lklasing

Does anyone know where all WDW will be having fireworks on New Years Eve?  I'm sure if I googled hard enough, I could find a schedule but I thought I'd look here first.  :)  Even better, I was wondering if anyone else is going to be there and whether a GG might be in the works.  We won't be staying at the Fort but I always love visiting.  

I've been offline for a while with life, etc. but always love coming back to FF, especially when I have trips coming up.  Hope everyone is doing great here!

and.... once they got to the MK, they could have walked to the Contemporary faster than taking the monorail

Yep.  Knuckleheads.  

Thanks!  Funny story about this.  After getting Carol's response last night, I told Danielle exactly what she and her group should do - take the monorail to the Contemporary, then the boat to FW.  Easy peasy.  

But what do they do instead?  They decide that they know better than me (or maybe chose to listen to a CM instead of me) and took the monorail to the MK instead of the Contemporary.  They then learned that the MK boat didn't start running early enough for them to make it to the Fort in time, so they jumped back on the monorail to the Contemporary and did what I told them to all along.

Never wanted to say I told you so as bad.  

Thanks, Carol!

Anyone know what time the FW/WL/Contemporary boat starts running?  My daughter is at WDW right now (without me! gasp!) staying at the Poly and has 7:30 ADRs at TE tomorrow morning before the segway tour.  They thought about taking a cab but don't want to have to take an internal bus if the cab won't sneak them all the way to the settlement, so I'm thinking that monorail to the Contemporary and the boat to the fort is the best plan.

Anyone know?

Thanks!!!

Late (last, I'm sure) to the party, but wanted to say great report and that I'm glad y'all got to have a great kid-free trip together.  As wonderful as it is to be with the kids, getting to just be together with the one you chose to marry so many years ago is an awesome thing.  

Hope your dad's health improves, or at least doesn't get worse.

Leslie

Hey if you do, can I toss my 13 year old into the group?

Anytime! Maybe I can trade 2 dogs and a cat for 1 teen for the weekend. Better yet, you and I can send the teens, dog and cat in together and you and I can just go to dinner.  

If your talking about the trail in northeast AL then yes I have been several times.  I really enjoy the hike and can describe the trail as all down hill and obviously all up hill back to the trail head.  I have not camped but there is plenty of spots to put up a tent or hammock.  One designated spot for camping at the trail head and one in the bottom of the valley.  It is a very pretty area and has a very very old grave yard next to the camping area at the bottom.  I wouldn't hesitate to take a group and I believe everyone would really enjoy it.  Depending on recent rain the swimming hole is great.  With all the leaves on the trees you will be hard pressed to understand the name of the area but trust me there are really big white cliffs that make for a nice hike in the winter to see.  If you have any further questions let me know.

Thanks for the info! We still haven't been yet but I keep thinking about taking a group of teens there. This is good info.

And like Kelly said, welcome! :)

 

Pics are now working.  It was a stupid mistake on my part.  A space where there shouldn't have been one.

Great start!  Can't wait for more!

Page 1!  Can't wait to see pics whenever you get them working!

What an amazing story you all have together.  Thanks for continuing to post.  :)

Both times we've driven from Birmingham, we wound up going to WDW through Montgomery, Dothan, then on to I-10, etc. But on the way back, we went through Atlanta.  Both times, we decided that Atlanta is better - fewer stops and starts and therefore overall faster.  But, there is an element of risk depending on what's happening in Atlanta when you happen to pass through.  We were lucky both times.

Bubba Gumps looks really cool, and y'all look like you're having a great time. Looking forward to the next installment!

I'm totally in!  

There is a lot of speculation that this announcement was just a scare tactic to try to raise money to save the parks.  But there's also talk that this is real and going to happen.  We'll know soon enough.  

I'm not a big enough camper to know details on hardly any of the parks, but the other bad thing about this announcement is that it's not just DeSoto that they're talking about closing - it's most of the state parks all over.  The list includes Bladon Springs, Chickasaw, Bucks Pocket, Paul Grist, Florala, Blue Springs, Roland Cooper, Rickwood Caverns, Cheaha Park, Lake Lurleen, DeSoto, Lakepoint, Guntersville, Joe Wheeler and Frank Jackson.  My family just camped at Lake Lurleen over spring break and a lot of people I know are upset about Guntersville.  

The ones they anticipate remaining open are Meaher, Wind Creek, Chewacla, Monte Sano, Cathedral Caverns, Oak Mountain and Gulf State Park. I'm grateful for Oak Mountain to stay open as that's the one we have gone to most often, but it's still so sad to lose the others.

I'm really hoping that this doesn't happen.  I'll let y'all know what else I hear.  

Really, really great report!  Looking forward to seeing/camping with y'all again soon!

Y'all - I just read something distressing on al.com.  The brilliant powers that be in Alabama are looking at closing 15 of our state parks, including DeSoto, on May 1.  Budget/funding excuses, yada yada.  I can't tell whether it is a for sure thing yet or not but it looks like it's going to happen.    Maybe things will turn around in time for another gathering there next year, especially since I missed it this year.  We'll see.  I'll let y'all know if I hear anythign more concrete.

No way that's it.  Gotta be more strangeness.

I was going to guess this also.

 

 

x3.  Maybe a friend of a face character?

Wow - so many great old pictures!  Thanks!!!

Mobile Azalea Trail - gotta be Mobile, Alabama.  They're big on azaleas down there.

"Anna Learns the Rhino"

Good updates.  Definitely looking forward to hearing what you have to say about FP+!

Lars was absolutely the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this thread.  Good times...

 

(surprisingly this was not the image that got me banned )

Please share!

I won't post the image that got me called a potstirring idiot.  

 

I want to see that one too!

What a beautiful read to start my Palm Sunday.  Thank you for sharing!  

Thanks, Dave!  Happy Easter to you and all yours!

Just amazing! I would love to do something like that. Very special that you and your daughter got to serve together. 

It was amazing getting to go, and especially with Danielle!

I understand what you mean about feeling God's presence. I could see it in all the pictures you shared. Like Dave said a great way to start Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

Thanks, Yvonne!

x3

Thanks!

Thanks for sharing your experiences at El Hogar.  And thanks for writing out what I've quoted above.  Several years ago, my church started a big push for doing mission work.  I initially had the exact same thoughts you outlined above-why are we spending money to send people half way around the world when we could just send the money and be done with it?  But, you're right-the actual physical presence and showing people that they matter and are important is the important part.  Over the past years, I've heard story after story of lives being changed- both on the part of those who traveled on the trips, but also of those in need who were helped and encouraged by the trips.  You and your family are doing a very good thing.

 

TCD

Thanks, Andrew.  It was an amazing experience that I am blessed to have gotten to participate in.

Caught up! Thanks so much for sharing! Some beautiful children that will no doubt talk about your visit for quite some time!

Yes, but not as much as we are still talking about them.  :)

Thanks to all, and Happy Easter!