G8RFAN
What were we talking about?
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2003
- Messages
- 798
We live in South FL, 208 miles to the gate on Osceola Pkwy which is about 3 hours away and VERY conducive to quick weekend getaways to WDW particularly since DS who will be turning 4 this July absolutely loves it up there. About two weeks ago, we were tossing around the idea of going during the Memorial Day weekend but were: 1. afraid that we couldnt find anything within WDW and 2. afraid that the traffic and crowds were going to be a downer. Out of the blue, a coworker calls me up and asks if we are going up there that weekend. He tells me that he had to book a suite at CSR since there were no standard rooms available. I tell him that we were thinking about it BUT
. Anyhoo, this finally gives me the motivation to check out the internet to see what I can get for a last minute trip up to O-Town during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. I sheepishly call CRO to see what is available with the knowledge that I can get a room at Poly for $355/night through Travelocity. I start out by asking if there was anything available for the MD weekend, preferably at the Poly and if I could apply either the FL discount or AP discount. The CM was very sweet and asked if I felt lucky
. She had a garden view for $255/night! Done deal! Slap that SOLD sticker on that room ressie
and put it all on my card. She asked if I would like to make any PS at any restaurants and I think about it and decline since I would like to consult with DW33 prior to making such important decisions. Bad mistake
more on that later.
Before you know it, its Friday and we both wind up working a bit later than expected. We rush home to pack and get ready for a 6 AM departure. DS3.75 wants to play and doesnt settle into bed until 10:30pm. He finally falls asleep at 11:30 and we go through our last minute checklist. By midnight, I hit my head on the pillow. By 12:15, DS is awake and climbing into our bed. Instead of falling asleep, he is jumping and trying to wake us up. I make the decision to sleep on the couch since I will be driving. DW is in charge of the daunting task of getting him to sleep.
Boy the sun is bright at ..7:00 AM ! The couch did it to me again! I jump out and rush to the bedroom to find DW awake and ready and reading her latest Dan Brown book. I quizzically look at her. She wanted me to have enough sleep for the drive she says. I guess she is right. DS is sleeping with a forearm across his eyes looking like the little man he is. Well, by the time we hit the road it is 8:10 AM. I figure we can still get there at 11:00 if the traffic isnt too bad. Traffic of course is bad and we pull up at Polys valet at 11:20. Not bad but Ive made better time. I wait there for about 5 minutes and as far as I can tell, the valets are swamped, so we decide to self park. We check in but the rooms not ready until 4:00, so I grab the leis and the hotel info and throw them in the trunk and hop on the resort monorail to MK. We bump into a family that we havent seen in over 5 years. Mutual friends who had introduced us had moved away and we lost touch. We quickly exchange numbers and promise to KIT. They are staying offsite and moments later I think it was strange that they were on the resort monorail.
Believe it or not, Magic Kingdom has become DSs place to get a haircut. We always look to get Billie, but Michael is also pretty good. Billie has the sweetest voice and patience and knows how to settle my son down for a nice haircut. Never wanting to hurt Michael feelings, we always secretly hope to get Billie and hope the cards play out. After a little emotional rollercoaster, we get lucky day again, as Billie is clearing off the chair for our DS. Once again he gets an awesome haircut and is putting back the Mickey glitter back in his hair that falls off as we brush the loose hairs off his neck and shoulders (tip bring another shirt). We head directly to the train to take us to Mickeys Toon Town home of the Barnstormer one of DSs favorite rides. I need to digress .we have a list of rides that DS must ride. Each time we go, DH (me) tries to add bigger rides to the list but DW would forever like to keep him as a toddler even though technically he still is one, so there is always a little resistance to change. Barnstormer was a triumph for me as I had video proving that DS was LUVIN the ride. So now the list reads: Dumbo, Indy Speedway, Barnstormer, and Aladin Carpets. Pooh, the carousel, tot lot at Toon Town and TTA act as filler. I have been dropping hints that he might be ready for BTMR, but DW is not too happy with the idea. So after the Barnstormer, I get our mandatory frozen lemonade and we head over to the speedway. The lines are surprisingly not that bad. Some of the cars need some maintenance tho as several cars clutches would not engage enough to move them up to the staging area. CM were constantly manually reving them up from the engine compartment to get them going. I was hoping to not get one of those. We wind up getting what has to be the smoothest car we have ever had or DS is nearly ready for the real Indy. Cell phone rings and co-worker is now in the park and heading to Dumbo. Hmmm . I guess well do a Dumbo before lunch. Dumbo wasnt all that bad as far as waiting was concerned. DW and I keep our place in line while the other takes DS to the carousel or to Ariels playground. We only had time for a carousel ride before I needed to get back in line. Co-workers adopted son from Russia was not adjusting well to the heat, so they were in search for some air-conditioning. We decide that wasnt a bad idea and grab some lunch at the Cosmic Rays. We order the chicken and ribs dinner and split it between us. DS has the chicken nuggets meal. Weve never split a meal before and it was the perfect amount. With full bellies, we decide to try out IASW, as we could make it the last time we were there since it reopened. Boy, they need to either figure out how to FP this ride or hopefully everyone will have a chance to ride it and there wont be an hour wait to get on the ride. We decide to try first thing in the morning and head back to the Poly. Our third floor garden room assigned to us at the Rarotonga overlooked the parking lot. The silver lining tho was that DS gets to see the monorail from the room but are far enough away that DW and I cant hear them with the balcony door closed. We also luck out since the car is literally parked right across from the building. We spend the late afternoon in the pool. DS loves the slide. He may not want to go back to the park we think. The zero entry pool is great. Reminds us of the great pool at AKL. Funny the zero entry pool at SSR didnt give us the same feeling. Maybe it was because it was EMPTY. Whoa, I am getting off track here. We get back to the room and contemplate our dining options. I try calling for PS at Bongos at DTD and was told that they are walk up. After parking way out in the far ends of the parking lot (la Nouba crowd), we get there by 8 PM and are told that it will be a 45 minute wait. We decide to wait and was rewarded by being buzzed within 20 minutes. We had a nice table on the ground floor with a nice view of the band. The sangria is excellent and should be ordered by the pitcher. I had the pollo asado (roasted chicken), DW had the vaca frita (fried beef dish) and DS had the kids grilled chicken meal with rice substituted for the fries. We order a side of black beans for his rice. The food was excellent. We eat a lot of Cuban food in SFL, and they provided excellent food with excellent entertainment. We will definitely go back there even though Im not a big Gloria Estefan fan (gasp!). Walked around Westside and browsed at Virgin records and headed back to get some much needed rest.
Day 2 - Once again we succumbed to the sleep gods as it was 7:30 AM before we get out of bed. I leave a $10 tip for the mousekeeper wondering if wed get a towel animal (hah hah) when we get back. Running late, I decide my desire to try this Tonga Toast I keep reading about here must be put on hold. We grab some coffee and milk at the Kona coffee bar and some banana bread. Fabulous banana bread BTW. We head out to MK and head straight to IASW. We spend the whole ride trying to pick out what they changed. I determined that my memory capacity sux. As we get our stroller, we bump into co-worker and family. We all decide that Aladin Carpets is something we all can do, so we head off there. Good, the camels are spitting today! I always get a kick out of peoples reactions when they get wet dont know where its coming from. I walk by and I still swear that somebody is controlling the head on the camel as it quickly tried to turn back to take a shot at me. Missed by a mile, heh heh. Watching my DS do his Kempo Karate has trained my reflexes well.
I dont think Im being unsociable, but to really enjoy the Disney experience you need to do it at your pace and your style. So co-worker and family parted ways after the ride, making plans that if we are back in the park this evening, well touch base. I take the opportunity to walk the family over to BTMR to see what the wait time would be and to show DW how much 41 is over the 40 minimum height requirement. We get two FPs (DW wont even ride the Barnstormer) and head over to Pecos Bill Café for a bite to eat. Just like the Liberty Tree Inn, whomever creates the kids menu needs to have kids. For kids who dont like hotdogs, theres cold chicken strips and carrots? So I order a chicken wrap, a double bacon cheeseburger, and a chicken salad. The chicken salad is good. My wrap is good until I get towards the midway point where there is more mayo/sauce than anything else. Should have told them light on the sauce. We hake the sautéed mushrooms and onions from the condiment bar and make the cheeseburger into a salsbury steak. DS loves it. I think we are going to add burgers to his repertoire. Absolutely full, we shove off back to BTMR. DW tells me that if DS has a heart attack, to just not come back. I chuckle but know she really isnt kidding. We head up and minutes later, my DS is now experiencing his new favorite ride. Hed rather do the fast train than any other ride. DH is beaming full of pride. Yup, my little man is all grown up! Hmm, maybe Ill work Splash into our next trip. We head back to Poly to relax in the pool. This time we are in the pool at the peak of the afternoon. The line for the slide goes to the top of the stairs. We do the slide once. After enough relaxation, we head back in and shower up and head out to AK to see Lucky. We should have researched it a bit more, because Lucky only comes out at certain times of the day. DW and DS went to ride the Triceratops Spin while I go ride solo on the Primeval Whirl. I must say, DS wont be ready for that one for quite some time. One of the best rides Ive been on. We then went to play in the boneyard and then made plans to head to Epcot to ride Soarin. We got to Epcot without realizing that Future World closes at 7PM and it was 7:05PM. Teaches us to wing it. So we head on over to guest relations to try to make PSs for Nine Dragons. The CM looks into it and say they are all booked. He offers to check Marrakesh and then tells us sorry nothing. We ask about Alfredos and nothing. We walk out and then I realize that we could go anywhere else, so I run back in and get another CM who tells me no on Tonys, no on Moma Melrose, and in fact no on ANYTHING at MGM. Hmmm, the Star Wars weekend must have been really popular. I should have made PS's a couple weeks ago. Anyhoo, we decide to try our luck with walk up dining in the World Showcase. By the time Nine Dragons told us no walk ups, we decided that counter service it is. We were in the mood of Chinese so we tried Lotus Blossom Café. I remember eating there years ago and hated the fact that it was un air conditioned. Reluctantly, we ordered the twice cooked beef bowl, the orange chicken bowl, and the shanghai grilled chicken bowl. I was pleasantly surprised by the twice cooked beef. It had a little heat, which made enjoying eating in a non air conditioned semi enclosed room a little challenging. DS loved the orange chicken as it was more like sweet and sour chicken. DW enjoyed the Shanghai grilled chicken but preferred my twice cooked beef. Afterwards, we rushed back to the Poly to watch the light show at 9PM on the lagoon. We decide that the bus to the TTC and a walk to Poly would be faster than the bus directly to the Poly. When we were at TTC, I noticed that the Express Monorail entry to MK was closed for refurbishment and they were directing people to the ferry or the resort monorail. A light bulb goes off and I realize why I saw the old friends yesterday morning. Some of you may wonder why we didnt stick around for IlumiNations. Well we try to avoid the fireworks or at least up close, as DS was somehow traumatized in a previous life with a starburst mortar. We got some ice cream cones at Captain Cooks and watched the show on the beach. We were out like a light at 10:30PM.
Day-3 I am up at 6AM and get the gang ready. Since this is checkout day, I start bringing some bags to the car. Our choices are to grab a quick breakfast and try to get everything that we missed yesterday into one morning or have this Tonga Toast. Soarin and Lucky the Dinosaur wins the coin toss. Captain Cooks for a 15-minute breakfast and we are off. We hopped on the resort monorail and then waited for another 10 minutes before they finished their systems check. By the time we got to Epcot, the extra hour was lost FPs for Soarin was for 11:55 and it was only 9:04 AM. The standby line was for 60-70 minutes. We decided to wait in line so that we could reasonably get to AK at an early enough time. We boarded the ride within 40 minutes. Not bad. DS met the 40 minimum but no one bothered to check. Told DW that BTMR checked at the entrance, then at the FP collector, then right before the ride itself. We were told to get into the second section to get the best visual impact. Not knowing what that means, we wound up in the first section on the top wing. Still, a very impressive ride. DS loved it until the FIREWORKS at the end. His reaction was just like seeing the real thing. Cross this ride off his list of rides. Almost back on track as far as time, we rushed to AK. We made the bus as it pulled up. Next stop: Lucky the Dinosaur. The lady at security was making my DW open everything up: her wallet, my sons Gameboy, etc. We joked as we made our way through that she was ready to call for a cavity search. While waiting for Lucky in 98 degree weather, I buy the AK CD as there was a couple tunes that were pretty catchy. Lucky proved to be worth waiting for. Our expectation was that it was going to be a lot more interactive with guests, but it was really cute and nicely done. Time to close out the trip with a meal at the Flame Tree BBQ. Our usual order of ribs and a ½ chicken with a basket of seasoned fries. I can make some pretty good fall off the bone ribs at home, but their combination of dry rub and slow smoked cooking really spells out a delicious recipe for some great ribs. I dont even use their BBQ sauces on the ribs, only the chicken. Absolutely stuffed, we trudge back to the buses to take us back to the TTC for a 1-minute ride back to the Poly so we can stretch the magic for just a little more. We pull out of the parking lot and I pop in my AK CD. Within 15 minutes, DW and DS are fast asleep and I get to listen to the CD ready to do battle with the traffic. Im already gathering my thoughts for a week long trip in July.
Before you know it, its Friday and we both wind up working a bit later than expected. We rush home to pack and get ready for a 6 AM departure. DS3.75 wants to play and doesnt settle into bed until 10:30pm. He finally falls asleep at 11:30 and we go through our last minute checklist. By midnight, I hit my head on the pillow. By 12:15, DS is awake and climbing into our bed. Instead of falling asleep, he is jumping and trying to wake us up. I make the decision to sleep on the couch since I will be driving. DW is in charge of the daunting task of getting him to sleep.
Boy the sun is bright at ..7:00 AM ! The couch did it to me again! I jump out and rush to the bedroom to find DW awake and ready and reading her latest Dan Brown book. I quizzically look at her. She wanted me to have enough sleep for the drive she says. I guess she is right. DS is sleeping with a forearm across his eyes looking like the little man he is. Well, by the time we hit the road it is 8:10 AM. I figure we can still get there at 11:00 if the traffic isnt too bad. Traffic of course is bad and we pull up at Polys valet at 11:20. Not bad but Ive made better time. I wait there for about 5 minutes and as far as I can tell, the valets are swamped, so we decide to self park. We check in but the rooms not ready until 4:00, so I grab the leis and the hotel info and throw them in the trunk and hop on the resort monorail to MK. We bump into a family that we havent seen in over 5 years. Mutual friends who had introduced us had moved away and we lost touch. We quickly exchange numbers and promise to KIT. They are staying offsite and moments later I think it was strange that they were on the resort monorail.
Believe it or not, Magic Kingdom has become DSs place to get a haircut. We always look to get Billie, but Michael is also pretty good. Billie has the sweetest voice and patience and knows how to settle my son down for a nice haircut. Never wanting to hurt Michael feelings, we always secretly hope to get Billie and hope the cards play out. After a little emotional rollercoaster, we get lucky day again, as Billie is clearing off the chair for our DS. Once again he gets an awesome haircut and is putting back the Mickey glitter back in his hair that falls off as we brush the loose hairs off his neck and shoulders (tip bring another shirt). We head directly to the train to take us to Mickeys Toon Town home of the Barnstormer one of DSs favorite rides. I need to digress .we have a list of rides that DS must ride. Each time we go, DH (me) tries to add bigger rides to the list but DW would forever like to keep him as a toddler even though technically he still is one, so there is always a little resistance to change. Barnstormer was a triumph for me as I had video proving that DS was LUVIN the ride. So now the list reads: Dumbo, Indy Speedway, Barnstormer, and Aladin Carpets. Pooh, the carousel, tot lot at Toon Town and TTA act as filler. I have been dropping hints that he might be ready for BTMR, but DW is not too happy with the idea. So after the Barnstormer, I get our mandatory frozen lemonade and we head over to the speedway. The lines are surprisingly not that bad. Some of the cars need some maintenance tho as several cars clutches would not engage enough to move them up to the staging area. CM were constantly manually reving them up from the engine compartment to get them going. I was hoping to not get one of those. We wind up getting what has to be the smoothest car we have ever had or DS is nearly ready for the real Indy. Cell phone rings and co-worker is now in the park and heading to Dumbo. Hmmm . I guess well do a Dumbo before lunch. Dumbo wasnt all that bad as far as waiting was concerned. DW and I keep our place in line while the other takes DS to the carousel or to Ariels playground. We only had time for a carousel ride before I needed to get back in line. Co-workers adopted son from Russia was not adjusting well to the heat, so they were in search for some air-conditioning. We decide that wasnt a bad idea and grab some lunch at the Cosmic Rays. We order the chicken and ribs dinner and split it between us. DS has the chicken nuggets meal. Weve never split a meal before and it was the perfect amount. With full bellies, we decide to try out IASW, as we could make it the last time we were there since it reopened. Boy, they need to either figure out how to FP this ride or hopefully everyone will have a chance to ride it and there wont be an hour wait to get on the ride. We decide to try first thing in the morning and head back to the Poly. Our third floor garden room assigned to us at the Rarotonga overlooked the parking lot. The silver lining tho was that DS gets to see the monorail from the room but are far enough away that DW and I cant hear them with the balcony door closed. We also luck out since the car is literally parked right across from the building. We spend the late afternoon in the pool. DS loves the slide. He may not want to go back to the park we think. The zero entry pool is great. Reminds us of the great pool at AKL. Funny the zero entry pool at SSR didnt give us the same feeling. Maybe it was because it was EMPTY. Whoa, I am getting off track here. We get back to the room and contemplate our dining options. I try calling for PS at Bongos at DTD and was told that they are walk up. After parking way out in the far ends of the parking lot (la Nouba crowd), we get there by 8 PM and are told that it will be a 45 minute wait. We decide to wait and was rewarded by being buzzed within 20 minutes. We had a nice table on the ground floor with a nice view of the band. The sangria is excellent and should be ordered by the pitcher. I had the pollo asado (roasted chicken), DW had the vaca frita (fried beef dish) and DS had the kids grilled chicken meal with rice substituted for the fries. We order a side of black beans for his rice. The food was excellent. We eat a lot of Cuban food in SFL, and they provided excellent food with excellent entertainment. We will definitely go back there even though Im not a big Gloria Estefan fan (gasp!). Walked around Westside and browsed at Virgin records and headed back to get some much needed rest.
Day 2 - Once again we succumbed to the sleep gods as it was 7:30 AM before we get out of bed. I leave a $10 tip for the mousekeeper wondering if wed get a towel animal (hah hah) when we get back. Running late, I decide my desire to try this Tonga Toast I keep reading about here must be put on hold. We grab some coffee and milk at the Kona coffee bar and some banana bread. Fabulous banana bread BTW. We head out to MK and head straight to IASW. We spend the whole ride trying to pick out what they changed. I determined that my memory capacity sux. As we get our stroller, we bump into co-worker and family. We all decide that Aladin Carpets is something we all can do, so we head off there. Good, the camels are spitting today! I always get a kick out of peoples reactions when they get wet dont know where its coming from. I walk by and I still swear that somebody is controlling the head on the camel as it quickly tried to turn back to take a shot at me. Missed by a mile, heh heh. Watching my DS do his Kempo Karate has trained my reflexes well.
I dont think Im being unsociable, but to really enjoy the Disney experience you need to do it at your pace and your style. So co-worker and family parted ways after the ride, making plans that if we are back in the park this evening, well touch base. I take the opportunity to walk the family over to BTMR to see what the wait time would be and to show DW how much 41 is over the 40 minimum height requirement. We get two FPs (DW wont even ride the Barnstormer) and head over to Pecos Bill Café for a bite to eat. Just like the Liberty Tree Inn, whomever creates the kids menu needs to have kids. For kids who dont like hotdogs, theres cold chicken strips and carrots? So I order a chicken wrap, a double bacon cheeseburger, and a chicken salad. The chicken salad is good. My wrap is good until I get towards the midway point where there is more mayo/sauce than anything else. Should have told them light on the sauce. We hake the sautéed mushrooms and onions from the condiment bar and make the cheeseburger into a salsbury steak. DS loves it. I think we are going to add burgers to his repertoire. Absolutely full, we shove off back to BTMR. DW tells me that if DS has a heart attack, to just not come back. I chuckle but know she really isnt kidding. We head up and minutes later, my DS is now experiencing his new favorite ride. Hed rather do the fast train than any other ride. DH is beaming full of pride. Yup, my little man is all grown up! Hmm, maybe Ill work Splash into our next trip. We head back to Poly to relax in the pool. This time we are in the pool at the peak of the afternoon. The line for the slide goes to the top of the stairs. We do the slide once. After enough relaxation, we head back in and shower up and head out to AK to see Lucky. We should have researched it a bit more, because Lucky only comes out at certain times of the day. DW and DS went to ride the Triceratops Spin while I go ride solo on the Primeval Whirl. I must say, DS wont be ready for that one for quite some time. One of the best rides Ive been on. We then went to play in the boneyard and then made plans to head to Epcot to ride Soarin. We got to Epcot without realizing that Future World closes at 7PM and it was 7:05PM. Teaches us to wing it. So we head on over to guest relations to try to make PSs for Nine Dragons. The CM looks into it and say they are all booked. He offers to check Marrakesh and then tells us sorry nothing. We ask about Alfredos and nothing. We walk out and then I realize that we could go anywhere else, so I run back in and get another CM who tells me no on Tonys, no on Moma Melrose, and in fact no on ANYTHING at MGM. Hmmm, the Star Wars weekend must have been really popular. I should have made PS's a couple weeks ago. Anyhoo, we decide to try our luck with walk up dining in the World Showcase. By the time Nine Dragons told us no walk ups, we decided that counter service it is. We were in the mood of Chinese so we tried Lotus Blossom Café. I remember eating there years ago and hated the fact that it was un air conditioned. Reluctantly, we ordered the twice cooked beef bowl, the orange chicken bowl, and the shanghai grilled chicken bowl. I was pleasantly surprised by the twice cooked beef. It had a little heat, which made enjoying eating in a non air conditioned semi enclosed room a little challenging. DS loved the orange chicken as it was more like sweet and sour chicken. DW enjoyed the Shanghai grilled chicken but preferred my twice cooked beef. Afterwards, we rushed back to the Poly to watch the light show at 9PM on the lagoon. We decide that the bus to the TTC and a walk to Poly would be faster than the bus directly to the Poly. When we were at TTC, I noticed that the Express Monorail entry to MK was closed for refurbishment and they were directing people to the ferry or the resort monorail. A light bulb goes off and I realize why I saw the old friends yesterday morning. Some of you may wonder why we didnt stick around for IlumiNations. Well we try to avoid the fireworks or at least up close, as DS was somehow traumatized in a previous life with a starburst mortar. We got some ice cream cones at Captain Cooks and watched the show on the beach. We were out like a light at 10:30PM.
Day-3 I am up at 6AM and get the gang ready. Since this is checkout day, I start bringing some bags to the car. Our choices are to grab a quick breakfast and try to get everything that we missed yesterday into one morning or have this Tonga Toast. Soarin and Lucky the Dinosaur wins the coin toss. Captain Cooks for a 15-minute breakfast and we are off. We hopped on the resort monorail and then waited for another 10 minutes before they finished their systems check. By the time we got to Epcot, the extra hour was lost FPs for Soarin was for 11:55 and it was only 9:04 AM. The standby line was for 60-70 minutes. We decided to wait in line so that we could reasonably get to AK at an early enough time. We boarded the ride within 40 minutes. Not bad. DS met the 40 minimum but no one bothered to check. Told DW that BTMR checked at the entrance, then at the FP collector, then right before the ride itself. We were told to get into the second section to get the best visual impact. Not knowing what that means, we wound up in the first section on the top wing. Still, a very impressive ride. DS loved it until the FIREWORKS at the end. His reaction was just like seeing the real thing. Cross this ride off his list of rides. Almost back on track as far as time, we rushed to AK. We made the bus as it pulled up. Next stop: Lucky the Dinosaur. The lady at security was making my DW open everything up: her wallet, my sons Gameboy, etc. We joked as we made our way through that she was ready to call for a cavity search. While waiting for Lucky in 98 degree weather, I buy the AK CD as there was a couple tunes that were pretty catchy. Lucky proved to be worth waiting for. Our expectation was that it was going to be a lot more interactive with guests, but it was really cute and nicely done. Time to close out the trip with a meal at the Flame Tree BBQ. Our usual order of ribs and a ½ chicken with a basket of seasoned fries. I can make some pretty good fall off the bone ribs at home, but their combination of dry rub and slow smoked cooking really spells out a delicious recipe for some great ribs. I dont even use their BBQ sauces on the ribs, only the chicken. Absolutely stuffed, we trudge back to the buses to take us back to the TTC for a 1-minute ride back to the Poly so we can stretch the magic for just a little more. We pull out of the parking lot and I pop in my AK CD. Within 15 minutes, DW and DS are fast asleep and I get to listen to the CD ready to do battle with the traffic. Im already gathering my thoughts for a week long trip in July.
