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First TR - a little Disney, a lot of fun, Christmas 2014


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As Jim Gaffigan says, "Pigs are magical creatures. They eat apples and turn it into BACON." I think these people have the right idea- it's a pet AND a meal!

I'm fairly certain that this is my first Trip Report. This is hard for me- I take a lot of pictures and usually am VERY wordy.   The initial plan was that we would leave our house in Maryland and head

I Got All Teary Eyed With Your Daddy Daughter Dance Story. Sweet Cherished Moment.

This is a great trip report! What a blessing about that 10 year anniversary.  That is super special!  

 

I am also left with so many questions about that pig.  Wow. 

 

I have seen this campground before somewhere.  It looks like one of those places I would never want to leave. Although....I can do without the iguanas.

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Taking a quick break from the trip report... As mentioned, the 10 year mark is officially today. We met a doctor at Hopkins who broke the news to us that our daughter had a brain tumor and that they took her for surgery about an hour later. We later found out it was a cancerous brain tumor called an ependymoma. She had a couple of more surgeries and had 6-weeks of radiation treatments.Today Paige is a beautiful and vibrant young lady. She is an exceptional daughter, big sister, friend, student, and goofy kid. We're eternally blessed that she's free of side-effects, long-term effects, and physical deficits. She's above grade level in school and has even completed a couple of 5k runs. I love this girl to pieces!211a16f4a10a0509ef752085598325f1.jpg

I can't tell you how happy I am to read about how well Paige is doing. I have many friends whose children were not so fortunate. The amazing thing is how much these parents want to help try and find a cure so no other families have to go through what they did. I am a strong supporter of childhood cancer awareness and pediatric brain tumor awareness. My profile picture will go gray in May.
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Caught up on the rest of your report. I need to get to SeaWorld in Orlando it is the only one I have not been to yet. A funny story to share about touching the sting rays. When we first moved to Columbia and our relatives came to visit we went to the National Aquarium. Before we went my uncle told my sister she would be able to pet the electric eels while we were there. "Really?" She asked.

I was showing DD12 your Key West site pictures. Need to convince the rest of the family that we need to go camp there.

Absolutely beautiful! Oh and I totally get the relaxed but stressful feeling. Looks like your little guy has no fear.

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Great TR. Congrats on the 10 year cancer free anniversary. We have a 2 year old niece who is 1 year free of Neuroblastoma. 

On a side note, why do we all love to camp? It must be something with adventure- because there must be something special about anyone who wants to spend vacation worrying about blowouts and stuck slides, roof leaks and broken AC units.

Stay handy my friends!

AP

We love to *travel* the camper just facilitates that. Our Thousand Trails membership actually keeps things fairly affordable. Our entire 4 1/2-week stay in Orlando last summer costed a grand total of $135 (plus our regular $400/year dues but we use it all year long). Truthfully the camper has been decent to us- if they can just get this one slide fixed up.

WOW Doug that is one awesome looking place to camp, looks like a future trip there needs to be planned, even at the higher price it looked worth it.

It's expensive but we split the cost with my in-laws. It worked out to be right about $100/night for us (right about $195/night for the site and 2 extra adults). But, in my opinion- if I was going the whole way to Key West, I was going all out.

OMG! I need to go there. I was just showing this to Jason... Beautiful!

GGGGOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Great TR!

Congrats to you and your DD on the milestone!

Thanks, Aaron!

This is a great trip report! What a blessing about that 10 year anniversary.  That is super special!  

 

I am also left with so many questions about that pig.  Wow. 

 

I have seen this campground before somewhere.  It looks like one of those places I would never want to leave. Although....I can do without the iguanas.

I had heard of it online and the more I looked at pics, the better it sounded. I don't recall where I first came across it, but I knew I'd be there eventually. :)

Taking a quick break from the trip report... As mentioned, the 10 year mark is officially today. We met a doctor at Hopkins who broke the news to us that our daughter had a brain tumor and that they took her for surgery about an hour later. We later found out it was a cancerous brain tumor called an ependymoma. She had a couple of more surgeries and had 6-weeks of radiation treatments.Today Paige is a beautiful and vibrant young lady. She is an exceptional daughter, big sister, friend, student, and goofy kid. We're eternally blessed that she's free of side-effects, long-term effects, and physical deficits. She's above grade level in school and has even completed a couple of 5k runs. I love this girl to pieces!

I can't tell you how happy I am to read about how well Paige is doing. I have many friends whose children were not so fortunate. The amazing thing is how much these parents want to help try and find a cure so no other families have to go through what they did. I am a strong supporter of childhood cancer awareness and pediatric brain tumor awareness. My profile picture will go gray in May.

---

Caught up on the rest of your report. I need to get to SeaWorld in Orlando it is the only one I have not been to yet. A funny story to share about touching the sting rays. When we first moved to Columbia and our relatives came to visit we went to the National Aquarium. Before we went my uncle told my sister she would be able to pet the electric eels while we were there. "Really?" She asked.

I was showing DD12 your Key West site pictures. Need to convince the rest of the family that we need to go camp there.

Absolutely beautiful! Oh and I totally get the relaxed but stressful feeling. Looks like your little guy has no fear.

Thank you for the kind words. One of the first people I talked at length to the night before Paige's anniversary was a coworker who lost his son to cancer. Not a BT, but same ugly club. I apologized many times as we talked, but he assured me that he still celebrated with me. We unfortunately also know quite a few BT families, especially ependys that didn't have the same turn out. We're all here for each other.

Now, SeaWorld is one that we greatly enjoy. Our season passes were really convenient and they offer a 2-week pass for a decent price. We were able to buy that for my mother-in-law because she stayed with us for 3 weeks. We spent a lot of time at their water park, Aquatica. We actually talked about maybe getting season passes again, but we'll see. I am thinking we will have a summer full of Disney stuff this year.

Key West was amazing and yes, little dude has NO fear nor concept of unacceptable consequences. Throw in a love of water and its a terrible combination. :)

I'll have many more Key West pictures. It's hard to not want to go when looking through them.

Caught up.

Great TR! Keep it coming.

When I saw that tiki bar I thought to myself, that's a great community tiki bar. Then I realized that was the back of your site and it belonged to you for the next 9 days. And then the boat dock. Wow!!! What an awesome CG.

---

I looked at they CG's website and noticed the prices. Wow!

Is your site a canal site or a waterfront site?

I'm assuming its a waterfront. But I'm not sure.

Yep, our own personal tiki hut! All sites have them, but their size and level of complexity vary. Some have outdoor fridges. Ours just had a sink with cool water. But it did have wind shades that could be lowered because the wind was NON-STOP!

It was a waterfront site. I actually decided if we couldn't do waterfront, we weren't going. The canal sites looked nice, but I wanted "all in" with this trip or I'd wait it out.

And yes, the rates... holy batman the rates! It made Ft. Wilderness look like chump change. :) In the end, it worked out to be right about $195/night after taxes and extra fees for my in-laws. BUT, it was still a LOT cheaper than my wife's aunt and grandmother who hoteled it at a boutique hotel. And their room was tiny and blah to the max- but they could walk to Duval Street and thusly got to see Sushi being lowered in his/her red high heel for NYE. I'll admit, I'm a little jealous.

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Great TR. Congrats on the 10 year cancer free anniversary. We have a 2 year old niece who is 1 year free of Neuroblastoma. 

On a side note, why do we all love to camp? It must be something with adventure- because there must be something special about anyone who wants to spend vacation worrying about blowouts and stuck slides, roof leaks and broken AC units.

Stay handy my friends!

AP

We love to *travel* the camper just facilitates that. Our Thousand Trails membership actually keeps things fairly affordable. Our entire 4 1/2-week stay in Orlando last summer costed a grand total of $135 (plus our regular $400/year dues but we use it all year long). Truthfully the camper has been decent to us- if they can just get this one slide fixed up.

WOW Doug that is one awesome looking place to camp, looks like a future trip there needs to be planned, even at the higher price it looked worth it.

It's expensive but we split the cost with my in-laws. It worked out to be right about $100/night for us (right about $195/night for the site and 2 extra adults). But, in my opinion- if I was going the whole way to Key West, I was going all out.

OMG! I need to go there. I was just showing this to Jason... Beautiful!

GGGGOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Great TR!

Congrats to you and your DD on the milestone!

Thanks, Aaron!

This is a great trip report! What a blessing about that 10 year anniversary.  That is super special!  

 

I am also left with so many questions about that pig.  Wow. 

 

I have seen this campground before somewhere.  It looks like one of those places I would never want to leave. Although....I can do without the iguanas.

I had heard of it online and the more I looked at pics, the better it sounded. I don't recall where I first came across it, but I knew I'd be there eventually. :)

Taking a quick break from the trip report... As mentioned, the 10 year mark is officially today. We met a doctor at Hopkins who broke the news to us that our daughter had a brain tumor and that they took her for surgery about an hour later. We later found out it was a cancerous brain tumor called an ependymoma. She had a couple of more surgeries and had 6-weeks of radiation treatments.Today Paige is a beautiful and vibrant young lady. She is an exceptional daughter, big sister, friend, student, and goofy kid. We're eternally blessed that she's free of side-effects, long-term effects, and physical deficits. She's above grade level in school and has even completed a couple of 5k runs. I love this girl to pieces!

I can't tell you how happy I am to read about how well Paige is doing. I have many friends whose children were not so fortunate. The amazing thing is how much these parents want to help try and find a cure so no other families have to go through what they did. I am a strong supporter of childhood cancer awareness and pediatric brain tumor awareness. My profile picture will go gray in May.

---

Caught up on the rest of your report. I need to get to SeaWorld in Orlando it is the only one I have not been to yet. A funny story to share about touching the sting rays. When we first moved to Columbia and our relatives came to visit we went to the National Aquarium. Before we went my uncle told my sister she would be able to pet the electric eels while we were there. "Really?" She asked.

I was showing DD12 your Key West site pictures. Need to convince the rest of the family that we need to go camp there.

Absolutely beautiful! Oh and I totally get the relaxed but stressful feeling. Looks like your little guy has no fear.

Thank you for the kind words. One of the first people I talked at length to the night before Paige's anniversary was a coworker who lost his son to cancer. Not a BT, but same ugly club. I apologized many times as we talked, but he assured me that he still celebrated with me. We unfortunately also know quite a few BT families, especially ependys that didn't have the same turn out. We're all here for each other.

Now, SeaWorld is one that we greatly enjoy. Our season passes were really convenient and they offer a 2-week pass for a decent price. We were able to buy that for my mother-in-law because she stayed with us for 3 weeks. We spent a lot of time at their water park, Aquatica. We actually talked about maybe getting season passes again, but we'll see. I am thinking we will have a summer full of Disney stuff this year.

Key West was amazing and yes, little dude has NO fear nor concept of unacceptable consequences. Throw in a love of water and its a terrible combination. :)

I'll have many more Key West pictures. It's hard to not want to go when looking through them.

Caught up.

Great TR! Keep it coming.

When I saw that tiki bar I thought to myself, that's a great community tiki bar. Then I realized that was the back of your site and it belonged to you for the next 9 days. And then the boat dock. Wow!!! What an awesome CG.

---

I looked at they CG's website and noticed the prices. Wow!

Is your site a canal site or a waterfront site?

I'm assuming its a waterfront. But I'm not sure.

Yep, our own personal tiki hut! All sites have them, but their size and level of complexity vary. Some have outdoor fridges. Ours just had a sink with cool water. But it did have wind shades that could be lowered because the wind was NON-STOP!

It was a waterfront site. I actually decided if we couldn't do waterfront, we weren't going. The canal sites looked nice, but I wanted "all in" with this trip or I'd wait it out.

And yes, the rates... holy batman the rates! It made Ft. Wilderness look like chump change. :) In the end, it worked out to be right about $195/night after taxes and extra fees for my in-laws. BUT, it was still a LOT cheaper than my wife's aunt and grandmother who hoteled it at a boutique hotel. And their room was tiny and blah to the max- but they could walk to Duval Street and thusly got to see Sushi being lowered in his/her red high heel for NYE. I'll admit, I'm a little jealous.

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Wow, Bluewater Key looks like a great place.  So much so, that I did a little looking around for some more information, and I came across a site listing lots for sale: http://www.bluewaterkey.com/30_resort_premium-rv-lots-for-sale!.html

 

Here's an example of a listing that sounds a lot like the site you had:

 

54 $479,000 (Waterfront)This site is on open water and approximately 35' x 85' with 12' x 18' permitted TIKI Hut with wood deck, lighting and cabinets/bar.  Has new wind curtains and newly refinished cabinets. Open water sunrise view from TIKI and coach. Lot has lush tropical landscaping and a 10' x 30' concrete patio.   Lot easily accommodates the largest Coach or Fifth Wheel.  These lots are TRANSIENT licensed so you can rent out by the day, week or whatever and get additional income when you are not there!  Great rental history.  Full hook-up w/ 50 amp service, water, cable TV, telephone and dock. This is where the big dogs come to play and the only luxury RV resort in the lower keys.  It is gated, has on site management, club house and pool.  Located only 14 miles from Key West. 

 

Whoa.

 

But that price is nothing.  There are lots for sale for $795K and $799K.

 

It doesn't stop there.  There's also this to consider:

 

Owners pay Association $12 per nightly rental.          

 

 Association Dues for 2015 are $4500.         

 

Taxes average about $3500-$5000/year                               

 

Owner pays electric and water (averages $150-$250/month).

 

That's one expensive RV lot!

 

TCD

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Wow, TCD- I didn't look into that level of detail! I knew about the $12/night rental- in fact, it was the cause of a lawsuit between an owner and the RV association itself. That's why there are 2 sites for reservations - www.bluewaterkey.com and www.bluewaterkey.net. Very strange.

But wow at the yearly fees and taxes. The water and electric don't seem crazy considering you have yahoos like me running 2 A/C units most of the time.

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Wow, TCD- I didn't look into that level of detail! I knew about the $12/night rental- in fact, it was the cause of a lawsuit between an owner and the RV association itself. That's why there are 2 sites for reservations - www.bluewaterkey.com and www.bluewaterkey.net. Very strange. But wow at the yearly fees and taxes. The water and electric don't seem crazy considering you have yahoos like me running 2 A/C units most of the time.

 

I was wondering what the story was behind the multiple rental companies.

 

Someday, if I have extra money sitting around, I'd like to own a vacation home that I could visit part of the year, and rent out the rest.  I saw that the lots in this RV Resort were privately owned, and that got be to wondering what they sell for.  From what I've read, the folks who own these lots probably aren't buying them to make a return on their investment. 

 

That place looks super nice, but it's too rich for my blood.

 

TCD

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Hot spots are pricey.  It is the keys and if you have that kind of money, why not!  $10K+ a year for a resort type of location is a drop in the bucket. :)

 

Well, $10k plus your $500lk +/- mortgage cost. I'll stick to visiting for a week- maybe one day, two.

 

I would love for this line to be the summary of my next vacation. What a beautiful place you got to enjoy. 

 

I'll admit- it was pretty glorious. We really just hung out on our site and didn't leave it except to occasionally go to the heated pool. The campground offered no activities while we were there. I don't know if they usually do or not. I'm good without that stuff- ironically, I'm not much of a people person. :D

 

What a beautiful campground. I would love to stay there someday.

 

It's worth putting on a bucket list and making happen.

 

I was wondering what the story was behind the multiple rental companies.

 

Someday, if I have extra money sitting around, I'd like to own a vacation home that I could visit part of the year, and rent out the rest.  I saw that the lots in this RV Resort were privately owned, and that got be to wondering what they sell for.  From what I've read, the folks who own these lots probably aren't buying them to make a return on their investment. 

 

That place looks super nice, but it's too rich for my blood.

 

TCD

 

Definitely too rich to buy into for me, at least. But, I wouldn't mind being back for a visit.

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By this point, it was Christmas Eve. We decorated the tiki hut, our camper, and our site with some Christmas decorations.

 

First, our Christmas tree. My in-laws own a skinny tree and it's perfect for the camper. We used it in 2012 inside and again this year.

 

16232130732_48a8e029be.jpg

 

Next up are a pair of "Snow People" that are near and dear to my heart. My Mom passed back in 2011 (at the age of 54 :( ). Back in the late 80s/early 90s, my Mom made these. Her mom and sister would sit and knit the scarves. She would assemble these and sold them various places. They were always a hit and usually sold out. They're a staple for Christmas decorations for me now.

 

16207045096_ac72bc942b.jpg

 

We put on a door wrap to our 1/2 bath door:

 

15610537014_7185874d12.jpg

 

Inside, friends of ours made us a felt Christmas tree with felt ornaments. We hung it on the door from the kitchen to the bunkhouse. The felt stuff worked, but our friend made fleece stuff that didn't work well. Strangely, no pictures of it actually hung.

 

16045563630_d31077f764.jpg

 

We hung Christmas lights on the tiki hut and decorated the back of the camper:

 

16232938625_9a6c886766.jpg

 

My new Mickey Head setup looked pretty nice. The ground was just about impossible to stick things down into it:

 

16232130032_4ddd88438a.jpg

 

The star on the Christmas tree had some special significance for my mother-in-law. It's the star she always uses. I think it was made by a little boy she babysat for a few years (who I remember as a toddler and is apparently now in college?!!).

 

16232130232_f8af3e60be.jpg

 

It was cold.

 

16232129752_7bb32acfc2.jpg

(ok, not really- it was almost cool and my wife gets cold easily!)

 

And, I saw this online/not my picture, but it made me laugh and I texted it to friends. Here was our Snowman:

 

16231082081_27bf68f042.jpg

 

 

 

Christmas night came and Santa was a little nervous about leaving his presents out in the tiki hut overnight. Mom and Dad had the same concerns with their gifts (in our house, both give gifts- a big present or two from Santa and smaller stuff from Mom and Dad). So I got up at 6am to go out and set things out. Once I did that, I thought it was also a good time to catch some glorious sunrise pictures. My wife says that I clearly don't know how to use my phone's compass and instead of facing east, I was facing north. Looking at the map, I'm still not positive. Either way, it was a sunrise dud. I still got some artsy morning pictures. Note, I'm totally open to photo critiques of these.

 

Here's looking towards the point:

 

16045563040_e1328b8f35.jpg

 

I'm starting to master selfies:

 

16046832389_b866a4defd.jpg

 

Our and our neighbor's boat docks:

 

16045434088_302a96a4cf.jpg

 

Swim shoes:

 

16047090727_36d07f25d0.jpg

 

Tiki huts make everything better:

 

16045433748_dfc7be8256.jpg

 

Our kayaks (yes, there was Christmas day kayaking!):

 

16045433968_e7afb4e81a.jpg

 

Cool clouds:

 

16231081091_51f093f1b7.jpg

 

Swim ladder:

 

16231081291_434c7910e8.jpg

 

My teenage niece says all pictures should be taken at an extreme angle. I'm not sure why:

 

16047090427_661a780938.jpg

 

 

 

So that's an 18 picture taste of our decorations and some artsy photos. I'll post again with our actual Christmas day festivities....

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Sorry... busy week, late catching up.  LOTS of great stuff and enjoying the report... your story below (of you and your daughter) made my heart smile.  I have no doubt, that your little girl will remember that evening... forever.  One of those special moments that we has daughters, hold onto.  You did good dad. 

 

On the float.. I really liked how the "snow" was lit up on the Frozen sleigh :)  

 

Great pic of the fireworks!

 

Love the family pic and that pic at the end (of your daughter):  Awesome!!! :)   We're doing the Christmas party (for the first time) this year and I'm super excited for it! :)

 

 

And, for another backstory- back in the summer when we were in Downtown Disney, my then 10 year old daughter got bit by a bit of the pre-teen hormonal bug. She was moody, unpleasant and just didn't want to be there. I asked her to take a walk with me to figure out what was going on. Her Mom and Grandma went shopping and Grandpa took little brother. We talked a bit but didn't really come to any conclusion as to what was up. Just moody, we decided. We came across a DJ who had great audience interaction skills. We stood at the edge and watched- both her and my timidness taking ahold. Finally, the remembrance that I'll never see these people again- I busted out in dance with everyone else. She hid her face and peeked through her fingers. She was embarrassed but I caught a hint of a smile. The song stopped and the DJ told us what we would be doing next (dance styles, if I recall). The next one, I was able to get her to laugh a bit until I pulled her into the crowd with me to dance. By the 3rd one, she was dancing like a fool right along side of me! By the next song or two, her shoes were off. We danced until the very end, sweaty, needing a drink and feeling disgusting. We laughed SO HARD that whole evening. My wife had to call and find us, they actually finished shopping before we were done dancing!

 

Back to this bears party, as soon as daughter saw the dancing bears and heard the music, she grabbed my hand and pulled me in. It made my heart swell. She really had fun. But alas- we didn't catch a groove and soon went back outside.

 

 

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And reunited, we had the PP photographer take a few pictures with my phone:

15613098583_016e1cd3e3.jpg

 

 

16232137682_aa98c617b1.jpg

 

 

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I think your sunrise photos look great!  It looks like you were pointed in the right direction.  Close enough, anyway.

 

I think you're right that Tiki huts make everything better!

 

TCD

 

 

Thanks, TCD! I'll tell my wife that you said I was right. That should help my cause.

 

Your photos are great!  Love all the Christmas decorations.

 

Thanks, Gwen! We definitely decorated more for this trip than we did back in 2012. I think we had to move to 2 boxes of camper decorations and the Mickey head being loose for now. Pretty soon, I'll have to explore that purple storage place!

 

Sorry... busy week, late catching up.  LOTS of great stuff and enjoying the report... your story below (of you and your daughter) made my heart smile.  I have no doubt, that your little girl will remember that evening... forever.  One of those special moments that we has daughters, hold onto.  You did good dad. 

 

On the float.. I really liked how the "snow" was lit up on the Frozen sleigh :)  

 

Great pic of the fireworks!

 

Love the family pic and that pic at the end (of your daughter):  Awesome!!! :)   We're doing the Christmas party (for the first time) this year and I'm super excited for it! :)

 

Thanks. I get all smiley when I think of that story. It also helps remind me of what I like so much about Disney.

 

Couldn't figure out how to quote the Disney pics and the Key West pics in one response.... but the pictures of your spot in Key West, mercy... it is BEAUTIFUL there!

 

Thank you! We loved it. It was expensive but so nice. I do believe we'll be back. I'd actually like to go in the warmer months and plan for more swimming. It was almost warm enough and we did it any way- but a few degrees warmer all around would have been nice. :)

 

I think you did a great job on your sunrise photos.  It looks beautiful there.

 

Thanks, dvccamper!

 

More great pictures. I need the tiki hut NOW.

 

I like your decorations! 

 

Thanks and I'll admit- I have considered building a tiki hut to always have a tiki hut! I get very little credit for the decorations- I just do what the wife says. :D

Great Sunrise pix..check.

Tiki hut...check.

Christmas tree...check

Perfect Christmas morning...check.

 

Ray, thanks for the perfect segue into Christmas morning in the next update. :)

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