School was cancelled due to an potential 6-12 inches of snow with high winds.  How did we spend the day off?  We finished our packing and loaded up the RV.  We were getting out of this icky weather the following morning.  Heading to warmer weather.  Loading up in weather like that is not fun but we turned the heat on and did our best.  4 AM came we all took our seats and we headed for the highway.

We had a full tank of gas so our first stop was 6 1/2 hours south in Lebanon, IN for gas and a leg stretch.

It took almost to Indianapolis for the icicles to fall of the roof.

We stopped again at a rest area about 30 miles from Kentucky where we had lunch, sandwiches and tacos, and Scott took a nap.  That was awesome.  He usually gets tired in Indiana and since I wasn’t comfortable driving the RV yet he was able to shut the bedroom door and sleep while we all ate.  It turned out that our lunch time and bathroom break was the was the perfect amount of time for him for him to rest because he got up right as we were finishing.  He then had a sandwich and we headed on our way.

There was a ton of traffic in Tennessee.  We took an alternative route around Nashville- not our normal one either.  Saw lots of cool Ranches.

Also had to bypass Chattanooga.  We ended up on a road that went along the other side of the Nickajack Lake.  I wish it would have been light out because it looked like it would be a really cool area.

We had planned to stop for the night in a Walmart parking lot.  We called ahead and had 3 or 4 on our list.  But saw a billboard for a Cabela’s in Acworth, GA so opted for that instead.  When we pulled in there was one camper there already, and since this was our first boon docking experience that made us feel a lot better.  The lot was well lit and spacious.  It had enough room for a few RV’s. It was quiet all night.  When we woke up I showered and we were able to leave before the store even opened so we weren’t able to go in and buy anything but if it had been we would have checked it out. Only down fall was that we hand’t worked out how to make coffee- where was the best spot to store and set the pot while driving.  That will be taken care of before the next trip because not knowing when you will get coffee is not the way to start your morning. Thankfully we needed gas and it only took about an hour before we stopped.

We got to the resort late in the afternoon the next day. We stayed at Marriott’s Harbor Lake which is the vacation club resort we own at.  We had a 2 bedroom unit with a full kitchen and washer and dryer. Our unit was located right off of one of the main pools and 3 gas grills were located next to it (we used them twice!) . As always the resort activity center did a great job- egg hunts on Easter, poolside trivia, magic shows, an alligator show, teen poker night, crafts, daily ice cream sundaes, and for the adults wine and beer tastings.   We were also pleasantly surprised to find out that they had several spots to park RV’s.  We parked right on the other side of the parking lot for our building.  This was great since we were completely prepared to have to drive to the RV if we needed anything in it. But it only took a few seconds to walk there, and yes we made several trips to get essentials from it.  We also were not rushed to unload it, which was greatly different that last year.  Instead they told us to take our time and made sure we knew all of our options for parking and the easiest ways to get to them.

We did rent a car while we were there since we were unsure how parking would be at the resort and at Universal.  It wasn’t necessary since both seemed to be pretty convenient.  I don’t think we would rent one again .

While there we were able to enjoy pool time, wine on the dock, a wine tasting, both Universal parks (yes we have some big Harry Potter fans in the family),  hit the outlet mall, and hung out at Disney Springs.  It was probably more than I typically like to do- not enough sitting around time.  But I am always happy to have time with the family no matter what we are doing. And if we missed something it just gives us more reason to go back.

On the way home we encountered a ton of traffic (which is typical for that weekend) and accidents causing back ups.  It was a great benefit having the bathroom and the space to move around during this. And there is nothing better than the kids having their space.  They did spend a few hours watching movies on the big screen together but when they got sick of each other they didn’t have to be next to each other anymore. It was also nice not having to book a hotel or try to find one once we wanted to stop.  When we were ready we just found a Walmart, checked to make sure it was o.k. to park overnight there and pulled in for the night.

The Walmart we chose was in White House, TN. We have stopped at the Quality Inn across the street many times.  I would highly recommend this spot.  It was a huge parking lot that had a Waffle House, a Mc Donald’s and a gas station all connected to it.  We got there about 11 PM and there were already several RV’s parked.  2 more came in before we woke up.  The lot was also well lit and felt safe and the staff at both the Walmart and Mc Donald’s (yes we were able to get coffee before heading off in the morning) were very friendly.

We used the dump station at a Flying J in northern Indiana, cost was $10.  We really like to stop at Flying J’s and Pilots because they have room to pull in for gas and move around.  Plus they have Chicken Pot Pie soup  that Kooper loves to have for lunch.  This one happened to be right across the street from a Wendy’s so we all got lunch and snack size frosty’s for the kids. We did realize about 15 miles up there road there was a Cabela’s which we could have dumped at for free, since we have the Cabela’s card- mental note for next time.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful other that it being extremely windy.  We got home about 7.  The best part when we got home with our own RV instead of a rental was we didn’t have to unpack everything (just what we wanted) fill up the gas tank and return to the dealer.  However we (well Scott) did have to re-winterize it.

Can’t wait to use the RV on it’s first camping trip. I can already tell that it is going to be great accommodations.