Return of the DisAddict Shubman goes back to sea!

[ashman]

Got up at o dark early this morning to walk my dog. I go out my door and it is snowing! The roads aren't covered, just a light dusting but it should make things interesting today at school. We NEVER get snow before Thanksgiving. I can never remember it snowing in my part of NC in November, EVER. So a neat little wrinkle as we head into our final day before we leave. The kids may ask to leave today! Not gonna happen still have to pack!

 

[Tink rules]

SNOW DAY!!!!


Ok... maybe not...

So... you've had more snow that I have this year huh??? (& I'm in upstate NY!!!)

Just remember... don't pack the world... they have washers on the ship!!! (at least that's what my mom says... )

 

[anetnmike]

every trip is it's own magic!
with the snow falling you are picking the perfect time to get out of town!
have a great time! enjoy yourselves and the joy this time together brings you and your family! can't wait to follow along with you!
it is 19 degees here in Chicago and in 76 days I am going to be getting on that ship right behind you!

 

[ashman]

The snow is gone but it is very cold for NC especially for November. The kids are asleep, the bags are packed, as soon as I find the emergency number for the dog sitter I am hitting the hay and hitting the road first thing tomorrow!

 

[ashman]

Got the number 888-322-8732 they don't make it easy to find! Off to bed, I hope I sleep better than I did the night before my last cruise!

 

[Tink rules]

BON VOYAGE FRIEND!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL CRUISE!!!​

​

 

[ashman]

We are back first report to come very soon!

 

[ashman]

Chapter 5 Road Trip!
Okay I slept a little better than I did before my last Disney Cruise but then again we aren’t cruising today, we are driving! Despite that I am up at 4:45 geez I have issues! I lay there another 15 minutes and get up at 5. I take a shower do my morning thing, (you know that routine you always do when you first get up and you are half asleep and you do on auto-pilot), get dressed and get on the web. About 6:30, Mini-Me comes in the room and crawls into my lap. I ask her what she wants to do today, she says in a very sleepy, cutsie, dreamy voice, “Go on a Disney Cruise!”. Everyone gets up, we finish packing the car and are ready to GO! But it is coooooooold. At least for us it is cold. It is a very brisk and bracing 21 degrees when we get up! I know that is early June weather for you Mid-Westerners and New Englanders but for central NC, in November, that is pretty cold. I take a pic of the car to commemorate the event:

That said my girls go postal, in a good way, neither dark nor cold nor gloom of night are gonna keep these girls from having a good day! :

We also get a picture of our navigator and driver meet Grandpa!:

Okay, quick little back story. My wife went on a trip to Florida with her family when she was in the 6th grade. A family member leant them an RV to drive down thinking it would make life easier for them. This trip became one of those infamous family trips that are a challenge going through but get better with the re-telling of the stories. There was a wacky shot taken of my FIL while driving on that trip. This picture is an homage to that fateful trip!
We pick up some breakfast at Chic-Fil-a near our house. It is normally very good but they are clearly having an off day. We wrap up and hit the road at 8. I decide to use my time in the car to get ahead in my lesson plans. Mini-Me had the Castaway Cay Survival CD on her MP3 player and was letting me listen. Here is a shot of me jamming! Take a look at those GROOOOOVY headphones! :

We hit Cracker Barrel for lunch, never a disappointment. We stop at the Visitor’s Center at the SC/GA line in Georgia, they are giving out free samples of Coke! A little later my wife takes out a Starburst package. We got a big back of the “Fun Size” Starburst that have two in one package. She get’s two pink ones her favorite color and exclaims, “WHOOO HOOO it’s not even my birthday!” Towards the end of the day the boys are ready to get there:

And the girls are ready too:

We stop for the night at a Comfort Suite’s between St. Augustine and Jacksonville, near the “World Golf Hall of Fame” Nice place but it is in the middle of NOWHERE! After we get settled, we set off looking for dinner. There is nothing on the exit we are on. I suggest we get on the Interstate and go to the next exit. We take a wrong turn and are out there WAAAAAY out there. About 10 minutes later we pop out at the next exit, we took the scenic route! Stop for dinner at Shoney’s and it was probably the worst of the trip. Go back to the hotel, the girls hit the indoor pool which was FREEZING! We get them showered and everyone hits the hay about 10 tired from a long day in the car, ready to go to sleep so we can get on the ship in the morning!
Stay tuned for Road Trip Part 2 coming soon!

 

[Tink rules]

I love the snow flakes on the car!!! (Up here we would have sprayed some kind of non eco friendly stuff on it and scraped it off!!!)

Good start!!!

 

[ashman]

I love the snow flakes on the car!!! (Up here we would have sprayed some kind of non eco friendly stuff on it and scraped it off!!!)

Good start!!!

We did start the car and let it warm up for about 15 minutes before we got going!

 

[ashman]

Chapter 6 Road Trip Part Deux
Okay decent night sleep last night, it was the night before our trip but not really the night before the cruise. How would this night go? I’m in a suite with my wife, kids, MIL and FIL. I’m up at 4 AM and I just lay there. Can’t get up an watch TV don’t want to take a shower and get anyone up yet, so I just lay there. I though the idea of doing it this way was so we could get a bit more sleep than last time! Turns out my FIL is just as excited and can’t sleep too well either. Stayed there til 5, my FIL gets up and take a shower, I wish my bride a Happy Birthday and then I follow suit. Everyone else is up showered and ready to go by 6:30 AM and the kids wish their Birthday wishes to mom and granddad as well:

We do the breakfast buffet (Comfort Suites do a decent job with them, including make our own waffles!) We wrap up breakfast and hit the road by 8:15. Grandma thinks that are starting temperature of 45 degrees is a bit cool but Sweet Child, ever the optimist replies, “Yeah but it is going to get warmer, the closer we get!” Meanwhile Mini is sporting her “Miss Thang Bling” look:

The kids have been doing great in the trip, they have kept themselves well entertained, haven’t been too snarky too each other, I have been very pleased up to this point. That said, they are starting to get a bit bored. (Given that we are 10 or 11 hours or driving and breaks into the trip this is VERY good! ) I break out the Rand McNally Map and show the kids how to tell where on the map we are, how the signs connect with the exit numbers on the map and how to estimate how much time is left. They then start announcing the upcoming exit and corresponding town. We stop at a rest area. You know you are in Florida when the bathrooms are open air pavilions with a room to keep out the rain. Never gets too cold so they don’t need to heat them! They have some of those old school lights with the very noticeable hum. This turned out to be a funny for the girls. Sweet Child asked what that humming sound was for. Grandma told her it was to keep the alligators out of the toilet! Mini Me said, “That’s okay I always check the hole before I sit down!” Back on the highway I see a billboard campaigning for Tom Feeny for Congress which is pretty funny to me because that is the name of one of the science teachers at the school I teach at! Pretty soon we see a very happy sign, the last sign on the Interstate!:

As we approach the bridge, I tell the girls they will be able to see the ship over the next bridge and they start singing the “Hallelujah Chorus!” :

And at last we see the ship! I take a picture:

You see the picture right? Don’t you? Please say yes. Okay we have already established that I’m not the best photographer. I was gonna take another one as we got closer but my wife told me no need, you got one last time. So I didn’t. We pull into the lot at 9:30 where the guard tells us the lot won’t be open for another 30 minutes. He tells us to go across the street and wait in the day lot until we get the green light. We have two cars in front of us and we are just chilling out in the car until they let us in the terminal.:

A short half hour later, they let us in the terminal. Our road trip is officially over and we are at the cruise! I will pick up there in the next chapter!

 

[brerrabbit70]

Where are you, Ashman?

I read your last trip report yesterday and I am hooked!

Please don't leave us hanging. Pretty please...Please with Mickey pixie dust on top...

 

[ashman]

It's coming both of our computers at home have gone down. Once we get the resolved I hope to finish the report, thanks for letting me know someone is out there!

 

[Jennifer48]

Just found your TR, can't wait to hear more!

 

[Freddyfishstix]

Hey Ashman,

I have enjoyed your TR. We are going on a spring break cruise this year. Also from Greensboro, NC. This will be our first cruise - 7 day eastern. Keep writing. Thanks

 

[Tink rules]

 

[coasterfiend]

Hi Ashman!

Hope you can post a bit more soon, your prior TR was great fun!

 

[starrzone]

Hi Ashman! I read your previous TR and can't wait to hear more about this past cruise. You and your family sound like an active, fun bunch!

 

[OurOhana]

Ashman, you're a great, entertaining writer. I just went back and read your first TR. I loved it. It's getting more and more excited. I think I'm heading out later today to find some glow sticks for the pirate party, per your suggestion. I'm also grabbing some ziplocks right now and putting them with the pile of stuff I've set aside to pack. I figure if I don't do it when I think about it, I'll forget. Can't wait to read more about your latest trip.

 

[Cobbo]

anxiously awaiting the next installment to hear how things went....