Doing WDW on my own again, a February 2012 PTR

[PhoenixStrength]

!! So many cat pictures! How much fun to be able to work with them. I wish we could foster adult cats as well, but our one Siamese is super possessive and is only comfortable with kittens. I think the best retirement idea ever is the man who created the whole cat village (in Florida somewhere?). It just seems like it would be so much fun to have that many animals around you!

Congrats on paying everything off! I love that feeling of everything being ready and waiting for departure day.

Thanks! The cats there are wonderful, and I enjoy fostering all ages. But just doing kittens is helpful I'm sure!

I love paying it off! Now I'm just counting down until I leave

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm doing a happy dance!

Why, you ask? Well, because of all the extra work I have been doing this week due to the holiday, my check today was over TWICE what it normally is. Since I had so much extra, I added a day to the end of my vacation! I am now staying February 11th-19th at POP Century with Free Dining. And the extra day and change of flight combined cost me less then $200, with 99% of that being the extra night, since it is a holiday weekend. My flight change only cost $2.70 extra since I am flying Southwest and they have no change fees I am still spending 6 days at the parks, and will now have an off day to explore the resorts (I am definitely checking out CBR for my trip in 2013!) and any other non-park activities I want to do.

 

[Merida]

Kittens are fun but they're rarely big and fluffy. There's a (stray?) cat that wanders around our neighbor who's more fluff than cat but our one cat flips if he gets too close so we haven't been successful yet in getting close enough to check for a collar, etc.

Congrats on your extra day! Possibly the only thing better than paying everything off. Exploring the resorts is so much fun, I would recommend heading to Port Orleans Riverside! It's so relaxing to walk along the river.

 

[ronnmel]

I've finally made it over to your PTR. I've really enjoyed all the animals pictures. The photos from your road trip were also gorgeous.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Kittens are fun but they're rarely big and fluffy. There's a (stray?) cat that wanders around our neighbor who's more fluff than cat but our one cat flips if he gets too close so we haven't been successful yet in getting close enough to check for a collar, etc.

Congrats on your extra day! Possibly the only thing better than paying everything off. Exploring the resorts is so much fun, I would recommend heading to Port Orleans Riverside! It's so relaxing to walk along the river.

Sorry your cat doesn't like other cats. Within one block of my house there are 4 that let their cats outside, two of them without having collars on their cats. I hate it.

I do plan on exploring POR too, since that is my second choice for where to stay in 2013.

I've finally made it over to your PTR. I've really enjoyed all the animals pictures. The photos from your road trip were also gorgeous.

Glad you made it over! I will hopefully be posting the next Mini-TR update later today.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Disney Update:

I'm doing another Happy Dance! Since I added an extra day I rearranged a couple of the days as far as which park which day. I had been trying desperately to get a Fantasmic! Package for Mama Melrose, but they had been booked everytime I checked online and called. Well, on my new day for DHS they had a lunch opening! So I booked a Mama Melrose lunch Fantasmic Package. Yay for not having to wait as long in line to get in to see Fantasmic! for the first time (I know, shame on me for not seeing it the other 4 times I've been!).

I should be back tonight to post an update on my Mini-TR so I can get it done before I leave for WDW!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 10 TUESDAY OCTOBER 25TH​

ZION NATIONAL PARK!​

So, the plan for that day was that all of us were going to Springdale, which is a city within Zion National Park, for lunch and some shopping. I have been to Zion before, 2 years ago with my sisters. That was the first experience I had with the Horseback riding company I used this year, as they also do rides in Zion. I had not, however, been to Springdale and was looking forward to it.

I met everyone at Christina's rental house, and Mike and Shelli (our friends who work at BFAS in CatWorld) also met us there. Because it was 10 people we split across 3 cars. I rode with Christina, Connie and Amanda in the lead car. We got on Route 89 and drove about 15 miles, then made a left turn onto the road that would take us to Zion. About 10 minutes later we entered the perimeter of Zion and Amanda and I took a lot of pictures.

We soon reached the Zion Tunnel. It is 1.1 miles long and was built in 1930. It was carved into the rock formation and is barely 2 lanes wide, so if an RV or bus needs to go thru, they have to stop apposing traffic so there isn't an accident. This was the case when we pulled up, and the guard told us we had about a 7-8 minutes wait, so we parked and all got out to take some pictures.

We also caught this cute little guy running around, only a few feet form us.

After just a few minutes we were told by the guard that we would be moving in a minute, so we got back in the car and watched as several RVs came out. After we made it through came the scariest part of the drive. You come out at a high point and drive down switchbacks all the way down, without a guard rail most of the way. It was gorgeous, but Christina, who was driving our car, is terrified of heights so we couldn't talk about the scenery much until we got down. You can see in this picture, taken right after we came out of the tunnel, the row of bricks that serves as a blockade to keep you from falling over 500 feet down the side of the mounting.

We stopped about halfway down to take pictures. Here are some of my friends!

Christina, Amanda and Connie

Gloria and Jenn B

Mike and Amanda

Me, taking my own picture.

I have more pictures, including ones of myself with my friends, but for some reason I can't find them right now.

UP NEXT: SHOPPING, LUNCH AND THE DRIVE BACK

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 10 TUESDAY OCTOBER 25TH, PART 2​

SHOPPING, LUNCH AND THE DRIVE BACK​

After we took a bunch of pictures, we got back in the cars to drive the rest of the way to Springdale.

We parked in Springdale and started some shopping. I was so engrossed in finding good gifts I forgot to take pictures! I bought some stuff for my family members, and a pig magnet and card for Yvonne. I also bought some gorgeous photos of Zion taken by a local photographer. They are stunning, and he has a store in Springdale where he sells the prints. He frames them himself and does an incredible job. I got an 8 pack of photos that I am working on framing and hanging in my house.

After an hour or so of shopping we were hungry. We had decided beforehand that we were eating at Oscar's Cafe. They have authentic Mexican food, but also great American food too. I can't remember exactly what I got, but it was some type of chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries.

We ate outside on the deck area and it was all delicious! Everyone loved their food, and it was reasonably priced too.

After lunch we stopped in a couple of other stores, and then got back in our cars to leave.

We got some more pictures on the way back up the switchback heading toward the tunnel.

We stopped again to take pictures and I got one of the "windows" in the tunnel.

They have cut outs along the way where you can (briefly) see out as natural light, since there are no lights or electricity in there. I decided then I wanted to try to get a picture from the inside too, but wasn't sure if I would be able to.....

But I did!

It took 3 tries along the drive (there are about 5-6 of those "windows") but I finally got a good one! We were soon driving out of the tunnel and back through the rest of the park on our way out.

We soon were out of the park, but then we all realized we really needed to go to the bathroom! We decided to stop at the Zion Lodge, which is only 2 miles outside the park border. We were hoping to see the herd of wild Bison they have there, but they were on the other side of the hills, so we couldn't. However, we did see some deer across the street from Zion Lodge.

As we got out of the cars we were startled to see a chicken wandering the parking lot!

There were also many horses right behind the main building and shop.

We all used the bathroom and a couple of us bought something from their shop before hitting the road again. We stopped again at the junction for Route 89 back to Kanab to get a picture of a funny sign Mike and Shelli told us about at a diner.

Yes, that says Ho-Made pies! It is a joke that has been around for decades there apparently.

UP NEXT: KISSING A PIG!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 10 TUESDAY OCTOBER 25TH, PART 3​

KISSING A PIG!​

We soon made it back to Kanab. I got a picture of some turkeys on the side of the road, and another sign on the way into Kanab.

We went back to Christina's rental house and hung out for a while until it was time for dinner. I got pictures of her 3 cats and will give a little back story on each, as they have unique and heartbreaking stories each.

Noah

He is her oldest kitty, at 12 years old. She adopted him 6 years ago from a shelter near her home in Los Angeles. He was declawed by his first home and then dumped at the shelter. Declawing is a horrible thing. It is literally taking the first joint of their toes off, and makes cats more inclined to bite since you are taking away their first line of defence and biting is all they have left. He is a sweetie, and she just found out he has a minor heart murmur, but is okay for now. He does not really like his brothers, but tolerates them if they leave him alone.

Buck Rogers

Buck was adopted from BFAS by Christina a little over 4 years ago. He was rescued by someone after being found in a box in the desert! He was severely dehydrated and was showing signs of neurological problems due to the dehydration. Thankfully he recovered completely and he has no neurological problems now. He is a sweetie too and loves to torment Noah.

Dakota

His special needs might be visible to the sharp eyes just from his picture. Two years ago he was rescued by a farmer who found him in his field. He had apparently been run over by the hay mower several days before and had been lying there since, only a young kitten. He was rushed to the vet to be stabilized and then brought to BFAS. He lost his back right leg completely, and only has half of his front left leg. He actually only has 2 legs that he really uses, and he gets around completely fine. He runs, jumps, plays like a normal cat. Christina adopted him 2 years ago from BFAS. He loves to play with Buck. He is shy with strangers, but finally started making apprearances around us all that night.

Shortly after we got back another BFAS employee, Tamara, stopped by with her pig, Ziffle. She works for the Animal Care Assistance Department and adopted Ziffle almost 4 years ago. He is super friendly, but had to stay out front since Christina's cat wouldn't have appreciated him coming in!

We all took our pictures with him, with some of us doing a "kiss". You don't really kiss him, but put a sweet potato chip in your lips and he takes it out very gently, so that is what some of us were doing in these pics!

By that time it was time for dinner, so Tamara and Ziffle left and we headed to Rewind Diner, which was only about 4 blocks away. We did drive though as there was a chance of rain. We had half the restaurant reserved (literally half!) for everyone that was coming! It was over 30 of us all together. I saw with Jenn S, Amanda, Connie and Jenn B. We all had great food and then shared the best desert I have ever had! It is called The Twister, and it is a soft pretzel, stuffed with cream cheese, with three scoops of vanilla ice cream on top, and caramel, hot fudge and whipped cream. We all 5 split it, and it was gone in less than 2 minutes. We had the entire restaurant laughing at us as we ripped it apart and tried to steal pieces from each other. Several people got pictures of us doing it too. Here is the best, mid-action, picture.

After dinner (and desert!) I headed home to sleep. The next day would be my last full day at BFAS.

UP NEXT: PIGGIES AND A GIANT HORSE!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!​

I hope 2012 is a fantastic year for you all, full of happiness and love.


​

 

[mickeystoontown]

I was behind a couple of updates but am all caught up again. I am so excited that you were able to snag a Fantasmic Package ADR! Even though it was quite a hike to the theater, I was happy to have those special passes so we didn't have to stand in line for very long.

The pictures of Zion park are simply gorgeous! I don't know how I would have dealt with just the little bitty brick wall as the barriers. When my sister moved from Louisiana to Colorado, she was scared to death to drive the mountain roads. She said that she would constantly ask herself "how many times do you run off the road in Louisiana?" and her answer would always be "none". She said that was the only thing that got her through the drives.

It sounds like you guys had a great time shopping and eating....especially The Twister. I have to say that it does sound mighty tasty and I'd probably been right there in the middle trying to sneak one more bite in.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I was behind a couple of updates but am all caught up again. I am so excited that you were able to snag a Fantasmic Package ADR! Even though it was quite a hike to the theater, I was happy to have those special passes so we didn't have to stand in line for very long.

The pictures of Zion park are simply gorgeous! I don't know how I would have dealt with just the little bitty brick wall as the barriers. When my sister moved from Louisiana to Colorado, she was scared to death to drive the mountain roads. She said that she would constantly ask herself "how many times do you run off the road in Louisiana?" and her answer would always be "none". She said that was the only thing that got her through the drives.

It sounds like you guys had a great time shopping and eating....especially The Twister. I have to say that it does sound mighty tasty and I'd probably been right there in the middle trying to sneak one more bite in.

I am THRILLED I got the Fantasmic Package! I really didn't want to waste so much time in line for it when I will only be at DHS one day this trip.

Zion is gorgeous! The barriers didn't bother me, but it is weird to me that they don't have barriers, as if you went off the road you would certainly be badly injured at best due to the fall.

The Twister was incredible! We were all fighting each other for bites and taking bites right off each others forks. It was so funny to see the looks on the faces of everyone else watching us! Our waitress just looked stunned and said that was the fastest she had ever seen one eaten before.

 

[aprilisis]

Great updates!!! I love all of the Zion photos. That tunnel was really cool, too. The 3 kitties & Ziffle were so cute!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Great updates!!! I love all of the Zion photos. That tunnel was really cool, too. The 3 kitties & Ziffle were so cute!

Thanks! I took a lot more pics, but didn't want to post them all! I was a little bummed as I didn't see any mountain goats while we were in Zion, and they are abundant that time of year. Two days later one of the employees of BFAS was there and saw a ton of them!

The tunnel is cool, but you can tell it was built in 1930, as it was made for small vehicles! It can be a little scary driving with oncoming traffic in there since the lanes are not wide at all. And the kitties and Ziffle are cute, and all so sweet and affectionate!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 11 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 26TH​

MORE PIGGY FUN!​

So I woke up for my last full day in Kanab around 7am. I took a shower, ate breakfast, and walked down to Piggy Paradise for my last volunteer session. Yvonne asked me, Connie and Amanda to feed the pigs, and then help with socializing 2 new piglets they had, Lenny and Squiggy. They were about 6 months old at the time, and had beeen rescued from a hoarder in Nevada. They are only staying at BFAS for a few months while they are socialized, since they have a home upcoming where they will be therapy pigs!

Lenny and Squiggy had just been neutered a few days before. You will notice on the first picture that Squiggy has a shaved patch on his cheek. This is because they look so much alike and the vet wanted to be able to keep them straight!

Squiggy

Lenny

We were using treats (mostly sweet potato chips) to get them close and then petting them as they grabbed the treat. Squiggy caught on quick and was fine with us petting him while he ate, but Lenny took longer. We spent over 2 hours with them, and were not able to pet Lenny until the very end. I don't have any pictures of myself petting them, but here are some of Amanda and Connie with them.

We were having lunch at the Piggy Paradise/Horse Haven Headquarters that day, with all the staff. Christina picked up sub trays from the Subway in Kanab, and we brought salad and chips too. We all sat around in the main area, eating and talking for an hour or so.

Left to right on the floor on the left, that is Beth, Sally and Ronnie, who work in Horse Haven. On the chair is Sarah, also a Horse Haven employee. Sitting on the right are Christina and Amanda. The large dog belongs to another Horse Haven employee, while the 3 small dogs belong to Beth and Sally. That is a great thing about BFAS, employees can bring their pets to work as long as they get along with other animals and people.

A couple more pictures from the lunch. Here are Yvonne with Squeaky the office pig.

And Squeaky modelling some sunglasses that were bought for him. He had on a pink pair before these, but quickly threw them off. He liked these ones though.

After lunch we were all going with Beth, Sally and Ronnie to meet 2 very special horses, Tana and Clyde!

UP NEXT: THAT IS ONE BIG HORSE!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I can't believe that this trip is almost over. I think I'm having just as much fun hearing about your trip as you did on the trip. I had to giggle at Lenny and Squiggy because I was a huge fan of Laverne & Shirley when I was young.

Looking forward to the "one big horse"

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 10 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 26TH, PART 2​

THAT IS ONE BIG HORSE!​

Once lunch was done we hopped in the Horse Haven truck and headed over to Riley's the building I showed earlier, for horses who need to live indoors. Our first stop though was the pasture right next to Riley's which was the home of Tana. Tana is a female horse who came from a rescue in Montana (hence the name) a few months earlier. She lived in a group called "The Wild Bunch". They were named this as they were all afraid of humans and stuck together, avoiding people at all costs. She is actually quite friendly now, though still a little shy with new people. She is GORGEOUS though, with ice blue eyes, and a red and white pinto pattern.

After spending a little time with Tana we went next door to Riley's to meet Clyde. I had seen him briefly 2 years ago, but never officially met him.

If not obvious from the picture, he is a Clydesdale, and is HUGE!!!! He has had hoof issues in the past, but is doing well now and doesn't have to live indoors only anymore. He has a good buddy that he lives with now, Jake. Jake was a race horse that retired and was going to be put down since he wasn't making his owners money anymore. Thankfully a rescue stepped in and offered to take him in and he eventually wound up at BFAS. Here they both are with Beth.

And the inside of Riley's, showing how big it is inside! And Christina is in this picture too.

It is almost deceiving in this picture, as Clyde doesn't look that tall compared to me, but he is leaning way over. His head is usually so high when he stands straight that I cannot reach the top of his head.

Another picture of Jake

And a couple more of Mr. Clyde

After we visited with them for a while we headed back to Horse Haven to meet Lambert the sheep. Christina went over to the Goat and Sheep barn and leashed Lambert up and brought him over.

He is extremely friendly and loves to go for walks, so Connie and I took him for a long one up to the cottages and back down to Horse Haven.

After some time with him Christina took him back to the barn. I was talking to Linda, another Horse Haven staff member, when I saw Lambert running around a pasture with Christina chasing him. I ran down to help her. He had flipped out of his halter before she had gotten him back in the sheep pen and was too fast, in too big of an area, for her to catch him. The 2 of us managed to corral him into a pen and get the halter on him long enough to walk him over to his pasture to roam. I wish I had pictures, as it was hilarious to see, or at least that is what all our friends told us after they watched us chasing him!

The last horse we were interacting with that afternoon was one I had met before, but it was 4 years earlier when she was a baby. This is Luna, a miniature horse.

And here is her "sister" (not related but they live together with Linda, the Horse Haven employee) Trixie, who is a Shetland Pony.

Linda adopted them both when they lived at BFAS, and was kind enough to bring them to work with her that day so we could all spend time with them. They are sweet as can be, and love to show off for people. Luna originally came to BFAS as a baby after being accidentally run over by a horse trailer. One of her hind legs was damaged, and the surgery to fix it resulted in that leg being shorter than the rest. To correct this they give her a special "shoe" that is raised so they are even and she doesn't develop arthritis.

Trixie was actually brought to BFAS from another rescue to be a buddy for Luna, since she was too small to go in with the large horses at that time (due to her injury they didn't want her to be accidentally re-injured).

Linda ran them through their training and let them do some tricks for us, which they loved!

Luna with her soccer ball

Trixie jumping some barrels

Once we finished visiting with everyone I drove up to Angels Rest to visit the grave sites of some animals that I knew that had passed since my last visit. I took some pictures of Angel Canyon on the way up.

And Angel's Rest

What I love about BFAS is that Angel's Rest is not a sad place. It is beautiful, and a celebration of life. They even have markers to comemorate large events where many lives were lost. Here is one for Hurricane Katrina.

You will notice all the rocks on the gravestone. That is a BFAS tradition, akin to flowers on human graves. You can put ones you find or buy on there, and they are there to stay. Some graves even have boxes by them due to the whole stone being covered and needing more room for stones from visitors.

After I visited all the sites I wanted to I headed back to the cottage. I worked on packing some things that I could, since I would be leaving the next afternoon, then headed to Christina's. Most of us were leaving the next day, and we were going out for one last group dinner, to Rocking V.

We all had a great meal and then chatted for a while at Christina's before I headed back to my cottage. I said bye to Cheryl, Cathy, Gloria and Jennifer B, since they would all be leaving early the next morning to head to the airport.

NEXT TIME: MY FINAL GOODBYES, AND LEAVING KANAB

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I can't believe that this trip is almost over. I think I'm having just as much fun hearing about your trip as you did on the trip. I had to giggle at Lenny and Squiggy because I was a huge fan of Laverne & Shirley when I was young.

Looking forward to the "one big horse"

Thanks, it was a great trip! I loved their names too, and laughed when Yvonne told me about them. I used to watch Laverne and Shirley when Nick used to air the episodes at night.

I hope you like the pictures of Clyde, he is definitely a big horse! But he is a gentle giant for sure.

 

[Merida]

AHH HORSIES!!!

They're so cute! I love the ponies especially. And the sheep. And the pigs! I need to start volunteering at the shelter instead of just fostering. Zion is very pretty too, I love all the different scenery out here. It's so different from the east coast!

Congrats on getting the Fantasmic package! I tend to skip it as well. It's good, but not stand-in-line-every-trip good, you know?

 

[PhoenixStrength]

AHH HORSIES!!!

They're so cute! I love the ponies especially. And the sheep. And the pigs! I need to start volunteering at the shelter instead of just fostering. Zion is very pretty too, I love all the different scenery out here. It's so different from the east coast!

Congrats on getting the Fantasmic package! I tend to skip it as well. It's good, but not stand-in-line-every-trip good, you know?

It is definitely different from the East Coast out there. It was very interesting to see the country change as I drove there and back, the scenery is so amazing in different ways in different places.