I can't believe I have been so neglectful with this report. I am so sorry.
Lets see... so Kira and I rode TT once we got back to Epcot. From there it was time to meet up with Josh, Alex and Zoe.
They were getting hungry. Josh was wanting to get his favorite nachos in mexico. PERFECT! I wanted to get a rita at La Cava del Tequila!
I apologize because I really didn't take many pictures the rest of this day. I know it is ridiculous, but I was just that tired that I think taking pictures was just "too much".
So I went in to get my pomegranate margarita while they got food outside. I ran in to Alex first who told me they had a table. Then I found Josh who wanted to know where Kira was.
Then I discovered Josh had one spot and Kira another.
Neither of them wanted to give up their spot. Ultimately, Kira did and we sat near the water in the dinning area of La Cantina. Josh was not particularly happy though. His favorite nachos were changed. This was kinda an on going theme for him... changes made didn't impress him. I know we all have things we wish that Disney would leave alone. However, I think we also all know that change is just a part of what keeps Disney exciting. The thrill of always trying something new is what keeps me coming back...even if that means occasionally I have to lose something I love. (good bye Kouzzina
)
I am going to point something out to you all at this point. Something that perhaps you are noticing, but perhaps like me.. you are not. I got up after about 4 hours of sleep. I ate part of a bagel (oh...did I forget to mention that Steve forgot his in the room so I shared mine prerace??), I had some eggs, a lot of coffee, a croissant, most of my bacon and some potatoes at breakfast (remember I couldn't eat all my meal) I had a full bottle of hard pear cider (yum) and now it was lunch time. I had a margarita and a piece off of the churros that Alex and Zoe had. (do you all sense some foreboding here???)
After lunch (which, btw was a pretty late lunch since breakfast was around 11am but we were SO late) we walked around a bit. Then decided we would head out through the International Gateway. The kids had a dinner reservation to get to at Cape May. I was going to meet Steve at DHS for dinner.
I walked with the kids as far as the turn off to go to the BW. I thought about taking the boat from there to DHS, but ended up walking the entire way. Our dinner reservation was for Brown Derby. Steve and I were both so excited!
We had wanted to dine there for a very long time yet never had.
Steve arrive to DHS first. He went in and checked in for our meal. Meanwhile, I was trying to hoof it as fast as I could (didn't I already run a half marathon that day??
) I may have been a tad sweaty by the time I reached the restaurant.
We were taken back to our table fairly quickly. I will admit, I was expecting... expecting more from the ambiance. I think it was where we were seated. I could see that there seemed to be more of a "dinning room" below us... and we were up more on a walkway. Our table was a small table that was up against a railing and I believe near the kitchen.(given how many servers walked back and forth by us.)
I can't remember if we ordered first or if bread was just brought to us. It must have been brought first since I see a menu on the table still. I took a picture of the butter. Really kind of standard butter, but what is important to notice in this picture is our table. Notice the plate the butter is on nearly sits atop the plate used for a piece of bread. That is because the plate is on the edge of the table. Notice how close to the menu the butter plate then is. The menu itself is up agains the railing. Tiny table...
We ordered at some point and our food came out in a timely manner. Steve had ordered the duck while I ordered the cob salad.
Our server offered to mix my salad together for me. I am so glad I opted to do it myself. I was unaware that it was predominately a parsley salad. I know there were other greens in it, but mostly it was parsley. I was able to eat around it some, but most of what was in that bowl was left at the restaurant. It was so bitter I just couldn't eat it. Good thing that I was able to eat a bread roll.
With lots of room left in my belly, I knew I had to try the grapefruit cake.
This was very good! Steve and I shared, but I am sure I had more than he did. I was starving at this point, but I really couldn't understand what was happening. You know how when a baby is hungry and they don't eat and they just get fussier cause they are more uncomfortable?
that was kinda what was starting to happen to me. So for dinner I managed to get down a roll, a few bites of salad and 1/2 to 3/4 of a piece of cake.
After dinner Steve and I decided to walk back to meet the kids. It was a beautiful night for a stroll back along the canal. We met a lovely couple along the way who were out just enjoying the calm of the night.
We sat with them a while and the female chatted at us. Neither of them moved though and we literally were sitting with them on the edge of the walk.
Since we had been enjoying the company of our new friends, the kids had time to walk over and meet up with us. Josh had not yet been to that walk way. I figured he would love that walk. We decided since Epcot was still open we would walk over that way. We stopped in at the model DVC room. So nice!
As we were leaving it started to sprinkle a tad. By the time we made it around to the edge of the boardwalk it was torrential! It was warm though so no one wanted to hurry. I however did not like the idea of being soaked. I tried to stay with everyone as long as I could, but the rain was coming down so hard it was becoming hard to see. So the further I got from them, the less I could tell exactly where they were. I thought they were all together, but they too were splitting up. I ran to the restrooms outside the gate and toweled off. I assumed that they too would meet me there. No one was responding to texts or calls. The rain was THAT bad. I made my way through the gate and into the store.
Funny side note, I was trying to touch base with everyone to find where we had all scattered too. I overheard someone ask a cm how far it was around WS. They were trying to determine if they had enough time that night to try and get around. That cm got another cm and they started to go on about how it was like 13 miles or something. I couldn't stay quiet. Having just run 13 miles I knew very well how far 13 is. I interjected.
I told the poor guest that there was no way it was that far. Maybe 3 miles. The cm's insisted a bit until I said that I had just run the donald... and that goes from epcot to MK and back.
I got ahold of Steve and he told me that he was at the gift store at the front of the park. So I left the gift store.
On my way to the front of the park, I reconnected with Kira. She and Josh and Alex were in club cool. Since the rains were not letting up, I decided to stop in there. Seriously, there could not have been more rain!
I braved it a bit more to make my way to the front of the park. My phone was dying or Steves was dying or both... I can not remember. I do know that I could not find him and I could not reconnect. I decided that I would just head back to POR and hope everyone made it out of Epcot ok.
I was never more happy to see a bus than when I say a bus there. I was so very very soaked. I can't remember a time in my life where I was more soaked. Not even the day that I got wet in DTD just days before. There was a lady who came up to our bus very angry. She wanted to get back to the swan or the dolphin.... and there were no buses. She was demanding that the bus driver take her.
I remember vaguely that he tried to call dispatch or he tried to tell her there were no buses that ran to either of those resorts. Either way it only angered her more. I tried to tell her that it wasn't a bad walk out through the international gateway. I remember being struck by daggers then.
She snapped at me and said something along the lines of not at night and or not in the rain...either way, I backed off. I couldn't help but think to myself that I ran a half marathon that day and still managed to walk between epcot and DHS twice.
I can't remember what happened with the woman. She didn't get on our bus though and we didn't go to the swan or dolphin.
Once I was back to the room, I think I showered and most definitely got into dry clothes.
It was some time before Steve and the kids made it back to the room. I was just beginning to get worried.
Apparently, when Steve said "front of the park" he meant international gateway. So he was outside the store I was in. He must have been coming in one door as I was exiting out the other. Someone in the store gave Zoe a rain poncho. (apparently they took pity on a dad who looked like he didn't have a clue
) Then Steve found Kira, Josh and Alex and so they decided to watch illuminations together before heading out of the park.
At this point, It dawned on me how little I had actually ate that day. I was so extremely shaky. It was almost painful. No one wanted to go with me to Riversidemill though. So I went by myself. I decided on getting make your own pasta with cheesecake. I brought it back to the room. This was one of the best decisions I made all day!! The pasta was perfect and the cheesecake amazing!! Having it in the room though did mean I had to share a bit, but that was ok by me. I was just happy to be eating...finally.
Once I was done though, I was still a bit delirious. I laid down in my spot on the bed and found that it didn't smell right. Alex is still making fun of me for what came next. I had a bit of a meltdown... a laughing/crying meltdown. See the pillow smelled like Alex's head. I know.. gross, but I know the smell of each of my kids heads. Maybe it comes from when they were babies when I would breath in their smell... but then once they started getting "stinky" stopped so I just know each of their scents... and this was definitely Alex's. So I was giggling and crying (not really tearful crying just boo hoo whining) and saying my pillow was stinky.. Steve and Alex were both laughing at me which only added to my giggling. But then this was serious! Which led me to a break of boo hoo... which made them laugh at me more. Which made me laugh... OH it was a vicious cycle of laughter and whining.
Ultimately, it was a big deal. I mean.. Alex had the plague remember? Who wants to share a pillow with someone who has had the plague.
I wasn't particularly happy with housekeeping for this. It made me realize that they must just toss the pillows in a heap (where? on the floor? who knows???) and then redistribute them as they make the beds.
It was very late by the time we all settled down. It had been a VERY long day. I was asleep before I knew it.
Next up:
1/12 - AK/OKW/DTD Part 1
do the services operate that early? Or maybe a 10 year old is old enough to stay in the room by herself? 
I've run in a lot of races but for some reason these port-a-potties remain the messiest ones I have ever encountered.
that you had to fetch it yourself and then share on top of it.
It was a nice trip. I am only about half done with the TR, but there was lots more good times ahead. 
