December 5, 2000
We did take our time this morning, packed and watched some television while we got ready to go. We hiked over to the Colonel's Cotton Mill food court for breakfast, then wandered back to our room to gather things and load up the Blazer. Shawn, our housekeeper stopped in to thank us personally. She was a sweetie. It was a hard thing to do, but we had to say good bye to our little home. We closed the door behind us and I dragged our belongings down the stairs and out to the parking lot.
We planned to fill the rest of the time before our flight shopping at Downtown Disney. There was a lot of Christmas shopping to do, and this was a great chance to get some done. We did too. Nate was an angel, a rare occurrence with so many distractions, and I rewarded him by splitting a Foghorn Sundae at Ghirardelli's. YUMMY! We hit most of the shops there and in between them Nate rode the train and the carrousel, and played on the Lego's and in the sandbox. It was a relaxed and happy day.
I was about to leave World of Disney and feeling quite melancholy when I spotted a clubhouse badge. HEY! it's Francine! Looks like I get to meet her after all. It made my day. She is such a nice lady. We chatted a few minutes and she alerted me to a sale I couldn't pass up on the Mickey luggage. We hugged again and said our good byes.
It was time to locate the Blazer in the very full parking lot, and find our way to the airport. We did, tucked our new purchases into the bags where ever they would fit and hit the road. MCO was MCO, the only hitch there was getting from the parking garage after we dropped off the Blazer to the terminal. The elevators weren't working very well, so it took forever. I was really glad we had left enough time. We left Orlando on time (darn it) and were on our way. Of course there were more delays in Atlanta, but I was ready for it this time. We took our time with a burger for dinner, and even had time for ice cream afterward. We didn't get back to Grand Rapids till almost one in the morning, and it was so cold walking from the plane to the terminal, but there were Ed and Ben waiting with warm hugs and help with the bags and it was good to be home.
Downtown Disney's North Pole Express |
Nate loved this little train and had to ride twice |
It's a great diversion for little ones from shopping |
and there are places to sit for Mom and Dad |
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He even got to be the engineer once |
The carrousel has one pseudo teacup |
He had to ride this twice too |
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He chose the teacup both times |
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The operator was afraid he'd get sick. But no. |
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Time to leave for the airport. Bye! |
I want to thank you for sticking with this. I know I get tedious, but I hope you enjoyed the story of my special trip just Mom and Nate. I know we did. I was honored to meet some very special people on this trip, and will treasure that for ever. If you've stumbled on this, and have never heard of Rita Aero, or her wonderful Readers' Clubhouse Web site, by all means check it out. You will find some of the warmest, most caring, genuine people on the face of the Earth. They are from all walks of life and share a couple of things. A love of all things Disney, and a love of their fellow human being. There are no rules on this site except the Golden Rule. You can find us at www.disneynation.com
Hope to see you there soon!