Three Parks, One Day

Yeah, I know. Most folks talk of doing all 4 Orlando Disney parks in one day (not including the water parks). And we could have done this, but that would have meant cutting Mickey's Christmas party short, and that wasn't happening! I'll take the 3 we did and the way we did it and call it a success!

We arrived at Epcot around 8:30 am. Our GPS was kind enough to remind us that the park was closed until 9. Thanks Google, but the plan was to be there early! We opted for preferred parking, as that seemed key to our success. Preferred means parking close, which cuts down on the time it takes to transfer from park to park. And hey, with this type of parking, you get cold water bottles each time you park, so that's a win!

After a brief hiccup, where the attendant's bar code scanner would not work with our tickets, we were in! (Thanks customer service with the iPad that would work for scanning!). We had 3 rides in mind for this park, so we headed to Test Track. We were stuck inside for a bit, as the ride had some sort of issue, and this one ride took an hour. Worth the wait, but I was already concerned about the schedule. Mission Space: Orange went quick. Not much of a line at all for this ride. I'm still not sure how Disney makes it feel like you are pulling several Gs and actually launching into space, but we landed our spaceship on Mars successfully! A brief break for drinks and a Pluto popcorn bucket, and we were off to Soarin'. We were on the far right, which meant a bit of distortion in some of the taller objects, but hey, this ride is still one of my favorites!

On a related note, Radiator Springs Racers seems to have a very similar technology to Test Track, but is so much better.

Now, we moved the car to Animal Kingdom. We did Dinosaur, which was great, but I just kept thinking, this is no Indiana Jones! Traven and I then did the Primeval Swirl, as we could just walk on. It's a fun ride, but if you don't like sudden turns or spinning (Lori), it's not for you!

And now, a key moment of the day. Expedition Everest. Traven did NOT want to do this one. There was some bargaining, and I finally convinced him to try it. I'd only been on it once, so when he asked if it was dark, I said not that I remembered. Uh, turns out it has quite a bit of darkness. He survived, wanted to beat me up after, but I could see a slight sparkle in his otherwise angry eyes. A few minutes later, he said he'd probably do it again, that it wasn't that bad. We did Nav'ii River journey after this, which was pretty, but so not worth the 2 hour wait time some folks had. Thank goodness for FastPass+! As we left it, Traven was begging for another run at Expedition Everest. He loved it!

Lori was feeling a bit sick at this point, from Mission Space and EE, so she sat out our 2nd run at Everest. We had lunch reservations at the Yak and Yeti, and she felt better after eating. I have to say, this was my least favorite Disney eatery of all time. It's not that the food was bad, it just wasn't as good as I've come to expect from places like Carthay Circle and Blue Bayoo.

You know, I'm just going to say it. Disneyland > Disney World.  Yeah, World is bigger and has a lot more to do, but it just doesn't have the same level of magic as Disneyland.

After letting Traven do Primeval one more time, we were off to Magic Kingdom. I had never parked there - only taken the bus to the park, and I did not realize that you take the Monorail from parking over to the park. Bonus ride!

The party did not disappoint. I was curious how they cleared the park for those that didn't pay for the party, and it turns out it's a bit of crowd management plus wristbands. I wasn't sure what all the party entailed, and I'm not sure we even scratched the surface. There was non-stop entertainment from a stage in front of the castle. A dance party was going on in one of the restaurants. There were singers on a stage in Tomorrowland. Two parades, fireworks and who knows what else? And the treats, oh my goodness! You just had to look for the glowing candy cane blow-ups. We had apple cider, hot chocolate, grape soda and eggnog. We had sugar, gingerbread, chocolate chip and all manner of cookies. We were handed chocolates. We had slushies. We somehow missed the pretzels, and I think we missed many other treats. But honestly, how much can you eat?

The ride lines were great! With people distracted by all the other things going on, we walked right onto Pirates. Haunted Mansion was like a 10 minute wait. We did Peter Pan in 15 minutes. 15 MINUTES! We also did Small World, Big Thunder, Teacups, Tomorrowland Speedway and Buzz Lightyear,  We could have done more, but we honestly ran out of steam towards the end, and when the parade ended at 11:30 pm, we decided to call it a day.

So, as always, notes for next time?

• At over 28,000 steps, non-cotton socks and newer underwear are recommended. 
• Patience. Poor Traven was exhausted, and the problem is that when he is exhausted, he becomes even more hyper and grows a bit cranky. The lunch break helped, and he devoured a bacon cheeseburger around 10 pm. But he did require and deserved a lot of TLC.
• The party was so worth it. I'd for sure do one again.
• The inline games were fun, but bring lots of battery chargers! Between FastPass+, games, photos and other usage, I completely drained my phone twice.

Update #1:

I just remembered three things I wanted to mention! One, we went to "It's Tough to be a Bug!". I will always miss the Bug's Life stuff at California Adventure, but knowing this gem is at Animal Kingdom eases the pain a little bit.

Two, there's something magical about watching and hearing people experience something wonderful for the first time. I had some newbies to Soarin' near me on that ride, and to hear the wonder in their voices was special. And I think we had a room full of first timers with us for the Bug show, and there was a lot of screaming and laughter.

Third, there is so much to do and see at the Disney parks, that sometimes we can miss something for years. For instance, this was the first time that Lori noticed the hanging person in Haunted Mansion! That's right - that prop has been above her head dozens of times, and on this trip she finally saw it!

Ok, four things. When it comes to the holidays, Disneyland is so much better. I missed the holiday overlays to Haunted Mansion and Small World.

The Venison Chronicles

We have a certain family member who is scared of deer. Deer are literally the stuff of her nightmares. And being the loving, kind people we are, we tend to go out of our way to share pictures of deer with her.

The subject of deer tends to send me back to memories of my childhood. Growing up in Milton meant almost daily encounters with deer from early fall until late spring. The harsh winter conditions would push the animals from their higher summer elevations down into the valley, where they could find food and water. If it was a particularly bad winter, the deer casualties would be high. I think it was someone's job to drive the county roads on a daily basis to gather the fallen.

You also have to know that I could walk out our back porch door and instantly be hunting deer. We lived right next to the hills. Open the door, climb the old wooden stairs, cross the foot bridge over the canal and start the ascent. The first few hundred feet was our property, and it was a pretty steep climb. Hop the fence onto a bit of a flat area, and you were in deer territory. You could head to your left towards a thicket of scrub brush and Line Creek, head straight towards the mountains, or head to your right toward endless, rolling hills. My Dad and I actually filled our deer tags one year from this very spot. Two bucks standing in the distance, taken out at the same moment by two well place shots. Ah, good times. The nice thing about that time was it was a downhill, straight shot to get the venison down to the abandoned Dell Monte cannery, which sat right on the county road. Then it was a quick walk to get a truck, then take the meet back to our old stone building.

Parts of my childhood home were over a hundred years old, and one of many interesting structures was the stone building. It looked like something out of a Stephen King novel. It was constructed out of large bricks. No, not the type of brick you picture. These bad boys were probably about 1 foot x 1 foot, and had a texture like sand. You could carve your name into them pretty easily. It sat behind the back porch, had no windows and just a large, heavy wooden door. It was small, probably about 8 feet by 10 feet. It had a work table, blood stained from years of game processing. The ceiling contained several pulleys and chains, devised to hoist whatever needed to be handled. The only light was from a bare bulb in the middle of the ceiling. About 3/4 of the building was surrounded by the hill side. Between the house, dirt and large Cottonwood trees, the building never saw the sun. It had a chill, even on a hot summer day. Now picture two deer, swinging from the ceiling. You're welcome.

For our second deer related story, several of us had been up to no good. Let's just leave it at that. We had parked my buddy's car behind the church and were just hiding out. We were already on edge, when we started to hear it. Behind the church was a bunch of scrub oak and brush, and something was moving in there. Not like an animal - we'd all heard that many times. No, this was slow, heavy, deliberate. It was also breaking a lot of brush, something a normal animal would not do. As it grew nearer and nearer, louder and louder, we decided to make a break for it. We piled in the car and left in a hurry. There we were, driving way too fast down the county road, completely scared out of our minds, when it happened. A deer hit the car! Yes, you read that right. We did not hit a deer. A deer literally ran head first into the driver's side window. It pressed the side of its head into the glass, and held it there as we sped past. I can still see its wide open, dazed and confused eye staring at me. I'm not sure how we didn't die from a heart attack or from a flaming wreck, but we survived.

This next deer story might approach a PG-13 rating. My friend and I were skipping school to deer hunt. This was actually a pretty normal thing for that time. As we crested a hill and looked down into the ravine, we saw a nice buck. It had not heard us coming, and was really close. It was startled and running towards us. I took the shot. Somehow the bullet ripped a hole in the deer's throat and cleared off about 1/2 of its face. But it didn't go down, and it was still heading towards us. At this point, it is making a horrible sound as air and blood pass through the new opening.  I take a 2nd shot, but I'm so freaked out by the sight that I miss. My friend is laughing hysterically, and is no help whatsoever. The zombie deer slows, but continues its death march to extract revenge upon me. I take another shot, this time finishing the job. Next story.

It's the bow hunt. I'm covered in camo, my scent covered with some deer musk. I've also covered most of me in leaves, and I'm laying in wait along a game trail that leads down to Line Creek. My face is even covered up with war paint. I'm in the perfect spot for a 4 point I've been stalking for weeks. I'm hunting old school, with a re-curved bow. None of that compound bow nonsense for me. The bow has plenty of tension, and I've been practicing for months. I've been in place for about an hour, when I see him. I'm upwind, the setting sun to my back. He's about 50 yards off, but unaware of me and still approaching. When he's about 20 yards off, I begin my movement. Ever so slowly, I stand up. Now he sees me, but he's not sure what I am and can't smell me, so he's just watching. The bow slowly rises to a shooting position. I notch my razor tipped hunting arrow. He turns broadside to me. This could not be any better. 20 yards, broadside and still. As I release the arrow, my bow twists. They aren't supposed to do that! This causes the arrow to not only lose velocity, but it ends up hitting the deer with its side. So instead of bagging my deer, I end up giving it a good, hard slap! It takes off, and I'm just dumbfounded. I drop my broken bow and start my long, dejected hike home. This time, the deer won.

I had many other encounters with mule deer, but these are the most memorable. I've ran into 3 while driving, but all 3 times was in one of our old trucks, with the spare tire mounted on the front. When you see you are about to hit a deer and you are driving a truck like that, you still hit the brakes, but aim the tire at the animal. If it is smart and/or fast enough, it will get out of the way. Otherwise, that deer is going to go flying.

Leaving Nicaragua

I wanted to jot down a few thoughts and the information I know about Hermana Elquist's departure from Nicaragua, mainly for her. I worry that the entire event was such a shock that some of the many miracles along the way might get lost or forgotten. Of course, this is told from my point of view. I'm sure she will have things to add to the story.

Friday afternoon, Presidente Poncio sent out an email, saying the work was going well, the missionaries were on an adjusted schedule, but everyone was safe and not to worry.

Saturday was a very bad day in Nicaragua. More deaths occurred, including the specific targeting of two US citizens. Also, at least two church members were killed.

On Sunday, during Sunday school, my phone started to go off. Generally, I'd ignore it, but it was enough that I checked to see what was going on. The family of Hermana Curtis was asking me if I'd seen the news on Facebook. Members from Nicaragua were asking me if Alyssa was ok. I went home, thus beginning my 24+ hours of sheer panic.

News was trickling in, but the consensus seemed to be that the church had announced in some parts that the missionaries were leaving. It turns out that in many zones, they were already gone.

Saturday night at 10:00 pm, Alyssa received word that they needed to be to the church at 4:00 am to be evacuated. Due to the many roadblocks in place, the buses were several hours late. It took a long time and several bribes to pass through the blockades, but they eventually arrived at the Best Western in Managua, where the entire mission was gathered.

They had all left in such a hurry, with no chance to say goodbye to anyone. There was a general sense of disbelief and shock among the missionaries. Some (including Alyssa) begged to be able to stay. These youth really had learned to love the country and the people. In talking to Alyssa, she told us about the Sacrament meeting they put together in a conference room at the hotel. They were able to take the Sacrament together and hear from the mission president. She said it was one of the most spiritual experiences she has ever had. Tears were shed as they said their goodbyes and found out where they would be serving next. She even got a big hug from President Poncio, which she said she was not ready for. I can only imagine the heartbreak these wonderful missionaries experienced. Alyssa did get to say goodbye to Hermana Caballero.

Of course back home, Lori and I were a mess. We slept little, and basically just kept checking our emails and Alyssa's bank account for any activity. Suddenly early Monday morning, a charge for Las Hamacas popped up. I was unable to figure out what that  was. Frustrating! Then the family of Sister Curtis pinged me, saying a charge for over $200 had popped up on Emma's account, and she had purchased an airplane ticket. I was out jogging, trying to clear my mind, and I hit the panic button. Did Alyssa have that much in her account? I thought I'd better get some more in her account. I called my wife to pick me up, so I could get on my laptop and transfer some funds. Only after I hung up and had calmed down a bit did I remember I had the Mountain America app on my phone and could transfer money in with a few touches. Oops!

Lori told me I could not go to work. She had faith Alyssa would call with news, but she didn't know whose cell phone she would call. Michelle brought over our grandson to help distract us and pass the time. I saw a charge for Chick-Fil-A 69 come in. Where was that? I Googled it, and Lori actually called the franchise headquarters, but to no avail. I did see they do not have any international locations, so it would seem Alyssa was back on US soil.

Finally, Alyssa called! We had sent a Tracfone with her when she left, so she could call us while passing time at a long layover in Atlanta. She had kept it, charged it up, and put some more minutes on it. Smart girl! She once again called from Atlanta, only this time on her way to the Indiana, Indianapolis mission. What a relief for us, but she was so sad and I could tell she was just in shock from it all. Tears were shed, and we tried our best to reassure her. She called again once she was in Indiana.

When Alyssa got to the airport in Managua, the mission home had lost her residency card. The country was not going to let her leave. The church actually had to basically pay a bribe to get Alyssa out of the country. How crazy is that? And the truth finally came out - it was very dangerous down there! Alyssa said she has many stories to tell us. I can only imagine. She was so alarmed when she learned President Poncio was staying behind. She asked us to pray for his safety.

When I heard Indiana, two people came to mind. One, our son Braden served there! And two, one of Alyssa's best friends, Mckenzie Branch, was serving there RIGHT NOW! I texted her Mom, who almost immediately called Lori. Let's just say we have a pretty detailed shopping list now of things to send to Alyssa!

Kenzie's Mom also told Sister Branch that Alyssa was on her way, and she sprang into action. She is a sister training leader out there, so she called the mission president and arrange for her to be the one to pick up Alyssa and take her to her first area! And she said she was taking Alyssa a dress, as Alyssa is pretty concerned about the state of her clothing. I am so thankful for tender mercies such as this. Alyssa is very sad about leaving Nicaragua, but this will really help her. Here's a pic of the day Kenzie opened her mission call!

Another fun story. Sister Branch received her call about a month before Alyssa. Right after she got her call, she had a dream about Alyssa serving in the same mission. When Alyssa was called to Nicaragua, they chalked it up as just a dream. Let's just say the spirit was felt strongly, and more tears shed, when Alyssa was sent to Indiana.

Braden has been in contact with folks he knows where Alyssa will be serving, and I think some dinners have been arranged!

I know Heavenly Father was watching over the missionaries, and their departure couldn't have been delayed any longer. My heart breaks for the good people of Nicaragua, and they remain in my prayers. I pray for the safety of President Poncio as he remains in country. I pray for the members I have come to know that are down there. Mari Mendoza is a member in Managua, who actually works at the airport. She expressed the sorrow of watching all the missionaries leaving while she was at work, and I can't even begin to understand how that must have hurt. I told her to keep the faith, and that missionaries would be back someday. A temple will be built in Nicaragua for the good church members. The work will go on. Maybe the enemy feels he has obtained a victory in this battle, but the war goes on.

Spring Break 2018

What started off as a simple notion to take T to Legoland turned into a week long family outing. With her new work, Kaylee gets 4 free passes to Universal Studios per year, and discounted tickets after that, so it just made sense to include Universal.  And since we hadn't been to Knott's in years, I figured we ought to loop it in as well.  We had me, Lori, Traven, Jason, Kaylee, Braden, Michelle, Mason, Eric and Sally along. And, at the last minute, we somehow ended up with Elijah as well. Eli was a nice addition to the adventure. He has a very unique personality and sense of humor, and is BRUTALLY honest!

The drive down on Monday was pretty uneventful.  We listened to an audio book (Ready Player One) which helped the time go by faster. We hit a bit of a snag, where the first car down couldn't get into the rental, but Kaylee sorted that out on the phone. The place was a bit shady/ghetto, but it served its purpose just fine. It was an odd layout. The front of the house was on a busy street, so the parking was actually from the back alley. It was a sliding metal gate. Reminded me of what I picture a prison gate being like. It did have a two car garage, so that was nice. We had lasagna for dinner, and Mason had us all up bright and early to start Tuesday.

Tuesday was Universal.  I have never, ever seen it so crowded.  That park doesn't have that many attractions to begin with, so the lines were LONG. We did maybe half the attractions? We had dinner at The Three Broomsticks, which was tasty. I stayed to watch the light show on Hogwarts at 7:40. It went about 3 minutes, then broke. They tried again, it broke.  I waited until 8, it made it about 10 seconds and broke again. Good grief people, how hard can it be? Someday, when I do Universal in California again, I'll pay for the express passes. Honestly, staying on property in Florida really has me spoiled for Universal. I don't know that California will ever come close to what Florida has to offer.

Wednesday was Knott's.  I really enjoyed a boysenberry meatball sub. Also, the log ride there is so much fun, as is the rapids adventure. And the Calico Mine Ride is great! Once again, the crowds were HUGE. Awkward moment of the day was my GPS. At first, I couldn't get a signal. I finally did, thought I clicked "Knott's", and off we went. Well, we ended up in the middle of Ontario! I mean, not Canada, but we were still about 40 minutes away. I'm still not sure how I worked that out, but everyone was good sports. Again, Knott's offered an express pass option, which I will use when we go again.

Legoland has a nice, all you can eat pizza and pasta place.  That was good.  Traven totally geeked out over the lego displays, so that was fun to watch. He also wanted to ride the Technic Coaster alone, so I waited just outside the exit for him. And again, the crowds were AWFUL. Traven was done with lines, so I bribed him with Legos and we were out of there! I told Braden and Michelle that I want to take Mason back for their 5 year anniversary. We will be doing the express pass thing for sure!

Friday and Saturday we spent in Las Vegas. It's just how we left it last time - smoke filled and hot! We ended up locked out of the house on Saturday night, as the batteries in the lock failed. I had actually ran to Walmart, so the rest of them were stranded outside for quite a while. When I got there, T was pretty worried. I figured maybe a window was open? I walked around the side and sure enough, a window slid open! It was the laundry room. I called T back, and was able to lift him in. As he walked around inside, I went back outside to the front door. I said something like "Did you try knocking?" as T opened the door. He was pretty happy being the hero of the day!

We met a couple that Jason knew from his mission, on Thursday night. That was fun. I had a california burrito. It was gigantic!

I somehow lucked into becoming Mason's vacation buddy.  It was great! I carried him in most lines. He'd beg to come to me. It really made the trip extra special. He even had a "name" for me, which kind of sounded like a couple of grunts. I'll take it!

All in all, it was a great trip! Next time, I'd spring for the front of line offerings at all three parks.

I also think two days in a row of adventure is about all Eric and Sally can handle at this point.  Eric took a bad fall at Knott's because he was tired and missed a curb. He really dinged himself up, which led to an interesting discussion between him and Sally, and how a person can obtain muscle relaxants and heavy pain killers! They were very happy to just relax at the rental on the day the rest of us went to LegoLand.