WDW-5-12-B

Thursday, May 31:

Woke up to sun shine! Took the boys out for long walk and planned out the day. Breakfast at Whispering Canyon and then some errands. We drove over to Whispering Canyon, had breakfast and then took a boat to MK for Sorcerer cards. Jane didn't get any new ones again. Oh well, she has lots to trade. Took boat back to Fort Wilderness Lodge to get car and went over to the Dolphin Resort to make arrangements to keep the car one more day. From the Dolphin we decided to stop by the new resort The Art of Animation. Today was opening day for it (only the Finding Nemo section is open, Cars section opens June 18) and they looked like they were pretty full. This is an amazing place. It is sure to be a hit with the kids. On the main check in area wall are huge sketches showing the progress of some of the characters from initial concept to final artwork. Also, the pool is huge (biggest on Disney property). We took lots of pictures and walked around the open parts of the resort. We also did some last minute shopping for us and for gifts at home. We finally had to tear ourselves away and headed to Downtown Disney for some more last minute shopping. Didn't do too bad here and got out of there with some money left. Returned home and walked the dogs. we decided that since it wasn't raining yet, maybe it would be a good idea to take down lights and X-Pens before it started raining. We got it all taken down and put away just before the rains came. Watched an encore presentation of the hockey game we missed on Wednesday (can't seem to get NBC here at all). We set an alarm to go down to the lake to watch the Electric Light Parade and fireworks then home to RV and bed.

Thursday, May 31:

Main entrance to Art of Annimation

Exterior wall of the Cars wing

Walkway to Cars wing

Early sketches on Lobby wall

Final sketches on Lobby wall

Part of Electric Light Parade

Final "float" in Electric Light Parade

Art of Animation luggage cart

Friday, June 1:

Woke up to a cloudy, dreary day. this is also a sad day, our last full day at WDW. We went to grocery store (Publix) to get provisions for the trip home. Got some good food and lots of junk. From the grocery store we went to the Dolphin to turn in the car. From there we went to the Studio to see the modeel of the NEW Fantasyland project. It was about lunch time so we looked at a couple of menus and ended up goingto ESPN on the Boardwalk. Good lunch - Nachos and a salad. we caught the bus at Boardwalk to go to MK to get last Sorcerer cards for this trip - all duplicates, again! Jane ended up giving them all to someone in line. Took boat back to campground and finished up getting things put away and battened down for the ride home. The boys know something is going on! Tried to get to bed earlier since tomorrow is a LOOOONG day - 450 miles.

Saturday, June 2:

We got up to a sunny day - naturally. We took the boys for their last long walk and to say good-bye to Skeeter and Isabella, they weren't up yet. We also pulled up a couple of evergreen sproutsto take home. Hope Mickey doesn't care. Got on the road about 8:00 after stopping at Hess for gas ($3.31 per gallon). Good day for driving, light traffic and good weather. We got into Navarre, FL about 4:00 and checked in. We put TV antennas up and found the local NBC channel to watch hockey game at 7:00. We were both tired, even the dogs were tired (not too tired to eat though). We started the hockey game and fell asleep about middle of the 2nd period and wook up at the end of the 3rd period, just in time to see New Jersey tie the game 1-1. fell asleep again right after the overtime period started. the Kings ended up winning 2-1.

Sunday, June 3:

Dogs got me up early this morning (5:00). Apparently they are still on ET. It was a great morning, sunny and warm. Jane wanted to watch Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee on the BBC. It was a pretty impressive display, huge flotilla on the Thames. We recorded most of it so we could go to the beach. The beach was very nice this morning, but the gulf coast sun was a lot hotter than the central Florida sun. We only lasted about an hour and had to go in. Walked the boys and made some lunch. After a couple of hours we went back to the beach and again it was hot so we only made it about an hour again. It was time to feed the dogs and they were happy and we decided to do hot dogs on the grill with some Mandarin Oranges and for desert we had ice cream bars. I took care of tanks (drained black and grrey tanks and filled the fresh water tank for the trip tomorrow. It is only a 300 mile trip, but it is supposed to rain. How fun.

Watched some TV and went to bed.

Monday, June 4:

This morning we got up and it was a little overcast so I checked the weather for today's destination, Birmingham, Al! It is raining and storming this morning so I decided to wait a little bit in Navarre and let the weather clear in Birmingham. Since it is only a 300 mile trip today we waited until about 10:00 to leave, so we went down to the beach and had a cup of coffee and to get a cup of sand for our Disney trees. After a short stop at Publix to restock on a few grocery items we were on the road. It is a great day for driving, not too sunny and bright, just enough overcast to make driving nice. We got gas just outside Pensecola at $3.24 per gallon. This is about $0.60 a gallon less than last years May (maiden voyage) trip. On the road talked about scheduled stops for the October trip. We may stop and stay at Emerald Beach in Navarre, FL a couple of days. The owners say that the weather in Navarre is great and there isn't much of a crowd. We stopped at a real nice rest stop (wish I remembered where it was) and took the dogs out and had some lunch. Rest stops are much nicer to stop at than truck stops because they are a little quieter and cleaner for the dogs. We dodged the weather in Birmingham when we arrived at about 4:00. Owners here said that it had rally poured in the morning. We got set up with water and electric, got the TV's set up for hockey and had some dinner. Boys are happy, they went out and had their supper and went into nap mode. We are lucky that the hockey game is on NBCSN since that is a satellite channel and over-the-air TV is almost none existent here. Kings won thehockey game - again. Looks like they will win the Stanley Cup this year. Atthe end of the season they were ranked #8. Off to bed. Another short day tomorrow ending at Paducah, KY.

Tuesday, June 5:

we only have a short way to go today, about 300 miles, so we took out time getting out and on the road. Another good day for driving, a little overcast and light traffic, until we got to Nashville. Nashville was nuts, road construction and accidents had traffic really messed up. Once we got out of Nashville things got better and we rolled along and made good time. We did run into a little rain , very light rain so it didn't really slow us down. We got into Paducah about 3:30 and made a quick stop at Walgreens for some first aid supplies.

Checked into duck Creek at 4:00, took the boys for a run in the dog "park" and went back to the RV for their dinner and our dinner. We watched a little TV and turned in. Tomorrow is a longer day, 400 miles, so we are going to get up and on the road fairly early so we can get home about 4:00.

Wednesday, June 6:

Today is the last day on the road so we were up early, fed the dogs and took them to the dog "park" for one last run before hitting the road. We found a cell phone that someone had left in the gazebo turned it in at the office on the way out. Stopped for gas in Paducah and across the street was a Panera's. Naturally we stopped for morning snacks. Once we were on the road it was smooth sailing until we got to the St Louis area. Then the road work started and the roads really need it there. We got stopped in traffic that was at a stand still. Next to us (also at a stand still) was a big red Honda Transporter. It was Dario Franchitti's Indy car! Really nice transporter. We bailed off I-64 and headed through St Louis to I-70 and moving traffic. Uneventful trip through St Louis and the roads for the most part were good. Stopped for gas and lunch and were on the road in 20 minutes. Arrived home about 4:00, all TV's were there! Boys went to the "Big Backyard" to run and then came in for their dinner. After they ate and went out one more time we went to Olive Garden for dinner. After dinner we came home to watch game 4 of the Stanley Cup - New Jersey finally won and put the series to game 5. Off to bed, busy day tomorrow. In just 139 days we can do it over again!!!!!

Honda Indy racing transporter

Dario Franchitti's transporter

Saturday, June 9 (last entry for this trip)

Well, we are kind of settled into the real world again. Thursday morning we went over to the Mavericks arena and picked up our Ebay winnings and some "End of Season" CD's and then we went to the airport to pick up Jane's mom. She will stay with us until Sunday when we will take her to Columbia, MO where Jane's brother will pick her up to "cat sit" for a couple of weeks. All is well, all we have to do is re-adjust to the world outside Disney and plan our October trip. See you in October!!