DIS Dads Rust Belt Road Trip (2 UPDATES--1/18)

[dvczerfs]

Better than the Flyers shirt he had on when he met me...the Hawks fan.

gotta give him credit, wearing that stuff in other cities. (there i go giving him credit again.)

 

[KatMark]

gotta give him credit, wearing that stuff in other cities. (there i go giving him credit again.)

You have to stop that.

I see you'll be at DW in 43 days; we'll be there in 40.

 

[dvczerfs]

You have to stop that.

I see you'll be at DW in 43 days; we'll be there in 40.

we will be at okw, where are you guys staying?

 

[dvczerfs]

we will be at okw, where are you guys staying?

ok, i see your rotating banner now. well have to meet up. ill pm you my cell number and see if we can meet?

 

[KatMark]

ok, i see your rotating banner now. well have to meet up. ill pm you my cell number and see if we can meet?

We are at the AKL the nights of the 23 and 24th and then move to the OKW until the 29th. Please do send me your number...I'd love to meet up for a drink or something if we can fit it in.

 

[dvczerfs]

We are at the AKL the nights of the 23 and 24th and then move to the OKW until the 29th. Please do send me your number...I'd love to meet up for a drink or something if we can fit it in.

sorry mark, making plans to meet!! sounds good, we are in a one bedroom in the hh area. we will be pulling in on the 27th hopefully around 8pm. the 28th we dont have much planned. are you a texter or a talker? im a texter.

 

[KatMark]

sorry mark, making plans to meet!! sounds good, we are in a one bedroom in the hh area. we will be pulling in on the 27th hopefully around 8pm. the 28th we dont have much planned. are you a texter or a talker? im a texter.

I have no idea what section we are staying in (these are points from a friend that we are using...we've never been to OKW). I love texting...and hate talking on the phone (I do enough of that at work). We will be at the MNSSHP on the 27th and the Studios the morning of the 28th and Epcot in the afternoon/evening. I think we are going to try to take a pool break the afternoon of the 28th, but plans keep changing. Let's definitely exchange numbers. Mark will tell you I'm quite charming, won't you Mark????

 

[GoHerd1028]

You got some fantastic pictures with this update!!! The story is pretty entertaining too!

 

[dvczerfs]

I have no idea what section we are staying in (these are points from a friend that we are using...we've never been to OKW). I love texting...and hate talking on the phone (I do enough of that at work). We will be at the MNSSHP on the 27th and the Studios the morning of the 28th and Epcot in the afternoon/evening. I think we are going to try to take a pool break the afternoon of the 28th, but plans keep changing. Let's definitely exchange numbers. Mark will tell you I'm quite charming, won't you Mark????

ok, its on its way!! im glad we could hijack marks trip report.

 

[Poolrat]

A stunning view!

Too bad you didn't ask Patty or Selma where the bathroom was BEFORE you took your ride. She would have had the same answer, just a whole lot sooner.

Glad your son made the trip back down the incline without leaking.

 

[DisDadDoc]

Another girl in the house !!!!!


Sorry for any delay but work has been taking WAY too much of my time lately. I need to stop that.


What a great start and I hope your friends made it to the pit stop in time and if I ever put a large bucket ofcheese balls inthe back seat- well lets say i would have orange seats and well as orange teeth.

Eileen's reading it. She just doesn't have a login yet, so she's lurking...

 

[Mrs. Knowitall]

I was about to suggest we all just go back out onto the observation deck, take care of business and shout, "Here's what I think of your scenic view!", but saner heads (read: Julie) prevailed, and we rode the tram back to the bottom.

Someone ask Mark about another time he uttered that phrase.....

Hmmm. You didn't do this when we met up. Which tells me that either
a)You didn't think we were cool enough to invite into a longstanding Oblivous Family Tradition
b)PB & J that sat in a cooler in a van for 4 or 5 days would probably be pretty nasty.

Or c) By the time we met up with you we were sick of PB&J

The pictures are fantastic, Mark. As is the narration.

Thanks! I'll take credit for the pictures! hee-hee!

Eileen's reading it. She just doesn't have a login yet, so she's lurking...

Hi Eileen!!!!!!

 

[glennbo123]

It was now time for that world-famous Oblivious Family Road Trip Lunch tradition: peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches in a parking lot.

That tradition is probably more widespread than you know.

As Barry once pointed out, you can probably imagine a scene along the lines of Lt. Dan's family history in Forrest Gump: the Oblivious Family eating PB&J at Bunker Hill, The Alamo, Gettysburg, Bastogne...

Love it! I can see it now...

Bob and Kathryn called to say they were at the Incline...where were we? We replied to say no, WE were at the incline, where were they? After several minutes of childish back-and-forth, we figured out that they had followed their GPS directions...to the top of the hill.

That Bob and Kathryn are so silly.

The Duquesne Incline is one of two funiculars in Pittsburgh (the Monongahela Incline is the other). A funicular, of course, is a set of two tram cars carried up an inclined plane by a cable. The two cars counterbalance each other.

Well of course.

In Pittsburgh, they're called inclines, probably because people feel weird trying to use "funicular" in everyday conversation.

Pittsburghers wouldn't want youns to feel awkward.

As we glided up the rails, Dave looked around him and said, "Whoa. It's a little fast." I'd say we were going at least as fast as the cars on the Tomorrowland Speedway.

Daredevil Dave.

We met Bob and Kathryn at the top and took the short walk to the observation deck, where we were treated to this view:

Breathtaking!

Breathtaking.

Oops, that's what you said too. Okay, um....beautiful!

Coming Up Next: Ohio! Where we let our kids play with big hammers.

Ow, I hate when I do that.

 

[Flossbolna]

Cool funicular!! I have been on several of those, but they are always fascinating! And I think it is very cool that it is an engineering landmark! As the daughter of a civil engineer I am used to those being important sights wherever I visit!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Hmmm. You didn't do this when we met up. Which tells me that either
a)You didn't think we were cool enough to invite into a longstanding Oblivous Family Tradition
b)PB & J that sat in a cooler in a van for 4 or 5 days would probably be pretty nasty.

I think Julie's version is the correct one. Plus, there was no guarantee we'd be able to open the tailgate of the van in that Chicago parking lot.

"Ate PB&J" is much better that the Lt. Dan's "Fought and died"

Yes. Yes, it is.

Was she in in a toll booth, or sitting on a round bed with a purple bedspread, lava lamps and a fog machine?

I couldn't tell for sure. The big disco ball was in the way.

That's the Jeffersons, not Barry White. Try not to get your 70's nostalgia confused.

We're just invoking a mood more than a specific piece of nostalgia.

Oh, and +1

Yes, but were you banging into the center rail the entire time?

It was a smooth ride. Probably because Dave wasn't driving.

Did you have an pronunciation contest with the kids? First person to correctly pronounce all 3 rivers gets to hand out wedgies to the other two.[?QUOTE]

You're going to have to come with me on these trips so you can give me these ideas at the right time. This could have been a spelling contest, too.

How cute, you threw us a softball about baseball teams.

And you refused to play hardball.

Mark, there are two immutable laws of plumbing:
1) Hot goes on the left
2) [redacted] runs downhill

It just makes sense for the bathrooms to be down there.

Good point. Again, where were you when I needed you?

Did they have disco balls?

What porta-john doesnt? I would have traded them in for air-fresheners, though.

The pictures are fantastic, Mark. As is the narration.

Thanks, Barry. I'm having a lot of fun with this, but you know what that's like. And Julie gets the credit for the photography.

Wait a minute... there's a schedule???

Well, it's more like guidelines.

If you're going to go with the Forrest Gump reference, you should definitely go on to explain all of the various ways in which PB&J can be enjoyed the way Bubba does with shrimp.

Good idea! There's PB&J on bread, and uh...

The PB&J milkshake at 50's Prime Time Cafe...

And that's about all I have to say about that.

Don't they have any bushes or trees around the parking lot?

Actually, no. It was a big wide-open gravel lot. Although they did have a pedestrian bridge over the road...

Excellent reference to POTC and Jake and the Neverland Pirates! I think the word "doubloons" has become one of my favorites ever since Jake and the Neverland Pirates came on TV. There just aren't very many places you can use it.

Really, shouldn't we all be using pirate terms more often? Start saying "avast, ye scalawags" as part of your normal conversation. Your friends will love it!

You shouldn't have given saner heads time to prevail.

But then you guys would have said, "Pictures or it didn't happen!" and, well...

Of course not! It is a band from Central Indiana that was started by the producer of the Bob and Tom show. They actually have a few albums and play concerts. Basically they parody rock songs and re-write them as if they are 3 Amish guys named Barry, Graeber and Carl. Here's some of the lyrics of Black Bonnet Girls... I'm pretty sure you can figure out what song that is a parody of

Ohhh, you gonna paint that barn tonight
Ohhh, down beside da lantern light
Ohhh, you gonna finish all your chores
Black bonnet girls you make the Amish world go round

I was just an Amish boy
Full of purity und joy
Knew darn well that I was holier than thee
Left alone with Cousin Greta
What a naughty baby sitta
Heathen woman, you made a Mennonite out of me

Oh my goodness, that's hysterical.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, being a Cubs fan I cannot comment on the futility of other baseball teams.

I would have jumped in on all this Cubs-bashing, but it just feels excessive.

I'm sure that you wouldn't have been the first... or the last to have "christened" the hill.

No doubt. Men tend to think alike that way.

Great update Mark! Makes you actually want to stop in Pittsburgh.

Thanks! Pittsburgh's a nice city. Julie and I were there a few years ago on the 4th of July. They had the fireworks display right over the Point State Park where the 3 rivers meet. That was pretty cool.

One of these days, I want to try a Primanti Brothers sandwich there.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

I think Julie's version is the correct one. Plus, there was no guarantee we'd be able to open the tailgate of the van in that Chicago parking lot.

Whatever do you mean?

You're going to have to come with me on these trips so you can give me these ideas at the right time. This could have been a spelling contest, too.

Official Stupid Idea Guy of the Oblivious Family Vacations.®
As long as I get that ^^ on a t-shirt and some PB&J, I'm in! (Better embroider it on a polo shirt, too, just in case we go somewhere nice.)

One of these days, I want to try a Primanti Brothers sandwich there.

Yes, yes you do. I had one (ok, a few) in Fort Lauderdale a few years back. The owner "retired" down to Florida and opened one down there. Soooooo good.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Great update, Mark. The scenery photos are beautiful -- well done.

Love the family photo.

Thanks Kathy! Julie will be happy you liked the photos.

great update mark!! im glad you had coke zero, dont want to od yourself on all the sugar. that could be the theme of your next trip. pb&j around the states! got to start taking pics of eating pb &j sands. in every place you visit. looks like im gonna have to head to pitts, there no restrooms out there!!!! glad you guys are having a good trip.

They definitely need your help with the bathroom situation! This could be a lot of new clients for you.

except for that stupid lookin hat mark has on.

That's a first-place stupid lookin' hat, mister.

Better than the Flyers shirt he had on when he met me...the Hawks fan.

I knew you and Brian would both appreciate that shirt.

gotta give him credit, wearing that stuff in other cities. (there i go giving him credit again.)

I'm printing out this comment and framing it!

Ok, now it's time for the social-networking portion of this TR. Feel free to find something to do to pass the time.

I see you'll be at DW in 43 days; we'll be there in 40.

we will be at okw, where are you guys staying?

(counting ceiling tiles)

ok, i see your rotating banner now. well have to meet up. ill pm you my cell number and see if we can meet?

(drumming fingers on desk)

We are at the AKL the nights of the 23 and 24th and then move to the OKW until the 29th. Please do send me your number...I'd love to meet up for a drink or something if we can fit it in.

(twiddling fingers)

sorry mark, making plans to meet!! sounds good, we are in a one bedroom in the hh area. we will be pulling in on the 27th hopefully around 8pm. the 28th we dont have much planned. are you a texter or a talker? im a texter.

(playing Solitaire)

I have no idea what section we are staying in (these are points from a friend that we are using...we've never been to OKW). I love texting...and hate talking on the phone (I do enough of that at work). We will be at the MNSSHP on the 27th and the Studios the morning of the 28th and Epcot in the afternoon/evening. I think we are going to try to take a pool break the afternoon of the 28th, but plans keep changing. Let's definitely exchange numbers. Mark will tell you I'm quite charming, won't you Mark????

Zzzzzzzz...huh? What? Oh, yes, absolutely! What was the question?

ok, its on its way!! im glad we could hijack marks trip report.

I think I'm going to have to send you guys fake text messages from each other while you're down there, just to mess with ya.

 

[middlepat]

One of these days, I want to try a Primanti Brothers sandwich there.

Oooo... that looks good.

Yes, yes you do. I had one (ok, a few) in Fort Lauderdale a few years back. The owner "retired" down to Florida and opened one down there. Soooooo good.

Lauderdale you say...
Hmmm, I have to be down in Miami for business some point in the next 6 weeks, I may have to take a short drive for a sammich. (and yes, that is the proper Chicago annunciation).

 

[dvczerfs]

I have no idea what section we are staying in (these are points from a friend that we are using...we've never been to OKW). I love texting...and hate talking on the phone (I do enough of that at work). We will be at the MNSSHP on the 27th and the Studios the morning of the 28th and Epcot in the afternoon/evening. I think we are going to try to take a pool break the afternoon of the 28th, but plans keep changing. Let's definitely exchange numbers. Mark will tell you I'm quite charming, won't you Mark????

good morning mark and kathy!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

You got some fantastic pictures with this update!!! The story is pretty entertaining too!

Thanks Steve!

A stunning view!

Too bad you didn't ask Patty or Selma where the bathroom was BEFORE you took your ride. She would have had the same answer, just a whole lot sooner.

Glad your son made the trip back down the incline without leaking.

+1 for the Simpsons reference. Nice work!

I guess we could have made it work in an emergency. That's one of the advantages of being a guy...the world is your toilet.

Eileen's reading it. She just doesn't have a login yet, so she's lurking...

Hi Eileen! Is your husband reading this TR too?

Someone ask Mark about another time he uttered that phrase.....

Or c) By the time we met up with you we were sick of PB&J

Thanks! I'll take credit for the pictures! hee-hee!

That tradition is probably more widespread than you know.

So you're a cheapskate too?

That Bob and Kathryn are so silly.

Obviously. Or their GPS is a practical joker.

Well of course. Pittsburghers wouldn't want youns to feel awkward.

Very nice! Love the local flavor.

Daredevil Dave.

Breathtaking! Oops, that's what you said too. Okay, um....beautiful!

I believe the phrase you're searching for is "Great minds..."

Ow, I hate when I do that.

+1 for the SNL reference! I vaguely remember watching that skit way back when...probably in a re-run or something. It was hilarious, though.

Cool funicular!! I have been on several of those, but they are always fascinating! And I think it is very cool that it is an engineering landmark! As the daughter of a civil engineer I am used to those being important sights wherever I visit!

Thanks Magdalene! Sounds like you could teach Barry and Andy a lesson or two...