The dog, the legend, Presley.

We were really worried about parking at DL and about what to do with Presley. No need to worry or park in the sun while in the Magic Kingdom. The parking stucture which will hold 10,000 cars, has a 13’10″ clearance on the first floor. For our 9-1/2 foot Sprinter that was great. Not only was the area they flagged us to very close to the Tram but it was very close to the exit. The first day we put Presley in the Disneyland Kennels. Don’t use them if you have a choice. It is the most un-Disney like experience in Disneyland especially for your pet.

As we left the first day we saw an older van and heard a dog barking. Bing! The light bulb went on – tomorrow Mr. P. stays in his favorite place in the world, the bus!  This worked out perfectly. We spent about 3 hours in the park and then, while waiting for a fastpass, went back out to the bus to have lunch and see Presley. While it was in the low 90′s in the park, the parking structure was in the 70′s with a nice breeze blowing through it.

Progressive just increased the limits it pays for veterinary care to $1,000 if your pet is injured in an accident while on the road. They will also pay a $1,000 pet benefit.

I suppose that provides me some comfort knowing that most of the time when I am traveling with Presley he is not wearing a seat belt. I have one of those harness things that works with the seat belt and even though he doesn’t like it I need to use it more often.

I have always envisioned traveling south as far as I can get - the tip of South America. What a journey that would be! Recently however, I am having second thoughts.

It seems the world’s largest snake has turned up in the Colombian jungle. This guy or girl (actually, it must be a thing like a swamp monster) is more than twice as long as our Sprinter and weighs about 1/3 the weight.

What would I do, camping, having cocktails (but of course, mon ami!) when suddenly, “Honey, have you seen Presley (the dog)? And from the bush comes the hideous sound of a snake burping (do they?).

It seems this snake was or is 42 feet long and weighs 2,500 pounds! Listen, you don’t weigh that much from just eating frogs!

Having spent time in travel trailers, Class A’s, Class B’s and many Eurovans I knew that storage for a extended trip would be a challenge. Not the everyday things like dishes and food but clothes, toiletries, and nice to have things like a hammer, duct tape, rope, chairs, etc.

That is why when we built the Sprinter we added a “back porch.” We carry extra things in coolers as their size prevents you from overloading them and with their built in handles, they are easy to load and unload. One cooler is full of camping gear, citronella candles, a rubber mallet, extension cord, etc. and the other we use for ice and things we want cold like water, juice, etc. That also provides a back up ice source for cocktail time!

We also put a drain in which drains directly to the ground just in case we need an emergency place to shower. I tell people I use it after fording rivers to drain the water out of the bus. We don’t anticipate every using it but it is there just in case.

The last thing we load between the chairs and the door is our mat that goes outside the sliding door when we are camped.

Presley stays in his crate when we are away from the bus. He gets a lot less excited there and doesn’t set off the alarm.