The downpour should have been a sign but we all know I don’t read signs (remember Mission Space) unless they are neon and 60 feet wide. I have delayed writing this because there is no way to put a good spin on the rest of the day. Sometimes the happy face from the morning just doesn’t make it till the end of the day.
We had fastpasses for Everest and Grampy loves him some Everest so we dashed between the puddles and jumped right on.
Back in October we rode Everest 3 times in a row. Grampy loved it but following those 15 minutes of fun his brain and legs were jumbled up for awhile. I had put that bit of info into the part of my brain that was on ignore. I should have had it written on my hand since he already wasn’t feeling well. Guess what? After riding Everest, Grampy was feeling worse. OK, I am not smarter than a 5th grader. But for future reference, no matter how much he begs, he won’t be seeing the Yeti.
Jkay wanted to see the Flights of Wonder show and Grampy wanted to sit, so we did. R had been especially quiet today (totally out of character) so when he suggested getting a snack everyone hopped on board. R wanted a pretzel and a beer. That should be easy. But it wasn’t. After walking a marathon we finally secured both items and pulled up a bench. The day was on a downhill slide. Still good but not the best.
The rest of the day will be a picturesque view.
That was Flights of Wonder, Tough to be a Bug, the Parade, the greeting trails and the Lion King.
Finally we headed out to catch a bus to AKL. Boma here we come except we waited for 57 minutes for the bus to take us for a 4 minute ride. While we waited we saw at least 2 buses for every resort. What was up with that?
The lobby of AKL was beautiful and smelled delicious. Except once again – no display like we have seen bunches of times on the WDW holiday special.
We checked in at the podium and Grampy pulled up a seat by the fountain and sat our jackets behind him on the ledge. After about 35 minutes, yep we actually had to wait this time, the lighty up thing finally lit up. When Grampy went to grab the jackets, one was floating in the bottom of the fountain. HIS – with his cell phone. So we pulled that sucker out and kissed the phone goodbye. Crap – you know that is our lifeline. I started to perform CPR on the phone immediately. I have a little experience with this since I have “accidentally” let my phone swim in a toilet at least twice. Believe it or not, you can resurrect the phone IF you get it completely dried out. Your screen may never be the same but it will work. Can anything else go wrong? You bet.
Everyone was kinda in a funk and I was trying to save the day. Cheerleading is my thing.
Keep the troops happy at all costs. We ordered drinks (coffee and tea all around) and waited for the waitress to come back with them before hitting the buffet line.
We were at a small alcove in the back, which had a lovely view of the rain pouring down on the pool at AKL which matched everyone’s mood. Conversation in our corner was muted at best for the crew.
The waitress arrives with the drinks and promptly spills the whole tray down Grampy’s leg.
It was going to be a fine, super fine night. After lots of towels to dry up the mess, I decided to fetch Grampy our favorite soup from Boma. The coconut curry seafood soup. Which I adore and Grampy really likes. I made my way to the buffet to find
NO SOUP FOR US. Not on the rotation tonight. CRAP, CRAP AND MORE CRAP.
We ate, it was OK. Grampy was wet, phone less and felt crummy, R had a sore throat, Jkay, who never complains about the food wasn’t thrilled and I had not gotten the soup I had been dreaming about for months. Let’s just say it wasn’t the best night of the trip and leave it at that.
It was pouring when we left Boma. We grabbed a cab and got a driver that might have been on Cops. He had less personality than my knee and was weaving in and out of traffic like a mad man. I figured the way our day was going that we would end up in a ditch but luckily we made it to the entrance of the hotel.
R and Grampy joke constantly about tips. Trust me on this – you want to be on the receiving end of both of them. They both talk cheap, but almost everyone gets tipped twice. It is their thing. Your turn, no it’s your turn, no it’s your turn, and they both tip generously. I have seen a time when they both thought the other really didn’t tip the waitress, cabbie, whatever and tipped them a 3rd time. Cabbie dude got nothing – he was that bad.
So this day wasn’t going to go down as the best day in Disney. That would be alright. Everyday can’t be perfect. The sun will come out tomorrow, right?
Wrong.
We wandered back to the rooms. Grampy hit the shower and I tried to figure out a way to make tomorrow better. We had lots of wet articles so I was trying to find places for them all to hang and dry out. Plus work on saving the phone, not knowing if the swim in the fountain had been for a moment or 20 minutes.
Grampy hit the bed and told me he felt really bad. Not something he usually says. I asked if he wanted to go to Urgent Care. He decided to get some rest and see what tomorrow would bring. After watching Grampy sleep for an hour or so, I decided to straighten up a little. Rearranging the bags for the morning and checking ADR’s and park hours. I sat everything we would need by the door. That is when I realized I didn’t have my cane.
OMG – what else could go wrong? Everyone was asleep so I had to retrace all our steps in my own little brain. Had it at the bus stop, but not sure after that. The one thing I knew was if I had left it with crabby cab driver I would never see that walking utensil again. It was only a cane, but it has sentimental value.
Go ahead and laugh. Even I laugh at that. I have several canes, but none that have been my companion like this one. It is sun bleached from sitting in my car, has my handprint imbedded in the handle, and Grampy had given it to me as a “gift”. It has been my 3rd leg for so long that I might have wept a little at the thought of it being gone.
There would be little sleep tonight. I watched Grampy and mourned my friend. Please let the sun come back out tomorrow.
Up next - Hello – lost and found?
Lovelovelove it.
with my Thanksgiving cards
I can't let him know how everybody loves him. 
