Trip Report Two broke guys & a dog (for the last time.) (now with Christmas 2024!)

No, I’m not mad at Disney. We’ll be back (in fact, it can’t be soon enough.) But this turned out to be our last trip together as a family.

Who: Brian (R) Tony (L) and Kylie.
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When: May, 2023.

Can’t tease this, so I’ll just come out with it.

We’ve posted TRs over the years under the “Two broke guys & a dog” banner (and other titles.) Our May trip was short, and we had already booked August for my birthday (complete with a planned meet up with @Tuvalu) so I thought I’d make one double TR after August.

I ended up with Covid mid-month and we had to postpone to December for Brian’s birthday.

In the meantime, Kylie, our 14 year old German Shepherd/Chow Chow was diagnosed with heart failure. That “heads up” turned out to be a gift and a blessing that allowed us to spend so much extra quality time with her.

Kylie’s 14th bday on Halloween:
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She stayed with us through the holidays, rubbing on the Christmas tree when she walked past it, per usual (like a cat lol) and was really doing well - eating, going for walks, snuggling. I expected more of a slow, gradual decline…but she passed yesterday. Now my heart is failing.

I don’t know how far I’ll get with this today. It might actually be too soon. But I thought it could be therapeutic, and a nice tribute.

For some reason, since my 30s, if I cry even a little, my eyelids swell up and it’s hard to undo. Ice helps only temporarily. I fear typing all this out will continue the waterworks (it already has) and prolong that condition. OTOH, they’re already swollen, so WTH? I’ll play it by ear, if that’s ok.

This is my love letter to my pup.
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Tony the Tigger

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I promise this will start off on a light-hearted and pretty fun story.

First I want to thank everyone who has already commented, and pre-emptively thank those who may. (The “like” emoji doesn’t seem like enough, and the “love” seems out of place. Just know when I click “like” I mean that I appreciate your thoughts very much.) I’m trying to share and remember, not negatively dwell. I may share some stories not directly related to our trip, but brought to mind by this reminiscing, so bear with me.

For example, one of the earliest memories I have was shortly after taking Kylie home at 7 months old (another family had adopted her previously and brought her back to the pound because she was “too much trouble” (!!) Thank God for those jerks! 🤣) we brought her to a training class. One of the first things they had us do was go around the room and talk in a high pitched tone to your dog to see how they react to your voice. Before our turn, I explained that we did not have her since she was little, it had only been a week or so, so I didn’t know if she would react at all. I started to talk to her in a high voice and she made me look good by jumping right up and putting her paws in my lap. (I was relieved and surprised!)

One of my oldest pics:
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There are often boxes messing up the house because of my business lol. And music, for the same reason. But that face.

So back in May, we decided to get APs for the first time in a few years. We had gone to Walt Disney World about once a year during Covid, but that wasn’t worth an annual pass. We were excited to get our Pixie passes and have a fuller Disney year once again. We made a reservation, and I had a business trip that ended two days prior.

I’m going to rewind about a week to my visit to Nashville, and explain the nutty detour that happened while flying home to my two b****es! (They know I say it with love and camp.😊)
 
LeighM

LeighM

Well-Known Member
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your furbaby. I'll have to skip over this entry because I'll soon be facing a future without my own little Pip, who is over 17 now. We've playing it week by week with him and the last few months have been like a roller coaster. And, like you, my eyelids swell horribly when I get teary eyed, to the point of where I look like an alien because they are swollen shut. It also began in my 30s so if you find out the cause please let me know! My thoughts are definitely with you :cry:
 
Tony the Tigger

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
LeighM said:
I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your furbaby. I'll have to skip over this entry because I'll soon be facing a future without my own little Pip, who is over 17 now. We've playing it week by week with him and the last few months have been like a roller coaster. And, like you, my eyelids swell horribly when I get teary eyed, to the point of where I look like an alien because they are swollen shut. It also began in my 30s so if you find out the cause please let me know! My thoughts are definitely with you :cry:
Click to expand...

I understand, and have been on that roller coaster since the summer. Hugs to you guys.
 
Tony the Tigger

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was going to post a pic or two from the Nashville trip, but it looks like I didn't take any LOL. (Gen X, not camera-conscious enough yet. I need practice.) Long story short, there was a music industry conference over there, had a great time, did some deals. Brian was home with the pup. Back then, we thought Kylie's biggest issues were allergies and resulting complications. Shortly after this time, she would start panting a lot more often at times that didn't make sense. We didn't know what to make of it, but at a standard vet visit, they didn't seem to think much of it.

My flight home from Nashville to Fort Lauderdale had a stop at MCO. When we approached the Orlando area, there was apparently some epic storm. We had to circle the airport for over an hour before we could land. When we arrived, we were told not to worry about connecting flights because everything was delayed at the same time.

The airport was gross - people were everywhere, lining every hallway, stranded, delayed, smelling of sweat and everything else. Ewww. And this was still covid time. Despite that, I needed to get some food before everything closed (It was around 10pm and I was starving, and no idea how long it would take to get anywhere.) It didn't take long to grab some pasta not far from the gate, and sit back down near it.

I kept listening to all the announcements but didn't see anything about my flight. I kept looking for a line at the gate, but there was no line. Finally, I asked an employee and was told it was delayed and to just wait. I kept getting texts from the airline saying it was pushed back to 10:20, 10:30, etc. - but the texts always came 5-10 minutes after the time it was announcing.

A second employee also told me to wait. A third told me that flight was already gone. There was a very long wait at a ticket counter (another hour) but I was lucky. There were only about 8 people ahead of me in that line with the hour wait. By the time I was at the front, there were hundreds of people in line. The airline was fighting with people and trying not to offer them flights without penalties, when they knew full well what had happened to the entire airport. They gave me no trouble, but were taking a long time to get someone to rebook me.

So I'm stranded in Orlando, what am I going to do..? :angelic:
 
cgersic

cgersic

Well-Known Member
Tony, I'm so very very sorry about Kylie as well. You three were the ones that prompted me to refer people to Best Friends all those years ago, after reading about it in your trip reports. Dogs truly are our best friends (don't be mat at me cat lovers) and I'm hugging you and Brian as you deal with this really big loss.
 

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