PureTcrazy...rita

Surgical masks were developed to protect the surgeon as much as the patient.  The surgeon's face is exposed to fluids, when the surgery is being performed and the patient has an open wound, which nasal/oral drainage and/or sweat from the lip could drop into.  They were not made to stop the spread of a virus and the subject of surgeons wearing masks has been in debate for years.   Even the NIH weighed in on this with a study where they found that, "It has never been shown that wearing surgical face masks decreases postoperative wound infections. On the contrary, a 50% decrease has been reported after omitting face masks. The present study was designed to reveal any 30% or greater difference in general surgery wound infection rates by using face masks or not. During 115 weeks, a total of 3,088 patients were included in the study. Weeks were denoted as "masked" or "unmasked" according to a random list. After 1,537 operations performed with face masks, 73 (4.7%) wound infections were recorded and, after 1,551 operations performed without face masks, 55 (3.5%) infections occurred. "
Several years back, I was admitted into the ER for a case of vertigo.  Being the germaphobe that I am, I grabbed a mask to cover my face, because I am convinced (I'm still convinced) that anyone who goes to the hospital gets sick.  The ER doc came into my room and (looking at me with my mask on), she asked if I was "wearing a mask to protect myself or to protect others".  I didn't want to admit that I was afraid of getting sick, so I sheepishly said, "both".  She chuckled and moved on.  After that, I looked into the efficacy of masks. 
The same as the CDC, the WHO, the surgeon general all said not to wear them, as the mask will not prevent the spread (then changed when they realized that control was needed, which is why there are many videos of "leaders" not wearing masks...even right before they put one on for the theatrics of walking up to the podium with their face covered), the same as the CDC stated during the west coast wildfires, " Paper “comfort” or “dust” masks commonly found at hardware stores trap large particles, such as sawdust. These masks will not protect your lungs from smoke."   Masks were made for the large stuff, not the small things like a virus.
"Put a chain link fence up between you and the wall, and maybe only about 20% or less of the balls you throw would make it to the wall.".   A better analogy is, wearing a mask is more like trying to stop mosquitoes with chicken wire.  
I do appreciate the conversation.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 

Desantis wanted local control when it suited him as a means to avoid a decision on a mask mandate.  I thought local control was a good idea.  Then he pulled the rug out from everybody when it was politically expedient to do so by telling local governments they cannot enforce the very rules he said they are the best to decide on.  He also required bars to incorporate very expensive precautions in order to reopen and then one week later issued a huge "never mind" and told everybody they could fully open.  Bar owners were not happy and most continued to adhere to some level of precaution.  
I too prefer small government and I voted for Desantis.  I never will again.  He is too wrapped up with building his brand.
As far as masks, all I will say is there is a reason surgeons wear masks in surgery, including cloth ones.  It is to protect the patient much like wearing a mask now is not to protect the wearer but to diffuse the air exhaled by a person and limit the distance any airborne viruses may spread. Imagine you were throwing a golf ball at a wall 30 feet away.  With no barrier, you would hit it every time.  Put a chain link fence up between you and the wall, and maybe only about 20% or less of the balls you throw would make it to the wall.  That is all a mask does.  
I'm not interesting in debating but I wanted to give another side to this since you mentioned it.  I'm done with this conversation.

We feel the same. We were going once a year but the pricing is crazy. We love Disney but they are driving us out. So last year we took a 4.5wk cross country trip with the camper and found that entire trip was cheaper than our 10 nights going to Disney. Not to mention we found it much more rewarding. 

Spring 1972.
First car in the parking lot and look at the crowd rushing the turnstyles....

I remember when value season at resorts used to be almost all year other than summer, Easter and Christmas. When the dern rate schedules started having 20 categories and only about 6 weeks of values rates spread throughout the year, I was over it. It took a while, for me to finally throw up my hands and throw my ap away, but it's been over two years and I don't regret my decision to end my relationship with Disney. As locals, we went often and ate almost exclusively at tableservice restaurants. The quality kept going down while pricesj kept going up at a rapid rate. I know they didn't notice when I quit going.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

I remember when value season at resorts used to be almost all year other than summer, Easter and Christmas. When the dern rate schedules started having 20 categories and only about 6 weeks of values rates spread throughout the year, I was over it. It took a while, for me to finally throw up my hands and throw my ap away, but it's been over two years and I don't regret my decision to end my relationship with Disney. As locals, we went often and ate almost exclusively at tableservice restaurants. The quality kept going down while pricesj kept going up at a rapid rate. I know they didn't notice when I quit going.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

I got my on Amazon about a year and a half ago. It came with: "Accessories include, stainless steel steam rack with handles, rice paddle, soup spoon, measuring cup, condensation collector and recipe booklet."   

Cup of water. Pound of frozen ground beef on the trivet. 20 minutes then quick release. Ground beef for tacos, spaghetti sauce, whatever. I usually end up needing to pick up someone from rehearsal or practice when I'm in the middle of cooking ground beef in the skillet so this is a perfect solution for me. 

That would have been Mama....

Quick and easy Shredded BBQ chicken recipe for dinner:
2 chicken breasts, fresh or thawed
3/4 cup of your favorite bbq sauce
1/4 cup water
1 small onion, finely chopped/diced
for serving:
club rolls
sliced cheese of your liking (we like provolone)
cole slaw
sliced pickles
Put the sauce, water and onion in the bottom of your instant pot and stir together. Place the chicken breasts on top.
Close the lid, set the vent to seal and turn the IP on to the manual setting for 8 minutes on 'high'. When the time is done, allow a natural pressure release.
Open the lid, shred the chicken with two forks to your desired consistency. Stir the chicken into the sauce and let it soak up some of the sauce; if the remaining sauce is not thick enough you can turn the IP on to the saute setting and let it boil for a few minutes to thicken up.
Serve on rolls with accoutrements.
 

Ok folks, it is past due time to move on to our sixth and final trip of this report.  I was traveling this past week and never had time to post an update, but I'm enjoying a quiet Saturday morning with Anna, have a fresh cup of coffee, and am ready to roll.  So, let's go.  
Trip #6 - Thanksgiving at The Fort
Once again, I had hopes that we would  be planning a trip to the Fort for all 8 of us, including son in law.  And they were on board too, so I planned accordingly.  I purchased a new tent to put up behind the motorhome for them, and had a Preferred site booked (I normally prefer 500), in part because that's the only level available but also because the pad would be better for a tent.  And then, just weeks before departure, SIL started a new job and couldn't take off.  Again, DD opted to stay back with him.  So, we went from 8 to 6.  And similar to the Dollywood trip, INC had a conflict on the Saturday before Thanksgiving that she needed to be in Nashville for.  My plans were to leave after school on Friday.  Should we delay our departure by 24 hours, shaving a full day off of our reservation?  Nah!  I booked her a plane ticket for Saturday evening, figuring we would arrive Saturday afternoon, get set up, and she would come in via Magical Express that night.  So, with that all laid out, let's get to departure day.  
In years past, I would typically yank the kids from school in the early afternoon to hit the road early.  But oldest DD works as a Special Ed assistant for the school district.  It's one thing to yank a student early, but she needed to be there for her kiddo, and she works until 4pm.  She then had to get to her home, pick up her bearded dragon Khaleesi to take to her sister's house (who since she wasn't going was babysitting Khaleesi), and then drive out to our place for departure.  I knew all of that would take until around 6, and being late November it would be dark by the time we left.  Driving the motorhome on the narrow, winding country roads we live on is never fun, but doing so in the dark would be even better.  The only thing that would make this better would be if it was raining.  Oh, guess what?  It rained.  LOL>  
Anyways, while waiting for DD to arrive that afternoon, I pulled the motorhome up front and was fully ready to hit the road as soon as she pulled in.  You can see that the sun was already pretty low in the sky.  


After DD11 got home, she was excited so we grabbed a selfie while we still had daylight.  

Poor DD arrived and I hurried her into the motorhome so we could get moving, as the rain was just starting to come down.  I never even let her go inside the house.  After we were on the road, she said she had had to pee so bad....lol.  Fortunately being in a motorhome has its advantages, so she didn't have to hold it.  
I had made a reservation for an overnight campsite at Harvest Moon in Adairsville, GA, around 4 hours south of us.  But after only 45 minutes on the road, I was wondering if we'd make it.  When we got to Murfreesboro, at the junction of I-24 and 840, we hit a standstill due to a large accident.  The combination of being Friday evening, in the rain, the weekend before a holiday, combined to royally screw things up.  We sat there for an hour before getting moving again.  Then, we had to go over Monteagle in the wind and rain.  I have arthritis in my hands (yes, early onset....I'm not THAT old), and I was hurting from grabbing tightly to that wheel.  Traffic in Chattanooga was its usual mess as well.  We made a quick stop in a rest area to eat our dinner, then pressed on.  I was exhausted, but we kept going and finally made it to Adairsville at close to midnight.  I figured I'd get Anna tucked in her bunk (she somehow had never fallen asleep during the ride), and I'd collapse to sleep.  Well, Anna and everyone else got tucked, and I went to bed.  But...I didn't sleep.  No idea why, but that does happen to me from time to time when traveling.  I laid all night without getting any sleep, so by 5 I figured I'd make some coffee, and hit the road.  The nice thing is, that took us through Atlanta early on a Saturday morning, so we just breezed on down the road.  The rain had ended, and it was smooth sailing.  
We hit the Fort by mid-afternoon, and got site 109, which was my first request.  



I got things set up.

After setting up and hanging out relaxing for a bit, we checked in down the loop with fellow Fiends Jason and Kelly....the GA Dawg fans.  This was the second time in the last 3 years that we've camped in 100 with them, so we were looking forward to that.  We chatted briefly, and then it was time to head to our arrival day dinner ADR at Trails End.  
We hadn't had dinner at TE in a number of years, and I figured not having INC with me, it would be easy just to stay put and walk over there for dinner.  When I made the reservation I didn't at all focus on the price range noted on the Disney site.  As you know, buffet prices fluctuate quite a bit based on the day, and my recollection was that dinner there was somewhere in the $18-20 range.  Well, let's just say it's no longer in the $18-20 range.  Dinner for the 5 of us (4 adults, 1 child) came to over $150!  I was glad I had Disney Rewards dollars to use.  Regardless, the buffet was good and everyone enjoyed their dinner.  
After finishing up at TE, we wandered back to 100, where Kelly and Jason were outside hanging out with ACinA2 (or something like that) Aaron and his family.  I was really hoping to get to meet them this week, and here we were lucking out and meeting them on the first night.  This trip, despite the rocky first travel night, was starting out awesomely!  
After visiting for a bit, we did a little bit of looping, but then we were all pretty tired from the drive, my lack of sleep, and getting set up, so we headed back to the RV to settle in for the night.  I didn't want to sleep as I wanted to wait for INC to arrive later that night.  She wasn't due to arrive at the Fort until around midnight, but I knew if I went to sleep I might not get up to go get her, and I wanted to pick her up on the cart rather than make her ride the bus.  After she landed at MCO, I stayed in touch and tracked her location to know when to head up front.  I saw that her bus was coming up Bonnet Creek toward Vista, so I figured they's make the left on Vista and head right to the Fort.  I headed up front in the cart to get her.  Well....the bus did turn left on Vista, but it buzzed right past the Fort.  It turns out they were first dropping guests off at the Lodge, and then the Poly, before coming to stop at the Fort.  What the Fort!!  I knew we were less important, but to drive right past the Fort like that was stupid IMO.  
Well, I had time to kill, so I tried to get a "midnight at the Outpost" picture.  That's not so easy on a phone, but it's not terrible.  

 I was still tracking her location, and had seen them stop at the Lodge and the Poly and then head back up World Drive and down Vista.  So I wasn't surprised to soon be seeing this.  

INC wasn't the only Fort guest to get off the bus.  There were some with luggage, so I assume they were cabin guests.  INC had the benefit of not having to travel with any luggage, since we brought everything with us.  So she hopped on board the cart and we sped back to 109 for a well deserved night's sleep.  
Coming up...we experience the Three Major P's of Fort Life!!  Stay tuned....you won't want to miss that.    
 

Trip #5 - Fall Break at Dollywood
Our kids typically get 3 days off in October for fall break, which makes for a 5 day weekend.  Not long enough to head to the Fort unless we pulled them out of school, but perfect to head to the Smokies and visit our favorite fun lady, Dolly.  
I've shared our visits and opinions on Dollywood many times in the past, so I won't rehash all of that.  I'll just say this....Dollywood is probably my favorite park anywhere, Disney included.  So I am always excited to plan a trip here.  And I was particularly excited about this trip, because I had planned it to include all 8 of us, son in law included.  Since we have 3 kids in public school this year, and our other 2 girls both work in Special Education for the school district, all 5 girls had the same break.  We had hoped that we would all get to the Fort for our March trip that I covered earlier in this trip report, but that didn't work out.  So this was a do over.  
Well...as we got into fall, plans started to fall apart.  First, INC had a major conflict.  She either wasn't going to be able to go, or at the very least would have to be home by Friday evening.  Since break started on Wednesday, that really put a crimp on things.  Then, it turned out that our son in law was not able to get time away, and our daughter decided against going without her husband.  That I understand.  So, this trip was looking unlikely.  But INC suggested that, perhaps, I go and take the remaining kids less Anna....since the rest of us are the huge coaster fans.  She figured she'd stay back and keep Anna so that we could hit the park hard.  Ultimately, DD17 decided to stay back as well and work.  So, this trip will only include me, and DD21 and DD11.  Those two are my biggest ride fans, and while I wanted to ride the coasters, I also wanted to take in some shows and entertainment, so this would work our nicely.  
I made a reservation at the Pigeon Forge KOA, as it's walking distance to the trolley depot where we could easily hop the trolley to Dolly.  We've stayed here a couple of times before, and it's proven a good base camp for Dollywood.  We left our home Wednesday morning, arriving at the KOA by mid-afternoon.  After checking in, we headed to the trolley to head to the park for the remainder of the day.  I had purchased  3 day park tickets via an online special they offered....if I remember right I paid around $99/person for those tickets.  Not a bad deal.  We headed in, and immediately we were immersed in the Fall Harvest and Gospel Festival....a festival focused on food, fall decor, Gospel music, and FUN!  

Even though there were many, many things I wanted to see, do and eat, we had a mission to jump immediately on upon entering the park.  We needed to get in our first Lightening Rod ride!  
If you aren't familiar with the Lightening Rod, let me first tell you that it is the biggest adrenaline rush I've ever gotten from a ride.  It is a wooden coaster that opened in 2016, and is the World's first launched wooden coaster.  It is also, with a peak speed of 73 mph, the world's fastest wooden coaster.  The ride was built in the Jukebox Junction section of the park, which has a 50's theme that feels kind of like Back to the Future.  I think they did a phenomenal job theming the ride....this is where you enter the queue.  

We got a ride in, and this thing is insane.  You leave the boarding area, and the cars launch up the first big hill at 45 mph.  When you crest the hill, you get airtime for the first of 12 times during the ride.   12!!  It feels like you spend more time off of your seat than on it.  The ride lasts 3 minutes and 12 seconds according the website, but it sure feels shorter.  It's a blast, regardless.  
After riding the Lightening Rod, we did some exploring before it got dark.  We were excited to see the park after dark, because they were advertising the Great Pumpkin Luminights as part of the festival this year.  But we first wanted to check things out in the light.  


We made our way to the Mystery Mine, which is one of the girls' favorite rides.  

This is a really cook dark ride coaster through an abandoned mine, with completely vertical hills.  
Waiting to ride....

We grabbed dinner in the park, then wanted to experience the Lightening Rod in the dark.  We had a Dollywood cast member pull off an outstanding photobomb.  

Bravo to that young man.  
I thought the Lightening Rod was insane in the daylight.  It's is beyond insane in the dark.  I wasn't exactly sure whether we'd survive.  Not being able to see the hills or banked turns was wild.  But still, we loved it.  Funny thing was, being that there were 3 of us, and you sit 2 across on the ride, we were paired with another rider.  It was an old woman dressed in a pant suit, jewelry and full face of makeup.  Before leaving the station, we chatted for a moment, and she told us that her grandchildren were riding and, rather than walk back down to the exit, she figured she'd just ride down.  She said she'd never ridden a roller coaster before.  I chuckled and said, "and THIS is the one you picked?".  LOL.  She looked nervous, but it was too late.  As I mentioned, the ride was crazy, and the poor woman looked shell shocked at the end.  I felt bad for her.  Bet she never rides another coaster again.  
We headed back to the KOA, and rested up for a full day at the park on Thursday.  
In the morning, we had a quick breakfast at the camper and headed to the trolley.  Those clouds looked a bit fall like, but the temps were blazing hot.  It was in the mid-80's that week, and very humid.  

We got to the park in time for rope drop, and where do you suppose we headed first?


After that ride, the girls went off to ride some more coasters, while I wanted to just explore the Craftsman Valley and listen to some live music.  


I decided to go see the Birds of Prey show, which showcases Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Owls and other birds that reside in a sanctuary at the park . 


The show features some endangered species, but none are more endangered than the Silverbellied American Flip Phone.



The culmination of the show is the American Bald Eagle, of which quite a few reside in the park at the Eagle Mountain Sanctuary.  


That's probably enough bird pics.  
I made my way to the grist mill to get some of that famous Dollywood ooey, gooey cinnamon bread.  




I wish I had some right now.  That cup of icing on the side, melted into the crevices in the bread....oh my.  
Ok, moving on.
I also got myself some fried green tomatoes. 

I met back up with girls and gave them some of the cinnamon bread.  What, you think I ate the whole loaf myself??


I'll leave it here for now.  
Coming up, some music.  And some Great Pumpkin Luminights.  
  
 
    

Thank you to everyone who has commented!  I hope to have the next update done this evening or sometime tomorrow, which will wrap up Spring Break.  I then have to decide if this will be a Disney-only trip report....or if I share some pics of other trips we made in 2017.  Once I decide that, I'll pick up with further updates.  

Happy New Year!!
It's hard to believe 2017 is over, and 2018 is here.  For a variety of reasons, 2017 was a bit of a tough year around the DIT ranch.  I got off-line to focus on more important things.  We were incredibly busy at home, and at work.  But we did have some fun too, along the way.  And in looking back at my photos from 2017, I had to chuckle when I realized that INC and I made FIVE trips to central Florida during the year!  And for some unknown reason, despite my hatred for Disney, at least one of those trips involved a visit to see the Mouse.  
Maybe more than one.  
So I figured that maybe I'd share some of those pictures with you.  At least I'll try.  Hopefully life doesn't get in the way.  And hopefully the photo linking works for me.  I haven't tried that in a long time.  
Before I get going with the report, I'll test some photo posting....to see if the linking works, and to give you a hint of what's to come.  





 
I guess it works!!
So, I'll get writing.  And hopefully a few of you are interested.  Bear with me.  The first trip was nearly a year ago.  I need to get this old brain working and try to remember what was what.  
Coming up.....a Birthday Cruise on the Disney Wonder!!!!

I still follow along, but since we sold the camper...

I also try not to say much because I have become so negative about Disney. I still love fiends and the happy memories I have here.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Thanks to Ray, Rennie, Mary Anne, Jason, their families and random internet strangers I was able to make a slide show with 82 pictures and a video (I even added There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow to it). I haven’t found a good way to share it so I’m just going to post a few of the photos. My mom absolutely loved it and almost cried. I seriously can not thank the fiends enough who did this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The capybara did seem to roam around the island, but the other animals were in enclosures.
I am not sure if the one we saw was supposed to be out loose like it was.  Capybaras can swim, so I would think they should have been concerned about them leaving the island.  We only saw one loose the one time, so I always thought he was just an escapee.
It's too bad you never got to visit Discovery Island. It was very easy to access from Fort Wilderness.  There was a separate cost of admission, but you could buy those tickets at the old River Country ticket window.  The cost was reasonable, and there was a River Country/Discovery Island combo ticket.  I know we went a lot when the twins were under 3 because they got in for free.  There was a little quick serve restaurant on the island that served kids meals in plastic buckets that came with a shovel.  My kids were perfectly happy to spend time on the beach there digging in the sand using those plastic buckets.  Sadly, the twins turned three the year that Animal Kingdom opened, and Discovery Island closed.  They don't remember Discovery Island, and barely remember River Country, but my oldest daughter remembers both, especially the time she saw the giant squirrel with no tail.
TCD

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  No matter where you are camping today, whether it be in some remote campground, The Fort, or in your living room, we all have a lot to be thankful for!
I hope you all have a fun, safe and relaxing Thanksgiving day!!

If you do a Google search for Black Friday Instant Pots, the Wal-Mart ad that Jason and Big Kahuna reference comes up.
But in the ad it says pre Black Friday shop now (lots of stores are selling some Black Friday items already), and it lists the prices as $56.69 if you shop on line, or in store only at $49.00.
I clicked on purchase, and it gave me an options to ship to home and would arrive on 11/29,  pick up at store X on 11/29  or AVAILABLE IN STORE NOW.
So took an early lunch and drove over to the closest store to work.
Found 3, 6, and 8 quart models, but no 5?
Got an associate, she took me to the same aisle, said that's all they have, the 5 qt. was a Black Friday ad item and they were not available yet (even though the ad said it was).
She went and got a manager.  Got the same story, it's available on Black Friday only, can't bring any out, corporate made the ad, etc.
I asked if they would give me the 6 qt for the ad price, and she did.
So I got a 6 qt regularly $79.00 for $49.00.

She is and he did. :-D

I had some leftover uncooked butternut squash and some Gala apples that were getting a little soft.  I found this recipe, left out the onions, used garlic powder instead of fresh, used chicken stock instead of vegetable, left out the sage, used 1% milk instead of CashewMilk, and did not garnish. And it was still delicious !
-----------------------------------------------
Instant Pot Butternut Squash and Apple Soup 8 servings Prep Time   10 mins Cook Time   20 mins   Ingredients 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, chopped {about 1 cup} 2 large cloves fresh garlic, minced 1 medium butternut squash {about 2 pounds} peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes 2 Gala apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1 inch chunks 2 cups vegetable stock 1 teaspoon dried sage 1/3 cup CashewMilk sea salt and black pepper, to taste toasted almond slices and paprika, to garnish Press the Saute button and allow the inner pan/liner to heat up. When HOT shows up on the display, add the olive oil.
Add the onion and cook until the onion starts to soften, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep them from burning.
Add the garlic, stir and cook for one additional minute. Add the butternut squash and cook for another 5 minutes to soften.
Add the vegetable stock, apples, and sage.
Press the Cancel button, stir to combine, and secure the lid. Make sure the knob is in the Sealing position. Press Manual and adjust the time to 10 minutes using the + and – buttons.
When the pot beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally, about 15 minutes. Remove the lid.
Carefully puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. 
Stir in the CashewMilk. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed. Ladle the soup into a bowl and garnish with toasted almonds and paprika.
(from: https://cookingwithcurls.com/2017/09/09/instant-pot-butternut-squash-and-apple-soup/ )
 

I made beef stew.   Browned the meat and onions and then addded all the rest of the ingredients. Set for 35 minutes and waited.  I was really surprised how tender the meat was in only 35 minutes.   Delicious!

My IP didn’t come with the extra pot or the “lime green” straps.   Did you have to order them separately or did you get them from that “other” forum?
LOL!!!

DW and DD surprised me with the 6 qt Instant Pot for my B-Day yesterday.    
Im going to have to try a few of those recipes.  
A friend gave me his oatmeal recipe and I’m going to try it this weekend.  
A memeber of my men’s group at church gave me his yogurt recipe.  My DW eats yogurt every morning and I eat it about 3-5 mornings a week.  
So i think we will be having home made yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast Saturday.   
I’ll let y’all know how it turns out.  
Btw.  If you have any health, easy one pot recipes for my instant pot please send them my way.  

The IP is also great for hard boiled eggs.  I have done 20 at a time.  It is so fast because it only has to heat 1 cup of water.  High pres. for 4 mins natural release for 5 mins then quick release.  I pull the incert out, put in the sink and fill with cold water to stop the cooking.   But the best part is you will never peel an easier egg.  The shell just falls off.   Do not over cook or the eggs whites will be grey.