An almost-girly trip ~ February 2009 TR!

[Megablocks]

Yay for being out of school!
Hopefully you'll have more DIS time now.

Have fun on your trip! I hope you do get to have a Dis meet.

P.S. Basin is a cool place. I did recognize the floor background.

Much more DIS time now! It's great! I can DIS without feeling guilty because I'm putting off work.

Thanks! I'm really looking forward to the trip, and I'm hoping I get a DIS meet, too. Katie mentioned a mall that's right off the interstate we're going on, and we'll be passing through that area around lunchtime, so if all goes well, we'll be meeting there for lunch, and hopefully my dad will forget the crazy glasses in the car.

I was wondering if you'd recognize that background As I was taking the pictures on the floor, my mom was right beside me, lining up her soaps against the cooler. I need to get her picture because it's much nicer than mine!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hurray for your summer officially starting!!!

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Have a fun time in Ohio.

How cool you get to have a DIS meet.

If I win the lottery tonight, I'll invite all of us to WDW on me!!!

For being done school!

The Goofy's treat looks so yummy!

 

[Megablocks]

Hurray for your summer officially starting!!!

Thanks! Hurray for yours starting in a couple of short weeks!

Have a fun time in Ohio.

How cool you get to have a DIS meet.

If I win the lottery tonight, I'll invite all of us to WDW on me!!!

For being done school!

The Goofy's treat looks so yummy!

Thanks! Notice the time? It's 4 AM because I seem to have travel anxiety, and I couldn't go back to sleep when I woke up around 3:15. I was going to get up in an hour anyway, but it was still like

I'm really really excited about the DIS meet! My mom said to make sure that my dad left the glasses alone until we get past where we're meeting. He told me that he was wearing the glasses into the mall, which I really wouldn't put past him, even though they're nearly impossible to see through.

You HAVE to go to Goofy's if you haven't yet -- it was sooooo good! The rice crispy was pretty cheap for such a big snack, too, especially as far as Disney prices go.

Soooooo...are you going to do a PTR?!

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I'm off to finish packing and go get coffee -- Dunkins is offering a free turbo shot (just a shot of espresso) in any iced coffee, as opposed to paying $.89 extra for it, so I'll definitely be taking up that offer. In about 8 or 9 hours, I should be meeting up with Katie and Patrick, which I'm wicked excited about, and we should be at our hotel or at my grandmother's by 6 or 7 this evening. I'll hopefully get to post some pictures tonight or tomorrow. Have a great day!

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Ahhhh, Duncan Donuts. I love those donuts.
You can keep the coffee all to yourself, I don't drink it....

I know, I have been very tardy with starting a PTR.
I am a bit worried I won't be able to figure out how to do it.
I am so computer illiterate.

I really do want to make one. I am a real person, I swear....

Be careful and take a few pics of the Dismeet.

 

[Megablocks]

Ahhhh, Duncan Donuts. I love those donuts.
You can keep the coffee all to yourself, I don't drink it....

I know, I have been very tardy with starting a PTR.
I am a bit worried I won't be able to figure out how to do it.
I am so computer illiterate.

I really do want to make one. I am a real person, I swear....

Be careful and take a few pics of the Dismeet.

Oh, I WILL take all that coffee.

If you want any help with pictures and stuff, just let me know! It's really easy once you figure it out.

Pictures are coming up!

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So I'm really not sure how I'm still awake, as I've been awake since 3:15 AM. I just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, and was planning on getting up around 4:15 or 4:30, anyway, so I just decided to stay up. I dragged Michael with me to Dunkin Donuts a little after 5 AM, and got an iced coffee with a free shot of espresso. Yup, I needed it. We were on the road around 6 AM.

This is what the first few hours looked like. Rainy and gross.

We pass through Buffalo to get to Ohio, so Katie and I had plans to meet up at a mall

We're in New York, yay! We still had like 300+ miles to go, though.

I was sitting in the back trying to get pictures of my dad and I making faces in the mirror.

The GPS kept on giving us different times as to which time we'd get to the mall where we were meeting Katie and Patrick, but after texting Katie to give her like five different times, I finally said that we'd get there between 1:30 and 1:45. I forget exactly what I intended to do, but I was going the wrong way and my dad and Michael were going the right way, towards Katie and Patrick, and Katie recognized them! She had called my name, too, but I didn't hear. She addressed my dad, which I DID hear, and my first thought was, "wow, that's weird" because I had no idea it was her and was partially wondering how someone knew our last name. We all got something to eat at the food court and talked. It was SO awesome to meet Katie, because we've been talking via the DIS, Facebook, AIM, and lots and lots of texts pretty much all the time since March. She and Patrick were so nice, and Katie gave me the Eeyore that she picked up for me when she was in Disney World, AND a really cute card that was signed by some Disney characters. It was awesome and I wish that we could've stayed for longer, but I was so excited to finally meet her.

We of course took a picture. My dad suggested that we move over instead of standing in front of the Coke vending machine, but Katie pointed out that Coke IS Disney related. And no, I didn't let go of Eeyore.

After meeting with Katie and Patrick, the rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. I drove for a few hours and my dad and Michael zonked out. We finally got to my grandmother's at 8, stayed there for a little while, and then headed to the hotel. I'm not really feeling exhausted yet, strangely, but I'm sure that as soon as I go to bed, I'll pass out.

I'll be posting in more detail about the trip later; I mostly just wanted to post about the DISmeet. Have a good night!

 

[MeMom]

That's great that you were able to have a nice Dis meet. Every Diser that we've met so far has been very nice and normal!

I wonder if they think the same thing about us?!?!?

It appears that one person in the picture is representing Disney and one is not. Hmmmm....

Glad to see Eeyore found a nice home.

Enjoy your rest, and we'll look forward to more trip pictures soon. I like seeing so many parts of the country that I have never visited whenever people do their side trip reports.

 

[Megablocks]

That's great that you were able to have a nice Dis meet. Every Diser that we've met so far has been very nice and normal!

I wonder if they think the same thing about us?!?!?

It appears that one person in the picture is representing Disney and one is not. Hmmmm....

Glad to see Eeyore found a nice home.

Enjoy your rest, and we'll look forward to more trip pictures soon. I like seeing so many parts of the country that I have never visited whenever people do their side trip reports.

I was so excited to have a Dis meet. It was also a great thing to look forward to to break up the monotony of driving, and it was a longer stop than we usually make. I wish we could've stayed longer, but I'm hoping to meet up with Katie again over the summer at some point.

About the shirt -- I know, bad me. I really just grabbed the first shirt that I could (so glad it matched.) I wish I had thought to wear my monorail t-shirt! Katie's shirt was really cute.

I'll be posting more pictures tonight, I hope. We're going over to my grandmother's later for breakfast or lunch, probably with the rest of the family who either lives out here or is here visiting. My grandmother has always had this about no one ever leaving her place hungry -- my dad thinks that she must have had some experience leaving somewhere hungry when she was young that stuck with her, because even when you insist that you're full, she entices you with her homemade cookies and other goodies. It's so cute.

I hope you have a good last week of school! Hope your kiddos aren't too crazy!

 

[MeMom]

I'll be posting more pictures tonight, I hope. We're going over to my grandmother's later for breakfast or lunch, probably with the rest of the family who either lives out here or is here visiting. My grandmother has always had this about no one ever leaving her place hungry -- my dad thinks that she must have had some experience leaving somewhere hungry when she was young that stuck with her, because even when you insist that you're full, she entices you with her homemade cookies and other goodies. It's so cute.

I hope you have a good last week of school! Hope your kiddos aren't too crazy!

Grandma and I would get along very well, then. I'm all about the food!

The kids have a beach party hanging over their heads for Wednesday, so hopefully they'll be cool until then. Otherwise, they'll be sitting out with a frownie face while their classmates play with water guns and sand!

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Good to hear you made it safely...

So fun to have a DIS meet in the mall. Cute pic!
I must admit I loved the Lady & Tramp tee. So adorable.

Have fun being spoiled by Gramma!
You can never be too full for homeade cookies.

 

[Megablocks]

Grandma and I would get along very well, then. I'm all about the food!

The kids have a beach party hanging over their heads for Wednesday, so hopefully they'll be cool until then. Otherwise, they'll be sitting out with a frownie face while their classmates play with water guns and sand!

She's been like that for as long as I can remember, and it's so cute!

Beach party?! You are a brave, brave woman. Good luck with that and have fun!

Good to hear you made it safely...

So fun to have a DIS meet in the mall. Cute pic!
I must admit I loved the Lady & Tramp tee. So adorable.

Have fun being spoiled by Gramma!
You can never be too full for homeade cookies.

It was a lot of fun! I loved her shirt, too, but I forgot to tell her that. There were a few things that I wanted to text her about but I thought it was either too early, or I figured I'd be seeing her anyway, so there was no need. Naturally, I forgot. I was much more physically awake than mentally awake, I guess.

Nope, never too full for her goodies! We just refer to her chocolate chip cookies as "Grammy cookies" and none that I've made are quite the same. She also made a cranberry swirl, and she and one of my aunts made cinnamon rolls.

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

DID YOU SAY CINNAMON ROLLS....

 

[Megablocks]

DID YOU SAY CINNAMON ROLLS....

Yes, and they were good! They might have been the Pillsbury ones, but I love them anyway.

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We got back a couple of hours ago from a really nice trip out to Ohio. I love going out there because I love getting to see my grandmother and my other family out there, and it's drastically different from where I live. I'm always amazed by how flat and open it is.

We left on Sunday and, as you know, stopped in Buffalo to meet DisKate (we believe we were separated at birth ), and Katie's boyfriend Patrick. I'm posting another picture because I'm critical and realizing now that I don't look my best after being up since 3 AM, and in a car for about 6 hours.

Katie gave me the Eeyore that she found for me in Disney World after I mentioned how I regretted not buying him when I saw him. He is adorable and has since made friends with my Build-a-Bear bunny. On the way, he watched the luggage, texted Katie, and made sure to wear a seatbelt.

We got to my grandmother's around 8:00 and got to see her and the other family members that either live out there or were visiting -- my dad's 4 sisters and one of their boyfriends. My dad, Michael, and I got to the hotel kind of late and stayed up for a little while.

The next day, Michael and I escaped to the Polaris Mall in Columbus, right near our hotel. Polaris is a mall, and it's also a HUGE strip mall type deal. TONS of shops, and very, very confusing. This was also the morning that I got terribly lost coming back from a McDonalds that was about 5 minutes away. Basically, I wanted (needed) coffee, checked for a McDonalds in the GPS, found a closer one, and then couldn't get back to the hotel. I got lost for maybe 45 minutes until my dad called me and then gave me the address to the hotel. I TRIED Googling the hotel from my phone, but the address that came up was a totally different one from ours. Needless to say, I didn't attempt to get coffee again after that.

That night, the whole family went over to my aunt Arlene's for dinner. Michael and I spent a lot of time on the back porch with our uncle and their 2 dogs. Abigail is a chow/collie mix, and underneath all that fur, she weighs only about 40 pounds. Brady is an American bulldog, and he is a big boy. He's basically 110 pounds of hard muscle.

The next day, Tuesday, my Grammy wanted to go to the nursery and get some plants, because she wanted to plant some with my dad. Michael stayed at the hotel, and my dad, Grammy, and I went.

After that, my dad and I hit the antique store before going to get Michael. I love the downtown area!

These freaky little things were in the display window.

Continued in next post...​

 

[Megablocks]

Continued from previous post...

After poking around the antique store, we got Michael and headed back to Grammy's for dinner. Michael and I also decided to take a short walk to Buehler's to get some bread to feed the ducks.

Buehler's and the attached Ace Hardware in the distance.

Little baby geese!!

One of the adult geese actually started coming towards us and hissing. I guess it felt threatened, and I'm not going to lie, so did I. So I moved away pretty quickly.

The next day was our last full day, so we mostly just stayed at Grammy's. My dad helped her plant her tomato and cucumber plants, too. I was also able to get a nice picture of Michael and I (usually one of us or the other is making a face)

My grandmother's front porch is GORGEOUS, and we are always jealous. We have a hard time growing anything because we're on the shadier side of the street, but Grammy always has flowers blooming. These are on the side.

On her porch.

Her giant raspberry bush. Not my favorite fruit or anything. I'd kill to have a giant raspberry bush growing in my yard.

The plants that my dad and Grammy planted. Lets see what they look like when we go back in July or August!

And, my Grammy. She is so cute! She had to change into a shirt and jeans instead of her skirt and blouse because she had to look the part of a farmer.

After we said our goodbyes to my grandmother, we had to stop by my cousin's house so that my dad could take her computer home to fix it. I had to take tons of pictures, because, again, it's totally different from what I'm used to seeing every day.

We got to meet their dog Hopscotch (my cousin's daughter named her.) She was so sweet! She kept running back and forth between my dad, Mike, and I and flopping over for belly rubs.

And on the way back to the hotel.

We left Ohio just after 6 AM today, and got home a little after 7 PM. On the way home, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Buffalo (but didn't get to see Katie, unfortunately!) It was my first time ever eating at a Cracker Barrel, and it was GOOD. I had the roast beef dinner with corn, mashed potatoes, fried apples, and raspberry lemonade. My dad and Mike each got some breakfast thing.

It was a GREAT trip, and I'm not sure if Mike will be able to make it out again over the summer, but my parents, Kailyn, and I will be going out there for sure. I'm so glad that the three of us were at least able to get out there, because I was SO worried that it'd end up being during my last week of school.

Have a great night!

 

[MeMom]

So nice that you had that family time!

I'm jealous of Grammy's green thumb. I'd love to be able to grow fruits, vegetables, and pretty flowers.

That's so sweet that mama and papa were protecting their baby geese from you big, bad humans. Good for them! Those are sweet pictures.

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

I'm glad you didn't stay lost...I think I need one of those GPS things.

Grammy has pretty flowers, so cute she had to change into another outfit.

Both my Gramma & DMom are fabulous gardeners.
I don't spent the same amount of time at it as they do.
I hope I've inherited the green thumb. I love looking at pretty flowers.

I remember the first time I went to Cracker Barrel.
I was amazed at all the stuff in the gift shop and it smelled wonderful.
Then I had the food and I was sold from that day on.
I couldn't wait to take my DMom when she came to visit me in Alabama.
We both said to each other "why didn't we eat here sooner".... we drove past them on every trip down south in the past and never stopped.

I just have to say, I loved that you took pics of the scenery and highway signs. It's so fun to see other parts of the country.

 

[Megablocks]

So nice that you had that family time!

I'm jealous of Grammy's green thumb. I'd love to be able to grow fruits, vegetables, and pretty flowers.

That's so sweet that mama and papa were protecting their baby geese from you big, bad humans. Good for them! Those are sweet pictures.

I'm jealous, too! I think a large part of our problem is that our house is on the shadier side of the street, so there's not nearly as much sunlight. It explains why our neighbor across the street has a ton of gorgeous flowers.

It was very sweet, even though I got really nervous because they are big birds. I don't imagine that they have many predators.

I'm glad you didn't stay lost...I think I need one of those GPS things.

Grammy has pretty flowers, so cute she had to change into another outfit.

Both my Gramma & DMom are fabulous gardeners.
I don't spent the same amount of time at it as they do.
I hope I've inherited the green thumb. I love looking at pretty flowers.

I remember the first time I went to Cracker Barrel.
I was amazed at all the stuff in the gift shop and it smelled wonderful.
Then I had the food and I was sold from that day on.
I couldn't wait to take my DMom when she came to visit me in Alabama.
We both said to each other "why didn't we eat here sooner".... we drove past them on every trip down south in the past and never stopped.

I just have to say, I loved that you took pics of the scenery and highway signs. It's so fun to see other parts of the country.

The GPS is fantastic. The only problem is that you need to update the maps every so often, and you have to pay for that. The McDonalds that I ended up at didn't even show up on the GPS because it was pretty new.

I loved Cracker Barrel! We've been going out to visit my grandmother out in Ohio for about 12 years now, and we've always passed the CB signs, but this is the first time that we ever stopped to eat there. We have something similar around here, called Boston Market, but it's not as big, and it mostly just has chicken or turkey and a variety of side dishes. It doesn't have a gift shop, either.

Thanks -- I love taking pictures of the scenery, even though I'm sure people think I'm nuts It's just so different from what I'm used to! The only big open fields we have are sports fields.

I saw your post on MeMom's thread about your odd virus that causes back and neck spasms -- how weird is that? How are you feeling? I also saw your ticker -- ONE day till you make ADRS?! What are you going for? This is pertinent information!

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Hi, I am up so I decided to DIS awhile.

Crazy virus. I have never heard of this before...I don't wish this on anyone.
I really don't feel any better, it's very discouraging.

I have my list of ADR's. I hope I get them all.
I'll let you know how I do in the morning.

 

[Megablocks]

Hi, I am up so I decided to DIS awhile.

Crazy virus. I have never heard of this before...I don't wish this on anyone.
I really don't feel any better, it's very discouraging.

I have my list of ADR's. I hope I get them all.
I'll let you know how I do in the morning.

I was watching a movie when you posted -- I was going to jump back on but then I realized I was much more tired than I realized...

What a bizarre virus, I really hope you feel better soon. And, I saw your list of ADR's on MeMom's thread, you did awesome for them having computer issues! I'm dying to know how the Boma breakfast is if you end up keeping that, we've only been for dinner.

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Charles sent me a text from work (he works at the gas station that's part of the store), just saying "be prepared....." I guess that he was inside for break and it's really nuts, since it's a long weekend. I'm going to do an update before I head in to the madness so I can pretend like I'm still kind of in my happy place.

Sunday, February 15 -- MK and Wishes with Pops!

My mom and I returned from a very satisfactory trip to DTD and went back to Pop for a little while. I was adamant about going to MK to see Wishes and to ride a few rides while everyone else was watching Spectro. Kailyn was still not feeling up to anything, so my mom decided to stay with her at the room while my dad and I went to MK. We got on the bus a little after 8 PM, and Wishes started at 9. Before we left, I decided that I didn't want to bring my bag with me, so I grabbed the few things that I needed and stuck them in my jean pockets. No sooner had my dad and I gotten on the bus and were nearing the Pop exit that I realized I had forgotten my KTTW card in my bag. My dad asked if I wanted to get back on a bus to Pop when we got to MK so that I could get my card, but I was afraid of missing Wishes, since it was after 8 at this point, Wishes started at 9, and who knew how long it would take for me to get back to Pop and then back to MK. Luckily, I had my license on me, and the very nice bus driver informed that we could just go to the window just outside the gates and get another card. When we got to MK, that was exactly what we did. No issue at all.

We made our way into MK and tried to stake out a good spot for Wishes. Initially, we ended up on the walkway to Tomorrowland and had a nice side view of the castle, but my dad said that he was going to go stake out a different spot and that he'd call me and direct me to where he was. I forget exactly what happened, but there was some small issue, because I'm terrible with directions. I did find him, and we we were on an nice, quiet walkway to the right side of the castle. We actually had a good amount of time to spare, even with my KTTW issue. This was our view:

This was awesome because it was pretty uncrowded, AND my dad and I were RIGHT underneath where Tink flies! It was AWESOME. She was literally right over our heads.

Wishes pictures (not too many...sorry!)

I was in awe the entire time. I've never, ever seen any other fireworks come close to Disney's, and I love the Wishes music. I loved the Fantasia part. I loved every single part of it. I would see it every single night if I could.

By the time it was over, it was starting to rain a little, but that didn't deter us. It also didn't affect Spectro because it was very, very brief. I think that was the only time that it rained the entire week we were there.

We immediately headed over to Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain, 2 of my favorites at MK (Pirates is another favorite, but we didn't get to do that.) Riding HM with my dad was amusing. I kept on trying to watch the heads popping up behind the gravestones so I could grab my dad and scare him, but I was the one who kept on getting scared and jumping. I know it's not supposed to be a scary ride, but I'm jumpy anyway.

My dad's not a fan of this little dolly. I quite like her.

After HM, it was time for Splash Mountain. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this ride.

I always have to get a picture with one of these guys.

And the castle on our way out.

Next up is Kailyn's birthday, which, as you know already, nothing that was planned really happened, so that might be another delayed update. Plus I NEED to drag this out!

Have a great weekend!

 

[koolcatshelby]

Hey, Just checking in. Have been more than a little busy, so it was nice to catch up with your TR. I can't believe you were at our mall to meet Katie. My youngest and I are going there this evening. Your trip to see your gramma sounded wonderful. She's so cute, and very active for 92. That's great, I hope she stays healthy and lives many more years. I miss my grandparents. Glad school is over for summer for you. Enjoy it. I'll check back every now and then, but between two in hockey, one in baseball, one with piano and tuba and the billion other things, I get on the DIS about once every few weeks now
Take care.