Land of the mighty mouse

Friday, January 18, 2013

Kissimmee, FL – If you follow Mickey’s left thumb in today's picture, you can see our little blue Honda FIT, parked behind our RV at the KOA campground just six miles from Walt Disney World. It was a short trip today from St. Augustine, so we’ve had quite a bit of leisure time for a change.

When I got out of bed this morning, the RV thermostat read 58 degrees F. Quite a change from the summery weather we’ve had up to now! Fortunately, we only had wind to contend with as we drew in the slides and prepared to leave St. Augustine. The rain began to spit once we were on the highway, taking Interstate 95 toward Daytona Beach and then heading southwest on Interstate 4.

By lunchtime there were no rest stops or even lay-bys to get off the highway, but we had ready-made sandwiches in the fridge which I hopped aft to retrieve, and we ate as we drove. Maybe at some future date there will be more rest stops, because there was a lot of clearing going on, probably to add more lanes for the heavy traffic. And I saw one extensively-cleared area that looked big enough for a future rest stop.

The countryside was flat with pine trees and palm trees and swampy bits until we got to the urban sections around Daytona Beach, and then as we got closer to Orlando. It’s such a big centre, we were in citified traffic for a good chunk of time before we took our exit to get to the KOA in this suburb of Orlando, at its southwestern end. The park is located between Seven Dwarfs Lane and Happy Camper Drive, and today’s photo shows the décor! We like the generous site size, plus the paved pad on which we are parked.

When we were finally established, with electricity, water and cable TV all plugged in and slides extended, the rain began in earnest. Excellent timing! I don’t think the temperature got any higher than 19 Celsius today, and it isn’t that warm even now, but we’re not complaining! There’s nothing to shovel! And I’ve had time to browse the internet to learn more about Walt Disney World, where we plan to venture tomorrow.