DisneyWorld 2014

     Our next day found us making our first visit to DisneyWorld. It was the one and only day of rain and crummy weather that we endured. We started off at Animal Kingdom.

   
    Drizzly and cold did not deter the girls. Donning their ponchos and Mickey ears firmly attached they nabbed some autographs from Chip and Dale.

     On the up side, the cooler weather brought out a lot of animals on the safari ride! Giraffes, hippos, zebras, and these guys above were all out and about. The girls were selected during The Festival of the Lion King as part of the audience participation. They loved it!

Up close and personal

Jungle drums... the natives are restless!

     We rode several of the rides then we loaded up and headed to Magic Kingdom for the remainder of the day. This was Belle's first time that she could remember (she was there several years ago when she was just an infant).

At the entry to the Magic Kingdom

     My personal goal was to capture her first reaction to seeing Cinderella's Castle. Five years ago, when we were last here with them, Tori was about Belle's age. The look on her face was priceless but alas, wasn't captured in a picture. This time, I was ready.

Belle seeing the Castle for the first time

     A big part of our trip was planned to find, and get autographs, of the various Disney Princesses and characters. Unless you have been living under a rock this year, you know that the characters from the movie "Frozen" have taken the world by storm. Anna and Elsa have their own meeting area and the line forms early and grows throughout the day. In fact the reported wait time for the line routinely goes to 120+ minutes and stays there. That's longer than you will wait for most any ride on the entire DisneyWorld property!! But we had a plan. More on that later. 

     One of my personal favorites is Tinkerbelle. She jabbered constantly with the girls and was impressed to find out that Belle had the "same name" as her.

Nothing like the wonder of Disney through the eyes of a child!!

     Over the rest of this day, and the next three more, we explored the Disney parks. Amanda found that a great way to meet princesses is through the "Breakfast with the Princesses". This takes place in Epcot in the country of Norway on the World Showcase. Here while you enjoy a great buffet breakfast, a variety of Princesses come to your table to visit. Also throughout the meal there is a grand parade where the younger visiting princesses get to meet their adoring subjects. 

Aurora

Cinderella 

Snow White

Even the "Big Kids" get to meet their favorites. Ariel from The Little Mermaid

In the Grand Parade

     After breakfast, it was out exploring the rest of Epcot. 

Alice in Epcot

Mary Poppins in England

     And what visit is it without meeting the main Mouse and his sweetheart. 

A good day! Also bribery picture for the teen years.

     The next morning was dubbed: Operation Frozen. Amanda got up early and Brad drove her to Magic Kingdom before opening. Then he drove back to get the others. Meanwhile Amanda got in line and, upon Magic Kingdom's opening, she zipped over to get a place in line for Anna and Elsa's autographs. Brad picked up the rest of the crew and dropped them off to head to Magic Kingdom (while he parked the car and caught up with them later). Things didn't go quite as planned since they opened the gates earlier than posted but we still had only about a 45 minute wait in line. But we were successful!! Tori wore her Elsa dress, Haley dressed as Anna, and Belle as Rapunzel (complete with long braid).

The much anticipated and sought after Anna...

... and Elsa with her fellow princesses.

And Rapunzel

This one's for Brad. :)

     The lighting of Cinderella's Castle every evening is also a Frozen Spectacular. Here, after scenes from Disney classics are projected along the sides of the Castle, Anna and Elsa come out with their friends Kristoff and Olaf. Through an elaborate story, the Castle comes to light looking like it is draped in glimmering icicles. I've been to DisneyWorld many times over the years and this was, in my opinion, the most impressive display that I've seen.

What can I say but Wow!!

     On our last day we went to Hollywood Studios. Here we took a picture of the iconic Sorcerer's Apprentice hat. This turned out to be fortunate as we found out later that the hat is scheduled to be demolished later in 2015!

      Among the streets of the park are millions of lights and displays outlining the buildings. This is impressive to behold and periodically, snow drifts down over those assembled below. 

     Thus ended our trip to Disney. The next day we swam with the manatees in Crystal River. The air temp was cold but the water was a constant spring fed 75 degrees. Which is why the manatees come in from the ocean every winter. Our first stop was populated by hundreds of manatees that we couldn't see. There were so many that they had stirred up the bottom and visibility was next to nothing. We moved to a different spot that was much clearer. Here we met a manatee we nicknamed "Olaf" (in keeping with the general Frozen motif). We called him that because he liked warm hugs. LOTS of them. He approached us and had no fear whatsoever. He was right up in your space and loved to be rubbed and touched. He even would place your hand right where he wanted it to rub his belly! I think that Amanda crossed this one off of her bucket list.

Loved to have his tummy rubbed!

Approached us and loved the interaction.

     That evening we trooped out to Downtown Disney. A spot for that last minute shopping for gifts/trinkets, eating, and just generally having fun. The Lego store is a must see. Here there is every Lego part known to man and some very impressive Lego statues.

Buzz and Woody made from Lego's

     We took a day and drove east to Flagler Beach. Here the girls have some relatives that we visited. A great lunch on the pier then down to the ocean for some splashing around and building of sand castles. As you can tell from the picture, the girls had a great time.

Flagler Beach. Who can resist playing in the surf ???

     The next day we had to pack up and head our separate ways. We took Belle with us in the car and the others flew back to Kansas. Belle stayed with us in Texas for a week before we drove up to Kansas for the holidays. We all had a great time and I look forward to meeting up with them again in another five years or so and doing it all over again!!

Universal Studios 2014

     Early in December, we packed up the car, left the motorhome, and drove to Orlando to meet with our daughter Amanda, her family, and their friends Jeff, Susan, and daughter Haley. Amanda had rented a vacation home for the week that was just outside the maingate of Disney. While the rental rate was exorbitant for a single family, when you split it three ways it became an affordable option. You can't beat the convenience and it was much more comfortable than a hotel room!

Our temporary base of operations

Part of Diagon Alley (Universal)

Hogwarts (Universal)

     We first went to Universal Studios. The latest addition to this park is an extensive bit of acreage devoted to the "Harry Potter" lover. Those familiar with the books/movies can become immersed in a very detailed and realistic Diagon Alley, Hogwarts school, Gringot's Bank, and London train station with platform 9 3/4 (complete with a chance to ride the Hogwarts Express train). Those not familiar with the aforementioned Potter series should skip this portion of the narrative.

Inside Gringot's Bank

     The level of detail included in these areas and their rides is simply amazing. It's as if you have stepped directly into the movie and it has become real. You can choose a wizarding wand at Evander's wand shop. You can then use this wand throughout the area to make things magically happen. Looking carefully for a brass plaque on the ground, you are given the instructions as to how to correctly wave the wand. Done properly, things come to life in store windows. Young and not so young alike can be seen perfecting their wand wielding skills.

Tori magically makes a window display come to life

     Outside of, and on the peak of Gringot's bank sits the white dragon. As you sit there (off to one side) you learn the sound that he makes as he "wakes up" every 15 minutes or so. You then watch the unsuspecting "Muggles" (Potter-speak for non magical humans) get startled out of their wits when it spouts a stream of flame down towards the street. It is so big that the heat can be felt by those nearby!!

The Dragon Awakes!

     The rides through the Potter world are top notch and as detailed as the area in which they reside.  We all enjoyed ourselves and recommend it to anyone who is a Harry Potter fan.

The girls get their wands

Yes! The paintings can talk!

The spell has been cast! You will return to Diagon Alley!

     Near the world of Harry Potter is the world of Dr. Suess. Here all of the familiar characters from the Dr. Suess tales reside. You notice that the girls have "Thing 1" or "Thing 2" on their shirts (made by Nana of course!). In the world of Suess they got to meet the namesakes. What surprised me was that Thing 1 got to hug Tori and Haley while Thing 2 found Belle. The characters matched up with the logo on the girls shirts! Good job!

High Fiving the Cat himself

The Lorax dancing with Belle

One Fish, Two Fish ride... You WILL get wet!

Truth in Advertising

     Day 2 we returned to Universal. It was overcast and colder than the day before. We spent some more time exploring more intricacies of Harry Potter's world. Then it was on to ride rides and meet characters.

We all tried out to become a "Minion"

How many people can you trap in a phone booth?

Visit with Shrek... Karate pose

     While going through we came upon Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey. Donkey was very interactive and got a hoot about all of us coming to visit. The girls made quite an impression on Fiona as all of them were in matching purple shirts. Fiona suggested that instead of the usual "Smile and say Cheese" style photo, we get into our best Karate pose.

     The theme around the park was a Macy's Christmas. At various locations there were parade balloons that had been in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In the late afternoon, a parade was held throughout the park and the balloons once again were shown off.

     As a part of the parade, Shrek and Fiona appeared. Surprisingly, Fiona saw the girls and recognized then from our meeting earlier in the day! She made a point to call them out and wave to them as she passed. 

     Nighttime found us watching some of an outdoor Christmas concert by Mannheim Steamroller. Then we trooped on back to our house for some much needed rest!

A Major Life Milestone

     A short post here but it means a lot to me. In September I turned 60. This means that I am officially retired from my 22 year career in the US Army. I received my retirement orders and a very nice retirement certificate that Barb had framed for me. Another by-product of retirement is I should start receiving my retirement paycheck!! Like all good government processes, they have had over 10 years to prepare for this but they didn't start the processing until I turned 60, so I've been told that it will be 60-90 days before I receive my first check. Go figure !?!? Welcome to retirement!

Return Trip to Texas (with some errands along the way)

     Well, we had to leave sometime and unfortunately, now was the time. This year we have to renew/update both our Military ID cards and our Drivers Licenses. So we packed up and bid a temporary farewell to our friends in Depoe Bay at Sea and Sand RV Park. We have agreed to return next summer to the same park for another round of touring the Oregon coast and enjoying all the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

     We headed south as we had to make a quick stop in San Diego. We took four days but made it safe and sound. We then headed East, back to Casa Grande, AZ. We had some work that needed to be done on the coach and the dealer in Tucson could take care of it for us. We also had some sun shades custom made for the front and side windows (drivers side pictured above). These shades are great as they block the heat and sun BEFORE it gets into the coach. This keeps things cooler and eases the load on our AC units (which haven't been used since we got to Oregon last June!). They are easy to put on and take off and they roll up for convenient storage.

     We stayed at a fantastic RV Resort in Casa Grande called Palm Creek RV and Golf Resort. This is a massive development with paved streets, gravel RV sites with concrete patio and full hook-ups, park models of all varieties, and some custom built homesites. Several swimming pools are scattered around the property. There is a huge clubhouse with side meeting rooms, woodworking shop, jewelry making shop, quilting and sewing rooms, a large library, tennis and pickle ball courts just to name a few. As the name implies, there is an 18 hole golf course that meanders through the property. Since temperatures are still touching the low 100's, there are not many residents, but I can assure you, this is a hopping place over the winter! The management found us a site between two park models that was great. The one park model blocked the morning sun until about 11:00, then the other park model blocked the afternoon sun from about 3:00 on. Really helped to keep the coach cool and comfortable even in the heat of the day. It was from here that Barb packed up and we flew her back to Kansas in order to help take care of the grandkids. Misty and I stayed in southern Arizona until we got the repairs completed. Then we packed up and headed towards Texas.

     Since it was just Misty and I, and we were in a bit of a rush, we travelled across I-10 staying in Flying J truck stop parking lots at night. The night before arriving in Houston, we decided to stay at a Texas roadside Rest Stop. I have to say, Texas does a fine job on their Rest Areas. They are spacious, clean, and quite comfortable for staying overnight. Above was the view out of our front window as the sun came up that morning. We drove through San Antonio and Houston and finally arrived early in the afternoon at our place at The Preserve in Cleveland.

     We parked the coach and spent a couple of days getting things unpacked and picking up things that Barb needed to have brought to her in Kansas. So, Misty and I left the coach buttoned up in Texas and hopped in the car and drove up to Kansas to get our errands done and to visit with friends and family.

     We met with our good friends and former neighbors and had a bonfire/hot dog roast and caught up with all of the things that had happened to us and them since we last got together. The girls and I did some fishing in their pond and both girls caught a couple of catfish. A good time was had by all!!

     Leading up to the girls' combined birthday party, I had a project assignment to engineer and build a table for them to play with their multitude of Lego playsets. Their mom had seen something like this on Pinterest, so I planned it out, bought the materials, and built it just in time for their party. They love it and I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that they are having such great fun using it.

     Coming up next week we take a quick drive up to South Dakota to update the drivers licenses, back through Kansas City to visit with friends and family there, then back to Derby. The youngest granddaughter will take the road trip with us so it should be fun!

Crater Lake

     We took a long weekend and played tourist. We drove out to Crater Lake National Park. It was amazing to see. When we arrived it was overcast and a little chilly. The lake was dull blue and not very impressive. We wandered around then headed to our hotel for the night. Next day dawned clear and beautiful. What a difference in the lake color!! The water is a vivid blue with shades of green around the shoreline. If you have never been there, here's a little background. The lake rests inside a caldera formed about 7,700 years ago when a 12,000 foot volcano collapsed during a major eruption. Later eruptions formed Wizard Island (which is the smaller landmass on the right in the photo above). It is the deepest lake in the United States and is fed by rain and snow but no rivers or streams. The lake level remains steady because the loss by evaporation and seepage is offset by tons of snow over the winter and rains. The lake is considered to be the cleanest large body of water in the world and is noted for its clarity and brilliant blue color.

     The road around the crater forms a ring and you can normally drive all around it stopping in various turnouts and photo spots. But this time there was a part of the road closed due to rockslides. In order to remove the threat of further blockages, a construction crew dangled off of the cliffs along the road and using pry bars, broke off chucks of loose rock and boulders. We had to wait some while as they did their work before we were allowed to go on through. In the meantime, we watched them and saw some pretty impressive man-made rockslides.

     After our delay, we headed towards what are called The Pinnacles. The Pinnacles are called fossil fumaroles. They are left from where volcanic gases rose up through a layer of volcanic ash. These gases were so hot that they fused to rock around them into a kind of "concrete" composed of ash and rock. As the softer ground surrounding them eroded away, these formations are exposed. It is really a fascinating geological formation.

A closer view of some of the Pinnacles

     On the way back, we took a short 1 mile hike to Plaikni Falls. The trail was fabulous. It was wide and level and it wandered through old growth forests. Once at the falls, it was surrounded by late season wildflowers and ferns. Very peaceful and relaxing.

     One of Crater Lake's "other islands" is small and sometimes overlooked. It is called the Phantom Ship since, from a distance, it looks like a tall masted ship that is sitting on the lake near the shore. While it looks small from the vantage point overlook, it is actually as tall as a 16 story building! It is 400,000 years old and is the oldest exposed rock within the caldera.

     From Crater Lake, we headed towards Bend, OR. Here we stopped at Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We were a little tight on the schedule, so we didn't stay long nor did we see nearly all of the park. We mostly toured the Lava Lands Visitor Center and Lava Butte. Who knew there was such volcanic activity in this part of the country?