'Cause we like it.

A couple of months ago, we started planning our next vacation. We were tossing around lots of ideas (most of which were incredibly expensive) and started thinking about what kind of holidays we would take as a family when we got back to the south.

We figured we would be less of a jet-setting family and more of a camping family. I, however, am not a go-into-the-wilderness-and-set-up-a-tent kind of girl. I look at the people who pull up in their RVs with beds, heat, stoves, fridges, showers, toilets, and (now that I have kids) locks on the door, and I think that's more my style.

This led us to thinking that maybe we should rent something like this and see how we like it. Now, eventually we wouldn't be getting a full-sized RV, just a trailer, but you can't rent those quite as easily when you don't have a truck. Then we started throwing around ideas about where to go RVing - when you're renting, you can start from anywhere! Finally we decided on driving to Calgary, renting there, then driving up and out to Vancouver Island and back. Great; we picked the RV we wanted to rent and started planning where we would stay each night.

If you've ever seen me plan a trip, you know that I now know everything there is to know about RV sites in BC. We even found out that there were "dinosaur" related stops to make along the way. Then we started to see a pattern. Some campgrounds were open all-year, more opened May 1, and the majority were May 15-ish. The tours we wanted to do of dino-stuff started the end of May. One campground that I emailed would open earlier than May 1 if enough snow was gone. Next we started planning what kind of clothes/jackets we would need to take.

Then it got really, really cold here in Clyde River. And we started to wonder if, after a winter of extreme cold, blizzards, and 110 km/h wind storms, we were looking forward to a chilly, rainy vacation. The answer became "Not so much." So where could we easily take the kids (so it would still be a vacation for us, not a marathon of survival) where it was warm and they would have fun and we would have fun? The skies opened up and the answer was clear:

We know the area, we know what to expect. Then, there was more planning. We wanted to go for longer; try to achieve that balance of the Disney experience without feeling rushed. So we're going from May 1-12. And to stay that long, in one room.... well, let's just say that our favourite part of travelling is not putting the kids to bed and then sitting in the dark, with me on the iPod and Craig on the laptop. Sometimes we watch a movie on the laptop; Craig gets the left earbud and I get the right. I know, it sounds awesome and you can't understand why we don't enjoy this.

So this time we are going to stay here:

In a room like this:

See over on the right? Through that door? That's our own room. That couch folds out into a queen-sized bed. Oh, and that's right... that's a fridge and stove - not that we have any crazy ideas about using them too much, as we always have food left over on the dining plan.

We're staying there for half the trip. The other half will be here:

Same deal, with a separate bedroom. This place has a pool with a water slide and we can take the boat launch to Downtown Disney.

Someday we will go somewhere new and different. But for now we're going back to Disney World. 'Cause we like it.