Keane's March 2012 Trip Report - Part 8
"Let The Memories Begin... Again..."
Please see Part 1 for cast and plot summary...
Day 7. Saturday, March 10.
Departure and On The Road, Day 1.
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It's early morning as I look off the balcony of my room at Kidani. No animals, except for a couple of those walking sides of beef with big horns. Coffee in hand, the gray skies match my mood, and I wonder if this is the last trip I'll be making here for a while.
While my last trip here with Mom was a spectacular success, this one, not so much. She's more alert and stays awake longer, but her short term memory is broken. It's obvious she can't be left alone, nor trusted with simple things like taking her meds. She's gotten markedly worse since my last trip here in December, and I probably won't be able to get away anymore.
We pack as much as we can into the car. With Jenny and her luggage, I can't fit Mom's walker into the car, so we'll have to come back. There's no bill on the door. Nothing in my e-mail either. I call the front desk, and they e-mailed the bill to me, and I find they don't have my correct e-mail address. How can that be? I end up sending Jenny for the bill as I take Mom to the car. I will pick Jenny up by the lobby.
Other than a stop at a Hess for fuel, it's an uneventful ride to the airport. I let Karen tell me how to get me there, and 20 minutes later kick Jenny out the door, and head back to Kidani. I am once again envious of those Magical Express buses bringing guests to their home for the next few days. Let The Memories Begin. Indeed.
Mom and I get back to Kidani and drive the underground to the Rafiki Elevator, and pick up the last couple of things still in the room. I go through the place again to make sure we have everything. The grand, two bedroom villa seems lifeless now. The ever-present scooter is gone, our perennial mess is only a memory. I look off our balcony for the last time, and as always, say my silent farewell to the World.
The last picture from the balcony...
Back in the car, I tell Karen to take us home. We travel down Western Way, and the buzzards haven't taken up their daily flight yet. We pass the resort boundary, and there's a sign, "See You Real Soon!" I'm not sure that's true this time. Not for a while, anyway.
Say "Bye!", Keane.
Bye!
On the Road, Day 1.
The drive is uneventful. We stop at a Florida citrus center for some oranges and grapefruit and at a Cracker Barrel near Belleview, FL for Lunch. We stop again at a nut place in Georgia. I'm going to get gas there, but they only sell regular. Huh? Get gas in Cordelle, just up the road.We stop for the night in Macon, Georgia. Stop at the Best Western. They have no handicap room, no adjoining rooms, no rooms on the first floor. See ya!
A Quality Inn is next door. They don't have a handicap room, but they have a couple of adjoining rooms on the first floor, right off the parking lot. Sold! Mom has some leftover chicken livers from lunch she insists on eating for dinner. sigh. I go to McDonalds, because I haven't had a double filet-o-fish yet. I get Mom an order of fries, so long as I'm there. I get back to the room, relax, and find McDonalds has shorted me a filet. Crap. Well, I'm not going back there to complain. It's been a long day.
Miles: 367
Moving time: 5:02
Moving Avg: 70 (If you do the math...)
Day 8. Sunday, March 11. Home.
We didn't get as far as I'd hoped yesterday, so the day starts at 4am Central Time, which believe it or not, is actually 3am due to Daylight Savings Time. At least I think it is.Anyway, we get to a Cracker Barrel just outside of Marietta at 6am, which is really 7am Eastern. I think about calling Lisa, but she and Andy only got in from their cruise last night, and didn't know if they'd be awake. We spend a minimal amount of time there anyway. It's 700 miles to home.
Having just opened, it's cold in the restaurant, and the manager starts a wood fire in the fireplace, warming the place up and giving it that homey feel.
The rest is a speed run home. Up I-75 to I-24, then TN-840 to TN-109 to I-65. She has no problem eating in the car, so we pick up a burger for lunch and eat on the road.
Henryville is still closed, 10 days after the tornado hit it. Blue tarps cover many of the houses we can see from the expressway. (Pictures, such as they are, are in Part 1 of this report.)
Convoys of cars moving at supra-legal speeds surround me, most of the way up I-65, and while traffic gets heavy between Indy and Chicago (it always does), it moves at a brisk pace. Even Lake Shore Drive in Chicago seems to want to cooperate and get us home.
We arrive home at 6:02pm. Another trip is over. I hate it when that happens.
Miles: 811
Moving time: 11:35
Moving average: 70
Total miles this trip: 2478.9
Final Thoughts:
As a trip to Disney World, it was another great trip. Good weather, lousy crowds, but we didn't try to get on the really popular attractions, and when you're with a scooter, you're in a different queue most of the time anyway. Mom did much better on the scooter this trip, but it was still a stressful experience at times. Still, she was able to get around quite well. (With my help at times.)Contrary to some ugly rumors started by someone, I did not meet Boom. She promises me we will one day. I'm holding you to that Boom. There's nothing more I want to do than shake the hand of someone who's dedicated her life to make others... more enjoyable.
The food was excellent this trip, but a lot of that is because I made it that way. Spontaneous, no. Sometimes, spontaneous isn't what it's all about. Sometimes, it's making sure you have a good time.
Animal Kingdom Lodge continues to be my favorite resort. Either side. The 2BR at Kidani was amazing. Thanks again to Laura for the points. All of us appreciated it.
Thanks must go to Jenny as well. It would be impossible to do a trip like this without her.
But circumstances sometimes dictates reality, and the reality is this might be one of the last trips to the World for a while.
It's been three weeks since we've gotten back as I write this. I don't think Mom is any worse, but she isn't any better, either. A week after we got back, she had an appointment with her GP, and was put on another drug. It takes a while, we'll see if anything improves. I've also found she was taking at least one of her meds incorrectly for what has been years.
I've already taken over her finances and now her medication, since she can't remember to take them on a regular schedule. I'm trying to alter some of her daily routine. Her most dangerous trait is to put something on the stove, and forgets that she put something on the stove.
So, this could be the last trip report I write for a while. But as I told someone else on this newsgroup, I still need another trip on this AP to cost-justify its existence! :-)
Thanks for reading everyone! I'm done!
Keane
Post script:
I am about to make major changes and updates to the website, and will soon be testing a new printer, which is pigment, not dye based. This means no fading. Should tests prove okay, I will start selling prints. I suspect within a couple of months or less. Stay tuned...
Another Post script:
Jenny's read this report, and declared it darker than my normal trip report. (I happen to agree.) She seemed to think I needed to put in a final paragraph about it. Al Swearengen would have said, "She wants me to tell you something pretty..."
Keane
End March 2012 Trip Report - Part 8 of 8.
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