Chris - 2006

I am sending my trip report, but it will be a little different from the rest ... since as retires, we had more time ... and less money than most, I will just include the highlights.

First I will explain, that I am a grandmother, and thoughts of long periods of time without my four grandsons is terrible. So before we left I had everyone over for pizza and wings..(after all ... this IS Buffalo).... I explained to the boys Ages 8,5,2, and 1) that every party needs a guest of honor...and the guests of honor today will be Joei (the giraffe their Aunt Alissa had just made when we took all of them to Build-a-bear) and Tobi, a stuffed dog who has been living under grandma's dinning room table waiting for their visits...

Tobi and Joei were going on a trip! Since we couldn't take the boys, we would take fuzzy boys, and they would sent back e-mails, and pictures of their travel allowing us to keep in touch. We took pictures of everyone, including Joei and Tobi in the car, with their seat belts on...(although at one point, Joei did try to get in the drivers seat...but I said NO WAY..not my new car!!). During our trip we took pictures in Colonial Williamsburg with George Washington, who asked the boys to come join his army...I said no, they are too young!...(Let's hear a round of applause for a husband who WILLINGLY carried stuffed animals thru Williamsburg and poised for pictures, without complaining, well without complaining too much)

They had their pictures taken at the park in Savannah when Forrest Gump was filmed, and with a dolphin at Virginia Beach.....Joei and Tobi sent back pictures and books for everyone. Now as we are traveling, I was sending daily copies of our e-mails to family and to friends already scattered thru Florida who knew we were coming, but since we weren't on a schedule, had no idea when we would arrive....

Day 7 finds us visiting friends my husband had worked with, who had retired to Grand Island, Florida.... Since we hadn't exchanged more than e-mails and Christmas cards for about a year, we didn't expected them to put us up, just point us in the direction of a decent hotel... They won't hear of it...you are staying with us... As we get out of the car, Ed looks puzzled, and says..."Where are the boys?"...... Tom says they can stay in the car......and now Ed is really confused..... He and Pat thought they were GRANDCHILDREN! They had bought coloring book, crayons, drink boxes and made sleeping arrangements!! NOW THOSE are good friends!

Two days and we are back on the road...after all, house guests and fish begin to smell after the third day.... Goal...the Wilderness Lodge. Now the good......is the REALLY great rate Jessica at MFLT got us for the four days we were there....And the upgrade from standard to courtyard view we got, without even asking! Just walking thru the door at the Wilderness Lodge is like coming home to me...

Now the BAD....Tobi got lost!! He was on top of the luggage with Joei when we checked in, and when the valet brought our luggage he was GONE!! ....Looked everywhere, checked with housekeeping, thinking they might have picked him up off the floor in the hall....NOTHING! I even posted a "missing" poster (complete with picture) at the Roaring Forks, and front desk... Now this is where my faith in people is a little shaken ... after all, wouldn't a parent who found him, have thought that he belonged to a heart broken child and turned him in?? And how do I tell the BOYS?? My daughter and daughter-in-law will never trust me with the kids again, if I can't hang on to a dog!!.Quick.....I need to come up with a story ... about how the luggage cart hit a bump, and Tobi went sailing into the air, and landed in the backpack of a lonely little boy named Matt, and decided to stay in Florida..... Management offers us a stuffed Mickey, but we decide on the little bear from Brother Bear, and name him Kobi, and tell how, Joei the giraffe was sitting by the pool, missing his friend Tobi, when he and Kobi start to talk about how much Kobi misses the snow from up north where he is from.... OK, so contrary to all appearances, I have not lost my mind!!

The time at Disney was, as usual very magical, From seeing Wishes for the first time, to showing our new friends Walt and Joan around the Polynesian and the Wilderness Lodge.

It has been a very learning trip....

First I learned that I didn't do a very good job packing for various climates, I took too much cool weather and not enough warm. Then I learned two days in one location is not enough, I think I would like more time in Savannah. But some places really DO require reservations!!

We also learned the new laptop, and the Microsoft Streets and Trip with GPS beat AAA trip tickets hands down.

We learned Tom does NOT want to be a porter...those suitcases can get heavy, but we CAN spend three week together and not kill each other. The Fairfield Inns do have the best mattresses, and almost everyone offers "free continental breakfast"

We caught up with several friends and several retirement lifestyles... Pat and Ed, who bought a new home in a seniors park and live in Florida year round. Hank and Diane who rent a condo in a building where they know several people from "home" for about 4 months. Mike and Jean who bought an older trailer and are remodeling and stay for about 5 months, and new friends Joan and Walt who rent a hotel room for about three month for the past several years ... All of it works for them, and they all seem very happy with their choices but none of them seem perfect for us just yet. I will admit that you really do get use to the warmer weather quickly, and it is easy to forget how cold it can get.

Joei and Kobi are excited to be coming home, Kobi can't wait for the snow, although I told him, it has been a really mild winter so far.

We miss our family and neighbors and realize we are both truly homebodies, and that that is not a bad thing. Traveling is fun and we will do more of it. We didn't stay as long as we first planned, but we both admit it seemed long enough, and at least we didn't have to go to OZ to realize there is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!

God Bless Home
Chris