Sun & Laundry

I did trek to 'the largest Disney Store in the world' this morning and was thoroughly and utterly disappointed.  I couldn't believe that they don't carry the same merchandise as the parks do - and the entire reason I went there was because I hadn't bought much at the parks because I planned to do all my shopping at once in the LARGEST DISNEY STORE IN THE WORLD. 

Yes, they had a lot of things like the park but specifically, I waited to purchase things from the Epcot Flower & Garden show - park only.  Darn it! 

So I trekked back to Epcot all by myself - taking two boats and a bus to get there.  Then did the fastest shopping ever and was heading back to the hotel after only a little more than an hour.  And my BIG SPLURGE was buying a new Dooney & Bourke wallet in a Minnie Mouse garden theme - only a Flower & Garden show limited item.  I've needed a new wallet, it's super cute and super special and made the trip back to Epcot so worth it.  I hadn't seen the wallet there yesterday and wasn't looking for it - but there it was and I snapped it up.  All the items will be here at our hotel tomorrow after 2PM.  Just in time to put them in a suitcase.  I wanted to buy a lot of garden things but we really don't have a ton of room available - and I've spent more than enough already. 

J. had a great time playing golf - played with a family from Liverpool (England) and had a fun time.  We were both back at the hotel pretty close to each other and we headed to the pool with a suitcase of laundry to do.  A few days ago, I said 'let's do laundry' and he said 'why'?  But today, we decided to do a quick load - I'm out of shorts.  Only when we were getting ready to go, J. said 'well, let's do ALL the dirty laundry'.  Um, OK.  Sure.  I suggested that only a couple days ago and you said 'why?'.  But now you want to.  So we will.  And so we did.  Now we're going to leave out what we need for the next two days and then be almost done packing.

I got a good sun boost by swimming a bit and then sunning on a chaise.  I've got some good color this trip - definitely look like I've been somewhere and done some things - and am really going to try hard to keep it.  The pool is bath water temp and it's lovely to just walk right in - stay in as long as you want and feel refreshed when you get out and the breeze hits you. 

Our 4AM pickup time on Friday morning feels cruel but the only option was to take a later flight which would have us arriving into SFO late afternoon/evening - and then dealing with Friday commute traffic home.  No.  A very early rising is a small price to pay to be home in Tracy well before commute traffic including stopping to pick up our dogirini.  Saves us $35 and the hassle of driving back over the Altamont on Saturday morning.

We've ordered a room service pizza and two Caesar salads for dinner.  We just don't feel like trekking anywhere tonight.  Tomorrow, we'll go to the hotel restaurant for breakfast - only we're not making reservations and if it's too crowded when we're ready to eat, we'll head straight for The Magic Kingdom and find something to eat there.  I don't like having to set an alarm to go eat.  And it's likely the restaurant will have room even without a reservation.

It's sure been a lovely two weeks.  I've had messages from some work friends that they miss me and can't wait to hear all about the trip.  One friend said 'your vacation has me shopping for our summer vacation' and I wrote back 'you guys need a cruise and a Disneyworld week, too!  It's magical!'. 

It really has been a wonderful trip and I so look forward to doing it again.  I'm going to see if there's any way we can wedge in a few park days next year before our Panama Canal cruise.  And I'd really like to get to Universal Studios for the Harry Potter experience(s).  We'll see.