The Last Trip: An (Eastern) Fantasy Food Adventure-Bonus Feature, Pam & Her Mom Pt 2 Sept 17 the end

[Captain_Oblivious]

But the kitty I'm thinking about is little Natasha. As the days ticked on, I started to notice a growth in her tummy. If you remember Olga, she had a tumor in her kidney, I was afraid that was the case, but as it turned out she has a growth of another kind. We took her to the vet and via ultrasound they saw three healthy babies. Monday night all five of them arrived!

Congrats on the new kittens! That's a lot of new mouths to feed!

Tuesday the repair guy came out and we need a whole new cooling system. Cha-ching.

Just what you needed.

The good new is that we can set the rent several hundred dollars higher per month for both of them as rents in our area have surged a bunch in the last year or so. Our tenants who have been settled for a while are lucky that we are benevolent and only issue small rent increases instead of making their rents current with demand.

Hope you get those vacancies filled quickly. And I hope your current tenants appreciate your benevolence!

I'll give you a small spoiler, IT’S AWESOME!!!!!!!!

I'm sure I would love it!

The lines for bag check were crazy long.

Holy cow. That looks insane.

But on the Monorail side they were totally short. Why people are such sheep that follow each other around, I will never know!

That's just bizarre. If I'm in a line that bad, I'm always scanning for a better option!

If you've ever experienced this burning sensation in your shins it can be anything from a dull ache to outright excruciating pain. I skipped right over the dull ache part!

Yuck! Shin splints are the worst.

Fran asked where the tater tots were, and I kicked myself for not thinking of that!

I like the way she thinks!

 

[franandaj]

I think we've solved that problem now. If we have another child, it will result in either a malpractice suit or a divorce.

TMI!!!! TMI!!!!

I'm with Alison!

Still throwing ideas around for our 20th anniversary next year. It's a good excuse for adult time!

There are so many fun things for adults to do there, I don't know why people even bring kids.

Someone else used it several years ago, and I copied and pasted it into my photos so I could use it as needed.

I end up sticking with the ones that I have the code memorized for. So often I'm quoting from my phone that I can't do the copy paste thing.

 

[afwdwfan]

Tuesday the repair guy came out and we need a whole new cooling system. Cha-ching. It will take 2-10 business days for that to arrive.

If it weren't for bad luck...

Our tenants who have been settled for a while are lucky that we are benevolent and only issue small rent increases instead of making their rents current with demand.

That's nice of you! Although I'm sure there's some mutual benefit too if you have tenants who are reliable, it's easier than raising the rent abruptly and potentially pushing them away.

I woke up around 6AM, at first I was unclear why I felt a dull ache in my palm and and then I remembered why my hand hurt so much.

Well, you did have quite a few drinks after that incident...

If you've ever experienced this burning sensation in your shins it can be anything from a dull ache to outright excruciating pain. I skipped right over the dull ache part! Climbing the hill to the resort monorail took almost everything out of me and this was all before breakfast!

I've experienced that, although not a chronic thing. Definitely painful!

We left without meeting Pooh and Tigger, and while it was a slight disappointment, it’s not like I didn’t meet them twice in the last year, so I was OK with leaving. Besides we had some more Flower & Garden to attend to! But we’ll get to that in the next update!

We all know you were just there for the Strawberry Soup anyway. Well, at least that was why Fran was there.

 

[dolphingirl47]

On other fronts our walk-in cooler is again on the fritz. Now it's leaking freon somewhere in the lines, so we're having to make some modifications to the way the whole thing works. There is a freestanding freezer inside the fridge that we are going to relocate, but the door of the fridge needs to come off to get the fridge out of there. We did that on Friday. Tuesday the repair guy came out and we need a whole new cooling system.

Goodness, that cooler is giving you a lot of trouble. I hope that this will sort it out once and for all.

We've had two other vacancies come up, so those have been taking up our time.

You have a lot of turnover recently.

The good new is that we can set the rent several hundred dollars higher per month for both of them as rents in our area have surged a bunch in the last year or so.

Putting it that way, this sounds like a positive development.

It's was FP+ time for the October trip last Friday, and I got a couple for the new rides in Pandora.

Well done for getting both Pandora rides.

Something was up with the busses and they didn't have a bus to MK arrival time listed on the times board. They got it sorted out and we were on our way soon, it was 10AM when we got to MK.

Looks like you made good time there especially with the bus trouble.

Next I went out of my comfort zone and made a breakfast burrito with ham, sausage, bacon, cheese, Pico de gallo, and a little bit of egg.

That looks absolutely delicious.

Corinna

 

[pkondz]

I can tell you about the neighborhoods and such, I bet the downtown hotels are pricey then. I will be gone (at Disney) race weekend. I've booked every weekend in April in anticipation of DCA F&W. And depending on how long you plan to stay, our band concert will be the Sunday before the race.

I'm not sure on if I want to spend $$$$ and be near the track or just $$$ and get points (Country Inn & Suites, Anaheim)
If the latter... well... maybe a quick pop into DL... You know.... for old times sakes.

Thanks for letting me know THE day. As I said I have Friday and Saturday nights booked at Disney.

That actually works for me as I'm sure I'll be hanging around the track for the entire weekend.

I'll send you an email, okay?

I have to cancel my reservations for the first weekend due to the band concert. When you say "Race Day" which one is that? As far as I know, it's three days.

The race day itself is the Sunday. There are other races going on, possibly some on Saturday? But I'm not at all interested in them. But there's practice and qualifying leading up to it.

You have more of a schedule than I do. I don't have anything making me get up and do things other than my own desire to accomplish stuff.

I was kinda meaning that. Sure if I'm working I have to do that, but if it's a day off...

Sometimes I wake up and don't do anything productive for hours.

I rarely do that, though. Ruby insists I do stuff.

I have to keep using that one because I don't know where Mark gets the puking one from.

You mean this one?

Or this one?

There's a good fondue place down in Irvine. You mean the Blind Rabbit. Interesting looking place. I would give it a go, the menu isn't exactly my cup of tea, but I could find something on there to eat.

Hmmm... I wanted to go there too.
I wonder if we can convince @Steppesister to come down in April?

 

[pkondz]

So if you have been following the IRL updates, you may remember er that we rescued a couple kitties back in June/July.

As the days ticked on, I started to notice a growth in her tummy.

Big eater, huh?

We took her to the vet and via ultrasound they saw three healthy babies. Monday night all five of them arrived!

Your vet may not be the best ultrasounder in the world.
(is too a word. I made it up and now it's a word.)

She has already moved them from their original hiding place once.

From where to where?

And are you keeping them all? Or going to find them homes elsewhere?

On other fronts our walk-in cooler is again on the fritz. Now it's leaking freon somewhere in the lines, so we're having to make some modifications to the way the whole thing works. There is a freestanding freezer inside the fridge that we are going to relocate, but the door of the fridge needs to come off to get the fridge out of there. We did that on Friday. Tuesday the repair guy came out and we need a whole new cooling system. Cha-ching. It will take 2-10 business days for that to arrive. Thank goodness we have our old fridge from the old house in the garage!

Ugh. Sorry to hear that.

Fran has started contacting furniture sellers on Craigslist to find someone who will take our last 4-5 pieces of furniture on consignment.

How is that working out?

The good new is that we can set the rent several hundred dollars higher per month for both of them as rents in our area have surged a bunch in the last year or so.

Which will enable you to fix and replace cooling systems.

Our tenants who have been settled for a while are lucky that we are benevolent and only issue small rent increases instead of making their rents current with demand.

Do you have laws about how much you can increase rent? I know we do up here... don't know what the limit is, but it's fairly minimal.

It's was FP+ time for the October trip last Friday, and I got a couple for the new rides in Pandora.

Nice!

I got Mission Space as I hear it's supposed to have a new one.

Oh! I hadn't heard that. May have to give it a go in November.

Guardians of the Galaxy ride at DCA. I'll give you a small spoiler, IT’S AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Good to hear!

I still don't want them to touch TOT in DHS, though.

But for now let's head back to March and get this TR wrapped up!

Okay!

Let me start off this update by backtracking a little bit

You're going the wrong way if you want to wrap this up!

I realized that I did get her to pose for one set of pictures before the crankies set in

So then you have to apologize to her.
You can do it here. She probably won't see the original comment or the apology, so it'll be a wash either way.

My fave shot of you two.

I woke up around 6AM, at first I was unclear why I felt a dull ache in my palm and and then I remembered why my hand hurt so much.

Did the sliver come out?

Something was up with the busses and they didn't have a bus to MK arrival time listed on the times board.

Uh, oh...

They got it sorted out and we were on our way soon, it was 10AM when we got to MK.

Well, that's not too bad! I was thinking an hour or more.

The lines for bag check were crazy long.

How long?

That long! Holy crap!!!!

But on the Monorail side they were totally short. Why people are such sheep that follow each other around, I will never know!

I tell my kids this All. The. Time.
"Don't be sheep."

I demonstrate it in the left turn lane.
There are two lanes. After the turn, there's the mall on the right. Where we're going.
There are 20 cars in the right-most lane and none in the left.
The light allows maybe 5-6 cars to go through.

I've never had a problem changing lanes after the turn to get into the mall.



Baaaa!!!

However, an even older injury creeped back into my life on this day. Shin splints.

Oh, dear. Sorry Alison. I've heard that can be really painful.

If you've ever experienced this burning sensation in your shins it can be anything from a dull ache to outright excruciating pain. I skipped right over the dull ache part!

You shouldn't have.

Climbing the hill to the resort monorail took almost everything out of me and this was all before breakfast!

I was feeling a little odd today. Normally I have a food routine at this restaurant, but for some reason I was not feeling my same self. Perhaps it was the fact that this was the third time in a 12 month period we had eaten here, or maybe I was just feeling like changing things up.

I get that way too. Some places I know just what I want.

And then I get there and.... throw that out the window and go in a completely different direction.

Is it frowned upon if you just take the entire pan?

After I got Fran a bowl of the strawberry soup

There it is!

I had him make it with everything, ham, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, onions, green peppers and cheese.

Yum!!

Mary Poppins came by just as I was getting back. I made it brief with her as I didn’t want my food to get cold.

"Yeah, yeah. Enough chit-chat. Time's a wasting, Mary."

Next I went out of my comfort zone and made a breakfast burrito with ham, sausage, bacon, cheese, Pico de gallo, and a little bit of egg.

How was that?

I see a benny!!!

 

[Steppesister]

I have wanted to go there since my cousin's hubby mentioned it! Looks super fun, and of course, I'd love to see you all again too! We had a great time- nothing like repeat fun.

I will try my absolute best to get down there. Just keep me in the loop as you all make plans.

 

[franandaj]

Congrats on the new kittens! That's a lot of new mouths to feed!

Well lucky they came with an automatic feeding mechanism that lasts for at least another two weeks!

Just what you needed.

Yeah, this house thing is rather expensive!

Hope you get those vacancies filled quickly. And I hope your current tenants appreciate your benevolence!

I'm hoping so too, and if they've looked into the prices of moving they sure know. Either that or just read the flyers I'm putting out at the rentals!

I'm sure I would love it!

I have not heard of anyone who doesn't like the new ride.

Holy cow. That looks insane.

That's what I thought!

That's just bizarre. If I'm in a line that bad, I'm always scanning for a better option!

Yeah, I'm really surprised at how many people got stuck in that line.

Yuck! Shin splints are the worst.

Yeah, it's been a long time since I had that sensation....

I like the way she thinks!

She's usually spot on!

If it weren't for bad luck...

Yeah, pretty much.

I've experienced that, although not a chronic thing. Definitely painful!

They totally suck. I don't remember experiencing that since Jr. High.

Well, you did have quite a few drinks after that incident...

Exactly. I totally believe that's why I didn't quite remember why it hurt when I woke up.

We all know you were just there for the Strawberry Soup anyway. Well, at least that was why Fran was there.

I was there for Fran to have the strawberry soup.

Goodness, that cooler is giving you a lot of trouble. I hope that this will sort it out once and for all.

Me too! This stupid refrigerator is costing us more than 10 refrigerators!

You have a lot of turnover recently.

Yeah, its kind of sucking. But each one is a different situation so I hope it is not a trend!

Putting it that way, this sounds like a positive development.

We have to look at it that way! If they all rent at our asking prices we will get an additional $500 per month...

Well done for getting both Pandora rides.

Yeah, they were only available towards the end of the trip, but that's kind of why I planned it that way.

Looks like you made good time there especially with the bus trouble.

It was actually abysmal time, but since there was widespread trouble it didn't make any difference.

That looks absolutely delicious.

I plan on making myself another one next month when we are there!

 

[pkondz]

Well lucky they came with an automatic feeding mechanism that lasts for at least another two weeks!

These days, things just don't last anymore! Automatic feeding mechanisms should last longer than a month. I say you get another one.


no?

 

[franandaj]

I'm not sure on if I want to spend $$$$ and be near the track or just $$$ and get points (Country Inn & Suites, Anaheim)
If the latter... well... maybe a quick pop into DL... You know.... for old times sakes.

I think I mentioned that traffic around the race is awfully congested, and not just on race days. It would be easier to sashay around to places while not caught in gridlock leaving your hotel.

That actually works for me as I'm sure I'll be hanging around the track for the entire weekend.

I'll send you an email, okay?

Back atcha!

The race day itself is the Sunday. There are other races going on, possibly some on Saturday? But I'm not at all interested in them. But there's practice and qualifying leading up to it.

I know about the Celebrity Race on Friday. They always cover the race the preceding week on my daily news program, but not on Saturday and Sunday.

I was kinda meaning that. Sure if I'm working I have to do that, but if it's a day off...

In my life there is rarely a distinction between working and a day off. Even on vacation sometimes.

I rarely do that, though. Ruby insists I do stuff.

Fran does that too, but when she is still asleep.

You mean this one?

Or this one?

Actually neither. His has one person puking on another.

Hmmm... I wanted to go there too.
I wonder if we can convince @Steppesister to come down in April?

I will start a group conversation....

Big eater, huh?

Actually yes, but now she has five additional mouths to feed!

Your vet may not be the best ultrasounder in the world.
(is too a word. I made it up and now it's a word.)

They did say the pesky things like the liver, kidney and lungs were blocking their view.

From where to where?

And are you keeping them all? Or going to find them homes elsewhere?

They were born in the bottom hollow of a cat tree (you actually saw a picture of said trees on FB), then she moved them under the curio cabinet next to the piano. Now they reside under the curio cabinet near the front door.

Ugh. Sorry to hear that.

Yeah, in the next update I will be able to report that finally it works again.

How is that working out?

Dunno. She hasn't shared any replies she has received. I know she got one, I saw it on her phone when I was futzing with it, but didn't bother to read it. Probably a "No, we don't take pieces like that."

Which will enable you to fix and replace cooling systems.

Well that's already been done, technically though not paid for yet....

Do you have laws about how much you can increase rent? I know we do up here... don't know what the limit is, but it's fairly minimal.

It depends on a lot of circumstances, but for us, no, we can charge as much as we want. The question there is, "Will someone pay that much?" I'm considering lowering the rent on the unit that I'm currently showing. Probably will on Monday.

Oh! I hadn't heard that. May have to give it a go in November.

I think it's now called Mission Space Reboot!

Good to hear!

I still don't want them to touch TOT in DHS, though.

I'm OK with them leaving that one. It was always better than the CA version anyways.

You're going the wrong way if you want to wrap this up!

So then you have to apologize to her.
You can do it here. She probably won't see the original comment or the apology, so it'll be a wash either way.

She doesn't care....

My fave shot of you two.

Thanks!

Did the sliver come out?

It must have. Honestly I don't remember and would have forgotten the whole falling incident if I didn't have trip notes, well and a picture of my hand with the sliver in there. So much happened in March it went by like a whirlwind!

Well, that's not too bad! I was thinking an hour or more.

And everyone was late for their reservation so it didn't really matter.

How long?

That long! Holy crap!!!!

I tell my kids this All. The. Time.
"Don't be sheep."

I demonstrate it in the left turn lane.
There are two lanes. After the turn, there's the mall on the right. Where we're going.
There are 20 cars in the right-most lane and none in the left.
The light allows maybe 5-6 cars to go through.

I've never had a problem changing lanes after the turn to get into the mall.



Baaaa!!!

Yeah, I never follow the herd....

Oh, dear. Sorry Alison. I've heard that can be really painful.

Yes. It is.

You shouldn't have.

Like I had any control!

I get that way too. Some places I know just what I want.

And then I get there and.... throw that out the window and go in a completely different direction.

Yup!

Is it frowned upon if you just take the entire pan?

As long as you put it pack empty....

"Yeah, yeah. Enough chit-chat. Time's a wasting, Mary."

My eggs are getting cold....

How was that?

It was great! I plan on having one again in 44 days.

I see a benny!!!

that was Fran's....I haven't had one in a while....

I have wanted to go there since my cousin's hubby mentioned it! Looks super fun, and of course, I'd love to see you all again too! We had a great time- nothing like repeat fun.

I will try my absolute best to get down there. Just keep me in the loop as you all make plans.

Email to come shortly!

 

[franandaj]

These days, things just don't last anymore! Automatic feeding mechanisms should last longer than a month. I say you get another one.


no?

Well and even then who knows how long you can count on the automatic feeding mechanism....she's a little temperamental and doesn't always cooperate as it is now.

 

[franandaj]

IRL update….the fridge is working again. It is so nice not to have to walk out to the garage to get milk for my coffee! Of course it gave a huge hit to my wallet! But let’s hope that it is now fixed once and for all. Let this be a lesson, when your contractor says, “My buddy’s uncle works in the cooling business….” Find someone who makes their living in a Customer Service based company and not contracted by the State University near your house!


Another reason my time here has been scarce is that our little momma delivered her babies two weeks ago! Here they are the morning of after they were born.

Here they are with me and getting accustomed to human touch.

Not much news on the vacancies. I've shown the 1st one a few times, no applications yet. The second one will be turning in their keys in less than a week. I did a walk through with them and it looks like they may possibly get a full refund on their deposit. I've never seen an apartment in such great condition! Essentially I'll be able to bring the “For Rent” sign with me to put up when I pick up their keys! The last one has until the beginning of October to vacate, that apartment is in the same building as the second one. I'm hoping I have the second one rented by the end of the month so I don't have two apartments in the same building competing against each other.

Our trip is rapidly approaching, only about 40 days or so? I need to place our grocery order in the next week. Regardless of what we plan to eat out, I still need cereal, yogurt, bread, and then I always like to make at least one or two real breakfasts. That really says vacation to me. I can’t tell you how many times in the last few weeks that I’ve woken up thinking how much I’d like to make bacon and eggs with toast, and then real life sets in and I realize that I barely have time to make coffee and scarf down a bowl of cereal with a glass of V8 on the side. I’m still hammering out the final details of what to order and I hope to do that by early next week.


So I guess it’s back to the trip report!




We caught the monorail from the GF to the TTC and soon we were off to EPCOT. I love the flower displays and took advantage of our vantage point to capture them.

On our way into the park we stopped for a few PP Pictures.

And I took a few photos as well.

Fran's first stop was The Pin Trader. Since my legs were killing me, she let me sit on her scooter in the shade behind the store while she bought her pins. Remember that shot of figment that I waited for on Saturday? I finally got it today, it’s no wonder, she took so long in the Pin shop!

We took a few photopass pictures that she was too cranky to wait for on Saturday, before we hit the kiosks.

The first one I wanted was The Berry Basket.

They had a lamb Chop with blackberry sauce and a Wild berry Buckle. I broke my eating in order rules and ate the buckle first. The ice cream was melting pretty fast. This was sooooo good! The cake like part was hot and moist, they took them out of little foil pans when you ordered them so it tasted just like it had come out of the oven!

The lamb Chop was really good too! The berry sauce worked really well on the meat. I'm not surprised, I have a recipe for pork chops that has a raspberry vinaigrette sauce so why not with a lamb chop? The quinoa salad it was served with was interesting. There was more onion and bell pepper in there than there was quinoa.

We continued around World Showcase. I was just snapping pictures of topiaries until we got to Germany which was our next kiosk stop. These orchids in Mexico were quite beautiful.

This was more for Fran than me. She loves potato pancakes.

The one with ham and sour cream was pretty good. I ate my half. I didn't care for the one with apple sauce. I really wouldn't call that topping applesauce.

The berry topped strudel was very good, but the berries overpowered the strudel itself.

I got a glass of the Brut Champagne they were serving.

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Time was running out. I had one more booth to visit and we had less than half an hour. But before we left Germany we got a shot of Snow White and the Sever Dwarves

While we made a stop at the restroom, reality smacked me back in the face. Our gardener sent me a text asking if it was OK to call right now, and he doesn’t usually just call to chat, although he is fairly chatty once you get him started. It turns out that someone dumped a couch in front of the De Soto apartments. When you call the city to pick it up, they charge you around $100 for a special pick up. He said that he could take it to the dump for $60, so I told him to go ahead and we would also pay him for his time. I’d rather give the money to him than the city. It never stops, even when we’re on trips.

Lady and the Tramp in Italy. I actually preferred my nighttime shot of them to this one.

Eventually we made it to the last kiosk on my list. Japan.

I really wanted the Tuna Poke. It's become such a fad now. There is a place that just opened up near my house called AhiPokeBowl. They have 11 kinds of seafood (OK one is tofu not seafood), a dozen complimentary toppings and seven sauces. I get the regular bowl with two scoops of fish (over white rice, they have brown rice and weeds too), choose a sauce (I am working my way through them), and then I pretty much get all the toppings. It's pricey for lunch, but pretty tasty! However I digress. Back to Japan kiosk.

So I got the poke.

I really love Udon Noodles and liked the dish last year, so I got one of those.

And a Junmai sake.

I tried to finish both but I couldn't. Since Fran doesn't eat raw fish, I polished off the poke and she ate the beef udon. And now it was 3:30, the time we wanted to be getting our carry ons out of Bell Services. We hustled our butts out of the park. As I walked up the hill to the Boardwalk from the International Gateway I noticed my ibuprofen had definitely worn off. I was trying not to complain, but we had a discussion about how bad my shins hurt and I was considering taking a half of one of her pain pills. If I’m doing that, you know it’s bad because they are serious pain pills. If you go to the dentist and get a root canal and the dentist gives you a prescription for pain pills, they are probably half the strength of Fran’s “light” pain pills. Hence the reason I take half. Her “general” pain pills are substantially stronger, and if she is really hurting she has a huge supply of morphine. No we are not selling or anything like that. We are hoarding it for when her pain is that severe.

We arrived at the Bell Desk with plenty of time to spare, but I barely avoided another plank on the boardwalk that could have caused me another nasty fall. I was definitely paying attention to every step!

Our ride finally came and the guys running the bus told us they had 12 extra seats so that we could each take our own row! A welcome stretch that I appreciated!

We didn’t have any trouble getting to the gate and instead of taking one of Fran’s pills, I ended up rubbing some magic gel on my shins to ease the pain. It’s a wonderful thing, and thankfully I am now stocked up on it for the next who knows how many years! Thank you. You know who you are!

Once we were boarded and in the air, they came by to ask about meals. I had ordered one of each meal for Fran and I. Our choices were Chicken with a risotto or a ravioli which they told me had a white sauce. I picked the ravioli.

I played my Mahjong game for a while and finally decided to pick out a movie. I chose something called “Nice Guys” with Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe and Matt Bomer. It kept me amused, but I wouldn’t really recommend it. If you live in LA, there were some amusing references as it was set in the 70s, but they screwed up on some “time related” things in the scenery and there was a lot of cuss words which really didn’t seem necessary other than to ensure an “R” rating.

When they brought the meal, it was nothing that I expected. They had sold out the chicken and this was the only thing left. It was a gosh darned Chile Relleno! I’m not a fan of chile relleno, in fact I don’t even like them.

Fran loves them, but she bought a sandwich in the airport because it’s easier to eat than their meals.

Since I had no other choice, I ate the cheese out of the middle, but was not happy. The sides were nasty too. Kale and crap.

I gladly took the ice cream sundae with butterscotch sauce.

Once the movie was over, I think I just played my game on the tablet for the rest of the trip home.

In the terminal we had our own special escort. She waited with us while we waited (forever) for the scooter and then, she accompanied us down to the baggage claim. I’m not sure why she felt the need to do this, we’re perfectly sufficient on our own, but she helped me get Fran to the curb with the bags and then I took off to get the car.

As of January 2017, the shuttle busses stopped picking passengers up on the lower level of the airport. Thank goodness I left Fran and the bags down there on the lower level. Can you see us shlepping all the bags to the upper level to catch a shuttle back to the parking lot? It was a quick trip and I got off at the first stop (outside the lot) as always and walked past the “Do not Enter” sign on the arm gate to get to my car. I don’t want to sit there while the bus rides all the way around the giant lot to finally end up at the depot where I normally park. I’d rather slip through the gate where the buses exit!

I picked up Fran, we loaded the car, stopped at the grocery store for bread and milk on the way home, and then drove through Jack in the Box for one of their $1+ chicken sandwiches.

The kitties have picked up on how to be aloof when we first get home, but still it doesn’t take them long to come around and show us how much they missed us. Ever since coming home, my little Tesla now chooses to sleep on top of me in the mornings, something that while cute, I’m not sure how much I appreciate having a 15lb cat on my legs!

So that’s it, we were supposed to be done with all trips until the old apartment was cleaned out. I did cheat some, I had three overnight trips to the Grand Californian planned, and you have even heard all about them on the other TR! But that was merely for the purpose of using up the points I had there that would have been lost if I didn’t use them by September 1st.

As I wrote these notes (one week after returning from this trip), I said, “I am painfully aware that we have no plans to go to WDW in the future. No reminders to book rooms, no ADRs to make. It’s sad really. I can tell you this. Once the old house IS cleaned out, the next Monday, we are going to Las Vegas! Well unless it’s one of the nights we’re using up points at the Grand, but you better bet the following week, we’re going to Vegas! Until then, I’ll have to live vicariously through all your Trip Reports and my day trips to Disneyland.”

Well since that was over six months ago when I wrote that, many of you know that since then we have traveled to Denver and have a trip to WDW in the works. No, the old apartment isn’t done, but it seems that there is something else keeping us from doing that not related to travel. Perhaps something in a past life. I still intend to take that trip to Vegas! And now the weather will be much more cooperative!

Stay tuned here, more Bonus updates to come in the next few months, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, the Train at DL reopening and Fantasmic!

 

[tiggrbaby]

The kitties are so cute!

Wow! I'm so impressed with how much you were able to accomplish before heading home!

 

[pkondz]

I think I mentioned that traffic around the race is awfully congested, and not just on race days. It would be easier to sashay around to places while not caught in gridlock leaving your hotel.

Hmmm.... That helps... Then again, I usually go pretty early.... dunno.

Back atcha!

I saw I had one from you, but haven't had a chance to reply (or read it!) yet.
Soon!

I know about the Celebrity Race on Friday. They always cover the race the preceding week on my daily news program, but not on Saturday and Sunday.

That's so... bizarre to me. The whole reason there's a race weekend is because of the Sunday race.

In my life there is rarely a distinction between working and a day off. Even on vacation sometimes.

This too is bizarre to me. Maybe when I retire.

Fran does that too, but when she is still asleep.

Actually neither. His has one person puking on another.

I will start a group conversation....

Standing by!

Actually yes, but now she has five additional mouths to feed!

They did say the pesky things like the liver, kidney and lungs were blocking their view.

They should remove those. Better photos will result.

They were born in the bottom hollow of a cat tree (you actually saw a picture of said trees on FB), then she moved them under the curio cabinet next to the piano. Now they reside under the curio cabinet near the front door.

Awww...

Yeah, in the next update I will be able to report that finally it works again.

Good!

Dunno. She hasn't shared any replies she has received. I know she got one, I saw it on her phone when I was futzing with it, but didn't bother to read it. Probably a "No, we don't take pieces like that."

oh. Well.... good luck!

It depends on a lot of circumstances, but for us, no, we can charge as much as we want. The question there is, "Will someone pay that much?" I'm considering lowering the rent on the unit that I'm currently showing. Probably will on Monday.

Interesting. Here I think it's an increase of 1-3 percent only is allowed?

I think it's now called Mission Space Reboot!

I checked.
RELAUNCHED! Mission: SPACE

I'm OK with them leaving that one. It was always better than the CA version anyways.

Oh! I wasn't aware of that.

Yeah, I never follow the herd....

Admirable. Seriously.

As long as you put it pack empty....

I can do that.

that was Fran's....I haven't had one in a while....

Well and even then who knows how long you can count on the automatic feeding mechanism....she's a little temperamental and doesn't always cooperate as it is now.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm a little behind but I am slowly catching up!

They had gazpacho and Fran was all over that.

What! That is so cool, they did not have this on CC in February. But maybe gazpacho is more of a summer thing, and it wasn't that warm the day we were on CC.

Fran skipped dessert but I decided I would have an ice cream cone. I wasn't paying close attention and I thought I was getting a Strawberry and vanilla cone, but it turns out that it was strawberry and banana. It was surprisingly good, I never would have expected that.

My FIL loved the banana ice cream. I have yet to try it but I was all over the chocolate.

so cute! I love the coconut shape!

One of the hot tubs was occupied by a couple, but the other had just one woman in there so I climbed in. We ended up talking for the entire time. She had seven kids and six were on the ship, so she was hiding from her family.

Hahahaha that's so funny. I'd totally hide from my family too. I tried to do that in August.

These were so cool. I wish I had more time to look at them.

The cheese was ooey gooey, and the broth was just fantastic!

Yum! How does it compare to BoG?

I've had this too and it was good but very rich!

My favorite!! I loved this!!! During F and W they are currently having a POG flavored one. Not sure which one I liked better.

 

[afwdwfan]

Let this be a lesson, when your contractor says, “My buddy’s uncle works in the cooling business….” Find someone who makes their living in a Customer Service based company and not contracted by the State University near your house!

Oh boy, at least it is back in business now.

Another reason my time here has been scarce is that our little momma delivered her babies two weeks ago! Here they are the morning of after they were born.

Cute! We had a couple of orange kittens like that born in our hay stack this spring. We have a hard time keeping cats safe at our house. DW is allergic to cats so we don't have any in the house. We put food and water in one of our barns and take in some strays for barn cats because it is nice having them around, but we've had a rough couple of weeks with them. One cat accident last week ended up with a happy ending and reuniting with his buddy. I was shocked that Benny looked this good after being inside the fan of my truck when I started it. The kids were with me and I felt horrible. I was afraid we had lost him but it is hard to imagine this was just a couple of days after that happened. Those 2 follow each other around everywhere.

The other incident resulted in taking a stray black cat that we'd seen around a few times recently to my sister, who is a vet tech last night. He had a badly injured leg that was infected. She did some surgery on him this morning to try to clean things out, but found that the infection had spread and there was a lot of dead muscle tissue so she had to put him down. She thinks based on the injuries, it doesn't look like a coyote or a predator attack and there are no broken bones so if she had to guess it got its leg caught in a snare. That's got me worried because we don't allow anyone to hunt or trap on our property, nor does our neighbor. I feel like I need to get a walking stick and a gun and go walk the woods this weekend to see if we have some signs of poachers trespassing.

And I took a few photos as well.

Beautiful! I love seeing all of the topiaries!

Fran's first stop was The Pin Trader. Since my legs were killing me, she let me sit on her scooter in the shade behind the store while she bought her pins. Remember that shot of figment that I waited for on Saturday? I finally got it today, it’s no wonder, she took so long in the Pin shop!

Well, I'm glad it worked out this time!

It turns out that someone dumped a couch in front of the De Soto apartments. When you call the city to pick it up, they charge you around $100 for a special pick up. He said that he could take it to the dump for $60, so I told him to go ahead and we would also pay him for his time.

People are just awesome, aren't they? Just disgusts me when they do things like that. I'm glad your gardener was able to help you out and it sounds like a win/win.

When they brought the meal, it was nothing that I expected. They had sold out the chicken and this was the only thing left. It was a gosh darned Chile Relleno! I’m not a fan of chile relleno, in fact I don’t even like them.

So all they have left is something that isn't even on the menu? Probably just hanging around in the freezer from a flight last week.

“I am painfully aware that we have no plans to go to WDW in the future. No reminders to book rooms, no ADRs to make. It’s sad really. I can tell you this. Once the old house IS cleaned out, the next Monday, we are going to Las Vegas! Well unless it’s one of the nights we’re using up points at the Grand, but you better bet the following week, we’re going to Vegas! Until then, I’ll have to live vicariously through all your Trip Reports and my day trips to Disneyland.”

Well, I'm definitely glad that your situation has improved on this front!!!

 

[pkondz]

IRL update….the fridge is working again.

Good!

It is so nice not to have to walk out to the garage to get milk for my coffee!

Leave that poor cat alone!!!!

Of course it gave a huge hit to my wallet!

Yes, I suppose so.

when your contractor says, “My buddy’s uncle works in the cooling business….” Find someone who makes their living in a Customer Service based company and not contracted by the State University near your house!

Point taken.

Awww!!!!

Well, someone looks happy. (I'm not referring to the cat.) And... awwww!!!!

Not much news on the vacancies. I've shown the 1st one a few times, no applications yet.

Good luck!

it looks like they may possibly get a full refund on their deposit. I've never seen an apartment in such great condition! Essentially I'll be able to bring the “For Rent” sign with me to put up when I pick up their keys!

Nice! For all parties involved.

Our trip is rapidly approaching, only about 40 days or so?

yay!
Although... sucks that we're just going to miss each other.

I always like to make at least one or two real breakfasts. That really says vacation to me.

What says vacation to me is not cooking.

I love the flower displays and took advantage of our vantage point to capture them.

I never thought of shooting from there. Nice shots, Alison!

DISboards rule. Always get a shot of a dog's butt.

Cute.

Love this shot of you guys.

They had a lamb Chop with blackberry sauce and a Wild berry Buckle. I broke my eating in order rules and ate the buckle first.

I think I might too. I thought of that before I read that you did it.

they took them out of little foil pans when you ordered them so it tasted just like it had come out of the oven!

mmmm!!! Want.

The lamb Chop was really good too! The berry sauce worked really well on the meat. I'm not surprised, I have a recipe for pork chops that has a raspberry vinaigrette sauce so why not with a lamb chop?

Sure! I have a pork loin and cranberry recipe.

These orchids in Mexico were quite beautiful.

This was more for Fran than me. She loves potato pancakes.

I'm not a fan either. Much to my German father's chagrin.

The berry topped strudel was very good, but the berries overpowered the strudel itself.

I would probably not think so. Everything is just a vehicle for the berries (for me.)

Time was running out. I had one more booth to visit and we had less than half an hour.

Go! Go! Go!

It turns out that someone dumped a couch in front of the De Soto apartments. When you call the city to pick it up, they charge you around $100 for a special pick up. He said that he could take it to the dump for $60, so I told him to go ahead and we would also pay him for his time. I’d rather give the money to him than the city.

Shoulda told him to dump it in front of city hall.

It never stops, even when we’re on trips.

That's one thing I do like about my job.
When I walk out the door, everything stops.
I don't have to worry about catching up on emails or a backlog of calls or a pile of work.

I really wanted the Tuna Poke. It's become such a fad now.

Maybe. But you know I'm not a fan.

They have 11 kinds of seafood (OK one is tofu not seafood), a dozen complimentary toppings and seven sauces.

Then again... maybe with all those choices, I'd find something I'd like.

As I walked up the hill to the Boardwalk from the International Gateway I noticed my ibuprofen had definitely worn off. I was trying not to complain, but we had a discussion about how bad my shins hurt and I was considering taking a half of one of her pain pills. If I’m doing that, you know it’s bad because they are serious pain pills.

If you go to the dentist and get a root canal and the dentist gives you a prescription for pain pills, they are probably half the strength of Fran’s “light” pain pills.

Whoa...

Her “general” pain pills are substantially stronger, and if she is really hurting she has a huge supply of morphine. No we are not selling or anything like that. We are hoarding it for when her pain is that severe.

Poor Fran. I don't know what to say.

I barely avoided another plank on the boardwalk that could have caused me another nasty fall. I was definitely paying attention to every step!

I was just thinking that when you posted "As I walked up the hill to the Boardwalk"... "Don't trip!"

Our ride finally came and the guys running the bus told us they had 12 extra seats so that we could each take our own row! A welcome stretch that I appreciated!

Nice!

instead of taking one of Fran’s pills, I ended up rubbing some magic gel on my shins to ease the pain. It’s a wonderful thing, and thankfully I am now stocked up on it for the next who knows how many years! Thank you. You know who you are!

You're welcome.

I had ordered one of each meal for Fran and I. Our choices were Chicken with a risotto or a ravioli which they told me had a white sauce. I picked the ravioli.

That sounds pretty good!...

When they brought the meal, it was nothing that I expected. They had sold out the chicken and this was the only thing left. It was a gosh darned Chile Relleno! I’m not a fan of chile relleno, in fact I don’t even like them.

... what a rip off. Just... no.

I chose something called “Nice Guys” with Ryan Gosling, Russell Crowe and Matt Bomer. It kept me amused, but I wouldn’t really recommend it.

Okay. Noted.

The sides were nasty too. Kale and crap.

I concur!

I gladly took the ice cream sundae with butterscotch sauce.

Yum! Yes, please!

In the terminal we had our own special escort. She waited with us while we waited (forever) for the scooter and then, she accompanied us down to the baggage claim. I’m not sure why she felt the need to do this, we’re perfectly sufficient on our own, but she helped me get Fran to the curb with the bags and then I took off to get the car.

Huh. Is that something that happens often?

Can you see us shlepping all the bags to the upper level to catch a shuttle back to the parking lot?

Frankly... no.

and then drove through Jack in the Box for one of their $1+ chicken sandwiches.

This is another place that I've heard of for years... but never been to.

I’m not sure how much I appreciate having a 15lb cat on my legs!

Flattering, but.... after a while, ya need to move!

Stay tuned here, more Bonus updates to come in the next few months, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, the Train at DL reopening and Fantasmic!

Looking forward to them!

 

[dolphingirl47]

IRL update….the fridge is working again.

I am glad that this is sorted.

The second one will be turning in their keys in less than a week. I did a walk through with them and it looks like they may possibly get a full refund on their deposit. I've never seen an apartment in such great condition!

That is good news.

I'm hoping I have the second one rented by the end of the month so I don't have two apartments in the same building competing against each other.

I keep my fingers crossed for you.

I love the perspective of this photo.

This floral design is absolutely beautiful.

Remember that shot of figment that I waited for on Saturday? I finally got it today

I am glad you got the photo.

This was more for Fran than me. She loves potato pancakes.

I share that love, but I have to admit the biggest temptation would have been the Curry Wurst for me.

As I wrote these notes (one week after returning from this trip), I said, “I am painfully aware that we have no plans to go to WDW in the future. No reminders to book rooms, no ADRs to make. It’s sad really. I can tell you this. Once the old house IS cleaned out, the next Monday, we are going to Las Vegas! Well unless it’s one of the nights we’re using up points at the Grand, but you better bet the following week, we’re going to Vegas! Until then, I’ll have to live vicariously through all your Trip Reports and my day trips to Disneyland.”

I does feel kind of strange reading this as things have definitely moved on.

Corinna

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Find someone who makes their living in a Customer Service based company and not contracted by the State University near your house!

That seems like very specific advice!

Awwwwww....

Those flower displays are stunning. They never get old.

Time was running out. I had one more booth to visit and we had less than half an hour.

Go! Go! Go!

It turns out that someone dumped a couch in front of the De Soto apartments. When you call the city to pick it up, they charge you around $100 for a special pick up. He said that he could take it to the dump for $60, so I told him to go ahead and we would also pay him for his time. I’d rather give the money to him than the city. It never stops, even when we’re on trips.

Good grief. What's wrong with people?

Since Fran doesn't eat raw fish

I'm with her on that. I know you're shocked.

Our ride finally came and the guys running the bus told us they had 12 extra seats so that we could each take our own row!

Since I had no other choice, I ate the cheese out of the middle, but was not happy. The sides were nasty too. Kale and crap.

Ew. That's just wrong. These airlines keep finding more and more ways to torture us!

Can you see us shlepping all the bags to the upper level to catch a shuttle back to the parking lot?

Ever since coming home, my little Tesla now chooses to sleep on top of me in the mornings, something that while cute, I’m not sure how much I appreciate having a 15lb cat on my legs!

Is that good for shin splints?

Well since that was over six months ago when I wrote that, many of you know that since then we have traveled to Denver and have a trip to WDW in the works. No, the old apartment isn’t done, but it seems that there is something else keeping us from doing that not related to travel. Perhaps something in a past life. I still intend to take that trip to Vegas! And now the weather will be much more cooperative!

Stay tuned here, more Bonus updates to come in the next few months, including Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, the Train at DL reopening and Fantasmic!

I'm glad you've got the opportunity to still have some fun! All work and no play makes for dull life! Looking forward to the continued updates....