Orlando RV

After a week at Lake Magic RV Resort, it was time to move just down the street to Orlando RV Resort. It's one of the nicest RV Resorts we've been to, so we wanted to make sure to maximize our time there. On this stretch, we'll be there for 3 weeks! 

It's only a few miles down the road, but checkout here is at 11am and checkin there isn't until noon. We got the RV ready to roll, pulled off our pad, and sat off the side of the road for 45 minutes. 

A few minutes before noon, I drove over to Orlando RV and hopped in the queue of all the other RV arriving today. We were number 11 in line, and heard that there were going to be 90+ people pulling in today. There's 1100 sites available at this resort, but I'm glad we were here early so we could get a good spot! 

After getting the RV set up, I took the kids over to the pool while Theresa started getting dinner prepped. She's making something unique today that I'm really looking forward to. Red Beans and Rice! The recipe is from damndelicious.net. 

Slicing up all the sausage. 

And lots of veggies to go in it. We prefer the yellow and red peppers to the green peppers. I think they have a much better flavor. 

That, along with beans and other ingredients goes into a pot for their flavors to meld. 

That's a fantastic dish Theresa! I would love to have that in the regular rotation. 

The kids have been loving their Christmas present, a subscription to Just Dance on their Nintendo Switch. With it they get access to hundreds more songs, plus they can compete against people from around the world! They get so excited, especially when they do really well. So far they've maxed out at 2nd place, but they're always hoping for first. 

Despite all that biking from earlier, we're still pushing every chance we can to get in extra miles. 

When we do stop for a rest the kids get snacks. Then right before we go, they each get a few Sour Patch Kids, squish them in a ball, and hold them in their mouths, trying to keep them until the next break. 

A new animal along the trail! Unfortunately that possum looks dead tired. 

A few days later, we were right back at it again, racking up more biking miles. 

We stop at the bridge to see the gators. 

Normally there's a smaller one around, but this time the big guy is here! 

This is something new! A half mile from Henry's place, this big gator was right by the trail! Normally we see them in the water from a bridge! 

He was a lot closer than we normally like. The kids (snack size) were a little scared, and gave him a wide berth. 

There were lots of tortoises out on the path today, with many of them just sticking their heads out of their holes and watching us go by. The kids said we were like a parade for them, and that we were "Tortoise Famous". We started doing a parade wave as we rode by them. 

The kids come up with some strange inventions. This is a Hot Air Warmer. If you want hot air, just blow into one side of the tube, and hot air comes out the other. The tissue helps heat it up, according to them. Writing HOT on the side is only prudent. Wouldn't want anyone to accidentally burn themselves on it. 

On Saturday, after completing our record 40 mile bike ride, we wanted to hit the trail again and get a few more miles! The kids were talking about getting another record ride today, but we'll just have to see how today goes. Who knows if their legs are ready to push hard again or not. 

This time we're starting by heading south, just to mix it up a little bit. 

Ian and Alli are naming the tortoises now. Hi Tort-alini, Mr and Mrs Tortoise, Frank, and Betty. 

I've been a little behind on my maintenance for our bikes. I currently have a crank arm with a loose bolt. As I peddle, the crank arm starts to come off the gear. I have tools to tighten it back down, but I really think I could use some Loctite to keep it affixed better. I was trying to wait until we stopped to tighten things down again, but mid-peddle all of the sudden the entire crank arm fell off! Everyone circled back to help me look for the missing bolt I needed to tighten things back down. Crazy! Let's hope that's the end of today's bike drama. 

Not a half mile later, all of the sudden we hear a very loud POP and my back tire starts feeling funny. Oh. Yeah, that will do it. 

Theresa and I bought these folding bikes back in 2011 so we could ride around Bora Bora without having to rent a car. We used them sporadically until 2020 when Covid hit. After that, we used them a whole lot more, getting out for bike rides with the kids regularly. In all that time, I haven't changed the outer tire of the bike. Theresa warned me that it was starting to wear away the tread, but it's a bit of a hassle to change out, so I didn't do anything about it. Well today is the day that all caught up with me. I do keep a good set of tools, a pump, and extra tubes in my bike bag, but an entire tire? I can't fix that. 

We'd ridden 6.5 miles from the truck and had to plan our next move. The next trailhead is a 3.5 mile walk down south. Theresa took the kids back to the truck with the plan to meet me at the Polk City trailhead. 

Off they went in one direction, and off I went in the other. I got sympathy and offers of bike pumps and patches from other riders, which was nice of them. 

I arrived at the trailhead about 5 minutes before Theresa pulled up with the truck. It was actually really good timing. 

We aren't going to set any new biking records today, but the kids enjoyed spending time at the playground here. 

Hey! It's Jacob! He decided to hit the road and drove from California to visit family on this coast. 

Jacob did the drive in only 2 days! I think George (the dad from the Carousel of Progress) would be impressed, seeing how he's amazed that a train can take you from New York to California in only 3 days. We arrived at the park later in the evening at 6:30pm and it's still a bit busy. We rode the Carousel of Progress while we waited for the park to settle down. 

We busied ourselves for a while, and a few minutes before fireworks, got into the line at some of the bigger rides. 

Like Space Mountain!

We're still trying to figure out exactly where the camera is to get a good picture. I think Ian is closest. 

After riding, we meandered around again, but the lines just aren't getting that much shorter. Normally when the park closes at 9pm, guests leave after the 8pm fireworks. Tonight though the park is open until 11pm, and people aren't leaving like before. 

We opted to take one quick spin on the teacups. Even Theresa is on it! And we picked up one other friend of Jacob's. 

It's been fun today. Time to head home. 

Jacob came to visit us at the RV park too. The kids love playing shuffleboard. 

Jacob came back the next day and we even got a few games of Pickleball in! 

Before we have to move on to the next site, I was happy that our special bike order arrived! And with 1 day to spare! Take a look at the brand new tire versus the old tire. Yeah, I guess that was due for a replacement. I went ahead and swapped out all four tires on our bikes. 

Overall we got to spend 3 weeks here at Orlando RV, so I've got a few more stories that I'll be sharing soon!