I am giving a heads up to my readers, blogging may be a bit briefer during week days for a bit as I am back in school invigilating and so have less time.
We had a disappointing day today. We covered everything, moved a heap of furniture and prepared for new windows in our library and the scrap room. The people didn't turn up and said they were sorry - they ought o have phoned. Yes they ought. Nigel waited in for them.
We have agreed to another date and a reduction in cost but it was disappointing as we moved so much stuff and have had to put it back again.
It was fun to be back into school but my knee is protesting. It has gone from doing very very little to over 7000 steps today and it knows it!
I have managed some scrapping though. I made the daily prompt page for today and for yesterday.
Hearts today so I scrapped Paris
I even managed to hand stitch some heart embellishments.
Yesterday was journalling so I did a page journalling how we had the most amazing upgrade in Paris. We had booked the cheapest room in a very nice hotel and I was cheeky enough to ask that as it was our 25th wedding anniversary, could we possibly have one with a view if available. They upgraded us to a two-floor duplex apartment filled with antiques and with a view of the Eifel Tower. One night cost more than our entire booking. We were very very blessed.
I also made this page for a challenge on UK Scrappers
Today I am thankful that work is done - 2 sessions out of 21 completed - and yes I am counting. I am meant to be retired!
I hope you were all safe and happy last night whatever you were doing and that your new year has started well. We managed to stay up this year! That was a first in a while. It was fun to see the fireworks going off all around, though there seemed less this year.
Our New Year could have had a better start. Expecting a rare day off from Nigel being on duty with his Mom as his brother was down was not to be. I am sure the rest of the family don't realise just what and how much Nigel does all the time and that being the only son nearby brings with it enormous responisibility and means we often have to abandon plans. Such is life.
However, we are grateful we are well, we are fed, we are warm and in the end we did have a productive day.
I have even scrapped and finished my year book. It has all gone off to the printer and I look forward to seeing it finished. These are the last few pages which include the cover.
I am glad it is done and it remains to be seen whether I will venture another one. I bet I will, but we'll see.
Today I am thankful for
scrapping time
a completed project
Friday 1st December 2017
Start time breakfast 8.15 park 10.00
Start miles 17182
End time 7.30
End miles 17200
The day dawned bright and beautiful again ...I am loving the weather in Florida in December... Because yes ... It is now officially Christmas season. December is here and we are in the most magical place of all. I was expecting fog again when we got up, but it was clear as a bell, blue skies and warm. We decided to walk to breakfast and explore our new Disney home as we hadn't really seen very much of it. What a glorious walk on a fabulous day. The resort is beautiful and Disney had laid on perfect still water and stunning reflections for us. It was a shorter walk, even with all the photography, than we were used to at the Caribbean Beach and just as beautiful in a different way. It was also altogether more enjoyable without the humidity, with blue skies and with the sunshine.
Breakfast over we headed to French Quarter to double check that we didn't prefer that to our resort. We didn't. In our view it is a moderate resort that thinks it is a deluxe. It is more hotel style and less themed somehow and we have decided POR will be our new Disney home for the foreseeable future.
Photos taken we headed off to the animal kingdom. Despite the advertising when it opened almost 20 years ago that it was NATAZU it really was a zoo today. I have never known such a long wait to get into a park. It was crazy. After an almost empty Magic kingdom yesterday this was quite a change. We decided to go straight to Harambe to see Festival of the Lion King and wait for the rush for Pandora to die down a bit. How stupid were we. It never dies down! However, we got into the show with no wait and really enjoyed it as always. It is so. I have fun, so vibrant and exciting, the music is great and I love love love the tumble monkeys.
Once we exited there it was time to visit the land of Pandora for the first time. We have seen Avatar but didn't remember much about it really. The land was exceptionally crowded. The waits for both Flights of Passage ... 180 minutes ... And Navi River Journey .. 130 minutes ... We're just silly long. And we were fascinated to hear plenty of people in the crowds saying 'so what is this then ... Is it a ride?' People people people ... Don't you realise Disney is no longer a turn up vacation ... It's a vacation that needs membership to forums and planning groups and apps, it needs schedules and spreadsheets and countdowns. It's not a vacation it is a military operation. No we love it. I love the planning ... Nigel loves the spreadsheets. And we are veterans so we are also flexible ... Plans are plans not edicts ... We sometimes change. We took some pictures but I did make the comment that I think it was the emperors new clothes. I didn't feel it was that special ... There were some nice bits and I know it is meant to look better at night but we were not raving over it. We popped into the store and watched a little boy get his avatar. Apparently your DNA was scanned and it cloned your features ... So the man Nigel asked said.
We saw the banshees and were not tempted and so after a bit of drumming we were off to creature comforts and a frap ... And a nice photo pass photographer took a pic of us doing our favourite frap thing. We even had a delicious pumpkin bread.
A little chilling and a little people watching and we were back to Pandora to ride the N'avi river journey. We were prepare to be unimpressed but we loved it ... Very us .. Very gentle and pretty and some amazing new technology that really impressed us both. Not worth almost a three hour wait, but very good.
We left to return to Africa, planning Kilimanjaro Safaris.
We had never done it in the afternoon as the advice is always do it in the cool of the morning. However this was December baby ... So we gave it a try. It was a 40 minute wait but worth it. We have done the safari a gazillion times but I think this was the best ... Clear blue skies, gorgeous light and more animals than usual. The driver even paused several times for us. It was brilliant.
You can travel the world quickly here so we scooted from Africa to Asia and sat and people watched whilst we waited for our thrill ride.
I don't like roller coasters any more. I used to ... Have risen some of the biggest and the best ... But as I have aged ... Matured maybe .. I am more aware of my own fragility and the vulnerability of my back and so I rarely do them now. Everest is an exception. It is so smooth , so slick, so fast and so exhilarating I love it t. And I wasn't disappointed this time.
Sporting Everest hair, we headed for dinner. We know what we like and we like what we know. From the comfort of home we planned more exotic good .. When here we headed for our usual stop of Restaurantasaurus. On the way we caught Santa Goofy and Pluto a treat. The meal was delicious. For a quick serve restaurant it is succulent chicken breast ... Yum.
From there, watching the sunset near Everest, where the mountain moved from Asia to Utah apparently, we headed to take our seats for Rivers of Light, a new show we had never seen. The stadium was huge and we were seated in the back row which was good as I could stand when Mrs I can't keep still kept moving. She was also a larger lady and her back end filled where my knees were meant to be.
The show was excellent. They can't have fireworks obviously because of the animals so they had fireworks of water, the projections, the water, the floats ... Just fabulous, all of it ... We really enjoyed it.
Bit of a crush getting out but considering the show didn't finish until 6.45 we were out of the park at 7. Back to POR and time to have a cookie sandwich ... Fast becoming a favourite ... For dessert and then back to the room to chill ...quite literally as I gave the air on high. Mouse keeping had been fab and left plentiful supplies of toiletries too.
New Year's Eve - I guess it is the one day of the year can be filled with hope or regret more than any other.
It is a time people either love or hate and I guess it depends on what the past year has been like.
I have had my share of years where I have been so pleased to see them go and have a new, fresh start sprinkled lavishly with hope.
I have also been blessed to have many years where I have looked back, thinking what an amazing year I have had.
This year I am looking back with love. My first full year as a retiree - albeit a very young retiree!! A year where I truly have felt I don't know how I had time to work and to work 14 hour days over and over. My days are full and busy - because sometimes doing nothing is busy and fulfilling. Nigel works just two days a week and I can often help him with work and we have enjoyed real quality time together. God has been good with our health too. We had a couple of rocky years but this year, praise be, we have been healthy - let's forget the incident of the black boot of shame!
It was 'the year of the house' with renovations that didn't always go smoothly but they are done now.
I have been browsing a folder where I keep just quick instapictures to record days and it has been fun to go back over the year. I love that the images give the date and the temperature too
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
So we are ready to say farewell to 2017 and look forward to 2018 with whatever opportunities it brings and to more new adventures together.
The decorations are down, the house is cleaned, we even have brand new bedding on including a new duvet.
I wish you all a happy new year and I hope that for those of you who have worries and concerns, health issues, financial issues, loneliness issues that you find comfort and support and the strength to cope with whatever life throws at you. I wish you a 2018 filled with health and happiness, love and laughter, but remember, if there were no rain we would never see a rainbow.
Today I am thankful for ...
The whole darned year - all of it. The lessons I have learned (some of them hard) , the people I have met and spent time with, the new things I have experienced, the places I have visited, the home we have created, the fur babies we nurture and, most of all, for my wonderful soul mate Nigel.
I worked hard yesterday to complete the weekly pages apart from the last week of the year which I can't do until new year's eve.
I set out to complete a page each week of the year so I didn't have to scrap the whole darn year in one go and I am pleased I completed it. It was tough at times but I know I will love looking back on it in years to come.
Will I do it again? At the moment I feel like it is a no, but I know how much I enjoy them when they are complete so, we will see. I may see if I can do a simpler format. Maybe.
Anyway here are the last few pages.
Week 49
Left hand side
Right hand side
We went to the cinema today to see 'The Greatest Showman' and it was terrific. A really good film, great music, awesome choregraphy, good story and with Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron you can't really go wrong.
Today I am thankful for
completing a challenge I set myself even though I wanted to give up many times
I have another insallment of our holiday - our first full Disney day but I am going to take a break until after New Year's day before posting more. The photos are taking an age to resize and to be honest, I just want to scrap.
The rest of the holiday will follow in 2018. Thank you for bearing with these endless holiday reports and sticking with it - if you have.
Thursday 30th November 2017
Start time 7.10
Start miles 17168
End time 7.42
End miles 17182
Total miles travelled. 14
A magical first day
Well this was weather we had not seen before at Disney. IT was beautifully warm but still quite foggy. We were up early and went to breakfast at 7.15. It was our first experience of breakfast at Riverside Mill and it was a positive one. It was very busy, much busier than the Caribbean Beach had been, but it flowed smoothly and I loved my bounty platter. I was so lucky to be at Riverside. It was one of the few places on property that served French toast rather than waffles or pancakes.
We headed off promptly to the Magic Kingdom. We parked at the TTC and were planning to take the boat as this is our new tradition but somehow, because it was close and open, we ended up taking the monorail. The new system of bag check works so well. You are checked. Score you go on the transport at the TTC which seems to space things out much better. Like that idea.
We had opted to go to the Magic Kingdom today as it was closing at 4 for a cast party. We figured a lot of people wouldn't waste a park pass on the park as it was open for such a short time. Turns out we were right ... And some.
As we arrived I was thrilled to see the park decked out for Christmas, although it was still a little hazy for nice photos. I planned to return and get the shots I wanted later. See, I have patience sometimes. We stopped and had our photos taken. We have free Memory Maker this year and so it is a good chance to get some pictures of us together that are NOT awkward selfies. Some of them were even ok.
Having paused to watch the Trolley car show on Main Street (we also saw it later from Town Square) we headed round to Adventure land as we had 9.30 - 10.30 splash mountain fast passes. As we walked by the Jungle Cruise, with the festive overlay making it the JINGLE cruise of course, there was no queue, nothing, not even a little one. We walked straight on. Amazing. It was very good too. The jokes were seasonally cheesy and it was good to see it with a new overlay. And it was quiet – there were 8 of us in our boat and we were one of the busier boats!
We walked round to Splash Mountain and we walked right on. We didn't even use our fast pass, thinking we would ride it again within our hour time. I have never seen splash with no queue.
Sadly the ride stopped three times, twice for quite a lengthy period of time and resulting in the lights going on. It did restart and we did get soaked ... Far wetter than usual ... So although we still had our fast pass we decided not to use it. We headed round to pirates of the Caribbean and there was no queue for this either. And, as the photo pass pictures shows – we had a boat to ourselves! It was turning into quite a bizarre day. Three rides, all walk ons. Pirates was as good as always ... It is one of our favourite rides. We had some cool photo pass pictures taken there too.
Well all that fun and adventure left us peckish and it would be rude to be In Adventureland and NOT have dole whip. They had recently introduced dole whip on pineapple upside down cake. Rude not to try and it was delicious. The park was incredibly quiet, quieter than we have ever seen it. I am ashamed to say we have never ridden the magic carpets of Aladdin... Well we have now. Good fun.
We ambled back to Main Street as the fog had cleared, the sky was blue and the sun was hot. We watched the trolley car show, which was a lovely festive themed offering, and we took lots of pictures. The displays in Main Street were fabulous and I loved the Mickey shaped wreaths on the lampposts. We watched the trolley car show which was also beautifully seasonal and in all of this there were almost no crowds at all. It was uncanny. We even stopped and chatted to one of the citizens of Main Street and because I had my Mother of Cats T shirt on she meowed Jingle Bells to us.
We decided to stop at the Main Street bakery, now a Starbucks of course, and get a drink. As we were in the line I heard the castle show starting and so I left Nigel to wait and I went and stood in a quiet area, off to the side, and watched the show. It was really very good and when you put Anna, Elsa and Olaf together with Mickey and Minnie for one of the scenes then you pretty much have Disney perfection in my eyes. Nigel arrived just as it was ending ... I was so sad he had missed it.
We sat and drank our drinks and then heard the dulcet tones of the Move It Shake it parade. Nigel had never seen this all the way through before; I have no idea how I had seen it and I hadn't but life is like that. We watched the floats come round the hub and the music is just so infectious. We walked round the hub as the dance party continued and it was really joyous. The music is vibrant, they get everyone up and dancing, you get great views of and interaction with the characters... It is one of my favourite things in the Magic kIngdom, and as for the end ... Vamos ... We are singing it still.
The park was still ridiculously quiet and we walked round to Haunted Mansion. We did have a fast pass for this but In Fairness it was also very quiet. I still love this ride, especially the ballroom scene.
We looked round the shops, sat and people watched and then took our places for the parade in Liberty Square. I have to say that it was even quiet for the parade. There were places right at the front up until just before it started.
The festival of fantasy parade is wonderful. .love the music, love the gigantic floats, love the dancers. Take too many pictures. Always. But I am NOT going to post many here
We headed out to Fantasy Land and even that was quiet too. We saw Mickeys philharmagic and the. Rode the Barnstormer, Small World, The Mad Hatter teacups, under the sea with the little mermaid and Winnie the Pooh all with absolutely no wait at all. Finally we used our fast pass for seven dwarves even though there was pretty much only a ten minute wait there too. The quietest I am sure we would ever see the Magic Kingdom. By then it was time to head back to Main Street, take a few last pictures and exit the park. The only place we saw a line all day was the monorail.
We had always planned to do the hotel loop and see what each of the resorts had for Christmas. In the end we decided not to get off the monorail at the Contemporary due to how busy the monorail was and the fact the Contemporary was the wrong side of the TTC. We rode round to the Poly and had a lovely time. It was beautifully decorated and we enjoyed just wandering around and soaking up the atmosphere. We then grabbed dinner at Captain Cooks and I will so be going to eat there again. It was fabulous. I had the noodles and it was like a pad Thai... Delicious.
From there we went to the Grand Floridian which was just gorgeous. The tree was amazing, the ambiance everywhere awesome and the gingerbread house was incredible. Would I like to stay there? No, and that isn't sour grapes because I cannot afford it. To me Florida and Disney isn't about getting all dressed up and staying somewhere fancy,it isn’t about valet parking and long walks to your room. It isn't about fancy dining, …nice to visit, but not us... Not at all.
We had an incident when we arrived as Nigel spilt some of his Diet Coke and a lady all poshed up in a long dress was beastly. If looks and glares could kill I would not be sat writing this blog. The other was when I was sat waiting for Nigel to exit the rest room. A girl about 14 had obviously tripped over an unattended wheelchair and hurt her ankle, oh my goodness, I had a ring side view as a senior cast member, a blue shirt, arrived, was berated, called for medics and I could see the law suit unfolding before my eyes. I felt sorry for the girl and she was hurt, though I doubt it was broken, but oh my. Someone somewhere was going to pay for that one.
We made our way back to the TTC and we were both moved to tears. The people were still arriving for the cast party and we watched them checking in and receiving their lanyards for 10, 15, 20 ... And even 35 year service lanyards. The people were all dressed up, many clutching their special gold envelopes and we were filled with gratitude for what these cast members do for guests every day. Nigel, who is so much braver than I, delighted I. Saying thank you and have a great evening to them all as we passed. He said they spent all of their time making others feel special they deserved to have it wished for them too. It moved us both to tears. What a magical end to a terrific Magical kingdom day. We went home truly believing in the magic.
There was even a little bit of magic in our room. I picked up my parcel from Foultons store and gave it To Nigel in the room. He had no idea I had had it personalised ... Or thankfully how much extra I had paid for it. A perfect end ... Our own little bit of magic to take home with us.
Still in Crimbo Limbo here - oh my that one is going to stick - so we went for a lovely walk to sort ourselves out. It was very cold with a thick frost but gorgeous blue sky and wall to wall sunshine. I love where we live all the time, but a walk on the heath and then to the local supermarket is gorgeous in weather like this.
I also managed to make next year's Christmas calendar. OK so that isn't as elaborate as it sounds. It involved printing photos and sticking them over the right space, but still. It is another job done.
I have also been cracking on with my weekly pages. Today I have made the next two week - just three more to go - and these have had to be doubles and even then I couldn't include half of what I wanted.
Left-hand side
Right hand side
and week 48
left hand side
right hand side
Today I am thankful for
almost being caught up
bracing walks
beautiful place I call home
Wednesday 29th November 2017
Tallahassee to Walt Disney World
Start time 8.00
Start miles 16885
End time travel 1.20 end of day 8.50
End miles 17168
Total miles travelled 283
Today was the day .. D Day ... when D is for Disney.
We had been on holiday for over a week having the most amazingly as trip,but now ... Well now we had a holiday starting ... A Disney holiday. For the first time in forever we would arrive at Disney not jet-lagged, having fully acclimatised to the USA and earlier than ever before. I was a little excited. I dragged out clothes I could find, glad that this was the last time I was living out of a case. Next road trip I have a new strategy. I am going to put our underwear for each day in a ziplock bag and use the same ziplock bag to put the dirty underwear in. I could find tops and trousers easily but by the end of a week I was struggling more and more to find socks which had been used as space fillers ... Good idea to fill space ... Bad idea to try and find the little devils without getting everything out. Anyway ... I found them and we were dressed in clean clothes again for a Disney start. A quick breakfast ... Worth the laugh to see Nigels face when he sipped my orange spice tea instead of his black rubbish ... And we were off. We have never seen fog in Florida before so that was a novelty but by the time we stopped at Lake City it had burnt off, it was bright and blue and warm ... OK HOT in the sun. Florida baby. A brief Starbucks and retail stop … well it is rude to pass a Hobby Lobby when there is one .. we were off once more.
We motored on and reached Disney and our new home of Port Orleans Riverside by 1.15. Our room wasn't ready, which was what we expected. We were able to complete check-in and they would e mail us the number and we were lucky that our requests had been met. We headed to Disney Springs to get our gift card ...$200 of free money. Disney Springs was so much better than it had been last trip in 2015. Then it had been roadworks all the way and only one parking garage. This time both parking garages were built, there was no construction and the roads were empty. IT was an absolute joy and Nigel voted the lime garage his new favourite car park. That’s quite an achievement. The car park at the Hoover Dam had been his number one for years and years. It was hot as we headed out of the Disney store and we were a little dismayed that they don’t have air con on in winter so it was really hot in the stores. I went to the Christmas store and ordered a personalised Tinkerbell ornament. Nigel knew I was going to buy the globe, but not have it personalised. I confess I got a little carried away. It gave the cost of personalizing but apparently that was only the date. With gay abandon I added our names and sparkles and – they were free – cat paw prints. I was a bit shocked when they gave me the final price but heck, it was an amazing souvenir and it WAS Tinkerbell. I had it shipped to the resort.
Meanwhile, he saw Alan again and collected our free bag. We headed back to POR and prepared to walk round the resort whilst we waited, but the email came and we had our room. We had been allocated 9089 ... right, where I had requested ... And I was thrilled to bits. It was perfectly placed ... Close to the carpark, close to the pool, close to the bridge. Perfect. And we had neighbours who had Christmas lights up ... We wouldn't be the only ones.
This is our building - Oak Manor - and our pool. I loved it and you can see why it was so right to stay at this resort as part of our southern states tour (though we now know it will be our home resort for the foreseeable future)
It took an hour to unpack everything and put it all away and I was fearfully hot, but it felt so good to have a proper base. I had loved the road trip ... Really loved it ... Possibly the best we have done, but I was glad not to live out of a case any longer. It would be nice not to have to hunt for underwear and to select the top I would like to wear rather than accept whatever came out of the case.
We rushed the sorting to get to the parks as we had fast passes at MGM ... I'm sorry it will never be Hollywood Studios for us. We took the tram and headed in to our first WDW park for 28 months ... Way too long to be away. The security was more rigorous, and for that we were glad, but the agents are always friendly. We took a few pictures, but headed off to Toy Story Midway Mania which is always such fun. I loved the fact that for the first three rounds my score was easily double Nigel’s. Then he started to rally and it became a fast and furious competition ... The final result ... He beat me by just 700. Bother ... I have to do better next time.
We had a little time so checked on Under the Sea with the Little Mermaid as a show was just starting ... We walked in at the perfect point. We recently watched the film which I am ashamed to say we had never seen and it made the show even more enjoyable. It's so well done and the music is great.
As we came out ready to head to Rosie's for dinner, Sunset Seasons Greetings was just starting. Oh my it was amazing .... Truly truly amazing. We stood open-mouthed, gasping and oohing and aaahing as the lights changed and the projections on the tower of terror turned it into toys, presents, a gingerbread house and, my favourite, an alpine village. It was incredible, the music was great and the technology is wonderful. Add to it the fact it snowed and you have pretty much perfection. We then took our fast pass for Tower of Terror and, as always, we had forgotten quite how brilliant it is and many exciting drops there are .... Another firm favourite.
And I have to share this - this is NOT our video - you can find it on You Tube - it is an amazing show
Back to Rosie's for our first Disney dinner and we snagged a table with a view of the tower projections ... Initially sharing it with a couple from New Jersey who were characters and, in the girl's case a character fuelled by alcohol. We are not fans of alcohol in the parks and over the course of our two weeks we would see a lot of people drinking. It somehow seems off to us to see people walking round theme parks with beer and cocktails in hand. It doesn't seem to fit with what we see as the spirit of Disney. I wonder what Walt would think. We also managed to ride The Tower of Terror -a lways a firm favourite. You never know the sequence of the drops and it is always a thrill. Apparently, according to the ride photo, I wasn't on it this time!!! Totally hidden.
I digress ... We finished our first meal and visited Echo Lake to see the decorations and I chatted to a lovely elderly man. I loved the decoration round the lake as they were so in keeping with a retro 50s and 60s vibe.
We then stood on Hollywood Boulevard and watched The Magic of the Movies and Jingle Bam. Both shows were excellent ... Again they took projections to a new level. And it snowed and it was Christmas music and yes, of course, I cried.
Again this video is NOT ours it is from the DIS and if you are not members of The Dis and love Disney - join now! Follow now! Seriously
What a wonderful start to the Disney portion of our vacation. We headed back to our new Disney home resort and finished off the event with the biggest cookie sandwich I have ever seen. Free food baby.
Back to the room to finish sorting and, as Nigel always hangs the lights, except for those on the tree that he is NOT allowed to touch, he hung the lights we had brought with us for our room too. We were all set for our first Disney Christmas.
Wednesday 29th November 2017. Steps. 8371
THE KIDS ARE BACK IN TOWN
We are both ready for an early start today. Despite the time difference, we are eager and excited to be heading down to Orlando and to be back in our happy place, Walt Disney World. We make light work for breakfast and get straight on the road. Although the weather is mild and warm we begin our final leg in reasonably thick fog and as we leave Tallahassee in the mist, it causes me to consider that, whilst for the first time we are approaching Disney, not by aeroplane, we will still be arriving ‘out of the clouds!’ so to speak.
It’s a routine kind of drive and we plan to stop, time permitting, for a short retail therapy break. Karen is keen to get to our resort in good time so that room allocation will still be negotiable if not placed where we have requested. Fortunately, time is on our side and we take a short detour at Lake City somewhere near the halfway point. This affords time for another inspection of Walmart as well as a couple of scrapbook stores before topping up with Gas and with a Starbucks each for the remainder of the journey.
As we near Central Florida the route starts to become very familiar. Some of the place names now are the ones that we have been used to seeing on previous visits and the terrain is very recognizable.
Thanks to the shortcomings of Sunpass yesterday, we pay the obligatory cash toll of $3.25 to use the Florida Turnpike which will be the most direct way. We make a mental note to keep a check on how much change we might require for future reference.
Passing through Winter Garden makes us feel right at home now and it feels as familiar and comfortable as if we have never left. We have a short debate as to whether the turnpike is, in fact, a road we’ve used before but once we reach the junction at Western Way Karen concedes that I am correct in my insistence, although her admission is subtle and slightly less assertive than I would have liked.
The overall impression is that we have arrived to find home in good nick. Everything in the ‘world’ looks good. The roads are uncluttered and beautifully landscaped as usual. We notice some of the road-signs are updated and different but, most importantly, reports of construction everywhere seem to be unfounded.
We have rehearsed our approach to Port Orleans resort many times since switching our booking from Caribbean Beach earlier in the year and it is effortless as we navigate the multiple lanes and traffic free roads that are so well known to us.
Passing the Caribbean Beach resort confirms that we were right to switch as much of it has been demolished to make way for new building. The site looks bare and we agree that, to our disappointment, it will never be the same again.
Within a short distance, we make our right turn to our ‘new home’ and pass the French Quarter of Port Orleans before swing into Riverside where we will stay put for the next thirteen nights. We are familiar with the resort as visitors so we quickly get our bearings and head for the check in reception and note that we have made exceptionally good time having arrived around two hours ahead of our appointed time.
Straight away we admire the Christmas decorations that are up in full swing. The canopy and the lobby are stunning with thick garlands of Green with Red and Gold trim. The Christmas tree stands tall in the lobby almost pushing its way through the high ceiling and lavishly decorated with lights. Karen is verging on tears at the first sight of her promised ‘Disney Christmas’.
Our check-in clerk is most helpful confirming that, whilst the room may not be ready for a while, we have been granted our location request within our preferred building. This is a great relief to Karen and probably the final worry of the holiday is now behind us. We are given details of the resort despite probably knowing as much, if not more, about the place than our host due to our copious research and anticipation that has been a year in the making!
With luggage still in the car and no-where to go we decide to stop for a snack at the adjacent food court, as we await the room assignment email that has been promised. We have been issued with our Magic Bands which are Disney’s own electronic tags for guests so we can already enjoy the benefits of the all-inclusive dining plan. First stop is to select our resort mugs that will entitle us to the constant free soda. We investigate the food options for breakfast and dinner and discover the Ice Cream Counter where an ice cream cookie sandwich is but ONE snack credit. As this looks more than enough for two ice cream lovers we use our first credit for this and head to the checkout. It now surfaces that we need to have set up PIN numbers for our magic bands so there is a short delay while our helpful server guides us through the process with impeccable patience and with dessert hardly melting at all we take our seats for the first time in our new resort home.
We both are happy to dilly dally through our snack, both secretly hoping that the confirmation email will arrive at any moment. Karen is checking her messages at seemingly at one minute intervals but so far no joy.
Our excitement gets the better of us now and we decide to do take a trip to Disney Springs shopping area to take our minds elsewhere. As expected our seasoned knowledge of the lie of the land gets us there in no time and we admire the improvement works nearby that have seen the completion of the road system and two large multi-level car parks that have been finished within the last two years since our previous visit.
Our first stop inside Disney Springs has to be World of Disney, reported to be the largest Disney store in the world which I certainly couldn’t argue with, it has everything. From apparel to plush toys homewares and souvenirs it’s got the lot. And right in the middle of our path they even have a rack of Christmas jumpers the exact thing that Karen is looking for. She falls in love with it immediately and it is in our hands within moments. But the real reason for taking this detour is to claim our free $200 gift card, part of our ‘package of benefits’. We’ve done this before so we make for the customer service desk where lo and behold Alan, the assistant who helped us two years ago is resolutely still at post!
He cheerfully produces the goods with a flourish and the encouraging words “spend this anywhere within Disney” we thank him and remark that we remember him from two years ago and he smiles through his response, “oh yes, I’ve been here forever!”
Armed with a free $200 Karen remembers that she has a special item to search for in the Christmas shop nearby. We pause for a minute or two and spot that another guest has got a Disney Springs printed canvas shopping bag that is supposed to be a free giveaway if you can produce a wish list for the Disney Store. He kindly tells us to see a guy called Alan at customer services and we straightaway realise our error. Not to be thwarted when free stuff is in the offing we quickly agree to a pincer movement whereby Karen goes in search of her Christmas ornament and I will go back to Alan and explain our plight in a very British way whereby he will take pity and give us the free bag without thinking how greedy we are after the gift card and all!
My mission is completed with ease and in double quick time. I imagine Alan is tired of handing out the free bags as he puts up no resistance and doesn’t even have to see the wish list, the mere mention is enough to gain another flourish together with a “Fa la la la” from the constantly happy chappie. You gotta love Disney!
I wend my way back to our rendezvous spot and wait for Karen’s return. I wait a bit longer. Then I wait some more. It appears I may have selected the wrong spot perhaps? But no after quite some time I spy her in the distance a tiny somewhat limping wife toddling back towards the rendezvous yet at the same time a bit wide of the mark! – Eventually she comes close enough to see me and looks relieved. I can understand why when she regales me with tales of her trek to the furthest possible extremity of the complex.
We decide enough for now and without even stopping at the Starbucks window we are back at the car. Still no email, so we decide to head back anyway to the resort and wait there expectantly.
When we reach the resort and still no email we decide on a lap of the resort (by car of course) to explore, fully, our new surroundings.
We drive the loop road and are almost ready to go back to reception to ask about our room when the email arrives! Deep joy as we see the room number is exactly where we wanted to be. Quickly now we drive to the nearest parking bay. It’s quiet and we have the pick of the lot. Karen goes in search as I follow with two small suitcases. The room is ideally located, on the ground floor and no more than four or five doors from the parking lot. Inside the room looks great and we are overjoyed with the position.
Next its unload time. The first time in nine days I think, that the car has been emptied completely. We unpack and put away for the first time too and within an hour we are all set. Bags all emptied clothes stored and Karen’s room orientation for me is complete. We are ready to go!
Tonight we will visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios, or as we will always know and refer to it, MGM. Again navigation needs no help as we make our way through still trouble free roads. We are parked in a jiffy and straight on to a tram to the main entrance.
We have put our fastpass allocation to good use tonight choosing Toy Story Mania as our first option. We go straight there and we are on the attraction within a few minutes. Karen is off to a good start as I am just warming up in this 3D adventure ride which is actually shoot em up target practice with digital virtual painball guns. Karen beats me hands down in the opening rounds but in the very last round I sneak in to snatch the victory from the jaws of defeat and its 1-0 to me.
Once Karen has recovered from the shock of this we progress towards Sunset Boulevard where we are planning to eat this evening. On the way we spot that there is no line for the Little Mermaid show and as we approach the doors are about to close. They let us pass and we are walking straight into the show without delay.
Always enjoyable this is a part animation part live action show retelling the story of the film. Some great effects take you ‘under the sea with the Little Mermaid’ and it really is an enchanting experience. Once the show is over we walk a few yards and turn into Sunset Boulevard where it is now dark and the Tower of Terror makes for an iconic and stirring image at the very end of the street. A moment or two later the lights dim and the music plays as it’s time for their night time special ‘Sunset Season’s Greetings’ what follows causes us to stop in our tracks. It is without doubt one of the most jaw dropping sights as a series of animated projections light up the tower in turn as they transform the building into an alpine village, a stack of Christmas presents, a gingerbread house and a Norwegian street scene amongst many other ingenious effects. We are spellbound and just stare open mouthed as we agree this is taking the special effect night shows to a whole new level. When each short set piece ends the snow billows down onto Sunset Boulevard to complete the illusion and, despite the heat, you just know that Christmas has arrived.
We have completely forgotten about eating at this point and after a while one of us, I don’t recall which, points us in the direction of Rosie’s All American Café for our first Disney meal time. We know what we like and we like what we know and the fayre at Rosie’s suits us. Upon settling up via the ‘magic band swipe’, it’s a thrill to look at the receipt and see that we still have 50 meal credits left. This is usually just a target for us as we never fulfill all our meals. Of course, unused meals can be converted to snack credits and used for all manner of goodies before we leave.
After the main course, I am detailed to get desserts at the window just along the street where the Ice Cream Sundaes are a must. Again the large portion means one between the two of us is ample and we tuck in without ceremony. This whole time we continue to enjoy the continuous showing on the tower with a great view from our table.
Time is getting on so we hit our next attraction to redeem our other fastpass tonight. Having seen the tower converted to a virtual Gingerbread house we now are going inside to ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror. This remains as one of our favourite attractions. It’s bizarre, thrilling and just a little bit frightening, still, even though we have ridden it a hundred times! Themed perfectly to create a mysterious ‘Twilight Zone’ air of foreboding, the back story prepares you for a disaster that awaits each guest in a lift shaft plummet that will render you weightless and out of your seat in an unpredictable adventure which apparently has several random manifestations. We hold tight and enjoy the experience as ever.
The host at the end of the ride dispatches us back into the night with the line “Thank you for dropping in.”
With a short while to wait before the remaining night shows we ample along to Echo lake where the Christmas decorations are something to behold. The lake is surrounded by trees that are sparkling with lights and the old style Father Christmas lantern discs are a timeless classic. It’s like stepping back in time. We just pause and admire the effect, taking it all in. Disney at Christmas is not going to disappoint.
Now it’s time for the nighttime entertainment to kick off. We will leave fantasmic for another evening but tonight we will see two new shows in the main concourse. Movie Magic is a projection light show paying tribute to Disney movies through the ages and is a great warm up for the firework and lights that are to come.
We eagerly await the finale and again Disney step up with great special effects and story telling as Graumans The centre piece of the Studio park is brought to life with projections, lasers and ultimately a firework extravaganza. Our first Disney night has set us up for the remainder of the trip and we drive back to the resort area remarking, as always, how easy it is for the thousands to leave the park without traffic jam or people crush.
Our final flourish of the day is to ready our own little bit of Walt Disney World for Christmas. I string our fairy lights around the window and apply the Christmas stockings along with a few gold leaves to show the ‘World’ that when it comes down to it, we are both just big kids anyway.
We haven't really stopped since we have been home - until today.
Yesterday we finsihed up a major job Nigel had merchandising Christmas magazines. It was easier with two of us - one to drive and one to do. He is a real workaholic and so it has been full on for the last four days - that and coping with jet lag, laundry etc. So today - today we have allowed ourselves a day to come back down to eartha little and actually relax and enjoy being home before work again next week and then collapsing ready for Christmas - which I am NOT ready for.
The odd thing about being away until mid december, and being away in Disney until mid December, is that we are pretty Christmased out. We have seen and enjoyed so many Christmas things already that to come home and realise Christmas isn't here yet has been a bit of a shock.
I have done some scrapping though, even though I cannot share it yet.
What I can share are more of my catch up pages for the 2017 album which is almost done. I am up to date the point we went away.
Today I am thankful for
jobs well done and a certain amount of satisfaction
time to relax
the knowledge that Christmas will happen and that the most important aspect is focussing on WHY we are celebrating and not on all the trimmings. HE is the reason for the season and as long as HE is at the heart fo all we do it doesn't matter if things are not quite like normal.
On to Day 4 of the trip report - and this is a biggie so it will span 2 days I think.
Thursday 23rd November 2017
Thanksgiving
Nashville TN to St Louis
Start time 7.00
Start miles 15225
End miles 15575
End time 4.00
Total miles travelled 350
The Gateway to the West
We were excited to spend Thanksgiving in the States ... As it happened we spent it on five of them! Well you know us, we never do things by half.
We were at breakfast as they opened at 6.30, having already loaded the car. The Clarion had proven to be a great base ... Good food, clean and perfectly placed for us. We left feeling we had really seen Nashville, thanks in no small part to Richie. He had been a superb tour guide. It was the first time ever in America that we had to de-ice the car before setting off. Now that we had not expected, but it was kind of cool – pardon the pun.
We headed out of Tenessee, still seeing lots of distilleries for Tennessee’s own liquid gold, and during the course of the day we passed through new states, fascinated at the way the landscape seemed to change with each one. Tennessee seemed more forested, Kentucky more open fields.
The roads were this empty pretty much the whole way. In fact we saw very little traffic the whole trip.
There were plenty of places to stop for refreshment breaks ... Which also then led to stops for restroom breaks. We bought Starbucks from Clarksville which was kind of cool ... The last train must have passed just before us as we saw no hide nor hare of it. We had been worried about travelling on Thanksgiving and being unable to get gas. We needed not to have worried ... Everywhere seemed open, at least on the morning and the roads were blissfully empty. It seemed like it was a good day to travel.
We enjoyed seeing the many bridges too. I have a real obsession with these huge steel structures that are both industrial and beautiful. The rivers, the Mississippi in particular, are not just places to enjoy the water. They are main arterial routes through the country and are busy and industrialised and the bridges echo that. Some are quite steep in order to let the shipping through easily.
A break in Kentucky for gas led Nigel to a glimpse of the south we had kind of envisaged with more unusual,people ... The lady in the gas station with one eye and one tooth was kind of a standout.
Indiana was pretty ... But Lord I can't go back there! Although I would kind of like to, in order to get a better shot of the state sign as it was right on a junction where there were road works. Silly I know but I so wanted to capture every state sign. These were today's signs
Once into Illinois, a state we had always said we had visited but actually hadn't, we entered the fourth state of the day. We stopped at a beautiful rest area at Skeeter Mountain. How can Americans have rest areas in the middle of nowhere that are beautifully landscaped, well serviced and impeccably clean when we cannot even provide clean odourless toilets at Fleet Services. The Americans must, quite rightly, think we are a truly scummy nation. I have only once been to a restroom in the US that was not clean ... And that was at the Hard Rock in Seattle!
We also detoured to Rend Lake in Illinois and sat and ate our packed lunch by the water. We had taken a packed lunch as we were sure everywhere would be closed for Thanksgiving. Although this wasn’t the case it was nice to stop and sit by the water for a picnic. There were shades of Lake pier at home only it was, like everything over here, bigger and better. We watched the man with the camouflaged boat, fascinated that hunting is such a huge and socially acceptable pastime here and I even got my Illinois driving licence stamp. Perhaps now is a good time to write about the tour bus. We had again opted for a seven seater van... For the two of us!last year's Kia Sedona had been fine but was a bit ropey. It had taken us a while to get rid of the smell, the seats were stained and it wasn't a pretty vehicle. This year we had a silver grey Dodge Grand Caravan and it was both big and beautiful. With the back row of seats down we could stow all of our luggage and have space and the blacked out windows afforded security. There were pockets and plugs aplenty and I could have all my essential tour equipment to hand. Oh yes ... We love the tour bus. And she was very easy to drive.
The weather was remarkable and, after the shock of the morning, not even cold. Thanksgiving meant little traffic ... Unlike England on any holiday ... And also afforded us great sight seeing opportunities.
We were on high alert as we neared St Louis to 'bingo' the arch, which I won, spotting it about ten miles away. We followed our noses and found the perfect viewing area ... A purpose built high viewing deck affording superb photos. On a normal day you may have had to wait for spaces but we were one of only two cars in the lot, with the other car leaving as we arrived, and we had the viewing deck to ourselves until we were ready to leave when two guys arrived to fly their drone, booting it up next to the sign that said no drone flying allowed. They may not have been able to obey rules but they did take a photo for us. . I think we had both been a little worried that the arch much disappoint. It had been on Nigel's bucket list for so many years. IT certainly did NOT disappoint. It was truly stunning and marked the meeting of the waters and the gateway to the west.
us at the top of the overlook viewing platform
Overlooking the mighty - and industrial - Mississippi
I put the arrow in so you can see the teeny tiny people which gives you a much better idea of the sheer size of the thing
At an astounding 630-feet tall, the magnificent Gateway Arch remains the tallest man-made national monument in the United States. Its unique shape and stainless steel facade remarkably represent the history made in the city of St. Louis. An enclosed tram inside the Arch takes you to the top, where you will experience breathtaking views of modern St. Louis – up to 30 miles in each direction on a clear day. Along with the surrounding Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Gateway Arch opens up a world of history about how St. Louis served as the Gateway to the West for early settlers.
Now I include these two pictures as they amuise me greatly. At this point there was noone else around and, well we wanted a picture together at the arch - so out came the selfie stick. Nigel had first go and you could almost hear me saying - no not like that, you can see the stick. Here let me do it.
Oh so much better.... NOT ... but at least I got the WHOLE arch in with the stick as well.
We headed into town which was not to easy to,navigate with one way roads and construction, although the roads were empty and the city was deserted. Thanks to Thanksgiving. Nigel found the park and I leapt out. The view with the cathedral in front was stunning. I snapped away and then ran back to Nigel insisting he parked up ... Plenty of free parking as it was Thanksgiving, so he could see it too. Finally satiated as it was another Niagra moment, we headed to Union Station, our home for the night.
And Nigel's journal ... I much prefer his writing
Thursday 23rd November 2017. Steps 4078
GIVING THANKS AT THE GATEWAY TO THE WEST
Another cold morning as we load up and set off for an early start after breakfast. After our rehearsal yesterday I am much better at getting my orientation and this mornings visit to the buffet is slick.
We hit the road with confidence having learned our environs well and, before long, we are pointing in the right direction on the interstate that will speed us through new territories today. However our first stop is for the first Starbucks visit of the holiday and a chance to call in at Clarksville as we are so close to the town that we only know from the monkee’s song.
It affords a generous harvest of new Starbucks cards as well as our drinks although Karen omits to say unsweetened in her order so endures a rather sickly version of her green tea lemonade.
We continue on our quest and before long we are leaving Tennessee and arriving in Kentucky.
Immediately the landscape looks different as a more agricultural flavour takes over and we see a good number of farms and barns. Somehow I expect to see a Surrey with a fringe on top but fear I may be thinking of a different state altogether.
Kentucky passes quite quickly and we anticipate our next state Indiana. We have devised our route to pass deliberately through Evansville to ensure we clip the corner of the state and can add it to our count.
It's time to fill up with gas now as we are concerned that this could be scarce on thanksgiving day especially after noon. We pull in just outside town and are relieved to find the gas station is not only open but is attended as upon getting onto the forecourt I have a moment of dread that it will be cards only and no means to pay in kiosk. With a spring in my step I enter the kiosk but I can't see the attendant. I quickly realise that she has been position in hind a pillar and with her back to the door. As I reach the desk I am confronted by this enthusiastic and helpful lady who appears to have the unfortunate handicap of just one eye! This proves unfounded as there are, in fact, two eyes present but her squint is so severe her left one is barely open or even visible!
As she greets me with a smile I realise this is not the worst of it. Her mouth contains but one tooth which emerges from her gum like a tiny tombstone. I feel humbled by her resolve though and she continues to assist as if completely unconscious of her appearance. Thank the lord on thanksgiving for the person who employs her to face the public and for her strength of character.
When I return to the car Karen is sympathetic and hopes that she is going to be with a loving family later who will perhaps serve a very tender turkey dinner.
Indiana will be our quickest drive though today affording us enough time to conclude that
Locals must be of demure proportions as the houses seem so small! To grab a picture depicting this state is a challenge but Karen comes to the rescue with a shot of an overhead gantry sign.
As our journey continues we enter Illinois now and are just one state away from our destination, St Louis. The drive is a long one so we decide to break it up with a slight detour to Rend Lake where we can eat our sandwiches in a style reminiscent of home. It's a great vista and we enjoy a relaxing time just chilling by the water for a few minutes.
I encouraged Karen to take the wheel and she drove the length of the car park to gain her Illinois driving licence and then we swapped over to make our final approach to St Louis and our final state of the day, Missouri.
We had bet on how far out we might see the Gateway arch and I was confident that depending on the terrain anything between 10 and 5 miles might be close. It turns out the Karen was paying closer attention as she shouted first! At ten miles out the first glimpse of the skyline including the arch was gleaned. It was a spectacular sight and we were thrilled. As we got closer the arch grew in stature and soon we were actually on the waterfront parallel but on the opposing side of the river. It took some avoiding NOT to cross one of the bridges but we managed it and even, despite all the voices in our heads compelling us to turn back, found the special look-out gantry that afforded such great views directly from the opposite bank. With no one else in sight we climbed the slope to the top and enjoyed an exclusive viewing of the arch, perfectly lit against clear blue skies. After our ‘private’ viewing we were joined by two guys who kindly agreed to take a shot of us both. It turned out to be a favourite with us and the arch in great sunshine.
As it had been difficult to negotiate getting to the waterfront without crossing the river we figured we would have no trouble finding the bridge to cross the Mississippi into Missouri. It proved correct and we were whisked over the river with ease. Negotiating the other side was a different matter entirely, though, and we had several aborted attempts to reach the base of the arch.
Fortunately St Louis was deserted for thanksgiving so we were able to take a few liberties that would have been likely to have got us killed on any other day!
Dropping Karen off in Market St for a photo op at the rear of the arch, I did another lap of the city blocks with some caution now with no one riding shotgun to guide me through the dangers.
Making it back Karen insisted I park up and enjoy the view for myself. It was so worth it and I grabbed some picture perfect shots.
I need to take some serious control of my scrapping - I feel that will be a new year resolution for 2018 which is looming ever closer.
I have three special albums on the go that I am trying to finish ... goal is to clear them by the end of December ... though I fear one isn't likely.
I need to finish the weekly page album. I know I can't quite finish it until the 31st December but I am still playing a little catchup.
I need to finish Jim and Gemma's wedding album - almost there on that one
I need to finish Israel - who am I kidding. That's never going to happen in 2017!
The trouble is that I am trying to finish these and consequently not scrapping the things we are doing at the moment. Next year I plan to only ever have one special album on the go at a time so I can also keep recording the memories we are making together at the moment.
In the great scheme of things does it really matter. Isn't scrapping something that is for pleasure and shouldn't be stressy. Absolutely - remind me of that ... often!
Having said that, I don't know what I would do with all my free time if I didn't have my creative outlets. I love creating - pages either paper or digital, drawings, paintings. And tat is a good thing!
So here are my latest catchup pages
and I even managed three more paper pages for the wedding album
This is my favourite picture of the whole day He was giving her a piggy back!
In other news life has been pretty much about the scrapping really and enjoying time mooching about before the schools break up for holiday. I used to live for the holidays - now I am selfish enough to prefer it when the schools are in session as everywhere is so much quieter and nicer. we get to have Lake Pier and Rockley to ourselves.
Today I am thankful for
hobbies which fill my life with joy (OK and some pressure sometimes!!!)
local beauty spots that are quiet for us to enjoy alone
I am still catching up on the weekly pages but steadily working through them and the end is at least in sight over the distant horizon now and I know I will be pleased when I see the completed book all printed out.
Some of these photos seem a long time ago now.
I still love that firework picture - one of my favourite photos of the year in all honesty. It just captured it. I have no idea who those two people were but they made the picture perfect.
and finally for today
I am also trying to finish Jim and Gemma's wedding album - it is only a small 8" x 8" but I have finished another two pages of the wedding
It was such an honour - and a tribute to their relationship - that Jim chose Nigel to be his best man. How proud we both were that day.
and this is of the gorgeous Bride and Groom
And some more of my Christmas lights at home
Today I am thankful for
a truly wonderful year - making the weekly pages has reminded me how lucky I am
and these are out of date now but I spotted these the other day - pictures of the eclipse this year - amazing photos
I have yet more pages to share of my weekly drudge ... I mean joyous scrapping challenge of a page a week for a year!
I also have some new paper scrapping - but onto the weeklies first
I am happy they are getting done and I know I will enjoy the finished book when it is all printed up - sometimes things that are good seem like chores at the time but the pay off is worth it.
I also have a paper page to share ... I am still scrapping pages for our WOW tour trip last year to Washington, Oregon and California and this is another of California Adventures. I cannot explain how much I loved that park. We thought we wouldn't like it - but we loved it. It was exceptionally hot and we enjoying sitting o n he trolley for a while and riding round that park.
Today I am thankful for
a hobby which brings me so much pleasure and safeguards our memories.
and I saw these on the internet - some outrageously amazing ... and strangely disturbing makeup photos
You see, I post about how I have procrastinated with my weekly pages - I resolve to catch up and then I get distracted by something else.
It would appear that I will never learn.
However, I have been frantically making weekly pages and I can see a dim flicker of light at the end of a very long tunnel.
So here are the latest additions - be prepared - there are a few and I am well aware they are probably of no interest to anyone other than me ... oh and Nigel of course.
I really liked doing this one - brought back such happy memories
and finally - well more than half way through the year now.
Today I am thankful for
being able to accomplish tasks when I actually put my mind to it ... the trouble is the mind wanders all over the place and goes off and lives a little life all of its own at times!
And I found these on T'internet - they are amazing. Paper sculptures of places in Games of Thrones made from the Games of Thrones books They are by Jamie Hannigan
I am Scrapdolly - frequently answering to just Dolly. I live with my soulmate Nigel and two new kittens and I love to scrap. Scrapping is my creative outlet, my daily therapy, my sanity restorer and where I meet my friends. Come share it with me.
