Home Sweet Home - Trip wrap up

Ah, Home.

We flew home in the morning, early, early, in the morning.
The flight was non-stop, which we love.

Now we are trying to return to normal life.

But for the sake of wrapping up the trip, here are some stats :)

The mugs collected on this trip! 

Final Stats:

Miles total: 2661

States Total: 13
Starbucks Mug Total: 10
Editor's roller coaster total: 40
Number of unique roller coasters ridden by anyone in the family: 42
License plate state count: 39 states and 2 provinces

Wow! We had an amazing trip. All of us visiting places we have never been before and made lots of great memories. I have no idea when we will do our next road trip. But until that time, theses memories and pictures will remind us of the fun.
Thanks for tagging along.

The Magic Kingdom

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 19

Today was our full day at the MK!
And I had a special treat planned for myself, a spa pedicure in the afternoon.

We used the FastPass+ system and TouringPlans.com to try and get to all of our "Must Do's" in the allotted time we had today. The morning went well and when it was time for lunch, I left the family and hit the resort monorail to find the Senses Spa at Disney's Grand Floridian.

Look at those storm clouds... glad I'm going to the spa :)

This little guy was on the wall outside the spa

I can't speak to much to what Hubby and the kids did while I was away for just over 2 hours. But I had a downright loverly time.
The spa at the GF is located off to the side of the new Villas. It is decorated very nicely and goes very well with the feeling of the GF resort.
When I checked in they asked for payment, and gratuity is already included. Once that was done, I was shown to the lockers and relaxation room. Given my oversized comfy robe and left to relax.
About this point I realized I hadn't had lunch yet and took a small bowl of nuts and dried fruit to go with my cucumber water. Funny the things that make a spa, a "SPA" :)
This also gave me a chance to get my body temperature regulated... it wasn't crazy hot out, but it was sooo humid I was just dripping before I arrived. Lucky for me, here I had a chance to rinse off and cool down. By the time my pedicure tech came to get me, I felt a million miles away from the Magic Kingdom.... and come to think of it.. That makes this place much more magical :)

The service was great, it lasted an hour and a half and I was given a small bottle of the polish I choose to take home - delightful.
Now it was time to rejoin the family.
I don't know if it was true or not, but the MK seemed even more crowded now than earlier. We met up and were able to ride a few more things, before calling it a day.

Waiting in line for Buzz Lightyear 

Dancing Fish... cause everyone needs this kind of joy in their lives. 

Great train! And yes, I didn't take enough pictures today - sorry.

Dinner tonight was at Noodles and Co. and then we hoped to come back to the town-home to swim before bed... but we got rained out. Hopefully we can plan it better tomorrow.

I got my first Starbucks/Disney You Are Here Mug today, and I LOVE IT!!!
Hopefully more to come!

On the road again - parting thoughts on Pigeon Forge

East Coast Road Trip 2015 - Day 17
(it's a long post today folks, sorry)

Yesterday was a much needed day off. We all enjoyed the break from "road trip" mode.
But today we plan to get some miles under us. We are headed to the Georgia Aquarium.

As we leave Tennessee and Pigeon Forge behind us I have a few parting thoughts.
This location has been the biggest departure so far from the rest of the world. The town has about 6000 residents, but the main drag looks like a Family-themed Vegas (Vegi-Vegas, if you like).

Interesting looking attraction... nope none of these are casinos 

Lots of dinner shows.

Titanic Museum 

Wax museum 

Christmas Village - year round

I assume this place just got an bump in attendance, and no they are clearly not affiliated with the movie

Um... We'll take this swimsuit, those sunglasses and a LIVE Alligator?
They had a sister shop about a block down that had sharks :) 

Apparently Dollywood employs the equivelent of half the town. It's clearly very tourism focused.
Again here I haven't heard any foreign languages. Varying degrees of southern accents, and those have all been attached to some of the friendliest people we have encountered.
Only the tourists here are, shall we say reserved - the only person who cut us off yesterday had an out-of-state license plate.

We had the chance to do an Alpine Coaster while we were here.....
You ride in go-cart style cars down a track - you can ride single or double... so hubby rode with the  boy and I rode with the little lady.

Pic of the mountain and some track... no cameras allowed on the ride

This was by far my favorite ride of the trip so far. Funny thing to say and a bit unexpected. The ride up the hill was about 5 minutes through the trees. The trip down... faster :) but just as scenic.
We were able to control the speed if needed. They encourage you to "Hammer Down" meaning go as fast as the sled goes... it has an auto brake to keep you below unsafe speeds.
Well the girls went first, and the boys were behind us. I was slightly concerned about going fast, but was very comfortable with the track and the ride, so I had every intention of going for it. However, the woman in front of me... did not. They ask you to stay at least 80 feet behind the person in front of you and say DON'T BUMP the car in front of you. But they also say DON'T STOP along the way. So I slowed down a number of times to keep an appropriate distance. But it wasn't long until the boys caught up with us. At the bottom when we went to unload the attendant asked "How bad was it?" I didn't know what he meant.... then he said "Did you have to go really slow?" Oh, Yeah, I guess so. But it was ok.
Well, he apparently realized the woman in front was slowing often [Editor's note: Not a hard realization with 5 other cars lined up behind her by the time we got to the bottom] and offered us all a 2nd ride for free. Wow. We took it. This time we knew what to expect, which is a big hurdle for me and we went "Hammer Down" all the way... Woooo HOOOOOO!!!!!!!! What a ride.
The difference between the two rides was marked. The first ride we could see and were close to the person in front of us the whole time. The second... that car was no where to be seen. I braked a bit towards the end... one of the last curves snuck up on me. It was a great ride - a must do if you come out this way.  Long swooping curves and turns, some tighter than others, but all fun. No big drops or steep downhill parts, but you definitely come down the mountain faster than you went up :)

I am so glad we got a chance to check this out.

Welcome to Georgia

We have driven through Georgia in the past, but never stayed more than however long it takes to change planes or when we drove through to Hilton Head from Orlando, years ago.
Today we spent several hours in Atlanta. The Georgia Aquarium is great. A serious contender for best aquarium I have ever been to. Beautiful exhibits. But Oy the crowds. So much so that you get assigned a specific entry time for the day of your visit. And it was packed. We were able to see it all without any issue. We didn't do any of the behind the scenes experiences, but we enjoyed out visit. I took some issue with the dolphin show (in a nutshell, if you think you need to create some crazy musical type event to make a dolphin show interesting, maybe you shouldn't be at the aquarium? When you have to warn people about the lighting effect and the fog effects before an animal show, you should just assume I am rolling my eyes.) [Editor's note: If that doesn't seem like a "nutshell" you should have heard the version she gave me...]

Beluga Whales :) 

In the Ocean Voyager Exhibit 

Whale shark and Manta Ray - Huge critters

Bye bye Whale Shark!

Watching the fishes :)

at the top of the Beluga tank.... a few harbor seals on the deck

So one thing we noticed....the whole southern hospitality thing... it's gone now. I will give the good people of Georgia (in specific, Atlanta) the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to being in a big city. But warm and friendly... not so much. No biggie, we are city folk ourselves and used to the general attitude of go Go GO! (not that WE would adopt such aggressive behavior... at least we don't mean to). But it was a bit of an abrupt switch - welcome back to reality.

Our journey wasn't over yet... Home for the night is Alabama. Yup, another state!

Welcome to Alabama

And.... drum roll please! Hubby's last state. Yes, he has now been to all 50 states!!!! Can you believe it? I think he skipped Connecticut and just won't admit it ;) [Editor's note: I have vivid memories of Connecticut... My memories of Louisiana and Mississippi are kind of hazy though...]

So we will sleep here and yes, go to Starbucks here tomorrow, before we head out :)
Oh! And we realized somewhere around the Alabama border... that Alabama is in the Central time zone.... we have been living in the Eastern time zone for two weeks now... and to dip our toe in the Central zone for only 12 hours.... well, it kind of cracked us up.
[Editor's note: And yes, we did drive ~2 hours out of our way just to spend the night in Alabama...]

You Are Here Mug count up by 1.  I got Atlanta today.

Stats:

Miles today: 365

Miles total: 2085

States Total: 12 (+Georgia, Alabama)
Starbucks Mug Total: 6
[Roller coasters total: 36 (+Alpine coaster)]

Driving... both a car and some horses

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 14

We were able to sleep in a bit today.
Check out was at 11, but we were on our way before that. With a quick run into Starbucks to make up for yesterday's complete lack of coffee, we hit the road.
Our drive today takes us just north of the South Carolina state line... until we hit Tennessee.

(Did I mention we were in South Carolina yesterday? Well, you know if you saw the post about the park being on the boarder... but I got our "official" welcome to sign picture to prove it....)

Back to today :)
We are in the Smokey Mountains to go to Dollywood... shocker I know. Most people who know us would never think this was a must see place for us. Truth be told it wasn't, but it's a state none of us have ever been to and the park (Dollywood) looked interesting. It fit well into our trip, sooo.. why not?

Not long after we entered the state we were met with crazy rain.. I mean, we know rain, and this was serious, nothing gets out without being drenched kind of rain. We slowed down significantly and many drivers turned on their hazard lights. But we arrived at our destination just fine.

View from an overlook

Rain.... this wasn't even the worst of it... those pictures didn't show anything. 

We lucked out in that our room for the next few days was ready early and we were able to throw our bags in the room before we left for our early dinner engagement.

The room is awesome, by the way. Again we have a condo type setting with a full kitchen, two bedrooms and two baths and the always loved WASHER and DRYER!!!! Yay!
The layout is surprisingly similar to the Williamsburg unit, but bit larger.

Kitchen 

Master bedroom

living room area 

Real, honest to goodness Ginsu knives!!! They aren't just a TV joke. They exist! 

view from our balcony

For dinner this evening we are doing something very unique for us... a dinner show. Dixie Stampede!
Again not something I would have ever guessed I would go to... but I loved it! Full of pomp and cheese the show was just fun.

Ready for dinner and a show

The arena before it all begins

a pic from the early part of the show

Seating was in tiers around the indoor arena. And we all sat along a long bar type table. Everyone eats the same thing and its brought to you as the show is happening (with a vegi option). The regular menu offered creamy vegi soup, a cheese biscuit, a WHOLE chicken (small, so probably a cornish game hen), bbq pork, corn on the cob, and half a potato. For dessert an apple turnover. Oh, and NO silverware... you eat with your hands people... this was a stretch for me.
At a young age I was taught how to eat a Cornish Game Hen without embarrassing myself or my parents.... and tonight I was presented one (in a mostly dark arena) without any utensils.... Ummmm??? It took me a minute to shrug off my manners and go for it.... turns out its easier with your fingers ;)
(Did you pause when I said soup and no utensils? I was at a loss until my neighbor picked up her bowl and drank it... Ah ha!) [Editor's note: It did have a handle...]

The show had horses, bison, chickens, and pigs.. oh and some very talented riders. A fair amount of audience participation for those so inclined. And it ended on a very patriotic note, which was the best part according to our son - who didn't like this idea at all, but then said it was ok. We all enjoyed the show and the little cowgirl in the family came home with a few (very reasonably priced) souvenirs.
We also took a short drive around Pigeon Forge to get some groceries, and boy is this town hopping. My favorite search engine indicates the town isn't that heavily populated, but this evening the main drag was packed. Lined with tourist trap stores and attractions... crazy go cart tracks seem to be very popular here. Along with lots of mini golf and ferris wheels. We were a little in shock. Our resort, despite being only two blocks away from all the crazy, feels like a secluded retreat.

previously mentioned crazy go cart track... yes, a spiral ramp. 

Based on the number of people in town we have NO idea what to expect for crowds tomorrow at Dollywood.

Another You Are Here Mug!!!

Look! A train on the front :)

Stats:

Miles today: 213

Miles total: 1687

States Total: 10 (+Tennessee)
Starbucks Mug Total: 5

Onward to the Carolinas - Misc business

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 12

We had a slightly lazy morning... if you consider packing up everything and getting out by 10am lazy. It was for the kids... but hubby and I had a bit more to pack up than they did.

We checked out of our room at 10, but wanted to take advantage of one more thing at the resort before we left. Mini-Golf.
So we returned to the clubhouse area and grabbed some clubs.
The course is nice... looks to be fairly new, like the bowling lanes. But the heat was nutty.
I think it was only technically in the mid 80s but 8 holes in and we were all dripping with sweat... bah.
Our daughter and I walked the remainder of the course, playing the holes that looked like fun.. hubby and our son, were more dedicated.

All playing at once! It's what you do in the heat :)

She was holding a stuffed jaguar at the time, and still made the shot... that's talent :)

After golf, it was time for cool drinks and the road.
You know you aren't in the Pacific Northwest when your Iced Vanilla Latte had vanilla coffee creamer as a main ingredient. True coffee aficionados would turn their noses up at this... but it was tasty. Not what I am used to, but I do like a sweet drink, so it was fine, and the girl who made it was quite proud of it :) cute.

We drove into North Carolina today... I got another chance to take a moving picture of the welcome sign...

Ok, am I getting better at this, or what?

Relaxing during the drive.

And we hit a Starbucks... Yup another mug :)
So far I have three to bring home.

Make that four! I was able to pick up the Charolotte Mug as well.

YAH mugs! These two are wonderful. 

This is a pic of the chocolate bar hubby made... you can see the base is dark chocolate, but the top is milk. 

Since it was a driving day today, a few lines to talk about our assorted cars seems fitting.
We had reserved 2 cars for this trip - I think we covered that earlier. We are now in our final car for the trip and we are very happy with it.
We started with a Chevy Impala 2013 - it had 45,000 miles on it. It is a classic rental car in our experience (we often get an impala when we rent) a standard Full size car. Hubby says it had "ok" power. Due to the window issue we swapped it out for a Nissan Sentra (don't know the year, maybe 2015) with just over 6000 miles on it. Less power than the Impala, but more than two cupholders (shame on you chevy... two cupholders, seriously?) And bluetooth... which we appreciate.
Which brings us to our current car. A Dodge Charger 2015 with less than 3000 miles on it. Much more power (hubby likes), ample cupholders, and an air conditioner vent in the back seat.
All in all we are pleased to end with this car. [Editor's note: It also has remote start. That's not something that I would have really thought I needed, but the ability to get the car started (and the air conditioner running) 30 seconds before you get to it can be surprisingly useful in 90+ degree weather.]

The font or style they choose for the speedometer on the charger, cracks us up... Don't worry the driver had two hands on the wheel when this picture was taken. [Also going at exactly the speed limit at the time.]

If you are curious, the Impala had Florida plates, the Sentra had Pennsylvania plates and the Charger has North Carolina plates... random facts here.

Stats:

Miles today: 366

Miles total: 1459

States Total: 8 (+North Carolina)
Starbucks Mug Total: 4

A Train, A zoo and New Jersey

East Coast Driving Trip 2015 - Day 8

We have been at this for a week now! This morning the son told me it was day 9, I smiled and reminded him we left last Friday... and that today was Friday. Oh... so its day 7 (close enough... it's our 8th travel day)

We left Hershey this morning... Goodbye Chocolate. I would be sad, but we took soo much with us, it's hard to feel like we will miss it ;)

Our first fun of the day was in Strasburg, PA, with a ride on the Strasburg Railroad. This 45 minute excursion is great. Cars are nicely refurbished and the whole trip is narrated.

Our railfan, with 475 after our trip

ready to board

picture time!

please keep your hands, arms, and heads inside the train at all times :) I love this pic of him. 

From here, we were off to Philly and probably the zoo, but we hadn't decided for sure yet. Along the way we stopped for lunch. And then we had a snag... do you hear it? the music beginning to build... something is going to happen....
Well, it wasn't anything horrible... just a window malfunction. Yup, the drivers side door window wouldn't roll up. Not gonna happen. (What music do you use for a goofy mishap?) Anyway, there we sat, with a completely workable car.. not an emergency by any means, but.. we also couldn't leave the vehicle. Hmm, this would need to be fixed, and today!

So we worked our way through the maze of the phone system from the unnamed car rental company (names are being withheld, until the author has decided how she feels about said company) and hubby connected with a real live person! In chatting they decided we should buzz over to the local rental office and just swap out cars. It was only 20 minutes away.. sounds like a fairly easy fix.

Only slightly wind-blown, we arrived at the office, located in a strip mall. The agent just happened to be in the parking lot when we got out of our car and was quite surprised the company sent us to him.... and didn't tell him we were coming (nope, I am still not naming names). He and hubby went inside to talk options and where we might be able to swap vehicles, preferably along our route today. Well, hubby is a charmer ;) and a few minutes later they emerged with a new set of keys. He had a car we could have... grated it was one "size" down from what we had, but all the windows worked and it was much newer... which means bluetooth and more cupholders. (Never underestimate the value of cupholders on a road trip with kids)
We took it! Moved all our bags over and where off.

We decided to hit the zoo after all. And had a nice couple of hours wandering through it. The Philly Zoo has a 360 theme, so several of the animal exhibits even have animals walking over you... amazing. We didn't see any of the big cats using these walk ways, but they are pretty cool.

You can see the overhead walkway the lemurs use.... maybe even the black and white lemurs inside.

Shows the larger cat walkway... also overhead, can you image looking up to see a tiger!?

Okapi, one of my favorites

Great exhibits for pictures

Maned Wolf... these are new to me, our zoo just got a pair. 

Look up... its a bear! 

On our way out of Philly we drove past Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
And I picked up the Philadelphia Starbucks You Are Here Mug... mug count for this trip: 2.

Independence Hall

More to come! 

In an attempt to catch as many states as possible on this trip we are overnighting in New Jersey.
Good night.

Stats:

Miles today: 186

Miles total: 692

States Total: 6 (+New Jersey)
Starbucks Mug Total: 2