Monorail Resort Crawl

We woke up this morning without a plan. The girls were in the pool for hours yesterday and didn't really want to get back in right away. We knew that the Disney house would have a pool so we decided to take the bus to the monorail and visit the resorts along the monorail, they are The Contemporary, The Polynesian, and The Grand Floridian.

The monorail is an experience in itself. "Please stand back from the doors."

We first stopped at the Contemporary but no photos were available because I forgot. Next was The Polynesian. 

The girls love to shop - all of them. 

We had never been to The Grand Floridian. It lived up to its name. 

We had lunch with some custom dessert.

A return trip to the Monorail Terminal and the bus home.

SELFIE

The bus ride back to the car.

We checked into this house with our own pool. It will be home for the next 14 glorious days.

Our Old Friend Walt

The day began with anticipation and hope. We arrived at about 12:00 Noon at this sign:

Which always makes these faces.

We checked into the Carribean Beach Resort where we would stay for one night before checking into our house. We explored the property had lunch and then went to the pool.

We rode the Disney Buses to Disney Springs

Every year the Rainforest Cafe' sends me a $25 credit towards a birthday dinner. It was almost enough to feed us for a night of food and fun.

 The lego store led to a big challenge - The cars were built.

The big moment. Emily is in lane 2. Addison in lane 3. Olivia in lane 5. And the winner is ... you be the judge - it is a photo finish - There is a lot of controversy surrounding the whole thing.

More exploring and then back to Caribian Beach.

Why We Go

It seems that every time we take a significant vacation it is fraught with adversity. This year is no exception, in fact, it takes the cake. Even so, if there be any way that we can go - we go although others say we shouldn't. We know it is fun for our family, but more than that, we feel that it is important for us. It is important because it is who we are - together. We, like any family, have diverse interests but we all share an interest in travel and exploring the unexplored. When we travel, more than any other time, we grow together and it marks the time. It is not for everyone, but it is for us. It's our thing if you will. Megan and I came across a quote earlier that we believe applies to us and I think we will make it our theme for this vacation and perhaps for all of our adventures:

"We travel not so that we can escape life but so that life doesn't escape us!"

This is vacation 2019. Every day of it has been hard-fought in the planning and the preparation and the angst of not knowing we could pull this off. It is here and we are thankful to God, who is our provision, for this opportunity. We will not take one moment of it for granted. Welcome to it and we hope you can share our joy!

Delays and snafus got us off to a late start but this vacation begins like any other - in the car.

We called the hotel ahead because of a late check-in and the manager met us with towels in hand because he had kept the pool open past it's usual closing time so that we could swim for a little while after our long drive.

Blue Ridge Parkway Retreat

We weren't sure exactly where it would lead us but we we on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It took us to numerous overlooks.

Next we happened onto Flat Top Manor which was a summer retreat for the Moses Cone (Cone Textiles) back in the guilded age.

We found a great place to play in a stream

We had a picnic

We stopped at the Original Mast General Store

Gem Mining!

Just before our final night-time fire of the trip, these girls found a little stream on our property so we all set out on a hike to share the discovery

This picture does not convey the steepness of the this walk

I am not standing on tip toes ... that is the grade of this hill

Even though it was raining we had a another fire (much more difficult to get started) but served to warm us all in the cold rain.

The next morning we would drive back to home.  That was starting to set in now but it was a wonderful retreat.