Connections, delays and PHL...

I plan too much. I read too many reviews. I check vaction flight performance daily. Sad, I know. We are going to Cancun again in July. Our flight from Dayton to Philly has an on time rating of 78%. (That fact that I know that is nerdy I know.) Looking at the length ofthe delays I realized we have a 1 in 10 chance of not making the Cancun connection. It is a one hour layover and we have to take a bus across the airport. My travel agent is much more positive. "Well, that means you have a 90% chance of making it."

Hocking Hills, 35th Anniversary

Patti and I went to Hocking Hills for our 35th Anniversary. We booked a cabin through Clear Creek Cabins. The Cabin was nice, only a few minor issues that are not worth mentioning. A nice relaxing get-a-way.

Vacation Journal
Summer Bay Resort- Orlando, Fl
3/3/12 to 3/10/12


Sat. 3/3/12

We did not have an early flight so we did not need to leave the house till 8:20 am. Jason gave us a ride to the airport. Check in at Delta and security with TSA went smoothly. Once we cleared security we looked over for the Cinnibun store. It had closed since our last flight. This was devastating. After talking it over we did decide to still go on vacation.

We took off at 10:20 am. We had a two hour lay over at Atlanta and ate lunch at Chili’s. We landed at Orlando around 3:30 pm. The airport is large and spread out. We took a train to Terminal B and picked up our bags. I called Ron on the cell and he and Nang picked us up outside the baggage claim doors. Ron and Nang had left Panama City by car earlier that morning. We headed out to the west side of town. Tolls… tolls… and more tolls. Our resort was near the Disney parks. The drive to the resort took about 30 minutes. We checked in and went to our house. The resort consists of condos, villas and houses. Ron had booked an individual house through his time share.

The house was large. It had 2 master suites and a 3rd bedroom. It had its own enclosed private pool. This came in handy and we usually used it several times a day. Ron and I drove to a Publix grocery store about a mile away and got some groceries and a few essentials from the liquor store.

Nang had brought some fried chicken with them. We had got some beans and potato salad at the store. Dinner that night was that easy. Ron and I hooked up the lap tops and got signed into to the Wifi. The wifi cost $40 dollars for the week. This made Ron a little cranky. He felt that as a time share owner it should be included.

Sunday 3/4/12

We took the day to enjoy the resort. We had been having some fire alarm issues-fire alarms going off for no reason. Batteries were replaced twice, than no more issues.

I cooked breakfast for the group- fried potatoes, bacon and eggs. Ron put his pool expertise to use and raised the heated pool temp from 88 to 92. Nicely done Ron. After our morning swim and breakfast we walked around the resort. We stopped by the ‘Big Kahuna tiki bar and grill for a few drinks and lunch. It was located at one of the resort’s many guest pools. The live music was a nice perk.

We went to the main building at reception and checked out park ticket prices. Ron and Nang as Florida residents were able to get a 3 day pass for 99 dollars each. Normal one day entry fees were $86 dollars. Patti and I did not qualify, but I was advised to check out a Military discount on our first Disney park day.

A nice safety feature in the house was a pool door alarm. If you are there with children you can turn on a door alarm that will activate when ever any of the doors to the pool patio are opened. I fixed tacos for dinner this night.

Monday 3/5/12 Lego Land

Lego Land day. Everyone made their own breakfast and we headed south about 30 miles to Lego Land. It is located on the site where Cypress Gardens was located. With traffic it took about an hour to get there. We arrived a few minutes after it opened. Lego Land has only been open since the fall of 2011. We rode the ‘Island in the sky” ride. It was an attraction that had been renovated from the Cypress Gardens days. It was like an elevated Merry go round. It held about 70 people and elevated about 150 feet up into the air and slowly rotated giving you a nice bird’s eye view of the park and lake. Spanish moss covered many of the Cypress trees.

We saw a 4d movie at the Lego theater. It was kind of neat. It seemed like the characters were jumping off the screen into your seat. You could feel wind and mist.

Probably the coolest part of the park is the Lego miniature cites. They had replicas made representing The Space Center. Las Vegas, Miami, Wash DC, San Francisco, New York City, and a Pirate’s Cove.

We saw a water ski show- after all it was Cypress Gardens then did some shopping on the way out.

We had an early dinner at Denny’s on the way home. Ron stopped at Wal-Mart and got some fishing gear. Later when Patti and I were in the pool he headed to the lake right behind the house. On his way out he stated. “I’ll have a Bass in less than 2 minutes. About 90 seconds later I heard him hollering. I ran over and took his pic. To be clear though, I did not actually see him catch it with a pole. He may have been hillbilly handfishin’.

Tues 3/6/12 Epcot

We took some time to have coffee in the pool before heading out. Stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. They always do breakfast well. Love those cheesy hash browns. Since I was ‘in the south’ I had some grits. They were not bad with sugar.

We got to Epcot about 11:30. The resort was only 6 miles from the parks. Traffic adds a little drive time. We took a tram up to the ticket booths. The best deal for tickets was a 4 day Military pass. We could do all four parks for $145 each. This was cheaper than paying for 2 days.

We rented a locker for the day. I won’t complain about the 12 dollar locker fee… ok yes I will. Right after starting out we happened upon a street show. There was a trio masquerading as maintenance cleaners. It turned out they were very talented percussionists. It was fun to watch. We did a variety of rides and exhibits including:

• Mission to Mars Space simulator
• Ellen DeGeneres Energy showcase
• Space ship earth (In the big iconic Epcot dome)
• Finding Nemo
• Journey into Imagination
• Living with the land
• American Adventure Animatronics
• Michael Jackson Capt. EO 3d

The mission to Mars had 2 levels of intensity- Green or Orange. All for of us did it at the green level. We simulated the crew of a space ship taking off from Earth then crash landing on Mars. The green level was fun. Next Ron and I did the more intense Orange levels where you feel the G forces, acceleration, etc. I would restate the Green level was fun, the Orange level not so much.

Took a break about 4 pm as we started to circle the lake for the country exhibits. Patti and I got a small beer, a margarita and plate of nachos for 29 dollars. Again park prices. Some of the country exhibits we visited were Norway, China, Germany, and the USA. At the USA exhibit we saw the American adventure animatronics in the theater it was well done. Afterwards it was time for the nightly light and laser show over the lake. Time to go home- sore feet and tired bodies.

Wed 3/7/12

We all decided a day off was in order to recuperate from Epcot. Again we started the morning with coffee and a swim in the pool. Around noon Ron took Nang to an oriental market for a few hours. Patti and relaxed, relaxed some more and followed that up with just a bit more relaxation.

For dinner I BBQ’d some steaks Nang had marinated. We had a charcoal grill behind the house. Patti fixed a salad, baked potatoes, sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob. It was a tasty dinner.

Thursday 3/8/12 Magic Kingdom

Breakfast buffet at Shoney’s then we headed to the Magic Kingdom aka ‘Disney World’. We got to the park about 11 am. We took a tram to the transportation center. From there we took a monorail to the main entrance.

Just after entering the park we were at the Mickey Mouse theater. It said it opened in 2 minutes. We thought it was going to be a magic show. Instead it was a photo opportunity with Mickey and Minnie mouse. What the heck, we were big kids. We were only about the 3rd group in so we had our pictures taken. Disney characters were seen around the park through out the day. The lines for pics probably took about an hour. We waited maybe 5 minutes.

Next we headed up ‘Main street USA”. Cinderella’s Castle was at the end of the street. We started off in Tomorrow land. We did ‘Stitche’s Escape (more for little kids). The Monsters Inc. laugh factory was very cute. They had several real-life comedians working behind the scenes voicing some of the characters on screen real time. They would place pictures of audience members on screen as part of their ‘roast’. Patti was shown on screen with the caption ‘wants to be the center of attention’. So, so true…

The Walt Disney Carousel of Progress was interesting. It spanned about 80 years of technology and showed a typical American home in the 1920s, 1940s, 1960s, and 1990s.

We had to do “It’s a Small World”. And yes, we were singing as we went through. We took a lunch break and ate some sandwiches Ron and made. That saved some bucks. The Haunted Mansion was kind of fun. At the end of the ride you look in the mirror. It seemed like several ghosts were on top of our car messing with us.

Also on the agenda:
• Hall of Presidents
• Country Bear Jamboree. (I lost my sunglasses there. I bet one of the bears is wearing them now
• Tiki bird house
• Jungle cruise
• Pirates of the Caribbean

We did see the Disney Electric Light Parade. It was very colorful and lit up with lots of…lots of…. (wait for it)…. Electric lights. It was Patti’s favorite part of the day. They also did an amazing light show on Cinderella’s castle followed by a fireworks show over the castle. It was wall to wall bodies trying to leave after that. After a monorail and tram ride back to the parking lot we had a late dinner at TGI Fridays.

Again, with the sore feet!

Friday 3/9/12

Patti and I took another resort day. We got our monies worth out of the passes and wanted to just chill for our last day. Ron and Nang went to the Disney Animal Kingdom and said they had a good time.

Patti and I used the pool in the morning. Later that afternoon we found our way back to the Big Kahuna Tiki Bar and Grill. We took advantage of the happy hour prices and listened to the karaoke. Even though my Blue Moons were inexpensive and plentiful it was not enough to make me think I could sing.

We had dinner there at the bar. Just before leaving Ron and Nang joined us for a drink. Then back to the house to pack.

Sat. 3/10/12

The flight home. Time to get back to reality. We can cross Orlando and Disney off the bucket list. We had a 10:30 am flight out. We connected in Atlanta with a 90 minute layover. We landed in Dayton at about 3:30 pm. Jason, Jamie and the kids picked us up at the Airport. It was warm and sunny.

Patti and I are joining Ron and Nang at a vacation home Ron booked at a resort in Orlando in early March. Estimated temperature then in Orlando: 77 degrees, in Ohio: COLD.

Stone Mountain Ga. 2011 Highland Games

Stone Mtn, Ga Oct 2011

We had a mini family reunion At Stone Mountain. (Our 2nd annual). Me and Patti/Ron and Nang/Brandon, Jodie, and Cameron/Veronika, Dan and Adeline/ Brandon’s Father in law Rufus and his wife Susan.

Thursday 10/13/11
Patti and I left Fairborn Thursday afternoon at 2 pm. We had all our gear loaded into the Camry. We had leased a RV motor home and would pick it up the next day 6 miles from the park near Atlanta. Patti and I drove for 5 hours and spent the night just north of Knoxville at a Holiday Inn.

Friday 10/14/11
The next morning we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast- complimentary being one of my favorite things, and we were on our way by 9 am.

We arrived at our RV rental place in Tucker, GA on the west side of Atlanta about 12:30 pm. We could not check into the park until 2:00 pm so Patti and I got lunch at a little local Mexican place. After lunch we went to ‘Great Escapes’ to get the RV. It was a 27’ Class A, about 11 years old. The manager gave us a 45 minute ‘how to’ walk around. Patti followed me in the Camry and we drove the 6 miles to the campground. The drive there was easy. I was still a little nervous driving the rig.

We got to the campground fine. I got a tad cranky when I found out they had double booked my lake view site that was next to Ron’s site. The other ‘bookee’ got there before me. I made my reservation in June and confirmed it a week prior to the trip. All was good till I got there.

We ended up with a large site, not on the water but it was large enough for 2 rigs and it was a full hook up. Ron moved over and onto our site. Technically we were not supposed to put 2 RVs on one site. But I think they knew by now that ‘Clan Little’ was a cranky clan.

Patti and I made chili for the entire group for Friday night. I know- chili, and sitting around the campfire later… Blazing saddles ‘Little’ style. We did have a campfire that night and socialized and had smores and toasted marshmallows and talked… and laughed.

Saturday 10/15/11
We had a community cooking area. The next morning Patti and I had fried potatoes, bacon and fried eggs. Ron fixed omelets and potatoes for his family. I love the smell of camp cooking. Both RVs had stoves but it is more fun to cook outdoors. I have propane 2 burner stove that I used.

After breakfast clean up we took the campground shuttle bus to the other side of the park to go to the Highland games. We got there in time for the opening ceremonies. The opening ceremonies consisted of a combined mass band made up of 300 pipers and 200 drummers. The music was awesome. It sent a chill to my bones and watered my eyes.

We walked around for a bit and saw all the different family clan tents and exhibits. There was a guy holding a 50 pound mace and challenging others to hold it for a count of ten. I saw a Navy guy do it and he did ok getting wobbly about 7 seconds. I asked they guy if my Soldier Nephew (Brandon) could try it. Brandon made it look easy. I decided not to try it and did not embarrass myself or the USAF.

I got a couple of corn dogs for lunch from a food vendor. I am fairly certain corn dogs are a traditional Scottish food. I bought Patti a Scottish hooded sweatshirt and I got a t-shirt that said, “Scotch: Making white men dance since 1494”.

That night we cooked steaks on the grill and had baked potatoes (Microwaves in the RVs came in handy for the taters). ‘Camp Little’ was a little smaller tonight. Veronika and her family had to leave because her husband had to work Sunday and Jody and Cameron had left for home earlier as well.

Sleeping in the RV beat the heck out of a tent. We had a queen sized bed, fridge w/freezer, and bathroom w/shower. We were near a camp shower and bathroom but the bathroom in the RV was convenient for those middle of the nights when nature called.

Sunday 10/16/11

I cooked French toast and sausage, and Brandon made breakfast sandwiches. Around Noon, Rufus, his wife Susan and Brandon left. This left just me and Patti and Ron and Nang. I am not sure why folks kept leaving- The chili had already worked its way through Ron.

In the afternoon the four of us took a drive around the park. We found a covered bridge that was very pretty (you can see it in Nang’s Facebook album).

Sadly, we did a few chores to break camp then grilled pork chops for dinner and had some more baked potatoes. We ate a little early because we had decided to go to a story teller tour at the plantation at the park. It was fun. The story tellers were very good and the stories were post civil war era with some ghost and humor mixed together.

No campfire tonight. Ron did visit for a bit and chatted with us in our RV.

Monday 10/16/11
Time to go. Transferred all the gear from the RV to the car and cleaned it for turn in. We said our good byes with Ron and Nang and left camp around 9 am. Again, Patti was following in the Camry as I drove the RV.

Leaving the park and entering the highway we had to merge from the right during late morning Atlanta traffic, cross 3 lanes and exit left in about ¼ mile. On a fun scale that rated below having a tooth pulled. But, we made it through and across the traffic. Got the RV gassed up and then turned back in.

An 8 ½ hour drive home with a lunch stop at Shoneys.

Sea Dragon Pirate Cruise- Panama City Beach

Arrg! While in PCB we all went on a Pirate cruise. The Grandkids loved it (ok, so I had fun too). Non-stop activities for the kids, dolphins next to the ship and an shipboard bar with inexpensive Corona. The life of a Pirate is good.

Stone Mountain- Oct 2011

(In the Pic: My Nephew Brandon and me at the camp site in Stone Mountain last fall. Are the mullets real? Maybe.)

Working on the details for a return visit to Stone Mountain this fall. We are looking at the weekend of the Scottish Highland games in October. There is an RV site left near the one Ron has reserved. More to come.

Update: RV and site are reserved. See ya all there.