WOOHOO Complete 4/08 Trip Report NOW UPDATING WITH NEW SPRING 2011 PRE TRIP PLANNING

[wwessing]

. . .uuuhhhh, probably not because we still have one item on THE LIST. Of course it's mine, but I reeeeealy neeeeeed it (said in a whining voice). You know those single use nail polish remover packets????? Weeeellllll, why doesn't wally world have those stupid store. . . . so now I have to shop around for them cuz I have to have them. . .right? Who wants to travel with a bottle or jar of polish remover. . .might as well put bleach in your suitcase

. . .earlier this evening

So here I sit. . . . waiting and waiting and waiting for dh because he said "wait for me to call and let you know when I'm on my way home". Yeah, ok. . .so we are supposed to go tan then run in Wally world for the last few items on THE LIST. Yep. . .I'm still waiting and waiting and waiting. Kids at church. . check. . . dinner done. . .uuummm, nope. . . . no time for cooking because I'm leaving.. . . at least I think I am. Finally, the phone rings and dh says, ok, I'm just heading back into the shop so meet me in the parking lot. Well, ok, what parking lot?? Wally world parking lot, is the response. . but we are supposed to tan. . .well, it's going to have to wait because I had to work late and we need to get the LIST finished!! Ok, ok (MR. grumpy) I'll meet you there. Me, being me, slip on my brand new speedo pool slides that FINALLY came today (another story) to see how they wear and out the door. Ok, here I am. . where the heck are you . Ring. . ring. . .ring. . .dh says "where are you". Me: "I'm parked in row 8 like always. . where are you". DH - "Uh, I just left the shop, I'll be right there" So FINALLY, there is dh. In we go and over to see if the swimmers ear is stocked. . yep, there it is and in the cart. . .next up, nail polish remover packets. . . so you already know the outcome of this. . . nowhere on the shelves and no empty space, which I suppose means they don't carry them (losers). . . ok, so on to find a travel sewing kit. . .yep, dh spots them and finds the perfect little tiny case with everything we need for a 10 day trip. . .good, scratch that off and we are right by electronics. . . let's look for those batteries. . yeah! there are acceptable 4 packs. . throw those in. Now all we have left is Diet 7up and sunglasses. . . can't forget the spare sunglasses. Off to get the soda. . in the cart. . . uh oh, I forgot that we need to order cake for bubby's birthday party this weekend (Bubby is really Alex and he is our grandson. . yes, I said grandson and yes, I'm WAAAAY too young to be a gramma). So I mention in a previous post that his actual birthday is while we are on vacay, so dd is upset cuz WE are THE grandparents and we won't be there. . . I'm like, ok, he is going to be ONE! He won't know and we will have a party before we leave so he will have pictures of his 1st birthday party with us. . . so quit being a freak!! Anywho. . .over to the deli to order. . . we decide we don't want a bunch of cake so a dozen cupcakes fits the bill and, of course, a smash cake for the bubster! I won't go into how I soooo confused the bakery person taking the order. . .so I want what I want and don't see a problem with that and, oh yeah, I need some more smoked turkey breast. Finally, off to the sunglasses. Ok - I know they are Wally world glasses, but wth, they are like $20 a pair so we both get a pair for $40 I'm not buying Oakley's to lose at a park. . . and yes. . . WE HAVE CONQUERED THE LIST. . . . now, if we could only find a check out isle with less than 5 people waiting. . . .

. . . I want to make it clear that dh said, on the way out the door, that we would have to go back the evening before d-day for milk, yogurt and grapes I'm like, DUDE - I DON'T WANT TO GO TO WALLY WORLD, OR ANYWHERE ELSE THE NIGHT BEFORE WE LEAVE - I WILL HAVE WAY TOO MUCH STUFF TO DO! He's like. . .uuuhhhh, queen of all planning. . . you have been packing freaking bags for weeks now. . . I think you can have them ready IN ANOTHER WEEK!!!! Uh, yeah, ok . . but. . . (I got THE LOOK). . . I'll be glad to go (NOT)

Now here's the plan. . .dh is taking the girls to St. Louis for a motocross event on Saturday. They will leave in the morning and won't be back until very late at night. Know what I'm doing???????? CLOTHES SHOPPING!!!! SSShhhhhh. . . he'll never know. . .



. . . ok, ok, who am I kidding. . .of course he will know. . . he know's everything and he can spot a new item of clothing at a hundred yards. So I'll just tell him as he's walking out with the girls. . . he'll be so focused on getting on the road, he won't pay attention to me

I'll be back to let you know how that goes, plus, I'm packing the kids' garment bags on Saturday. . . if it won't fit in the bag, you can't take it. . .

NEXT. . . hhhmm, what do I buy for myself and will all their clothes fit?

 

[macraven]

you lost a lot of weight.


buy spandex

it's easy to pack, doesn't take up much room.



how many more sleeps for you now wendy??

 

[wwessing]

you lost a lot of weight.


buy spandex

it's easy to pack, doesn't take up much room.



how many more sleeps for you now wendy??

Uuummmmm. . .I didn't lose that much weight. . .only 28 pounds so far and I guarantee that's not enough for me to wear spandex . . .


. . . on second thought if we wanted to clear the parks and have the rides all to ourselves . . .perhaps. . . .

 

[wwessing]

Yeah! I need to add something regarding the last Wally World stop. I forgot to add a purchase that was NOT on THE LIST. DH stopped to pick up something and I noticed the camera's. Got to looking and decided that although we purchased a very nice digital camera a couple months ago, I wanted to have a camera I was comfortable with around the water. . . after all, we will be in it, around it and getting splased by it in some form every day, so we invested in a couple disposable, water cameras. I've never used them before, so we shall see what we get, but it's got to be better than nothing. I know there will be some "kodak moments" involving water and I certainly don't want to miss those

My shopping trip. . . .

So yesterday, because I FINISHED THE BIG PROJECT Thursday night at 10:00, I did not have to drive that 90 mile torture on Friday, so I went to my local office and left around 12:30. I don't know what to do with unstructured time, since I NEVER have any. . . so, off to the bank for a final deposit (yeees! I got my mileage reimbursement) and head west. . .that's where all the shopping is in my town. I hear Fashion Bug calling my name so I've got a destination. Easy parking right in front. . .but I choose about half way out so I can burn a few more calories on the way in and there is SOOOO much to choose from! I'm used to only having a few things I like to chose from, but not today!!!! There's tons of stuff I like and works for me. . . . after only an hour I've got my arms full and think I better go see what the damage is. I found 3 shirts, 2 pair of shorts and some black capris that could be casual or dressy Up to the counter and are they glad to see me. . then I notice the toe rings. My eyes glaze over as I peruse the shiny jewels and, alas, I cannot decide. They look so tiny and delicate. . .not good when speaking toe rings since those are the ones that break easily. I finally make a choice, but only after the manager has opened two packages so I can really look at them. . . and the cash register starts ringing. So because I can, and usually do, talk to complete strangers like they were old friends, I'm chatting with the manager and another nice, young girl working the register, I've swiped my card and paid and realize I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH I SPENT. Smooth on their part, dumb on mine. So before I know it they are handing me a bulging sack and asking if I want my receipt or should they just put it in the sack. . .I'm like. . .uuummm, I probably should have it since I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I JUST SPENT With much trepidation I take the receipt as the manager and young sales clerk look on. . . . happy days. . .I've spent less than

$150!!!! How's that for shopping sales So, happy camper that I now am, out the door I go and realize IT'S RAINING!! Remember, I have parked my car waaaaay out there for caloric burning purposes. . . now I'm going to burn even more calories by running to my car and holding my bag over my head at the same time and hopefully without tripping, falling or splashing through a giant puddle. . . .

So, ok, I made it. . . ran between the drops

Off toward home thinking I'm very hungry and deciding that I can wait 20 minutes and open some soup. . . very thrifty, eh. . . .

Now I've got most of what I need, but I've forgotten I need some. . . uumm, personal clothing, but know that dh and the girls will be gone for hours and hours tomorrow (Saturday) so I have tons of shopping time.

Once home, I get my soup and start reviewing our travel book. I realize we are down to only a few banking days before d-day and we really need to decide how we are going to handle the finances. Once I start adding and subtracting and dividing and figuring (oh, yeah, I added several categories to our budget this week that I had previously forgotten what a dummy. . . I forgot snacks/drinks in the park, feeding the animals at sea world funds, and parking money. . . really stupid things to leave out, I know. Sooo, I try to guestimate some numbers and things really added up quickly. . . very quickly. . . now I've added several hundred more to our budget and haven't figured out how to pay for it . . . uh oh. . . dh isn't going to be happy about this!) By the time all was said and done, I was able to figure that he only needed to add a couple hundred (had to take out some of my padding - ) so dh wasn't at all. He was like, no big deal, it's fine Of course, what's a couple hundred when you look at the bottom line of THIS budget So, financial planning nailed down, I send dh off to the bank for our stash of cash and to cash in the change I've been secretly saving for spending money for the kids. Yeah, I know, I was at the bank earlier, but I didn't know for sure what dh wanted to do so I figured I better not take any chances Now, banking is done, THE LIST is done, everything but the clothes are packed and waiting (still sitting in my living room ). I've put a couple gallon jugs of water by my bay window so my house sitter won't water all my plants with cold water; made sure pet supplies were on hand; checked, double and triple checked my travel binder for ressies, tickets, etc. Now all that's left to do is get the clothes in the garmet bags tomorrow and finish getting ready for Bubby's birthday party on Sunday. . . . BUBBY. . . he's coming to spend the night with us - YEAH! Ok, so dd will come pick him up kind of early in the morning and I'm going to have her stay until everyone else leaves and take her and bubby to lunch Saturday. I don't get to do that often. . .matter of fact. . . we've only been able to do that 2 times in the past couple years. So, it will be nice to spend some time with my oldest daughter without anyone else distracting us. . . except for Alex (aka Bubby) of course. So I'm thinking lunch at Applebee's. . yyuuuummm.


Tomorrow. . . . final shopping for my socks (and other stuff), lunch with my eldest and packing garment bags for my girls.

 

[LeslieR]

It's almost here! I'm so excited for you. Glad to hear you found some good clothes!

Can't wait to hear more....

 

[pixeegrl]

OOHHHH! The suspense is building! If the pre trip report is this much fun I can't wait for the actual TR! Maybe if you find yourself with some extra time and don't know what to do you can tell us a little more about that Travel Binder! I think I may want to start one now LOL!~

 

[LeslieR]

Just noticed you've changed your pounds lost to 30!! Congrats! Have a great trip--only TWO sleeps to go!!!

 

[fvols98]

Subscribing

 

[t-and-a]

When is Wendy coming back?

 

[macraven]

When is Wendy coming back?

they arrived on monday of this week. i think they left on the weekend and was going to do a motel on the way down.

i think they are staying 5 days on site at universal and then will do the drive back home. it should be about a 850 mile trip for them.

i'll go back and see what she listed for her dates.

 

[macraven]

i found it.
she mentioned other activities they were doing before going to UO.
this is what she said her agenda would be:


"Monday we move to HRH for the remainder of our stay – 6 more nights. Monday is Uni/IOA day; Tuesday we go to Busch Gardens; Wednesday is Uni/IOA and Thursday is Aquatica (rented a cabana). Friday and Saturday are Uni/IOA days and. . .well, I have to stop here because the next day brings us home and I so cannot include that right now. "



looks like they head back home on this coming sunday.
they can drive straight thru. its long but doable.
more than likely they will stop along the way for the night.

 

[chrissyc]

Can't wait to hear the trip report!

 

[macraven]

i hope she adds on to this thread about her vacation.

can't wait to read it!

 

[tlinus]

oh Wendyyyyyyyy

SO?

Spill it chickie-how was it???

 

[macraven]

hey wendy...........where's the report?

we all are waiting for you here!!

 

[LeslieR]

Did you use up all your suitcase food? Inquiring minds need to know.....

Hope your trip was great...patiently waiting to hear all about it...

 

[wwessing]

Sorry for the delay in trip report. I've been having some serious post-vacation depression, along with trying to get back in the swing of things at home and work. . .and, oh yeah, dd11 spend Monday in the hospital and today at the doctor. Long story for another time, but she's on the mend.

Ok. . . so here it is. . . .


You know the family from the pre-trippie so we can jump right in.

Thursday, 4/24/08

I am officially on vacation from work so I get to go pick up the rental. All bags are packed, everything is stacked and waiting to be loaded. DH is to be home by noon to help load and kids are to be picked up from school at 1:00pm (uuummm, our kids are in three different buildings. . .how are we going to do that???).

Call my pops to come pick me up and take me to Enterprise. Yeah, yeah, I know, they pick you up, but they don't buy you lunch like my dad So off we go and as we pull up to the Enterprise building, we see a van pulling into the lot and an employee getting out of it. Bet that's my van. . . so my dad says he will wait until everything is signed and settled. . . inside I go and ask about the van. Sure enough, she says go have a look. So back outside I go, open it up and eeeeewwwwww. . . it is really dirty and yucky, so my father gets out of his van and comes over to look and thinks the same thing. Then the employee comes out and says they will clean it, but there is another in the cleaning bay I can look at. . .so we all march off and it looks almost the same. . one is a Dodge the other a Chrysler. I decide on the Dodge and they say 30 minutes until they have it clean. Ok, so me and my pops are going to go grab a quick lunch when I see my mom pull in the lot. She's retired but drives for Enterprise (lucky me seeing as how I get her discount of 50% off!). So my dad radios her and says I'm sitting in the front lot, come around. Here comes my mom, up to my window and we ask her if she wants lunch. . .she bursts into tears and climbs into the van and is crying so hard we start to get really worried cuz something bad has obviously happened (as I selfishley see my vacation slipping away) and mom tells us that my dnephew has just called her and said Nala is missing. For those of you who don't know, Nala is a one year old, blonde cocker spaniel who we fostered for several months recently (until she chewed up one too many things and ran out the door down the block one too many times and dh made her go to my parents house). Anyway, Nala is missing! My mom loves that dog. . .but, geesh, come on Mother! Nala runs out the door every chance she gets and she is FAST. So as we are processing this, we decide to go to Arby's so I can get a salad and I mention that Nala has an identity chip in her shoulder, so if something has happened to her, like she got hit, the vet will find it. My dad realizes he has had his phone on silent all morning and checks it to find that he has missed a couple calls. Sooooo, call the number. It is from the neighboring state, where my nephew lives, and it must have something to do with the dog since we gave the vet my parents information as nephew isn't permanently settled in life yet. Sure enough, it is an animal hospital in Missouri and someone will call us back in 15 minutes. Ok, great. . now my mom is freaking out cuz she just knows that Nala is dead, so I said someone call my nephew and tell HIM to call and find out what is going on. . it's HIS dog and HIS responsibility. So nephew calls the hospital, gets an answer and doesn't bother to call my mom back. . . we know he got the information because 20 minutes later she called him back and he was like, yeah, some lady found her and saw the tag showing she's got an identity chip so took her to the local vet, who called you guys. Good. . .Nala is safe, but what a little brat you are not to call your gramma when you know she is freaked out the very minute you find this out!!! Can't wait to see you next time you come home!!!!! Drama over, we finish lunch and head back to Enterprise where my mom has to complete her paperwork for the drive she finished and I get my rental.

Van is all cleaned up, checked over with the Enterprise guy, paperwork signed and off I go. YEAH!!!!! Now I really feel like vacation is starting. I call dh who says I'm in the office at the warehouse talking to Dave (who is the owner of the company and also my father) I'll be right home. I'm like great, I'll top off the tank, meet you at the house and we can get this van loaded ON TIME! I go about my business, make it home and NO DH. . what the. . . . he should have beat me home and showered already! Ring, ring, ring. . where the heck are you? Ok, dh says I just left I'm really on my way home and I decide not to let it go and get things moving on my own. I take the cooler I had iced down the night before outside to drain and re-ice; back the van up into the yard so it's right outside the door (he he, ticked dh off. . .guess he shoulda been home taking care of it if he didn't like my way of doing things) and started moving things toward the door. DH shows up, with a giant bag of ice and runs to the shower. 10 minutes later he is helping load the van, and let me tell you, that van was LOADED. We had even stowed one of the 3rd row seats since we only needed 5 anyway, and it was packed. As it's nearing 1:00, I'm like, we need to get moving so one final check of the house, one final potty break for the dog and off we go. Ok, so we have a kid in the high school, middle school and elementary building. First stop is the high school, figuring we will drop her off at the elementary, which is right next to the middle school, she can run in and sign out dd9, while we drive next door to the middle school and dh can run in and sign out dd11 and I will coordinate getting everyone back in the van. All works as planned and everyone is soooo excited. We realize we need to run back home because they have book bags which don't fit. . .so back to the house (only a few blocks), book bags thrown inside and off we go! We are really, really headed to Florida!!!!

First stop is in southern Illinois, in a small town called Marion. I had discovered a pizza joint that was supposed to be very good and since I haven't had pizza since early December, that's our first meal. It 's a few hours drive, with me at the wheel, and we are all glad for the break when we get there around 4:30. Seated right away, check out the menu and have so much trouble deciding. Finally decide I'm not going to get a pizza since no one else really wants one, so I settle for a calzone with veggies. Food comes, there is plenty and it is good and I can't eat it all. . .that sets the stage for the rest of our meals! Meal sharing quickly became the name of the game, but we had really planned on that anyway.

So, dinner finished, back in the van with dh driving. Now we know we are in for a long haul because our next real break, besides gas stops, is not until the next morning as we are driving straight through.

Ok, ok, I wasn't going to tell you, but I missed the exit I was supposed to take to get to the restaurant and ended up going 15 miles before we could exit again!!!! In my defense, there was road construction and no clear sign, just an exit number which dh saw at the last minute and it was too late. Let me just say, we love the gps!!

So, back on the road after dinner, kids are settling in for a long drive with the DS's, ipod's and dvd players. Uuuummm, my back starts hurting. I have to say that we loved this van, but I HATED the seats. They were not comfortable, for me at least, and I would not buy this van based on this reason alone. So I pop the first of many Tylenol and keep the whining to myself.

The next hours are night driving and gas only stops. Our first was in Lavergne, TN, our next in Macon, GA and our final in Gainesville, FL where we were to have breakfast at IHOP. . .the first of several IHOP stops. So wake up the kids, and in the restaurant we go. Now we have gained an hour in TN, so it's like somewhere between 7 and 8am, so we've been driving for a really, really long time but the restaurant isn't crowded and we get seated immediately. Everyone can find something at IHOP, so we all order. Girls had, of course, smiley face chocolate chip pancake with chocolate milk. DH has whatever, since I can't remember and I order a veggie omlet with egg substitute and no cheese. I also order wheat toast with no butter and decaf coffee. Oh, yeah, I'd like some water as well. Drinks come with no problem. . .well, except the "chocoate" milk wasn't really chocolate. It had virtually no chocolate. Apparently the waitress makes it herself and does not have any children of her own, because this was not chocolate. Well, the kids all try it, and are trying to be sooo good that they don't complain, but I can see they aren't going to drink it and they should have chocolate milk, like they ordered, right?? Right - so I stop our waitress and ask her to fix it, which really seemed to fluster her as she didn't know exactly how she was going to do that. I suggested bringing them each a small cup of chocolate and I would fix it for them. After fretting for another 60 seconds, that is exactly what she did and all was well. Shortly, the food arrives and everyone digs it. It is really good. . .but then I realize that it's too good and my eggs are not egg substitute, but real eggs, plus my toast has butter. I don't eat real eggs and I don't eat butter. So I ask the waitress if she can please bring me some dry toast, I will put a little preserves on it and I tell her that my omelet is not made with substitute. She goes to her manager and tells her, who in turn goes to the cook and tells him, who in turns swears he used egg substitute. Ok, people, I might as well be up front about this now. . . I'm the type of person who expects things to be as they should. I'm not high maintenance or anything like that, but I expect to receive what I order and get what I'm paying for and I'm not afraid to say something when things aren't right. I have to do my job correctly and if I make a mistake, uuumm, I have to fix it. Isn't that how things are supposed to work?? So, the waitress comes over and says, well, I talked to my manager and the cook said he used substitute, soooo. . . . I was like, well, I know it is real egg, no matter what your cook says, so I guess I'll just eat my toast. She scurries away and as I'm taking dd9 to the bathroom, I pass by the manager and a couple other waitresses, I hear them talking about me. So, me being me, I stop, with my daughter by my side and politely ask if there was something they wanted to ask me?? The look on their faces was priceless! I sent dd on to the bathroom and stood their, smiling, while they gasped and gaped and finally walked away, except for the manager. She tried to give me some line of crap about how they were just discussing another lady who had reported the same problem but she was lying. . .I was like, I caught you talking about me and shame on you. Be a big enough person to at the very least say I'm sorry. The good news is I don't live anywhere near here. . that's good for both you and I. . . and I will never have to step foot in this restaurant again. For your information, I did not want my meal comped, I'm perfectly able and willing to pay for what I order, but how do you know I don't have a severe allergy to eggs?? I don't choose to eat eggs, so you are lucky there, but you should be wary that your lying cook doesn't feed someone with an egg allergy real eggs. You will likely end up being sued and lose your job because you aren't very good at it and for your customer's sake, that should probably happen sooner than later. However, the rest of my family very much enjoyed their meal, so thanks for that. Have a very nice day! Stunned, speechless, loss of blood to the facial region with the exception of bright, flaming red cheeks the manager could only nod as I walked to the bathroom to check on dd9 and I could barely contain myself at this point. I was very angry at the whole situation, but I also found it amusing that they got SO FREAKIN BUSTED talking about me. I could have simply walked on, left it alone and maybe I should have, however, perhaps she will think twice before they do something like that again. Fortunately we were ready to leave when dd and I came back from the restroom and the manager had escaped outside to smoke (saw her on the way out) and as my family went out the door, I stopped to have a word with our waitress. We are generous tippers. You basically start at 15% and it can go up or down. Generally we will tip 20% for good service, and rarely, if ever, tip less than 15%. I knew dh was not happy with the way I had been treated, so I was certain he only left a small tip, which was probably more than they deserved, but I felt sorry for the waitress once I had encountered her manager and truly realized why this place was being managed so poorly and there was no value placed on customer service or satisfaction, so when I stopped to have a word with her, I handed her a generous tip and told her, with the manager now inside from her smoke and eavesdropping, that I understood this was not her fault and she was not the one being unprofessional and actually talking about a customer who was still in the place and told her I felt very sorry for her since she had to work under the current management and thought that maybe she would be a great server at another establishment. Wished her luck, handed her some cash and out the door I went without a look back. Dang it, I'm hungry!!! Stupid toast and coffee. . . . oh well, I've got yogurt in the cooler.

So, now that we have this out of the way, we can move forward with a drama-free vacation. . . uuhhh, yea, NOT! Nothing as dramatic as this, but there's definitely stuff that happened.

Next up, arrival at Nickelodeon Family Suites.

 

[tlinus]

strap me in.......its going to be a long ride



i like the details of the story - makes it easier to visualize

 

[angela3676]

I am loving your report so far. You are funny and smart. I think you handled the IHOP situation very well, at least better than I would have. I'm looking forward to reading more. Um, will there be pictures on this trip report? Just askin, lov pics.

 

[wwessing]

Yes, I have pics. . . 584 of them!! I've loaded them to my computer, but need to upload to photobucket. The problem is, the last few pics I've posted aren't sized correctly and I don't know how to fix it. So, someone help me out and I'll post pics. . . I've got food pics and all kinds of stuff! No worries, I won't post all of them

And yes, it's likely to be a loooonng ride! I like the details too and couldn't get enough when I was planning. I promised that when I wrote a trippie, there would be details, details and more details. It's taken me a while to get started, but I'll keep after it, as time allows, and I'll not give up on the details as I go along. I can even include the price of meals if folks are interested. My travel book is loaded with those details. I kept every receipt for every single purchase. . .ok, ok, we lost a few, but not many. I literally have hundreds of receipts, but mostly that was so I could match the credit card charges. Dudes. . .I even have a menu from Finnegans. . yes, an actual menu! The waiter gave me one so I could accurately report on the dishes we ordered. I've got pics of some of it. . .much of the time we were so hungry I forgot to get pics before we dug in - but what I've got is really good!