Happy Fall Y'all! TCD's September 2013 Not So Scary TR

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

 

 

 

 

 

Here is something to make you laugh.  My ID, walked up, looked at this picture and said "I know who that is (twin #1) but who are the boys suppose to be".

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Wow! You made it 3 minutes and 45 seconds of that junk. I made it 3.45 seconds.

I told you so.

 

Sadly Sil walked in while it was playing and it became a train wreck. She wanted to see it from the begining. Sigh.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

That's a great pic and story about your oldest. I hope to be in the same situation in about 15 years.

I do have one WTF. What happened to Lou? Don't tell me that we have lost another OG!

[fortpartyof4 108]

That's a great pic and story about your oldest. I hope to be in the same situation in about 15 years.

I do have one WTF. What happened to Lou? Don't tell me that we have lost another OG!

 

OG?  Please tell me that doesn't stand for old geezer.  Because I'm pretty sure that when Lou takes his FF hiatuses, he still pops on here from time to time.

 

At least, that is my guess at the reason for his recent absence.

 

My kids and I can't revisit WDW like this family can, but they do indulge me in watching a few minutes of the old "Playhouse Disney" shows together that they used to watch when they were small every once in a while.  Not quite the same thing, but it brings back some great memories.  

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

OG? Please tell me that doesn't stand for old geezer. Because I'm pretty sure that when Lou takes his FF hiatuses, he still pops on here from time to time.

At least, that is my guess at the reason for his recent absence.

My kids and I can't revisit WDW like this family can, but they do indulge me in watching a few minutes of the old "Playhouse Disney" shows together that they used to watch when they were small every once in a while. Not quite the same thing, but it brings back some great memories.

Original gangsta

[dvccamper 32]

Love that you had the 'mature student' costume, made me laugh. He was a funny character in that movie. Very clever costumes, twin #1 did a great job (I think it was #1?).

[Jennifer41 19]

 

As far as I know, the music for the Electric Water Pageant  (boat parade) is the same.

 

As is the music for the Main Street Electrical Parade.

 

I'm not sure if that's the parade you saw when you were 10.  It could have been Spectromagic.  They don't have that parade any more.

 

I'm 99% sure it was the Main St. Electrical Parade. I remember the spinning snail thing...

 

That hidden ride camera caught us off guard again.  But not as bad as that last kid in my rocket:

 

 

 

THIS IS HILARIOUS!!  :laugh: :laugh:  I can't wait to see our ride photos....  We're already super non-photogenic so the ride photos should prove to be interesting.

[Brent... Just Brent 83]

Great report so far, TCD. 

 

The girls picked great costumes. Not just because they are current and awesome, but because they're COOL. Everytime I've been to MNSSHP it's way too hot for a big costume - and it certainly was that night based on how warm I was over at Epcot.

 

Do we get photos of the candy haul? Some of us with a sweet tooth are wondering what kind of candy we're getting this year.

[LONE-STAR 370]

OG?  Please tell me that doesn't stand for old geezer.  Because I'm pretty sure that when Lou takes his FF hiatuses, he still pops on here from time to time.

 

At least, that is my guess at the reason for his recent absence.

 

My kids and I can't revisit WDW like this family can, but they do indulge me in watching a few minutes of the old "Playhouse Disney" shows together that they used to watch when they were small every once in a while.  Not quite the same thing, but it brings back some great memories.

  

Original gangsta

OG -Odd Guy, Obvious Genius, Ok Guy, that's all I got. I still like Old Guy.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Awesome!  We haven't done any of the extra parties so I am glad to experience them through your family.  I also love reading about how you guys (see - southern girl that prefers that to ya'll.  I never did fit in....) keep finding magic at the parks.  I hope our boys still love it as adults - we are doing our part.  Of course we are just big kids, too. 

 

Our DS2 was excited to lose his first tooth this week but a little bummed it wasn't at the Magic Kingdom like big brother did. 

 

I think that kids who are raised to love Disney will continue to do so as adults.  All of my daughters have met friends away at school who are Disney fans.  The only problem I foresee is that it's probably not cool for a teenage boy to like Disney.

 

I'm pretty sure that your DS2 can bring that tooth to Disney World and put it under his pillow.  There must be some kind of first tooth exception.

 

 

Here is something to make you laugh.  My ID, walked up, looked at this picture and said "I know who that is (twin #1) but who are the boys suppose to be".

 

That did make me laugh!  Good job raising your imaginary kids!

 

Sadly Sil walked in while it was playing and it became a train wreck. She wanted to see it from the begining. Sigh.

 

Oh sure.

 

Admit it- you loved that video.

 

That's a great pic and story about your oldest. I hope to be in the same situation in about 15 years.

I do have one WTF. What happened to Lou? Don't tell me that we have lost another OG!

 

I hope that you are in the same situation in 15 years too.  Keep doing what you're doing, and you will be.

 

I don't think we've lost Lou.  He's just on one of his vision quests or something.  He'll be back.  At least I hope he will.

 

OG?  Please tell me that doesn't stand for old geezer.  Because I'm pretty sure that when Lou takes his FF hiatuses, he still pops on here from time to time.

 

At least, that is my guess at the reason for his recent absence.

 

My kids and I can't revisit WDW like this family can, but they do indulge me in watching a few minutes of the old "Playhouse Disney" shows together that they used to watch when they were small every once in a while.  Not quite the same thing, but it brings back some great memories.  

 

Come on Cyndee, OG is an old term.  Even I know that one.

 

That stinks that you can't visit WDW as much anymore, but your boys have been exposed enough that I'm sure they will be asking to go back every chance that you can.

 

Love that you had the 'mature student' costume, made me laugh. He was a funny character in that movie. Very clever costumes, twin #1 did a great job (I think it was #1?).

 

I hate to admit this, but I still haven't seen Monsters University.  When it came out, the only DD home was Twin #1, and she went to see it on the first night with a friend.  I thought I would see it with one of the other TCD DD's, but they both saw it with friends at school.  No problem, I thought, I would catch it on our Disney cruise.  It was playing, but I never found the time to see it.  It's coming out on DVD the end of this month, I'm going to wait for that.

 

And yes, credit for the costumes goes to Twin #1- she came up with the concept, and made them all herself.

 

I'm 99% sure it was the Main St. Electrical Parade. I remember the spinning snail thing...

 

 

THIS IS HILARIOUS!!   :laugh: :laugh:  I can't wait to see our ride photos....  We're already super non-photogenic so the ride photos should prove to be interesting.

 

That snail thing is in the MSEP.  Still spins, too.

 

I can't wait to see your ride photos too! 

 

Great report so far, TCD. 

 

The girls picked great costumes. Not just because they are current and awesome, but because they're COOL. Everytime I've been to MNSSHP it's way too hot for a big costume - and it certainly was that night based on how warm I was over at Epcot.

 

Do we get photos of the candy haul? Some of us with a sweet tooth are wondering what kind of candy we're getting this year.

 

You're right, Brent, it was a warm night at the MK.  We had a little rain, too.  One photo fail from that night was I didn't get a photo of a guest who had a full-on Maleficent costume on- complete with face paint.  That poor lady wasn't looking too good after the rain and humidity.

 

And, I hate to tell you, but a second photo fail is that I have no candy haul photos.  We did good though.  It was a good assortment this year, and we probably got about 3 to 5 pounds of candy each.  And zero chick-o-sticks.

 

  

OG -Odd Guy, Obvious Genius, Ok Guy, that's all I got. I still like Old Guy.

 

Old Guy works, but the official translation is Original Gangsta.  I believe 50 Cent popularized that one. Word.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Time to dust this report off and get at it.

 

It's Saturday morning now, September 28th.  It was well past 1 am again before we got to bed on Friday night.   We had no big plans for the morning- the girls wanted to sleep.  I wanted to get up in time to do a little looking around the Fort, and watch ESPN College Gameday, which was broadcasting from the campus of the University of Georgia.

 

I slept in again.  Very uncharacteristic of me, but I was tired.  So, it was just after 8 before I began my rounds. 

 

First stop was the Meadow Trading Post for some of that new Joffrey's coffee.

 

There were no other carts in the parking spaces.  But the two closest spaces were occupied by three girls who were doing some kind of exercises using the parking bumpers.  What the Fort?  I said excuse me to them, and they gave me dirty looks and moved down to some of the spaces further away.  Hey, sorry, but if you want to exercise that's great, just don't expect me to have to walk a few extra steps.  When I came out of the Trading Post, those girls were doing some kind of yoga or something in the parking spaces.  I was too slow with the camera and missed it.  But, these are the girls in case you're wondering what kind of crazy person is going to be doing exercises in a golf cart parking lot on a Saturday morning at the Fort:

 

 

I mentioned it was Saturday morning, right?

 

Well, then you know what I saw as I cruised by the service road leading to the pool:

 

 

Yup.  Freeloaders unloading for the day.

 

How hard would it be to stop this?

 

Not hard at all.

 

So why does it happen every weekend?

 

Oh well, nothing new to see there.

 

I went looking for something new out along the canal behind the 300 loop.  There have been reports again that the bridge is closed off and that guests can no longer cross it.  I needed to check on that.

 

Here's the canal- a beautiful sight:

 

 

As long as you don't look too close:

 

 

Not only can you see the crane in that shot, but you can also see the top of the new Four Seasons building.  Get used to it.

 

Hmmm, it seems we have a scofflaw here.  What nerve.  Driving a golf cart back here?  That's a big no-no!:

 

 

If you are one of the few who actually read TCD TR's and not just look at the pictures, you may recall that I mentioned that there would be a big revelation in this post.

 

Well, here it is:

 

 

What's that, you ask?

 

That is a brand new pump.  Everything you see here was not there the last time I was back this way in May:

 

 

I guess this means no more temporary pumps at certain times of the year.  We now have a permanent pump.

 

And, the bridge is open:

 

 

And, not to worry, all of your favorite stuff is still here- you can see the metal pilgrim hat and the moss holder are still in place:

 

 

Speaking of the moss holder- I think it's not really a moss holder, but rather, some kind of antenna.  Call me crazy, but couldn't one of the workers who was back here to install all the new stuff cleaned the moss off of it?  How hard would that have been?

 

All the fences and gates you see are kind of new.  The fences and gates went up about a year ago.  First, they had barbed wire strung on top of the fences in the brackets you see, but then they took that down.  Also, they never had locks on the gates, which seemed to kind of defeat the purpose.  Well, the barbed wire is still gone, but there are locks now-so too bad if you wanted to open up the gates and play with the equipment:

 

 

There is something new on the canal side of the bridge.  A box with two locks on it:

 

 

If you count the lock on the gate, that makes three locks you have to open to get to whatever is in that box.  What could be so important in that little box, that they need three locks?  It's not like it's a nuclear missile launcher or anything:

 

 

If you're a fan of TCD TR's, you may recall a previous report where it was theorized that some of this equipment belongs to the Iranian Government. There was some speculation that there was Arabic writing on some of the equipment installed back here.  Well, actually, it was just DaveInTN who thought that there were some kind of nuclear experiments going on back here by the Iranian Government.  But, I like to humor him.  So, I paid careful attention to the new stuff here, even taking a close up of this lock so we could analyze it for clues:

 

 

Well, there you have it.  That lock is from the American Lock Company.  And, just to make sure you don't think anything funny is going on, they added U.S.A. below the company name.

 

But, hang on a second.

 

Who ever heard of the American Lock Company?

 

How do we know that this isn't some clever trick by the Iranian Government to throw Dave off track in his effort to expose their nuclear experiments?

 

This all does seem kind of suspicious.  Maybe that is a missile launcher.

 

Well, this is all very interesting, isn't it.

 

Another big revelation in a TCD TR.

 

But wait, there's more!

 

Just across the bridge, I noticed some survey stakes that were not here the last time I was out this way.

 

Uh oh.

 

Could these stakes be for the new Four Seasons Bay Lake Recreation Area?

 

Nope.

 

They're for the new Bat House:

 

 

You see that funny looking thing up on that pole?

 

That's a bat house.

 

And these stakes were used by the geniuses who installed it:

 

 

 

At least that's what they want us to think.

 

But, what about this stake over here near the edge of the woods?:

 

 

I don't know what that one was for.

 

Seems pretty suspicious to me.

 

Here's the new bat house:

 

 

The  boardwalk for the Wilderness Swamp Trail used to begin right back this way- you can't see any sign of it anymore:

 

 

The old cabin isn't looking too good these days:

 

 

The view from here is still pretty awesome, though:

 

 

One more look at the cabin- why don't they trim some of the bushes and keep this thing presentable?:

 

 

It's been a while since I've headed down the old trail past here.  I'll bet the bugs are pretty bad back there:

 

 

There's some air potato vines getting ready to attack this pine tree:

 

 

Here's one more look at that survey stake near the woodline- there are some very nice big cypress trees back here.  You can see that the air potato vines are out of control back here.  I hope they stay off these trees:

 

 

 

Here's a look at that stake, looking toward the cabin- there was no writing on this stake.  But there could have been Arabic writing on it written with invisible ink.  You never know:

 

 

I used to like to stand on this bridge and look down the canal.  It's a nice view.  Not anymore:

 

 

By sticking my camera lens through the fence, I can show you how that view used to look:

 

 

Oh well, who needs pretty views? 

 

I do.

 

At least the view from my favorite spot isn't ruined yet:

 

 

This is a good place to stop.

 

Plus we have to, since that is 30 photos.

 

So, there you have it.

 

Not one, but two revelations;  1.  There is now a permanent pump installed at the dam.

 

And, 2.  The Fort has a new bat house.

 

You heard it here first.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I ran out of room in that last update to discuss something about the view of the Magic Kingdom from Fort Wilderness.

 

A couple of weeks ago, PezHeadVal posted information about a new piece of art work which was going to be on sale at the parks.  This is the thread, in case you missed it:  http://www.fortfiends.net/forum/topic/11126-david-e-doss-fun-at-ft-wilderness/?hl=%2Bdavid+%2Bdoss

 

And this is the art in question:

 

 

I wonder where Mickey, Minnie and Goofy set up their trailer in Fort Wilderness where they can see the castle, but not Bay Lake Tower and Space Mountain? (not to mention the Christmas light crane)  I thought I found the spot, but I guess not:

 

 

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

1973?? Space Mountain wasn't built yet, and the garden wings could have been hidden by the trees :)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1973?? Space Mountain wasn't built yet, and the garden wings could have been hidden by the trees :)

 

By Golly, you're right!

 

I should have noticed Mickey's retro aluminum folding chair.  I haven't seen one of those lately.

 

Now, I just need a time machine, and I'll find that spot!

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Are we sure there isn't a 4th Cinderella slipper in that locked box?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Are we sure there isn't a 4th Cinderella slipper in that locked box?

 

Ha Ha!

 

Good one!

 

Maybe so.

 

If they hadn't put all those locks on it, I wouldn't even be curious about it.  But, now I have to know.

 

I'll find out one of these days.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's continue on with Saturday.

 

We left off down by the dam.  Looking at the castle, space mountain, Bay Lake Tower, and a crane.

 

Did you know that from right here, you can see the Grand Floridian resort and the monorail?

 

It's true- just turn to your left and look for yourself- all the way through the opening in the trees:

 

 

Can you see that?  Look closer:

 

 

If you stand there long enough, the monorail will pass by.  Kind of cool that you can see it from way back here in the middle of the Wilderness.

 

Since it's my self-appointed duty to keep an eye out for any sign that a DVC resort is going to be built at the Fort, from here, I headed down to the site of the new Fort Wilderness Dining Pavilion.  This is more than just a rumor, Disney applied for a building permit for this.  But, so far, there are no signs that anything is happening at the site:

 

 

I stopped for a coffee refill at Trail's End, and went back to the site to watch the beginning of the ESPN College Gameday broadcast at 9 am.

 

After a bit, I remembered that FWG was leaving today, so I headed over to his site to see if he was still around.  On the way, I stopped for some more coffee.  I had to get my money's worth from my new refillable mug.  I caught a couple more pink mug coffee thieves red handed:

 

 

Apparently, I am the only one who cares about coffee theft.  There were plenty of Castmembers there to see this crime, and they said nothing.  So, if you want to steal coffee, come on down.

 

On the way to the 1800 loop, I passed by the back side of the 1200 and 1300 loop.  There was a rumor asked about on this board about tents being barred on premium sites.  Well, that rumor ain't true.  Here's a tent set up way behind a site on the 1300 loop (which is a premium loop) :

 

 

I pulled in to the 1800 loop, and found FWG was all hitched up and was just getting into his truck to leave.  I almost missed him.  Since I knew he was in a hurry to hit the road, we only chatted for a few minutes, then he floored it, and all that was left was the smell of burning rubber.

 

Since I was all the way back here, I decided that I may as well complete my required inspection of the Four Seasons hotel project.

 

So, I ducked out the back of the 1800 loop, and headed out along the pet walk:

 

 

You can kind of see some of the construction even from here, but not too well, so I headed that way.  Here's a look back toward the 1800 loop.  Remember that camper you see there backed up to the pet walk:

 

 

I call this photo Reflection of Evil:

 

 

Except for that evil reflection, you can't really see the Four Seasons Abomination until you pass these pine trees. But then it jumps out at you:

 

 

Yup, there it is:

 

 

 

It doesn't take long to get to the gate that separates the Fort from the rich folks.  So far, there's not a real effort to keep us out.  But somehow, I don't think it's always going to be this way:

 

 

This sidewalk will take us to where we are going:

 

 

This sidewalk to the right goes back to the Fort Wilderness maintenance area.  I've never seen the canal there to the right as high as it is now.  But, we just got done having a lot of rain:

 

 

I call this photo A Pretty View (Ruined) :

 

 

It was around 10 am when I visited this time.  Normally, I would never come back here so late in the morning, as the place would be crawling with golfers.   But, the golf course is currently closed.  It turns out that the Golden Oaks/Four Seasons people bought the golf course too, and they've just recently closed it, and plan to do some work on it.  It's going to reopen when the hotel opens-some time in the next year.  The old clubhouse is down past this fairway.  The flags have all been removed- but it looks like they are still mowing the course:

 

 

From here at the base of the bridge, we can see the main building, plus a bunch of smaller out buildings- all of which are still very much under construction:

 

 

The Four Seasons plans have been examined by many of us, and we've seen that there is going to be an elaborate pool area on this side of the hotel, including a lazy river, and a building that the plans call a "Ruinous Mansion," whatever that is.  I can see some buildings over to the left of the main building.  One of those might be the Ruinous Mansion:

 

 

This is the bridge that golf carts use to cross the canal.  You can see that no one is around except me and that bird sitting there on the rail:

 

 

Now we're on the bridge, looking back at the Fort.  Did you remember that camper I told you to remember from the 1800 loop?  Really?  How could you have forgotten that already?  I'm getting worried about you- you are really getting forgetful.  Maybe you need to be checked.  Anyway, the little white dot you see in the middle of this photo is that camper on the 1800 loop:

 

 

Hey, what is this a bird convention?  There's another one right over there:

 

 

We can get a pretty good look at the whole project from here on the bridge.  I can see that they've added a bunch of landscaping- big palm trees and pine trees too:

 

 

This marker for the 18th whole of Osprey Ridge remains in place, but the fairway and hole are behind a construction fence, and have been torn up:

 

 

Take a good look at the Osprey Ridge logo, you may never see it again:

 

 

I noticed on this trip that the signs out on the WDW roads, both on Bonnet Creek Parkway and Buena Vista Way have been changed so they no longer refer to Osprey Ridge.  Now the signs say Buena Vista Golf Course.  I meant to get a photo of one, but I never had my camera out at the right time.  This leads me to believe that the new owners are going to give the golf course a new name.  Probably something a lot more snooty than Osprey Ridge.

 

This cart path used to take golfers along the 18th fairway.  Now, it is cut off by a construction fence:

 

 

But, conveniently, they left some holes in the fabric just big enough to peek through.  This is what's going on at ground level:

 

 

It's hard to tell exactly what is going on here.  I think that I see a pool over there:

 

 

But it's hard to tell.  What I can see is that there are a lot of pipes and stuff.  Here's a look at some of the new trees and some of the out buildings to the right of the main tower:

 

 

If I'm understanding the concept art right, the area that we are looking at here is going to be a big fake lake:

 

 

This is the view looking back from the fence toward the canal and the Fort:

 

 

The last time I was back here, I got stopped by a bunch of guys on two golf carts.  They had fishing poles, and it was late afternoon.  It turns out that it was the golf course manager and his buddies.  He told me I shouldn't be out on the course when people were golfing. 

 

Well, no one was golfing today.

 

And, I think that manager is currently out of work.

 

So, I thought I wouldn't be bothered.

 

But, as I took that last shot, I heard and then saw a guy speeding toward me on a big lawnmower.

 

Crap.

 

There was no place for me to go other than back the way that guy was coming.

 

Oh well, what's the worst thing that could happen?

 

I'll pick it up from there in the next update.

 

TCD

[Memphis 105]

 

 

Well, then you know what I saw as I cruised by the service road leading to the pool:

 

 

 

Yup.  Freeloaders unloading for the day.

 

You are probably right but sometimes people staying at the Fort do this too to get their cooler and stuff to the pool without having to walk it over or wag it on the bus.  Lazy SMBs .  I say this as I drive my golf cart from the 1500 loop to the pool.

 

 

 

 

Here's the canal- a beautiful sight:

 

 

Did you know that is actually Bonnet Creek at least according to Bing maps.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Now that there is a bat house what about the base balls? Don't they get a house?

[BigTom 76]

Base balls don't need a house. They have a room in the castle.

[Beckers 1,136]

The bananas looks like crap.

[fortpartyof4 108]

The bananas looks like crap.

 

I thought the same thing!  And they're probably getting 2 bucks a pop for them.

 

Hey!  come enjoy a crappy cup of coffee and a mushy bruised banana at the Meadow Trading Post!  Super value at only ten bucks!  bahahaha

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 

 

 

Well, then you know what I saw as I cruised by the service road leading to the pool:

 

 

 

Yup.  Freeloaders unloading for the day.

 

You are probably right but sometimes people staying at the Fort do this too to get their cooler and stuff to the pool without having to walk it over or wag it on the bus.  Lazy SMBs .  I say this as I drive my golf cart from the 1500 loop to the pool.

 

 

 

 

Here's the canal- a beautiful sight:

 

 

Did you know that is actually Bonnet Creek at least according to Bing maps.

 

 

1.  Yes, it's possible that those were genuine Fort guests.  But, I don't think so.  I have some more photos of their party hogging the pavilion later in this report.

 

2.  I saw that recently on Bing maps, too.  I think it is Bonnet Creek.  It's funny that on the old Fort maps, they called this canal Chickasaw Creek. Before Google and Bing, it would be hard to figure out that the creek is actually Bonnet Creek.  Sometime, I want to lead a Lewis and Clark style expedition up the creek to find its source.  I just hope I don't wind up the creek without a paddle.

 

Now that there is a bat house what about the base balls? Don't they get a house?

 

LOL.

 

Base balls don't need a house. They have a room in the castle.

 

I don't get it?

 

The bananas looks like crap.

 

Yes, they do.  Who is going to buy one of those?

 

I thought the same thing!  And they're probably getting 2 bucks a pop for them.

 

Hey!  come enjoy a crappy cup of coffee and a mushy bruised banana at the Meadow Trading Post!  Super value at only ten bucks!  bahahaha

 

I think those bananas are for the suckers guests on the DDP.

 

I don't think they actually expect anyone to pay for them.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Update time.

 

We left off on the golf course formerly known as Osprey Ridge, with a rapidly approaching guy on a big rider mower.

 

He came at me fast, took a look, and headed right over the bridge without slowing down.

 

Must have been quitting time.

 

There he goes:

 

 

 

That was one fast mower.  You can see him blazing down the sidewalk here on his way back to the backstage maintenance area:

 

 

So, no problem.  I could continue to look around.

 

But, I had seen enough, and I headed back to the Fort.

 

On my way past the old first hole, I decided to take a look at the markers that they had on the fairway:

 

 

Here's a close up of one:

 

 

 

And another:

 

 

 

I think these are marking the components of the irrigation system.

 

I guess some work is going to be done.  But, the course was in pretty good shape, so I'm not sure how extensive it will be.

 

Time will tell.

 

I love nature.  These plants are a nuisance plant that has burrs on it.  But, it looks pretty growing there:

 

 

I'll tell you one thing, though- it would stink if you hit your ball in there.

 

We are heading back to the Fort now.  You can see that camper I told you to remember there on the 1800 loop:

 

 

 

When I got back on the 1800 loop, I decided that there was a new site that deserved to be enshrined in the TCD Site Hall of Shame.

 

It is site 1810:

 

 

 

For some reason, I had never paid particular attention to this site, but looking at it from here, I saw that I would hate to be assigned this site.

 

Since it's on a curve in the loop, it parallels the loop road, which means that there is no privacy on the back or side of the site:

 

 

 

And looking at it head on, there's no privacy on the other side either.

 

 

 

I had never seen a Coleman trailer like that.  I knew that Fleetwood experimented with hard-sided Coleman trailers back in the early 2000's,  I think they called those trailers Caravans.  But, I think they were hybrids, not solid walled.  But this one looked like a traditional trailer.  I have since Googled, and found that a new company, Dutchmen Manufacturing, currently has the rights to build and sell Coleman brand trailers.  Somehow, this news had not reached me.  This is the first time I had seen one of these.

 

As I looped around, I took another photo of that Coleman Hatteras that we already took a look at:

 

 

 

I was intrigued by this camper.  I couldn't tell if it was built and sold this way, or if the owner did it himself.  Take a closer look:

 

 

 

It looks like from the vents on the side that the trailer has a water heater, but the guy doesn't have the water connected, or a hose on the drain.  And, I'm not sure what that yellow cord coming out of the side is.

 

I have not been able to find any information about a Hatteras model trailer that was built without bunk ends, so I think this is a custom job.  What I want to know now is why?

 

And it's bugging me that I can't find a photo anywhere of a Coleman/Fleetwood model that I remember which was build without bunk ends.  I remember seeing one at an RV show some time after I bought my Coleman Camper, so it would have been sometime early in the 2000's.   I understand why some people might be attracted to a pop-up with four hard walls, but I can't imagine how incredibly cramped that camper must feel with no bunk ends.

 

The last site on the inside of the 1800 loop was FWG's home for his trip that just concluded.  When he arrived, he posted about how he was enjoying the lake view. I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't.  This is his just vacated site:

 

 

 

If there are any Wild Womenz reading along, the sites that y'all were in for the last WWW would have backed up to this lake.

 

I headed on out of there.

 

This tent/tarp masterpiece had caught my eye earlier, and I decided it deserved a photo in a TCD TR:

 

 

The last time I was at the Fort, in May, I snapped a photo of a pop-up camper parked and set up behind a motorhome on the 1600 loop.  It was then mentioned on ff.net that Fort management was finally cracking down on this practice and made the guests move the pop-up.  I guess the guests found a loophole, and in place of the pop-up, they now have big ugly car port style tents installed behind their sites:

 

 

 

I try very hard to not be involved in the Fort rumor mill.  And believe me, there's a big one.  But, the word around the Fort is that a certain popular travel agent was kicked out of the Fort earlier this year because the Fort manager thought she was soliciting travel agent business from her site.  I believe that the folks on these crappy looking sites are also engaged in the travel agency business.  And other things.  And they get to stay?  Their sites look like crap, and they bother me a lot.  What the Fort?  By the way, these are the folks who brought us the Sanford and Son junkyard Halloween eyesore on the 1800 last year.  So far, their Halloween crap has not emerged.  Let's cross our fingers that it stays that way.

 

Moving on.

 

Hey, look, it's a Segway Tour!:

 

 

I'll bet the guy trying to drive his motorhome on the road isn't feeling very magical about this:

 

 

If I am remembering right, I went back to the site at this point, and commenced with some serious football watching.  The girls got up gradually, and then our special guests arrived for lunch.

 

It was Mrs. TCD!

 

And Rocky! The official TCD dog!

 

The whole TCD gang was in the Fort.  Holla!

 

I don't know why I don't have a bunch of photos from this, but I have a theory.

 

The TCD girls don't take kindly to being photographed when they first wake up.

 

Plus, I was on Rocky duty.

 

That dog don't sit still at the Fort.

 

At one point, we went for a walk out behind the 900 loop.

 

Did you know that they replaced the old bridge that goes over the canal between the group camping area and the 900 loop?

 

Well they did.

 

Look:

 

 

I can tell you're not impressed.

 

Well, do you remember what the old one looked like?

 

No?

 

Geez, I have to do everything around here.

 

Here is a photo of the old bridge:

 

 

That new one is much nicer, no?

 

I hope you appreciate that I found that old photo for you.  It took me a while.  Where else can you find comparisons like this?  Nowhere, that's where. 

 

Have you ever been back here on the pet walk?

 

It's nice:

 

 

There's free poop bags and a can to throw them in too:

 

 

Here's a look back from here toward the 900 loop bridge:

 

 

You know who's hard to photograph?

 

Rocky.

 

He was looking right at me with a content look on his face, so I got out the camera to snap a photo, and then he looked away:

 

 

He does that on purpose.

 

These cars you see on the other side of the ditch are in the group camping parking area.  The group camping area was empty when we arrived on Friday, but it's packed now:

 

 

This is a look down the dog walk behind the 800 loop.  It's a great place to walk your dog, if you have one:

 

 

 

It was hot out on Saturday.

 

Probably near 90 degrees.

 

That walk had Rocky panting.

 

He needed to be in his spot in the camper where the AC hits him:

 

 

That photo reminded me of this one, from 2010, almost three and a half years ago:

 

 

Aw!

 

Look at little Rocky!

 

And 15 year old Twin #1.  With her blue tongue.

 

It's hard to believe it's been 3 1/2 years.

 

Where does the time go?

 

It flies.

 

Especially as your kids get older.

 

If you have kids at home, do me a favor and give them a hug today.  Same if you have a dog.  And, plan a camping trip.  Blink, and 3 1/2 years will fly by.

 

I'm not even kidding.

 

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Awwww love the comparison shots of Twin 1 and little Rocky.