Day 1

Gatwick to Orlando – Leave at 11:15am – 9 hours in the air and still broad daylight on arrival!

This was the sight to deal with at the RV storage just before 5pm (10pm BST).

Had to cut all the old awning away and discovered, while on the roof, that the hurricane had not only ruined the awning, but in the process of flapping, the awning had disturbed the coating on the rubber roof, removed both sewer vent caps and trashed the front skylight cover. A new cover was needed urgently. Rain had obviously come in due to the loss of the cover in the hurricane, but where all the water had gone was a mistery since the interior appeared dry. This is Florida though!!
It was too late to get into a camp, although one site did provide water for the domestic tank, so decided to park overnight at a Camping World to get new parts first thing in the morning.

Day 2

Just after opening on a weekday morning at Camping World is not busy, so it was just a case of deciding what to get for the various major and minor repairs, do as many major repairs as possible in the car park and head off to a suitable campsite to regroup. It was no surprise to find a Walmart on-route to purchase various groceries etc.
What was surprising was, when attempting to start the  generator to get the air conditioning running, a frog got puffed out of the generator exhaust.  It decided, rather than run away to try to hich a ride.

The chosen venue for regrouping, at Lake Whipoorwill, was the last site on the previous trip. Familiarity always helps when trying to assess a situation.

Day 3

This was supposed to be a Disney World day, but after observing loss of pressure on one of the inner tires (sorry, this is the USA) a call to the Tire Brigade was necessary. How can those really tiny nails manage to create the smallest vent and to let the air out, albeit slowly. Oh well, it was all covered by Good Sam recovery, so perhaps the annual membership can now be justified. Hence, no Disney, but the washing got done as well as the tire.

Day 4

Jet lag doesn’t always hit hard on the first day, but this morning was slower than expected. However, ownership of a 1995 four day personalised pass to Disney, with one unused day left, which is still valid in 2018, made Epcot the destination today and with only three other RV’s visiting that day, there was a whole car park dedicated to four large vehicles. What were the highlights? The Chevrolet Test Track has to be a special one, the flower festival made everything look lovely, the ‘Frozen’ ride was fun and the international food stalls made deciding on what to have for lunch difficult. A very enjoyable day.

Day 5

This is the day to head off site, but the sight of an unwashed RV cannot be allowed to go on, so although it is 11.00 check out, it has to be done. Then Cape Kennedy beckons. This visit is all about getting out to the launch pad, whereas the last visit was all about the Falcon 9 launch. The IMAX film about experiences in and views from the ISS space station was also well worth the time. Left at closing time to find a place for overnight.

Day 6

So, early morning at at Camping World again. The first two of a pack of eight slightly expensive LED replacement bulbs for the interior lights, which were intended to provide a good bright light, either flickered and only had a few of the LEDs working or started smoking. It was money back time!
Next stop – Weeki Wachee on the Florida east coast, to enjoy two of the mermaid shows. Yes, MERMAIDS. Look it up if you are a disbeliever.

Nature’s Resort which is just half an hour north of the mermaid show was the chosen site for the next two nights. Not amazing, but considered by the GoodSam community as one of the top ‘Snow Bird’ sites. For those not in the know, Snow Birds are people who live in the north in the summer and in the south in the winter, so there are very few on site now.

Day 7

Day 7 of course is a Sunday, so it was sleep-in time to kill the last day of jet lag before catching up with another repair and some domestic and paperwork chores. The past week may have sounded like a whole list of jobs, but considering what needed to be done, it also included a long day flying and visits to three very enjoyable attractions.