rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 It's not disney but DD10 has been sitting here with me reading everyone else's awesome reports and would like to share one she did. We usually take at least one trip a year from Maryland to Wisconsin & back - mostly to visit with friends, eat at Ella's Deli, & attend the American Girl Benefit Sale.With just a couple of exceptions, the photos are all hers. The idea was hers too... the text we did together so that she could show her class what she was doing while absent from school that week. DD10 and Pookie are anxiously waiting for our wdw trip in just 44 more days... DD10's camera is charged and ready for the fort... I'm told Pookie has been practicing his smile... this is one plush koala who isn't at all shy...THE ADVENTURE BEGINS...After a quick stop for Diet Coke, Pookie's excited and ready to hit the road for our big trip to the fall mcm saleThe MD/PA line... that's one state down, five more to go...Woo-Hoo!! Crossing into PA from the mountains of Western MarylandFrom the back seat of the van, the fall colors seem to blend together like a tapestry. Pookie says don't expect him to help rake all those leaves...Oh Yeah! HELLOOOOO O-HI-OOOO! This turnpike is a long one for us. Pookie get off that roof and put your seatbelt back on...If we're in Indiana already - it's no wonder we need gas. Four states down and counting... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BouncingTiggers 98 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 She is doing a great job with her photo's. I love the pics showing pookie on your vacation. Your DD10 is certainly on her way to being ready for your next FW trip report. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Illinois! By the time the van pulled into downtown Chicago it was late and poor pookie was so tired that even the tall Sears tower looked fuzzy...Pookie was so bored stuck in traffic on the Chicago Skyway after midnight. Traffic came to a standstill. The roadsign for Wisconsin looming ahead still gave him hope though. Almost there... Ahhh... We've arrived! Rested and raring to go again we check out downtown Madison before heading over to Middleton to the warehouse.Pookie - who's been to Washington DC, Philadelphia, NYC, and Annapolis, MD - commented on how much he thinks Capital buildings all look alike...Wow! Look at that line! Pookie complained about our dilly-dallying and sightseeing thru Madison.He thought we should have eaten poptarts in the van again instead of hitting McD's and has no problem saying "I told you so" when he sees how long the line is already. We have a membership which gets us in first without a number but not everyone with us does so I whine, and point out that it's only 9 am. But you can see by the know-it-all attitude on his face that he isn't buying excuses about the need for a diet coke and steak, egg & chesses bagels to start the day. We're beginning to suspect he's been hanging around with DH when we're not home...Finally inside, Pookie wonders how those doll board members can tell the difference. These dolls sure do all look the same to him. "Hmmm... Aren't all babies perfect?" He wonders...Always looking to solve a mystery, Pookie just HAS to find out what's in these boxes. He's sure that whatever it is, we're gonna need at least two of them...After a long wait to check out we are hot, sweaty, tired and hungry. A diet coke break is definitely in order!We got some awesome bargains though and Pookie has a new roommate. While we wait for others in our group who are closing down the sale, we stop for a snack at Cheesburgers in Paradise. The Jimmy Buffet style theming, beckoning with palm trees, colored lights, and a revolving door turns out to be Pookie's second favorite restraurant.Ahhh... so refreshing... "Miss, could we have refills all around please?"Oh you've just got to be kidding... FRIED PICKLES? Who in the world would think to fry a pickle? This, we had to try... yummmm, surprising good! Why don't they do this at home? We'll be back for more without a doubt...After pigging out on mini cheeseburgers and fried pickles we headed back to the warehouse to pick up friends who were closing down the sale. Next up, it's finally time for a major highlight of every WI trip... Ella's Deli! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 And now... Let's have some fun... Bring on the Ice Cream!Really sir! You're very chamring but, despite the fancy dress, Pookie's just not that kind of koloa!Okay everybody... STRETCHHH... Oh come on, you can do better than that - there's ice cream waiting!It isn't Broadway but play it again guys. Pookie just loves watching the orchestra whenever we go to the theater...The fortune teller predicts a long happy future in a distant land. Hmmm... Pookie wonders if he's really pyschic, or just happened to notice our license plate in the parking lot...No meal at Ella's is complete without a ride on the Carousel!Warning... Choosing the wrong seat on this ride could be hazardous to your health...Our new dollie has never been here before and really gets into the spirit of this fun place!This is Pookie's last stop for the day. Tomorrow he wants to see the animals and heard Madison has a nice zoo. He insists we add it to our list of must-see attractions now that he knows it exists... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 So fun! Love the photos! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
polkadotsuitcase 12 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Go, Pookie, go! What a fantastic TR. I think I see a blog in Pookie's future? ;D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrandall1972 aka Jan 0 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Great trip report. Can't wait to read more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PureTcrazy...rita 380 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I'm enjoying reading y'alls trip report, thanks for sharing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roller ... aka Ed 351 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Pookie - who's been to Washington DC, Philadelphia, NYC, and Annapolis, MD - commented on how much he thinks Capital buildings all look alike...Pookie should check out the State of Florida Phallic Symbol - errr, Capital Building doodlebug....Cherie, stefa70 and kampfirekim 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblr....Rennie 224 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Nice photos thanks for sharing :bravo: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roller ... aka Ed 351 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 btw, great TR! :bravo: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doodlebug....Cherie 461 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Loving this TR. :banana: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mouseketab.....Carol 1,261 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Looks like Fun!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SCTigerCock 171 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Great TR! :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Thanks for the kind words everyone, so glad to have you on board!DD10 is using a new computer program at school now called co-writer. She's very excited with the thought of kicking poor old mom to the curb in future as she masters it.Alrighty then, enough thoughts of the youngest princess growing up and independent. Right now, she's still playing with dolls... which is a very good thing b/c I am too... unlike DD10, my inner child is a real spoiled brat... So... when we left off Pookie was headed back to our friend's house in Madison with us, belly full of ice cream, van loaded to the max with AG, to call it a night so we could spend the next day at the Henry Vilas zoo.If you've ever happen to be in Madison, WI with time on your hands, don't just waste it on any old brewery tour... though those are pretty good too, mind you... nope, go check out this zoo. No admission ever, it almost feels like stealing as we open the gate and start down the walkway. Just when I assume I've seen everything there is to see in what I'd once assumed had to be a completely boring state, those cheeseheads pull out something else that makes me sure beer & cheese must indeed be real brain foods... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 We will now resume our regularly scheduled activities of a 10 yr old and her bossy koala buddy...He may be a koala but Pookie is popular enough to have been a zookeeper if he'd wanted. At the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison he gets a taste of what it'd be like...Hey, you... yoohoooo... over here... that's it... closer.... come closer...There you go, that's what Pookie meant by closer. Quick, somebody get this adorable guy a fish...This guy is sure looking friendly... Pookie hopes his momma taught him that it's rude to spit on new friends though...Just monkey-ing around...Pink flamingos are Pookie's all-time favorite exotic animals - his owner's too! As they take a break to enjoy these beautiful creatures, Pookie wonders if he'd feel any different if his fur was pink instead of yellow.After much contemplation, he's reassured by his pink loving princess that he'd b loved the most no matter what color he was!"We celebrate girls!" Oh, you betcha! Pookie lives this credo and couldn't have put it any better himself... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 A visit to the AG headquarters lobby yielded an unexpected surprise package of complimentary bonus books for the princess and Pookie to enjoy on the ride home. Gosh they're nice here.Just one small problem... there are so many great AG things in this building and so few $$ left after the sale. Pookie insists we take a new catalog anyway, pointing out that we still have a checkbook and credit card so we must still have money, right? ... Mom secretly doubts the bank would always agree but hey, this is the kaoloa's trip so who are we to argue???That catalog and surprise gift bag of books will have to hold Pookie for a while because it's time to start home. There's no money left to buy fried pickles or ice cream sundaes, and they won't sell any more doll stuff until next July even if we could fit more in the van... so it must be time to hit the road and smash some more pennies at rest stops...Yes, but Pookie is sure that OUR Illinois wouldn't take so long to drive thru... "Excuse me... could you tell us which way do we go to avoid Chicago traffic???"Uh-Oh... Pookie gets a lecture from our new tour-guide-in-training... "Geez, you can dress them up, but you can't always take them out" he thinks...Entering Ohio, both Pookie and his owner begged for a stop at the Kalahari. Sorry, not this time girls, MCM got all our dollars...Pookie has no idea that this last, little, return leg of the roadtrip is going to be one we'll have a hard time forgetting... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doodlebug....Cherie 461 Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Great update :banana: If you and Pookie find a way of avoiding Chicago please let me know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Great job on this trip report!!!I dropped a lot of $$$ on AG items in my day.The TCD DD's made it to the AG places in NYC and Chicago, and my oldest DD went on the Felicity tour in Williamsburg.Fortunately for me, the girls are now out of the AG phase.I have never heard of the Benefit sale, what is that all about?TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
campingpixi 11 Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 I just love your report!! Pookie must of had a wonderful time!! :banana: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Great update :banana: If you and Pookie find a way of avoiding Chicago please let me know. Honestly, I am convinced that the biggest imaginable invention of our current era would have to be a way of avoiding hours sitting in Chicago traffic. I mean, forget those annoying little $1 here and $1 there tolls every few miles, I'd pay really big bucks just to have a way around that never-ending mess... and did you notice, it never seems to end?? I used to think those ebay folks were just being cute when they said lived in Chicagoland - I was wrong, it's a real place... who'd have thunk it?? I'm commfortable driving in NYC, Wash DC, Miami - all cities with awful traffic reputations where people come from all over the world to clog up the roads while each bringing their own set of driving rules to do it with too :argh: ... I've been on beltways around lots of big cities... but Chicage has to have the market cornered on asphalt, potholes, and bumper-to-bumper traffic that never fails to leave me wishing for the yellow brick road out... . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 I dropped a lot of $$$ on AG items in my day....The TCD DD's made it to the AG places in NYC and Chicago, and my oldest DD went on the Felicity tour in Williamsburg. Fortunately for me, the girls are now out of the AG phase.Do you know they don't offer the Felicity experience anymore? While you can now rent a dress, and tour buildings like the ones in Felicity's time, even Felicity's bedroom and grandfather's plantation, there's no longer any official mention of the little red headed patriot child and her attractive, uppity blond friend that helped her bring history to life for a generation of young ladies. Miss Manderly no longer offers tea lessons, or instructs in proper sewing and dance techniques either...We took DD21 on the tour when she was young. Starla even had Felcity's pink birthday dress to wear for the weekend so she matched her doll. Oh, she thought she'd conquered the world that weekend, as people turned and complimented her and her doll on their ensemble. My mom insisted that we do it as a family and I am so glad we did now, though to be honest, at the time I'm much rather have been in disney - and could have for what mom paid for that few days on colonial property too. Why is it that, so often, we only fully appreciate the really memorable times in hindsight?...I have never heard of the Benefit sale, what is that all about?TCDI'm so glad you asked that. Boy could we have saved you some money! American Girl's pet charity, if you will, is the Madison Children's Museum. It is a truly grand & glorious place, that one day I hope to take DD10 into, instead of just supporting it with most of our disposable income each year. AG donates their excess inventory, overstocks, factory seconds, and assorted sale-able returns to MCM. All year long, AG sent tractor-trailer loads of product to an inconspicious warehouse in Middleton, WI where kind hearted souls toiled without pay sorting & fixing things to raise money for children's charities and the museum.We first started driving a mind-numbing 14 hrs across the turnpikes alone while DH stayed home & worked to allow us to buy AG there b/c a friend volunteered about a week out of every month helping in the warehouse to prepare for the big sale. I dragged her family to wdw for the first time ever and gotten them all pixie-dust-addicted. It was only fair, she insisted, that I come stay with them and explore their world. On the 3rd Saturday & Sunday of each July, thousands of shoppers line up - sometimes before the crack of dawn - to buy discounted goodies. At past sales brand spanking new dolls in their boxes have sold for as little as $25. Tickets are required for Saturday and sell out months in advance. Historically, whatever's left is reduced and offered to the public - first come, first served, no ticket required - on Sunday. Let me just say that those crowds of shoppers make rope drop at MK look like a cake walk at the senior citizens' home. I can also tell you from experience that all reason seems to leave those entering, so much so that the older children of volunteers are kept on hand to help load shoppers vehicles using puzzle-pieced-logic in an attempt to get it all to fit in your standard minivan while leaving a small corner of the seat for the real girls you brought with you... :rofl2:For the past 2-3 years, they've had a more limited pre-Christmas ticketed one day public sale in Oct or Nov. It started years ago as a volunteers-only sale to clear out remaining dolls from the warehouse before the worst of the weather hit. Selection is very limited at the fall sale but the prices are awesome. Outfits $5 - $10, dolls $25 - $35, ect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 I just love your report!! Pookie must of had a wonderful time!! :banana:You know, I've been enjoying your pictures and am sure Pookie would just love to check out a few nascar races. Can't you see him in fanzone now? I suspect a racing jacket may be in his future yet... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PureTcrazy...rita 380 Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Thanks, I'm enjoying your posts! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rdancemom... Pam 113 Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 So... now that I have been distracted until everyone lost interest... and then told you way more than you probably ever wanted to know about AG sales... we should probably finish this puppy koala up...When we left off, we were nearly home. This is where dearest Starla (DD21) and the BF - who weren't even on this trip - tried to kill us. How you ask? I'm coming to that and you'll see it in DD10's pictures. It was a truly insideous plot...When we left home, Starla's BF offered to help us save some time by using his Garmin. In the past, I always made the trip mapless. I sure didn't need Garmin to find the highway. I'd been driving it solo with the girls so long by then that the van just knew the direction. Still... Garmin has this handy-dandy feature that gives you an estimated time of arrival. I use this as a sort of countdown if you will, and incentive to stay on track and not dilly-daly too long in transit at, oh say, a Cracker Barrel somewhere, the Kalahari in Sanduskey, or the Albanese Candy Factory in IN. These "short detours" along the way are my weakness, and I thought perhaps Garmin could help me resist the urge to stop, so I took it. Insert an evil cackle here on the part of the BF and Starla. They thought I wouldn't catch onto their plot to get rid of old mom and poor lil sis but they were wrong... contrary to what DD21 once told a saleslady when she was in elem school, this mom is nowhere near as stupid as she looks... I am however afraid of heights... tall bridges and narrow winding mountain roads with runaway truck ramp signs leading to even scarier looking runaway truck ramps themselves leave me white knuckled after just a few minutes. I'd taken both the i-70 westward thru Columbus, then Indianapolis, and so-on to get to WI but preferred the northern I-89/90 route across the turnpikes for just that reason. I should have been golden... this particular Garmin was programmed by a college kid with no money to avoid toll roads and I figured that out within an hour of leaving home. Easy enough to turn down the volume and let Garmin spend the entire trip out in a frenzy of silent and unheeded "recalculating". It was even sort of funny... that is until we were almost home. We'd crossed into PA and were within a few miles of the turnoff onto I-70 that would bring us home. I don't know what possessed me but Gettysburg was so close and that's the shortest way home so... heaven help me... I listened to Garmin and took the Lincoln Highway. Lemme just say right now before I go any further that Lincoln was one tough guy. Unfortunately so is the highway named after him that winds from the passage where I-80 & I-70 split thru the mountains into Gettysburg...OMG those drops :dropjaw: and of course it started raining with pea soup fog only once we'd neared the top of the first mountain and there was nowhere to turn around. DD10 swears she saw body parts sticking out of the mangled wreckage of cars that obviously also took directions from a Garmin owned by a cheap college kid... and we won't even discuss the deliverance style town with just a tiny gas station and abandoned used car lot where we stopped to pee and they all stared at us like the zombies do to unsuspecting tourists in campy sixties horror flicks...:bugeyes: After what seemed like a week but was probably only an hour or so we came out of the rain soaked fog covered deliverance mountains and into territory that eventually began to look familiar. Whew, that'll show those darned kids... I may be exciteable but you just can't kill me off that easily... at least until I'm done spending their inheritance at any rate.... :doublebeer: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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