schumigirl
It's a bit of a roodie doodie word for lady parts
- Joined
- May 15, 2007
Well, here we are again...........our most recent trip, albeit the shortest one yet is underway.......
This was a rather unexpected trip for us this year.......we had enjoyed our usual trip in September into October and generally had no plans till next year to come back to Orlando. But, the draw was too strong for us to wait another full year for our next trip..........but I kinda went into trip overload........
As most know we are Carole"n"Tom..........as said before, we are always together, you never see one without the other.........more so now since Tom took very early retirement from his company at the end of July.......that was one of the things we celebrated with our previous triple celebration trip........that trip was a huge success and we loved every second of it.
Kyle is our 23 year old son, who really is our total pride and joy. He hadn't been on a family trip for 3 years as he had been at University and had graduated last year with a phenomenal First Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering........so to say we were bursting with pride for him was an understatement. He had been in another position but it hadn't suited him and he changed his career to go into the Financial Market.......one of the joys of his degree is it can take you into many different paths.
This was him on our last trip together as a family in 2014..........
Leaving RP even after a long trip is never easy. It truly is our home from home and we always feel so happy when we are there........not that we`re not happy all other times, we are incredibly lucky......but, to be at a hotel we love in a climate we love is bliss. But, I`m rambling already...........
To go back to when we got home from our last trip.........
We arrived home on a Tuesday morning........and jet lag really whooped us.......so we had a few days of not doing very much and getting back to normality.........we are always thinking ahead for future trips so it didn't seem abnormal for us to have arranged our next trip before we leave RP. And we had already done that for our Sept 2018 trip to RP.........we just had to arrange flights. Couldn't miss HHN as we hoped 2018 would be head and shoulders above this years event.......still fun but not the best we`ve been to.
We also thought while we were there in September we would have a 10 night stay in May 18, but staying at the beautiful Sapphire Falls resort.........we thought we would have some resort time and spend more time out and about outside of Universal, as even with 19 nights we find its a struggle doing everything we want to do. So we had arranged our dates and that had been sorted too.
On the Saturday night after we got home Tom said we needed to get our flights booked.........so within a few minutes I had flights booked for May and September..........I was a happy bunny!!!
I could see Tom looking around at flights and such for the next few days.........and wondered what he was up to..........he asked if I fancied a week in New York at Christmas........now, anyone who knows me knows I hate the cold with a passion!!! So, I kinda veered him away from December and I said why don't we have 5 days in NY next summer..........I thought of June, but just being in Orlando in May, it might be too close, so we chose July.........so that was booked 3 days later........flights and hotel....going back to Lotte New York Palace again......so excited for that one too.
Then we realized we had a desire to go to Orlando for a week in December............my mind went into overdrive and we got booked at RP.........then before we booked flights we asked Kyle if he could get 8 days off work and come with us. So, he had just started a new job in September so he had lots of vacation time to use up..........(Todd....I hear you ) We had to wait a few days to see if he got his vacation time confirmed..........and he did!!!!! We were over the moon..........so I got straight on to Virgin Atlantic website and got 3 exit row seats booked both ways from Saturday 2nd Dec till Saturday 9th Dec.
I immediately renewed Kyle`s ESTA as it had expired........they last two years and only cost $14 per person.........I filled in all his details and it came back immediately as confirmed. It can get worrying if it comes back as Pending which mine did once........thankfully I logged back in an hour later and it had been confirmed too.........
Later that night Tom asked if I fancied a trip in March.........helloooooooo......had he just met me.......of course I did!!!! So again, email sent off and RP was booked and then flights booked in a flash!!!! This retirement thing is amazing...........
So, all our trip were sorted for the next year..........we had December 2017, March 2018, may 2018, July to NY 2018 and our usual 19 nights at RP in September.
Waiting really is the hardest bit.
The ONLY planning we ever do is flights, hotel and car hire.........and the airport hotel for the night before........planning over. I never do a pre trip report as it seems pointless.....we just don't plan......as I said before doesn't mean we`re not hugely excited for our trips.......we are!!!!! I just don't see the need for us to do one.........I like to surprise myself too..........
We immediately booked The Radisson Blu for the 1st December........we booked a family room which has two separate bedrooms and bathrooms just with an adjoining door........Kyle liked the idea of having his own room again, if even just for the one night.........we do like that hotel and like to stay there overnight before trips.......nice way to start a trip. In fact we have all our bookings done for the next 5 trips.
Car hire is simple. We use Alamo........and this time we didn't need a fancy big car like we usually get.......a basic mid size SUV would suffice. And this was our cheapest car rental yet.........so that done we were just ready to go.
It strangely seemed a longer wait from October to December than we felt it between one year to the next.........it was interminable at times.......but it eventually came around.
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THURSDAY 30TH NOVEMBER.........
This will be quite brief today.........
Today was absolutely Baltic weather........we were actually taking Kyle to work today as we fancied a drive in his new car that he had picked up In October.......it was his pride and joy but we had said we fancied a day driving it.....and we had things to pick up near where his office is anyway......he was glad to be dropped off at the door today as it was perishing. He only has a 5 minute walk from the car park, but this was handy.
Dropped him off and did what we had to do then drove home to start packing..........I usually pack on the day before or on the morning we go.......but wanted to make sure we were just ready to go. I hadn't gone overboard with buying new clothes as we really didn't need them, but we did buy hoodies as we had been told it may get cooler than we were used to. Didn't like the sound of that too much.......but I was convinced we were going to get decent weather.........
A few had commented on us just going for a week........a 9 hour flight is a long way to go for a week, but I`d rather go for 7 nights as not go at all........I never understand why folks feel the need to comment on others travel plans.......no ones business really........and as for the cost of flights for just a week, well, it is what it is. We were happy we were able to take a trip with the 3 of us again whatever it cost.
The day passed quickly and soon it was time to go pick him up........Tom drove the 35 minutes to go get him while I got last minute stuff done and made some phone calls. Primarily to my mum, who was now seriously worried we were planning on moving to Florida.........lol.........but, promised her we weren't just yet........and at that Kyle came in absolutely bursting and gave me the biggest hug!!!! Love vacations.........
We ate some lovely food and Tom and I shared a bottle of sparkly.......Kyle doesn't drink so we don't need to share the bottle......lol........and we watched a movie and hoped we would sleep well tonight.
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