Okay, so I have never watched the show and did not even know the premise until this morning, but today we did our very best to be Swamp People.
I'm pretty sure we were all pretty happy to start our day a little later than the crack of dawn for once. We slept in until 7 or so, showered, got dressed and ate breakfast in a rather leisurely manner, not having to leave the condo until 9 this morning. Then, we drove to Boggy Creek to start our day with an airboat ride. Unfortunately, it was rather chilly today and overcast which we learned is not terribly conducive to gator viewing as they have no reason to show themselves. We spotted one little (for an alligator) guy though so all was not for naught. We also saw numerous birds, including a young eagle, and eggs laid by an apple snail; Duncan had apparently read about them prior to boarding as he knew what they were when our guide was telling the rest of us about them. We also learned that alligators become more aggressive in March and April when their mating season begins.
After the ride, Duncan, Danica and I held a small alligator; Danica held the tail while I held the rest as she was nervous.
Then, we headed over to Gatorland. My brother remembers our first visit there 30 years ago and was excited to go back. Again, if the alligators weren't enough of an attraction, the many bird species who call that swamp their home would do it. Here, my brother took Duncan with him to partake in a gator feeding session. I think I was more nervous than Duncan; he put on that glove and marched on up to the edge of the water to within a few feet of a few very large and hungry-looking gators and threw that meat right to them. The face he was making when he turned around was absolutely priceless - I think the raw meat bothered him more than the alligators! Later on, while we were watching a close encounters show, we saw a duck lay an egg in the bushes in front of our seats and before the alligator wrestling exhibition, three Detroit Tigers were getting a special tour and wrestled their own gators. I think Robert wanted a chance to Rookie wrestle after the show but decided against it since Danica wouldn't go with him. He also decided against ziplining over the alligators. We all tried allowed gator nuggets though; they were sort of a cross between chicken nuggets and calamari.
On the way back to the condo, we stopped to pick up our rental car as Robert and I head to West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale tomorrow for a quick Bahamas cruise and some time to relax and see the ocean. Of course it couldn't go smoothly. We reserved a compact car, which according to the website would seat 4 adults and carry 2 large suitcases - all we would need for our few days away. We arrive to learn that we've been upgraded as they don't have any of "our class" available; it was a BMW mini-coupe. She assured us that it would be large enough for us as it was an upgrade - cute car but it looked like a two-seater (there was a small backseat) and didn't have room in the trunk for anything more than our backpacks. She then wanted to charge us more for an upgrade and told me that she was being nice and that no one else would but next time we should rent a larger car as obviously a compact or economy car is not appropriate for us. Finally, after some arguing, tears, threats to call security, we left with a Volkswagen Passat.
Hopefully our next few days are uneventful and full of fun in the sun and relaxation..
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Animal Magic
Yesterday brought us to Disney's Animal Kingdom. I knew it would be a huge hit with Duncan, our animal lover, but I think his excitement exceeded all my expectations. His favourite part of the day was the Kilamanjaro Safari, followed by getting soaked on the Kali River Rapids twice. Least favourite ride for him was Expedition Everest; he was likely extra-disappointed seeing as he was so excited about seeing a Yeti. Perhaps it wasn't a good choice for his first roller coaster... I think we have forever traumatized Danica by dragging her along on Expedition Everest and Dinosaur, though she was certainly brave through the rides.
We also got to meet Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto and Rafiki, plus Danica got serenaded by a musician on Discovery Island.
Perhaps the scariest part of the day was coming off the Kali River Rapids ride for the second time, reaching our lockers and coming to the realization that Danica wasn't running ahead with Daddy and was in fact missing. My heart dropped, as I am sure they did for the rest of my family as well. We had talked about what to do if this happened and both kids had bracelets around their ankles with our U.S. cellphone number on it. I had even noticed the "lost children" sign earlier. Of course we had assumed, as I am sure we all do, that all the preparation was unnecessary, but it wasn't. Trying not to panic, I instructed Duncan to stay with my Dad and told them not to move. I am not sure where my Mom and Robert were at this point but my brother and I headed back in the direction we had just come from, back towards the ride when I caught a glimpse of her. I began yelling her name and running towards her, not realizing how fast I could actually run in flip flops. I guess when she realized she was separated from us, she began to cry. This lady saw her crying, and remembering how scared she was when she was lost at Disney as a child, she asked Danica if she was okay. Danica told her she lost us and the lady took her hand and was trying to help her find a cast member when I found them. It was only about 1 minute from us realizing we'd lost her to finding her again, but it felt like hours.
Today is Danica's 5th birthday and we spent it at the Magic Kingdom. It began with breakfast in Cinderella's castle with the princesses. We got to meet Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Rapunzel and Jasmine. Duncan has known about this surprise since last summer but has kept it a secret the whole time as he wanted Danica to be surprised. I think he was as excited as she was! Heck, who am I kidding - I have always wanted to go inside the castle too! It was by far the most expensive breakfast I'd ever had but it was certainly good.
We went on some more rides, traumatizing Danica further by attempting to bring her into the Haunted House, and met some more characters. The day ended with a visit to the Mainstreet USA barbershop for a haircut for Duncan and some pixie dust for Danica before heading to McDonalds for Danica's birthday dinner (her choice, not ours).
Tomorrow we are hoping to sleep in a little longer before venturing out to see some alligators...It's supposed to be colder and may rain again but rain still beats snow and 16 C is way warmer than whatever is happening back home, so I will take it!
(note - photos to follow as they aren't uploading properly right now...)
We also got to meet Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto and Rafiki, plus Danica got serenaded by a musician on Discovery Island.
Perhaps the scariest part of the day was coming off the Kali River Rapids ride for the second time, reaching our lockers and coming to the realization that Danica wasn't running ahead with Daddy and was in fact missing. My heart dropped, as I am sure they did for the rest of my family as well. We had talked about what to do if this happened and both kids had bracelets around their ankles with our U.S. cellphone number on it. I had even noticed the "lost children" sign earlier. Of course we had assumed, as I am sure we all do, that all the preparation was unnecessary, but it wasn't. Trying not to panic, I instructed Duncan to stay with my Dad and told them not to move. I am not sure where my Mom and Robert were at this point but my brother and I headed back in the direction we had just come from, back towards the ride when I caught a glimpse of her. I began yelling her name and running towards her, not realizing how fast I could actually run in flip flops. I guess when she realized she was separated from us, she began to cry. This lady saw her crying, and remembering how scared she was when she was lost at Disney as a child, she asked Danica if she was okay. Danica told her she lost us and the lady took her hand and was trying to help her find a cast member when I found them. It was only about 1 minute from us realizing we'd lost her to finding her again, but it felt like hours.
Today is Danica's 5th birthday and we spent it at the Magic Kingdom. It began with breakfast in Cinderella's castle with the princesses. We got to meet Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Rapunzel and Jasmine. Duncan has known about this surprise since last summer but has kept it a secret the whole time as he wanted Danica to be surprised. I think he was as excited as she was! Heck, who am I kidding - I have always wanted to go inside the castle too! It was by far the most expensive breakfast I'd ever had but it was certainly good.
We went on some more rides, traumatizing Danica further by attempting to bring her into the Haunted House, and met some more characters. The day ended with a visit to the Mainstreet USA barbershop for a haircut for Duncan and some pixie dust for Danica before heading to McDonalds for Danica's birthday dinner (her choice, not ours).
Tomorrow we are hoping to sleep in a little longer before venturing out to see some alligators...It's supposed to be colder and may rain again but rain still beats snow and 16 C is way warmer than whatever is happening back home, so I will take it!
(note - photos to follow as they aren't uploading properly right now...)
Monday, February 24, 2014
Photo Time
Looks like I have access to the laptop to upload some photos sooner than I thought I would so here are a few snapshots of our first 3 days in Florida.....
Rain beats snow any day, even a torrential rain like this:
Happy smiles in the pool:
Fresh fruit:
The Ears:
Daddy and Danica at the Lego Store in Downtown Disney:
Fun with Pluto:
and Donald:
Look - a Mickey Garden!
Robert and I with the Epcot globe:
That's our trip, so far..... Until next time.....
Rain beats snow any day, even a torrential rain like this:
Happy smiles in the pool:
They are not impressed with the decision we made for function over fashion:
Fresh fruit:
The Ears:
Daddy and Danica at the Lego Store in Downtown Disney:
Fun with Pluto:
and Donald:
Look - a Mickey Garden!
Robert and I with the Epcot globe:
That's our trip, so far..... Until next time.....
Fashion Statements, Downtown Disney and Epcot
Our flight arrived in Orlando fairly early on Saturday, but by the time we finally got to pick up our rental car, it was time to locate the condo my parents were renting and have a quick lunch. Afterwards, we plugged the address of the Orlando Welcome Centre into the GPS and headed off to jump through the necessary hoops to get settled into our hotel (to make a long story short - the great deal Robert found ended up having small print, turning it into a bit of a pain). Once we were all checked in, my parents thought they'd leave us to take the kids for the swimming they were begging for (in spite of the rain) and to wander around the area, checking out the discount Disney stores and having some dinner before a very early to bed night. It seemed like a good idea. The kids enjoyed a quick swim. We all showered quickly. We headed to our neighboring souvenir shops. Then, on our way to figure out how to cross the highway in front of our hotel to grab dinner and stop by the grocery store across the street to stock up on bottled water, the skies let loose into a torrential downpour. We hid out under the canopy of some all you can eat Mexican buffet for a bit and then decided to set a bad example for our children and Frogger it across the highway as opposed to walking another km down to the traffic light. Robert carried Danica so I was responsible for Duncan who somehow lost a shoe on his way across, forcing me to head back to pick it up before the traffic started up again.
Before dinner, we ended up in a Bargain Store purchasing a cheap towel so that we could look slightly less drowned rat-like when entering the restaurant. After dinner, we found some dollar ponchos to wear back to the hotel, much to Duncan's dismay. To quote him, "You seriously expect me to wear a garbage can?!".
The following day, after Robert and I spent a couple of hours trying to not buy a timeshare (man they get pushy and lay on the guilt - "Wouldn't it be nice if you could take your parents on a vacation sometimes? "), we headed to Downtown Disney for our first official meeting with the House of the Mouse. Danica tried to buy everything she saw but Duncan spent lots of time checking price tags and calculating how much money he would have left, leaving with only a few souvenir pennies and a small Lego set.
Today, we visited Epcot. Test Track ended up being an all-around favourite, but Soaring was good fun too. After we frightened Danica on the Maelstrom in Norway, she refused to venture onto the Mission: SPACE ride. My mom, Duncan and I opted for the less intense version while Robert and Chris (my brother) risked their lunches on the spinning one; I can't say Robert looked like he would be dying to try it again. We also got photos taken with Donald Duck and Pluto but voted against the 2.5 hour wait to meet Elsa and Anna from Frozen, instead peeking at them from Norway's gift shop.
Lucky for us, the rain and thunderstorms predicted for today only appeared briefly while we were in line for a ride and inside the building already but had subsided prior to our exit. Perhaps the threat kept many people away, however, as the lineups and crowds were not bad at all.
Tomorrow, we check out of our hotel and visit Animal Kingdom. Let's hope the rains hold off for us again! I promise to post photos soon.....
Before dinner, we ended up in a Bargain Store purchasing a cheap towel so that we could look slightly less drowned rat-like when entering the restaurant. After dinner, we found some dollar ponchos to wear back to the hotel, much to Duncan's dismay. To quote him, "You seriously expect me to wear a garbage can?!".
The following day, after Robert and I spent a couple of hours trying to not buy a timeshare (man they get pushy and lay on the guilt - "Wouldn't it be nice if you could take your parents on a vacation sometimes? "), we headed to Downtown Disney for our first official meeting with the House of the Mouse. Danica tried to buy everything she saw but Duncan spent lots of time checking price tags and calculating how much money he would have left, leaving with only a few souvenir pennies and a small Lego set.
Today, we visited Epcot. Test Track ended up being an all-around favourite, but Soaring was good fun too. After we frightened Danica on the Maelstrom in Norway, she refused to venture onto the Mission: SPACE ride. My mom, Duncan and I opted for the less intense version while Robert and Chris (my brother) risked their lunches on the spinning one; I can't say Robert looked like he would be dying to try it again. We also got photos taken with Donald Duck and Pluto but voted against the 2.5 hour wait to meet Elsa and Anna from Frozen, instead peeking at them from Norway's gift shop.
Lucky for us, the rain and thunderstorms predicted for today only appeared briefly while we were in line for a ride and inside the building already but had subsided prior to our exit. Perhaps the threat kept many people away, however, as the lineups and crowds were not bad at all.
Tomorrow, we check out of our hotel and visit Animal Kingdom. Let's hope the rains hold off for us again! I promise to post photos soon.....
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Here We Go Again...
People had asked me if I was going to blog about our current vacation and my response was always no. Not that I didn't enjoy blogging while we were in the Phillipines because I did, but I figured Florida, though it would be fun for us, may not be as exciting or interesting for our friends and family to read about. Then our travels began and I changed my mind...
Being from the Great White North, a little snow doesn't intimidate us much or cause us to panic; after all, when 4-6 months are snow-covered, your choices include hibernate or learn to deal with it. Having said that, we were less than excited to hear about the winter weather advisory in effect for the day we were to drive the 4-5 hours to catch our flight. I had lots of overtime in over the past few weeks though so we figured if we sent the kids to school for half a day and I tried to leave work at noon, we'd be fine. The joke was on us...
We saw the sign in the window of the toll booth informing us that the Mackinac Bridge was closed but not having any alternatives, short of driving through Canada and all the way around one of the Great Lakes, which was not really an option at all, we decided to press on. The further we travelled, the worse the weather got. It took us well over an hour to reach the bridge to learn that it would be closed for anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours. I am not sure if you've ever been to St. Ignace, Michigan or not, but it is very much lacking in the killing time options, especially in the winter. It's a cute little town but even in summer, shopping consists of small souvenir shops only; there are no malls or department stores to wander around aimlessly for an indeterminate length of time while you wait for the bridge to reopen. So, we crossed the highway to join the ever-growing line of vehicles parked in the northbound rest area. For 2 1/2 hours, we sat in the van, looking at the snow and listening to AM 530 telling us that the bridge was closed due to wind gusts of up to 65 miles per hour (not fun on the suspension bridge) and poor visibility. There came a time that our bladders got the best of us and we decided we had to leave the warm protection of our vehicle to hike up to the bathrooms. The wind was whipping at our faces, blowing snow into our eyes and mouths, and we had to grip onto the kids' jackets for fear they would blow away. The snow on the ramp was to my knees and we had to trudge through. Poor Duncan turned towards me at one point and I realized just how bad it was - wet snow plastered his face and he couldn't open his eyes with the weight of the snow on his eye lashes. At that time, I pushed his head down, pulled him close to me to protect his face, picked up Danica and pushed on. Arriving inside, my mother took one look at me and started laughing at the mascara that was now all over my cheeks.
On our way back to the car, my mother and I got side-tracked in the visitors centre by the attendants informing us that the advisory was in effect until 7 pm and the bridge was unlikely to open before then. He was even kind enough to show us the radar photos which were quite pretty but I guess that's a bad sign. He suggested we head into town for some whitefish and hang out for a while.
That advice brought us into the BigBoy which was full of other stranded travellers. The servers were very patient and understanding of our plight and didn't make us feel like we needed to rush out. In fact, it was our server who informed us that the weather advisory had been extended until 10 pm as we all kept staring out the windows to debate on whether things were improving or not.
Finally, shortly after 9, the bridge reopened and we joined the lineup of cars waiting to cross the Mighty Mac. On the bridge approach, with the snow freezing instantly onto our wipers rendering them useless, the inside of our windows flash-freezing, and the snow/wind gusts resulting in less than zero visibility, we wondered what this looked like when the bridge was closed as this wasn't looking good now when it was opened. After what seemed like hours and was likely only 20 minutes, we found ourselves across the bridge safely and thought we'd be on our merry way. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans as the gusting winds and blowing snow continued, and our speed on a major, 4 lane highway didn't top 40 km per hour for at least two hours (which took us only as far as Gaylord, usually a 45 minute drive). Even after that, our speed barely approached the speed limit thanks to black ice, unpredictable road conditions and high winds. At 2:30 am, after 13 hours of travel, we finally arrived at our hotel in Flint for a quick nap and shower before our 5:30 shuttle to the airport.
Our flight was without incident, enjoyable even. The flight attendants were pleasant and all announcements were funny. The flight even arrived in Orlando 30 minutes early! The worst part was that I was trying to nap on the plane but every time we hit a little bump, I relived the nightmares of the road.
But we're here, safe and sound, ready to have fun and relax!
Being from the Great White North, a little snow doesn't intimidate us much or cause us to panic; after all, when 4-6 months are snow-covered, your choices include hibernate or learn to deal with it. Having said that, we were less than excited to hear about the winter weather advisory in effect for the day we were to drive the 4-5 hours to catch our flight. I had lots of overtime in over the past few weeks though so we figured if we sent the kids to school for half a day and I tried to leave work at noon, we'd be fine. The joke was on us...
We saw the sign in the window of the toll booth informing us that the Mackinac Bridge was closed but not having any alternatives, short of driving through Canada and all the way around one of the Great Lakes, which was not really an option at all, we decided to press on. The further we travelled, the worse the weather got. It took us well over an hour to reach the bridge to learn that it would be closed for anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours. I am not sure if you've ever been to St. Ignace, Michigan or not, but it is very much lacking in the killing time options, especially in the winter. It's a cute little town but even in summer, shopping consists of small souvenir shops only; there are no malls or department stores to wander around aimlessly for an indeterminate length of time while you wait for the bridge to reopen. So, we crossed the highway to join the ever-growing line of vehicles parked in the northbound rest area. For 2 1/2 hours, we sat in the van, looking at the snow and listening to AM 530 telling us that the bridge was closed due to wind gusts of up to 65 miles per hour (not fun on the suspension bridge) and poor visibility. There came a time that our bladders got the best of us and we decided we had to leave the warm protection of our vehicle to hike up to the bathrooms. The wind was whipping at our faces, blowing snow into our eyes and mouths, and we had to grip onto the kids' jackets for fear they would blow away. The snow on the ramp was to my knees and we had to trudge through. Poor Duncan turned towards me at one point and I realized just how bad it was - wet snow plastered his face and he couldn't open his eyes with the weight of the snow on his eye lashes. At that time, I pushed his head down, pulled him close to me to protect his face, picked up Danica and pushed on. Arriving inside, my mother took one look at me and started laughing at the mascara that was now all over my cheeks.
On our way back to the car, my mother and I got side-tracked in the visitors centre by the attendants informing us that the advisory was in effect until 7 pm and the bridge was unlikely to open before then. He was even kind enough to show us the radar photos which were quite pretty but I guess that's a bad sign. He suggested we head into town for some whitefish and hang out for a while.
That advice brought us into the BigBoy which was full of other stranded travellers. The servers were very patient and understanding of our plight and didn't make us feel like we needed to rush out. In fact, it was our server who informed us that the weather advisory had been extended until 10 pm as we all kept staring out the windows to debate on whether things were improving or not.
Finally, shortly after 9, the bridge reopened and we joined the lineup of cars waiting to cross the Mighty Mac. On the bridge approach, with the snow freezing instantly onto our wipers rendering them useless, the inside of our windows flash-freezing, and the snow/wind gusts resulting in less than zero visibility, we wondered what this looked like when the bridge was closed as this wasn't looking good now when it was opened. After what seemed like hours and was likely only 20 minutes, we found ourselves across the bridge safely and thought we'd be on our merry way. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans as the gusting winds and blowing snow continued, and our speed on a major, 4 lane highway didn't top 40 km per hour for at least two hours (which took us only as far as Gaylord, usually a 45 minute drive). Even after that, our speed barely approached the speed limit thanks to black ice, unpredictable road conditions and high winds. At 2:30 am, after 13 hours of travel, we finally arrived at our hotel in Flint for a quick nap and shower before our 5:30 shuttle to the airport.
Our flight was without incident, enjoyable even. The flight attendants were pleasant and all announcements were funny. The flight even arrived in Orlando 30 minutes early! The worst part was that I was trying to nap on the plane but every time we hit a little bump, I relived the nightmares of the road.
But we're here, safe and sound, ready to have fun and relax!
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