Hello everyone, I’ve been putting off starting this TR because, well, there is a sense of closure with writing the TR and I don’t want the trip to be over. Ever.
I would have gladly gotten right back in the car and driven back the second we go home, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The plan was for the wife and kids to go to her sisters to swim and such and I was going to stay home and take a nap and be on the road by 8:30 pm and drive all night to be in Kissimmee as early as possible the next day, then I rest while everybody else swims and such at the hotel, and then we waltz into Rainforest Café at DTD for our 5:30 reservation to begin our magical week at the World.
Needless to say, it didn’t quite work out that way.
First, just like the commercials, I was WAY too excited to sleep.
Managed to sleep for MAYBE a half hour of the two hours I was in bed, but with adrenaline pumping, we got ready to roll. We packed the car, including the Rubbermaid rooftop luggage rack we had purchased so that we could fit our stroller in the car, started Peter Pan in the DVD player in the backseat, put the address to the hotel into the GPS and hit the road, all smiles.
After about an hour on the road, Mystikgarden was looking out the window and said the clip holding the luggage rack on the roof on her side had come off. I slid the sunroof cover open and I’m sure the look on my face was priceless when we realized BOTH front clips had come loose and the luggage rack had slid all the way to the back of the roof, almost onto the rear window!
Needless to say, we quickly pulled over and I bought a bungee cord to remedy what we suspected were poorly designed clips. Flashback two or three days to my father swearing up and down that the clips didn’t go over the weather stripping around the front doors, but under the lip of the actual metal around the doorframe. Needless to say, he was wrong. I was right.
Back to the present, er, still past, but where I was in the story. With the luggage bungee’d down and the sunroof cover open so we could keep track of how far back it was sliding, we headed on down the road. Now, another side note. The GPS in my fathers car gives you the choice of three routes. Shortest, Quick1 and Quick2. I know that now. I didn’t when we started out. It also automatically updates with road closings, so I figured we were golden. Everyone was asleep when we hit Knoxville (Having come straight down I 75 from Lexington) the GPS had me get on I 40 E. I thought it was odd, but I knew that with the fires around the Georgia/Florida border, part of 75 had been closed recently, so I thought maybe it was trying to get me off 75. Anyway, to make a long story short, Mystikgarden woke up, asked where we were, and my only response was, “North Caroliona.” After stopping for gas and looking at the route on the GPS, we discovered the options for different routes, and that it was taking us down I 91 (I think it was 91, whichever one runs straight down the east coast) and said, “Screw it,” and told the GPS to take us to Atlanta, figuring we would get back on 75 there. It was also about this time that I unhooked the luggage from the roof and hooked it back up the way I originally thought it should go, realizing that it had been hooked up wrong all along, however, when tightening it back down, the clip on the front passenger side broke. Needless to say, after the return trip (And more trouble from the thing) it was in the dumpster as soon as the luggage was out of it.
Another thing about the GPS. This one apparently likes taking you on twisting back roads that end up making two year old little girls car sick.
She was such a trooper, though. Never once complained. She threw up three times, and even at 2 years old and at about 2:00 am, she gave us plenty of warning to get a bag twice, and my coffee mug once to her in time to not make a mess. We had JUST made it into Georgia with nothing left for her to throw up in (Even though, as it turned out, she didn’t anymore) when in the middle of nowhere, there was the shining beacon of a Wal-Mart.
Saved. I stayed in the car with the baby while Mystikgarden and Darth went in to use the facilities. They came back out and I went in, washed my mug the best I could, and mooched some trash bags from the only employee I could find by pulling the “Car Sick 2 year Old in the Car” card. Not the only time I would use her to our advantage on this trip, though not in a bad way.
After getting everyone situated again, we were off, and the bonus to our roundabout trip east and the south was that we skipped Atlanta completely, which always makes me a nervous wreck, no matter what time of the day or night. Back on 75, my spirits soared, I got a third, or was it the fourth, wind and we sped on with the sun coming up.
Then everything got smokey.
As the sun came up we started noticing the smoke from the fires, and let me tell you, I’ve never seen anything like it. Our plan was to stop at the Florida Welcome Center to stretch our legs and get some free OJ, but the smoke was so thick, you could barely see the welcome center from the interstate, so we kept on rolling. We ended up stopping at a McDonald’s a little further along, and everything smelled like a campfire, even though the smoke had thinned a little. After a quick trip to the potty, and a disappointing trip through the drive-thru (Since when does McDonald’s NOT have French Vanilla Latte’s?
) we rolled right on down the road. The smoke ended up clearing up just after Lake City, and when it came time to cut over towards Kissimmee from 75, the GPS once again decided that residential and back roads were the way to go.
And then came the Love Bugs.
It was an infestation. I’ve never seen anything like it. It sounded like we were being shot at as they hit the windshield and before long, you could barely see anything, but we made it through. We ended up at the Best Western Lakeside in Kissimmee where we had a reservation for that night at about 11.
You can see the splattered remains of the love bugs on the windshield, though this in no way indicates the amount that was actually there.
We parked in front of the hotel with people pointing and laughing at the almost black finish of smashed Love Bug on the front of the until recently white Camry, and I went in to try to weasel us into an early check in and the computers were down, so there were probably about 30 people milling around in front of me trying to check out. After waiting for what seemed like hours it was my turn, and I was unceremoniously told that check in was at 3 and that there was nothing they could do for me.
Too tired to argue it, I walked back out to the car and delivered the bad news, thinking what in the heck were we going to do for four hours?! There was a Taco Bell across the street, so we decided to have some lunch and try to figure something out, hoping that a room might be ready.
When we walked into the Taco Bell, we were immediately met with floors so sticky they made movie theater floors look clean. Mystikgarden nearly lost a shoe when it stuck to the floor, but with no other options really, we half heartedly ate some of the worst Taco Bell we’ve ever had, and with Taco Bell, that’s saying something! while trying not to bite each others heads off. We got done eating and went back to the hotel just before noon, figuring we’d try one more time to get our room before we figured out another plan of attack.
Darth and I walked back into the lobby of the hotel and I made a quick glance around, noting that the girl I had talked to earlier who had the look of someone who never does anyone a favor wasn’t there. Score. Maybe we had chance. A few people in line in front of us checking out, my spirits started to raise.
As the line in front of us dwindled, here came the girl I had talked to earlier with several cups of coffee. I started sweating.
I was next in line. Here she came, back to her register, saying she would help whoever was next. Damn. That’s me. I baby stepped up to the register.
“Hi, it’s me again. Look, here’s the deal. We’ve been driving all night, I have a two year old in the car, is there ANY way you can get us into a room before 3? We’re exhausted, and I don’t want to keep bothering you.”
“What’s the name on the reservation?” My spirits started rising again. I told her, and then magic words: “You’re room is ready, sir.” I could have jumped that counter and kissed her, even though I’m sure Mystik wouldn’t have appreciated that!
I walked back to the car grinning and we went to the room, quickly unloaded, and got ready to hop in the pool.
After swimming for about an hour, Mystik and I were so pooped that we couldn’t keep an eye on the kids in the pool anymore and we went back to the room to try to catch a nap before our 5:30 reservation for dinner. All four of us were asleep before our heads hit the pillows and woke up feeling remarkably fresh and excited to begin our magical week at The Rainforest Café in DTD.
Boy were we wrong, but more on that later.
Take a deep breath and say "The magic is with me, the magic is with me" 
And how can you lose - you have your own "Pixardust" right with you to add the magic while the rest of us have to go looking for Tink! 
By the way, I LOVE the daily itineraries he did.
Hope we see you there. Just look for the lgmh's (although your's look so professional 
to be home and are already in talks with the rest of the family to take another trip!!! 
I'm glad the good outweighed the bad, and I'm really glad you caught that luggage carrier before it left entirely! I'm looking forward to hearing more. 
everyday things. We are all down but can't wait to start planning the next trip!!
