DDF & SP Conquer the World...And Want to Live There..Updated 10/16

[Msslaydbug]

One more day !!

 

[DisneyDreamnDeb]

WOOHOOO!!!
Have a safe and happy trip!!! can't wait to read your TR!! Deb.

 

[scooby9932]

We're leaving in just a few minutes. DD had a bit of trouble getting out of bed this morning!

I'll be sending some Magical Disney Pixie Dust to all of you! Thanks for all the good wishes & Woo Hoo's,




I'll be back May 12 & promise to start my TR just as soon as possible! Stay Tuned....

 

[Msslaydbug]

can't wait for you to return ! I bet you guys are having so much fun !

 

[scooby9932]

Whoo! We just returned from a 10 day trip and I gotta tell you, I want to go back already. Actually, I wanted to go back before we even left. But, alas, I have to wait ONE WHOLE YEAR!

Well, enough of the tears, let the storytelling begin. Join us on our adventure! To get the backstory, check out my PTR here

Here goes:

Chapter One: Numb Bums, Purloined Lilies, and "Can I Smell Your Grouper??"

 

[scooby9932]

Pictures will be posted as soon as my dial up connection allows me to upload them all!

The Night Before:
After work, I went by the store to pick up a few last minute things & then headed home. Mom & Dad surprised us with a dinner out at Ryan’s. SP’s fiancée, David, joined us. We all ate more than we should have & got back home around 7:30 p.m. I finished packing and then brought 2 plain pillowcases & our fabric markers into the breakfast room so SP & I could make our vacation pillowcases. SP had David use the straightening iron on her hair while she decorated!

Then she gave him the markers to write her love messages on the other side of her pillow.

Here's SP's Pillow:

And mine:

Around 11:30 p.m. we all went to bed.

Day One: Travel from Louisiana to Tallahassee, Florida

Thursday, May 1, 2008
I awoke bright & early – 4:30 a.m.! – ready to head out. Knowing my DD, I decided to give her a little more time to sleep lest the crazy morning beast arise from her bed in her place.

Around 6:30 a.m. I couldn’t hold back any longer, and started moving about, making noise and turning on lights, hoping she’d wake on her own. Trust me, it’s safer for everyone if SP awakes by herself. I made fruitless attempts for about an hour, before finally girding my loins & venturing into the “cave.” I call it the cave, because her room is in the very center of the house. We added on a family room & office many years back and the room has 2 doors but no windows. This room is DARK! I crept slowly in toward her bed and started singing “It’s a Small World” quietly at first and then louder until I heard a groan and a muffled “Please stop singing. I’m up, okay?” Satisfied that I survived my mission, I headed to the kitchen to have some breakfast before packing the car. About 30 minutes went by with no sounds from the cave. Hmmm…should I try again? I walked down the hallway toward her bedroom with a new plan of attack. But, alas, turns out she’d gotten up & was getting ready to start the day – humming “It’s a Small World” LOL!

After getting all the last minute must haves into our suitcases & totes, I started the process of loading the car. After saying our goodbyes to grandparents & pooches, we headed out – around 9 a.m. Turns out we had a couple of hitchhikers with us! (a picture would explain this here, but you'll just have to wait...like me, with my stupid dial-up connection. )

Hah! Here's the pic:

These hitchhikers continued to ride along:

The weather was lovely and we were both in good spirits. I’d surprised SP with the Enchanted Soundtrack CD the night before, so she put that in the player & we sang “Happy Working Song” and “That’s How You Know” while getting through the worst of the traffic. We stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s right off the interstate in Biloxi, MS. She had the fish sandwich & I had chicken McNuggets. Soon after, SP started to crave ice cream. We stopped at an Exxon to fill up on gas & SP looked for ice cream, but they didn’t have any that she wanted. Then we were off again.

The wind was really blowing the car around & on one bridge, the trim on the driver’s side of the car was ripped off! We heard a rat-a-tat-tat and I looked at SP & said, “What was that?” She said “Something on the roof of the car.” Then, whap! We heard it again & looked just in time to see the trim go sailing off the car & behind us. Since we were on a one-way bridge, we couldn’t stop until the next exit. I stopped & called the car repair facility that had just fixed my car & told them what had happened. They were shocked that it had just ripped off, but said it wouldn’t cause any problems & to bring it in when I get back so they can put new trim on. My poor car, it was looking so pretty & now the trim was missing.

Here's how I felt about it:

The traffic on I-10 wasn’t too bad this time and thankfully the construction that kept us at 45mph for ~80 miles last year was finally complete, so it was pretty smooth sailing time-wise to our hotel. The only problem was the road tends to tilt to the left, so we both were having problems with our “seats” becoming numb! No matter how many rest areas we stopped at (and with SP there were A LOT!), we couldn’t get the numbness to go away. Our endless search for ice cream was still going on at this point.

Once we entered Florida, we stopped for the ubiquitous “We made it to Florida” pictures.. you'll see them, I swear!

See-I told you I'd add them:

And I had to get my “little cup of sunshine” – a treat I look forward to on every Florida trip!

And SP tried grapefruit juice. I love it, but can’t drink it while taking my meds. She didn't like it at all!

After grabbing a few Disney brochures to hold us over, we started back to the car. On the way, Somer saw some pretty, yellow lilies & wanted one, so we *gasp* “borrowed” one. We put in the McDonald’s cup and enjoyed the fragrance, until SP started to get teary eyed & realized she forgot to take her allergy pill that morning. So the purloined lily had to go. *sigh*

Once again, I saw an Exxon – that just happened to have a Dairy Queen inside & an amazing overlook onto the bay. SP finally got the ice cream she was craving. We sat outside & enjoyed our ice cream – I got a boring vanilla ice cream w/ hot fudge sauce. SP got the Chocolate Extreme Blizzard (chocolate ice cream, chocolate chunks, fudge brownie pieces). Yummy!
Here's the view:

Soon we were off again & the roads in Florida were much better – no more numb bums for us! The trip was uneventful until we arrived at our hotel. We checked in to the Holiday Inn Express in Quincy, FL (just west of Tallahassee) and then went in search of food.

Since Quincy is just a blip on the map, there aren’t too many options. The hotel desk clerk suggested we try a little Mom & Pop place called Whippoorwill’s. Since we like to be adventurous, we decided to give it a try. The directions led us down a number of winding, remote roads. After awhile, we weren’t sure we had taken the correct turns, but eventually we came upon the Whippoorwill marina sign and after trying to navigate around RVs, cabins, tents, and other vehicles, we finally found a place to park. The area was just beautiful – set on Lake Talquin with boat docks and piers over the water. The sun was just setting & we stood awhile on the pier just taking in the beautiful sunset over the water. After taking a few pics, we headed into the café.

Now, calling this place a café is giving it certain airs. It’s a VERY laid back. When we got back to the hotel I looked the place up on the internet and this is the description: “Waterfront "LAST CAST" Pub-n-Grub: provides a view of the lake & western sunsets. It boasts its "Great View - Good Food - Lousy Service" motto. Stop in for a cold or hot drink, beer, wine, a great lunch, or specialty dinner. Just relax in front of the TVs or enjoy the sunset view after a day on the lake.”

The eatery is attached the small grocery/sundries shop & has just a few tables and about 8 seats at the bar. The menu is limited, but there are several specials listed on a chalkboard when you go in. We weren’t sure just what to do, so we asked a local who was standing near the door drinking a glass of wine. He told us to just try catch the attention of one of the 2 very busy waitresses & they’d get us some menus. Since the tables were full, we decided to sit at the bar.

By this time, it was 8:30 p.m. and we were starving! Since it was a Thursday, we were surprised to see how the place was hopping. About 15 people were on the porch drinking & having a great time, but boy did they keep those 2 girls running & fetching!

We finally got our menus. SP couldn’t make up her mind, as usual, so I waited while she looked around at everyone else’s plates to see if she could pick something out that way. There was a man next to us who got a grouper sandwich, and SP asked if it was good. He said, “You wanna smell it? It smells as good as it looks!” Not the least taken aback, SP leaned over & gave his grouper a good whiff! Then she ordered the sandwich, which was called the “Pier Pressure” and I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich called the “Tailfeather.” The description called it the super model of sandwiches since the chicken was cut so thin & you could dress her any way you liked. I dressed her with Honey Mustard - Yummy! We also ordered the house salad with Ranch dressing. Sorry – we were so busy horking down our food that we didn’t take any pictures! It was really delicious!

On the way back to the car, SP decides she really needs to use the restroom. I told her I’d wait in the car with the headlights on since it was so dark outside & difficult to get around. After a few minutes, I spot SP in the headlights…she starts towards the car, but then starts walking back & forth, then turns around & walks away - she ran into a wire fence! After a few more minutes, she comes wheeling around the building from the other direction, out of breath & wide eyed. She told me that she had to walk along the edge of the lake & couldn’t see a thing. Then she heard a huge splash & was just sure an alligator was there. She ran pell-mell to the car to escape certain death! You might think she’s being melodramatic, but we’re from Louisiana & have had alligators show up in our pond on more than one occasion & we were in Florida – a state even more well known for the pesky critters!

We got back to the hotel around 10:30 p.m. and checked our email, etc. in the business center. Then we took turns taking showers & hit the sack!

More to come …. Day 2 – “Maybe it’s a cross between a lime and a kiwi?” Kungaloosh!

 

[scooby9932]

Oh, my gosh! We had so much fun! The trip was fantastic. DD & I bonded, we laughed, we ate too much, we saw Cap'n Jack, we ate too much... To check out my TR, click here.

 

[DisneyDreamnDeb]

I'm here, I'm glad you made it home safe and sound! Great start to your TR, love your description of the "cafe'" , now I want to go there and try the "tailfeather" sounds good! What a funny motto!
sorry about your car being wind blasted, that's a real bummer.
Can't wait to read more and see the pics., I'm real curious about the "hitchhickers"...sounds interesting,lol...

 

[Msslaydbug]

So glad you had a great trip. I am headed over to the trip report now !

 

[Msslaydbug]

Great start - can't wait to hear more !

 

[Blueyed Girl]

Great start to your TR!! The place y'all went to for dinner cracks me up. That is a good "on the road" story. LOVE IT!! Glad DD didn't get eaten by a gator, though.

I forgot you guys were going the same time as us! I would have looked at your pictures one more time before I left so I could see if I'd recognize y'all anywhere.

 

[gbpackfan9]

Great start to TR. Glad the gator didn't get her . Looking forward to next installment.

 

[DISNEYJAZZ]

Gettin' the Hook up ! lovin' your trip report...read through the pretrippie 1st! your dd is beautiful...love the pic of her in the car all smiles...
can't wait to see and read more...i have started my trip report { the when can we go back again trip report ***PIX-A-LOT*** } but haven't figured out how to add link in here...hehe... off to work i go...

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Glad to hear it was a fabulous trip! I'm off to your trip report now.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Reading about the gater zig zag run is cracking me up. I had a friend from NYCity that was going to come for a visit in Florida when I lived there. Apparantly NYers think gaters just roam the streets or something because she practiced her zig zag run for like 3 weeks before coming. She was so upset that she didn't see a single one her whole trip. If I had saw your daughter doing that I would have recognized it for sure!!!!

Ready for more!!!

 

[scooby9932]

Thanks to everyone for reading! I must admit I suffer from insecurity about that - I'm always just sure no one would be interested - so THANKS - you've made my day!

I'm here, I'm glad you made it home safe and sound! Great start to your TR, love your description of the "cafe'" , now I want to go there and try the "tailfeather" sounds good! What a funny motto!
sorry about your car being wind blasted, that's a real bummer.
Can't wait to read more and see the pics., I'm real curious about the "hitchhickers"...sounds interesting,lol...

Thanks! Yeah, the car thing was a bummer, but I was too excited about going to Disney to get bummed for long. The pics will be coming - it just is taking too long on dial-up. I tried for 2 hours last night only to have the internet shut down in the midst of the download process. When I signed back on, none of the pics had loaded! I'm going to send my pics on a USB jumpdrive with DD to upload using her fiancee's computer since he has broadband. They should be ready to start posting tomorrow, with any luck.

Great start - can't wait to hear more !

Thanks! I'm working on Day 2, Part 1 now. Will be posting in a few minutes.

Great start to your TR!! The place y'all went to for dinner cracks me up. That is a good "on the road" story. LOVE IT!! Glad DD didn't get eaten by a gator, though.

I forgot you guys were going the same time as us! I would have looked at your pictures one more time before I left so I could see if I'd recognize y'all anywhere.

The cafe is still something we talk about just about daily. We just love to try new places & have road trip adventures. The near gator experience was one adventure I'm sure DD could have done without, tho. I'm surprised we didn't run into each other while there, too. I did try to look out for DISers, but I tend to get distracted & focus on what we're doing at the moment.

Great start to TR. Glad the gator didn't get her . Looking forward to next installment.

Yeah, she is too! While on the boat from POR to DTD, the captain talked about the possibility of gator sightings & told us a story of a lady in a nearby town finding an 8 foot alligator wedged behind the refrigerator in her kitchen! Seems the gator followed her cat home & busted through a screen door to get in. Makes you shudder just to imagine it, doesn't it?

Gettin' the Hook up ! lovin' your trip report...read through the pretrippie 1st! your dd is beautiful...love the pic of her in the car all smiles...
can't wait to see and read more...i have started my trip report { the when can we go back again trip report ***PIX-A-LOT*** } but haven't figured out how to add link in here...hehe... off to work i go...

Thanks for signing on and the compliments! I'll be checking out your TR soon.

Reading about the gater zig zag run is cracking me up. I had a friend from NYCity that was going to come for a visit in Florida when I lived there. Apparantly NYers think gaters just roam the streets or something because she practiced her zig zag run for like 3 weeks before coming. She was so upset that she didn't see a single one her whole trip. If I had saw your daughter doing that I would have recognized it for sure!!!!

Ready for more!!!

Your friend practicing the zig zag is TOO Funny! I'm sure if she'd actually seen one she'd have been less excited about the possibility.

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Thanks to everyone for reading! I must admit I suffer from insecurity about that - I'm always just sure no one would be interested - so THANKS - you've made my day!


Your friend practicing the zig zag is TOO Funny! I'm sure if she'd actually seen one she'd have been less excited about the possibility.

I worry about the same thing and am planning on doing a trip report after going in September or at least a food report.... but I am working myself up for it. hahaha

By the way... your little itty bitty writing is a challenge for my getting older by the minute eyes!

 

[MomsOf2boys]

I am soooo laughing now at my thoughts...

I kept getting closer and closer to the screen... and if you said something very funny in the next line I could have spewed out my drink all over the screen at that range!!

 

[scooby9932]

Day 2 – Friday, May 2, 2008 – Drive from Tallahassee to POR and a Night @ Pleasure Island

The alarm went off as scheduled at 7 a.m. SP grunted out a “Dowehavetogetup?” In answer, I clicked off the alarm & shuffled into the bathroom mumbling, “You wanna go to Disney, doncha?” She was up by the time I got back. Let’s just say that’s got to be a record for SP, she who rises slowly only with repeated warnings.

We quickly made ourselves presentable to the public (ya know, combed down the bedhead & threw on some yoga pants, t-shirt, and flip flops - real pretty, I'm sure ) and went downstairs for the complimentary breakfast buffet. SP was delighted to discover an assortment of pastries. This girl LOVES her cherry danishes. Later on, you’ll hear about her “pastry madness day.” She picked out 2 danishes, a mini muffin, and some orange juice. Nothing like sugar to get ya going, eh? I chose the raspberry yogurt, a banana, and a piece of wheat toast with a cup of milk. After eating our fill, we headed back up to the room to get dressed for real – makeup, hair, real shoes, etc.

As I was doing my check of the room, my cell phone rang. Not used to my phone ringing (instead of SP’s which goes off every 2-3 minutes with text messages, etc.) it took me a minute to realize what the noise was.

This is how the call went:
Me: "Hello?"
Unknown Male Caller: “Ms. H, you there?”
Me: “Yeah, I’m here.”
UMC: “You’re there?”
Me: “Yes, can you hear me?”
UMC: “Yes. You’re in your room?”
Me: “Yes, I’m in my room. We’re checking out in a few minutes.”
UMC: “You no want your order?”
Me: “Who IS this?”
UMC: “I’m from Garden Grocer. Ms. H, I have your groceries. Are you in your room?”
Me: *lightbulb going off* “OH, you mean am I in my room at Disney World? No, I’m still in Tallahassee. We’ll be getting there this afternoon.”
UMC: “You don’t want me to deliver your groceries?”
Me: “Um, no, I mean, yes, but not to my room, my room in Disney World. Can you just leave them with Bell Services?”
UMC: “Yes, I leave them for you here. Have a nice day, Ms. H”
Me: “You, too, buhbye.” “SP – our groceries have arrived!”
SP: “What? We aren’t there yet!”
Me: “I know, but our groceries are. Remind me to ask about them when we check in, ‘k?”
SP: “Whatever.”

We checked out of the room & headed out to the car. A Pepsi truck had parked behind our car to unload drinks & the guy was still inside, so while I washed the love bug guts off my windshield , SP went back inside to use the restroom. A few minutes later, the Pepsi guy comes out & we’re soon on our way again.

The weather was nice with less wind than the day before The drive was super easy. We stopped for lunch at a Taco Bell and SP enjoyed nachos & I a grilled stuffed chicken burrito. Then we headed down the road to a Wal Mart to pick up some supplies that SP had forgotten to get before we left, plus I wanted to buy some Bug Off and a new windshield wiper for the driver’s side. The love bugs were really making a mess & the wiper wasn’t up to the task.

Of course, SP found some cute clothes she just HAD to try on, so our sojourn lasted about an hour. One sundress, a bottle of Bug Off, and a new windshield wiper & we were out of there. I put the Bug Off in the washer fluid and changed out the windshield wiper. It was like Magic! Not the Disney kind, but boy was it nice to be able to get the bug guts off the windshield.

We were on our way again in no time. When we got onto I75, we started to see the signs for the Florida Welcome Centers and Indian River Fruit. This reminded us of when SP was about 8 and my family & I started to tease about the fruit. We kept saying things like, “I wonder what Indian River fruit is? Maybe a cross between a watermelon and a lemon? Or an orange and an apple? How about pineapple and raspberry?”

I didn’t realize at the time that she wasn’t just playing along with us. Not knowing that Indian River stood for where the fruit was grown, SP was really intrigued at the possibilities. After much contemplation, she finally decided that it had to be a cross between a lime and a kiwi. Really, I thought she was just playing along.

We told her we’d stop on the way back since we were meeting my sister & couldn’t be late. Well, on the way back, we stopped and she ran past all the many, many bags & displays of oranges and grapefruits to ask the clerk where the Indian River fruit was. He crinkled his brow & pointed to the oranges, etc. She said, “No, not the oranges – the Indian River fruit! You know, your signs talk about it?” Again the clerk just pointed to the oranges & grapefruits. She was about to argue with him again when I finally caught her attention & told her that Indian River was a location, not a different breed of fruit. She was so embarrassed! Well, of course I had to tease her about it this year.
Me: “So, wonder what Indian River fruit is? A cross between…” SP: “Grrrr. That’s just not funny!”
Me: Giggle.

Pretty soon we were off I75 and onto the Florida Turnpike. We took the back way into the world this time as last time there was so much traffic and construction that I wanted to avoid I4 altogether. Though we missed seeing the Walt Disney World welcome arch, we did arrive in record time to our resort.

We finally arrived around 4:30 p.m., parked & checked in. They had given me a room in Oak Manor, but had failed to give me a ground floor room (which was my 1st request since I’d be using a scooter). The CM was very nice & told us that it was really late in the day, but she’d try her best to find us a ground floor room. A few minutes later we were in luck. Oak Manor, Room 9047 – a corner room with 2 windows overlooking the courtyard & Sassagoula River!

A pic of the Mansions region of POR:

After driving around to the parking lot & unloading the suitcases, we went to our room. Wow! A corner room is definitely nicer than the one we had last time. And there on the table was a BounceBack offer. I was so excited! Alas, I didn’t take the offer – I found out I’d be on chemo during the times offered & I didn’t think I’d be up to a Disney trip in the midst of that. But like Academy Award nominees, I was just happy to have one offered!

Before any unpacking, I did the recommended bed bug check – mattresses, headboards, carpeting around baseboards. We didn’t discover a single thing….well, except for a pair of lavender lace thong underwear left behind by a previous guest. EEWW! I didn’t touch them, but left a note for Mousekeeping & the next day they were gone.

We only spend a couple of minutes deciding on who gets what bed and which side of the bathroom. (When I get pics loaded, I'll show you who won, I mean, got the bed near the door.)

Can you guess who's room is whose?

Later, we walked back to the Luggage Dept. to pick up my rental scooter. Walker Medical, btw, is super – the prices are great & the scooters are the sturdy kind on 3 wheels – much easier to drive on/off the buses than the larger kinds & much more comfortable than the cheaper ones. While there, we asked about our groceries. The Garden Grocer guy was there unloading some more orders & when he heard my name, he turned around & said, “That was me on the phone! How you doing, Ms. H?” I told him hi & we were just fine. He then winked at me and told me he’d bring the groceries to my room, no problem. Ah, service! Gotta love it.

So, SP & I went back to the room. I left her there to receive the groceries and scooted back to the car to get the rest of our bags & the pillows. It was so nice to just load up the scooter & drive the stuff back to the room. By the time I got back, SP was putting the groceries away. Everything was delivered as ordered, with only 1 substitution (they tell you ahead of time this might happen) – instead of Peter Pan peanut butter, it was Jiff. SP had to open it up & give it a try. She’s super picky about her PB&J, so I was happy to find Jiff passed muster with her.

On a side note, I was super excited to see that there are still wild bunnies hopping around the courtyards. I call them my "widdle bunny fwends" - if you watched Friends, you'll know this is said like Phoebe in the episode where Chandler & Monica were supposed to make their valentines for each other. Anyhoo, we saw 2 bunnies each and every morning & in the evenings just hopping about chewing on the yummy grass. They were SO cute!

After doing some germ warfare on the room and decorating our room door, we took a little time to rest & then started getting ready to go out to Downtown Disney & Pleasure Island for the evening…which is another story in itself.

Stay Tuned for…Day 2, Part Two: KUNGALOOSH!

 

[scooby9932]

I worry about the same thing and am planning on doing a trip report after going in September or at least a food report.... but I am working myself up for it. hahaha

By the way... your little itty bitty writing is a challenge for my getting older by the minute eyes!

You should definitely go for it!

I am soooo laughing now at my thoughts...

I kept getting closer and closer to the screen... and if you said something very funny in the next line I could have spewed out my drink all over the screen at that range!!

How's the newest post size? I changed it just for you - and your computer screen, of course!