Keane's August 2011 Trip, Part 7
"It Was Hot, Then It Rained, Repeat Tomorrow"
Please see Part 1 for cast and plot summary...
Day 6, August 21. On the road again.
 |
| Click to go directly to the slideshow |
I actually have the car loaded on time, and take a last trip over to room 1115. Karen tries once again to route me up I-4. I need to set a waypoint on the Greenaway so she stops complaining. I make it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, kick Jenny out of the car, and head for the turnpike.
Karen keeps complaining that I should be turning around. At first, I think it's because she wants to route me up I-4 instead of the Florida Turnpike, but she continues to complain until I realize my destination is still set to MCO. Operator failure. And the day is just getting started.
At 8:30, Jenny texts she is through security. She sounds disappointed that she wasn't selected for a body cavity search, but I'm sure she was just being sarcastic...
I start making notes on my MP3 voice recorder. I feel sort of funny talking to my MP3 player, but it works out okay. Since I'm actually trying to remember facts and relating them for my own later consumption, I'm sure I'm even more dangerous than being on a cell phone. But I digress.
I make it to Murfreesboro, TN. Short of how far I wanted to get, but I can never seem to get as far on my first day home as I do on day zero.
Mileage: 699
Moving time: 9:55
Moving avg: 70
Stopped: 27:02
Overall avg: 67
Total time: 10:22
Day 7, August 22. Home. I hate it when that happens.
I don't get to sleep until about midnight, it usually takes me a couple of hours to wind down and get un-caffeined, hydrate, etc. I am up by four-thirty. I want to get on the road by 5:30am, so I can get through Nashville before rush hour. Then I'll hit Louisville in Eastern Time after rush hour. Avoiding traffic is much easier coming home that going to WDW...There's a nice sunrise with some fog, but otherwise, it's a very nice day.
2510 miles on the odo, 1:04pm. End another trip. sigh.
Mileage: 510
Moving time: 7:23
Moving avg: 69
Stopped: 16:36
Overall avg: 67
Total time: 7:40
On the road home, someplace in Tennessee
Final Thoughts:
Okay, so I broke two of my WDW rules. This was my first non-AKL two-time resort, and it wasn't a disappointment. Next time I'd pay for the preferred room. I'm surprised I could get a room for all 5 days two weeks out.I did miss not having a balcony. On the other hand, since it never did get cool, I'm not sure how much I'd be on it, anyway.
August, on the other hand, is just too brutal in Florida. I'm not sure I would do it again. The heat, the rain, the crowds, the rain, the humidity and the heat is just too much. I didn't even get into a park at night because of rain. sigh.
Once again, there was no evening EMH at Animal Kingdom. I'd like to go back in again after dark to take some pictures. On the other hand, it probably would have rained.
I need footwear if I ever do a water park again. If you're standing in the wave pool at least waist deep and a wave comes, you won't be. Standing that is.
Star Tours 2 is a worthy successor to Star Tours. It might have been a little long in coming, but it was probably worth the wait. Now that everything's digital, they could always invent new scenes to inject into the attraction. Maybe a Halloween or Christmas version... :-)
This was also my third trip in the past 9 months, with my next trip scheduled at the end of this month. With a possible trip in December, it might mark the first time I'd have been at WDW 5 times on an AP. A personal record.
It was also the first time in a long time that I was at the World without a special event. No hard ticket events, no Christmas displays, no F&G or F&W events at Epcot... Just a WDW vacation. True, I may not have made a solo trip if Jenny and Cathy weren't going, but not being in the parks at night and without being at any seasonal events, it felt like I took a WDW vacation lite. That doesn't mean it was a bad vacation, it was just the calm before the storm.
My next trip involves taking my Mom to Disneyworld. Jenny will be running her 5K, and has stoop...kindly volunteered to help me out. I'm going to be one of those people doing a handicap load on all the buses. Mom's going to be driving an ECV during the opening of Food and Wine. Pray for me... ;-)
(I'm done now. Y'all can go do something more interesting. HAHahahahaa...)
Keane
End August 2011 Trip Report - Part 7 of 7.
| Jump to: | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Trip Reports |
|---|
- 09/19/2011 - Page Added
- 08/26/2012 - Updated to v3
- 12/30/2012 - Update to v3.1
- 09/01/2014 - Update to v3.2
- September 2022 - Upgrade to v5.0.
| Help! | About This Site | Contact Me |