Canadian Buffoon's Back to Front Vacation - Update! 05/18 - Falling Down

[pkondz]

I have to say, I'm very impressed.

Being quick can be a good thing....
Or a bad thing.
Depending on the thing.

Very cool picture, but also scary.

Thanks!
It was okay since it was a ways
to the south... and seemed to be
moving parallel to the highway
as opposed to towards it.

Stories like this do not help my piece of mind since I'm headed out tomorrow on a road trip.

You guys will be just fine.
Remember that this is one
incident... over several
thousand miles.

That's pretty spot on!

I thought so too!

I love all your photos but these are my favorites.

Thanks!

I find this such a contrast to your behavior when you go to Disney. Go, go, go in Disney but the opposite when you go to a Japanese garden.

Very true.

But then again...
You don't have to
get FPs or do rope drop
to have a good experience.

Me too!

In my mind I'm seeing the scene from "Wild Hogs" where this same thing is happening.

That was very close to what
it looked like.

Poor guys.

Not what I was expecting but lovely.

What were you expecting?

I did! Hope he enjoyed his tea.

 

[buzzrelly]

First though, we must decamp
before we depart.
I had to get dressed,
deflate my sleeping pad,
roll up my sleeping bag,
take down and pack up
the tent fly and tent,
and then pack it all up
and stow it in the trunk
of the car.

I was on the road by 6:10am.

Nope. Not kidding.
It takes me literally ten
minutes to break down my
camp and be on my way.

Interesting that you saw less insects/arachnids while you were camping than you did in your last hotel room

Besides... I didn't really want
to dawdle too much,
as the skies were looking a tad...

Tornado-y.

Yikes! Not again

When I was directly beside her,
she decided that it was finally
time to change lanes.

Who knows how many minutes
or hours she'd spent in
the passing lane.
But now that someone was
finally in a spot that she couldn't
have, that was the time to move.

I leaned on the horn while
simultaneously slowing and
moving onto the shoulder
and she finally looked
elsewhere than...
I presume she was at least
occasionally looking ahead?

She startled at the sound of
the horn and jerked back
into her lane.

Phew…this is what, your third close call?? And you still like driving

If you are perhaps getting
the feeling that this is
a major peeve of mine.

I'me definitely going to be more mindful of this next time I'm driving

You are invited to explore
the interior of the tea house.

I love its simplicity
and clean lines.

It's nice, but not really my cup of tea

I must admit to a little photoshop
trickery in the preceding photo.
In the spirit of full disclosure,
there is a bench that sits
alongside the path.
But there were two people who
were sitting there with several
items of clothing and other
bric-a-brac littering the ground.
It really detracted from the photo,
so I removed it and them.

Good for you, cutting those junky people out of your gorgeous photo.

"I wish, sir... but no."
"Are you constipated?"

What is a man to do?
Gelato? Or a cookie?

I did what any sane
individual would do
and got both, of course.

We would have questioned your sanity if you didn't

I set up my palatial residence
and wandered over to check
out what I presume was
Little Diamond lake.

Pretty!

And no, I didn't see it…I'll have to come back and look another time though…off to work!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I actually knew several of those.
I really want to get out to the
rock one of these days.
No idea when that might be, though.

It's a long way to go which deters a lot of people. But for the most part I think people enjoy their time here.
If you ever make it to the rock, my door is open.

 

[pkondz]

Interesting that you saw less insects/arachnids while you were camping than you did in your last hotel room

Dang! I wish I'd thought
of that myself!
That's really funny!

Yikes! Not again

Thankfully not.
Just a little thunderstorm
that wandered by.

Phew…this is what, your third close call?? And you still like driving

Oh sure. The occasional close call
is going to happen from time
to time.

It's the ones that get so close
to initiate contact that I'm
not particularly fond of.

I'me definitely going to be more mindful of this next time I'm driving

Thank you!
The rest of North America
thanks you too.

It's nice, but not really my cup of tea

Wow.

This was my thought process...

"Oh, that's too ba.... wait...
No, she didn't... She did!"

Good for you, cutting those junky people out of your gorgeous photo.

Thanks!

We would have questioned your sanity if you didn't

Wait.
You mean you don't usually
question my sanity?

Pretty!

I thought so too.

And no, I didn't see it…I'll have to come back and look another time though…off to work!

You're off to work...
And I'm just getting off work.
(15 more minutes! Woot!)

 

[pkondz]

It's a long way to go which deters a lot of people. But for the most part I think people enjoy their time here.
If you ever make it to the rock, my door is open.

Sweet. I'll barge in, raid the fridge,
park my butt in the best chair you got
and stay for a month.

I'm sure everyone will enjoy that.

 

[docsoliday1]

Sweet. I'll barge in, raid the fridge,
park my butt in the best chair you got
and stay for a month.

I'm sure everyone will enjoy that.

<makes note to self>
Don't give @pkondz my address.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

I understand that Festival
is really big with the
under 1 crowd.

I don't want to fully admit to how long it took me to understand this. I read it at first and was like "what does that have to do with anything?"

Pregnancy brain y'all. It's a thing.

Also, Mark's kids have states. Maybe mine will have countries.

 

[vamassey1]

Being quick can be a good thing....
Or a bad thing.
Depending on the thing.

Gotta be careful and make sure you keep them straight.

Thanks!
It was okay since it was a ways
to the south... and seemed to be
moving parallel to the highway
as opposed to towards it.

So, you were kinda racing it, side-by-side?

You guys will be just fine.
Remember that this is one
incident... over several
thousand miles.

I hope our luck is better than yours. Every driving report of yours that I have read have an "incident".

Very true.

But then again...
You don't have to
get FPs or do rope drop
to have a good experience.

Very true! But the rush is part of the fun for us.

What were you expecting?

I wasn't expecting it to be so pleasing to the eye.

 

[TeresaNJ]

That's a bit of a story.
I did some research
on sleeping pads.
I also talked to a couple
of people at MEC
(Mountain Equipment Co-op.)
I inflated the pad and tried
it out at home.
It seemed fine and...
It turned out it was.

I was concerned, but it was
more comfortable than I thought
it would be.

But...
I did take it extremely slow
each morning.
I'd kinda... test my back
before making any sudden...
heck before making any moves.

The reason I'm so interested is because as I mentioned in a previous post, I've been having a heck of a time the last few weeks with severe back spasms. MY PM&R doc gave me trigger point muscle injections in my butt (sorry if this is TMI, lol ) a few days ago to tide me over until I can have epidural injections in a few weeks. Then I leave for WDW a week after that. We're going with my sister and her husband, and I'll be sleeping on the sleeper sofa at Kidani for five nights, and am really concerned about how my back will fare. I've never heard of a sleeping pad. Maybe something I should consider, and have it shipped to me down there.

 

[pkondz]

<makes note to self>
Don't give @pkondz my address.

Whoops!

I may have revealed
too much.

Oh, don't worry Doc.
I'd never do that to you.

 

[pkondz]

I don't want to fully admit to how long it took me to understand this. I read it at first and was like "what does that have to do with anything?"

Pregnancy brain y'all. It's a thing.

Yes it is.
I had a lot of fun with it
when DW was pregnant.


Still waiting for her to
forgive me for that.

Also, Mark's kids have states. Maybe mine will have countries.

Wouldn't that be cool???

 

[pkondz]

Gotta be careful and make sure you keep them straight.

So, you were kinda racing it, side-by-side?

Umm... not quite?
It was heading East
(like most do)
and I was going West.

I was by it fairly quickly.

I hope our luck is better than yours. Every driving report of yours that I have read have an "incident".

But don't forget those are
over several days,
sometimes weeks.

You'll be fine.

Very true! But the rush is part of the fun for us.

(But not at a
Japanese garden.)

I wasn't expecting it to be so pleasing to the eye.

Ah!
That's why I like them.

 

[pkondz]

The reason I'm so interested is because as I mentioned in a previous post, I've been having a heck of a time the last few weeks with severe back spasms. MY PM&R doc gave me trigger point muscle injections in my butt (sorry if this is TMI, lol ) a few days ago to tide me over until I can have epidural injections in a few weeks.

Yes, I remember that.
You didn't tell me that
you had some shots
before the epidural, though?

Then I leave for WDW a week after that.

Whoa. That's cutting it close,
isn't it?
How long does it normally
take between the shot
and your starting to feel better?




(And do you know how long
I looked at that last line??

"your starting to feel better"?
"you're starting to feel better?"

I substituted "recovery" for
"starting to feel better"...
Yep. Got it.)

We're going with my sister and her husband, and I'll be sleeping on the sleeper sofa at Kidani for five nights, and am really concerned about how my back will fare.

Uh...

Now I'm worried about you.
It's Kidani… and Disney...
so I'm hoping the sofa
is going to be fine.
I just remember when we used
to put the kids on those...
or I've slept on one myself...

Not comfortable.

But... it being Disney,
I expect it to be better.

I've never heard of a sleeping pad. Maybe something I should consider, and have it shipped to me down there.

Maybe? But they are designed
for camping so they're narrow,
and quick inflation/deflation,
so they're thin.
But it did make a world of difference.
I can check what brand mine is if
you'd like?

 

[docsoliday1]

The reason I'm so interested is because as I mentioned in a previous post, I've been having a heck of a time the last few weeks with severe back spasms. MY PM&R doc gave me trigger point muscle injections in my butt (sorry if this is TMI, lol ) a few days ago to tide me over until I can have epidural injections in a few weeks. Then I leave for WDW a week after that. We're going with my sister and her husband, and I'll be sleeping on the sleeper sofa at Kidani for five nights, and am really concerned about how my back will fare. I've never heard of a sleeping pad. Maybe something I should consider, and have it shipped to me down there.

I would think they should sleep on the sofa bed with your back issues, buy thats between y'all.
I slept on the sleeper sofa for 5 nights at Kidani Feb of 2017. It's not as comfortable as a bed, but better than most sleeoer sofas. I think you'd be okay without the pad, but if you have a camping pad also, even better.

 

[pkondz]

I would think they should sleep on the sofa bed with your back issues, buy thats between y'all.
I slept on the sleeper sofa for 5 nights at Kidani Feb of 2017. It's not as comfortable as a bed, but better than most sleeoer sofas. I think you'd be okay without the pad, but if you have a camping pad also, even better.

That's what I meant.
Put the pad on the sofa bed.

Thanks for letting us know
about the comfort level, Doc.
Appreciate it.

And @TeresaNJ
My sleeping pad is this:

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Xlite
(that link is in CDN dollars.
I'm sure you can find it
for much cheaper.)

It isn't the cheapest,
or the priciest.
It combines comfort with quiet.
A lot of sleeping pads are
very noisy (when shifting/rolling over.)

 

[mustinjourney]

Trying to catch up with the TR! Work has been busy, and my other free time was devoted to the DVC threads after Disney tried to pull a fast one on all the owners and mess with the point charts. Luckily they backed down (without admitting wrong doing), so now it is time to branch back out to the TR pages!

I gave myself a bit of a
case of vertigo.
All of a sudden, my brain
was telling my eyes
(or vice versa)
that the highway that
I was driving along at
around sixty miles an hour,
was tilted forty-five degrees
on its side.

Wow -- that is scary. I once rode one of those centrifuge carnival rides back to back when I was in high school and it more or less made feel like I was completely wasted. Everything was spinning so bad -- I can't imagine trying to drive on the freeway like that.

Luckily, I'd sped up and
instead of taking the bucket
through the front windshield
or driver-side window,
it just nicked the body-work
behind the rear window,
above the gas cap.
It was a glancing blow
that only left a slight mark
on the car.

Good thing you pay attention while driving -- DW zones out and pays ZERO attention to anything around her. Drives me insane to where I can't be in the passenger seat while she's driving b/c it makes me so nervous how much stuff she does not see.

So this year, when I followed
my trusty GPS to Southside Harley...

I wound up at...
Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Again!

As always, we got along famously.
I'm not sure, but I think Smidgy
bought some Coke just for me.

WHOA. I didn't know it was THAT kind of party!

Oh -- wait. You mean coca cola.

After what seemed like a long wait,
we asked the server if it would be
much longer.
The server admitted that he forgot
to put in our order.
Pretty understandable since the
restaurant was almost empty.

maybe the server was getting high in the back.

Did you see it in this chapter?

in the picture behind you.

 

[mustinjourney]

I may have squealed some tires
out of the parking lot.

I'm now a fugitive and a deserter.
Don't tell them where I live, okay?

In Canada, can't you just apologize and be forgiven of minor crimes?

a definite turn for the "Yikes!"

whoa! That does not look good.

I may have pushed the pedal
a little closer to the floor.
And I may also have let out
my breath with a whoosh
when I left the funnel cloud
in my rear-view mirror.

Not an activity that I would recommend.

What? No pictures??? More TR fail!!!

Seriously though, my heart rate went up just reading this. I can't imagine what it was like driving through it.

Did you see it in this chapter?

it'd be hard to miss Marvin hitch hiking in that vast void.

 

[mustinjourney]

This next one is a bit difficult
to make out,
but it's a bear attacking
a... I think it's an elk.
You can see the bear's head
at the top (see the teeth?)

I was going to guess it was two animals having sex...because for the life of me I can't see a bear in...that.

Have warm maple syrup poured
on a bed of snow.

isn't snow kind of dirty? Or are they using shaved ice?

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[mustinjourney]

While not as bad as the day before,
I was glad once I put this
cumulonimbus cell behind me.

You're not having good luck so far. That looks very ominous -- particularly for so early in the morning.

"I had just moved over to
(insert reason. Pass a car?
Miss a bunny? Get better
cell reception?) and was
moving back into the
right hand lane when
this maniac swerved
around me and tried to
pass on my right!
Isn't that illegal???"

Is it actually illegal to pass someone while you're in the right lane?

If you are perhaps getting
the feeling that this is
a major peeve of mine.

You're right. It is.

drives me nuts when people park their *** in the left lane. I REALLY hate it when they are side by side someone else and both driving the same speed.

I spotted this Windows XP
background wannabe.

that is remarkably similar.

I've mentioned it before,
but the gravel is meant
to represent waves,
and the rocks, islands.
There will always be an
uneven number of rocks,
but one may be cleverly
hidden or disguised
in plain sight.
Can you find all fifteen
"islands"?

I cannot. Can you give a hint?

All in all, I probably spent
an hour or two here,
just relaxing and taking
it all in.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

that place looked amazing.

I set up my palatial residence
and wandered over to check
out what I presume was
Little Diamond lake.

another stunning view.

Did you see it in this chapter?

Marvin getting his zen on.