Disney in December 2009

Don't give up on the trip report. The holidays have gotten in the way a bit. I will get this thing finished up as soon as I can.

Yeti Out!

Christmas Trip to Disney 2009 Part 2

And away we go!

Tuesday December 8, 2009

We headed to Animal Kingdom to meet up with the Gibby's on their last day at Disney. We arrived just as the opening ceremony was finishing up and headed straight to the Expedition Everest fastpass, where we met up with the Gibby's. We then grabbed our fast passes and jumped into the standby line. Within 10 minutes we were riding. We were able to put in 2 more rides after the first one before my empty stomach had enough. We bid the Gibby's farewell and headed to find something to eat.

After a quick bite to eat we headed to the Safari ride. Since it was a little later in the morning there weren't a ton of animals roaming around. We did see the normal players though.

After that we caught the Lion King show and just took in the sites of all of the Christmas decorations before departing for our turn at the Magic Kingdom Christmas Party.

If I had to fault Disney on one thing, it would be that you can not travel from park to park by bus. You have to either head to a resort, Downtown Disney, or the Ticket and Transportation Center. This meant that we had to leave Animal Kingdom a little earlier than we would have liked so that we could get to the Magic Kingdom around 4:00 pm.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom just before 4:00 pm and were allowed into the park after getting wristbands to show that we were supposed to be there. We then headed to the Haunted Mansion for a quick ride. After that we realized that if we wanted a good spot to view the evening fireworks, we had better get it now. I thought that it kind of sucked that you pretty much had to find your spot at least an hour before anything going on that night. The fireworks were awesome though. We then made our way to Main Street and found a good spot to watch the parade. The parade was awesome as well.

After the parade we walked around a while checking out the decorations. When else can you see snow on Main Street in Disney? After that we headed back to the resort for some much needed rest. It had been a long day.

Wednesday December 9, 2009

We headed to Epcot for a second time. Upon arrival we headed to Soarin' and grabbed fast passes. Which were for later in the day. After that we headed over to Mission Space and Test Track.

After riding both of those it was off to the World Showcase to see some of the countries that we missed the first time around. The decorations are amazing. Both Canada and China have a movie about there country. The cool thing about this is that it is shot in what is called Circle Vision. What that means is that there are screens that completely encircle the room near the ceiling. The way that it is shot you have a 360 degree view of what the camera sees. Very neat.

We then decided to head to the Yacht Club to see the Gingerbread Carousel. It is amazing the detail that they put into things.

After roaming around the Yacht Club for a while it was time to head to the California Grill for dinner. The great thing about this restaurant is that it is on the 15th floor of the Contemporary, which offers a birds eye view of the Magic Kingdom. The food was amazing. After dinner we headed out onto their observation deck to watch Wishes from above the Magic Kingdom. The meal was pricey, $144, but I would highly recommend dining there just for the view.

After Wishes we headed back to the hotel for the evening.

That wraps up those two day.

So, until next time....

Yeti Out!

Christmas Trip to Disney 2009 Part 1

All I can say is that Disney knows how to do the holidays. We had been wanting to head to Disney during the Christmas season for some time now. The Christmas party was one of the things on our Disney list that we had not crossed off just yet. So when they ran the free dining deal, it made it impossible for us to pass up the opportunity to take one last trip to Disney in '09. This trip was just Autumn and myself. We were joined for a few days by Gibby and Mrs. Gibby, who had flown down a few days ahead of us. So without further adieu, here is part 1 of my trip report.

Sunday December 6, 2009

We started off our day at about 4:30 am, since we had a 6:15 am flight. We knew from talking to friends that we did not need to be at the airport the cu

stomary 2 hours before our flight, since the Louisville airport does not have any overnight flights. This meant that there would be no one there that early. I had already done our online check in the night before, so that was out of the way. We were dropped off at the airport and made our way through security rather quickly. Our flight was on time, which was nice. So after a 45 minute layover in DC, we arrived in Orlando at about 10:45 am. We then headed to the Magical Express transportation and were on our way to Disney.

We arrived at the Pop Century Resort, which is a value, just before noon. Our room was ready, which was nice, so we headed there and dropped

off our carry on items. It was then time to catch a bus and head to the Magic Kingdom.

We had debated on not going to the Magic Kingdom that day, due to the fact that they were taping the Christmas Parade for Christmas Day, and we knew that it may be overly crowded. We decided what the hell and went there anyway. As we walked into the Magic Kingdom were greeted by the sounds of the show being taped. We saw Kelly Rippa standing on a stage right in front of the train station. So we hung out there for a few before heading into the park.

After watching a small parade we were on our way to Space Mountain, which had been recently refurbished. As we started to walk, we were lead into a back stage area. I quickly started taking pictures, since this is not an area that you are normally allowed into. I bet I only took about 5 pictures before I was approached by a guy with his badge out telling me that there was no photography back there. So I stopped.

We then rode Space Mountain, the Transit Authority, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. We then met up with Gibby and Mrs. Gibby for a few and chatted before it was time for us to make an exit, and them to enjoy the Christmas Party.

We called it an early night and headed back to the resort.

Monday December 7, 2009

We headed to Epcot bright and early on Monday. Upon arrival we headed straight for the Soarin' fastpass line. We grabbed a couple of fast passes and then decided since the wait was not that bad to go ahead and ride it.

After we riding, we decided to grab a bite to eat in the Sunshine Cafe located near the ride. Pretty good food. After that we rode the Living with the Land ride, which shows you different ways that they are growing food at Disney. After that we were able to get another fastpass for Test Track. While waiting for our fastpass times we rode a couple of other small rides and just walked around checking out the decorations.

We rode Test Track just before heading to Les Chefs de France for lunch, which was a sit down meal and somewhere we had never eaten. The food was pretty good. I would say that the highlight was Remmy from Rat Tat Tooie being brought to the table.

After lunch we made our way back to Soarin' and used our fast passes. After that we made our way around the world showcase and checked out some of the decorations. Each land had it's own version of how Christmas was celebrated in that country.

After walking around for awhile we headed towards the front of the park and rode Space Ship Earth. Which is a very cool journey through history Disney style.

We then headed out of the park and over the the Contemporary to check out the decorations. One of which was a house made entirely of Gingerbread. Very cool. Then it was back to the room for the night.

That wraps up the first two days of my trip. In order to keep this from being the length of a Stephen King novel, I am going to break it up into 3 post.

So, until next time....

Yeti Out!

Disney in December 2009

Well faithful reader(s), I am home. It will take me a couple of days to go through the 1700 pics I took and weed out the bad from the good. So give me a couple of days and I will post an in depth trip report.

So, until then...

Yeti Out!!

Not long now!

Well it is almost here. This Sunday at 6:14 am my ass will be on a plane headed for Orlando. I can't believe it is almost here. My buddy Gibby leaves in the morning to head down. Our paths will cross on Sunday. I think we may be heading to check out some of the decorations at the resorts, but I am not sure since I don't make the plans when I go to Disney. I just go where I am told and it always pays off.

I will be sure and take lots of pics so that I can do justice to the upcoming trip report, since the last one sucked.

So check back soon to see how it went.

Yeti Out!!!!!

Second Chance

Looks like I will be getting a second chance at doing a decent Disney recap this year. We have been wanting to head to Disney during December in order to check out their Christmas party. With the free dining deal that they offered through December, we couldn't resist. So we are heading back.

I will try and redeem myself with a good trip report for that trip with lots of pics of Christmas decorations.

Yeti Out!!!!

So I sucked at this year's Disney Recap

I know, I said I was going to do a trip report. I suck. It just seems that I never found the time and now it just seems like it has been too long. I could probably put together a general recap, but I don't think I would do it justice. I promise to do better next time.

Let's just say that it was a great trip and I can't wait to get back. It seems like as soon as I leave, I am trying to figure out when to come back. The plan for now is to wait until next year so that we can get some things that need to be done around the house finished. I would much rather give my money to the Mouse, but if I keep doing that my house may fall down around me. Not that it is in bad shape, but all things need updating from time to time. I guess I will just have to live through Gibby and his December trip.

So here is me thinking Disney thoughts!!!

Yeti Out!!!!!!!!

Disney Vacation

Well unfortunately I have returned from Disney and am back to work. It will take me a couple of days to get a trip report together, with all of the things that need to be done around here after being gone for a week. So please be patient.

Here are a couple of pics for now.

The view from the Hilton at Downtown Disney.


Inside the Great Movie Ride.


Horse on Main Street USA.


Inside the Haunted Mansion.

Yeti Out!!!!!

Today is the Day!!!!!!!

Well it is finally here. We will be departing around midnight to head to Disney. It will take us a little over 12 hours to get there driving straight through. I love to drive at night, due to the lack of major traffic, kids sleeping on the ride, and cooler temps.

I don't have a laptop, so I won't be able to post pics on this blog. I will be providing some updates from the iphone, but not too many to be annoying.

See you in a week.

Yeti Out!!!!!!!!!

With only 5 days before my Disney vacation, I thought I had better make sure I was able to post to my blog from the iPhone. So hopefully this works.

Yeti out!!!

St. Louis Trip

Since it was Spring Break here this past week we decided to head to St. Louis for a couple of days. I had worked there a couple of times during my PI days, but the rest of the family had never been. Plus it was relatively close. We decided to see if we could do it on a budget of $200. We actually were able to stay in that budget, believe it or not.

We began our journey around 8:00 am on Tuesday morning. The drive was kinda boring, since it is all just flat. Not a lot to see. We ended up arriving in St. Louis around noon our time. They are an hour behind us. Autumn had found several things to do that would cost us little or no money. One of them being the Holocaust Museum. After reading Anne Frank for school, my daughter has been kind of fascinated with the whole thing and was very interested in the museum. I can only say that it was very interesting and depressing all at the same time.












We then headed to the St. Louis Science Center, which is also free. You just have to pay to park. I think it took us around 3 hours to see all of the exhibits. Tons to see and do. They had an exhibit that we thought was the T-Rex "Sue". It was not. It was an anamotronic version. We decided that since we had seen replicas of Sue at Disney, we did not need to spend the money to see one that moved.

As we left the science center it had began to rain. So we decided to head to Union Station. I will say that I was not too impressed. Yeah, the architecture is cool, but other than that it is just small shops and restaurants. Glad we saw it, but don't think we will have to do it again. After that we decided we would head to the hotel and check in. After a little time in the pool and hot tub we called it a night.

Wednesday we headed to the St. Louis Zoo. I was very impressed. The zoo like most of the things we did was free. The only fee would have been to park, but we arrived early enough to find some street parking. So we parked for free. The zoo is large. I think we spent about 6 hours wandering around seeing the animals. One of my favorites was the tigers. They had five that were young and active. Most of the other animals at the zoo, with the exception of the monkeys
just kind of laid around.

After spending all of that time walking around the zoo we decided that we were ready to head back to the hotel and relax. So we grabbed a pizza and headed back to the room. After eating we headed to the pool and hot tub for awhile before returning to the room in time to watch Lost. Even on vacation we can't miss that.

Thursday was our last day. After having some breakfast and checking out, we headed to the Ulysses S. Grant historic home site. I will say that I was not too excited about this, but it turned out to be pretty cool. One thing that was cool was that the property next to the site was owned by Budweiser and is where they stable the Clydesdales. There were probably 25 to 30 out to pasture that day.

We then headed to the St. Louis Arch. Unfortunately for some reason the trams that take you to the top were not running, so we could not go up in the arch. It is still very impressive.


After spending a couple of hours checking out the arch, we headed home. We ended up getting home around 8:00 pm Thursday night. Not too bad. All in all it was a good short vacation. I would have loved to have just headed to a beach, but with Disney coming up in about 3 months we are trying to save as much money as possible.

So that is how we spent our Spring Break. Back to work and school on Monday.

Yeti Out!!!!!!!!!

Check Out My Parent's New Pet

Yesterday my brother and his family came in for a visit. Since this does not happen that often, with the way he has to travel with work, my parents took it as an opportunity to get everyone together for lunch. It was a great visit.

Earlier in the week my mom had told me that a young deer had shown up and that she would follow you around and let you pet her. I knew that my kids would love this. To my amazement, it is true. All you have to do is head into the back field of my parents property and call. Within a few minutes she will show up.

So, without further adieu here she is:

Letting my niece feed her corn.

Hoping my son had some corn.

They are not sure just where she came from, but she is extremely tame and not scared of people. This could actually be a bad thing, since people can be jackasses. Her ears are pretty messed up. We think that one of them may have been cut at the top, maybe to mark her or maybe out of cruelty. The other on is split and looks like it may have been caught in a barbed wire fence. My parents are currently talking with local conservation officers and looking for a possible place for her to go where she would be safe. Hopefully that works out. I would hate to see something happen to her. It is a shame that someone found/took her as a baby and tamed her only to turn her loose. That may not be the case, and she may have just strayed away from her home. But I would be willing to bet that she was just turned loose or dumped.

Anyway, she is pretty damn cool.

Yeti Out!!!!

Pictures

Last night the moon looked amazing. So I decided I would try and take some pictures. The first couple did not turn out. So I jumped online and found out how to set the camera to take moon pictures.

I found this site which was very informative.

Here are a couple of the pictures.


I am still trying to figure out how to use my camera. These are my first successful manual photos.

Yeti Out!!!

Like A Walk In The Park

Well it has been almost a month to the day since I last posted. At that time things seemed a little crazy where I work. So far since that terrible day things have somewhat calmed down. The only scary thing is that everyday the news keeps reporting that the stock market has reached a new low. It is concerning, but I am not going to go through my life worrying about what might happen. I feel that if you do that, then you are not enjoying life. You are just hoping that it doesn't effect you.

Enough of that.

As far as the title of this post, the weather around here for this weekend is extremely nice. So yesterday my wife and I decided to head to the Charlestown State Park with Cooper and do a little hiking. I had never hiked in the park before. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. We ended up hiking Trail 3, which is a little over 3 miles. By the time we returned to the car Cooper was ready to head home. I was a little disappointed by the amount of garbage that I saw along the trail. I don't understand why people have to be such assholes.

Here are a few pics. Enjoy.

Alright, it is hovering close to 70 degrees here right now. So I am going to head outside and enjoy some much welcomed sunshine.

Yeti Out!!!!!!!!!!

Perspective

Today was a crazy day. Let me lay a little bit of ground work for this post. I work for a printing company in Indiana. I have worked there for a combination of about 17 years, minus the 4 year break I took to be a private investigator. When I first went to work for the company in October of 1989 it was a great place to work. It was family owned, and they really cared about their employees.

Now let us fast forward to 2006. The company is publicly held. It was the victim of a hostel take over. The person who bought the company is more concerned about money than people. I understand that is the way some people make their money, but I never thought that it would ever matter to me.

Over the next couple of years things were cut. We lost our 401k match, our raises were put on hold, and the stable life of employees that we had was shaken. I never thought that I would have to worry about my job with this company. Right before Christmas in 2006 several members of management were let go. To the workers on the floor it was a relief that they still had their jobs. Management always seemed a little overstaffed.

This past year there were suppose to be more cuts, but due to some people quitting and others getting fired, no cuts were necessary.

Today the ax fell again. This time all of the cuts were in the production area. I will say that some of the people who were cut deserved it. Others were just casualties. In all 37 people lost their jobs and joined the ranks of many others in American who will be searching for employment.

With this latest round of cuts, it makes me a little less confident in the company that I work for. I feel that it may be time for me to start making sure that I have something to fall back on in the event that I would become a casualty.

Hopefully the economy will take a turn for the good and there will be no need to worry. But until it does, NO ONE IS SAFE.

Yeti out......

Randomness.....

Since I had not updated this blog in a while I thought that I should. There has not been a whole lot going lately. I have been training harder trying to get ready for the Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon, which can be tracked on my other blog.

Last weekend was kind of a cluster. It all started off good and then quickly went to hell. Saturday I spent the morning putting my floor back down after getting all of the replacement pieces cut. Then it was the typical grocery shopping that has to be done on payday weekends. Sunday was my moms birthday, so I decided to have her over for a late breakfast. It was great. My aunt and her boyfriend showed up as well. After breakfast we broke out the Wii for a little bowling. My mom liked it so much that after she left my house she headed over to Best Buy and bought herself a Wii and Wii Fit.

A little while after everyone had left Autumn was walking down the hall. She was suddenly stopped by water coming out from under the floor! The damn dishwasher had obviously leaked again! So it was in to salvation mode. We had to tear up the entire hallway and a couple of strips in the living room. Luckily with acting quickly we were able to keep any of the flooring from sustaining any damage. I just could not believe that the dishwasher had not leaked in the week that I was waiting for my replacement floor to be delivered and that it waited until everything was put back together to leak. What are the odds. Everything is back down now. We just need to buy a new dishwasher. I am not chancing it again. The thing is a least 8 to 10 years old anyway.

As far as this week, all has been pretty good. On Wednesday Jade had her braces put on. She did quite well. We have not heard any complaints of pain or discomfort. They said that she would probably have them on anywhere from 12 to 18 months, depending on how things go.

The weather around here has been cold. But I am looking forward to the next couple of days. It is supposed to be near 50 today and tomorrow. Since this is the first decent weather we have had in awhile, Chris and I are planning on running later today.

Now I must try and get some things done around the house before a take a quick nap.

Yeti Out!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Crap!

I can't believe it, but Robin Williams is coming to the area! He will be at the Louisville Palace on Friday March 20th. The funny thing about this is that I was just talking about how he was not coming anywhere close. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it in this mornings paper. I will definitely be going, since I missed him last time.

Can't wait! It should be awesome.

Just had to share.

Yeti Out!!!!!!

Totally Random Post

This post is completely random, but I had not posted anything on this blog for awhile. I enjoy reading new things on the blogs that I follow, so I thought I would post something.

First off, it is official. I am old. As I was laying in bed last night around 1:00 am watching Vh1's 100 greatest rock songs. I saw the following commercial:



It was at that point that I realized I was old. SHIT!!!!!!!!

Next we have a couple of pictures that I took with the new 75-300 mm lens I received for Christmas. Enjoy.


I did go for a run this morning, but I have another blog for that. I will update it later.

Yeti Out!!!!!!!!