mgsmom

Thanks! I agree! On another note, I just noticed your location! We were just in your neck of the woods last week visiting DH's family! Small world! He grew up in East St. Louis (IL) They have moved on, but he still has street cred :rofl2: We were at the Cardinals game and it was like 105 degrees! He is also a Blues fan.

I bought a water bottle from Walmart that has a zip up cover and a clip. We fill it up with ice and then water before we leave for the morning. At first I was upset that the water bottle is not as insulated as it appears. However, the secret benefit is that the ice melts nicely to double your fresh water. DH, DD, and I will usually empty it out in about 3 hours in the parks. I don't know how many ounces it is, but it is a JUG. We also supplement with Minute Maid Light (purchase one or two) and Capri Sun 100% juice boxes (in DD's lunchbox under the stroller) when we are sick of plain water

Yes, I have a Pilot. At some point, I'm sure it'll either be "tow with my car or just keep tenting" so we'll see! ;D We really are looking at a popup for storage, climate control, and some basic amenties built in (fridge, stove). My Pilot will be able to tow something like this. It has a good towing package, and we would add necessary stuff. Reading everyone's responses outloud to him have helped back up my claim that we are NOT pulling a pop up with a 2DR Wrangler :whew:

Exactly - but we really were impressed with how nice it was on the inside! My car has a 4000 lb towing limit (I think) but I'm not sure I'll be pulling anything with it, either. :rofl2: I see that! And big thanks to you guys for keeping us out of the ditch! I remember that - how scary! DH is pretty cautious about things, too, but I've had a hard time convincing him that we can't pull hardly anything in that Jeep. You guys have helped so much - that's why I come to the experts! I bet! Sounds good! We are going to see if my former inlaws have one we can borrow a couple of times before we ac

Thanks a bunch! I think our current option for taking the Jeep is to get a small utility trailer and pile our camping equipment on it and then we can take the Jeep. Tent, canopy, cooler, etc. I think that will be in his towing range. We can fit everything in the PIlot very easily, but apparently that is not a fun camping vehicle. :rofl2:

Very helpful, thanks! I was thinking it was something like that. We stopped at an RV lot just to look yesterday, and they had a super cute T@B - silver and yellow. The inside was awesome! If it were just me and DH, we would have had a hard time not buying it! Mine does too. I think DH is starting to agree with you guys. And I think he's agreeing with you now too! Yay!

Where is the best mini golf for a 4yo? DD might like to play a round while we're there... And we would like to know about any available secret walkways to use as well...

So, we've been discussing pop up campers - maybe next summer - and of course, I'm checking out what's out there. The big glitch is that DH is determined to pull it with his 2008 Jeep Wrangler. (there should really be an uber-patient wifey smiley who is tapping her foot...) The towing capacity is 2000 lbs. Now, when I look at pop ups online, I'm looking at so many weights. I know I've studied this before, and for some reason I think I should be looking at the GVWR on the camper specs. Is that right? Cause if that's the case, about the only thing we can tow is a Starflyer or an old Taos.

Great pics Starla! Thanks! I enjoyed seeing all the precious pups too - so sweet! :heart:

I enjoy sewing - but only things that don't have to be a certain size, or "fit" - I mostly do tote bags, purses, crafty type stuff and curtains. You know, an inch off here or there and no big deal. I also do a lot of handywork on my own clothes to make them fit "just right". I am currently making a bathroom organizer to hang in the closet area of Pop when we take our trip, so I won't spend the whole trip digging through toiletry bags. I also tried one of those "easy" patterns to make a dress for my DD. Ummm.... no. :rofl2:

You guys are a complete mess. :rofl2: Thanks for the tips on the fridge and freezing the water jugs! Glad you enjoyed the TR, Nikki!

Beautiful! And I love the video!

Well, I'm half-coonass and half-redneck. I win. SO, back to the subject at hand - are they NOT having character meals there? My DD would LOVE it so much I might actually pay for a character meal there. But probably not a regular meal.

Thanks everyone for joining in! A few final notes about the actual park itself, if anyone is considering a visit. Purchase your tickets through the campgrounds - they offer a discount. You could save $6-10 per ticket, depending on what you get. Definitely worth it. They occasionally run specials online, too. But the campground will always give you a discount. They have a "meal plan" option (wonder where they got that idea? ) that is $15.99. You get a meal (including drink) and a snack for that price. If you plan to eat at the park, I think it's a good deal. You can see the list of opti

That is DH's favorite too! Nothing like the smell of bacon! I hear you! DH was asking me "When we stay longer, what else will we DO?" I said "We will do a whole lotta nothin" :heart: Well, and hopefully next time we will go somewhere that has a fishing hole. I'm glad I could help! I'm going to post a little more park info here in a minute! If we look like pros, it's only because I got great info here! I love the list tip! As a matter of fact, my list is on my laptop and we take that with us. I will actually be able to update it as we go! Thanks for the idea. Of course! Check

Thank you so much! I am glad you enjoyed it! Please please let me know if you guys do come up for it! Even if we aren't camping, we could definitely come over for a visit! And a bunch of overdue hugs!! :hugs2: Thanks! And I am sooooo glad you said that! I have a small fridge I keep in my classroom, we could use it! :jumpforjoy

It was pretty cool. Luckily, the park closes at like 9 or 10 so the noise is totally not an issue for us. Plus with the crazy weather nearby, we knew as long as we heard roller coasters crankin', we were good :rofl3: Thanks so much! For the record, she took 77 photos :rofl2: and 74 of those were of the extension cord. Good call on a computer list. I did have a list, the problem was I had "pillows, sheets, blankets" on one line and only got 2 out of 3... But I like the idea of updating it after every trip. I wil def tell DD she is artsy fartsy :rofl2: I wondered if her perspective

Yes we did! Thanks to DH - master cooler-packer. He put them in the cooler when he packed it. :heart: I know! When I was a kid, I think my first camera was a little Kodak that you had to attach the flash bulb pack to! So, you got like 6 pictures at a time. And it was so expensive to develop. :dropjaw: She has a little Fisher Price play camera at home that she has gotten good at, too.

Okay, so our surroundings... Here are some pics looking away from our site: to the right: directly in front: to the left: So, although there were others around, it was far from crowded! Here is the bathhouse: This is the pool area – we didn’t make it over there this trip Just wanted to show you how close we are to the park – that is the tower for Drop Zone you see in the background After poking around a while, we packed up and headed over to Carowinds to ride a few rides before heading home. I rode Afterburn (Formerly known as Top Gun, and I think is the best ride in the park). DD rode

The next morning, we hung out in PJs, listened to some music, and had some breakfast. DD got her hands on the camera for some pictures: What is the picture limit? Not sure, so let me cut this off and come back with some campground pics for you

Thanks, everyone, for reading along and making comments! On with the story – you know it’s just not an mgs vaca without some bumps in the road. Luckily, we don’t mind them so much when we’re having fun! So, we leave home and make the grueling 15 minute drive to the campgrounds. After arriving, the guy at check-in tells me to go pick a site and come back. We choose site 33 and check in. I had to grab a bag of ice ($2.65) to throw on the cooler, and we were off! As soon as we started setting up, I was getting eaten up by mosquitos. So, I put on the brakes and dug the Deep Woods Off wipes out of

I did not see any trash out at this campground, so either people are considerate or they stay on it. So, that was good! As a matter of fact, I don't think I saw a single napkin or cup or anything... Cool! You guys have a lot going on right now. If you ever do make it down, you have to let me know! Oh, yeah, everyone is jacking up the rates for the DNC. Crazy! I told DH that I didn't know people coming to the DNC would be camping, but he quickly reminded me of the "tree-hugging hippies". :rofl3: The Wilderness Lodge is just what you think - a big ol' cabin. It is 1100 sq feet and they

Thanks! Wow - good to know! I will keep a box of trash bags in the camp box so we will be prepared for "whatever". I really did like how we could recycle at the Fort. All those beer cans add up... :rofl2: Hey! Glad you made it! It is a good spot for a long weekend. There are a lot of gas stations and fast food nearby, too, so very convenient. You could definitely camp here "on the fly" without planning too terribly carefully. There is an outlet-type mall as well, with a variety of stores and a food court and a HUGE playground inside.

OMG :rofl3: What a great story! Well, first of all, thanks for the review of the Wishes Cruise - but secondly - :rofl3: I have been on a pontoon with a less than savvy driver (and two leaky pontoons) before - so I totally get you. We also had a dog on the front of the boat, thank goodness she was a lab and actually enjoyed the whole event! Don't worry about those brain-eating amoeba. You had enough alcohol in your system to kill 'em all. :whew:

Prices: Map: Okay, a note about the prices. They give discounts and so we ended up paying $32 and some change for our tent site for the night. We had water and electricity. About the map - you can see where the guy who checked me in circled the trading post area (there is also laundry there I think) and also the name of the tent/pop up loop. He told us to go drive through the loop and choose our spot and come back to check in. I thought that was cool. Someone had already reserved site 20, so he crossed it off. There were already people camped in other sites, so we chose from what was l