so. pretty much the main reason we came to the florida keys was so anna and i could take a ferry out to dry tortugas national park, for a few nights of camping and exploring. we were able to snag a two night stay, thanks to a timely cancelation, and began preparations. dry tortugas is […]
anna
de soto national memorial.

while we were at fort de soto county park on the north side of the tampa bay, we pretty much laid low. but on one particularly beautiful day, we packed up for a trip across the skyway bridge to bradenton, to check out the de soto national memorial. it made for an easy transition back […]
disney detox at fort de soto.

after our time with all of the millions of people and music and chaos and bright lights of disney, we were more than ready for a little detox. after a weekend moochdocking with my stepdad’s sister, karyn, and her family, we made our way to peaceful, tranquil fort de soto. originally, we only had a […]
disney world. day four.magic kingdom. again.

with a good night’s rest under our belts and after sort of slow morning, we arrived back at magic kingdom for our fourth and final day of disney world mania. the kids all decided on magic kingdom, so we could go on some of our favorites again (i’m looking at you aladdin’s magic carpets) and […]
disney world. day three.epcot.

whew! day three. we were pretty much dragging at this point. we got out the door around 8 or 9, rode two buses, and rolled into the park with what seemed like the entire state of florida. derek waited in the bag search line with all of our stuff, while the kids and i walked […]
disney world. day two.hollywood studios.

we got off to a decidedly slower start for day two of our disney adventures. we hopped one bus, to take us to another bus, to drop us off at hollywood studios. we stopped out front for our obligatory photo shoot, and then we were off… our first stop was “voyage of the little mermaid”. […]
disney world. day one.magic kingdom

so. when we were planning our trip to florida, we learned of a special that was running for florida residents (which we technically are) to get a pretty good deal on a four day pass to disney. we hadn’t really considered doing disney, but with the deal, we figured if we were ever going to […]
the isaaczilla turns 12.

while we were in winston-salem, in january, the boy had his twelfth birthday. it seems like just a couple of minutes ago i was bringing him home from the hospital, but alas, it’s been a dozen years. it’s going by quickly and isaac has always been, shall we say, “spirited”, giving us a run for […]
january miscellany in ws/nc.

just after christmas, we decided that rather than hang out in winston-salem for the rest of dreary winter, we were going to head south to florida at the end of january. then, we made an even bigger decision to just get back on the road entirely, for at least another year and a half, while […]
raleigh, by train.

for christmas, we asked for folks to give the gift of experiences to the lidkids, instead of stuff to fill our camper. the grandlidboms, who love to ride trains, gave us the gift of an amtrak train trip to raleigh, where we would be able to go to a museum or two, have some lunch, […]