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Published: September 12th 2013
Day 3 and time to say goodbye to Disney and head for our 'Palace on Wheels' for the next 2 weeks. Exiting Disney was a breeze and after a quick call at 8:00 am to the rental centre to confirm our pick up time "come any time you want!" it was a $60 taxi ride back across Orlando to our pick up point at Roadbear RV Rentals. Most rental centres offer a free pick up from your hotel but for Roadbear, Disney was just a bit to far away...maybe next time we'll think about staying a bit closer!
On out last trip many people and online bloggers had recommended Roadbear over others (including Cruise America who we used last year in California). I have to say we weren't disappointed! As we entered the small rental site we remarked on a huge beast of an RV parked out front...'Glad we're not in something that big I thought!' How wrong was I!!!
The rental sites in California were enormous with hundreds of RVs and staff on hand. Roadbear in Orlando was much smaller and more personal and we appeared to be the only Clients of the morning. We quickly went through
the formalities of drivers licence, insurance etc. opting not to take the extra super SLI cover (might regret that later!) and then we were lead out to the huge beast on the front drive which turned out to be ours.
The Roadbear approach to orientation here was very different as we had a 1 on 1 session in and around the RV. Again this was very different to cruise America where you were just shown a video in a back room then given the keys. Before we left we were also invited to 'help ourselves' from the leftover cupboard where there was a variety of toys, seats, parasols, barbys and other condiments left over from previous campers. So armed with barby, bug spray and a few other bits we loaded up.
The beast Mk 2 is a 30 foot, E450 Ford base with body built by Coachmen, incorporating 2 slide outs. Without the slide outs the RV felt huge, probably only 3 foot longer than last year but it made a big difference. The RV was much newer with only 6000 miles on the clock, and the interior finished to a much higher standard. Toilet and shower were
'en suite' to the bedroom at the back which might prove challenging when our guests join us later in the trip.
At the flip of a button the two 'slide out' portions move out giving an extra 2 foot of width in the lounge/kitchen and the ability to walk around the whole bed in the bedroom. The bedroom slide out reveals more wardrobe space and gives full walk around the large double bed (must make sure we don't put anything in there we need on the road!) The extra length gives an additional seating area in the kitchen and more worktop space which in this van housed the piece de resistance, a 32 inch TV on motor mount that slides out from beneath the counter.....result!!!
At this point it's worth noting (for those reading this as a travel blog and not the family and friends who are reading it in the hope we get stuck under a bridge or marooned in the middle of nowhere) the top 5 things we learnt from our last trip that we carried over to this:
1) whilst bedding is supplied, best to bring your own fitted sheet. These beds aren't nearly
as accessible as one at home and having to reset the sheet halfway through the night to stop having to unpeel your backside from a rubber mattress is worth the extra luggage space. Roadbears bed linen and towels however are very good.
2) hire a sat nav, it will save you a fortune on roaming charges trying to use your mobile phone to find that tricky campsite in the dark. Once we had swapped the first one we were given (that only spoke in German) it was a breeze. Test it before you leave the site!
3) if in Florida, hire a prepaid sun pass for the tolls. Floridas highways have tolls everywhere and whilst only the odd dollar here and there it's a pain to keep finding the change and slow down. With a prepaid surpass stuck to your screen you can bypass the numerous toll booths on the highway ( in many places if you don't have the electronic tag you have to pull over to a slip road to pay)
4) bring a small torch for those late night trips to the loo (if you are trying to avoid too many tank empties!) and
to check whether your steak on the barby is rare or completely incinerated in the dark!
5) buy a pair of rubber gloves at your first shop to keep things clean if you do end up having to empty your tank regularly.
So with that in mind we chucked the bags in the back (unpacking comes later) and with a full tank of gas (again different to the empty tank from Cruise America) we hit the road in search of Walmart. Our first stop was only half a mile down the road but we missed it twice, 3 point turning a 30 foot RV is not fun (even though this one was fitted with rear cameras) but we got there. A full 300 dollar shop later we emptied beers, wines, foods, meat, salads, barby stuff (including coals), water, soft drinks, lots of snacks and a pair of rubber gloves into the RV, had a quick subway and hit the road for St. Augustine.
Lesson number 2 that we learnt last year was failed again (make sure all cupboards are securely closed before moving off) and as we bounced out of Walmart parking lot we deposited the contents
of the plate cupboards and half the food shopping across the floor of the RV necessitating an emergency stop to resecure everything. Luckily playes and cups in this RV are unbreakable! Lesson number 1 last year by the way was, always pull up to a petrol pump that you can leave travelling forwards! Reversing around petrol pumps is not for the faint hearted in a 30 foot RV.
Have to say the Florida scenery was not quite as spectacular as the deserts, mountains and coast of California but the 2 hour drive to St Augustine was a good way of getting back into RV driving. The roads are good and traffic quite light. About half an hour outside of St Augustine we were tempted by the signs at the side of the road for fresh local produce so we pulled over at the next available store for a leg stretch and a look. These places are amazing, in the middle of nowhere a store selling anything from bags of Florida grapefruit and oranges for a dollar through to clothes, souvenirs, local jam, honey, relishes right up to 10 foot high boxes of fireworks and hundreds of alligator heads!
After stocking up on chocolate covered pecans, key lime chocolates and some relish we hit the road bound for KOA campground at St Augustine. As before we have stuck with KOA for most of our bookings this trip as they offer a similar standard wherever you are. The KOA St Augustine is just off the A1a and gave satnav no problems. The site is large with a small pool at the entrance, a small fishing lake running down one side of it, teaming with jumping fish and some very friendly ducks who welcome you to your spot and demand bread! The site also rents bikes, has pedalos on the lake and looks a great place if you have kids who want to explore. Check in was easy and we pulled into our drive through spot with ease in between the trees and hooked up water, electricity and cable TV (after having purchased the cable that Roadbear don't supply) from the camp shop.
The site was very quiet this time of year and we had few neighbours around us. After unpacking the clothes and the remainder of the shopping it was time to tune in the TV to the camp supplied direct TV service (not easy) and light the barby. Dinner was feast of steak, ribs and salad with the only drawback being we had to eat it inside because of the mossies! Evening entertainmhot was courtesy of HBO and we hit the bednight our first night 'outdoors' safe in the knowledge we wouldn't be removing each other from the rubber mattress in the morning with a scalpel now we had our sheets from home!
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P.Moore
non-member comment
What fun
Sounds like its going well, should have taken my Deet!!!!!!!!