City, Sand, and Savanna - Link to new trip report

[KatMark]

Now look who is being a cranky puss.

He needs a nap....

I called him crabbypants earlier and got a Private Message about it. Be warned.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm caught up!!!!!

Vero's setup looks just like OKW in the villas. Love it! Huge and awesome.

How VERY cool that you guys got to see a turtle! What an incredible experience for everyone. I think Vero is a must for these city folks - gotta teach the kid to fish and to experience wildlife like that. And that view...ahhhh, beautiful.

 

[Poolrat]

I called him crabbypants earlier and got a Private Message about it. Be warned.

Oops I think I woke the bear. Time to check pms.

 

[Aussiesalad]

Hold on there, I believe that this is your first post here Sally, so It's great to have you aboard!

Great to be here Glenn! Can't believe it's taken me so long!
Now I've got a lot of catching up to do and a lot of Judys to count

 

[marvali]

Poor, poor Marv.

Now look who is being a cranky puss.

He needs a nap....

I called him crabbypants earlier and got a Private Message about it. Be warned.

Hmmm, why am I starting to feel like shark bait???

Hard to believe two of my formerly favorite ladies on the DIS are ganging up on me like this.........

 

[glennbo123]

Then I can get caught up and maybe do an update myself......

I know what you mean -- with limited time, it's a choice between updating or getting caught up on others'.

Now look who is being a cranky puss.

He needs a nap....

I called him crabbypants earlier and got a Private Message about it. Be warned.

Well, "crabbypants" might be a little over the line.

Oops I think I woke the bear. Time to check pms.

Hmmm, why am I starting to feel like shark bait???

Hard to believe two of my formerly favorite ladies on the DIS are ganging up on me like this.........

 

[glennbo123]

I'm caught up!!!!!

I'm so glad you posted here Brook -- I've thought about you guys several times this past week....how did you fare through the storm? I almost sent you a pm to ask, but didn't figure you'd get it if you were without power.

Vero's setup looks just like OKW in the villas. Love it! Huge and awesome.

Yep, nicely sized suites.

How VERY cool that you guys got to see a turtle! What an incredible experience for everyone. I think Vero is a must for these city folks - gotta teach the kid to fish and to experience wildlife like that. And that view...ahhhh, beautiful.

I think it'd be a great trip for you guys. Henry's at a great age that he could take advantage of a lot of the programs they offer. I could see him enjoying fishing in their pond, and the sea turtle nesting is unbelievable, if you get lucky and get to see one.

Great to be here Glenn! Can't believe it's taken me so long!
Now I've got a lot of catching up to do and a lot of Judys to count

No worries! (And I'm not just saying that because you're from Australia. ) You'll notice that our drive to WDW was a lot less eventful than your cross-country marathon-trek though.

 

[Poolrat]

Well, "crabbypants" might be a little over the line.

Nice summary.

 

[glennbo123]

Nice summary.

Thanks.

 

[glennbo123]

I just hafta clean up this next chapter, and then it'll be ready....

 

[glennbo123]

In this update we will attempt something that is rarely done in a Glennbo trip report: cover a whole day in one chapter. That either means that: a) not much happened, b) I didnt take a lot of pictures, or c) Im going to end the chapter by saying yada, yada, yada, the end. Youll have to decide for yourself which it is, but here we go&from Hufflepuff milk to the Vero Beach campfire.

I didnt make a note of when we got up on this particular morning, but I think we slept in a little, having been out late on Turtle Walks the previous two nights in a row. The tooth fairy paid a visit and retrieved a tooth that James had lost on our drive to the Turtle Walk. I didnt mention that in the last chapter, keeping it strictly on the topics of dinner and turtles, but it happened just the same. The tooth fairy was about as stingy as when she visits us at home, not the generous tinkerbell/tooth fairy that Ive read about in some of your trip reports. You know who you are.

Hufflepuff Milk
Now, for this next picture, I have to let you in on a little inside joke we have in our family. It stems from this video that my kids found online

Hogwarts: which house are you?

which makes fun of the fact that the Hufflepuff house at Hogwarts (in the Harry Potter series) seems to be less cool, or at least has more issues, lets put it that way, than the other houses. We love the line in that video where the girl says, I cant digest lactose. Im a Huffelpuff! Stemming from that, weve begun to tease Judy that maybe shes a Hufflepuff since she has to be careful about what she eats and that kind of thing. So, as we were having breakfast, Lauren took the opportunity to rename Judys almond milk.

Since well be going to Harry Potter-land at Universal later in the trip, you might see this theme come up again later in the trip report.

Anyway, I didnt go for a coffee run and photo-tour this morning. We just did our workout and then got ready to run some errands off-site. We had to get James up and around because we needed him to come along with us, since one of the errands was to get him a haircut. On our last trip to DisneyWorld he was in dire need of a haircut the whole time and it looked like we were going to have a recurrence unless we took some action, pronto. We also needed to get him some sunburn cream and a rash shirt to wear while swimming that afternoon. Other than that, Judy wanted to get a cooler so that we could keep our refrigerated groceries cold during tomorrows drive from Vero to Kidani. We hadnt thought to bring one along. We might have had another item or two on the errand list, but what Ive listed are what I can remember.

The Wabasso Tickle Shop
We let the girls stay in the suite, but the three of us left for our errands. After we made our way across the bridge, I had Judy take this picture.

Another story from the night before that I left out of the last chapter, was that we passed this place on our way back from Sonnys BBQ and James said Whats a tickle shop? I had to explain that the word was actually tackle and it had to do with fishing gear and bait. But we had a good laugh at his expense, picturing in our minds what must happen at a tickle shop.

Errands Take Forever!
Now on to our errands. I found a SuperCuts with the GPS, but as we drove to it we decided that there was definitely not a SuperCuts in the area. It had us take a turn onto a small lane that went through a residential area, and there was even grass growing up through the pavement. It didnt look like a place where youd usually see a SuperCuts, like a shopping plaza. We came to a more major road and decided to give up on that particular destination at the moment, and instead went to a nearby Walgreens for some of the other items on Judys list. Of course, we were able to get some things, but not all&and more stops would be necessary. We ended up finding a WalMart and got a cooler, but we still hadnt been able to find any rash shirts. From there, we made our way to a Target, which also had a Hair Cuttery nearby. Score! Judy took James to get a haircut and I went to Target and was able to find a rash shirt. It felt like we had done sooo much running around, and the traffic lights seemed sooo long. At one point, we passed Sonnys BBQ and our reaction was like Gah! We really felt like we were running around aimlessly. I tell ya people, if you go to the Vero Beach resort, do everything possible to plan all of the supplies youll need and just stay there and enjoy the resort. If you venture off-site, you might be a while.

By the time we got back to the resort it was close to noon, but it had poured there, so we didnt really miss any beach time. We hadnt seen any rain while on our errands. We had a lunch of sandwiches and leftover dinner items and then got ready to go to the beach. Judys sister and son came over and we all walked down to the beach at about 1 oclock. My nephew is a surfing fanatic and brought his surfboard with him, along with a couple of boogie boards for us to use. The girls decided to go to the pool, but the rest of us went to the beach.

I filled up my mug, and thought that Id get a picture of Bleachers, the counter service place at the pool. I didnt think that Id already taken a picture of it when it was open.

Glennbo Takes a Tumble
When I got to the beach, James and my nephew were already out in the waves, and Judy captured the moment with her phone.

It wasnt long though, before James was walking back up to our chairs, upset and hurt after taking a spill in the rough surf. I tried to get him back out there, but he was done with the boogie board, and wanted to sit out for a while.

I went out and caught some waves with my nephew. James eventually rejoined us, but after a while, I took a major tumble. Cue the song by the Surfaris -- Ha ha ha ha ha&.Wipeout! I was bodysurfing, and I looked over my shoulder and saw the biggest wave Id seen all day, by far, bearing down on me. I thought that I could catch it and started swimming. I thought wrong. I got started too late, and instead of the swell picking me up and pushing me along, the wave crashed over me and sent me into a washing machine-style tumble. I immediately sensed that my feet were over my head and the next thing I knew, my face was slammed into the sand at the bottom. Being flipped like that, Im seriously lucky that I didnt break my neck. Somehow I was able to get righted, and dragged myself back to the chairs to recuperate. My sister-in-law had seen it and thought that Id taken quite a tumble, but I think Judy was off refilling her mug at the time. Later, the girls came down to the beach and said something like, What happened to your face?! Course I heard that every day growing up&I have older sisters.

Our Miranda Rights
Well, the girls came down to the beach, but James and I thought that the relative tranquility of the pool seemed like a good idea right about then, so we headed up there. We swam a little, went down the slide a couple of times, and hit the hot tub for a few minutes. Then we met Miranda.

James and I were just hanging out in the pool when a little girl came up and said, Whatcha doooin just like Isabella on Phineas and Ferb. She was a girl a few years younger than James, named Miranda, who just talked our ears off and basically followed us around. I thought, Miranda, you have the right to remain silent! Eventually, James and I decided to play mini-golf&partly because he felt like he missed out the day before, and partly to get away from our new little friend. Well, wouldnt you know it, our new friend dragged her mom and dad over to play mini-golf and were the group right behind us. Marlene found us and when we told her what was happening she said that when she and Lauren were in the pool, she was hanging near them and listening to their conversation. Well give the kid the benefit of the doubt and just say that the poor thing was probably highly social, but lonely.

We went back to the beach around 4, and helped bring all of the beach stuff back up. We had to get the surfboards and boogie boards to my sister-in-laws car and we said goodbye to them, although wed be seeing them again later in the trip.

A Trip to Tip Trey (say that 5 times fast!)
I got back to the room and Judy was disappointed that she hadnt tipped Trey, the guy at the Green Cabin who set up our chairs and cabana every day. I cant begin to tell you how nice he was and how hard he worked. He greeted us like he remembered us from the day before and we were his newest, bestest friends. I joke, but it seemed sincere from Trey. So, she gave me some cash and sent me off to find Trey. I walked down to the Green Cabin and he wasnt there. I waited around for a few minutes and he didnt show. Eventually, I went to the front desk and asked for an envelope and a piece of paper. I wrote him a little note, sealed his tip in the envelope, and left it with the front desk for him. Im sure he appreciated it&he definitely deserved it.

Pizza and Fish
After that, I was able to go back and get cleaned up and we decided that wed like Orchid Island Pizza again for dinner, so I made a run for that. No driving this time! It was as tasty as the first time around.

I think I must have taken this picture of the building that our suite was in during my walk to pick up the pizza.

After eating, I thought that it would be nice to make use of our new fishing pole again, but James just wanted to veg-out in the front of the TV. The girls were up for it though, so the three of us headed out to the pond with James pole.

I dont remember if I mentioned it in the Fishing FUNdamentals chapter, but Maryann, our fishing instructor, had said that if we came back to the pond we were welcome to borrow her needle-nose pliers to use in extracting the hook from the fish we caught. She would rather have us borrow the pliers than to potentially damage the fish while trying to remove the hook. So, we stopped by Eb & Flos on the way to the pond and asked for her pliers. She wasnt there, but I was able to convince the cast members there to lend me her pliers, and we were off. It was now going on 6:30, and Eb & Flos closed at 7, so we didnt have much time to fish before we had to return the pliers.

What did we use for bait? Bacon jerky! I know I told you that raw bacon had worked well when we had fished with Maryann, but Im not sure if I told you that Judy had decided to try some bacon jerky when she was buying snacks for our trip down from Pennsylvania. It turned out that none of us liked it. It sounds like a good idea, I mean, I love both of those things -- bacon and jerky, but it turns out that bacon jerky isnt so good. So, we had plenty to give to the fish. Since it was hard, like jerky, it wasnt easy to put on the hook. But we got it on well enough to entice these Disney, half-tame fish.

Marlene took the first turn and caught a bluegill.

Lauren went next and was also successful.

Then I took a turn and since time was running short, I decided to go ahead and just catch a bluegill rather than my usual bass. You can kind of see the red mark on the left side of my face from my wipeout earlier in the day. It also really messed up my hair, apparently.

Im sure it looks like we all just posed with the same fish, but I assure you that we each caught the one we posed with. It may have been the same one each time, but we caught em all right!

When we started walking back, it was so close to 7 oclock that we had Marlene run ahead with the pliers to get them turned back in before Eb & Flos closed. I know you shouldnt run with scissors, but I assume its okay to run with pliers? Either way, she got them turned-in just before they closed, and didnt put an eye out or anything.

The Vero Beach Campfire
We got back to the suite and watched TV for a little while until it was getting close to the time for the campfire. My kids are older, and I thought this might be geared a little bit more toward the younger crowd, but I thought that we should at least check it out. The girls and Judy were willing to give it a try, but James wanted to just stay in the suite and watch TV. He said that it was due to his sunburn, but he can just be a stick-in-the-mud sometimes so Im not really sure.

The four of us went down and found a seat on one of the benches a couple of minutes before it started.

Judy was immediately attacked by no-see-ums and decided to bail-out, so she went back to the suite before it even started.

We saw our little friend, Miranda there, but she didnt see us. Im not sure if shes in any of these pictures&to be honest, I dont remember what she looked like.

Like I suspected, the target audience was really the younger crowd, but my girls are good sports and sang along with the campfire songs. Theyve been to summer camp and knew all of the songs that the cast members led the group in. I think the first song they did was B-I-N-G-O, but with P-L-U-T-O substituted for Bingo. The songs after that got a little better as far as not being aimed at such a young audience.

I must say, the cast members really try hard to get everyone singing and enjoying themselves. One of their attempts backfired though, when a teenage boy they were trying to get involved in the singing, got up and left. Theyd asked him and several other teenagers to come up near the campfire, but I think he thought he was going to be the butt of a joke or something and just left. It was a shame because for that particular song, the tables got turned and the parents were made fun of, but he didnt hang around long enough to find out.

Like Judy, Marlene eventually got fed up with being eaten up by the no-see-ums, and went back to the suite. Lauren and I stuck it out until the smores fixins came out, and she roasted some marshmallows for herself and me. We ate our smores and went back home. After that, it was just a relaxing night and we all hung out until it was time for bed.

Well, it looks like Ive done it! A whole day, in one chapter. Ill leave you with the video below of one of the campfire sing-alongs. I think I captured a pretty fun one!

Campfire Video

Oh, and yada, yada, yada, the end.

Up next: The beach at sunrise
Link to next chapter

 

[KatMark]

I just hafta clean up this next chapter, and then it'll be ready....

Love the smilie

 

[KatMark]

I'm going out on a limb and saying zero Judy's just so I answered before Marv.

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Glenn. Sorry that you and James both tumbled, but glad no one was really hurt.

The story about Miranda is absolutely hysterical. While at OKW, we saw a little girl who kept following one family. When asked where her parents were, she told them they were in the hot tub and they told her to "occupy herself" for an hour.

Gee, those fish look awfully familiar.

 

[glennbo123]

Love the smilie

I was looking for an opportunity to use it.

Great update, Glenn. Sorry that you and James both tumbled, but glad no one was really hurt.

I was really lucky....coulda been a lot worse.

The story about Miranda is absolutely hysterical. While at OKW, we saw a little girl who kept following one family. When asked where her parents were, she told them they were in the hot tub and they told her to "occupy herself" for an hour.

I think that was the situation exactly. I started to write something like that and thought that maybe I shouldn't slam them too bad....but for most of the time I was wondering who her parents even were, because I couldn't tell. No one seemed to be watching her.

Gee, those fish look awfully familiar.

To the trained eye, you can see distinct differences.

 

[KatMark]

So was I right on the no Judy's?

 

[onelilspark]

Since Kathy claimed no Judy's I'm going to go out on a limb and say 1 Judy. Just in case that's her thumb!



Great update again! It's neat to hear what's only 45 minutes South!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

That HP video is hilarious - love the Hufflepuff milk!!!

I hate having to do errands on vacation, even if they take 13 seconds to do, I feel like I've wasted SO much time!! I'm probably the most impatient person on the planet though!

Glad that you didn't get hurt in the ocean!!

 

[marvali]

One Judy............

no wait, nevermind...........zero Judy's.............


Oh wait a minute, make that one Judy again............no Two Judy's...........

No my final answer is three Judy's....................

OH wait, it doesn't matter anymore after the last Rules Committee decision to modify the rules of the game and accept any answer that is correct, whether it is your final answer or not, or what order the correct answers were received in, so.............

ZERO or ONE or TWO or THREE or FOUR or FIVE Judy's.............

Yep, that should about cover it.............. Automatic Winner Babeeee!!!!




Oh wait, I followed the new rules so I know what THAT means........Glennbo will change them again!!!

 

[Poolrat]

The only part of a Judy I see is the picture of you in the ocean and it appears to be.... hand appendage of some sort- a finger maybe.

Other than that Judy steered clear of the camera this round.

Big day at the beach- love those errands.

Hard when you are in your own neighborhood but wandering around someplace unfamiliar is a pain.

The boys took a tumble huh? That surf can slam the best of them. Sand in your face, up your nose and everywhere else is NOT fun.


Miranda sounds like a big party, whole lot of noise and lots of activity. I am sure she was in search of "fresh ears" to bend.

Don't blame anyone for bailing out on the campfire. Being eaten alive, even near a fire is no fun.


I guess with cooler purchased, a ride to Kidani is next.