Itty Bitty Outlaw: Alls Well That Ends Well

Another successful trip in the books! Well not without a few hiccups, which you KNOW I will discuss. I'm working on my "glass half full" philosophy so we will ultimately call it a success.

This trip was planned back in November of 2014, the very minute I saw Blackberry Smoke was going to be at the House of Blues in Orlando.

You have heard about my declining opinion of Disney's Fort Wilderness and my outrage of the price increases, yet here I was wondering if I should just bite the bullet and return to the Fort yet again.

Trevor and I decided the bus transportation alone would be worth the cost of the site. $400.00 for 4 nights would be way less expensive than a DUI. I booked a full site from Thursday, April 23 - Monday, April 27. Staying until Monday would give us the opportunity to recoup after the concert on Saturday night. There's nothing worse than packing up with a hangover

(I know this from experience)

The best part of this trip was that Nathen and Karissa both took the 3 days off from work so they would spend the whole weekend with us!!

We left Thursday morning with Nate in front of us as a blocker through traffic. It wasn't long before we hit rain....pouring rain.

But we kept on trucking

Thankfully we drove out of it just before we arrived in Orlando and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds.

We pulled into the Fort around 11:00 am.

I did not request a particular site. Since we did not have any plans (other than the concert) we really didn't care where they put us.

We were assigned site 1811

I had never stayed in the 1800 loop before. The 18's and 19's are usually the last to fill up so I was shocked to see most of the full hookups completely full on a Thursday.

(My educated guess for the reason to this will be coming soon)

Before we can even get into the 1800 loop, we are stopped in a line of RV's. Poor Mason has been in the truck for almost 2 hours and we don't know what the hold up is. Nathen comes to our truck to let Mason out to walk and Trevor jumps out to find out what the problem is.

The vehicle parked in the center of this photo is a tree trimming service who had been sent there to work

all around the sites that we had all been assigned to! Now the tree guy is upset because we all want to get into our sites, yet he was ordered to do work there. Piss poor planning on Disney's part.

Tree guys finally leave and we make our way to 1811. I can happily say that I've never had a bad site at Disney. Some we've liked more than others, but never bad....until now.

Trevor suggested finding another site but I just wanted to set up and relax. We'd make it work.

Here we are setting up, while Mason cools off on the concrete pad.

(Risky Kitty stayed home with Jordan for this trip)

Nate parked across the street by the dog walk area so he could unload his truck once we got set up.

You can see the puddle of standing water which shows how much rain we had just gotten.

As we were setting up we could hear thunder in the distance. We knew more rain was on the way so a mad dash ensued to get finished before round two.

We got our first visitor within minutes of setting up.

Tom didn't stay long. He probably heard us all complaining that we were hungry!

Just as we got finished, the skies opened up!! This created a whole new set of problems.

Let me explain....and bitch.

Over the years there have been many times that entire loops were shut down at the Fort for maintenance. Sometimes it was as simple as bringing in dirt to build up the areas around the pads and putting down new pine straw to cover said dirt.

Apparently, this isn't being done anymore as the drop off from our pad was 6 inches in some spots and pine straw was non existent. I have dealt with this at many campgrounds before and I don't mind when I'm paying $40. These sites (lower end) are $100 a night. People always thought I was crazy to pay Disney prices for a campsite but it's these little details that make it worth the money. The new norm is now "less maintenance, More $$$"

Here's a couple photos to show how our site was.

You can see where the concrete dropped off 1/2 way back in our screen room.

So deep that Mason used it for a pillow

But the worst area was coming into our screen room door. Here I am standing in the hole that you had to navigate to get inside.

I feel as if the only thing I can do at this point is to have a beer. As the rain is pouring down a river of water is now running into the screen room. "Pass me another beer before I snap!!"

In true redneck fashion, Nathen had a shovel in his truck and saved the day by doing work that Disney should have been doing in the first place.

Nathen dug a trench through the shell bed, up under the railroad tie to allow the water to run AWAY from the site and not into it. UGH!!!!

And yes, this is exactly how we left it for the next unfortunate soul that would occupy this site!!

As it was pouring rain we decided to grill up some hot dogs before Nate unloaded his truck and took it to the front parking lot. Just as I was calming down (and catching a beer buzz) the Disney "police" show up to our site and tell Nathen to move his truck.

This is a 60-ish year old lady who says

"You need to move that truck! There are pipes in the ground and that truck is SO heavy it could break something"

Nate, bless his heart, calmly tells her he will as soon as he's finished eating. She responds with

"you need to do it ASAP!!"

I quietly sat in the corner with my beer as I did not feel like going to jail for beating up an old woman.

Again, I think I'm pretty reasonable but just two sites away a Ford F-250 parked in the dirt the entire weekend with no issues from Disney. I'm happy to follow rules that are enforced for everyone.

We laughed about it and assumed that the other truck didn't look "so heavy" because it was a Ford

(sorry Ford fans..we're Team Chevy here)

We finished our dogs

And Nate took his big, intimidating, heavy truck to the front.

The rain had stopped, the sun was setting and we were just ready to forget our rocky start and enjoy our weekend.

Mason was super happy to be camping and that makes me happy

As we made our way back to our site Trevor says he smells gas....hmmm, what could it be now?!

We agreed that we had had enough aggravation for one day and we would check it out in the morning if we still smelled it.

We spent the evening around the site drinking some beers and catching up.

Friday morning we all woke up refreshed. No rain was in the forecast and we had no plans.

We had our coffee at our site before going on the golf cart to see the rest of the Fort.

Golf cart kisses

While driving around we notice that most of the premium sites are completely empty. I now knew why the full hookup sites were so full. Most everyone with any money sense are booking the less expensive sites as opposed to $150 for the premiums. I can't help but wonder how long it will be before we are all priced out of the Fort completely.

As we continue driving around we smell gasoline again and our cart makes a little backfire noise as we slow down to pull into our loop.

That can only mean one thing....carb issues.

We take Mason over to the dog walk , which is right across the street from our site, before Nate and Trevor tear into the cart. There are also deer on the other side of the canal this morning.

The sun is coming up and I'm determined to enjoy this day.

Mason enjoyed his leash free time

Here's our site seen looking from the dog walk.

Trevor and Nate decide to take the carb off of the cart and find that it's got some crystallized fuel in it. No big deal, they'll clean it and be good to go, right?

Nope!! In doing so the pedestal that holds the float pin snaps off.

We all get on our phones calling all local golf cart shops looking for a new carburetor. We got nearly the same answer

" $187.00, will be here Monday"

Ok, time for plan B.

Nate got on Ebay and found a warehouse that sells them out of Sarasota. He called them and they said he could come get one in person as long as he had a credit card as they don't even have a register, they're just a warehouse.

The boys kiss us goodbye and head 2 hours south to buy a new carb. Karissa and I stayed back at camp and drank beer, had girl talks and even rode our bikes.

The boys returned about 3:30 that afternoon and I grilled up some strips of marinated steak, baked potatoes and grilled zucchinis.

Another crisis averted, the cart was up and running like a champ again!!

The kids went to Downtown Disney that night and Trevor and I chilled at camp. Since Trevor had spent most of the day in the truck and then playing mechanic, he was content to relax with a few beers.

We ended up turning in early that night, we knew we had a long day ahead of us on Saturday.

As we climbed into bed, I noticed the clock on the microwave wasn't on!? Trevor checked it out and it was DEAD. Not just the clock, the whole microwave. I had just cooked potatoes in it and now it had shit the bed.

At this point, I don't even care. It seemed as if it was just gonna be "one of those trips" and the microwave would be dealt with after I got home.

You can't make this shit up, people!

Saturday morning we're all determined to have a great day. This day was the sole purpose of this trip. I was going to be rocking out to Blackberry Smoke this evening and nothing could dampen my mood.

Nate and I went down to Trails End and ordered some breakfast to go, figuring if we ate a big breakfast we could then grab a sandwich before going to House of Blues.

They offer a nice array of muffins, biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls and such to go, which is nice when you don't feel like cooking.

We ordered the big breakfast which includes eggs, bacon, sausage, french toast sticks and a biscuit, all packed up in a little box.

We had to wait about 10 minutes for it to be done.

While waiting, we saw Barbie's golf cart, though we never could find Barbie.

It was actually a man driving this pink monster golf cart.

Who am I to judge?

With our bellies full, I took my lawn chair outside to relax in the sun with Mason.

We spent the day around the Fort looping and preparing for our big night.

I had also heard from my friend Donnie who was also going to the concert but staying at another resort.

That afternoon we all got showered and dressed to go. We left early so the boys could go to Earl Of Sandwich and grab a bite to eat.

We took a couple of pics while waiting on our bus.

(Trevor was dipping me in this first photo)

This is about as dressed up as we get when it's 90 degrees outside.

We arrived at Downtown Disney soon after. DTD is a mess right now with construction and there is only one bus stop. That means you have about a 3/4 mile walk to HOB. The boys went to get a sandwich while Karissa and I went to get a strawberry margarita.

We strolled over to the west side and saw the new amphicar launch they just started. I heard that it's $100 for a ride, though I didn't stop to confirm.

It always amazes me what Disney tourists will drop money on.

As we approached HOB, I told Trevor I was going to peek through the fence. As an experienced stalker, I know where BBS parks their tour bus. Imagine my surprise when I noticed Richard (bass player) talking to someone right outside!! I walked up to shake his hand and he gave me a hug. I didn't go all 'fan girl' on him, just told him it was my 8th show and was looking forward to it.

I didn't even take a photo, but here is one from another show so you can put a face with the name.

Richard is second from the left.

You all know that if that had been Charlie Starr (in between Nate and I) this story probably would have ended with me being arrested for sexual harassment.

While the boys got in line at the bar, Karissa and I went over to get some Wetzels Pretzels (which is a great absorbent snack before a long night of drinking) We enjoyed watching the gold statue people scaring the bejeezus out of unsuspecting tourists

When it neared time for the doors to open we found a long line of fans snaked around the building waiting to get in.

I was fine with the wait, until I ran out of beer. In my opinion, if you're going to make people stand in line for an hour, send out a beer girl to help pass the time. Fans would be satisfied and beer girl could make some quick tips. It's very unlike Disney to pass up an opportunity to make money.

At least we had a nice view while we waited.

Getting closer to the doors!

IT WAS PACKED!!! Wall to wall people in a venue that has a strange flow to it.

We finally found a place to stand to the left of the stage, up on the balcony. It wasn't the best view but at least I could see something. The problems started when the folks who had waited in line for hours to get the few available seats around the balcony, decided to stand instead of using the seats they waited so long for!

This resulted in a nice biker dude standing next to me getting into a shouting match with those in front of us when he told them to use the damn seats or give them up to someone who wanted to sit!! That prompted a 50-ish year old 'lady' in their party telling biker dudes wife to "suck her dick"

Yeah, real classy folks at concerts!

Luckily no punches were thrown and those in front decided to sit down and shut up. I'm pretty sure it helped that we also met up with Donnie, his girlfriend and Dan and his wife. There were 10 of us that were a bit annoyed at the standers. The odds were not in their favor.

Let the music begin!!

BBS had The Temperance Movement open for them. Not typically my kind of music, but they rocked it out.

And all my troubles drifted away when my favorite southern rockers hit the stage!!

I didn't take too many photos because:

A. I have a TON from 8 different shows

B. The stage lights make for some crappy pics

C. I didn't have the best view

But the best reason was because I was drinking, dancing, singing and just enjoying a great show with great friends.

Couple shots of Paul

Brandon

My main man Charlie Starr!!

They were amazing, as always. I'm so proud of them for filling the house like they did. It was much different than the first time I saw them in a dive bar in Gainesville back in 2011.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly selfish and wishing they still played those little dive bars, yet as proven earlier when I met Richard outside, they still interact and appreciate their fans.

ROCK ON BOYS!!

Getting back to the Fort was fuzzy, though there was a hotdog, and a stumble (damn sucky site) involved.

Needless to say, I slept well. The next day we hung around the Fort. Trevors stomach was kinda funky so he didn't want to stray far from the facilities.

The kids and I went to the horse barn where they were all out and about getting fed, watered and yard time.

Cinderellas horses must have just come back from work as they were getting unharnessed.

The big guys were enjoying some outside time.

Mom and son photo.

Please don't judge my outfit and/or my hair, I had a rough night.

We worked our way around the barn down to the Settlement

Down to the beach

Where the kids played tetherball

We strolled through the store

Then headed down my favorite trail to go check on Trevor and Mason.

I stayed at camp with Trev while the kids went to another resort to sniff around and one final stop at DTD to spend their gift cards they had gotten for Christmas.

The Nascar race from the night before had gotten rained out so we brought the TV outside to watch some racing. Trevor had asked me what we were doing for dinner that evening. When I told him I was grilling hot italian sausages, he (or rather his stomach) was not too happy.

I couldn't make him suffer through that so we changed it up and went to Trails End for the buffet.

That would give him more options on what he thought would be best for his innards.

We had about a 20 minute wait so the kids played checkers.

We finally got seated and met our waiter. (Think his name was Mike) He was one of those kind of people who tried so hard to be funny that he was both annoying and inadequate. We sat with empty drinks and dirty dishes piled up on our table.

Mike should try to be less entertaining and more waiter-like. The majority of the food was excellent, though the service was lacking. I hope his less than 20% tip made him think about that.

Back at camp that evening, we started cleaning up a bit. Monday morning we were to pack up and head back to reality.

When I woke up the next morning, it was extremely muggy, or as my father would say:

"Its like a blast furnace out here!!"

As I sat with my coffee I felt the wind pick up. I checked the radar on my phone