Mike & Missy's Saying Goodbye to the Wonder 09/19/10 Pre-TR--Now a TR!--Updated 12/05

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm a little late but thought I would join! I've always wanted to go on a cruise so I will live my dreams through your TR!!!

 

[inmyis]

One week to Go!

 

[iloverags2]

I just stumbled across your TR! Woo hoo! Can't wait to hear all about your cruise...Enjoy!!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Have a great weekend in Kentucky. Enjoy your anniversary. We are almost done packing but have no time off between now and when we fly out next Thursday. Only a week to go! We have late dinner seating,which we love. Enjoy show, or Patriots vs Jets, and then dinner. And then late show, like Match Your Mate. Soooo looking forward to getting on ship and heading right to Quiet Cove pool .

Darn, I was hoping that you would have the early seating, as I was gonna see if you possibly wanted to link dinner reservations! Since we have so much in common, I thought it would be fun to have dinner together each night! That's okay though, as I do hope that we are able to meet once we're onboard!! The DH and I can't wait to visit Quiet Cove either!

I'm a little late but thought I would join! I've always wanted to go on a cruise so I will live my dreams through your TR!!!

You're never too late to join in! Glad to have you here, and thanks for reading!

One week to Go!

Can you believe it!!

I just stumbled across your TR! Woo hoo! Can't wait to hear all about your cruise...Enjoy!!!

I'm glad you found me! I can't wait to share the TR with everyone!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Mike and I made it home from Kentucky last night, and since I already have some pics uploaded into Photobucket, I thought I'd go ahead and write a mini-TR of our trip.


On Friday morning, we managed to be packed and out the door by our goal time of 4:30:

The night before, Mike had vacuumed and washed the car while I packed. So, as I dropped my bag in the trunk and went to get in the car, I noticed something in the cup holder:

Mike had surprised me with a Vera Bradley umbrella! I'd been wanting one for a while, but we never could find a store that still had them. And the one time that we did, they didn't have any of the patterns that I liked. Somehow, he managed to find the one that I really wanted, so he decided to surprise me with it! What a sweet way to start the day!!

We breezed through Atlanta, and on into Chattanooga with no problem.

I don't remember where this was at, but I thought it was neat as the mountains look like stair steps:

Just as we were getting into Murfreesboro, I got a craving for Starbucks, so we found one pretty quickly and hit it up. We both got a White Chocolate Mocha Frappucino, which was very yummy!

It wasn't long until we'd made it to Nashville, where the skies were looking pretty dreary!

It wasn't long until it was time to stop for a potty break. Of course, it was pouring by this point, but I really had to go!! We found a place and quickly made it back to the interstate. Unfortunately, just after we'd gotten back on the road, there was an accident, and ended up sitting at a dead stop for over an hour!!

Soon enough, we'd made it to Kentucky!!

And it wasn't long before we were rolling into Bowling Green!

My DBIL had taken the day off so that he could visit with us and give us a tour of the Corvette plant, which I was really excited about. But first, we met him for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

With our bellies full, I was ready to see how Corvettes were made. They've actually shown a tour of the plant on TV before (I think it may have come on the Discovery Channel, but I'm not positive about that), but I was still really excited to see it in person. Mike actually worked at the Doraville plant for a short time while we were engaged, so he knew how the whole assembly thing worked. Unfortunately, they won't allow cameras inside the plant so these were the only shots I got of the plant itself:

Seeing those cars come together piece by piece was really cool for me. Seeing it in person was really cool! I think I could have walked around that place all day and just took it all in!

After we finished up at the plant, we decided to head across the street to the National Corvette Museum.

There were tons of Corvettes on display, and Mike took a picture of almost all of them. I won't bore you with posting all of them, but I will show you a couple of our favorites:
I believe this was the first year they were made:

A model of the one that Dale Sr and Dale Jr drove at the 24 Hours of Daytona:

Then and now:

This was Mike's favorite:

And this one wasn't neccessarily my favorite, but I did love the fact that it was pink:

I don't know that I loved all the details though!

After we were finished seeing Vettes, we headed over to check into the hotel where we were staying for the weekend:

Mike and I were actually the only ones who ended up getting a room somewhere. My DSIL, her husband, our niece and her boyfriend and other niece all ended up staying at DBIL's house. I was really glad that we decided to get a hotel since it ended up being so crowded at his house and everyone had to sleep on air mattresses!!

After we'd checked in to the hotel and had our room key, we headed over to DBIL's house to check out his place for the first time. We hung out for a little while and waited for DSIL and her gang to arrive.

Once they got there, we hung out a little more, and by that time we were pretty hungry. So, we decided to head back into town to find something for dinner. There was a place called Double Dogs that Mike and I really wanted to try. You actually eat out of dog bowls. Initally, we thought we were going there, but DBIL wanted to eat at a place called Cheddar's. It turned out to be really good!!

After we'd eaten, we all chatted for a few minutes, and I managed to get a couple shots of everyone. I think these were the only ones I managed to get of them the whole time!!
DBIL, Mark talking to Brandon (our niece, Brandi's boyfriend):

DSIL, Gayle and DNeice, Brandi:

Mike and I:

Mike, Gayle, Allen (Gayle's husband), and Brandon--I caught them in the middle of a good laugh:

After that, we were pretty tired, so we headed back to our hotel while everyone else returned to Mark's for the night.

 

[onescgirl]

It looks like ya'll had a great trip to KY. I was looking fwd to seeing a picture of you eating out of a dog bowl!
The pink corvette was cute, but you're right, it could do w/out the lace & other trimmings!

That Mike of yours is one special guy surprising you with the VB umbrella! It's little things like that, that makes all the difference in the world!

 

[Jennifer48]

How cute of Mike to get you that VB umbrella! AND the one you wanted!

I didn't think a Corvette could be ugly until I saw the pink one with lace!

 

[iloverags2]

How sweet about the umbrella! Gotta love those kinds of surprises! Looks like you had a good time at dinner. We love stopping in Bowling Green during trips to Chicago. It's a tradition now, actually, to stop there.

 

[inmyis]

Dinner would have been nice but we are sure to see you at Quiet Cove. Looks like all was fun in Kentucky. Sooooo close

 

[mousetravel]

The pink corvette was cute, but you're right, it could do w/out the lace & other trimmings!

I agree! And I can't imagine that the white lace would remain white for very long, especially around the tires!

I love the VB designs, but I sometimes get purses etc., with the similar, generic designs at Belk. (Cause I'm cheap-o)

 

[jfstorm2001]

I'm signing on a bit late, but cant wait to read your TR. DS and I have our first cruise in 46 days on the Wonder and would luv to hear how everything was!

 

[UGAFan0829]

It looks like ya'll had a great trip to KY. I was looking fwd to seeing a picture of you eating out of a dog bowl!
The pink corvette was cute, but you're right, it could do w/out the lace & other trimmings!

That Mike of yours is one special guy surprising you with the VB umbrella! It's little things like that, that makes all the difference in the world!

We were looking forward to eating out of dog bowls too!! I was a little sad that we didn't get to eat there, but we said that if we ever make a trip back, we will definitely make sure to try it then!

I agree about the Pink Corvette. I think I told Mike that it was a little too "tacky" for my taste!

And I agree-Mike is a very special guy. And I am a very lucky girl to have him!

How cute of Mike to get you that VB umbrella! AND the one you wanted!

I didn't think a Corvette could be ugly until I saw the pink one with lace!

I thought it was sweet too! I thought the same thing about the Corvette!

How sweet about the umbrella! Gotta love those kinds of surprises! Looks like you had a good time at dinner. We love stopping in Bowling Green during trips to Chicago. It's a tradition now, actually, to stop there.

Dinner was very good! We always share a lot of laughs with Mike's family--they're a fun bunch!

Dinner would have been nice but we are sure to see you at Quiet Cove. Looks like all was fun in Kentucky. Sooooo close

It's even closer now!! Can't wait to meet you onboard!

I agree! And I can't imagine that the white lace would remain white for very long, especially around the tires!

I love the VB designs, but I sometimes get purses etc., with the similar, generic designs at Belk. (Cause I'm cheap-o)

There is definitely nothing wrong with being cheap!

I'm signing on a bit late, but cant wait to read your TR. DS and I have our first cruise in 46 days on the Wonder and would luv to hear how everything was!

You're never too late to join!! I read as many TR's as I could in the months and weeks before I cruise, so I hope that by writing my report, I'm able to return the favor!

 

[miztigg]

i yr TRs !!! Hope you have a awesome cruise cant wait to hear all about it

 

[UGAFan0829]

i yr TRs !!! Hope you have a awesome cruise cant wait to hear all about it

Thanks! Glad to have you here!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Hey y'all!! We're back!! We had a wonderful time, and I can't wait to share it with y'all!! First though, I have to finish up my mini-report from Kentucky, then it will be on with the show!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

We were pretty lazy on Saturday morning and slept in until 9! I think all the driving and excitment from the day before had really worn us out, as it's pretty unusual for us to sleep that late when on vacation!
Once we were finally up and about, we exchanged anniversary cards. We'd said that since we were going on the cruise that next weekend, we weren't going to get each other anything, but I was able to sneak a Starbucks gift card in with Mike's card. It was just something little that I wanted to do since he LOVES Starbucks!

A little after 9, Gayle called and said they were going to visit the Amish country and asked if we wanted to go. That was one of the things that we'd planned on doing, but they were leaving right after they called, so we didn't have enough time to get ready. Plus, we had already planned to have lunch, and we were for sure going to the concert that night, and we weren't sure if they would even be back to Bowling Green in time. So, we told them to go ahead without us.

We finally got up and ready and headed out of the hotel. As soon as we stepped outside, I began to get a little worried about the weather as the skies were already dark and the wind was blowing pretty hard. Since the concert was outdoors, I knew that if the weather got too bad that there was a good chance that it would be cancelled.

We wasted a little time driving around the city and found the Western Kentucky campus. We also drove by the airport to make sure we knew where to go that evening since we'd never been there before.

Around 3, we finally headed to Logan's for a late lunch.

This is mine and Mike's favorite place to eat, so I was really excited when I found out they had a location in BG. The Logan's here at home is actually where Mike and I went on our first "real" date, so it's a little sentimental to us as well!

Once we were finished with lunch, we decided to head on over to the airport where the concert and festival were being held. I was excited about seeing all the hot air balloons, as we've never seen any in person before. They were supposed to have a hound and hare race, but because of the wind, it was cancelled. A couple of the balloons actually took off, while most of them just thethered down.

At 5:30, the concerts finally started. I honestly don't remember the names of the three groups that came out first, but a couple of them were pretty good. Finally around 8:45, the one I had been waiting for finally came on stage!!
I took tons of pics, but to keep from overloading you with too many, I'll post just a couple of my favorites...
I LOVE that camo guitar:

And of course I love his hat:

His son, Thomas Rhett is getting started in his own music career, so he came up on stage and did a couple songs for us. He's going to be on the radio before long. Actually, Rhett told us that Jason Aldean just cut on of Thomas Rhett's songs on his new album, so that's pretty awesome!

It was such an awesome show!

And of course, I saved the best one for last:

I was so glad that the weather held off and everything worked out for the show. Rhett played and played until they finally made him get off stage. It was well past midnight before we got out of there, but it was so worth it. Seeing him totally made my weekend!!

Thankfully, our hotel was just a couple of minutes from the airport, so we were back to our room in no time! Even though we'd slept in that morning, we were pretty beat by then! So, we found a vending machine and had a couple late night snacks before we finally hit the hay.

The next morning we were up pretty early as we'd all planned to meet up for breakfast. Gayle and her gang were staying another night, but we were heading out that day. So, around 8:30, we all met up for breakfast at Shoney's. We all filled up off the buffet and sat around and chatted a little while. But like all things, our trip had come to an end, so we said our goodbyes to everyone and hit the road home to GA!


Next, I'll start my official TR!! I hope I haven't bored you all too much!

 

[iloverags2]

So glad it didn't rain on the concert and you were able to enjoy a wonderful day!!! Happy Anniversary! (A bit late, but the wishes are just the same!)

 

[mousetravel]

Yay for the updates!

Can't wait till your cruise TR!

 

[UGAFan0829]

So glad it didn't rain on the concert and you were able to enjoy a wonderful day!!! Happy Anniversary! (A bit late, but the wishes are just the same!)

Thank you for the wishes!!

Yay for the updates!

Can't wait till your cruise TR!

I'm about to get started working on the first installment now!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

I had taken Friday, the day before we were to leave, as vacation from work. Mike went in early in order to try and get off early. The plan for me was to run a few last-minute errands, and then have as much packed as possible before Mike got home. But, to make a long story short, things didn’t go as planned as I will still at my last stop of the day (Wal-Mart) when Mike finally made it home. We packed and packed, and at a little after 1 AM, we finally went to bed. Now for Mike, this was fine as he’s able to still function and be tolerable with little to no sleep. However, I am very much the opposite. I’m probably not the funnest person to be around when I haven’t had sleep. I retract that, I KNOW that I’m not!! Anyway, the plan was to be on the road by 5:30 Saturday morning, but when the alarm clock went off at 3:00, I hit the snooze button several times, and rolled back over. Since I was still laying there, Mike wasn’t making any effort to get going either. We finally wrangled ourselves out of bed a little after 6, which was waaaay late. It really wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, as we really had no reason to be in Disney early, except for the fact that I WANTED to be there early!! Eventually, we managed to get our luggage and ourselves out the door to finally pull out of the drive way a little after 8.

By the time we’d made it to the south side of Atlanta, we were both feeling a little hungry. So, we made a quick stop at a McD’s and were in and out in no time. I think our total stop was about 20 minutes, and that included eating there! We did have to stop for a couple potty breaks and once to re-fuel, but other than that, we didn’t stop again ‘til we’d made it to Disney, which was just a little before 4.

Now, for some reason, my GPS wouldn’t accept the address for Pop that I tried to input. So, I ended up using a generic Disney address, and then we followed the signs to Pop from there. As we were navigating our way around, I caught a view of Summit Plummet.

Seeing it from that perspective made me realize just how tall that thing really is!

We eventally made our way to Pop!!

We made our way into Classic Hall and joined the check-in line. There were several people waiting, but it moved rather fast. The nice CM who checked us in told us we’d be in the 80’s, which I was really excited about! I had also requested a King room when I made the reservation, but had forgotten to ask if we’d been able to get one.

The drive from Classic Hall to the 80’s lot was pretty short. And it only took a second to find our building!

We were in room 7170, which turned out to be a handicapped room.

We walked in, and I was very relieved to see that we did indeed get a king bed!!

Of course the next thing I did was take tons of room pics, so if you get bored by these, you may want to skip the next few pics…

This was the first time we’d ever been in a handicapped room, so I was a little unsure about the shower.

I loved this poster. Little Mermaid is one of my favorite movies, but I totally didn’t realize that it was from the 80’s!

By this time, it was only a little after 4. The only place we had to be for the rest of the day was at Trail’s End for our 5:30 ADR, and we didn’t plan to leave for it until around 4:45. Since we had a few minutes to kill, we decided to check out our section of the resort and get a few more pics. Once again, I’m about to overload you with more shots…
I didn’t even realize when we first got to our room, that we were right there at the Computer pool!!

Soon enough, our exploring was done, and it was time to head to Ft. Wilderness for dinner!