JULY 1ST & JULY 2ND PART ONE: On the Road Again, Life is a Highway, and the Million Other Songs about Driving
Seriously, why are there so many songs about driving?
There are many other much more glamorous modes of transportation out there that deserve songs. Like, why arent there more songs about riding dolphins? Or riding around Coronado Springs on a unicycle? [Before you even ask, YES, we saw someone riding a unicycle around CSR. I wouldve taken a picture, but I was in shock.] Or bouncing to school on your moonshoes?
Yeah, Im still upset I never had a pair of those as a kid. Life is so unfair
.
Anyway, as most of you already know (and as the rest of you are about to find out) we are those crazy people you oft hear about who cram the car full of stuff (leaving barely enough room for our bodies) and drive 17-ish hours down to Florida (not necessarily WDW) every year since I was born. So that makes this trip number 21 for me. Minus the one year we flew. Plus the year I came down in April with my high school orchestra. So Im still at 21.
Thats
a lot of time spent staring out the car window.
Our plan for this trip was to leave after Mom got out of work on Friday July 1st, drive until it got really dark, spend the night wherever we may be, wake up at the crack of dawn the next day, finish the drive into Orlando, and stay offsite for the night before checking into Coronado Springs the next morning. I thought it was a pretty solid plan. Then, about two weeks before the trip, Mom got word that her whole office only had to work a half day on the 1st, so we could leave earlier. That meant that we would get farther on the first day, and that we would arrive in Orlando earlier on the second day.
Because sitting in an offsite hotel while fun is happening right near me is not my idea of fun, I immediately suggested that we spend the evening at Downtown Disney. I mean, what better way to ring in a Disney trip than by spending a ton of money on souvenirs before even hitting the parks? My parents were cool with it, so I quickly made reservations for dinner at T-Rex, and our new plan was in place.
Oh, I should also mention that when it was decided that Wade would be joining us, it was also decided that Katie and Wade would fly down to MCO. Cramming 5 people PLUS piles of random stuff into our car wouldve been absolutely miserable. Katie was ecstatic because she despises our road trips. She will literally complain the entire trip. When are we gonna get there? Why are there only ever trees along the highway? Why not put up something cool to look at? When are we gonna stop for food? Why are you making us listen to the XM On Broadway station? Why is the car so cold? Why is West Virginia so mountainous? I hate mountains. Not gonna lie, I think my parents were a bit ecstatic about the decision to put Katie on a plane as well.
On the morning of our departure day, we all woke up at the crack of dawn. Dad drove Mom to work while Katie and I finished some last minute packing. We were taking Katie and Wades luggage down with us so they wouldnt have to pay to check them on the plane. I had gotten the bulk of my packing done the night before, but there were still some little things that needed to get thrown into bags. When Dad got back, we (well, mostly he) packed the car and tidied up the house. I attempted to eat breakfast but wound up pushing yogurt around because I was way too excited to eat. Instead, I posted on the DIS, read the newspaper, scrolled through Tumblr, and watched the Cleveland episode of 30 Rock on Netflix. It never fails to make me laugh.
For Gods sakes, Lemon, wed all like to flee to the Cleve, and club up at the Flats, and have lunch with Little Richard, but we fight those urges. 
After I laughed myself silly, I decided to show Riley a little love. We ran around the house together for a bit playing with one of his favorite toys - a little stuffed football. When Dad came and told me it was time to leave, I showered him with hugs and kisses. He hated hugs (he never liked being restrained) but I always hugged him anyway. My last words to him were Be good for Aunt Karen (who was dogsitting for us) and well be back soon! That wound up being our last moment together. I guess it was fitting. Im never good at big emotional goodbyes because Im usually crying too hard to say anything meaningful. I know that he knew how much I loved him. I just wish I wouldve hugged him a few more times. I mean, Id give just about anything to hug him again right now.
Then, it was FINALLY time to hit the road. Dad and I drove Downtown, picked up Mom, got on I-77 and headed south. The ride was uneventful. I did win our The First Person to Spot a Cow Gets Five Bucks competition though so that was exciting. And, at the McDonalds we stopped at for lunch, they accidentally gave me a half-strawberry/half-chocolate milkshake. I didnt realize it at first and I was like Why are there chunks in my chocolate!?! Then, I turned the cup around and saw this
There is clearly strawberry at the bottom. Lame.
Here are some of the sights we saw on Day One:
Hills covered in trees.
Another hill covered in trees.
A bunch of hills covered in trees. Exciting stuff.
We decided to stop in North Carolina around 8. After we checked into our motel, we ran over and got some dinner at the Bob Evans next door. It wasnt Disney food, but it was food and that was all that mattered to me at that point. When we headed back to our room, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Indians/Reds game was being shown on TV. Why a hotel in NC had Fox Sports Ohio is beyond me. But I accepted it because I am a die-hard Indians fan and Ill watch a game any chance I get. Even if I have to suffer through the other teams announcers.
As you can see, the ceiling in our room was insanely high. Im not entirely sure why, but it was. Our voices echoed a bit. Dad joked that they shouldve built bunk beds 4 levels high instead of giving us two queen beds. They definitely had the room.
Surprisingly, I didnt have any trouble falling asleep that night. I kinda figured that I would because, well, we would be at Disney the next day, duh, but I didnt. I dont think Mom or Dad did either.
The next morning, we woke up bright and early and got back on the road. Again, it wasnt very eventful. Just your average drive. Around noon, we passed this guy
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I distinctly remember that "Aarons Party (Come Get It)" by the
true King of Pop, Aaron Carter (lol), came up on shuffle right as we crossed into Florida. I found it extremely fitting and proceeded to jam out in the backseat. And that, my friends, is the first late 90s/early 00s music reference of this TR. There will be many many more. This could make an excellent drinking game if youre into that sort of thing. Also, because I am me, I strongly suggest listening to each song right after I mention them. Here, I even went and got a Youtube link for yall.
MUSICAL GENIUS RIGHT THIS WAY
Now, lets all take 3 minutes and 24 seconds to bust out some sweet moves and bask in this musical greatness
NA NA NA NA. NA NA NA NA. NA NA NA NA. Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
We stopped at a Burger King (because who wants to eat McDonalds two days in a row?) about an hour outside of Orlando to get some food. The line for the drivethrough was INSANE. Like, it backed out into the street. While we were waiting, I snapped this shot of Florida grass.
Florida grass never fails to fascinate me. I mean, it's just so much bigger and thicker than the grass I'm used to.
After we FINALLY got our food, we got back on the road, and it wasnt too long before we passed through Downtown Orlando!
Of course, right after we passed through the city, we got stuck in traffic. Ugh. Disney was so close and yet so far. The universe is SUCH a tease.
There was a bit more traffic right around Universal, but after that, it was clear all the way to Disney. We got off I-4 at the exit to our hotel for the night which, as you can see, was right across the street from Disney property.
I'm pretty certain that heaven's gates will look a lot like those puppies.
Mom checked us in and we headed to our room for a quick nap. I snapped a couple shots of the room before everyone collapsed into bed.
Who doesnt love a room with a black and white photo of Epcot hanging on the wall? I couldn't help but wonder how funny/weird/random it would be if I found myself in the photo. Like, I'd just be checking in like a normal guest, going to my room, lying down in bed, and then BAM it's me! How weird would that be?
Then, I turned on the TV and, as I tweeted, quickly found out that:
THIS HOTEL HAS STACEY! THANK YOU JESUS! #itsallwham 2:11 PM Jul 2nd via txt
Are you dizzy yet?
Oh, Stacey, I missed you so much.
UP NEXT: DOWNTOWN DISNEY
It's been like a week and a half since Riley passed and I still find myself bursting into tears as well. I just try to remind myself that even though he's no longer with me, he's in a better place. We'll never know exactly what happened to him, but, since he died so suddenly, I'm assuming something went seriously wrong, so I'm just glad he's no longer in pain. It would have killed me to see him suffer.
I may be your first hire! 
I'm definitely in for this TR, can't wait for more!
And I could quote Stacy all day long!
I actually had a dream about my dog dying last night 
YAY!
Alright, I just had to get the sad part over with, now on with the happy stuff! 
And I agree about seeing yourself in pictures in hotel rooms. It would be so totally awesome if that happened. I would just go berserk! 
