TCD's Halloween 2011 Trip Report

[BouncingTiggers 98]

TCD as always great TR!! I'm looking foward to many many more pictures.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I have said it before but twin #1 is a girl after my own heart. I love the things she comes up with. :rofl2: Great pictures as always. I'm glad you liked your UF troll, I knew all about it. See I can keep a secret. :)

Doodle, I agree with you. Me, you and twin#1 would have some fun together. Add stef in there are .... we'd all be in trouble. :rofl2:

[stefa70 205]

Doodle, I agree with you. Me, you and twin#1 would have some fun together. Add stef in there are .... we'd all be in trouble. :rofl2:

:dropjaw: What??? I am much more innocent than people make me out to be!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

:dropjaw: What??? I am much more innocent than people make me out to be!

hmmmm..... I think you will have to prove this one when/if we ever meet.

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

:dropjaw: What??? I am much more innocent than people make me out to be!

Which toe is the 'innocent' one?

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

:dropjaw: What??? I am much more innocent than people make me out to be!

Ya, and I'm the tooth fairy :rofl2:

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Ya, and I'm the tooth fairy :rofl2:

Where's the $0.50 you owe me? :rofl2:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Ya, and I'm the tooth fairy :rofl2:

why do my kids get more money than I did? That's not fair!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Ya, and I'm the tooth fairy :rofl2:

Inflation?

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Inflation?

that sounds like an excuse to me... with interest on what I didn't get... I could fund a few disney vacations... :rofl2:

[anolefan 8]

I love the hammock pictures! Donuts around the fire pit is classic.

I'm loving this report Andrew!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I have said it before but twin #1 is a girl after my own heart. I love the things she comes up with. :rofl2: Great pictures as always. I'm glad you liked your UF troll, I knew all about it. See I can keep a secret. :)

Yes, you did keep a secret! Good job. I am glad that it was a surprise. I knew S70 had something to give me, and, truthfully, I was a bit worried about what it might be. I was relieved that it was a gnome.

Yes, Twin #1 is something else. But, Twin #2 is great in her own right.

Just got back from dinner, and my evening is complete now.

I can personally attest to the guy in 301 having a nightly light & music show.

This has got to be my favorite installment of the whole report. The pictures of twin #1 and Nicholas are excellent, her teaching him sassy poses is hysterical, but her doing donuts around the fire pit is priceless!!!

Looking forward to hearing about the mystery solving. ( But, I promise I won't be impatient...unless you wait too long.)

Thanks, S70.

Sorry to make you wait.

I am going to get a new installment posted this morning.

I'm not sure I can do another this afternoon, but I will try.

TCD as always great TR!! I'm looking foward to many many more pictures.

Thanks, Steve.

And, it was good to meet you.

I hope I helped you out by stopping TnBob and Jeff from harassing you.

Doodle, I agree with you. Me, you and twin#1 would have some fun together. Add stef in there are .... we'd all be in trouble. :rofl2:

You know, this is something that I would like to see!

:dropjaw: What??? I am much more innocent than people make me out to be!

I will come to S70's defense here and say that S70 and Trevor are among the nicest, friendliest and most down to earth folks I have had the pleasure of meeting. Stef kind of plays the bad girl here on the boards, but in real life, she is just a sweet and nice lady (with a small red solo cup problem). I am glad that we got to spend some time hanging out together on this trip, and look forward to seeing S70 and her crew back at the Fort in the future.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I love the hammock pictures! Donuts around the fire pit is classic.

I'm loving this report Andrew!

Thanks, Tom.

As I said, I am not sure whether or not it's legal to do donuts around the firepit.

As you know, there are signs everywhere telling you where carts are not allowed, so my policy is that if there is no sign, then it's allowed.

But, I'm not sure how the would feel about the donuts while the campfire sing-a-long is actually going on.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Yes, you did keep a secret! Good job. I am glad that it was a surprise. I knew S70 had something to give me, and, truthfully, I was a bit worried about what it might be. I was relieved that it was a gnome.

How could you possibly be worried? I am always on my best behavior when their are children around, even if they are teenagers.

Yes, Twin #1 is something else. But, Twin #2 is great in her own right.

Yes, Twin #2 is just as great, but much quieter. (Maybe she's the one to watch out for )

Thanks, S70.

Sorry to make you wait.

I am going to get a new installment posted this morning.

I'm not sure I can do another this afternoon, but I will try.

As long as I get at least a little dose of TCD, I'm good to go.

You just don't normally leave us hanging for so long, so I was getting concerned.

I will come to S70's defense here and say that S70 and Trevor are among the nicest, friendliest and most down to earth folks I have had the pleasure of meeting. Stef kind of plays the bad girl here on the boards, but in real life, she is just a sweet and nice lady (with a small red solo cup problem). I am glad that we got to spend some time hanging out together on this trip, and look forward to seeing S70 and her crew back at the Fort in the future.

:heartsmiley: Aww, shucks! Thank you for that. Yes, I am a little dirty minded, a bit feisty, maybe a little opinionated, but I try my best to be a good person. I always try to treat people as nicely as they treat me. Though, if they are not so nice, all bets are off!

Right back at you, to all of the above!

TCD

[anolefan 8]

But, I'm not sure how the would feel about the donuts while the campfire sing-a-long is actually going on.

TCD

I agree, and I know that cart well, it has some pep too it. Probably not very safe for all the mallow roasting children :)

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Yes, Twin #2 is just as great, but much quieter. (Maybe she's the one to watch out for )

I was thinking the same thing. :rofl2:

[Live4FW 30]

Tell your DD I like that one!

My FSU DD wants the FSU one, but the campus bookstore has been out of them. It is pretty lame, though. It's just a bear with a feather. I don't know why the didn't use Renegade (that's the horse at all the FSU football games).

Congratulations on your team's win this year. In a way I'm glad. It will keep Richt there, and then UF can break off another chain of wins as soon as our new coach figures out what he's doing.

I was just glad that my DS will have at least 1 UGA-FL win during his time at UGA. You are probably most right about Richt and the future of the series. Just look out, we need to win at least one game from 2016-2020 while DD is there. Uck on the FSU "bear" what were they thinking??

[kampfirekim 260]

So there you go.

That kid is a bit of a ham, no?

Did you mean "those kids are hams"? I don't think we're looking at just one ham here. ;D And there is NOTHING wrong with that.

Love the update! It's great to see how much fun daughters (and a sister and a nephew) can have with their dad/bro/uncle!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Yes, Twin #2 is just as great, but much quieter. (Maybe she's the one to watch out for )

I was thinking the same thing. :rofl2:

Hmmmmm.... better watch out for the quiet one. They are usually the ones that don't get caught....

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Everyone slept like a log on the second night of our trip.

I was up before the sun on Sunday morning.

Thankfully, the rain had left us, and it promised to be a nice day.

It was nice and cool in the morning. In fact, I turned the heat on in the camper when I got up, just to make sure no one was too cold.

The sun rises late in late October at the Fort. It was still dark at 7 am. I waited for the sky to lighten just a bit, then I headed out.

I usually visit the shore of Bay Lake behind the 300 loop every morning when I am at the Fort. But, I missed it on Saturday because it was a rainy morning.

Today, it wasn't rainy, so first stop was along the shore to take in one of my favorite views:

I don't know why I like to stop here and look at this view so much, but I really do.

While I was down this way, I decided to stop by the old cabin for a look around. The only thing new was that they had some curtains hung on the outside of the windows. They use this cabin as a prop for the Haunted Carriage rides, and that is why the curtains were there:

While I was over here, I inadvertently solved an old mystery.

Does anyone remember this purple thing that has been hanging in the tree over here?:

(That's a photo from my June trip report)

I think everyone agreed that it was some kind of insect trap, but why is it here?

That, nobody was so sure about.

Well, as I was checking it out, I noticed something new.

There was a little sign hung in the same tree with the purple trap:

So, there you have it.

They are studying Emerald Ash Borers.

The only thing is that this is an oak tree, not an ash tree.

Typical government program.

If this is such a big problem you would think they would put this type of sign in someplace more visible. I don't think many people visit this remote area of the Fort, and the sign itself is kind of hidden. Also, note the photo of one of the EAB's there on a penny. These boogers are very small. How is anyone realistically going to spot one and report it?

The view from the shore by the cabin is just a little different from the one that we looked at just a moment ago. I like the view from here, too:

As I headed back across the dam, I saw that there were quite a few campers enjoying the 300 loop dog walk with their pups:

The Haunted Carriage Ride was supposed to be new this year, but it turns out that it wasn't.

So, the same old props were out here along the trail heading toward the Settlement. I never made it out to get photos in the early evening, when they put the rest of the props out, but based on what I saw this morning, I doubt that there was anything new. But we know that the permitting process has begun for the new pavilion that is proposed to go in this area, so maybe this will be the last time the trail is set up this way. We shall see.

In the meantime, here's what I saw as I headed down the trail. These signs are at a critical part of the trail:

It looks like the face caved in on this jack-o-lantern. So, they just stuffed a rag in it:

Here's a nice coffin for the kiddies:

And the good old Sleepy Hollow cemetery sign:

This stage coach also is important during a pivotal moment of the Haunted Carriage Ride. It looks much better at night with the lighting and fog machine working:

This is the first sign that you see once you enter the trail, but since we traveled in the opposite direction, it's the last you will see in this report:

I have shared a secret about the Haunted Carriage Rides before. A lot of people know this secret now. If you want to see the Headless Horseman, you just need to hang out on the side of the Settlement Trading Post during the Haunted Carriage Rides. He hides behind the Trading Post, and sneaks out after the carriages enter the trail. Here's a photo taken of the area behind the Trading Post where the horse hangs out while waiting for the Headless Horseman to take him out:

Even though I had been at the Fort since Friday afternoon, and it was now Sunday morning, I had yet to see my old friend Fiesty. All true Fiends know that she can be found for several months each year on Site 114. She is usually one of the first folks we meet when we arrive at the Fort, but since they closed the golf cart access on the path next to her site, we hadn't been by that way at all.

This morning, I stopped to enjoy her Halloween decorations. it was still very early, so Fiesty was still asleep. Don't worry, I got to meet her later that day, and I have a story to tell about that. But for now, we will just enjoy her great decorations:

This inflatable Headless Horseman is a new addition this year. Fiesty was proud of it. She told me she found it at Lowe's:

The horse's head moved back and forth on this one. Fiesty is right to be proud of this.

Here's a few shots of the sidewalk next to Fiesty's site. This leads in to the 100 loop:

Here's a few shots looking in to Fiesty's site:

Here's Fiesty's RV and personalized golf cart. If you look above the RV, you will see that she did some decorating up in the trees above. Very well done!:

The site on the other side of the sidewalk from Fiesty was also well decorated:

And so was the one right across the loop road from her:

To make sure there is no doubt that 114 is her site, Fiesty added this sign to her decorations this year:

Note that Fiesty is spelled differently from the word feisty. That's because Fiesty's real name is Judy Fiest. But I can attest that she is a feisty Fiesty.

By now, it was 7:30, and it was time to get some coffee at Trail's End. That is where we are going to head next.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Yes, Twin #2 is just as great, but much quieter. (Maybe she's the one to watch out for )

I was thinking the same thing. :rofl2:

You are both right! I'm not going to tell any stories, but we do keep a careful eye on both of them.

All kidding aside, Mrs. TCD and I have been blessed in the children department. We know lots of folks who have had horrible times with their teenagers. So far, we haven't. Lots of folks are surprised that our kids seem to like hanging out with us.

I was just glad that my DS will have at least 1 UGA-FL win during his time at UGA. You are probably most right about Richt and the future of the series. Just look out, we need to win at least one game from 2016-2020 while DD is there. Uck on the FSU "bear" what were they thinking??

Well, I am glad for your son, too.

Just like I'm glad my DD got to witness an FSU win over Florida while she was a student, and the way things look now, she will soon be witnessing her second.

I really hope that Muschamp gets things figured out, but I honestly don't have a lot of optimism for the rest of this season, or even the next one.

Did you mean "those kids are hams"? I don't think we're looking at just one ham here. ;D And there is NOTHING wrong with that.

Love the update! It's great to see how much fun daughters (and a sister and a nephew) can have with their dad/bro/uncle!

Yes, I should have said hams.

It was really great for the girls and I to hang out with Nicholas. They live far enough away that we don't get to see them very often, and then, it's usually just for a quick visit during some hectic holiday function. It was nice for the cousins to spend some time with each other, and it was also nice for me to get to spend some time for Nicholas. I think he has a lot of potential. I am thinking of getting him a raccoon hat and pocketknife for Christmas.

Hmmmmm.... better watch out for the quiet one. They are usually the ones that don't get caught....

You are right. I was a quiet one!

TCD

[stefa70 205]

:jumpforjoy Hooray, an update!

I have not been on the haunted carriage ride, but I do like that stage coach. Maybe I will just skip the ride and stalk the headless horseman behind the trading post.

Judy is feisty? That, my friend, is an understatement!!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Great pictures, Andrew. I don't know how much of a problem EAB are in Florida but they have been pretty devastating here. They have a hefty fine levied for anyone caught transporting firewood. Why the trap was in an Oak tree baffles me though.

I agree Fiesty really lives up to her name :rofl:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

You are right. I was a quiet one! TCD

I was too. this is how I know! My brother was the loud one... he was in trouble much more often.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

One of the things I am most looking forward to on our upcoming visit is meeting Fiesty. You have told me about her, and we actually are now connected on FB. But I have never met her in person.