Trip Report SURPRISE SEPTEMBER TRIP REVEALED.... BUT WAS IT A SURPRISE?

Scoppin · Oct 4, 2016

littleroo said:
Wow!! I grew up in Watertown, NY. My parents, now that we are all gone, live on Wellsley Island in the 1000 islands. We spend a week there every summer. We always take the kids to Fort Henry. We love chez piggy. We are sad the big bookstore, can't remember the name presently, closed a few years ago.

I wondered when you said how close to the border you were. So many great spots in Kingston. Just love it!!!

Talk about being a small world. Yes, know all those places. Can't remember the book store unless you are thinking of Indigo. We are in the west end and don't venture downtown very often. Buskers is one we tend to go to. Kids like to see the acts.

littleroo · Oct 4, 2016

It was Indigo!! Great bookstore. Also love Kingston brewing. Awesome wings. Ok i have hijacked your tr enough. Sorry. Just have enjoyed the area since before I can remember.

Can't wait to hear your adorable kids reaction!

Trisha Lynn · Oct 4, 2016

Scoppin said:
Then he asked if I would like him to dispose of the 'evidence'. I have to be honest. I was a little surprised by the question

I'm not too terribly surprised. You Canadians are awfully nice people.

Scoppin · Oct 4, 2016

littleroo said:
It was Indigo!! Great bookstore. Also love Kingston brewing. Awesome wings. Ok i have hijacked your tr enough. Sorry. Just have enjoyed the area since before I can remember.

Can't wait to hear your adorable kids reaction!

That is not a problem.

You will have to wait to hear their reaction a little while longer, until we get to the proper timeline.

Scoppin · Oct 4, 2016

Trisha Lynn said:
I'm not too terribly surprised. You Canadians are awfully nice people.

Thank you. I am not sure if you are referring to me or the Border Officer. If the Border Officer, he would have been American as we were entering the US. There are some fairly nice Americans out there as well.

Scoppin · Oct 4, 2016

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH CONTINUED

I don't believe I mentioned above, that I shared the second surprise of this trip. I brought the kids out to the balcony, before we went out for our walk, to show them the view. I mentioned the water they could see was the Atlantic Ocean. And they could step in the Ocean when we go for our walk.

The other thing I forgot to mention above was the loud noises outside while checking in. These were actually coming from Air Force Jets flying overhead. Luckily they stopped later in the evening. But did start up again in the morning. They were interesting to see but difficult to take a picture of. Only appeared like a small dot in the sea of blue of the sky.

The one thing we were on the hunt for on our walk was a very large statue of who we thought was King Trident, which we had noticed while we were trying to locate the hotel. We ventured out onto Atlantic Avenue in hopes of find Ariel's father. We really didn't travel very far when DS mentioned his flip flops were bothering him. Mentioned like it felt like something was poking him. I took a look and couldn't see anything. I took my finger around the area in question and couldn't feel anything. Maybe they were a little large for him. Or maybe he didn't really know how to walk in them. He did however have a sore starting to develop. Of course the first thing that popped into my mind is that he could walk much in those and make the sore worse as he was going to be doing a lot of walking while at WDW. No walking meant not getting done what 'we' wanted. But I couldn't really just come out and say that. I mentioned to walk carefully and on the walk back he could walk on the beach and I would walk on the boardwalk. DD thought of adding her two cents and stated he didn't know how to walk in the flip flops. She then was complaining of the flip flops bothering her as well a little further on.

We came across this store front and DD wanted to take a couple of pictures.

We then came across this little memorial to the military service. I wasn't able to read the plaques. Believe it was for Coast Guard, Air Force and Navy.

We also came across this little school of fish.

If you haven't notice by the above, these two can be a pair of hams in front of the camera. When they are in the mood.

We finally were able to find King Trident, however come to find out it was not actually Ariel's father but King Neptune, as per the plaque. Opps, apparently I am only able to put 10 pictures per message, unless I have done something incorrectly. What am I going to do when I actually start reporting about our days at WDW. Plenty of pictures to be shared, unless you are bored of pictures.

So, to be continued......

Scoppin · Oct 4, 2016

MONDAY, SEPT 12TH CONTINUED AGAIN..

As promised King Neptune.

We then started our trek back to the hotel. But first DS wanted to find another culture he had noticed but we didn't stop for at the time.

Around the large Koch shell were smaller shells and I noticed one named Angel Wings. I suggested they lay in-between them, carefully.

While they were walking in the sand apparently they came across a number of spiders in the sad. They didn't walk to walk on the sand any further but on the boardwalk. I refused to let them walk on the boardwalk in their flip flops. Had to think of the long term. Stating I was sure they would be able to do more damage to the spiders when they stepped on them then they could do to them.

In case we were not aware of where we were, these may have assisted.

By this time we were by our hotel but I suggested we walk up to the pier and then they could go into the Ocean on the way back. This must be a very popular pier and there was a gate there with someone to collect a toll for those who wanted to go further. I am not sure the cost for those who wanted to go fishing but it was $2.00/per who wanted to just observe. What were we going to observe at about 11:00 pm at night? I remember it was about 11:00pm as when we were in the shop, someone came in and told the clerk the owner had called and stated she could close the shop at 11:00. So, I didn't we were going to go and ducked into a shop on the pier. The kids were able to pick up a nice souvenir each and became smittened with these little creatures. They asked to have some. I might, might have said yes if we were on our way back home. But we weren't.

They even ended up giving a few of them names.

And finally the reason for being in Virginia Beach. The ability to dip their toes in the Atlantic.

so, by this time it was to head back to our room. It would be fairly early rise as breakfast was to be served/opened between 6:00 am and 9:00 am. And since it was complimentary, I was going to take advantage. However, one quick stop at the front desk to ask for towels and soap. The shortly afterwards everyone was in bed sleeping. Well, at least the kids.

Oh, are you asking about the view I have mentioned previously. Thinking it would be a good way of starting Tuesday's review.

So to recap today's events.

After traveling approximately 1040 km (648 miles), through 5 States (New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia) and being confined in a van for approximately 11.5 hours we reached our days end but not before accomplishing two firsts; the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel and Bridge system and dipping into the Atlantic Ocean.

The best news was that no one was seriously harm during this leg. After 11.5 hours this would have surprised many but I had faith in my two. This is not to say I never used my fatherly voice to calm things down a few times, as some occurrences was due to being annoying and some due to just being too loud in a same area. Never did I state/ask if they wanted me to turn the van around.

Up next, Tuesday's adventure.

Trisha Lynn · Oct 5, 2016

Scoppin said:
If the Border Officer, he would have been American as we were entering the US. There are some fairly nice Americans out there as well.

Oh, I misread. I thought that the Border Officer was Canadian, but now I realize that it wouldn't make sense for a Canadian to be asking you why you're leaving, right? Still, I love Canadians and even have some Missasaugans as relatives.

Scoppin · Oct 5, 2016

Trisha Lynn said:
Oh, I misread. I thought that the Border Officer was Canadian, but now I realize that it wouldn't make sense for a Canadian to be asking you why you're leaving, right? Still, I love Canadians and even have some Missasaugans as relatives.

No problem. I was thinking the same thing before I left and had to really think about it. And it doesn't make sense for the reason you stated.

Figgy1 · Oct 5, 2016

You're kids are very cute and of course following

Scoppin · Oct 5, 2016

I need to add a little to the above Leg 1 report. (There may be a few of these additions as memory isn't as good as it was and basically tend to remember I should have added something after hitting the send button.)

The kids have a huge imagination. I love watching/hearing them play. They come up with some situations and such and just wonderful to see them interact. Even got to the point where they would ask me to join them and I would decline. Stating I was having more fun/enjoying just watching them. They could tell I was telling the truth due to the smile on my face.

However, this imagination has it's drawbacks at times, as on our first leg. As mentioned, above I packed a number of their toys/figures into the back seat in order to give them something else to do. When we got to Virginia Beach one of the other things we brought up to our room was our water bottles. Mainly to refill them the next morning with water and ice for the next leg. Well, I take one look at their water bottles and ask what happened here.

Here is the sort of short version. While they were playing with their characters they needed a jail. I didn't ask for what reason. And they wanted to use something real. Did I mention they had imaginations? Well, they decided to use their water bottles. (This would also explain why the floor of the van was wet.) This may not have been an issue depending on which characters had to be confined. They were mostly only about 3-4" tall but the issue would mostly be most of them had bases. Well, I found Rapunzel in DS's bottle and King Trident in DD's bottle. These had to be two of the biggest/widest characters they had. I tried to get them out and it took some real effort. I was only able to free Rapunzel. King Trident is still to this day still serving his sentence in DD's water bottle. I asked them how they got them into the bottles. They didn't really reply. King Trident's base is odd shaped/off to the side and almost the same size as the opening. I mentioned they must have had to really push/knock him into there. I asked since it would have taken some effort to put him in how they planned on taking him out. I know, they were playing and weren't really thinking about the end result. But they knew I wasn't happy about the situation. I did look over to DD and asked her what she was going to use as a water bottle as I didn't really want her to use it with a toy in it. She didn't have a response. I did know that at WDW we could ask for free ice water and would be getting our refillable cups. But still to this day, King Trident is still locked up. I am trying to figure out a way to free him without actually having to break the water bottle.

Good news, no one was actually thrown into the moat or anything like that.

Scoppin · Oct 5, 2016

figmentfan423 said:
You're kids are very cute and of course following

Thank you on both counts.

Scoppin · Oct 6, 2016

Before I move onto our second leg, I wanted to make a comment regarding a mystery phone message I received on the Friday before we were to leave. Those of you who read my pre trip report will remember this phone message I received from Disney customer service regarding our ADR for Akershus. The one thing I did know through all my planning was this was not an easy ADR to get and I didn't want to be told something negative about it. It was an opportunity for DD to meet 4-5 Princesses in one location. Well, I did call back a few times over the weekend but no call back. As luck would have it, they called three times while we were on the road Monday. Not only would have not answer the phone while driving but also this trip was suppose to be a secret and would have been difficult to have this conversation with a CM while having those I am trying to keep this a secret from only a couple of feet behind me. DS did ask who was calling. I had to say I didn't know the number. Darn WDW for making me to deceive my children yet again. :arghh:

I was also not able to call back when we arrived at our hotel for the same above reason. The calls continued for the next few days but couldn't act on them while on the road and until we arrived at WDW and the surprise would out, I hope. So, enough on this topic until we get to when contact was actually made.

catmandoo · Oct 6, 2016

Following along! Can't wait to see how they react!

Scoppin · Oct 6, 2016

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th LEG 2 - SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

First I promised a pictures of King Trident in his imprisonment.

I may be difficult to really tell how he is in there. His arms do not help in aiding in his release. I really don't want to brake the water bottle, but it may lead to it.

I mentioned earlier the saving grace of this hotel was its view.

This is our early morning view to the right.

Straight ahead.

And to the left. Yes these were taken before sunrise. DD tends to be a snacker when it comes to food. As such I could say I am a napper when it comes to sleep. I don't think I used an alarm the whole trip but was able to wake/get out of bed when I wanted to start to get ready for the day.

Anyone want a sunrise picture.... (you may notice some are already picking their spots for the day. Similar to getting in line for a MNSSHP M&G line.)

or two....

or three.

Getting ready for the day. You can't see it but the tractor had something attached to the back of it to rake the sand.

I don't think there is as much to write about for this leg as the first.

As mentioned above, I was up and about getting ready for the day while I let the kids get some extra rest. I woke them up at about 8:00 am and about 8:30 we made our way downstairs for breakfast. Yes, cutting it a little close. We all made our choices. I decided to make myself and DS a waffle. We also had some packaged cinnamon buns and muffins. DD didn't like the cinnamon buns and didn't really eat much. After breakfast we made our way back up to our room and got ready to depart. We packed up the van, checked out and got everything ready to depart. New DVDs ready to play, GPS set and toys/snacks/water ready. However, before we headed out we had a gentleman ask if we were from Ontario. He had noticed our plates. He mentioned he had gone to the Toronto area many times when he was in Buffalo.

We started our second leg about 10:30 am. Wanted not to get too far before filling up the tank so we stopped in Suffolk. I really liked the price here, $1.959/g. Or about $0.50/L for me.

I don't remember having to make many pit stops on this leg. Then again we were not going to be driving as long this time. And believe the few we had were upon DS's request this time. We make another gas stop at 1:49 pm. This was for only $10.00, so makes me thing it was a requested stop.

I do believe it was this leg we did see a few interesting things which made us wonder. The one to remember was a small half ton pickup which passed us. And I will admit, we were not driving below the speed limit at any time during our drive. I mention the above not because they passed us, as many did and I don't mind actually prefer it, having someone ahead of me driving faster than I. they can get the extra attention of the local finest. It was what they were transporting in the back. It was a heavy load as it was leaning to one side. It looked like an engine or something along that line with some tires. But again these were not what made this memorable. There were also two gentlemen in the back. It would appear there was not enough room in the cab for them. DS did notice this as well and asked if it was allowed. I told him I was not sure as different states/provinces had different laws. Adding I was sure this was no longer allowed in Ontario. I finished by saying that I hoped not to see them in our future travels. I asked him if he understood. He didn't. I clarified that since they had passed us, the really only way of us catching up to them, expect for them stopping for gas or something, would be if they has some form of misfortune. And I didn't want to see that happen. I am glad to report we didn't see them again.

Somewhere between 4:00 and 4:30 pm the skies opened up on us. Maybe only signs of what to expect at WDW. It was difficult to see at times and I did decrease our speed due to the amount of rain coming down. I also decided to remove ourselves off the highway to maybe wait out the storm. I did have some precious cargo in the back to take care of. We were in Manning, South Carolina. By the time we pulled off into Manning the rain had died down. I decided to fill up with gas and ask about the weather. Again the price was right at $1.959/g and filled up with $15.00. This would be equal to about 3/4 tank fill up. The attendant only stated it had just started a little while ago. We then decided to have something to eat at the MacDonald's in the same lot. Yes, I know not fancy but it is cheap in perspective to our future dining and I do have to watch the dollars. Beside the kids wanted to go in, in order to collect their toys. Tom the Cat. Tom the talking Cat. Well something like that. We don't go out often and they know MacDonald's is not good for them and just a treat once in a while. Well, if I thought it started coming down on us while we were driving I was wrong. It was at this time I was thinking maybe we shouldn't have stopped and tried to out run the storm. I asked again about the weather. Was told; was only suppose to be 40% chance of rain, should be ending soon, to was going to last all night. Well, I couldn't wait all night to wait out this storm. Good thing MacDonald's has free WiFi, the other reason why I wanted to stop in. Got onto the Weather Network to figure out what was going on with this weather. According to the weather pattern the storm was crossing the highway and not going along it. It was at this time, I told the kids to pack up as we were going to head out in order to get out of the storm. I think we were out of the storms affects in about 20-30 minutes. It was also not much longer before we were in Savannah and found our hotel. Believe we arrived about 7:30/8:00 pm.

DS asked the front desk clerk if he would be able to leave the pool open past the closing time of 10:00 as we were just arriving. He stated we could for an extra half hour. I continued to check in when a lady came by. She stated she attempted to enter through the side door but her door card didn't work. Adding if it wasn't for DS letting her in she would have had to walk around to the front.

I asked the front desk if there was anything within walking distance we could check out. He mentioned downtown was about a 20 minute drive. I stated we would pass. As it would be good to just rest, and besides they wanted to swim. We were located on the west side near the highway so a good location to continue on with our journey in the morning. We moved our stuff up to our room on the 4th floor. We got things sorted out and the kid asked about going swimming. I told them they could get changed while I go move the van into a parking spot but they were to remain in the room. They agreed. There were a couple of things about the room. I can't remember the first but I think we figured it out. The second was we were not able to get the cable to work. While I was out I went by the front desk to ask about the cable and if we could get some plates (this was the second thing just needed them for warming up our dinner). We were going to eat some of our left over pizza. I had a cooler in the van which I had ice in to keep a few thing cool for WDW. He got me some plates and came up to the room and fixed our cable. It had something to do with the cable box.

We went down to allow the kids to go for a swim. The pool was of an Olympic green so we asked. We were told it was recently serviced. Remember the lady DS helped earlier. Well, apparently she wanted to show her appreciation. She found us via the front desk and wanted to give DS $5.00 for his assistance. I tried to tell her I have bestowed in the kids of a goal of one good deed per day. But she insisted and DS accepted. After some time in the pool the kids stated they had enough and back up to the room. The kids got cleaned up and ready for bed. We had the same routine for tomorrow regarding breakfast.

Oh the room. The room and hotel was much better than the day before. It was a Travelodge. The kids were more impressed with it when we pulled up front when we arrived. The bathroom needed some work but not to the same degree at the Super 8. It was also nice to have the microwave to warm up our left over pizza. The fridge had a freeze area which to freeze a half water bottle for DD the next day. DD was the first to fall asleep. She can go quite quickly at times. DS was up to hear/see the rain. It rained most of the night. But cleared up by morning.

After approximately 825 km (512 miles), 8.5 hours and 4 states (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia) we come to the conclusion of this leg.

I am not sure when will be able to report our third leg as the kids come home tomorrow and I generally don't spend a lot of time on the computer when they are here. But I will try. And it is our Thanksgiving weekend.

Scoppin · Oct 6, 2016

catmandoo said:
Following along! Can't wait to see how they react!

We are getting closer to their reaction, but you will have to wait along with the others.

Thanks for following.

Trisha Lynn · Oct 6, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving and belated Canada Day!

Figgy1 · Oct 7, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving

Scoppin · Oct 7, 2016

Trisha Lynn said:
Happy Thanksgiving and belated Canada Day!

Thank you and happy Columbus Day!

Scoppin · Oct 7, 2016

figmentfan423 said:
Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you and Happy Columbus Day!

Trip Report SURPRISE SEPTEMBER TRIP REVEALED.... BUT WAS IT A SURPRISE?

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