people thought we were nuts for traveling so soon. But we wanted to share our joy with our Fiend Family.






 
We had a great weekend at Stone Mountain! But despite all the fun we had, a true Fort Fiend like Anna needs to make the ultimate pilgrimage. A trip to the Fort itself. And so the planning continued, the final details were hammered out, and on the afternoon of November 15th, we pulled out of our driveway to complete the journey of our littlest Fiend.

Ok, got the video on youtube. Will try posting here... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pei4x-yXMs&feature=youtu.be

Ok, got the video on youtube. Will try posting here... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pei4x-yXMs&feature=youtu.be

Ok, got the video on youtube. Will try posting here... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pei4x-yXMs&feature=youtu.be

Anna typically steals the show.
Who knew I was married to such a Snark Princess?

I thought of OldeKoot when I typed that!

GAG Me With A Fry
We pulled out of the Atlanta South RV Resort early…I think around 7:00 or so. And we hopped back on I-75 south. I figured we’d get some miles behind us before stopping for breakfast. By the time we got to Macon, we were all complaining a bit about hunger, so we pulled off at one of our favorite breakfast places. And I know it is one of livluvsdisney’s fave places too!

We parked the trailer across the road from the Chick Fil A in a plaza, and I handed the camera to one of my daughters to carry while I got Anna out of her seat. That daughter handed it to another daughter, who mistakenly thought I wanted the camera placed into the TT. So, it never made it into the restaurant to photograph our breakfast. But I assume you’ve all seen a Chick Fil A chicken biscuit before…in my opinion one of life’s greatest pleasures.
After a great breakfast, including some conversation with the restaurant’s manager who explained how they are introducing chicken tortilla soup this winter (Yum!), we hit the road again. INC snapped some candid photos of me driving.
My candid serious look.

My candid stupid look.

Yes, quite candid. As Hank Hill once said...I look like a jackass!
We pressed on, and made decent time through GA and FL. Took the Turnpike to 429, and before too long we saw this sign.

Ah, good old Western Way.
I normally am a proponent of taking 535 down from 429 to Vista Blvd, rather than going all the way down to Western Way. And now I remember why. 429 is so dang long! Just when you think you are almost to Disney that road goes on forever.
But it wasn’t long until we saw this!


And then, of course, the Magic Kingdom gates themselves!

The booths were decorated for Christmas.

A quick right turn, and then we saw the most blessed sight in the World!

Notice how the Fort Wilderness sign was not decorated yet when we arrived on the 16th. Within a few days it would be, per TCD's trip report showing the sign decorated when he arrived that weekend.
The security guard was on top of his game, and we were soon being directed to check in.

I love how INC got him in my mirror. Reminds me of a pic someone else posted recently showing the guard in their mirror…was it TCD?
We pulled up to an empty lane. No waiting!


I had used online checkin, and our process was very fast and smooth! I had faxed a site request in 5 days earlier requesting a site backing up to the canal in 500 with room for our trailer, van and an easy up. I asked for 528 or similar, but we were given 523. I was disappointed! 523 doesn’t directly back up to the canal. But, once we pulled into the site, I was absolutely thrilled! This site is HUGE! We had tons of room for our stuff…even more so because I decided to park the van in overflow. I loved this site.
After putting out the slides and hooking up, I took the van to overflow and swapped it for our super fast, 6 passenger Kenny cart! And then we headed straight to Pioneer Hall to order our standard first night dinner…the Giddyap n Go!
We LOVE the GAG. And the primary reason? No, not the chicken. Not the mac n cheese. And certainly not the cowboy beans. While those are all very tasty, the primary reason we love the GAG is the big, crispy steak fries!
On previous visits, we have been given an entire chicken bucket full of steak fries. That bucket of fries, along with about 20 packets of ketchup, and I am in HEAVEN.
So, I ordered the GAG, all white meat, with mac n cheese, fries and biscuits. While waiting, the kids played some checkers.


Anna didn't do too well. She's more of a chess player, being Russian and all.
I snapped a pic of the horrible Nescrappe machine. Man, I miss the real brewed coffee. But at least we got used to the instant crap in Russia and can actually drink it and somewhat enjoy it.

It wasn’t long until our chicken was ready. I excitedly grabbed the bags that the Trails End clerk so carefully packed for us, and headed out to a picnic table on the side porch. And here is our bounty.

Say what??
Where’s the bucket of fries?? Oh, wait. They just gave us a bag of fries. Well, that’s ok. That’s still a lot of steak fries. But wait…those aren’t steak fries. Those are standard Disney floppy fries! Yuck!!
I wasn’t pleased.
Stella wasn’t pleased.

Anna wasn’t even pleased, and she never even had the old steak fries.

But, truth be told, I enjoyed my meal anyways. The chicken is still good. And you can’t beat the ambiance of eating on the porch. Not in a million years.
Despite having to choke down cold, floppy fries, it was still an awesome meal, in an awesome place, with the best wife and kids any man could dream of having. At least in my humble opinion. So I consider our first night back at the Fort, and Anna’s first night EVER at the Fort, to be a complete success. Floppy fries and all.
Coming up….Breakfast at Kona Café, and I’m A Blessed Man!

Ok, got the video on youtube. Will try posting here... 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pei4x-yXMs&feature=youtu.be