Travel

Florida was chilly and our evening at Magic Kingdom was downright cold!

But did we care? Well honestly, yes we did, we were shivering.

More important- did we let it stop us?

No!

We mortgaged our entire future and hit the stores to buy some layers, and stayed on into the night.  I’d packed what I thought were plenty of warm items, but had soon discovered they weren’t enough.   Sugarwings needed warm, heavy sweat pants over their jeans, I needed one more cozy sweatshirt.

I never go to Disney without scarves/shawls.  They keep the sun off you on hot days and prevent cool air conditioning from giving you goosebumps when inside.  For our below average temp day, I packed a fuzzy, cuddly, shawl, some gloves and a hoodie.  It’s just hard to know for sure what you’ll need for the entire day, no matter how prepared you think you are.

On our second day, we were joined by Dewdrop and my boy for time at Epcot and of course I preached and nagged ahead of time about broken in shoes, layers, and warm socks.  Did people listen?  Well, a little bit.

At Epcot, your car is much more accessible than at Magic Kingdom, so I brought extras to leave in the parking lot, and besides for a few issues, we did fine.

Once again, the weather was not ideal, but the company was.  But if you are prepared, it doesn’t stop you.  

And sometimes it means crowds are lighter.  I’ll take lighter crowds with a light drizzle any day.

We stayed at the Coronado for the first time, I booked one of the poolside rooms in the auxiliary buildings, not in the tower.   And surprisingly, we used the adjacent pool as well as the main pool quite a bit.  Florida cold is different than Kansas cold, and the temps fluctuate so much that you can squeeze in a swim at the heated pools even if the weather is subpar for the south.

Pool snack bars are our favorite places to eat when we get a chance. And at Disney, the food at them is usually better than at some of the resort food courts.  

Another mistake I made was not bringing food to keep in the room.  My son and Dewdrop had to cancel joining us (or so we thought) plus Sugarwings and I mostly share meals.  I had a few drinks in the room for us, and we were fine.  

Then we got the happy surprise that the other half of our group was coming after all!  A grown man and a teen require more food than I’d planned on. Seriously, even if it was just two of us, I should’ve had fruit, yogurt, and other snacks in the hotel fridge.  

We had a late night at Epcot and realized we were hungry after getting back to the room.  I had not packed a scrap or tiny tidbit of anything to eat.  We all went to bed a little hungry, so I got up early, walked the trail over to the main building, took out a second mortgage on my house and filled up a bag with pastries, juice, and fruit to surprise everyone with breakfast in bed when they woke up.

The pink sprinkled donuts as big as your head were as good as they looked, but for under ten bucks, we could’ve eaten much healthier if I’d simply thrown some groceries in the cooler before driving to Orlando.

Even though I hadn’t planned as well as I should’ve, the weather wasn’t close to ideal, the trip was short, and half our group could only make it half the time- I treasure the time we had there.  

We found Hidden Mickies (This is the back of a koala’s head in Small World), explored, laughed, and just hung out together.

With my husband retired, and our budget tightened, I know what a splurge going to these parks is.  Rich doesn’t like being there himself, so it is very generous of him to send me off on my own or with family while he does other things.  
Sometimes I feel very selfish about my obsession with this place.  I tell myself that I am done with it, I’ve been enough.  And I’m fine with that.

For a while.

Then, thoughts of Mickey shaped food start popping into my head. And I’ll find myself reading recaps of other’s trips and travel hints online. Next, I’m looking at calendars to see what dates kids are out of school that can mesh with a quick trip that direction, or sneaking an extra vacation day onto another planned trip to somewhere sorta nearby to slide in “just a little visit” while I am so close.

Mickey, I have tried, but I can’t quit you.  I’m a Disney magic junkie.

Yesterday I returned from another quick trip to Indiana.

 This time it was to surprise my family at their annual ornament exchange party.

It has been too long since I’ve been to one.  The last Christmas I remember being there was when it was held at my mom’s.  And that was before Sugarwings was born.

Holidays with grand babies took over any free time I would have during busy Decembers.  I had lots of weekend craft fairs to set up back then too.

Then not too much later, my sisters and started our Sister Trip traditions and we’d typically get time in Florida together each fall. My drives to Indiana came to be made for other occasions, not the holiday party.

I’d missed Christmas time with my extended family and was so glad I made this trip.  The weather was ideal for driving, and for making lots of antiquing stops along the way, I got to see Sissy’s new house all prettied up for the season, and had a week  full of hugs from people I love.

Also, I’d hoped to be of help in getting Bobbie to some of her medical appointments while I was there.

Bobbie’s health had some hiccups and instead of helping with the drives, I was keeping her company in the ER and ICU.  Since I’d driven, I was able to have my car filled with craft supplies, and I could bead and sit quietly while she slept.  I didn’t want her to make efforts to talk, she needed her rest, so I sat with her and made bracelets.

Lots of bracelets.  With mostly genuine stones, along with vintage crystals. With only two visitors allowed at a time, I also  made a work station for myself in the lounge and crafted there while others had their turns in her room. 
All of us wanted to be there for her, she is so loved.

During her Thanksgiving hospital stay, doctors would always be surprised to see such a large entourage in the room.  She was in a different (and closer to Pendleton) hospital this time and that made it even easier for guests, two of her kiddos work at this one and could drop in throughout the day.  

But we mostly had to gather in the waiting rooms because of the two at a time limit.

Overall, it was such a pleasant hospital to spend time at.  Great people, excellent care, comfortable surroundings, tasty food.  I liked the spacious rooms they put Bobbie in, and how attentive they were to her.

Is it wrong to say how much I enjoyed being there with her, even though she felt so miserable?  That sounds wrong.

Of course, I’d rather be anywhere else with her, healthy and strong, anywhere at all! 

 I guess I mean that even though I’m devastated, worried, and terrified about her health, I loved my time there with family and being able to be part of their holiday tradition, and to sit with everyone while Bobbie was getting the treatments she needed to feel more comfortable.

 Instead of flying, I drove out, leaving my time open ended.  Once she was moved out of ICU, I needed to force myself to head back to my own holiday traditions and be with my grandfairies, no matter how much I hated to tear away.  Oh my gosh, it was so hard to leave.  I wish I wasn’t so far away, and could be one of those daily visitors that pop in to hold her hand and ask her about her appetite or tell her a story about their day.

She has a big crew of loving people around her.  I also wish I could be helping them out, with all of the extra jobs they have taken on to be of service and get our Bobbie feeling better.

Now, I am hitting the ground running, getting things ready for our own Kansas Christmas, looking forward to seeing the grandfairies open gifts, play reindeer games, and decorate cookies.

But I’ve left a chunk of my heart back home in Indiana.

Last year my home town, Pendleton, IN, had a fun FB trend of people photographing their cars, tractors, mowers, etc in the lights of this beautifully lit bridge.  The joke started as serious pics of cool cars shining under the lights and turned into photoshopping weird, silly things.

I enjoyed every post and had to drive by and see this pretty backdrop in person when I visited over Thanksgiving.  Maybe (if I ever get a free moment) I’ll do some photo magic with it myself.

We had hospital cafeteria food in the guest lounge for Thanksgiving dinner.  While I felt bad leaving my  husband and out of town guests back at my house to turkey wrangle, and the reason for my visit was not a happy one, I still had a wonderful time with my sister’s family while eating grilled cheese instead of a more traditional meal.

My sweet boy hadn’t seen his aunt Bobbie in a while and hadn’t been able to drive all the way to Kansas from North Carolina for the holiday, so he took the opportunity to meet me in Indianapolis.  Much closer!

I rarely get time with my son, this was precious to me.  It’s been a good year for spending days with him.  In August, Rich and I saw Adam in NC and I got to go rock and mushroom hunting with him.  Then in September, he came to KS to put in a studio floor for me. Now, an Indy trip too.

And soon, he will bring Dewdrop for Christmas!


He and I weren’t Bobbie’s only visitors, by far.  Every time a doctor came into the room, he’d do a double take at the size of her entourage.

The room was always so full, that seating was scarce.  You know that Netflix show, “Is it Cake?” I was always playing, “Is it a Chair?” in the hospital room.  We sat on many non seats for seating.  Bobbie one time mentioned we could use the beeping from her machinery to switch seats in a musical chair game.

My witty, kind hearted sister is keeping good spirits through her illness.   I admire her for that, just as I have always looked up to her and learned so much from her all of my life.

I adore my sissies, what wonderful friends they are to me.

My Florida trip was a week long, divided into three separate adventures that each went by too quickly.

After a spectacular Guncle evening, Terry and Holly picked me up in Jax to drive to Orlando.  And you know what happens there, right?  

Disney Magic!

They treated me to the Grand Floridian, and its reputation is well deserved.  So many subtle, understated and sweet nods to Disney classic movies while keeping its Grand and classy ambiance.  

A grown up trip to the parks can be very laid back and comfy.  I had two mornings on the balcony with my coffee to relax and simply enjoy being there. Very different than my typical trip, trying to squeeze in as much as I possibly can from the crack of dawn til I fall in bed after midnight.

Although, our first night did go pretty late, but we didn’t get started til evening, and once arriving at Mickey’s Halloween party, we ambled about and took our time.  We managed to eat some of the special goodies, do some trick or treating, and practically walk on to every ride we wanted to go on.  Lines were minimal, the weather was perfect, friends were delightful, it could the most ideal night at Disney that I could have.  (Even though I missed the grandfairies.)

We had discussed Halloween costumes, but that frizzled out, Terry was moving into a new home, I was redoing my studio.  Then I thought I’d order Sleeping Beauty Fairy shirts with our names, but instead of Merriweather, Terryweather.

Ran out of time, though.  So I looked around town the day before leaving to find Hocus Pocus matching shirts, no luck.

When Terry arrived, I was happily surprised to see that she’d found a trio of cute Sanderson shirts for us!

Terry and Holly are ideal partners at the parks, both love the place as much as I do.  They’ve been multiple (zillions) of times, so aren’t rushed, or worried about missing anything. We can check out attractions we’d like to see, or just snack at Epcot Food and Wine and chill out.

I got to see the new, Moana area, and can’t wait to take Sugarwings to it.  

And we lucked into a walk up reservation at the new space station restaurant.

We were seated in the lounge, which I discover was another lucky break.  There, you have a view of the entire room, and the astronauts working outside the windows.  Plus the menu options are better, no set choices.  

Holly and I were able to split a meal.  And look- a Mickey shaped fillet!

Our time together was as wonderful as the dessert.  Thank you, Terryweather and Holly for such a treat of a visit.  You guys bring the magic with you!