Oh TopDog, what a story! I followed along the whole fascinating, hilarious, frustrating adventure. Isn't it a letdown when you have such a wonderful vacation and have to put up with such substandard service on your way home?
We drove home from WDW last year and stopped at a motel about 2/3 of the way because we were too tired to drive anymore. We walked in and the desk clerk was on the phone and didn't even look up or acknowledge us. I waited and waited to check in while she gabbed away. She finally got off the phone but she really had poor communication skills and acted like I was just in the way and bothering her. I just wanted to scream at her, 'YOU NEED TO TAKE SOME CUSTOMER RELATIONS TRAINING FROM DISNEY!!"
Have you ever tried moleskin for blisters? It comes in a little flat pack and you can buy it at a drugstore or
WalMart. It works a lot better than bandaids which tend to come off. When you feel a hot spot forming on your foot you just cut out a piece of the moleskin, peel off the back, and put it on the blistered area. It's very soft (it's not real moleskin) and it prevents the sock or whatever is causing the friction to glide over the affected area and not rub on it, plus it provides protection to the pokey area itself. Hope that makes sense.
I wish you could just hop online occasionally and give us a trip report on your daily life. You would probably make it as entertaining to read as your vacation was. Thanks for the great story, and hopefully you'll have more to share with us.