The ABC's of Trip Reporting- PLEASE JOIN US ON THE NEW THREAD!

[PennyLane1084]

Mary: How nice that you got to meet up with Noah's family? I've read their TR and they seem like such a wonderful family. The older kids were so caring and understanding with their special little brother. I'm sure Noah was there with everyone in spirit that day.
Glad you got a new scooter in due time. Apple Scooters seem to really be on the ball.

Liesa: Beautiful house! Love the views of the river.

 

[All7OfUs]

I totally forgot to say anything about the lovely pictures of your house, but I have to agree with Katharina, that was my first thought as well. It looks so comfortable and cosy! I really hope you won't have to move away from there!

I hope not either! Packing alone is getting really, really old.

Ooh, very very nice! I hope you get to stay here for a while. I could see where that view would be extremely serene. Now, is there any concern about flood stages?

Once about every 20-30 years the water comes up to the deck- but it has never gone higher. I remember in our BIG flood of '96 the water almost went over the deck and my in-laws moved a lot of stuff upstairs, but it stopped there. My neighbor who is a lot lower, gets water in her basement about every 5 years or so.

Leisa,
I love the front of your house! You could have the cutest garden come spring time!

My MIL had put several raised beds in and I'll do a big garden there. The folks directly across our lane grows a U-Pick farm. They grow every kind of berry, tomatoes, peppers, corn and a whole bunch of other stuff, so I'll U-Pick over there. Bek said at hte end of the season last year, he ended up giving us a bunch of stuff. Anyway, I'll do mostly herbs, some rhubarb, and we have plans to plant a whole bunch more fruit trees. It has plums and apples, but we want a few cherries and a peach and a pear.

Maroo, you have me in tears. What a story about Noah. I'm so glad you were able to meet up with the family and catch-up, what a special DIS meet!!!

Liesa, your house is beautiful! I really like the crazy wallpaper...but then again, I'm kinda crazy and loud... And that view....beautiful!!!

I can work around the crazy wallpaper if I go pewter, whites and reds as an accent. But that takes money and time; so...

 

[marvali]

It will be great in the summer, when I turn the covered porch part into an outdoor living room! It already has hammock hooks as well!

I was thinking it looked like a great place for a hammock!!!

What a differenence a space makes!! Sheesh! (It was a funny slip, though!) Wouldnt' that be a funny place to have eyes?? Just saying.

I'm guessing it might explain the, uh, crappy outlook some people have on life!!!

 

[All7OfUs]

You know Marv, I was going to comment on that, but I figured you would, so I left the abuse of poor Liesa to someone else, since I've done so on another thread and feel slightly guilty about it......

The abuse has run rampant- and I am so innocent! You KNOW I"M going to watch for missing spaces forevermore!!

Liesa- what a beautiful house!!!! (except for that wallpaper!!! Little to busy for my taste. ) I'm so glad you are able to finally get settled in.

See, that's what I"m saying- too busy- too bold! But workable if the funds are lacking for new stuff.

Liesa: the house looks beautiful! What a great location! As for the wallpaper, I'm pretty sure that pattern was used in 60's brainwashing and LSD experiments. Or perhaps it was the result of them. I'm not sure.

I actually checked our job postings, and didn't see anything up right now. But we do have a materials lab, so maybe that would be the spot for him?? You'd just have to decide if you want to live in Delaware. Perhaps our state motto will sway you.

Delaware: So Close To Where You'd Rather Be.

Maybe it's where Alfred got his inspiration for The Birds?? Their little beaks are hanging slightly open....

That is a hilarious Motto! Even if it is tongue and cheek!! Delaware gets so much stinking snow and cold- I don't think I could hack it. I swear I'm moving to Florida if the opportunity ever arises.

 

[All7OfUs]

I was thinking it looked like a great place for a hammock!!!
I'm guessing it might explain the, uh, crappy outlook some people have on life!!!

That was exactly my line of thinking- but I left it to you!

 

[All7OfUs]

Liesa - your house is gorgeous. I absolutely love the surroundings and scenery. And the deck and views are just lovely! Are you very far from the town/city? I'm just breathless looking at those photos. I would love to live in a house like that some day

It is quite pretty in summer too with cottonwoods, and hard woods all over the place. Unfortunately, my MIL was an AMAZING gardener, and I don't think I can, or even want to, keep up the flower beds and stuff!

Salem proper is 6 miles from us, and takes about 15 minutes to get to. So we're fairly close to shopping and all kinds of great places (like Pier 1 Imports, and The Olive Garden. )

That's such a great house, Liesa. I remember when you first posted pics last spring. It seems like a very peaceful place - I'd love to have a place to sit and drink my coffee in the morning with a view like that. Really like the blue trim around the porch! Gives it a little European flair

So, no pic of the hot tub?

I do. Every morning I start with a cup of coffee and just stare out at the river. There is a hanging bird feeder just outside the dining table window and I watch the towhees and sparrows and chickadees. The blue is more of a purple and could be changed at any time. Hmmm... hadn't really thought about it yet. I just know that a lot of mold has started to grow on teh white trim on the back and that will need attention first thing in spring!

Okay, I'm here getting caught up! Liesa your house looks so nice! Thanks for sharing it with us.

YOu're so welcome, TG!!!

 

[All7OfUs]

Maroo -
Liesa - Glad you don't think Mike will have to take the CA job. Hope all goes well tomorrow with his interview! You know - there are some pretty awesome people living in PA in case he would get a job offer in here.

I am so glad you enjoyed your DHS time so much - it is tons of fun to read about!

I am also glad to hear Zach is rolling right along with all of the changes!

We really enjoyed Tangled too and Jordan really wants to do the play and greet next week so we will try it.

Love the new house and I think it looks remarkably settled considering you just moved in! Hope you find your trip notes ASAP!

Maroo, Liesa, Camille and anyone else that is interested- if you have time, watch FB starting Saturday for updates from me of our WDW trip. I plan to post pics and updates via my iPhone. If anyone else is interested, feel free to friend me on FB - Jennifer Baney.

Oh! Tommorow IS the interview day! I have been so busy I've forgotten! I do hope it goes well, too, but it actually not the job he is hoping for. He is still waiting on a call from the State Forestry Dept. for work in the Tillamook St. Forest, that one is managing/ accessing logging operations for slope stability and erosion.

Well, Zach is certainly a trooper with all these changes. I know he'll do great!

I do hope that if you find Rapunzel you take lots of pictures!!

I feel a WHOLE lot more settled after last night! We kind of worked at arranging the furniture in our formal living room and it is starting to come together. Tonight my neighbor is comign over with a bottle of wine and she'll help me give another eye to it all. After we get done with the bottle, who knows WHAT my living room will look like.

I saw that too, and like you I chose not to comment.



You have to be joking, right???????!

HA HA!! You refrained yourself!

Love the fall decorations at MK! Glad to hear you got a fully charged wheelchair! My grandfather once had his chair die at the natural history museum. I bet it would be much worse at Disney.

I have no idea where maroo is to comment on this stuff!! Maaaaaaaaa-rooooooooo??

Liesa: Beautiful house! Love the views of the river.

Love it too!!!!! Very cozy!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

You have to be joking, right???????!

That is a hilarious Motto! Even if it is tongue and cheek!! Delaware gets so much stinking snow and cold- I don't think I could hack it. I swear I'm moving to Florida if the opportunity ever arises.

That motto actually was an entry into a contest the Wilmington DE newspaper held to come up with a slogan for the city. The old joke about Delaware is: you can do a lot in Delaware! You can go to Philly, Baltimore, NY...

Naturally, I liked that motto better than the actual winner or the actual state motto, neither of which I can actually remember. Oh, wait. We're The First State. Woohoo.

Anyway, we don't typically get a lot of snow (except for last year), and we do get all 4 seasons, but not nearly as much cold as our neighbors to the north.

But, if you do find a good deal in Florida, well...could you, uh, pass it along?

 

[All7OfUs]

That motto actually was an entry into a contest the Wilmington DE newspaper held to come up with a slogan for the city. The old joke about Delaware is: you can do a lot in Delaware! You can go to Philly, Baltimore, NY...

Naturally, I liked that motto better than the actual winner or the actual state motto, neither of which I can actually remember. Oh, wait. We're The First State. Woohoo.

Anyway, we don't typically get a lot of snow (except for last year), and we do get all 4 seasons, but not nearly as much cold as our neighbors to the north.

But, if you do find a good deal in Florida, well...could you, uh, pass it along?

I hear the DVC is an ok deal. I wonder how much it'd cost to live there every day 365 a year.

Whoopee, first state. Your ancestral delegates just happened to be free the day the Constitution was signed.

Oregon's motto: Welcome to Oregon, now leave.

OR

Keep Portland weird. (Really, that one was semi-official.

 

[All7OfUs]

Even Starlets need a place to find rest and relaxation. And soon it was time to check into my place to find both- or so I thought!! This place:

was reputed to be the most exotic and swanky place in Hollywoodland, and I was lucky enough to snag a reservation first thing during my stay! Looming ahead in all its grandeur, I became quite excited to see how REAL stars spent their money. But as I drew closer, all did not appear as it had been told to me. The gardens were in quite disrepair. But these signs gave me hope that perhaps the groundskeepers were just being lazy (or perhaps spending too much time trying to sneak a few shots on the sly of the upper crust guest list.)

Surely a place that has a “natatorium” must be THE place to find the social company one needs to climb to the top of Hollywoodland elite.

I was certainly glad to have my faithful sidekick, Tate O’Patty along with me; for when I entered the hotel itself, things really began to look fishy!

There were dusty cobwebs all over the obviously once amazing and expensive chandeliers and furniture, and things took on a sadly, and quite eerie, decrepit and unkept look. Surely, at the best place in town the management could do better than this!!! Tate softly whispered in my ear, “I think we somehow got ripped off! Did you book this with AirSuckyTran?"

It wasn’t until I got inside that I also discovered that many other people were trying to get a room at this hotel and we had to stand in line for a good 10 minutes before we reached the check-in desk that was cleverly disguised as a library!!! Odd!

Suddenly, the doors shut us all in, and that song, Hotel California, started to run through my mind! “You can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave…” When the stunned mumbling settled down, some guy in a very smart suit came on a television screen telling us that we were about to enter the Twilight Zone. Whatever. I had spent good money to be seen here, and I simply had to find a way out- even though this smart alek was droning on and on about some wanna be family that tried to tempt fate and stay here once. Ha! They were sure taught a lesson- guess that Diva will never be on the silver screen again.

See? There they are trying to pretend they ARE something.

While I was being held hostage, I started to take a look around the library and noticed a few items from a really creepy show I had seen (quite) a few times. And the funny thing is, every time I got a shot or two, that tricky door would close again, and more people would be let into the library to check in for their stay. That happened 3 TIMES!!!!!!! I had to watch creepy man trying to scare away his guests 3 TIMES!!! Seriously, the owner of this hotel needs to fire not only his groundskeepers, but also the housekeeping staff AND his guest receptionist!!! Odd! How dare them not let me take all the time I wanted for my photo shoot!

But take a looky at all the props for that show I mentioned!! At least they have done a great job at keeping ancient relics from a bygone era.

So, satisfied I had found all the props from “that show”, and having completely memorized the spiel on the television, I was escorted to an area that CERTAINLY wasn’t what I had envisioned when I made my reservation!! Good Lord, this place was D.I.N.G.Y!!! Yuck! There were cables all over the floor, and a furnace!! Take a look at this baby! It was huge! With the oddest tri-circled design on it. What IS this kind of place?! I just wasn’t very impressed by this place at all, but perhaps this is the way they take all their most famous movie stars to their rooms- so the groundskeepers don’t get any of those photos they can sell to the tabloids for $5.

They led our little group into an elevator and told us to fasten our seatbelts. It took me a while to even figure out what that was, because in the 40’s, we don’t know what those are. And pretty soon that silly family that emanated lightening out of their bodies like something out of Rosemary’s baby was there again. Don’t they ever leave??

That’s when things got REALLY weird! I wanted my money back right then, but before I could get out of the elevator to go find the management, I was whisked up to the top of the hotel! And then, I was flung down again! Apparently, NO ONE does their job around that place- because, had I been in charge, the maintenance staff would have seen a pink slip as well! Up and down we went, and lo and behold….

The more we went up and down….


The more I began to like this place!! A LOT! So this was the secret: They gave their guests the thrill of a lifetime. I finally understood what everyone was raving about- and no wonder only the elite of the elite could get a reservation! Completely breathless, I exited my existential experience and wondered just how long it would be before I would get to stay in the Hollywood Tower of Terror again.

Before I saw the light of day again, I found homage to one of my favorite colleagues once again:

And even took my “complementary” photo home with me:

(Obviously I was enjoying my stay!)

So what did I think of this ritzy place with a “natatorium”?

It was quite a scream!!!!

 

[mom3sonstt]

So what did I think of this ritzy place with a “natatorium”?

It was quite a scream!!!!

 

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

I LOVE that update! Awesome!!!!! That Hotel California bit made me chuckle! Hubby was singing that on our walk to ToT last time!!!

 

[disneyaddicted]

MarooHow awesome that you got to meet up with Noah's family again. That brought tears to my eyes.

Liesa
I love your house. It's so me. Wanna trade? I don't have a river...everyday, but when it rains hard enough my two creeks merge and then I have a river...even a lake.

AirsuckyTran? I flew them once, and got a free ticket when my flight was delayed 4 hours, so then I used my free ticket to fly to Texas and got another free ticket when they lost my luggage and then once they found it delivered it to the wrong person. So now Feb 1st I am using that free ticket to fly to Mi. As much as I would love another free ticket I am hoping "third time is a charm" rings true for me.

I loved the update, super funny.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

LOVE it!!! Awesome job spotting those hidden mickeys. So, what's the trick on capturing the redneck ride photos? Mine never turn out. I make a bad redneck, I guess

 

[Poolrat]

All caught up.

Maroo- Such a sweet story and I am glad you got to meet up with Noah's family again.

Liesa- What a scream! Love the natatorium. A few places I went still used that reference in signage.

 

[All7OfUs]

Hi Tanya! Your TR is the very next one on my list to get caught up on! I haven't abandoned you, m'dear!

I LOVE that update! Awesome!!!!! That Hotel California bit made me chuckle! Hubby was singing that on our walk to ToT last time!!!

So glad you enjoyed it!! And just think, YOU can stay in the Hotel california anytime you like, cuz you get to move to Florida! So. jealous!

MarooHow awesome that you got to meet up with Noah's family again. That brought tears to my eyes.

Liesa
I love your house. It's so me. Wanna trade? I don't have a river...everyday, but when it rains hard enough my two creeks merge and then I have a river...even a lake.

AirsuckyTran? I flew them once, and got a free ticket when my flight was delayed 4 hours, so then I used my free ticket to fly to Texas and got another free ticket when they lost my luggage and then once they found it delivered it to the wrong person. So now Feb 1st I am using that free ticket to fly to Mi. As much as I would love another free ticket I am hoping "third time is a charm" rings true for me.

I loved the update, super funny.

The house is a beauty for sure! And I like that the river stays where it belongs most of the time!

They jacked me around too many times in getting ready for my trip- so I dumped them, then dubbed them. But, I would love a free ticket, for sure!

Glad you enjoyed the update- it was a fun time on my favorite WDW ride!

LOVE it!!! Awesome job spotting those hidden mickeys. So, what's the trick on capturing the redneck ride photos? Mine never turn out. I make a bad redneck, I guess

I had to take a zillion of them, on a couple of settings before i got one. Most of the time my redneck photos did NOT turn out, and I walked the walk of shame usually- after they blinked off the board.

I have a TON of HMs from the trip- and for those of you (yes, you) who played the game- you should start counting. The question was; Would Liesa find and photograph at least 15????

All caught up.



Liesa- What a scream! Love the natatorium. A few places I went still used that reference in signage.

the pool at my university in Flagstaff, AZ was actually called that- so I knew what this was when I saw it- then realized I am older that dirt! It's been a long, long time since I've used that word!

 

[MEK]

That was great! I want to ride ToT with you! You even got the ghosts! Great detail shots! Some I have never seen!

 

[glennbo123]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your stay. I've never noticed those signs to the natatorium and what not.

Oh, and the words in Hotel California are, "you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave."

 

[Pyrate_Pryncess]

So glad you enjoyed it!! And just think, YOU can stay in the Hotel california anytime you like, cuz you get to move to Florida! So. jealous!

Me moving to Florida just means that you will ALWAYS have a place to stay at on your way to DISNEY!!! It also means that I will NEVER miss another DISmeet ever, ever again!

 

[tinacaplan]

Excellent update!