Wed., Jan 9/13

Today we will be leaving LNM (Liz, Nick, Marty) to pick up our motorhome and drive to Clermont Golf and RV Resort.

LNM were off to the Polynesian for breakfast with Mickey, Lilo and Stitch.

I took the "Yellow" Bus to the check-in to use the Wi-Fi. There I checked the e-mail, did the bankng and entered the blog for Tuesday. Only one vehicle is allowed at the campsite so I parked the Del Sol close to the check-in. I then took the Del Sol back to the RV to pack it with the items we took for our stay with LNM at Disney.

Shortly after we had everything packed, LNM returned from breakfast with an autographed picture of Pluto and Goofy. We thank LNM for inviting us to stay with them at Fort Wilderness and sharing their RV. We had a great time.

After saying our good-byes we headed back to the Apopka KOA to pick up the motorhome which we left in storage. Often it pays to ignore the GPS planned route. The GPS defaults to the "quickest" route. We prefer the easier and less busy way.

Leaving Fort Wilderness we followed Vista Blvd (East). Signs point to I-4 and CR-535 (Winter Garden - Vineland Road). We do not follow the sign (to turn) as this leads to I-4 and CR-535 south. We want CR-535 north. This involves ignoring the "authorized vehicles only" sign and continuuing straight on Vista Blvd. It appears that many folks do this. This shortcut is about a mile yet it saves several miles and a lot of traffic grief.

We follow CR-535 north to SR-429 which is a new toll road that will connect us to US-441 just a few miles south of the KOA. This route not only saves the crush of I-4; but also the many stoplights and heavy traffic through Apopka.

Lucky for us that we had enough coins. The toll, on entry, (to our knowledge) did not say transponder or correct change only; yet that is what we were faced with. The info sign also did not work and we did not know how many coins to enter. We tossed a quarter at a time into the collector tray - waiting a few moments aftr each, until the light turned green. Three quarters later we were on our way.

This is a new road with additional sections almost complete. Traffic was light and we also saved several miles on this section. People often avoid toll roads; however, we have found that the small charge is worth the time and distance saved as well as the convenience of less traffic. The fuel saving is really worth it when we are in the motorhome.

After hooking up the Del Sol to the motorhome we headed north on US-441 which is actually West Orange Blossom Trail. A few miles and we pulled into the Citgo Truck Stop to fill both the RV and the Car. Fuel here is about a nickel cheaper than near Clermont. We noticed this while on our RV park scouting trip last week.

Again, ignoring the GPS, which also tends to default to higher level roads (I (Interstate) before US (Federal) before SR (State) before CR (County) roads. We turned on Jones Ave (Mount Dora), then CR-448A to CR-48 (to Astatula) then CR--561to US-27 just a few miles south of our destination. Again, we drove only half the distance and avoided a lot of heavy city traffic. I always check out the roads (eg. Jones Ave.) on Google Map (Street View) to determine their suitability. I also do this for fuel stops to make sure I can get the 60 feet of motorhome and car into the pumps easily.

A quick stop at the Clermont Golf and RV Resort office and we were on our way to site 26 which we had pre-scouted and reserved last week. Our premium site faces north-east and has huge shade trees protecting us from the sun. We are also on the main road a short distance from the entry compared to other parts of the park which are more than a mile from the entrance. This place is huge with 1251 sites and 3 clubhouses and agolf coure all surrounding its own lake.

We arrived mid-afternoon and were set up before supper which would be at a nearby restaurant in Clermont, FL about 10 minutes south of here. Tomorrow we will have to go shopping for food. The refrigerator should be cool by the. Charlotte decided on eating at Cracker Barrel which is always a favourite with us. Naturally, we headed there with the top off the Del Sol. We are enjoying the extra warmth and sunshine (10 degrees above normal = 80F+) which will last at least for the next week.

After supper we returned to the RV with the top off as the air was still quite warm. A little TV and then early to bed.