Time to share some photos of our fantastic vacation rental in Davenport, FL. Nan and Kelly arrived a number of hours before we did and Kelly took a bunch of photos before we got in. AS soon as you enter, the living room is on the left. 
And it shares floor space with the dining room. You can see the doorway into the kitchen, as well. 
Standing near the kitchen to the door way, looking back toward front door and large staircase. 
From kitchen doorway 
From in the kitchen looking toward the rear of the house to the kitchen table. 
From the sliding glass back door looking into the family room 
From the side of the family room you can see the kitchen table in the distance and the breakfast bar mid-depth. 
Downstairs king 
Downstairs master bath 
garage had some games 
There was a large, family-sized bathroom at the top of the stairs 
Upstairs king/master 
Upstairs master bath 
this room has two sets of bunk beds, and two closets. 
Twin room 
Queen master 
Queen room bath.
Beautiful pool and whirlpool 
Lanai. Door at end of photo is to a pool-side powder room. 
This house rocks.
travel
En Route
There is not a lot to say about the drive. We did our normal thing where John drove til 9-something then we moved seats to allow him to sleep in the rear row. Stewart rode shotgun and kept me away. (The cup of coffee/cocoa helped to. Yowser, there is a reason I don’t drink it. But it was good to be wired at that hour.) John took back over around 2:30 A.M. and drove the balance.
Five of the kids were outstanding. Katriel was calling for us to turn around and go home by about 9 P.M. Friday night. She really was fit to be tied. It was hardest on her, and by measure she was hardest for the rest of us.
We made it to our rental house. It is the same lovely home we enjoyed in 2014. We unpacked like professionals and the kids made use of the pool while Nan, Kelly, and I took Nan’s rental car back. (Should I mention how they flew down in about 2 hours Saturday morning, got a rental car and were in the house within 10 hours of being awake today?)
It was an early night all around with big dreams for tomorrow.
Hanny is displaying signs of a cold. Prayers for rapid healing and for it not to spread would be most appreciated .
Thank you for praying us down here.
Another Adventure–background
THE HISTORY
Once upon a time we visited Walt Disney World (WDW) frequently. Our last trip to WDW was in 2011, and although we’d had many other lovely trips there, that particular trip was far-and-away the finest one. Just about everything was perfect and we left extremely gratified with our vacation.
We intended to visit WDW in 2014, as part of a trip which also included 4 night on Disney Cruise Line’s ship, the Magic. About a year before we planned to go, however, I started learning more about the changes coming to the much loved Fast Pass (FP) system previously available at WDW. As frequent visitors, we had long ago learned how to make that system best work for us. We were able to enjoy many rides and attractions without waiting, and we were able to secure re-rides on our favorite ones. The new system, Fast Pass Plus (FP+) was slated to replace FP by the time our trip rolled around. Guests would be expected to book three rides PRIOR to their trip through the My Disney Experience (MDE) website or app. At best this was called a ride reservation system, but many of us regarded it as a ride RATIONING system. Disney vacations are expensive and with lots of new rules and even more unknowns, John and I were just NOT comfortable throwing our vacation dollars toward WDW.
We shifted gears and instead used our vacation budget to purchase two-week passes to the SeaWorld family of parks. This was a GREAT experience for us. We spent two days at Busch Gardens, two days at SeaWorld, and one day at Aquatica. We also spent a day at Kennedy Space Center. We had a fabulous vacation and never regretted not visiting WDW. Oh – and we saved quite a bit of money, as well.
THE PLAN
In March 2015 we booked a seven-night cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) out of Miami, FL for May, 2016. Although we’d have a phenomenal time on DCL in 2014, the long and short of it is DCL is extremely costly. For connecting verandah cabins on NCL for the eight of us, we paid just less than $5,500. For the same week on the DCL Fantasy for similar ports of call, we were quoted $11,000 for connecting inside cabins. It was an incredible deal NCL was offering and we happily reserved our next adventure on the high seas.
Well, when you consider the route from NY to Miami, you can’t help but notice that you drive right by Kissimmee, Florida. And that little voice in my head said, “Well, look at that! We’re going to go right by Disney World. Why don’t we spend some time there?”
One thing led to another and we booked the same delightful rental house we’d used in 2014 for the week leading up to our NCL cruise. As the months went by and we began to dig deeper into WDW planning we learned a LOT more about changes at Disney World. I am a dedicated user of Disney-based message boards and blogs. Reading about the experiences visitors were having (even happy visitors) painted a picture of a much different place than we’d visited in the past. I won’t let this post get any longer than it has to be by miserably recounting all the changes in service and increases in prices. The question came up, however: Will we be satisfied with the return on our investment (ROI) that Disney World is currently offering?
We came to understand that in order to make any upcoming trip to WDW work we would have to lower our expectations. Could we do that?
THE COMMITMENT
We almost pulled the plug in June 2015. Nan and Kelly very much wanted to go to WDW; even more than they wanted to cruise. John and I decidedly preferred the cruise; however, I admit I did want to get my girls in to meet princesses again. But those dollar signs were daunting and the news out of the parks was discouraging.
School started, life moved on, and I just kept gathering information for both WDW and the cruise. I had to do a few crazy things to increase our chances of having a good time. We booked a campsite on WDW property that we have no intentions of staying at in order to secure our ride reservations 60 days before our vacation, as opposed to the 30 days offered off-site guests. I reserved pre-park opening dining at some of the parks 180 days before our vacation in order to put us in a better position deeper in the parks for when it opened (so that we have a better chance on getting on the most popular rides). Just before Christmas we went ahead and ordered our WDW tickets. Ouch. I didn’t link them in the MDE system just in case we decided to bail. And – we almost did bail at the end of January. Between the estimated costs of the meals, the costs of cruise excursions, and the cost of that unneeded campsite, I was starting to lose sleep over it. I itemized our expected expenses, and shared it with John; it was insane. We prayed about it and let it sit for a while. A few days later we decided to go ahead with it, but from that point on we told ourselves we had to completely buy into the package and proceed without doubting or looking back. While the news on message boards and blogs has steadily gotten worse (money grabs, cuts in service, etc.) we have continued to focus on the projected positives of two weeks of family vacationing, and our estimation that we will at least have a “very good time” if not an “excellent time.”
THE ITINERARY
5/6 – 5/7 Drive to Florida
5/8 Animal Kingdom
5/9 Hollywood Studios
5/10 Epcot
5/11 Gatorland (and Fort Wilderness?)
5/12 Magic Kingdom
5/13 Magic Kingdom
5/14 Laundry and rest day
Potential inclusion –
(Drive to Miami and embark on NCL Getaway
Day at Sea
Roatan, Honduras
Belize City, Belize
Costa Maya, Mexico
Cozumel, Mexico
Day at Sea
Disembark drive
Drive and return home)
THE CREW
John is most looking forward to the ports of call and ship activities
Stacy is most looking forward to sandy beaches and cruise dining.
Stewart is looking forward to ship activities and some of the more thrilling rides at WDW.
Nigel is looking forward to everything.
Marie is looking forward to meeting Merida and Pocahontas, and breakfast with Pooh characters.
Tabitha is looking forward to princess meals and ropes course on the ship.
Johanna wants to meet, “All the princesses. All of them!”
Katriel wants to meet them all too. We think.
Nancy and Kelly
Nancy (Nan) is looking forward to all of it.
Kelly (Nene) is looking forward to WDW attractions.
Please join us for our trip!
It was too quiet…
And I’m no novice. I should have known.
Kansas. Not a drive-thru state!
Since we first started sharing with people that we’d be traversing the country we’ve been treated to much commentary. One of the things we heard repeatedly was how boring Kansas would be. “Just miles and miles of corn,” “Vast expanses of nuthin,” and “Watch out for tornados.”
If we saw corn, it was not yet knee high to any insects.
And they’ve done a really good job of covering up the expanses of nothing with buildings, animals, and businesses.
And we are grateful God saw fit to spare us any tornados.
And they’ve done a really good job of covering up the expanses of nothing with buildings, animals, and businesses.
And we are grateful God saw fit to spare us any tornados.
I’ll be honest. In my research of things to do between Kansas City, MO, and Colorado Springs, CO, I did not turn up a ton of prospects. But one thing suggested by TripAdvisor was something called Monument Rocks, and/or Chalk Rocks. Now, this place doesn’t have any real website… and details on arriving at the destination are sketchy. Mapquest and GoogleMaps don’t recognize the request, and no address exists to punch into the GPS. But if you are willing to deviate off of the most direct route from A to B, use a Paper Map, and foray down 7 miles of rutted dirt roads, you will be rewarded.
No more words.
This is an amazing thing…
The kids BEGGED to stay. When we first tried to leave, I literally heard begging and pleading.
Rocks. Free rocks.
No admission fee.
No princess meet and greets.
The kids BEGGED to stay. When we first tried to leave, I literally heard begging and pleading.
Rocks. Free rocks.
No admission fee.
No princess meet and greets.
No FastPass.
Rocks.
Now, maybe it was because it was compared to more van time. But it was nice.
2 Peter 3:5 –
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,
The “I Forgot” Game
Marie: I forgot my camera.
Tabitha: I forgot the charger for my camera.
Stacy: I forgot the license plate game board
Stacy: I forgot my visor
Stacy: I forgot sunscreen
Stacy: I forgot swim diapers
John: I forgot all the printouts of safe places to eat
And just in case I wasn’t already in the running as the winner…
Stacy: I forgot my wedding band.
Really…
Actually – it stopped being funny midday Saturday. I’m not some novice traveler. I can pack in my sleep. I’ve got my go-to Florida Packing List down to a science and can tell you our minute-by-minute, meal-by-meal, outfit-by-outfit plan from every trip for the last one-and-a-half decades! “I’ve got this.”
Road Trip 2015 – I’m a big loser.
Details… I missed so many details. Sure, I made sure we booked hotels that accommodated our party of 8 in such a way that I wouldn’t have to tiptoe around with a flash light to make my early A.M. hot Dark Chocolate Sensation. But then I packed the hot chocolate that requires MILK, not water. Oh – and the instant coffee packets I picked up to make it My Way… left them at home.
I’m not being funny. I’m not being melodramatic. I blew this. I sincerely enjoy traveling and all the planning and prep that go with it normally enhance my experience. This trip… I just keep being reminded of all the ways I didn’t measure up.
The worst part (so far!) is that both Stewart and Marie have written projects they wanted me to proof-read. I’ve been putting them off and told them I’d read them whilst I had all that down time in the van on our road trip. Friday, Stewart put his screenplay, “The Monster Among Us,” and Marie’s book, “The Return of the Jaminns,” on my new laptop.
You know – the one I NEVER INSTALLED OFFICE ON!
So – instead I am typing another blog entry. (Into the now user-interface-less Windows Live Writer that I will have to cut and paste into Blogger into the hotel room. If I remember to bring my mouse in from the van.)
At least we slept well?
Okay – I’ll type a blog about the hotel. It rocked.
Ecclesiastes 7:8
Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Kansas City — dinner and rockin’ hotel accommations
When you’ve been 630 feet in the air you work up an appetite. We were pretty tired, had had a mighty breakfast, and really wanted to get to the hotel to swim. We opted against lunch and just mowwed (is that a word? blogger says no) on muffins, cereal bars, juice boxes and cheese sticks. The cranky-factor was high and we just worked on making time across the lovely state of MO. (I think I could live here. Looks like a flat version of NY.)
Around 4:00 P.M. CST we decided we needed to feed the animals nourish our family and I did a search for a KFC (which they’ll be delighted to hear some lady just associated with the word nourish). We found one and because I have more time than sense I even did a TripAdvisor review of the place. They had a BUFFET. A KFC BUFFET. I’m not a big fan of KFC, but I love buffets. Why? I’m glad you asked. I’ve had WAY too many experiences in restaurants and at theme parks where you can talk to a kid about food choices, but because they can’t SEE exactly what you are talking about you don’t always know if they are really going to eat it when it gets on a table in front of them. With a buffet you’ve more-or-less got a WYSIWYG situation. Granted, after they taste it, they may balk… but you just GO GET SOMETHING ELSE. Now, some folks counter with buffets being a hassle for parents because they have to get up and down and up and down many times and do not get to actually sit and enjoy their food. I see this as a faulty argument. I think of it as burning the calories as I eat them.
OH – and the best part — $8.49 for John, Stewart, and I, and $4.99 for the middle four. Katriel was free. AND drinks were included. Less than $50 for 8 people. Nice.
We stopped at Walmart (where they had a height restriction for vehicles entering the parking lot). Apparently truckers are not wanted in Oak Grove Walmart. Why did we stop at Walmart? BECAUSE I FORGOT THINGS!
Our hotel was just 30 minutes away and, baby, did it rock. The manager had emailed me on Friday with a question about our reservation. It seemed their system had us down for TWO suites, each with a king-sized bedroom, a 2 queen bedroom, and sofa bed in the family room. It seems they weren’t able to offer us two suites with exactly that set up and he had some suggestions to offer us instead. Well, we are larger-than-life, but we don’t need quite that much space. I contacted him and explained we only needed one suite that size.
When I checked in a lovely employee Lisa said, “I see you talked with Michael about the room changes.” She went on to explain we have two connecting rooms. One with a king bedroom, full-bath, and kitchen/livingroom, and another with a 2 queen bedroom, full bath, and kitchen/livingroom. And because of our inconvenience (???) HE TOOK 50% OFF our charges. We ended up with plenty o’space for — $97.00 USD. Total. Not each room. Michael, dude, you rock.
The hotel was beautiful. And I hate hotels. I’m sure I’ll explain why in one of these posts sometime. My kids were loving the digs. It was just a very nice place.
We lugged in only what we needed (which still required two trips) and donned swim suits. Then our 8 road-weary bodies made merry in the salt-water pool and hot tub. (Okay – okay – I for sure did not get in the pool. It wasn’t freezing-freezing, but I require some pretty warm water temps or sunshine high in the sky to swim.) But I found something I could get excited about.
MAN we look TIRED! LOL.
At 7:45 P.M. we called all out and as we needed to drip-dry, we circled some chaises and chairs around and did family bedtime prayers in the pool room. We scooted back to our rooms and melted into the crazy-awesome beds.
I woke at 5 A.M. (my body thought it slept in til 6 A.M.) and enjoyed some tea whilst John hit the showers. At 6:15 A.M. we started waking the little ones and then moved on to the bigger ones a while later. PBS provided the treat of broadcast television (a vacation-only indulgence) while we packed up our gear.
We headed down to the complimentary breakfast which pleased our hungry crew and provided me with ample exercise.
Check out those waffles. Oh. Yum.
The littles got some more eye-candy while the biggies and Daddy loaded up the van.
Isaiah 40:28-31
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Gateway Arch, St. Louis
I can’t believe we almost missed this.
After the river cruise we headed over to the Visitor’s Center with our tickets. After clearing security, we were directed to the North Tram to line up for our trip to the top.
As we waited on our step, four in car 1 and four in car 2, we watched a movie explaining the Arch. It was built as a monument identifying the city as the Gateway to the West. The city of St. Louis had once been vital to trade because of it’s position on the Mississippi River. With the advent of the Railroad, however, it was running the risk of being left behind in development. A innovative engineer designed a bridge (with arches underneath) to span the mighty river. It became a symbol.
Or something like that. 😉
Once we got to the top, some 630 feet in the air we enjoyed lots of peeks out the windows, and took an embarrassingly large number of photos.
We shopped just few moments and decided it was time to part ways with St. Louis. It started to rain again as we returned to our van. We had been blessed by the cessation of rain during our time at the top of the Arch.
Psalm 104:3-4
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.
Mississippi River Cruise–St. Louis.
When I first saw that we’d be driving through St. Louis, I thought nothing of it.
When I realized we’d be arriving there early in the day, I thought nothing of it.
I figured we might look around the place, but really, we’d press on to our destination for the night – Kansas City, MO. I’d very, very briefly priced going into the Arch, or cruising the Mississippi back in February and quickly ruled it out.
Now – I’m pretty fascinated by bodies of water. I don’t know why this started, but it’s pretty recent. It likely took seed when we started visiting the Ocean in 2008, but I think the joy of cruising really breathed more life into it. So – when I saw that we had nothing to do in/around Wisconsin on our way home I looked into Mississippi River cruises as the beginning of the river way up north there. The problem is nothing lined up with the days and times we were going to be in Wisconsin. I tried to locate parks where I might be able to touch the river, but even with Google Earth I wasn’t feeling successful.
Then Thursday night, before we left home, I decided to look into Mississippi River activities in St. Louis. I don’t know if the prices were lower, or I wasn’t feeling as broke as my post-Christmas looking, but I decided if the weather was decent Saturday, maybe we’d consider it.
As we left home, Friday night, I called the tourist phone line to assess departure times. If our traveling didn’t hit any snags overnight, we’d be able to pull it off. We didn’t tell the kids about it in case it didn’t work out.
We made GREAT time… even with our lengthy Bob Evans feast. (It helped that we gained an hour super early.) As we drove into St. Louis, we had to work to naviate some heavy reconstruction in the down town area, but we finally found parking, and secured tickets to the 10:30 A.M. riverboat ride with 8 minutes to spare. It started raining lightly as John was in the courthouse buying tickets.
We walked the 4 blocks to the riverfront at the base of the Gateway Arch.
As we approached the landing I was gloriously surprised to see a gangway from the pier settled right on the land… the SHORE of the RIVER was right there at my feet. AND – I bent right down and touched the Mississippi River. I was so afraid of being late that I didn’t stop for a photo.
We made it in time to board the Tom Sawyer riverboat. Becky Thatcher floated nearby.
The kids weren’t super excited about the cruise, but they didn’t hate it either. It stopped raining as the cruise went along. The captain provided gobs and gobs of information on the river and it’s St. Louis shoreline. I was impressed with how speedily the river was moving, and just how much debris was in it. It was every bit as muddy as I had heard.
As we got off the landing, Stewart, Nigel, Marie, Tab, and even Katriel stuck their hands in, too.
As Daddy and Johanna came down a few minutes later, they went for a cheese foot-slap in the water. (It was pretty brown.)
Now this is a cool story. As we ascended the steps, the skies were somewhat clearer than they’d been on the way down. I lingered behind the rest of my family with the camera to grab a few more photos. As I was just to the top, a man who had been taking photos of the woman he was with asked if I would take a photo of them together. I said sure and as he joined her I took a few shots. Then, he got down on one knee and PROPOSED. I shot pictures as quickly as his camera would allow me to! I really hope they turn out well.
Next up – Inside the Gateway Arch.
Psalm 139:9-10
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
Dayspring Disciples 
