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Saturday, May 18, 2019

The Disney Graduation Trip, Part 1: Wilderness Lodge

We are not in Colorado anymore, Toto.

Since we would all be buying airfare already to Florida for graduation, I decided we should squeeze a Disney trip in, too.

Ali's birthday was just a few days after the trip was over, so we celebrated early.

I also presented Nick with his Enchroma colorblind glasses I'd been wanting to get him. I figured he'd be outside needing sunglasses at Disney, what better time to see all the colors he'd been missing.

The only trick is getting your brain used to them. The instructions tell you not to flip them up and down, and Nick quickly learned why. If he took them off the whole world was suddenly like it was under water in a green sea. But they really worked. One of the bushes at Bill and Julie's place had red variegated leaves against other green leaves. Nick was unable to distinguish this until he wore the glasses.

Since we had arrived Wednesday we went over to Disney Springs that night for dinner, to get Ali's Aladdin cake, and to look around at the shops since we didn't allot any time during the trip weekend to get over there. We didn't have our grads with us, so we stood in for Sam and Jason.

Then Friday morning, we all got up, loaded up in the Explorer, with Julie leading the way in her car. The plan was to stop by Walgreens to stock up on water and snacks for the room, then check in to Wilderness Lodge, and she follows me over to the car rental return place that was just a mile from the hotel.

Sam, Jason, Zach, and Josh were coming over from Sarasota and checking into the Grand Floridian.

We hit traffic on the way in, but it did allow me to get a photo of her car under the sign entrance!

We checked in, left the bags, left everyone to get a bite for breakfast, and got the Explorer turned in. Once we returned to the Lodge, there was time to look around the place for just a few minutes before I got the text alert our room was ready.

this particular spot holds a lot of memories

(2000)

(2004)

Those flags at the top of the Lodge in 2004 were put up by us that morning. You can ask if there is availability to be a flag family at check in and we had lucked into a spot on the last day of our trip that year.

The view from the flagpoles:

Ranger Stan had guided flag families for several decades since the Lodge's opening in 1994 until his passing in 2014.

the handles in the elevator

down the hallway to our room

We had stayed at the Wilderness Lodge on our very first trip and then once again in 2004. Room 3010 was just down the hallway from the room where we had last stayed some fifteen years earlier.

Our room view:

The Lodge has expanded exponentially since we first stayed here. They've added a DVC Lodge that's as big as the main one, as well as very expensive cabins along the water. Our view overlooked one wing of those cabins.

In 2004, all that was between our balcony and the water was trees. Below is the same angle as above in '04:

Sam's hat art

Tickets and program art

Before the commencement, they were adding social media posts of Ringling grad hat pictures

Zach, Jason's best friend came in, and Jason's brother Josh (center) also made the trip.

Back at the bungalow, where most everything is packed. After the Disney weekend, cross country back to Colorado

this is like one of two photos over the entire week that I got with Sam

started raining on the way back to Orlando, which included some really bad accidents and traffic snarls, but also this rainbow

I had rented a 7 seater SUV so we would be able to transport Bill, Julie, Nick, Ali, Bob, and me in one vehicle from Orlando to Sarasota. It was fancy, with a ton of bells and whistles and touch screens and sensors. Best feature: seat fan air conditioning!

However...

Sometimes simple is best. Case in point.

Detail that will come into play here: at noon, it's hot. I set the seat fans on high and the AC on super cold.

I also spent time punching through a million buttons to set up the vehicle's navigation to the airport and to our destinations in Sarasota the next day.

We had picked up the Explorer at noon on Wednesday, knowing Nick and Ali would need a ride when they came in at midnight. The plan was for Julie to ride along and navigate. And also to grab her toll box to make it quick. We'd taken the non-toll route to their house that afternoon and wound through various neighborhoods. Not ideal for midnight and wanting to get back home for as much sleep as possible.

But then the flight out of Austin was badly delayed. Revised arrival: 3:15 a.m.

So I went to bed at 8:00 and set my alarm for 2:50, ten minutes to get out the door, fifteen to get to the airport.

When my phone started playing music, I thought it was the alarm, only to pick it up and see on the screen Nick's face and phone number.

"Hi Mom, are you here?"

It's 2:40.

Nick had texted me three times after I'd gone to sleep to send updated info and the notifications had not made a sound. They had gotten in at 2:20.

I leapt up, grabbed my glasses to be able to see the road to drive, pulled on my clothes and raced for the car only to remember, I needed the toll box. I didn't want to wake Julie and wait for her to get dressed and ready, but I couldn't find her keys.

Bill had said he'd be up in the wee hours working, and I saw light from his office door, so I knocked, but no answer. I finally roused Julie to tell me where her keys were so I could grab the toll box and remote for the gate at the front of the community.

I'm trying to see her keys to push the lock button on her car when Bill comes out and says, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Thinking he was still working, I waved him off and said I'd be fine, handed him Julie's keys to make sure it was locked, and hopped in the Explorer. I push my glasses to the top of my head so I can read the car screen, pushed all the buttons to get navigation started to the airport, and headed out. It was 3:00.

I realize it's getting cold in the car, right about the time I realize I don't know how to adjust the AC settings, nor can I see the screen in the vehicle and see the road at the same time.

The nav lady voice takes me straight to the tollway... That is closed all night under construction.

And I'm starting to shiver.

I try to route around the closure but get the sense could be headed in the wrong direction.

The stupid navlady keeps telling me to make a u turn and go back to the closed stuff, so she's useless.

I pull over, take off my glasses, and get my Waze app running that I trust to route me around closures.

But.

I had set it up to avoid toll roads and had to spend time finding the setting in there to change it back to include tollways

Tick.tick.tick.

I get my British Waze guy talking through the car speakers only to realize after setting back out on the road, the dumb nav lady is talking over him, still giving wrong directions!

I try to pick up the phone to double check the map only to have the Waze app block my view because I am driving.

I also can't really see the screen.

So I have to listen to competing voices the rest of the way there, and they tell me different directions each time. Luckily, the voices are distinct enough and are not talking over one another very often.

I'm now shaking uncontrollably because I'm so damn cold.

British Waze guy navigates me to departures. Of course, in my state at 3:30 in the morning, I follow without snapping to the fact that they would be at arrivals. If this airport is anything like Denver, it's a whole mess to get out and back around to a lower level.

I pull over in the completely empty departures lane and call Nick. and he can tell by my cracking voice the best thing to do is walk up a level and find me instead of me trying to drive around again and work it out.

Bless him, as soon as he got in the car he starting working through the endless screens and got the nav lady to shut up and found the AC settings so it wasn't a meat locker.

Sure enough, it only took us 15 minutes to get back and we were all in bed by 4.

I managed to get back to sleep for two hours which gave me my 8. Not perfect, but enough to drive to Sarasota and back without being impaired.

I don't need a new car with all the fancy stuff.

But I do need bifocals.

Monday, May 6, 2019

Jake the Dirty Dog

So, Jake is the chillest, super sweet curly baby. He also LOVES to roll in the yard. And the very, very bestest place is always the deadest spot, all dirt, and dead grass:

Then he comes inside, plops down, and waits for me to start rubbing him all over to get the dirt and dried grass of of him and onto the floor where I then sweep it up.

Sigh. How can you not love that face?

So ahead of bath time yesterday, I decided we had to cover up the dead dirt spot that the sprinklers have not reached for a decade, since we put the deck in place, with SOMETHING to keep that wide open dirt rolling pit from getting used every time Jake went outside to do his business.

And thus...

I will hunt for more decorative rock to finish out the circle, but for now, those cement blocks will have to do.

The view from my office above, which also highlights how badly I need to find a lawn guy to help get the grass that does get the sprinklers reaching it back to form.

So both the boys get their scrub down and dry time inside and, sure enough, what do you think the very first thing Jake does when finally allowed outside to pee?

Sigh.

Thursday, May 2, 2019

More May

I realized this morning I'd posted the snow morning but neglected the Monday.

I was about to say, the more mundane Monday, but that's not quite right. I never find any sunrise walk mundane. There are always trees, and birds' song, and almost always mountains visible in the distance, and the sun never fails to rise.

Monday ahead of the storm had its own glow.

this is one of the few houses that shares the same issue as our front yard -- shallow tree roots running across the whole of it. I'm thinking I'd like to do something similar around our tree to cover some of the roots over.