#Summer2026 - Jamaica Beach

This is a bittersweet outing, as it is the last outing with the 2020 Sportsmen.  Three trips to Florida and a number to the coast, the RV has been a faithful friend.  

But things, primarily cosmetic, began to bug us, and after the trip to Orlando we wanted to try a more stable pull.  

So between trips we found a fifth wheel that met our needs.  But as we only had a few days, we opted to go to Galveston in the old work horse.  

Leaving home on Sunday morning meant lesser traffic, which was good.  Rain around Houston, however, was a bit stressful.  But we got to Jamaica Beach, settled in, and began our coast vacation.  We even managed a turn in the Lazy River. 

Monday was hanging around camp but lunch was at Bennos and we had burgers on the grill.

There were storms down here with lots of rain.  Tuesday was cooler and overcast so we went to Surfside and had lunch at the Seahorse Bar and Grill. The potions were huge.  

The storms last night kept us up, so we took a nap then went to eat at West Isle Marina.  Lance met is there.

It is cool to eat right on the water.

The rains didn't really clear until Wednesday afternoon.  Kay and Marvin came to visit and Mom and Dad went to Bennos with them for lunch.  We went to the beach.

The seven of us went to Miller's for supper. Our waiter was fantastic!. .the food was phenomenal too!.  IMHO the crab balls are the best.  The Shrimp n' Stuff food truck had good ones also but they were a close second!

Out habit has been to walk in the evenings, so we did that before bed.

Thursday was a slow morning, but after coffee we went to the seafood market for shrimp and redfish to take home.  I grilled up some shrimp for a light lunch and we air-dried our left over crab balls.   The to the lazy river.  Stephanie got really sunburned today!

The kite store is always fun!

Supper was Cooper's Landing at Lance's suggestion.  The food was really good.  The crab stuffed redfish was phenomenal!

Then back to walk and get to bed.  Tomorrow we head home. 

Last Day -

It was hot this morning.  Finally sun when there is work to do!

Brandon and family went to Galveston for breakfast while the rest of us rode bikes.  We struck out toward home around 11.

Dad was having issues towing his truck so we stopped at the Huntsville rest area.  The battery was dead and wheels locked up.  It's a new truck so the battery should not have been completely dead.  Jumper cables didn't help.

So we watched the truck while they went to Madisonville for a battery.  We got it installed, hit the road, and was home by a bit after 7 pm.  

It made for a long day.  In the end, just under 600 miles and a mpg of 10.3 at the end of it all.  Not too bad!

#Summer2026 - Last 2 Days

June 30.

Today we left Florida.  We didn't hit the road super early.  We had breakfast and walked the dog, the. Got started hooking up.  There was a family in a large 5th wheel from Abilene, Texas, that I visited with, and then we hit the road. 

Florida is great in that roads are well maintained and the rest areas are frequent.  Not so much for Mississippi and Louisiana.  In fact I had planned to trade of driving duties but could not find a place, so drove the whole 403 miles.  

We hoped to stop at the Louisiana welcome center but it was closed, and the roads (I-20) were so rough!  The only rest area was only 10-15 miles from our destination.

We got to Lincoln Parish Park around 4 pm and got set up.  An older gentleman next door greeted us.  I asked about local restaurants and he recommended the Flying Burger and Log Cabin Grill.  Steph was more interested in that so we filled the truck with gas to be ready for tomorrow and spent the last of our eat-out cash.  

The food was so good! Portions were huge!  We both got Smokehouse burgers and Sadie got the shrimp po'boy.

We got back and Sadie and I walked Ferg around the lake.  It was certainly hot.

Then to bed to prepare for tomorrow.  

July 1

We didn't get into a hurry today either.  We walked the trail around the lake again and were on the road a bit after 10 am.  More awful Louisiana roads - this state gets an F!

We stopped at the Texas Welcome Center and had lunch.  All we had left was a few slices of bread, just a little ham and cheese, and PB&J.  

Steph drove from here to the Casey's outside of Tyler and we got gas.  This was the lowest price we had seen at $3.02/gal.  

We arrived home right at 4pm, got unhooked and decided to unload the truck when it wasn't so hot this evening.  At 4:00 it was 97 degrees.  

In total the engine ran on this trip for 57 hours and we covered 2500 miles.  I had planned for 8.5 mpg so 9.5 wasn't so bad.  

We are already thinking about our next trip that way!  It was a good one!

#Summer2026 - Pensacola Beach Day

Today was beach day!  We have been looking forward to Gulf Islands National Seashore for a long time.  So we fixed breakfast in camp, walked the dog, then headed out.  

 

Entry was $25 and good for 7 days.  The flag through Pensacola was yellow but the flag at the park was green.  I think the yellow was more accurate in that the waves were really rough and there was a current that threatened to pull you out.

Steph spent some of the morning shelling, but around 1 pm we decided to go back for lunch, rest and possibly come back in the evening. 

After supper in camp we decided to go back.  We stopped at a fairly empty parking area and enjoyed the beach until 8 pm.  We had the beach practically to ourselves.

Stephanie founds some cool shells this time, including some small sand dollars washed up on shore.  

After leaving we stopped at The Ice Cream Shoppe.  They had very unique flavors.  She and 8 had Key Lime Pie ice cream, which had little bits of graham cracker.  Sadie had mint moose tracks.  So good!

We got back to camp and walked Ferg, got showers and settled in.  Tomorrow we start a bee line for home.

#summer2026. - Rest at WEC and travel day

June 27

The WEC is a massive place. 400 acres for the facility but apparently 12,000 acres owned,  z they are constantly expanding.  I hope they don't get so bit it hurts them.

This morning we rode the bikes with Fergus over to the French pastry shop and had breakfast and a pup-cup.  Sadie and I had apple fritters and Stephanie had a quiche.  Then we set out exploring.

Steph left her sunglasses at the stadium last night so we set out to the list and found.  No one had turned them in, so she ordered a new pair to be delivered when we get home.

There was also a youth jumping competition.  Sadie wanted to see that.  

The day culminates in a $250k jumping derby.  It was fun to see and we got ice cream at a nearby show to eat while we watched the show 

It was after dark when we got back to the RV.

June 28.

On the road.  Traffic wasn't bad but is was hot today and we are all tired.  While there was time to rest yesterday we haven't caught up.  And hitching up the camper was hot work.

We left the WEC and headed north on I-75 and the west on I-10.  Steph drove the last 2 hours.  No rain or real highway trouble.

We set up at Avalon Landing in the same spot we were in a week ago.  Set up, then rested.  

We had been in touch with Brandon as we planned to eat on Pensacola Beach at Peg Leg Pete's.  The online wait list said 30 mins or so but that place gets crowded.  When we arrived at 5;15 the wait-list had reached 2 hours.  

While waiting on the porch the Blue Angels buzzed the beach, which was really cool!

Steph had the baked oyster sampler, Sadie the shrimp po'boy, and I had the grouper sandwich 

It was good to see Brandon and family.  They head home today.  Tomorrow is our beach day!

#Summer2026 - Leaving Ft. Wilderness

Not much to tell today.  The Disney portion of our trip is over, and it is on the road.

I called Ft. Wilderness and asked if we could check out later than 11 am, but we were at first denied.  During breakfast, however, they called back and gave us until 12:30.  We were grateful.  

Sadie wanted a journal from the camp store, so we rode the cart for that, came back and took Fergus to the dog park, and then got the cart turned in before 11 am.  

Mom and Dad went back into the parks, but took our picture before we left.  

We were on the road at noon, and ran into traffic going north.  We arrived at the World Equestrian Center about middle of the afternoon, got set up, and went to Publix for some supplies, among which was a Key Lime Pie.  

A bit of a rest, tamales for supper, then off to the jumping completion Stephanie and Sadie wanted to see.  

Tomorrow we remain at the WEC for another day.  There are some other competitions and shopping they want to do.  

#Summer2026 - Disney Park Days!

June 24

Today was a long one but a good one.  We rope dropped Magic Kingdom, and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, haunted mansion, Big Thunder RR and the Carousel.  We started with Peter Pan's flight, which Stephanie had never done.  And we also visited the Tiki Room 

The day was hot, of course, and after Sadie bought her a pirate hat and ice cream we headed back to camp.  As we completed the boat ride over a storm hit with lots of rain.  

That gave us an opportunity to rest.

EPCOT was on our afternoon to-do.  There wasn't  a lot on our list, so after getting off the monorail we went on Spaceship Earth (Sadie liked it) and then Soarin' (which we loved).  Then Living with the Land and Journey To Imagination.  

We had hoped to eat at the quick services around World Showcase.  Steph got Curry buns in Japan and Sadie and I settled for Chinese, then we all had pastries from Norway.  While we finished those they started EPCOT's nightly show.  

It was awesome!  Highly recommend.  

Of course, then everyone was leaving the park at once.  We managed a monorail back to Contemporary, then waited on a boat.  Normally they come quickly but this time it didn't.  In fact, one stayed at Wilderness Lodge a long time.  The last boat leaves at 10:45, and we arrived around 10:20.  

When another boat arrived and our intended headed out across the lake, the dispatcher instructed the Skipper to take us home first.  Not sure why, but I was under the impression someone had messed up!

It was late to bed.  Tomorrow will be early, but we aren't setting alarms.

June 26

We didn't set the alarm this morning.  Animal Kingdom opens early but we weren't ready for that.

Bus ride to Animal Kingdom after breakfast and it was straight to Pandora, the Avatar section.  The theming was very good with the floating islands from the movie.  We rode 2 rides - the Flight of Passage ride and the Navi River ride.  Both were pretty but the flying one was awesome! Very exhilarating.  

Then to the Asia section to the Expedition Everest ride.   Again, excellent theming throughout the park.  The Everest ride was quite intense and a bit more than I expected.  We made it though.  

We found a vender selling frozen chocolate covered bananas and Mickey ice cream bars.  Then back to camp for a quick rest, lunch, and then back by bus to Hollywood Studios.  

It was hot in the plaza.  Sadie wanted to do Galaxy's Edge, so we went there.  Mom and Dad joined us.  Rise of the Resistance was an awesome ride, and we all agreed it was our favorite so far outside of the traditional ones we remember as kids.   

We had reservations for the Droid Depot to build robots.  Sadie has asked to do this for years, and Dad and I joined her by making our own.  Testing out the droids we made them interact with others throughout Galaxy's Edge.  

Finally, we tried Smuggler's Run.  Much more interactive!  

Rain started.  I wanted to ride Tower of Terror and the line was only 13 mins.  I got in line alone, but I guess the ride broke down, so it was back to camp.  

We got pizza and dessert at Trail's End, crossed the lake for some shopping for Sadie, and watched the fireworks from the shores of Bay Lake in camp.  

It was a good end to the day and the stay at Disney.  

#Summer2026 - Exploring Ft. Wilderness and Boat Rides.

Today was our explore day.

I had some work to do for summer class, and so while working there had breakfast.  Throughout the day we rode bikes around, visited The Meadows area of the campground, and generally enjoyed being here.   Dad had to take Brandon his car as they checked out of Universal Studios today and moved into Port Orleans Riverside. 

As for us we took the boat to the Magic Kingdom dock to see how Dad's scooter would load, then went to the Grand Floridian hotel to look around.  Mom and Dad headed back while we took the monorail to the Contemporary for the cake we didn't buy last night.  We sat in the lounge and visited with a nice bartender from Puerto Rico.  We had the Chocolate cake (split) and Sadie wanted the creme brulee.

Then boat hopping again to Wilderness Lodge.  Their AC was out, but aside from Fort Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge is the hotel we could see ourselves staying in with its Yellowstone/Western theming. 

Steph decided to take Ferg to the dog park and I went too.  I didn't take the keys out since we were right there, but a man accidently drove away with the golf cart.  Camp personnel helped me get it back; honest mistake.  

We came back to ride the bikes around and cooked sausages in charcoal. Mom and Dad went to Disney Springs and got very tired.  They asked us to pick them up at the entrance, then went back to The Meadows for ice cream.  A bit more riding then off to bed.  Tomorrow - Magic Kingdom.

NOTE - I guess I didn't take many pictures today. 😜