Orlando, The Princess and Big Rig Changes

We arrived in Orlando, happy to be in a place that was warm and where, we hoped, we could finally get the heat fixed.  Derrick made an appointment for the closest AquaHot dealer (the name of the type of heater we had in the motorhome) and we settled in.  However, it wasn't long before we noticed some other crazy issues popping up.  Water refused to stay in toilet, there was a wet spot in the bedroom that we had no explanation for (not related to cats... just recurring wetness.).
One. Thing. After. Another.  We talked.  We prayed. We researched. We finally decided.

It was time to cut our losses and look at a different rig.  We knew that we wanted to go on a mission where we could use our RV. That had always been the plan.  But it was becoming more evident every day that this rig would not stand the rigors of that endeavor.  In it's day, the Baroness was a very high end motorhome.  We had the original sticker to prove it.  But that was in 2004 and this is 2016.

After much discussion and research we concluded we wanted to switch to a fifth wheel and a truck. Long story short, we found the perfect fifth wheel and truck in record time.  We located a 2016 Heartland Bighorn 35' Fifth wheel and an amazing 2014 Ford F350 truck.  We got fair trades for both the other vehicles, too.  We secured a hitch, got it installed and by Thursday the 25th, we had a new rig. LaMesa RV in Sanford, FL, and Gibson Truck World, also in Sanford, were super great to work with.

I have to admit, there were moments of nostalgia as we packed up the motorhome.  There were moments of panic and angst as we worried that the new unit would be too small.

Packing up, we realized we had WAY too much stuff.  Why on earth were we carrying it all around? We ended up sending 4 boxes back home and took another load or two of things to Goodwill. Even with that much purging, we still have a lot of "stuff".  Moving it all from one rig to the other was daunting.

In between looking, trading and packing, I did a 5K, a 10K and a Half Marathon at Disney World. While we were in California, I was able to get a last minute entry into the Disney Princess Glass Slipper Challenge.  The 5K was a fun little jaunt through Epcot.  The 10K was a fun run also through Epcot with a few other streets added.  The Half Marathon was another story.   It was crowded beyond comprehension.  I was back too far and in too deep.  Crowd Claustrophobia is a very real malady for me and this race was, in a word, a nightmare with 20,000 or so runners.  I am glad I did it - got it out of my system - but I most likely won't do it again.

Again, to be continued...