Hey campers! It’s been awhile since we’ve posted here. Between not travelling much, work, and a busy summer we’ve neglected our blog. However, we have quite a few trips to catch up on and we’re starting with the big trip of the year, our trip to Walt Disney World. This is the first of several posts to document our two weeks on the road. Our original plan was to spend 10 days at Walt Disney World and then 4 days in Port Canaveral on the Space Coast. A hurricane possibly influenced that total plan.

Walt Disney World Vacation (Post 1)

As a family, we have been to Disney World twice, but we weren’t campers for either of those trips. Also, the kids were quite little and didn’t remember much. This year the kids were at the perfect age to go. They are still silly kids but they can WALK! I hope you enjoy the trip. This post will be all about getting to Florida and our first night at Walt Disney World resort.

Day 1 (June 26, 2021) – Travel Day: Home to Clarksville, Tennessee

We spent several days getting packed, shopping, and doing laundry before this day. The goal was to leave by 7:00. The truck fell into “D” a minute behind schedule and we were off.

The trip from the Kansas City area to our first stop of the day was boring interstate on I-70 and I-55. Just dealing with typical traffic, fuel stops, and a quick lunch in the rig on one of our stops.

Lambert’s Cafe

The first excitement of the day was an early dinner at a Missouri icon, Lambert’s Cafe in Sikeston, MO. For the uninitiated, Lambert’s is huge. The current restaurant is in the old Wal-Mart building in Sikeston. The lines are usually pretty ridiculous all day during the summer and this day was pretty typical. The one nice thing this visit though, was that we had Maddie to retreat to for a portion of our wait. We waited about an hour and we were finally seated at our table.

Everything is big. Drinks, portions, the menu…all of it. All of the food is country cooking and pretty good, but that’s not why you come. You come for the throwed rolls. Again, for the uninitiated, the “roll man” comes around with a cart of rolls and yells, “hot roll!” To get one, you stick your hand up in the air and the roll man throws one to you. Some of the throws are much more spectacular across the dining room and some are short tosses for the kids. As a diner, you have to keep your head on a swivel when the roll guy is throwing because you might get smacked in the head with a roll. I’ve seen it almost every time I’ve gone.

We enjoyed our meals. Jack got chicken fried steak, Erin got meatloaf, Katelyn had the chicken pot pie, and Will had fried chicken. Only Jack had a happy plate. Everyone else had a take out box, but that’s pretty much to be expected. It is so. much. food.

Rest of Day 1

After dinner, we rolled ourselves back to the truck with busting bellies and got back on the road. The rest of the drive from Sikeston through the backroads of Illinois and Kentucky then back to I-24 to Clarksville, Tennessee was mostly uneventful. Just some traffic around some construction areas.

Our home for the night was Clarksville RV Park and Campground. It was an easy off of the interstate and the perfect overnight spot after a long day of travel.

Day 2 (June 27, 2021) – Travel Day: Clarksville, Tennessee to Perry, Georgia…with a sprinkling of Beaver Charm

We started the day fairly early and got back on the road. The travel was all interstate through Tennessee to Perry, Georgia. Construction in Chattanooga was really bad. The whole town is ripped up. We did stop near Chattanooga at a Sam’s for some shopping and to make a decent lunch. We hit Atlanta traffic at a decent time, but it was Atlanta. So we still caught some traffic. For Atlanta though, it wasn’t too bad.

Our spot for the night was Fair Harbor RV Park in Perry, GA. Again, it was an easy off from the interstate. A new Buc-ee’s just opened few exits north of the campground so we dropped Maddie at the campground and backtracked to fill up the truck and grab dinner served up by the Beaver. Jack had the pastrami reuben sandwich and everyone else got pulled pork sandwiches. We all shared Beaver chips, Beaver nuggets, and some jerky.

Day 3 (June 28, 2021) – Travel Day: Perry, Georgia to Walt Disney World and Disney Springs

Getting to Florida

We got moving before the sun came up and pulled out of Fair Harbor RV Park just as the sun was waking up. I-75 was nice and calm that early in the morning. Our drive down to Disney had minimal excitement. Just a fuel stop and highway miles.

Mickey Mouse sent us a text with our site information about 30 minutes before we arrived to Fort Wilderness. We opted for a full hook up loop. We were assigned site 1806. The site was perfect. Plenty of length for Maddie and then a lot of room side to side.

Settling In and Disney Springs

As we started getting the rig set up the kids were losing their minds to get to the pool. So once we got the ACs fired up and the bikes off the to the Meadows pool. We stayed there about an hour and then got back and dressed at the campsite to get to Disney Springs for dinner at Raglan Road.

Dinner was tasty and we enjoyed the dancers. We strolled around Disney Springs and looked at some shops as well as squared away our park tickets and photopass. It was a nice evening to start our time at Disney World.

Thanks for reading. Next time we’ll hit the parks.

-See you out there,

P-T ParaD