memories – Heartswell Adventures

Carlsbad Caverns

February 6, 2018March 20, 2023heartswelladventures

After a much needed stop in Ft. Stockton, TX, we finished our drive to Carlsbad, New Mexico. This cute little park was in the middle of the desert, yet it was situated on a lake.

We pretty much stayed inside the rest of the day as the winds were absolutely insane! We even contemplated pulling in the slide at one point to help ease the rocking. Our camp hosts told us that this was unusual for this area and should ease up by the next day.

Great covered playground – if only the kids felt better

Thank goodness they were right and we were able to get out for a bit. Sadly, the kids were still sick and didn’t want to play that much.

Which meant another low-key day for us, playing inside.

By Wednesday, we all felt pretty good so we took the opportunity to get out. A short drive away is the city of Roswell and who could pass up the opportunity to see aliens!?!

amazing assortment of animals for a free zoo

While, sadly, we didn’t encounter any being from another world we did get to see some animals from this one at the Roswell Zoo. This cute zoo is free and filled with lots of animals that the kids could get close to.

Right next door is a cute playground, while had a 1970s rocket slide – which Damon had to try, of course 😄

It’s been a while since we hit a Goodwill, most of the small towns we’ve visited the past few weeks didn’t have one. So we jumped at the chance to visit the one in Roswell. I scored a pile of books for the kids (I collect old Disney and Golden Books – they’re awesome and these are a steal!).

At this point, the kids were pretty worn out, so we headed back to the RV. Before we left, we made a quick stop at McDonald’s, which had an extraterrestrial feel to it 👽.

Since we were in Carlsbad, we’d hoped to visit the famous Carlsbad Caverns. Unfortunately, the only way to see it with kids is to use their elevator, which was down for maintenance all week. And, while it was supposed to be fixed before we left, the lovely government shutdown delayed things. Which meant no caverns for us this time. I was pretty bummed – I visited the caverns with my Grandma when I was about 6 and wanted to revisit it.

Instead, we used to day to clean the RV (which really helps with leaving the campsite), and going grocery shopping. Since it’s been cold out, I made my Crock-Pot Chili (and no, I’m not scared to use it. The ‘This Is Us’ guy died from bad wiring and NOT a Crock-Pot!).

And so ends another RV stop. Next up, Albuquerque.

RV Stop #1 – Fort De Soto

September 4, 2017heartswelladventures

We’ve said goodbye to Winter Garden RV Resort – our holding place while we finished prepping the house to sell – and headed to our first stop on our road trip, Fort De Soto, Florida.

This beautiful RV park is inside of the Fort De Soto state park – home to quiet beaches and a historic old fort. If you want a quiet beach weekend, this is the place to go.

We learned a lot even before we arrived.

The two-hour drive occurred during a big thunder storm, complete with thunder and lightning, which made for a very shaky drive. The kids slept most of the way and didn’t seem to notice that anything was wrong. The cats are a different story – the meowed the whole time (I hope they get used to driving soon).
Once we arrived, we had to do our first back-in setup (this is when you have to back the trailer into the site). Since I’m navigationally challenged, Damon took the task upon himself and managed to get us set up without hitting anything!

Since it was still rainy when we arrived, we decided to stay inside and have a quiet evening with the kids.

After sleeping in, we decided that the kids needed to get out, so we took them to the Children’s Exploration Museum. This place is so much fun – the room is divided into different sections, giving kids a lot of options for play. Mini-man loved a lot of the sections and had an amazing time.

The next day we spent at the campground exploring. This place is very old Florida, with lots of trees, water, and wildlife. It was very relaxing to walk around. A few minutes from our site was a cute children’s playground that mini-man adored.

On our last day, we decided to be brave and take the kids to the beach. I’d heard that North Beach was a great place to take kids, so we headed there.

At first, we thought the beach near the playground would be ideal, but the waves were really high. Instead, we let mini-man play on the playground for a bit, then headed further up the beach.

This new location was perfect- hardly any waves and nice, warm water. Mini-man went in instantly with Damon. I sat at the edge with little-dude and let him get his feet wet (he liked the water but the waves scared him). All-in-all, a pretty successful trip (minus all the sand we brought back).

Today we head to our next stop, Terra Ciea, just 30 minutes from Fort De Soto. Fingers crossed we can get everything ready before check-out. Last time, it took us several hours to get going. This time, we have just four. Wish us luck!

The Great Movie Ride

July 29, 2017July 29, 2017heartswelladventures

A few weeks ago, the Walt Disney Company announced the closure of a beloved attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – The Great Movie Ride. While I understand the need to retire the attraction, I am saddened as it holds a special place in my heart.

In October of 2004, I’d been working at ‘The Great Movie Ride’ for a few weeks when I met a new person in the break room – Damon. He’d just transfer from ‘The Tower of Tower’ and was finishing his training for the ride. I remember this meeting because of how we clicked. I’d never felt an instant connection with anyone before. From then on, I constantly looked for him in the break room. Unfortunately, he kept getting assigned to ‘The Tower of Tower’, so I never saw him.

Then in June 2005, we were both selected for be character trained for the ride (which means doing the gangster/bandit scenes). At this point, we were seeing more of each other each weekend and definitely had a crush on each other.

During training, Damon tried to help the trainer by grabbing a box of pens for our class. The next thing we know, Damon tripped and pens went flying across the room. He turned beet red and I thought he was the cutest thing ever!

After work, Damon invited me to his house to watch a movie. I don’t remember much about the movie. What I do remember is how comfortable I felt with him. While we were talking, he asked if I’d like to go out with him sometime. I said that sounded like fun (girl code for yes). Unfortunately, Damon didn’t speak girl code and asked me again. I explained that my answer ment yes and thus began our journey of being honest with each other.

So, as you can imagine, ‘The Great Movie Ride’ means a great deal to us. Which is why I was thrilled to get to go back one more time. Last night, the Disney Parks Blog hosted a meet-up at the ride and allowed us to walk the track! Not only did I get to relive some very fond memories but I got to take all the pictures I’d neglected to take while I worked there (lesson learnes + always take pictures).

What a wonderful way to close such a meaningful chapter of my life. I only hope it’s replacement will live up to ‘The Great Movie Ride’

Taking our Furbabies on the Road

May 31, 2017August 8, 2017heartswelladventures

These poor cats. We adopted Kizzy and Cloud in 2008 while we were living at our townhouse in Orlando. And over the past ten years, these cats have lived in a lot of different places:

2009 (October): We drove them cross country for three days to move to California.
2010 (April): About six months later, in early we drove them back to Orlando, and into my in-laws house in Celebration, Florida.
2010 (October): After many months of house hunting, we then moved them to our new house in Orlando.
2013 (February): After a few years of downtime, we moved them to an apartment near SeaWorld
2014 (January): We moved them back to our townhouse in Orlando.

Tired Cloud — I think this pretty much sums up how he feels about car rides

Is that it? unfortunately not.

2015 (September): We flew them out to California!
2016 (September): We fly them back to the townhouse in Orlando

And now we are asking them to live with us on an RV and travel the country to who knows how long. I think I better stock-up on kitty treats.

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