Sunday, June 8 (moving day):
Today is moving day, but first there are a couple of things we have to do. One, finish taking x-pens down for the kids. Second, we have to watch the Canadian Formula One race, just in case we don't have satellite service in 822. I did the outside stuff while Jane took care of things inside, just making sure things don't shift too much even if it is a short move. Race time came and we watched it then it was time to go. We found site 822 and got into it (the road in Loop 800 seems narrower than in 700). We only had one minor issue, the water supply posts here are higher and closer to the pad than in 700. Hence, when we put the driver side slide out it didn't go out all the way - water post was in the way.
The damage - minor
The offending water post - too tall
New location for 5 days - Site 822
Once we were in and mostly settled we discovered that indeed we have no satellite reception, too many trees. We do have lots of shade so the coach should stay a little cooler. The over the air TV reception seems to be better, tomorrow I will get the cable out and try the cable TV. Just as we were finishing up it started to pour! I haven't seen it rain that hard for a long time. We went to bed listening to the patter of rain on the roof.
Monday, June 9 (Donald Duck's Birthday):
It seems funny to wake up and look out the window in a different site! Today os Donald Duck's 80th Birthday. We celebrated by going to the Studio and eating lunch at 50's Primetime Cafe. Jane had the Pot Roast and I had the meat loaf. Both were good as usual - just like Mom used to make. After lunch we went over to..........................yup, Toy Story to try our luck using Jane's found "secrets to high scores". We had studied these over lunch, but there was too much to remember. After Toy Story we looked for her missing Dwarf pin, no luck again. While in one of the stores I noticed a CM's pin - she was from Blue Springs, MO.
HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY!!
Sherri has been here for 12 years and her husband drives a Vacation Club courtesy driver. They work part-time, get full benefits, and work the same shifts. Sounds good to me, I will have to give this some serious thought.
While walking around I saw a series of bronze busts of various famous actors/actress's. I have never noticed these before.
Sherri - 12 years and loving it
Walt Disney
Dick Clark
Ron Howard
Andy Griffith
Mary Tyler Moore
Betty White
Barbara Walters
It was getting hot so we decided to call it a day and headed towards the trams to the parking lot. On the way I spotted the Tower of Terror looming in the distance. Oh yeah, it is going to storm again tonight. When we got back to the coach (it seemed funny to turn into Loop 800), I dropped Jane off to start some laundry and I went to Wal-Mart to get a few things (hangers, light bulbs and toilet paper). The sky in the north really looked ominous so I didn't waste any time getting back and getting the dogs out. Looks like another indoor night. I hooked up the cable so we can watch some different TV channels. A little supper and then off to bed
Tower of Terror from another location
Tuesday, June 10:
This morning we are going to finally go and ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, the newest ride in Fantasyland. We rode the boat over to MK and worked our way up Main Street through the Emporium (to take advantage of the A/C). It is going to be hot and humid today so we are just taking it easy getting to the Mine ride. Along the way we saw the continuing construction at the lagoon.
They continue to fill the lagoon to allow more seating outside the Plaza and Casey's
Interesting group of girls!
When we got to the Mine ride we were a couple of minutes early so we found a place in the shade to wait. When our Fastpass time arrived we went in and the imagineers had done a great job of enhancing the "scenery" along the wait line. There is the Seven Dwarf's cottage, done very well.
When we got to the "Mine" it was very dark, hard to see after coming in from a bright day. When our eyes finally adjusted, the interior of the "mine" was very well done and very detailed.
time to board the "train" we found that the cars are VERY narrow (tight for two people). It is a very smooth ride and there is a section where you enter the mine where the dwarf's are working and the car slows down. All the dwarf's are there and the walls are covered with brilliant "jewels", then, as the train climbs out of the mine you see shadows of the dwarfs on the wall and they are "off to home we go". The ride seemed short to us and I heard a few similar comments on the way out.
After the ride we were off to get lunch. We are about out of table service places to eat so we are starting to concentrate on counter service places - today it is Pecos Bill's for lunch. I had a pulled pork sandwich and Jane had the taco salad, both were very good. By now it was getting very hot and humid so we decided to head home. We did stop at Guest Relations to check on some Fastpasses. As part of the compensation they gave us for moving we got some Fastpasses, good anywhere, any time. We just wanted to verify that they were in fact good anywhere - they are! So tomorrow, we are off to Toy Story for multiple rides. When we got back to the coach, it had just started to rain so we got the kids out and came in and it was nap time. We started thinking about dinner and we got a call from Hilda asking if we wanted to go out for pizza, dinner problem solved! We went to a favorite pizza place of theirs where they have coal-fired pizza (at home we have wood-fired pizzas). Then it was back home and bed time.
The Dwarf's Cottage
Gustov's Castle
Wednesday, June 11:
Up early today, breakfast at Whispering Canyon with Chad. we had a good visit with Chad and Anne Marie (the manager). Breakfast was great as usual. After breakfast Jane went pin hunting, she still needs that elusive Dopey Miner pin. She went into the shop and asked on of the CM's if they had it and told her that she had been looking for that one pin for 2 months. The CM, Summer, said she would go look and returned shortly with the elusive 7th Dwarf pin - completing the set. Oh happy day!
After leaving Wilderness Lodge we thought we would try to make one more run to Downtown Disney. The parking there is challenging right now with all the construction going on now. We found a parking place fairly close to World of Disney and went into shop one more time. I looked around at some of the signs of construction progress being made.
Wilderness Lodge version of Hump Day
New temporary walkway to the West Side shops
A new fountain is now working in the lake - beautiful
Construction continues on the new bridge
Bambi, Thumper and Flower
We worked our way down to the new Co-op store that just opened last week. It is a test market for new merchandise. If an item does well in the Co-op, it will be introduced in more Disney stores. There was some pretty neat stuff there. One of the shops makes custom cell phone cases while you wait - we had to have one. We had to make a quick stop at Walgreen's to pickup a prescription and a card. Then with the weather looking VERY threatening, we headed back to the coach. We got home just in time to get the kids out before it poured. We had Fastpasses for Toy Story at 6:30 so we donned our ponchos, got on a bus and headed to the Studio. It was raining pretty hard by the time we got back to Toy Story and people were seeking shelter under anything that would offer some protection from the rain. We went in for our 6:30 Fastpass and then came out to use our complimentary passes that Jordan gave us for having to move. We played four times in an hour. The CM manning the FP station asked us "how many of those do you have?" After our 4th ride we were done and made our way back to the bus and home. It had quit raining, but was getting very humid now. We got home, let the kids out, had a little dinner, watched some TV and then to bed.
Something we learned today: Disney has a conservation group and one of the things they have done is help protect African farmers from elephants is to provide bee hives around their fields - elephants are afraid of bees. The bees get in their trunks and sting them. The hives are hung on fences and when the elephants try to get in the fields, the hives are disturbed, the bees swarm out and the elephants backoff. Enough animal trivia for now. Good night.
Thursday, June 12:
We started the day with breakfast at Whispering Canyon with Chad, Bridgett, Jeffro and Anne Marie. These people are more than Cast Members, they are true friends. When we go for breakfast or lunch, Chad always has our drinks ready before we get to our table. Bridgett and Jeffro are his cohorts in hijinx. Anne Marie is their boss (controller). We said good-bye until September and caught the boat to MK for one more purchase for some folks at home. While walking on the sidewalk in front of Tony's we saw something we had never seen before even though we have walked this way many times.
After MK we caught the boat back to Wilderness Lodge where
we left the car when we came over for breakfast.
We took a quick run past Loop 700 to see if they had started.
They sort of had started, rain has delayed everything.
Lady & Tramp's paw prints in front of Tony's
Loop 700 - CLOSED!
At least it looks like they are going to do something. We will check again in the morning to see if there is anything going on. In the mean time it was nap time. We are going back to Whispering Canyon for dinner with Hilda and Stephanie at 8:00 (late for us). We had a great dinner, ate too much. They have a great platter with chicken, ribs,pulled pork, sausage, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and roast beef. When all that is gone, you just ask for more!
Hilda & Stephanie (Stephanie is holding the Frozen doll we found for her)
After dinner we went home and did a little "putting away" to get ready to leave in the morning. Since we are only going about 100 miles we aren't going to finish packing until morning. It rained hard a couple of times today, we decided that we would not be here in June in the future, too hot, too humid and too wet! This is one trip we don't feel too bad about leaving, mostly because of having to be in Loop 800. Loop 700 (site 705) is HOME. We watched some TV and went to bed.
Friday, June 13:
We got up and finished packing and loading the coach. It is going to be hot and humid today so the sooner we leave the better. We got everything in and the bikes loaded then took the kids for one more walk along the canal. While I was checking out Jane took a card over to Hilda and took a ride through Loop 700. She said they are cutting down some trees and trimming others higher (we found that a couple of the trees in site 705 were hanging on the coach roof providing a highway for ants). Just as we were leaving the site it started to pour. We dropped the car off on the way out and hit the road.
We are going to stop and check out a potential stopping place on the way down to WDW - Grand Lake RV and Golf Resort. After about 30 minutes the rain let up to an annoying drizzle. We got to our turn off and immediately were in trouble. The directions to the place were terrible. They had us turning west, instead of east, turning on incorrect roads so I finally called the resort and got correct directions. The lady at the desk was very nice and said that the directions do suck and people are continually getting lost using them. She said the directions should just say "Call for directions". The park is very nice though, I think we will come back in September. They have nice, level concrete pads, lots of shade trees (= no satellite TV), and cable TV. They also have a very nice little cafe. It is open from 8 am to 8 pm and very good food. We think we will come back here. After we ate, we took the kids for a run in the dog park, it was awesome! It is huge, with mowed grass and butterflies for Boo to chase (that is her thing now, chasing butterflies).We let them cool off after their run and then it was time for the kids to eat. I took them out after eating and then it was time for HOCKEY! I found the local NBC channel on the cable just in time for the 5th game of the Stanley Cup. The Kings are favored and they are playing in LA. It was a great game, the Rangers gave it a good shot, but after 2 overtime periods the Kings won, the new 2014 Stanley Cup champions. Then it was off to bed.
Saturday, June 14:
Don't ever stay up until 1:00 am knowing that you have a 350 mile drive ahead in the morning!
We slept until about 8:30 then got up, walked and fed the kids then hit the road. It was raining when we got up, but after about an hour on the road the clouds broke up and the sun came out. The rest of the drive was very nice, no wind and good roads. I made a quick calculation on gas mileage and we are getting 8.8 mpg, better than I expected. We will see how it does the rest of the trip. We had a quick stop for some lunch while I was fueling up at Love's in Cottonwood, FL.
We watered the kids and were on our way, Emerald Beach here we come. We pulled into Emerald Beach about 3:30 and got the essentials (electric and water) set up in no time. The kids were ready for a walk so we did that and then fed them. It was a long day with little sleep the night before so we took the kids out and went to bed about 9:00, a move we (I) would regret in the morning.
Sunday, June 15 (Father's Day):
Since we had gone to bed so early, the kids decided at 3:30 that they needed to go out, then as is habit, they wanted breakfast. I told them it was WAY to early for breakfast and they finally waited until 5:00. Then we all went back to bed. When we finally got up it was a bright sunny day. Just a few clouds and a light breeze - picture perfect! For Father's Day Jane gave me two Disney statues, one is called "Partners" and shows Walt holding Mickey's hand and the other is called "Story Tellers" that shows Walt with Mickey standing on a suitcase heading to California.
"Partners"
"Story Tellers"
We took the kids for a short walk, then we went down to the beach to sit in the sun for a while. There was a guy flying an ultra-light equipped with floats doing touch and goes. There were a lot of boats, some were pretty big. After a while it got hot so we came in and fixed some lunch. After lunch we discovered a 3 hour program on behind the scenes at Disney World. Since it was too hot to sit outside we watched it. The kids started bugging us for their dinner so we finally gave in and fed them. In the process we thought that maybe it was about time for our dinner, so I fired up the grill and we had hotdog's and beans on the grill.
Alf2 at the beach
Emerald Beach RV Park
Monday, June 16:
The kids let us sleep a little later this morning. We got up and took them for a little walk. We discovered that there are a few places on the walk that have little tiny stickers (like cockelburrs). Boo, with her long coat found them and we spent the next 30 minutes finding and removing them from her.
Boo's stickers
Since we are going to be here for a few days, we are going to rent a car so I called Enterprise to make arrangements. They came and picked me up about 11:30. I got back and it was lunch time, after lunch we spent some time on the beach enjoying the sun. This is part of why we like Emerald Beach so much.
Beach side sites - note no clouds
While we were on the beach, we watched some big boats go by and the ultra-light was back today. Then a BIG boat went by!
Big boat, note the helicopter on the top deck
Yes, there is some money here on the Gulf shore. We have seen some big boats, but this is the first one with a helicopter. When we got too hot we came in and fed the kids and thought about our dinner. Since we have a car we are not limited to what is in the refrigerator. We decided to try a place called Johnny Hustons that is owned by the same folks that own the RV park. We also got a 10% discount. Food was great, the place is somewhere you might not even notice driving by it. Tomorrow Jane wants to go to Destin and see what is there. After a little TV we called it a day and went to bed.
Tuesday, June 17:
We got up this morning and Jane said she didn't sleep very well last night and she felt like she was getting a sinus infection. So off to Walgreen's clinic for some antibiotics. Walgreen's won't get their clinic until August, so we went to Baptist Urgent Care (right across the street for the campground) and got a prescription for some antibiotics. I went back to Walgreen's to pick up drugs. When I got back to the coach, Jane was taking a nap so I took my book, a cigar and a beer outside to enjoy the sun. After a couple of hours it started to look like it was going to rain so I went inside and woke Jane up to see what she wanted to do for dinner - hot dogs it was. after an early dinner the clouds blew over and we all went outside to enjoy the warm weather and light breeze. We talked to the couple in the site next to us and they had a 500+ mile trip to go to West Palm Beach on Wednesday. I recommended the Grand Lake RV resort to them and told them how to get there. Eventually, it got dark and we went inside for desert (Mickey ice cream bars) and then to bed.
Wednesday, June 18:
This morning dawned clear and warm. It is going to be a hot one today. We walked the kids, had some breakfast and went out to "our" deck to catch so sun. We stayed out for about an hour until it got too hot to stay out. Jane went in to cool off and I stayed out a little longer. We decided to do some exploring this afternoon. We crossed the big bridge to the west of us and were transported to a Jimmy Buffet kind of land. the houses were all very colorful and almost all of them were on stilts. There was a long stretch where the beaches were closed due to "Shore Bird Nesting". This is the only place in the world that the Black Skimmer chooses to nest.
"Our" deck
Black Skimmer
We continued to drive down to Pensacola Beach and drove all the way to the end of the road. We turned around and headed back with a stop at Peg Leg Pete's for lunch. The place isn't much to look at, but the food is very good. We had to bring some home for dinner (and dessert for later). It is a place we heard about from some of our hockey player
friends that have played in Pensacola in the
past. The girl that took the picture said her
Dad used to coach the Pensacola Ice Flyers.
Small world isn't it? When we got back to the
coach we took the kids out again and retreated
to the comfort of air conditioning until the sun
gets a little less harsh. We sat out on the "patio"
for a while until it got dark, then in to watch some
TV before bed.
Thursday, June 19:
We got up, walked the dogs then sat out in the sun for a while. Again, when it got too hot we retreated to the comfort of the coach. At lunch time we decided to go to a bar-b-cue place down the road. It came recommended and it was excellent. They had a huge menu and we sat outside by the beach. Very enjoyable lunch. After lunch we decided that we should get some essentials for the trip home (sweet tea, deviled eggs, and bread). Since we are leaving for home tomorrow Jane started straightening up the coach while I took the car back to Enterprise. When I got back the kids had been fed and things were looking ship shape inside. Now I had to get things put away outside. It was still very hot out so I took my time getting things done. Eventually, everything was stowed and we were ready to leave in the morning. It was still pretty hot out so we just stayed in for the night.
Friday, June 20:
We were up early to watch the F1 practice at 7:00. The race is from Austria, the first time an F1 race has been held there in 10 years. After practice Jane had time to get a little more beach time. I told her that I wanted to leave about 10:00 so to watch her time. We actually left Emerald Beach at 11:00 which was okay since we were only going about 5 hours up the road to Birmingham today. Weather was good, sunny and clear and the roads were good with little traffic. We stopped in Clanton, AL for fuel and I checked our mileage again - 8.5mpg. Not too bad!
That was with the generator running all the way and the engine A/C running. We pulled into Birmingham South RV park at 4:00, 5 hours after leaving Emerald Beach. I got us hooked up and went into the office to check on directions from Birmingham to Memphis. I had route figured out, but the lady at the desk said she was from Memphis and goes there at least once a month and had a better way to go. So we will try her way tomorrow. F1 qualifying in the morning at 7:00 so we will wait until that is over, about 8:00, to leave. the kids were fed, walked and crashed so we decided to have dinner and do some crashing of our own. Early to bed so we can get up early.
Saturday, June 21:
We were up early this morning to watch F1 qualifying. It was a surprise result, Williams Racing places in pole and 2nd place on the starting grid. Our favorite Nico Rosburg qualified 3rd. It should be an interesting race tomorrow. We got ready to go and bid farewell to Birmingham South RV park about 9:00. We are going to try the route that the clerk gave us yesterday. The weather is good and it looks like it might be a long day. The clerks route was partly good, some of it was a detour. We got going on the right route, but had issues in Memphis. We made a wrong turn or missed a turn somewhere and ended up spending too much time in not so great neighborhoods. We eventually (8 hours on the road) got to Sikeston and Hinton RV Park about 5:00, fed and walked the dogs then called Lambert's for the shuttle ride to dinner. I love the shuttle, they walk you in and get you seated right away - no wait and there was probably 100+ people waiting for a table. We got our meal (with enough for dinner tomorrow night at home) and called our driver (Adam) and returned to the coach to spend the night with the kids. Tomorrow is the last leg of the trip.
Dinner plate - proof you can take the boy out of Disney, but you can't take the
Disney out of the boy
Sunday, June 22:
We were up early to get going for one more day. We are recording the F1 race at home so we will have it to watch tonight. We have discovered that there is a little weed here that has tiny little stick-tights on it. The kids are full of them. Boo has the majority since she has a longer coat. We will be pulling these things out of them for days! Something else to do in our spare time. It lookslike it might rain,but the roads are good and we are on the way home. We have learned a few things this trip:
1. Don't be in Florida in June (rainy and hot)
2. Skip the walk-in Wellness centers, just go to the ER
3. Always double check your route - don't 2nd guess the GPS
4. If in doubt, call for directions
5. ALWAYS check your sides for slide clearances
Anyway, the rain never came, the sun was out all the way home. We stopped in Warrenton, MO for fuel and to let the kids stretch. After fueling up we were on our way for the last leg home. Traffic was light so we mad good time. Pulled into the driveway at 2:30. We are only taking essentials in tonight (sweet tea, deviled eggs,and dinner). We will unload and start cleaning up tomorrow. We watched the race over dinner )Lambert's leftovers), Nico eventually won, yea! Watched some TV and then to bed. Tomorrow we start planning the next trip - 80 days to go.
