Roadwarners

We went to Salvador Dali museum here.

We didn’t know much about Dali and I never quite realized how intricate his work was and how many different layers there were to his work.

Can you spot the matador in the above picture as well

Coronavirus fears are starting to be visible. We walked by and Indy car race that was packing up because it was just announced it was cancelled.

Time to leave St. Petersburg. We like it here but no reservations to be found anywhere. We already lucked out yesterday by the ranger taking pity on us and allowing us to camp in the emergency spot. I have a feeling that our camping luck is coming to an end here in Florida.

Disney is a vortex. But we got out.

We are heading to St. Petersburg to hang out with my friend Milana. On the way we stopped by Tampa to do a quick catch up with a high school friend of Edwin’s. They are fun and an hour meet up was not sufficient. But I’m glad Edwin got to see him and I got to meet them.

It must be something in the warm sea air because we were walking around for about 10 minutes before Edwin bought himself a skateboard.

Off to see Milana. Haven’t seen her in ages. We lived next to each other on our semester abroad in Australia. So happy we met her at her house because it’s this beautiful newly remodeled super modern home that was very fun to look at and be in.

It’s fun catching up and hanging out and how has 20+ years gone by…it’s just crazy. My first burger with the lot was with Milana and every time I get one to this day I think of those times in Australia. Milana is who I would walk to get hungover gyros with in the morning. And she also taught me about vegeta.

How I didn’t get a picture with her…ahh. And her fiancé Pat.

It was a nice evening altogether. Hopefully we’ll get together again.

So we weren’t planning on being in Disney today…we bought a 4 day park ticket to spend a day in each park. The other day at Magic Kingdom Edwin spoke to guest services because the we lost the antenna from the droid the girls built in Hollywood Studios. They ended up giving us a comp ticket to go back in and take care of it.

Even with the free tickets I was not looking forward to going back in the park. The other debate was are we waking up early to try and get a boarding group for Rise of the Machines. The trick is your whole party has to be in the park for you to be able to sign up. And you have about a 2 min window to make it happen before it’s sold out.

It was hard to pass up the free ticket and 2nd opportunity to do the ride. So we got up. But since we still had the golf cart we didn’t have to wait for the 1st bus so we didn’t have to wake up as early. But we still inside Disney by 7:45. The other day we were in boarding group #62 which boarded around 3pm. Our plan was to go get a boarding group and go back to sleep for an hour, go to the pool, and then back to the park in the afternoon.

Edwin got boarding group #4 so instead of leaving we went and did the Toy Story Mania ride since it didn’t have a live first thing in the am. Edwin needed retribution. He got it.

We were here on Thursday. There are a lot more people here today. It was palpable. Thankful Edwin made the push for us to get here a few days ago before We went on the 2 rides and with everything else with a 2 hour + wait we were gone by 10:30, requested a late check out for our camping spot and golf cart. We put in a load of laundry and went to the pool. Thd girls weren’t ready to leave by 1pm so Edwin and I returned the golf cart, parked the RV in the overflow lot and went back to the pool. We couldn’t get the kids to leave, but we were fine just sitting and letting them play. There was a whole day of games by the pool that they were both really excited about playing along.

It’s 6:30 and the kids still haven’t left the pool. So we went back to the RV to eat and now we are at the Chip n Dale campfire program with a movie afterward.

Day 4. The big and exciting things have been the last few days. Not much at Epcot in terms of rides but we knew we would walk around the world and enjoy the food. But because it was a relaxed day we also weren’t into the crowds and I had had my fill of Disney so it was a hard morning of standing in lines for rides that we felt we should go on even if we didn’t feel as invested in them.

It did end up being quite fun walking around the countries and using up food credits and splitting a meal from each country so we could try something from everywhere. Fish n chips, crepes, falafels, ice cream, sausages, pretzels. We were full by the time we hit China or Mexico. We went to sit down dinner in Japan.

The flower and garden show was also a bonus and provided a lot of entertainment. Especially the Lion King 🦁 🤪

We rode Soaring, which is the same as down in California Adventures, so we rode that 7 years ago. But after riding the Avatar ride, it’s crazy how dated Soaring feels.

Overall we had another good day at Disney. We thought we’d be home early but it’s hard to leave. Plus it worked out that we went on the frozen ride right before closing since it finally had no line. (We weren’t willing to stand in line for 1 1/2 hours for the frozen ride)

After a few days here we finally broke and rented a golf cart for the night/morning. People use them to get from their RV or tent to the main bus area that brings you to the parks instead of waiting for the internal RV park buses.

We ended up having a blast riding it around at night and gave daisy a good run as well.

Day 3 here 3 here we come. The past 2 days of Disney is showing. Overall having a good time but the problem with Disney World…I think 2 days at a theme park should be the limit. We wanted to see the fireworks so we didn’t feel the need to get there at opening…or earlier.

Even though we didn’t wake up early it sure didn’t feel like we got to sleep in either.

The girls were excited to be here today. Magical Kingdom is where you feel like it’s real Disney with the castle and everything. There were no big things that were a must do today so we casually walked around and most everything we wanted to.

Can’t not do the tea cups. Not sure how all 4 of us fit in…but we did. I don’t think I like dizzy rides anymore.

It’s a Small World 👀

Jungle cruise 🦁 🦛

We left the girls here for an hour or so…

Snoopy ride

I hate this picture, I tried to be cool 😎 like the girls. Def NOT cool.

We couldn’t leave Disney without riding Dumbo.

The fireworks 💥 were pretty great.

We had corn dogs for dinner but it did not compare to corn dog I still remember from 7 years ago. Oh and Edwin got all these bags from Splash Mountain ride bc the guy said please take them I gave an 8 box quota from ziplock…I’ve got to give them away. So Edwin packed the chips in a bag.

Ok we survived day 1. Now going to check out pandora in animal kingdom.

Tree of life.

Cutest walking creature

Pandora land was pretty legit. They did a great job.

Professor Pork did his job and has been good at providing entertainment during lines.

The avatar is real.

The Flight of the Ikran ride was pretty darn cool. We got off had lunch and with the line being still short at 65 min we got back in line. Vera and I played war while Isabella did my hair.

Then off to Kilimanjaro Safari which thankfully Edwin managed to get a fast pass we didn’t use yesterday transferred to today. It had an over 2 hour wait so that was pretty great.

We had a fast pass for Everest that Vera got herself so worked up about (notice…closed turned away eyes) Of course after we got off “it was so fun can we go again?”

On the way to dinner we walked by Dino land. Earlier this morning we bought a few tickets to play whack-a-mole (Vera I guess has always wanted to play this game) but it went out of service the game before us. Of course they wouldn’t refund our money, we’d have to go to guest services….so instead we’d planned on stopping by again…which was now. It was a solid game. Close. But their was a winner. A rematch was requested. The results weren’t different.

Everyone was incensed…except me. Perhaps the greatest part of the win was when I asked Edwin to take a picture of me with my winnings…which was refused..,.hence the selfie…and on top of that 2 cast characters came over and held my hands up rocky style. Victorious 🙂

Pandora land was a different cool at night and we want back after dinner for one more ride.

This time the girls found the Halloween makeup in backpack and were entertained by turning themselves into the Navi.

It was a long ride back to camp tonight. The bus system works great, unless you just miss the bus and have to wait the 20 min for the next one.

Hollywood Studios Land.

I guess a success because we have a boarding group for rise of the resistance. And a reservation at Oga’s Cantina.

Star Wars land is pretty cool. They did a pretty neat job creating the world. Just walking around all the spaceships and decorations is what is is fun.

Aerosmith was fun

And then we went to get food and the bands weren’t working. So we spent 30 min talking to guest services. I guess in one way that worked out so we got 3 free fast passes per person for the rides we want.

Edwin and Isabella rode Terror and Vera and are using ours on Slinky Dog Dash.

Smugglers Run. The Millennium Falcon was pretty neat.

Rise of the Resistance. The stuff leading up to the actual ride was the nearest part. So was the AT AT garage.

Toy Story Mania. Had no idea what it would was but it was super fun.

And the brand new ride Mickey & Minnie Runaway Railroad…just opened yesterday.

Droid building is fun.

Oga’s Cantina was fun to go inside and get a drink while listening to a droid DJ

A few last runs on Smugglers Run at the end of the night while the line was short

We woke up on the gulf shores and it was an overcast rainy day.

Somehow we decided it was now or never for Disney World.

Alabama. 24th State.

Florida. 25th state.

Ugh, I’m already hating Disneyland and we’re not even there yet. Hours on the phone, figuring out the app, total frustration.

We pulled in late. Kind of in disbelief that we are going to Disney world tomorrow. I hope it’s not a disaster since it hasn’t been planned for months.

It’s going to be a long day after a long night last night.

The need to do laundry was beyond necessary and since we were paying for an RV park we needed to take advantage. It also meant for an early morning to get laundry done and still enjoy the day. The girls were excited to wake up early to swim in the pool.

It was 7am and already hot and muggy outside. The RV park is conveniently located near Louis Armstrong park so we went for a walk after swimming.

We went to Acme for a morning breakfast of oysters, gator bites, and soft shell crab. I

A 2nd breakfast of beignets

We were so hot when we got back that we decided to swim for a bit before the swamp tour instead of going to the battlefield.

On to Jean Lafitte National Historic Park.

And then right past for a swamp tour on an air boat. Our tour guide a French Canadian Cajun Crawdaddy…literally. Beyond the air boat ride being fun, seeing many birds, alligators and seeing cypress covered in Spanish moss, Greg himself proved to be quite entertaining. He was sharing his stories of the bayou. He says a lot has changed since he was little. He grew up “on the bayou” he said and he “could find his way all the way to Texas”. The biggest changes he sees are the amount of invasive species both plant and in the water. It’s led to a lot of changes to the ecosystem. The other big influence is being the marsh at the end of the Mississippi. Because of all the dams upriver no sediment comes down the river to replenish the swamp that is constantly eroding from the sea.

Back in Mississippi. Heading to Buccaneer State Park with a stop to the Silver Slipper Casino. This was the one place both bayou tour guides told us Is the one place to stop in Mississippi…so we’re just following directions.

Mississippi. 23rd state.

Who would’ve thunk it…there was a 2 hour wait to the coveted casino buffet. We were in kind of disbelief and talked to the people in from the of us and promptly replied “last time we was here the line went all around that way and we waited in line for 5 hours” Seriously!?! So it’s late, we can make food in the RV, but now we’re definitely intrigued. So the girls went out to the RV to watch a movie while Edwin and I tag teamed the line. It actually worked out and I don’t think the live was 2 hours but it was at least a solid hour. The big thing here are the snow crab legs. And I have to say the funnel cake maker was legit. Isabella has also been perfecting her buffet frosty with literally a cone filled with sprinkles.