Back in Carman

We are back in Carman after our vacation and pleasantly surprised with the nice weather. Hopefully the cars will start. We didn't have internet access (too broke to buy it) the last night in Madison, so I will do both days in one post. We left Chattanooga early Friday and continued our tradition of trying to drive by sporting facilities as often as possible. Below is the Titan's stadium in Nashville. Just out of the picture on the left is the Gaylord Entertainment Center where the Predators play. I just like to say Gaylord.
We made good time and spent time laughing at the people going the other way in the picture below near Louisville. There was an accident which closed the whole interstate and caused an hour or two delay. Justice prevailed as we took about 2 1/2 hours to get through Chicago, when it should have taken 45 minutes. It's funny how that works.
We stopped in Madison again and stayed at the Red Roof Inn. We left early again Saturday, hoping to be home in good time. We stopped for lunch in Minneapolis at Culver's Butterburgers and had some of their delicious cheeseburgers. If this sounds like an endorsement, it is, as we all think they have the best burgers around. I highly recommend them if you are in Grand Forks or anywhere south of there.

Gus enjoyed his burger, but shortly after we had to make an unscheduled stop at a rest area. As you can see by the smile on his face, we made the stop just in time. After a quick shop in Grand Forks, we made it across the border in good time and were in Carman by 6:30.

This ends our trip and the blog. I hope you had as much fun reading it as we had bringing it to you. (Now that sounds corny)((Too much Disney))

Please check back occasionally as we will keep family and friends updated on the Gottfred Family Adventures as they happen along.

Trip Home

We began the drive home today at about 8:20 after we all slept in. Every one was a little tired after yesterday's full day in Orlando. We are all looking forward to getting home to the balmy weather in Carman. We understand school was closed today and the boys were disappointed that they weren't home to stay home.

Here is a picture of Brave's Stadium in Atlanta. It was the home of the 1996 Olympics.
We arrived in Chattanooga at about 5:00 and checked into the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. It is in the old train station and is an American Historic site. It's not in the best area of town, but it should be fine. It will be an early night tonight as we plan on putting in a full day tomorrow. We are not sure where we will be stopping tomorrow as the weather may effect the driving.
Jack's Best: Doesn't have one.

Jack's worst: Missing a close gas station (I drove around for 20 minutes looking for one)

Gus's Best: Nice Hotel.

Gus's worst: Missing snow day at school.

Last day at Disney

It was our last day at Disney today and we tried to fit everything all in. We started at Magic Kingdom where we had a couple of tries at Buzz Lightyear and then Angie, Jack and I went on Space Mountain. Here are the boys with Stich.
I then left to go golfing with Nick at Stoneybrook. (Shot 76 and made 2 dollars) The family went on some more rides at Magic Kingdom aand then on to MGM for the stunt ride show. (below) Apparently it is really cool. THey had lunch there and went on to Epcot. I met them there at 6:00 after my golf and we went on Test Track and Soaring again.
Below is a picture of the boys with their new girlfriend.
After Epcot, I dropped Angie at the hotel to do the laundry, (remind her of home) and I took the boys to Disney Quest. It's 11:00 now and time for bed. We will be staying in Chattanooga tomorow.

Gus's best: can't think
Gus's worst: going home
Jack's best: car stunt show
Jack's worst: We're leaving

Two more days in FLA :(

It was our second last day in Florida and it was once again interesting. We decided to stay away from the parks and get ready for the hockey game in Tampa. We started by going to Downtown Disney for a walk and lunch. We tried to get a walk up appointment at the Bipity Bipitee Boutique for the boys to get made up like princesses, but it was too busy to get in. Perhaps the Petrie girls were there ahead of us.
We walked over to Planet Hollywood for an overpriced lunch and with our $15 coupon, it came close to being what it should have been. There was some neat memorabilia there though, including Dorothy's dress from the Wizard of Oz and the Clampett's Jalopy from the Beverly Hillbillies. If the Freestyle breaks down, maybe we could use that with Angie Sitting in the chair on the back.

We then headed to Tampa for the hockey game. Since we had lots of time, we headed over to Madiera Beach, where Angie had stayed a few times with the Coles and we had been once before. We walked by Sea View condo and then did some beachcombing. The boys each got a few treasures and Angie decided this is where we would retire to if we win the lottery.

After a delicious $8.89 dinner at Costco (for all 4 of us), we headed over to the Lightning arena. We were pleased to find our tickets at Will Call and even more pleased to find them situated in the Club Level right at center ice. The arena is beautiful and underscores the difficulty Winnipeg will have to try and bring the NHL back. It was a great game with the Lightning holding on for a 3-2 win. Crosby, St Louis and Lecavelier all looked great. It would be a pleasure to be able to watch that Tampa team every night.

We are looking at a full day at the parks tomorrow, and I'm taking the afternoon off for one more game of golf with Nick. I am planning to meet the family later back at the parks.

Gus's Best: Hockey game
Gus's Worst: Headache at the game.

Jack's Best and Worst unavailable at this time. (sound asleep)

Here is a nice picture of Sidney making a move in the Tampa end.

Day Two at Disney

Day two at Disney was also very exciting. With Angie's hectic schedule, I haven't had time to shave.
We started the day at Animal Kingdom park. We took the Safari ride right away and were rewarded with many beautiful animal sightings. They say that the morning is the best time to see them. Gus, Jack and I then proceeded to Kali River Rapids, which is a wild water ride. I went once, Jack three times and Gus four times. Angie then quickly herded us over to Camp Minnie Mickey, where the characters are available for pictures. Below is a nice picture of us and Donald, although we are thinking about sueing Disney for Donald putting his hand on Jack's shoulder.
Angie had gotten us fast passes for the new ride, Expedition Everest. Jack will tell you all about it when we get back as he took Angie and then me on the "climb". Gus passed on the ride, but made up for it later at Blizzard Beach.
After lunch, Angie took the boys to Blizzard Beach, where they had a great time. They eventually got the nerve to try the big slide "Summit Plummet". You go straight downhill on the slide with the boys both achieving top speed of 52 miles per hour on the way down. Below is a picture of Jack at the top of the slide. Gus always let Jack go first.
In the evening, we went to MGM Studios. It was interesting, although not as many rides as at the other parks. We went on the great movie ride and saw a movie about Walt. Angie couldn't find a partner for Tower of Terror, so she went on it herself. Below is a nice picture of Jack with the big hat. We finally were able find a hat that fits his big head.
We have now settled in for the night and are watching the Florida/Ohio State football game. Angie and Gus are wearing Florida clothing, but it hasn't worked so far with the openong kick being returned for a TD by Ohio State.

Jack's Best: Expedition Everest
Jack's Worst: Can't think of one.
Gus's Best: Summit Plummet
Gus's Worst: Sore feet.

Football game is tied now, so Angie and Gus can keeptheir clothes on.

1st Day at Disney

It's 11:15 in the evening and we just got back from our first day at Disney. Jack is already asleep and the rest of are not very far behind. The day started with us leaving the lovely Clarion Hotel. Both Jack and Angie are complaining about bug bites which I think came from their beds there. Thankfully everything went uphill from there. We started the day at Epcot and found the Disney marathon was finishing there. There were 12,000 runners and it was very inspiring to watch. Angie claims that she will run this marathon some day, but I won't hold her to it. Below is some of the runners.
Angie's sister Sandy requested a picture of Angie and I so we have one below. Jack managed to get a shot of my scooter in the picture. It was a godsend.
We went on a few rides at Epcot with the highlights being Test Track and Soaring. After Epcot we checked in at our room at the All Star resort. The boys love the theme and the football field.
In the evening, we went to the Magic Kingdom, where they had extended hours for resort guests. We stayed until about 10:30. We were able to get in a few good rides with Jack and I daring to go on Space Mountain. There was also a spectacular fireworks show .
Both Gus and Jack are disappointed that they are not able to be back at school tomorrow, and hope that their classes don't miss them too much. I will wait until tomorrow for their best and worst, as both are near comatose. We are excited for Tuesday night as well as we arranged for some tickets to the Penguins/Lightning game in Tampa. Goodnight for now.

Another late post

We just checked into the Disney All Star resort about a 1/2 hour ago and Angie and the boys are down by the pool. I couldn't get an internet connection last night at the Clarion Universal. I won't recommend that hotel to anyone. Constant smell in the room and looking very old.

I feel lousy today as I am coming down with a doozer of a cold. I will tough it out at the parks and try not to slow every one down. We will put a more complete post on the site tonight.

January 5th (a little late)

Today's post is a little late. We were at the Dunleavy's last night and for some reason weren't able to find the time to write.

We checked out of the Omni after getting our last serving of fruit juice and coffee. True to Angie's word they weren't on the final bill, so we were able to get away without doing dishes.

I went golfing in the morning while Angie and the boys went went on a surprise visit to Typhoon Lagoon. They are closing it down for a month of rejuvenation today and this was the last chance to get there. Apparently every body had fun with the highlights being the wave pool (below) and the new ride the Crush N' Gusher.

My golf was a lot of fun as I played at Wedgefield with Nick, his neighbor John and his sandbagger friend Steve. I played pretty well considering I had all borrowed clubs and shoes. Thanks to Nick's friend Jay, the Adams rep, I had a pretty good set a was able to fire a 77.
Steve, a surprisingly short hitter, chipped in twice for birdies and sunk a 150 shot for an eagle 2 on the 7th hole. All this with a 8 handicap. Of course he wasn't my partner when any of this happened.

After golf we decided to celebrate Neighbor John's birthday. Even though it isn't for a few days, Nick and his neighbors seem to look for any excuse for a street party. He lives a few doors down from Nick and Amy and we had lots of fun. Except for Gus, Jack and David, all the kids were girls, and we tried to make sure a "spin the bottle" game didn't break out.

Below the boys are enjoying some ice cream "apres party"

We don't have a whole lot planned for today, but I will try and post tonight to keep our fans happy.

It was another ho-hum day here in Florida. After our juice and coffee delivered to our room in the morning, we ventured into Orlando to try and do some shopping. Angie searched for a Kohl's store and we found a new one on the other side of town. Fortunately there was a SuperTarget and T J Max not too far away. Angie was not up to her usual shopping self as she was only able to find a nice Florida Gator windshirt.


Below is the view out our window this morning.
After shopping we went to Chili's for lunch and true to form, we had another excellent meal. I've still never had a bad meal there. Back to the hotel for a swim where Angie and the boys spent most of the afternoon around the pool. After supper at TGI Fridays, I took the boys down to the pool again for a little evening fun. Below is Jack and I on the lazy river.
Tomorrow should be interesting as I will attempt to go golfing with Nick and a couple buddies. I will be borrowing some clubs from Nick and won't have any golf shoes. Of course some of you are snickering that it won't make any difference to my game, but I will be putting with a short putter which should really make it interesting. We will be staying at Nick and Amy's house tomorrow night, so the boys should have lots of fun with David. Curfew is here, so we'll be back tomorrow.

Jack's Best: The Pool

Jack's Worst: Hurting his knee playing tennis

Gus's Best: The Pool

Gus's Worst: Last night at the Omni

January 3rd - Evening

We had another nice day in Orlando, but not too many exciting stories to tell. After we had our complimentary freshly squeezed OJ and coffee delivered to our room this morning, we went to Downtown Didney. We stopped at a candy shop where the boys were able to design their own treats. Suffice to say they were very pleased with their results. I'm sure neither one was more than 1500 calories.

After the candy, the boys posed with Nicole Ritchie outside one the toy stores. We could all see that her eating disorder is well under control.
Angie is very pleased with all the perks her "select guest" membership is bringing us here at the Omni. In addition to the room upgrade and the morning beverages is the evening turn down along with the chocolate mints. If this turns out to be a scam we could be washing dishes and doing laundry for a week.

Gus's Best: Watching Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl

Gus's Worst: Heavy rain this evening.

Jack's Best: Downtown Didney

Jack's Worst: The rain.

Early January 3

These pictures were from last evening. I'm sure we are the only Canadians staying at the Omni as Gus and Jack were the only people in the entire pool complex. They were able to enjoy the lazy river, basketball and hot tub. Mike and I sat by the pool with sweatshirts on as the air temperature was only about 60 F. This morning we are off to Downtown Disney to spend some money shopping. Then we will come back to use the pool this afternoon - forcast is good so I'm sure Gus and Jack can find some cute girlfriends in bikinis later.

January 2, Hotel change

January 2nd is here and in honor of that I am using a new font. How can you tell that I am becoming a computer geek? We went for dinner last night at our friends Nick and Amy's for a meal of wonderful Buddy Burgers. They have a son the same age as Jack (David), and they had lots to talk about. David is one of about 25 kids his age in Orlando that plays hockey, so he welcomed other kids that play as well. Here the boys are playing on David's new Wii console and doing very well. It was a fun evening and the hospitality was wonderful. (We have to be nice because we are mooching a night or two at their place.

We moved into the Omni at Championsgate just east of Orlando today. It's another beautiful hotel. Angie signed up for a select group membership a few month's ago and it paid off with a free upgrade to a room on the top floor with a balcony. The Presidential Suite is right across the hall. I'm sure the only reason we didn't get that room was because of some of my disparaging comments in earlier posts. Here is a picture of Gus and Jack shooting some hoops in the drizzle. That hope of a couple of basketball scholarships may be a little premature.

Gus's Best: Seeing his friend David and playing the Wii.

Gus's Worst: His feet hurt.

Jack's Best: Going to Davids.

Jack's Worst: Leaving Davids.

We will be spending Friday night at Davids, so that should cheer them up.

January 1, 2007

We have had a relaxing day at the hotel. After a spirited game of touch football, the boys were rewarded with some Ice Cream Treats. Notice in the picture below that Mike has drifted off again! He keeps falling into a deep sleep at every opportunity today. It must be the recovery process from too much celebrating last night.

We hear that there has been a dusting of snow back home!!!!

Happy New Year from the Gottfred's