Day 9: Goodbye, Sunshine. Hello, Snow, + Post-trip Thoughts
Apologies for the lack of photos from this last day. #textheavy Nothing on our travel day seemed worth photographing after having been at Disney and Universal.
So I knew I'd never be ready to leave this trip—I never am, but this one was even more special with our engagement excitement—but this morning still came way too soon. After the alarm went off we got ready and finished packing last-minute items. N ate the rest of his giant donut, and I polished off some of the chicken sandwiches in the fridge. (Strange breakfast, but so much better than not eating. And it had bacon. Bacon is totally a breakfast food.)
We had asked ahead of time about how best to get to the airport and decided to just take one of the town cars at the resort. Our ride to the airport and our check-in/security went smoothly. So smoothly, in fact, that we had loads of time after finding our gate. We chilled out for 2 hours, watching videos and chatting, and I took all kinds of medications at various intervals before flying. (I'm getting the system of being a terrible flier down to a science! It's taken me a while to find the sweet spot between not drugged enough, and unable to remember whole blocks of my trip! That's a funny story. Maybe I'll tell you all about Milwaukee someday.) And on top of the regular flying issues, I also had a cold with some serious congestion to worry about.
I also used this time to look for allergy-friendly snacks, and I found a surprising amount of stuff! There were no real meals I could eat, and we were flying over lunch so I was glad for my last leftover half-sandwich, but I found lots of little granola bars and jerky and things that were gluten/dairy/etc-free.
We had a decent plane ride, on time, and with no major issues, but I had some major issues with the pressure! Everyone seemed to be feeling it and trying to pop their ears. I don't know why some flights are worse than others this way. But since I was so sick with my cold, my ears refused to pop, and by the time we were descending I had some serious pain in my ears and a wild headache. It ended up taking about a week before I could hear normally from one side after that.
We took a taxi back home, which I vaguely remember (between being tired and the medication I took, I was pretty zonked by that point.) Once we got home of course it was a let down, but there were lots of things to look forward to! Firstly, I think it helped that we ended our vacation with Universal. As much as it was totally fun, it helped ease us out of the amazing Disney bubble before plunging us directly back into boring Canadian winter. Also, as soon as we got home (Boxing Day) we went straight to wrapping some last-minute Christmas presents and re-packing our suitcases to go visit our whole family in a neighboring province the next day. I got to have nearly a week with them all before I had to go back to work. And when we got home that next night, everyone had planned a little surprise party for us for our engagement, which really kept us in high spirits! (And my sweet mom made sure I could eat all the food at the party, with no chance for cross-contamination, knocking herself out with gluten free baking!)
Finally, the saddest part about coming home from our last trip was that we didn't know when we'd be back again. This time we knew! We'd be back in less than 8 months for our Disney wedding and honeymoon, and we had so much to start planning that there was no time to be sad! I can't wait to get back and celebrate more Disney with my family and with my love and best friend. I expect I'll be posting a few life updates between now and then with some pre-trip planning and info!
Steps for day 9: 5864
In total on this trip we walked 181,528 steps, for a total of 117.66km or 73.11 miles!
Thanks so much to all who followed along while I got to re-live our trip. Up next will be Disneymoon Aug. 2017!!