The alarm went off far too early for me after a very late night at the casino. Three Card Poker called to me and I started with $100 in chips. That allowed me to play for about 4-5 hours and leave with $170. Not bad for an evening of entertainment!
Thankfully, I had packed up most everything and put 1 piece of luggage outside the cabin door to be picked up and taken to the warehouse after we left the ship.
Once again, platinum status was a huge friend to us. We had Priority Debarkation in Group 1. This group would be called immediately after the people that were carrying off all of their luggage. Do people listen to the announcements? No, they do not. They just rush to the exits and clog up the traffic leaving the ship. UGH At about 8:30 we took the stairs from Deck 9 to Deck 3 only to find a madhouse. The atrium and areas all around it and the elevators were solid people and luggage.
I found a crew member and asked her where the priority debarkation line was. OH well, let me just whisk you and your guests to the immediate front of the line, past everyone else. BOOM! We were off the ship. I immediately flagged down a porter who loaded our luggage onto her cart and off we went—through the very short porter line and to the customs agent. Easy Peasy! Well worth the $10 tip we gave her. Plus, she wheeled our bags the whole way over to the rental car shuttles.
After a wait of about 20 minutes, the rental car company shuttle arrived and we were off to pick up our car. No wait there and we loaded our stuff into the Jetta we were given. Zoom Zoom! We were off. We decided to go Disney Springs and spend the day.
No traffic problems and we arrived and parked our car in the Orange parking lot. The parking lots here were kinda interesting—They gave a count of all the available spaces on each level of the garage AND it was free to park there.
It was fairly early so we walked around a bit and I immediately found a couple of great Christmas presents for my son! We decided to pick them up on the way out instead of lugging them around. We walked and shopped at a variety of stores and then we decided we were starving. We went to Splitsville, the bowling alley/restaurant to eat and bowl! It was $12 each to bowl for an hour and fifteen minutes. Food was extra of course. We decided to order just appetizers so we wouldn’t waste our precious bowling time.
I will tell you right now, I suck at bowling. And with my hands and now shoulders acting up, after two games it was starting to become fairly painful. In between throwing gutter balls, we shared an order of nachos and chicken tenders. Then realized we were very full and no additional lunch would be needed. Kolton won, Betzi came in second and I, of course, won the Bronze medal. LOL My play was actually pitiful. My highest score was 73 I think. LOL
We strolled around some more and did a bit more shopping and then decided we needed to see a movie so we could sleep…errr rest. We decided on the Disney flick “Made in China.” I think that was the name. It was about animal families. Very beautifully filmed and narrated. And of course, it was dark and cool inside. Comfy seats that reclined, oh yeah… I think we may have nodded off for a short time.
Aaaaaaand, it was only 3:30. Oh God, how much time to kill before can go to the airport? All we wanted to do was sleep. We actually considered just going to the car, turning on the air and napping. But, we soldiered on. We went to a ginormous Disney Store and then went looking for the Disney Art Gallery. I was hoping they would have some of Uncle Pete or Harrison’s artwork on display there. They did not but when we asked a salesman, he said no, unfortunately, they hadn’t had any in 5 or 6 years. Bummer. He did pull out a large binder and showed us a couple of photographs of art they used to have.
Cousin Lynda, if you are reading this blog, the man said he had been employed there many years and Uncle Pete’s work always sold very well. He was disappointed they no longer sold it. They would welcome the opportunity to sell his and Harrison’s work again!!!!
At 6 or so, we decided we had enough. I stopped at the store where I spotted those future presents, we made our way back to the car. I made an executive decision while we were on the highway NOT to go to the airport. I asked Kolton to look up IHOP on maps! We stopped there and had breakfast for dinner and I had 2 cups of coffee.
It was still early so I said we were going to cross the parking lot to a large souvenir store! We killed about 30 more minutes there and it was time to go to the airport. Yessssssssssss!
After an uneventful trip to the airport, we dropped off the rental car and made our way to the skycaps and dropped off our luggage. It boggles my mind why people will past the skycaps and inside the terminal to queue in line to check in at an airline counter. Craziness. It so much speedier to stop at the skycaps outside.
Anyway, once inside we headed to the security line. What??? No TSA pre-check? The lines were not very long so I took the plunge. Kolton and Betzi were already in line. OMG What an awful experience—one I hope I do not have to repeat in the near future. First, the line itself was so long, then you have the TSA goons bellowing constantly, laptops out of bags, shoes off, pockets empty, blah, blah, blah. Then you go through the make you naked scanner, where once again, my right breast and armpit needed and extra pat-down AND my carry-on luggage was pulled for further inspection. OH effing JOY!
The Goon opens my bag and of course, all my careful packing is undone as he mauls my stuff and checks for explosives. And he is a foul tempered, full bodied, bespectacled, balding azzhole. After pawing through my entire suitcase, he finds the offending and dangerous item. It’s the mostly empty 5-ounce tube of toothpaste. I said, but it’s almost empty. He said, we don’t care, we go by the original amount on the item. We don’t have time to weigh everything. Ok Dick, whatever you say. Oh wait, there is another item I need to locate. Oh, my conditioner—again a mostly empty container I forgot to transfer to the checked luggage.
Then, he jams everything into the suitcase, totally haphazardly, and then uses his sizeable girth to force the zippers shut. I grabbed the suitcase and stormed off to repack the darn thing. I couldn’t even get the laptop back in the outside compartment. I was BEYOND irritated. UGH
I am now much calmer after guzzling a double Jack and Coke, waiting to board a completely full flight home. I don’t think my mood is going to improve much. We are supposed to get in at 12:50 am. Then a shuttle to the hotel to pick up my car (I pray it’s not damaged) Then the 90-minute drive home. Sigh. I hope to be able to sleep and awake in a much better mood. Back to gray and rain, probably not. LOL
New day, new temperament! After a solid 10 hours of sleep, I unpacked, did laundry and got everything put away. I have yet to sort and open the week’s mail—tomorrow is another day.
Regarding the flight home, it was great! I snagged a front row window seat, propped myself against the window, plugged in headphones and with relaxation music blocking out all the sounds, I was asleep before the plane took off. I was startled awaked about 10 minutes prior to landing—now that is the perfect flight!
We got our luggage and had to take a taxi to the Aloft to pick up the car because the shuttle stops running at midnight. But they reimbursed me for the taxi fare and tip and off we went in my undamaged, un-dinged car. After an uneventful drive home, I dropped off Kolton and Betzi and made my way to my place where I hauled all my stuff in and after retrieving a few necessary items from the carry-on pretty much face-planted into my bed about 4:30 am.
Final thoughts:
· Nothing tastes better than the first cup of coffee from your ‘home’ machine.
· Never go through the regular security line
· I love the way my place smells when I walk in.
· Life is very, very good!
I hope to have more news to report in the next few weeks.......I'm scheduled for a mini-vacay over Memorial Day Weekend!
Signing off for now as this Gypsy has arrived back at home base!
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