working out for Disney

[Songbird76]

Apparently the road into Yellowstone from Gardiner is washed out. I wonder if we're going to get a notification that we need to make other arrangements. The whole park is closed right now, and it's uncertain when they will open again. I hope we don't have to cancel!!!

 

[Sans Souci]

It CAN be an issue, though because of parents abducting children from the other parent. I know when my dad died and we came for the funeral, I had to stay there for a few weeks afterwards, but my husband had to get back to work and the kids to school. I had to make a photocopy of my passport and write a note on it that said I was the mother of the children and I had given my permission for my husband to travel with our children alone. And I think I also had to sign photocopies of their passports as well. I don't think they actually asked for it, but that was what was recommended to us if he'd be traveling with the kids. Although it might have also been because it's usually the mom who has custody in a divorce situation, so maybe they thought statistically it's more likely that a father is abducting the kids than the mother? I have never traveled with the kids without my husband, so I don't know if that would have been recommended to me if it was the other way around. Better to be safe than sorry, though. Have the documentation and then if you don't need it, great.

Oh, yeah, for sure. I don't know how RCI does terminal check ins, but I would guess she and her husband could check in with the same agent, even though they are in separate rooms. It probably helps they are in connecting rooms, too.

I was once stopped trying to get into the UK with my son when he was young. By husband went into the line for UK/EU passport holders to get the luggage ahead of us so we could leave as soon as we went through passport control. My son and I went through the "everyone else" line and I was asked a few questions, the guy called a co-worker over and they had a pow wow. They asked me where my husband was, etc. I felt like they were more worried about me coming in and trying to settle and claim benefits as a single mother, than my son's safety. Now we all go through the same line when when traveling. LOL

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning.

I did another workout from my app. I guess it was a full body workout. I don't know, I just open the app and it tells me what's on the schedule today.

My husband got the apartment. I was kind of worried because when we were looking, options were drying up as we were there. So, I was concerned that the one we looked at would be gone by the time we got home. He wanted to think about it on the drive home, because there was another apartment he was considering. So, he's moving in at the end of the month.

I'd like to get out for a walk, but it's looking like another day of rain and storms. Boo.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Apparently the road into Yellowstone from Gardiner is washed out. I wonder if we're going to get a notification that we need to make other arrangements. The whole park is closed right now, and it's uncertain when they will open again. I hope we don't have to cancel!!!

I was looking at pictures and drone video of the park yesterday, it doesn't look good. Hopefully things will stabilize soon. When is your trip again? What would be your back up plan in case you have to cancel Yellowstone?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I don't think you having a different last name from your daughter will be an issue. So many people do family trips like you are doing, you could be an aunt or a cousin staying with her. Plus, you said you are bringing additional documentation to prove you're the mom. You could always call and ask, if nothing else, it will be one less thing to worry about.

I don't like the feeling of sand, either! But I love walking along beaches.

Air fares are crazy. We are going to WDW in Sept and we looked down our airfare in March when it was still reasonable. My husband is bringing my MIL here at the end of the summer. It's cheaper to that and upgrade her into a better cabin than the three of us going there. She asked if we could go to Washington, so we booked a 2 BR at the Residence Inn and my husband is going to take her to NY. I know it's not the same for him as seeing the rest of his family, but it's better than nothing.

From what I'm hearing, this is standard practice for cruises and foreign travel, but seeing that some lines and ports enforce it more than others. Essentially, it's a customs matter. I believe it ties into child trafficking/abduction prevention measures. We had related measures in place when we applied for our passports. If she were traveling with someone other than us, we'd have to supply a notarized letter authorizing the travel and participation in certain activities. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/what-family-legal-documents-do-i-need-to-board

We had a place down the shore when I was a kid. It was really about being able to go out fishing, but if we weren't fishing, we were at the beach...sometimes 5+ days a week. I would just spend the entire day in the water, so I could avoid the feeling of sand. I learned to dread lunch and going home time, because those were usually the times when I had to sit the longest with wet sand stuck to me.

Some of the ones I'd been pricing aren't awful, but the prices become astronomical when I factor in a rental car. Sounds like the best plan possible with your MIL.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I was looking at pictures and drone video of the park yesterday, it doesn't look good. Hopefully things will stabilize soon. When is your trip again? What would be your back up plan in case you have to cancel Yellowstone?

@Songbird76 I was going to ask you about this. Most of the pictures and video I've seen are around the north entrance and just outside of the northeast entrance. I think everyone in the Mammoth area was being evacuated to the west, since the west entrance webcams show a lane open for outbound traffic. My gut is saying that once everything is stable, they will have to keep the north entrance and access road closed from Gardiner to Mammoth until repairs are done. I know they were worried if this would also impact areas to the south, but with the way the rivers flow in there, who knows. Maybe you can stay in West Yellowstone instead of Gardiner for all parts of your trip? It's not as convenient as Gardiner for some aspects, but it's definitely workable.

@ajrwdwgirl Do you have a link to the drone footage? Curious to see if it's something I've already viewed or something new.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We're still hitting the gym regularly. It's slow, but I am seeing results on the scale and with my measurements. I'm finding that I like arm days better than leg days, even though I'm varying things up with different machines. I think it's because the leg impacted by the surgery doesn't seem to like leg day as much. I also feel a bit self conscious since I can see how the right leg is more swollen than the left. I know it's mild as far as lymphedema goes, but it still bothers me. I used to love leg days! Oh well, today is a leg day and just going to have to tough it out.

We also added a new physical activity into the mix for our weekends... Dog Walking! As part of our efforts to beef up the older one's resume for college applications, we're now volunteers at an animal shelter. This was the only shelter that would allow a child under 16 to volunteer and I'm required to be her volunteer partner. At least I have some experience here. Before the kids were born, I spent about 2.5 years as a volunteer at another area shelter. We've been experiencing triple digit heat of late, so it's pretty brutal getting out and walking with the dogs, but it's a little bit of non-gym exercise on our break days and it definitely works up a sweat. It's definitely more active than her other volunteer spot at a local library. At least I don't have to be there for that one.

We're supposed to go to the doctor today (finally) for the younger one's Achilles issues. Praying that all is good and this doesn't turn into a disaster.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

@Songbird76 I was going to ask you about this. Most of the pictures and video I've seen are around the north entrance and just outside of the northeast entrance. I think everyone in the Mammoth area was being evacuated to the west, since the west entrance webcams show a lane open for outbound traffic. My gut is saying that once everything is stable, they will have to keep the north entrance and access road closed from Gardiner to Mammoth until repairs are done. I know they were worried if this would also impact areas to the south, but with the way the rivers flow in there, who knows. Maybe you can stay in West Yellowstone instead of Gardiner for all parts of your trip? It's not as convenient as Gardiner for some aspects, but it's definitely workable.

@ajrwdwgirl Do you have a link to the drone footage? Curious to see if it's something I've already viewed or something new.

I don't have a link to the footage, sorry. It was a story that came across my FB feed last night. It might have been linked to Yellowstone's page though.

 

[Figgy1]

Apparently the road into Yellowstone from Gardiner is washed out. I wonder if we're going to get a notification that we need to make other arrangements. The whole park is closed right now, and it's uncertain when they will open again. I hope we don't have to cancel!!!

When are you supposed to be there?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I don't have a link to the footage, sorry. It was a story that came across my FB feed last night. It might have been linked to Yellowstone's page though.

That's OK...was just wondering. There are a number of videos on YouTube and articles around the web.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I've been really bad about my workouts the past few days. Sunday I was SORE. I could barely move. I obviously overdid it on Saturday, so I laid off on Sunday. A lot of times, I go during lunch, but yesterday I just couldn't make it during lunch. I got promoted at work, so I've been transitioning my role to the new person, and I'm learning stuff in my new job, so yesterday I spent most of the day on the phone, as was the case last week.

I'm hoping today I have enough downtime that I can get some accounting homework done and then I'll have time after work to go to the gym for a bit, then come home and do some more homework/packing. Had to take the car to the wash today. They do a special on Tuesdays, and it desperately needed washing and vacuuming, and tbh, they do a much better job in a much shorter timeframe than I do. My car's interior is black and I miss stuff.

 

[Songbird76]

I was looking at pictures and drone video of the park yesterday, it doesn't look good. Hopefully things will stabilize soon. When is your trip again? What would be your back up plan in case you have to cancel Yellowstone?

Yeah, the road between Gardiner and Yellowstone is completely gone in some places. There's a video at the top of this page that shows the road...what there is of it.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park. 1,548,495 likes · 7,089 talking about this. The official page of Yellowstone National Park.

www.facebook.com

The hotel responded that they are cancelling reservations, so I went ahead and cancelled that one, and booked an extra night at West Yellowstone instead. But I'm still waiting to hear from them and Cody whether they are still open and whether it's likely that we'll be able to get into the parks, etc.

The good news is that I had only planned for about 3 days in Yellowstone (starting a month from now) so if we can't get into Yellowstone at all, we're not totally up a creek without a paddle. I think we'll hit the Bighorn Mountains if that happens, or maybe spend some more time in South Dakota. The only problem is I can't change our Gillette part of the trip that's right before South Dakota because we get into Gillette the day after the National High School finals rodeo ends. I don't want to be in that area during rodeo. The traffic is ridiculous, and there won't be any lodging available. So I can't change that. And I can't do South Dakota any LATER, because of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. That starts the week after we leave SD.

I think best case scenario right now is that the Southern part of Yellowstone might possibly be open in time for our trip and we can see Old Faithful and whatnot and the falls. But that's really a best case scenario...I have no idea the extent of the damage to anything other than the Northern part and there is no way they are going to have that road fixed in a month. It's completely washed away in spots. Worst case scenario, we reroute around Yellowstone and hit the Wind River reservation and then head north and go into the Bighorns instead. We can't cancel the trip, because E has to do a work experience for school in an English-speaking environment. If we can see PART of Yellowstone, I think it might be a good time, because a lot of people will probably cancel their trips and go when they can see everything. So it might be less crowded, IF it's open at all. Mammoth is my favorite, and I was really looking forward to practicing photography there, but if we can't cancel the trip, we might as well see whatever is open and I'll go back to mammoth some other time.

 

[Sans Souci]

We're still hitting the gym regularly. It's slow, but I am seeing results on the scale and with my measurements. I'm finding that I like arm days better than leg days, even though I'm varying things up with different machines. I think it's because the leg impacted by the surgery doesn't seem to like leg day as much. I also feel a bit self conscious since I can see how the right leg is more swollen than the left. I know it's mild as far as lymphedema goes, but it still bothers me. I used to love leg days! Oh well, today is a leg day and just going to have to tough it out.

We also added a new physical activity into the mix for our weekends... Dog Walking! As part of our efforts to beef up the older one's resume for college applications, we're now volunteers at an animal shelter. This was the only shelter that would allow a child under 16 to volunteer and I'm required to be her volunteer partner. At least I have some experience here. Before the kids were born, I spent about 2.5 years as a volunteer at another area shelter. We've been experiencing triple digit heat of late, so it's pretty brutal getting out and walking with the dogs, but it's a little bit of non-gym exercise on our break days and it definitely works up a sweat. It's definitely more active than her other volunteer spot at a local library. At least I don't have to be there for that one.

We're supposed to go to the doctor today (finally) for the younger one's Achilles issues. Praying that all is good and this doesn't turn into a disaster.

That sounds like a lot of fun to walk dogs. They're probably so happy to get out of their cages and get some fresh air and some attention. How many do you walk at once?

 

[Sans Souci]

I've been really bad about my workouts the past few days. Sunday I was SORE. I could barely move. I obviously overdid it on Saturday, so I laid off on Sunday. A lot of times, I go during lunch, but yesterday I just couldn't make it during lunch. I got promoted at work, so I've been transitioning my role to the new person, and I'm learning stuff in my new job, so yesterday I spent most of the day on the phone, as was the case last week.

I'm hoping today I have enough downtime that I can get some accounting homework done and then I'll have time after work to go to the gym for a bit, then come home and do some more homework/packing. Had to take the car to the wash today. They do a special on Tuesdays, and it desperately needed washing and vacuuming, and tbh, they do a much better job in a much shorter timeframe than I do. My car's interior is black and I miss stuff.

Congrats on the promotion.

 

[Sans Souci]

Yeah, the road between Gardiner and Yellowstone is completely gone in some places. There's a video at the top of this page that shows the road...what there is of it.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park. 1,548,495 likes · 7,089 talking about this. The official page of Yellowstone National Park.

www.facebook.com

The hotel responded that they are cancelling reservations, so I went ahead and cancelled that one, and booked an extra night at West Yellowstone instead. But I'm still waiting to hear from them and Cody whether they are still open and whether it's likely that we'll be able to get into the parks, etc.

The good news is that I had only planned for about 3 days in Yellowstone (starting a month from now) so if we can't get into Yellowstone at all, we're not totally up a creek without a paddle. I think we'll hit the Bighorn Mountains if that happens, or maybe spend some more time in South Dakota. The only problem is I can't change our Gillette part of the trip that's right before South Dakota because we get into Gillette the day after the National High School finals rodeo ends. I don't want to be in that area during rodeo. The traffic is ridiculous, and there won't be any lodging available. So I can't change that. And I can't do South Dakota any LATER, because of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. That starts the week after we leave SD.

I think best case scenario right now is that the Southern part of Yellowstone might possibly be open in time for our trip and we can see Old Faithful and whatnot and the falls. But that's really a best case scenario...I have no idea the extent of the damage to anything other than the Northern part and there is no way they are going to have that road fixed in a month. It's completely washed away in spots. Worst case scenario, we reroute around Yellowstone and hit the Wind River reservation and then head north and go into the Bighorns instead. We can't cancel the trip, because E has to do a work experience for school in an English-speaking environment. If we can see PART of Yellowstone, I think it might be a good time, because a lot of people will probably cancel their trips and go when they can see everything. So it might be less crowded, IF it's open at all. Mammoth is my favorite, and I was really looking forward to practicing photography there, but if we can't cancel the trip, we might as well see whatever is open and I'll go back to mammoth some other time.

Hopefully, they will have a better grasp of what parts of Yellowstone they can open vs.what needs to be kept closed by the time you leave. I read the last they closed the park entirely was in 1988 because of wildfires.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning

Today I did a 25 minute work out from the free app I have. It is a cool app, it has different types of workouts with different body part focuses. You can select the music, how long you want to warm up, work out and cool down. You can also select how difficult you want your workout to be. Then it generates a workout for you. No two work outs are ever alike.

Wow, as soon as I started warming up, I was grateful the workout was 25 min, which was the suggested time. There were some moves I'd never seen before and some I struggled to get right at first, then finally caught on for the last 5 seconds. I felt like I didn't have enough time to set up for the next exercise, but I can fix that going forward. I think because there are so many variables to a work out, there is a learning curve for getting the most out of your workout. This app is good for travel, because you can select a no equipment workout.I was totally humbled today!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Yeah, the road between Gardiner and Yellowstone is completely gone in some places. There's a video at the top of this page that shows the road...what there is of it.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park. 1,548,495 likes · 7,089 talking about this. The official page of Yellowstone National Park.

www.facebook.com

The hotel responded that they are cancelling reservations, so I went ahead and cancelled that one, and booked an extra night at West Yellowstone instead. But I'm still waiting to hear from them and Cody whether they are still open and whether it's likely that we'll be able to get into the parks, etc.

The good news is that I had only planned for about 3 days in Yellowstone (starting a month from now) so if we can't get into Yellowstone at all, we're not totally up a creek without a paddle. I think we'll hit the Bighorn Mountains if that happens, or maybe spend some more time in South Dakota. The only problem is I can't change our Gillette part of the trip that's right before South Dakota because we get into Gillette the day after the National High School finals rodeo ends. I don't want to be in that area during rodeo. The traffic is ridiculous, and there won't be any lodging available. So I can't change that. And I can't do South Dakota any LATER, because of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. That starts the week after we leave SD.

I think best case scenario right now is that the Southern part of Yellowstone might possibly be open in time for our trip and we can see Old Faithful and whatnot and the falls. But that's really a best case scenario...I have no idea the extent of the damage to anything other than the Northern part and there is no way they are going to have that road fixed in a month. It's completely washed away in spots. Worst case scenario, we reroute around Yellowstone and hit the Wind River reservation and then head north and go into the Bighorns instead. We can't cancel the trip, because E has to do a work experience for school in an English-speaking environment. If we can see PART of Yellowstone, I think it might be a good time, because a lot of people will probably cancel their trips and go when they can see everything. So it might be less crowded, IF it's open at all. Mammoth is my favorite, and I was really looking forward to practicing photography there, but if we can't cancel the trip, we might as well see whatever is open and I'll go back to mammoth some other time.

It is such a shame for you, other travelers, and people in the area (especially those dependent on tourists) about the closure and washouts. Mammoth was one of my favorite areas when we went too. We stayed a night in the hotel there and it was great to have more time in that area because we weren't in a rush to get to a hotel for a night. It sounds like you have some solid ideas for a substitute on that time that would have been spent there. I wish we had added a day to go to the Tetons, would that be an option for you? I'm sure your family will have fun no matter what though, it is a beautiful area as you know.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

That sounds like a lot of fun to walk dogs. They're probably so happy to get out of their cages and get some fresh air and some attention. How many do you walk at once?

The other day, it was one dog at a time. If you choose an enclosure that has two dogs (which didn't seem to be common), they can be walked together. The ones that had two animals were usually dogs that had been brought in together (household surrender/cruelty case) or puppies from the same litter (puppies under 6 mos don't get walked). While the animals go through full veterinary care/check (and probably a quarantine period) before being put up for adoption, they don't want to run the risk of them fighting (since not all are good with other dogs) or passing some surfacing illness on to another. Since K is under 16, I have to stick with her. So, it's likely to stay one dog at a time for us. We're also limited in what we can walk. The dogs in this shelter are color coded. We have to prove that we've mastered the process with easier dogs before we can graduate to the ones that are stronger, really energetic, or timid.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I've been really bad about my workouts the past few days. Sunday I was SORE. I could barely move. I obviously overdid it on Saturday, so I laid off on Sunday. A lot of times, I go during lunch, but yesterday I just couldn't make it during lunch. I got promoted at work, so I've been transitioning my role to the new person, and I'm learning stuff in my new job, so yesterday I spent most of the day on the phone, as was the case last week.

I'm hoping today I have enough downtime that I can get some accounting homework done and then I'll have time after work to go to the gym for a bit, then come home and do some more homework/packing. Had to take the car to the wash today. They do a special on Tuesdays, and it desperately needed washing and vacuuming, and tbh, they do a much better job in a much shorter timeframe than I do. My car's interior is black and I miss stuff.

Congrats on your promotion!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yeah, the road between Gardiner and Yellowstone is completely gone in some places. There's a video at the top of this page that shows the road...what there is of it.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park. 1,548,495 likes · 7,089 talking about this. The official page of Yellowstone National Park.

www.facebook.com

The hotel responded that they are cancelling reservations, so I went ahead and cancelled that one, and booked an extra night at West Yellowstone instead. But I'm still waiting to hear from them and Cody whether they are still open and whether it's likely that we'll be able to get into the parks, etc.

The good news is that I had only planned for about 3 days in Yellowstone (starting a month from now) so if we can't get into Yellowstone at all, we're not totally up a creek without a paddle. I think we'll hit the Bighorn Mountains if that happens, or maybe spend some more time in South Dakota. The only problem is I can't change our Gillette part of the trip that's right before South Dakota because we get into Gillette the day after the National High School finals rodeo ends. I don't want to be in that area during rodeo. The traffic is ridiculous, and there won't be any lodging available. So I can't change that. And I can't do South Dakota any LATER, because of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. That starts the week after we leave SD.

I think best case scenario right now is that the Southern part of Yellowstone might possibly be open in time for our trip and we can see Old Faithful and whatnot and the falls. But that's really a best case scenario...I have no idea the extent of the damage to anything other than the Northern part and there is no way they are going to have that road fixed in a month. It's completely washed away in spots. Worst case scenario, we reroute around Yellowstone and hit the Wind River reservation and then head north and go into the Bighorns instead. We can't cancel the trip, because E has to do a work experience for school in an English-speaking environment. If we can see PART of Yellowstone, I think it might be a good time, because a lot of people will probably cancel their trips and go when they can see everything. So it might be less crowded, IF it's open at all. Mammoth is my favorite, and I was really looking forward to practicing photography there, but if we can't cancel the trip, we might as well see whatever is open and I'll go back to mammoth some other time.

It's so crazy to see some of those videos. I found myself going through all of my pictures to see it with the road still intact.

Obviously, I don't make the decisions, but I'm guessing that they'll close off the road between Mammoth and the north entrance once the main threat has passed and damage assessment can fully be done. So, hopefully that will still allow access to the Mammoth area and the part of the loop heading out towards Tower/Roosevelt/Lamar Valley. I guess time will tell.