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ftwildernessguy

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Posts posted by ftwildernessguy

  1. We ate at Jiko the year before, and it was good, but I liked Sanaa better.  The chicken was some sort of African/Indian thing.  It was extremely flavorful.  We also had some appetizers that were incredibly good.  The food is well spiced but not spicey, if you know what I mean.

  2. Through all our struggles with Chris, Carol was the strong advocate.  I swear she knows more about bipolar than any other living person.  I was called in when additional support was needed or the doctor card had to be played.  To this day, Carol can deal with Chris and her issues better than anyone else.  Never, and I mean never, get in the way of a mother when it comes to protecting their child.

  3. I have seen both situations, Roger.  Sometimes Disney has made guests move their trailers from the campsite to the overflow lot.  You can pick up a lock for the trailer pretty inexpensively from Wally World.  It may not guarantee your trailer won't get lifted, but maybe they will move on to the next one that doesn't have a lock on it.  I have heard of trailers being "borrowed" from the lot, although I think it is rare.

  4. We were camping the year of all the hurricanes at FW - left the day before they evacuated for Hurricane Wilma.  The staff at the FW kennels kept track of the storm for me.  I will say, however, that it was the very best weather we ever experienced in Florida - humidity was low, temps were in the upper 70's every day - can't say how it was after we left, though.  They do move the trailers and motorhomes into an empty parking lot, sort of grouped all together for protection.  If you have a pet boarded, best to leave them in the kennel.  They have an agreement with a local vet to take any overflow pets that don't have a spot.  I believe Best Friends has the same agreement going.

  5. You're not too far from me, Roger, and it takes me 19-22 hours to drive down.  Depends on how fast you like to travel.  I keep my speed down when towing, never go over 60.  Plan on construction in Georgia which may or may not slow you down. 

    As far as a route, I go to Harrisburg and pick up 15, take that to 270 and pick up 495 on the western side.  I usually don't take the Richmond bypass, but I do take 9A around Jacksonville.  I also avoid I4 - I continue on 95 to 417.  It's a toll road so it will cost you a few bucks, but it sure is better than dealing with Orlando traffic.

  6. We had lunch there with friends last September.  It was a great experience.  I had a grilled chicken salad that was amazing.  We were seated by the windows looking out on the savannah, and had close up views of giraffe and ostriches.  I would definitely go back, not only for the food but also the experience. 

  7. I haven't been allowed to eat at Biergarten since they chose me to tap the keg and I had to chug this really big beer.  I was feeling pretty good when the bill came and I couldn't do the math to figure out the tip.  I think I gave the girl about 50 bucks for a tip and now FWgirl won't let me in the place anymore.  I love the food there, though.

  8. We stopped there on the way home last September and were shocked to see they were no longer a KOA.  Personally, I was a little disappointed with the new owners.  We were given a really crappy site despite a lot of open sites, and it was pretty obvious they were catering to the seasonal crowd.  I noticed not too many overnighters this time around.  It used to get really busy in the evening with people going to or from Florida.  We're going to pass by this place from now on.

  9. We have always gone off season and taken the kids out of school.  Personally, I feel the family time more than compensates for the loss of classroom time.  They always have brought school work with them and more often than not ended up ahead of the other kids when they returned.  In addition, we emphasize the educational part of Disney, especially at Epcot and AK. 

  10. LOL!

    About 24 years ago we  bought our first pop up - an old coleman.  My daughter was a little under 2 and Carol was pregnant with my son.  We loaded up the van and pulled the trailer up to the beautiful Santa Cruz redwoods for our first trip.  That night it got pretty cold and I hadn't lit the pilot on the furnace, but we were pretty warm in our sleeping bags.  In the middle of the night I woke up to my daughter screaming "Somebody turn on the lights!"  Our little Yorkshire Terrier had gotten cold and found a warm spot to lay down - my daughter's face!  I opened up my sleeping bag, the dog took off to the bottom and all was quiet the rest of the night.

  11. Several years ago I knew a child well who went to Disney on this program.  Tragically, he became ill while at Disney, was rushed home and died.  He was 6 years old and quite a character, and to this day I tear up when I think of him and this tragedy.  This is truly a wonderful program.

  12. My daughter has bipolar disorder.  Before she was diagnosed, I used to get upset that we would go camping and all she wanted to do was nap in the camper.  I finally figured out that if that was what she wanted to do on vacation, then why not?  After her diagnosis, we started doing less as far as commando raids on parks and activities that would overstimulate her.  More time at the camper, in the quiet, going for walks etc.  It sure made things a lot better for everybody.  Fortuneately, we live in a time where medicine has advanced as far as diagnosis and treatment.  She is now stable on her medications, has a job and can hold a conversation with adults.  While she cannot handle full time college, she did finish a psychology course at our local community college and got an A!!!!  That was a big accomplishment for her.  I gotta say, I probably wasn't the most patient or sensitive guy when it came to dealing with disabled people, which I am not proud of.  If anything good has come of Chris' disability, it is that that aspect of me has changed.  However, it has made me more aware that there is a lot of misunderstanding and fear in the real world when it comes to dealing with disabled people.  As terrible as a mental disorder is, and I can't imagine the struggle my daughter went through in life before she was treated, I can't imagine the difficulty in dealing with physical disabilities, or combinations of these, but I am trying to understand.

  13. There isn't any better way to travel with disabled children than an RV.  To this day, my daughter's happiest memories center around the time she spent camping with her brother and my wife and I.  In fact, she is hoping to be able to go with us sometime this summer.  I truly believe that the peacefullness and quiet of the woods has been very therapeutic for her.

  14. Oh, we may be into that trip, too.  I picked up some stuff on campgrounds in the area at the Allentown RV show.  I will dig thru them and see what I have.  It depends on the weather and when I get the trailer inspected - it was due in November but I was lazy and just covered it up, so now I have to get it done this spring.

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