Ahoy Me hearties(WITH LINKS ON PG 1). Last day posted 10/17. DEC PTR STARTED W/LINK

[racefanof88]

I'm here! You've hit the road and arrived in Kissimmee! Hip Hooray!

Lisa is here. So we are in Kissimmee and then what? OH wait.........I have to tell that story right?

 

[racefanof88]

Ooohhh, am I going to make the first page? YAY! Love the title, not to mention those pictures of y'all at the party last fall!

I'm so glad you started. I've been missing you over here on our threads!

Michelle is here. Thanks on the title, I thought it would fit since it was our first time at CBR. I tell you what, I had on a costume one of my friends wore in a Mardi Gras parade, and I have to say, it is ONLY good during cold weather. I thought I was going to have a heat stroke in that thing.

I have missed ya'll too. I have been so busy since I got home I haven't been on the Dis much. I will eventually catch up .

 

[racefanof88]

Hi! I would like to join in too! We stayed at CBR in May as well, a couple weeks before you. We loved it! Looking forward to hearing what happens when you are there.

Kel, and thanks for coming over . I loved CBR too. It is probably my favorite Disney resort so far. I will have to come over and join in on your TR too and see what you found to be the best part of your trip .

 

[racefanof88]

Great start! I can't even imagine how wonderful it must be to be within driving distance of WDW....I may be just a tad envious

Queen is here I love living this close. I have been looking at the idea of moving even closer . Don't be envious, just think, you don't have to deal with all we have going on in our country right now .

 

[racefanof88]

Hi my friend! I'm in!!

Wooooooooo hoooooooo Leanne is here . I need to call you just to chat. I sooooo enjoyed our talk. Let me know a good day to call.

 

[racefanof88]

Golly, 2 pages already??? HAHA I'm in too dude!!!

Yay Christie is in too .

 

[racefanof88]

Looks like I'm late but I made it! can't wait to hear all about the meet, greets, and CBR!
don't be too depressed Dana you guys are going back so soon it will be here before you know it!
we took the back way in this year too! it was so nice...no traffic and it felt so quick!

Connie

The Connie is here too I love the back way in . I'm trying not to be too depressed about it, but my Disbud won't be there when we go back .

 

[jenniferkeala808]

i'm here! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[racefanof88]

i'm here! Can't wait to hear more!

Jennifer and Thanks for coming over .

 

[racefanof88]

I'm gonna go OT here for just a little and post some pictures I took Saturday of the Gulf. I am so sick about this oil spill .

Saturday morning we decided to ride down to the beach and go over to Pensacola and eat at my favorite place, for those that know me already they know it is Vallarta, for those that don't know me; I love Mexican food.

I took my camera with me and got pictures along the way.

I took these of Mobile Bay.

You can see the oil in the bay(the yellow frothy stuff) and a skimmer ship in the back ground

The oil sheen(color difference) in the water

Dead marsh grass

There are usually birds all in these marsh's, but there were none today .

More dead marsh grass. Not sure what the guys in the boat were doing.

These were just a few I took along the Bay Way. As we drove on there was a HUGE back up of traffic on west bound I-10.

I guess people got tired of swimming in oil and were headed home .

Driving through Foley, I saw these on the side of the road .

I have never seen the camels there before. It is usually pony rides.


Just a random picture.......

We drive down Beach Blvd and there is hardly any traffic at all. At this time of year it is usually bumper to bumper. There is a CG helicopter flying along the beach line, and the double red flags are flying at the beach which means stay out of the water.

We get to Perdido Pass and see this.

It is 11:45am and the workers are already leaving the beach? What? SAD SAD SAD

CNN news truck

I am TERRIFIED of heights and high bridges, so yes this bridge scares the beejeebers out of me.

Boats laying out boom

The helicopter

Just a few of the birds I see the whole time we are down there.

We drove on down the beach and Dale didn't pull over where I wanted him too, but that is OK . We get to Perdido Beach and pay our $3 to park; the parking lot had 3 other cars there and this place is usually full. The man we paid said the water wasn't too bad here.

They only had the yellow flags out here.

Since this is not a public beach there are never lifeguards

Just sea grass

Continued in next post

 

[racefanof88]

We get out of the car and go out on the boardwalk. Dale and Dallas went and sat under the pavilion as I walked on out to the beach. It was STEAMING HOT. The heat index was 110, but I wanted some pictures .

Some of the natural beauty that is going to be destroyed.

Most of ya'll know I like black and whites so some of the following pictures will have both settings.

Now comes some of the really sad pictures; tar balls among the shells.

I picked up this beautiful striped shell, it looks like a butterfly, but it had tar stuck to it. I took the shell to the bathroom, at the pavilion, and washed it with soap and water; the tar would not come off. I wrapped the shell in a paper towel and I have it in my car. I'm kinda scared to bring it in the house. I collect shells and I wanted to add this to my collection, but I guess I won't be doing that . I just can't bring myself to throw the shell away; how pitiful am I?


While I'm standing on the beach this gentleman walks over and starts talking to me. I didn't want to take a picture of his face because I had not asked permission.

He is from Port St. Lucie, Fl. and he was saying he and his friends had rode their bikes over so they could see the Gulf before it is totally destroyed. He said the workers were out on the beach earlier and were only there for about an hour before they left. He told me he had been in the water for a few minutes when a bottle floated by; he said he reached down, picked it up and when he did his hand was covered in oil . He went on to say a family had come up on the beach and from the looks of them they had on $100 bathing suits. He said the woman and kids went out in the water and as they were coming back up to their towels they stepped on some tar balls and they started freaking out . After we talked for a while he asked me if I was working, since I had my camera .

Off in the distance you can see another skimmer ship.

These are the only people I saw in the water

A man and two kids. The lady, who was with them, was on the beach taking pictures.


This CG plane was flying around while we were there

After taking a few more pictures of the beach I headed back up to the pavilion so we could go eat lunch, but first I had to get some pictures of Dallas

The look on his face here says a lot. Yes, you could smell the oil at times, but he is squinting against the sun reflecting off the sand.

We loaded up in the car and drove on down to Vallartas to eat. Of course I had to get my margarita .

I made a FB page to try and bring awareness to the Gulf Oil Spill.

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=message...-of-the-Gulf-Oil-Spill/135256043155496?ref=ts

 

[mickeystoontown]

Dana, your pictures of the beach and shells make me sad. I remember when I was a little girl, my parents took me to Grand Isle every year to fish and have fun. I know I won't be going back any time soon and it's depressing.

On a lighter note, I just posted our meeting at the CBR on my trip report. It should brighten your spirits.

 

[quadsthen1]

Dana, we haven't met, I'm Renee. I just found your trip report. I'm a big fan of Lisa's TRs and I just read on her's how you two met up! Well, I'm in and can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[bouncycat]

Wow....that's just soooooo extremly sad!!! I can't even express how that makes me feel!! But......everything is what we make it, and there are consequences to actions everywhere, and no one is immune. Not even big oil!! I hope you keep that shell, use some dawn or something, and scrub the crap out of it, so you can say you saved a piece of the beach.

 

[aprilisis]

Page 3!?!?!? I am pathetic. I should've been there earlier. Please forgive me. I am going to go back & read.

 

[aprilisis]

The pictures of the oil on the beach are so sad.

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

Hi, saw your Trip Report link on Lisa's (Mickeystoontown) TR. Just wanted to say Hi, and I can't wait to read about your tip.
The oil spill is awful and I fear it will destroy our beautiful Gulf Coast...it's heart breaking.

 

[racefanof88]

Dana, your pictures of the beach and shells make me sad. I remember when I was a little girl, my parents took me to Grand Isle every year to fish and have fun. I know I won't be going back any time soon and it's depressing.

On a lighter note, I just posted our meeting at the CBR on my trip report. It should brighten your spirits.

I see that Lisa is as busy at work right now as I am...........shhhhhhhhhhhh.

It was very sad to see the beach that way. Not only with the tar balls, but almost deserted. These are beaches that are usually packed and the water full of people, but not now. At this time of year the occupancy rate for the hotels and condos is usually at 90-95%; the news reported last night that the rate is at 30% now

I read all about our CBR meeting . I so enjoyed hanging out with ya'll that night at at Epcot on Friday .

 

[racefanof88]

Dana, we haven't met, I'm Renee. I just found your trip report. I'm a big fan of Lisa's TRs and I just read on her's how you two met up! Well, I'm in and can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Renee and . Thanks for coming over, I will be posting more about our Disney trip soon, so please stay tuned .

 

[racefanof88]

Wow....that's just soooooo extremly sad!!! I can't even express how that makes me feel!! But......everything is what we make it, and there are consequences to actions everywhere, and no one is immune. Not even big oil!! I hope you keep that shell, use some dawn or something, and scrub the crap out of it, so you can say you saved a piece of the beach.

Christie, it is extremely sad. It makes me feel sick when I think about it and to see it was even worse. The long term effect of this is beyond what anyone can imagine, so we haven't even begun to see the real damage. I am going to try and clean the shell off with some Dawn, they say that will do it.