Bruce's Travels

Wed. 12/28 We wake to a leisurely breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and coffee, and reflect on the last five days.   Her fave park was DAK. The best meal was a toss up between Tarintino’s and Johnnie’s. But mostly, she just enjoyed getting away, soaking up the warm temps, and spending time with her big brother. We both agreed Orlando was crazy busy during Christmas week and tried to reconcile this with all the bad economic news pervading the airwaves. I guess people are not willing to give up their vacations, and will put the expenses on their charge cards if necessary and deal with it later. We have one more meal stop before I take Dawn to the airport, and that is Five Guys Burgers. There’s one not too far from the condo on Kirkman Ave., so we head over there. Dawn gets a single; I get a double. We share a Diet Coke (unlimited refills) and a small fries, and I shell some peanuts. Everything is delicious. As with most restaurant chains, it will only be a matter of time before Five...

Tuesday 12/27 I’m taking Dawn around town today to show her the animal shelter and the IKEA store, and take her to lunch at Firehouse Subs. Our first stop is the animal shelter where I introduce her to Patsy Porter, the volunteer coordinator. Patsy is cordial to Dawn and I, but I can tell she is busy (as usual) so I keep things short, and I volunteer for a couple of additional shifts, which she puts me down for. Afterward, I take Dawn to the cat condo and the cat general population area, and we get out several cats and kittens to play with, which is very much fun. Dawn especially likes this particular grey kitten, and wants me to follow up to see whether it gets adopted. We leave the shelter. It’s about lunch time now and we are getting kind of hungry. There’s a Jiffy Lube right on the way, and the Prius needs an oil change, so I stop for their standard $39.95 oil change, and it ends up costing me $91 with tax because I need a couple of air filters, one for the engine, and the other fo...

Monday, 12/26 I spend part of the morning perusing the internet for a decent dining spot for tonight’s dinner. I am tired of mediocre food, and want to have one killer meal with Dawn before she leaves. I find a nice steak/seafood place on tripadvisor called Johnnie’s Hideaway at the Crossroads Shopping Center, which I know where it is, and the place has gotten rave reviews. So I call them and make a 6:30 reservation, and we hope for the best. Today is Disney Animal Kingdom (DAK) so we head over there and get inside the gate around 11 a.m. We get one of the Disney photographers to take our photo in front of the Tree of Life, and here it is: We head over to Africa for a Fast Pass on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, but find that the standby wait is only 30 minutes, so we stand in line instead and get the ride in about 20 minutes. The 20-or-so-minute ride is very entertaining, and Dawn gets a seat on the left side of the vehicle, which is the best. We see the antelope, the birds, the rhinos,...

12/25 Sunday We rise to breakfast at the condo, and I open my gift from Dawn, which is a copy of the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. Following breakfast, we decide that we’ve given Disney enough of our money that past couple of days, so we head over to Pointe Orlando along I-Drive because there is a multiplex cinema there (I saw “Sherlock Holmes” there just a while back). We park, buy our theater tickets in advance for “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” ($8.50 each for matinee), and wander the mall a little while because it’s only noon, and the movie starts at 1 p.m. We notice many of the businesses and restaurants are closed, but Opa (the Greek place) is open, as well as Johnny Rockets. We also check out next door to the mall at “Wonderworks,” the tilted mansion, which houses the comedy/magic/all-you-can-eat-pizza show every night. They are open, so we wander in, and tour the small gift shop there as well as a snack bar, but we don’t get to see much of the building because most of...

Saturday 12/24 After our big day at Epcot, we decide to slow down the pace a little bit and just do a little leisurely shopping and knoshing at Downtown Disney (DD). We arrive about 11 a.m. after breakfast at the condo of pancakes with real maple syrup and bacon and coffee and peeled/sectioned Indian River (Florida) grapefruit. We check out a couple of stores, including the giant “Disney Crap Store,” which houses all souvenirs Disney from T-Shirts, to princess outfits, to coffee mugs, to ice cube trays. There’s even a salon for little girls so for around $100 your daughter/granddaughter, niece, whatever, can have her hair and makeup done, and photographs taken (for another C-note), to complete the look. We check out the movie offerings at the cinema (but do not see a movie), and another cool store called “Basin,” which offers soap, shampoo, bath salts, etc. For lunch, we check out a new place (new for us) called “Earl of Sandwich,” which serves hot sandwiches on this fabulous bread (mo...

Friday 12/23 We awake, have breakfast, and shower, and head over to Epcot to spend the day, getting into the park at about 11 a.m. The park is VERY busy, and we make a beeline for “The Land” exhibit so we can get a Fast Pass to “Soarin’” Our ride time is between 6:30 and d 7:30 p.m., and soon after that, all Fast Passes for the ride are distributed for the day. We head over to the World Showcase, starting with Canada, and make our way around, getting as far as Germany (where we buy a couple of milk-chocolate covered caramels) before heading back to the United Kingdom, where we have 1:15 p.m. lunch reservations. We split an order of fish and chips, which is very good, and I have a Harp lager which is lovely. It is quite warm today, so the cold beer tastes very good. We later learn the Orlando in fact broke a record for warm temperature today at 85 degrees, surpassing the previous record high for this date of 84 degrees. We have a charming waiter named Alan from Belfast Northern Island, ...

Thursday 12/22 My 11 to 4 shift at the animal shelter goes well today. In addition to showing lots of cats, I also help out over in the dog kennels, showing a Yorkie and an 8-month old pit bull pup. I get done and head over to 24 Hour Fitness for a workout and swim. When I get out, there a couple messages on my phone from Dawn, so I call her cell number and find out her flight from Milwaukee has been delayed for a couple hours for reasons known only to Southwest Airlines. So now she will arrive in Orlando at 12:15 a.m. instead of 10:40 p.m. I tell her that’s fine, to just hang in there, and I’ll her when she gets here. I go to the Target store and pick up some needed things, including some diet Canada Dry ginger ale, which I know she likes. I go back to the condo and make a dinner of a ground turkey patty, some hashbrowns, and carrot sticks. I decided to lay down, and set the alarm for 11:15 p.m. I just rest, but do not sleep. I   get up at 11:15 a,d head to the airport, about a 20...

Wed. 12/21 Today I decide to visit “City Walk,” the giant shopping/eating venue at Universal Studios. The City Walk is “free,” but you still must pay the $15 for parking, but I feel it’s worth it because I want to see what they’ve done with the place since I was last there in 2004 with Gwen (and the highlight was our meal at Emeril’s Restaurant). I get there, and park in what must surely be the mother of all multi-level parking garages, at least those that are privately owned. I am parked in the “Cat in Hat,” area, row 431, which puts me in the fourth level. I start with a walk from end to end, with Universal Studios on one end, and “Islands of Adventure” on the other. Sure enough, they have added a whole new “side” to the City Walk, which contains a Blue Man Group theater, a concert venue sponsored by Hard Rock Café, and two more restaurants, one of which is a Hard Rock, and the other an NBA Basketball themed restaurant. I walk past the places where Gwen and I ate, including Emerils, ...

Tuesday 12/20 Today, I will visit Disney Hollywood Studios (DHS), the one remaining park I haven’t visited so far this winter season. In some ways, this is my least favorite park of the four, not necessarily because it isn’t “fun” but because of the way the park is designed. It’s the most difficult park to get in and out of because it’s been crammed into a piece of property that’s too small. It’s also the smallest of the four parks, and tends to get overjammed with people. This will be an especially busy day today because there are TWO performances of “Fantasmic,” and people tend to flock to DHS when Fantasmic is performed, because it is such a huge and expensive show that the park does not do it every night. But before I can head over, I have another chore to take care of, and that is getting Aunt Pat’s Christmas card off in the mail with her gift of $50 cash. I have let this go until the last possible moment, and I must get this taken care of, or risk having the card arrive after Ch...

Monday 12/19 We seem to have a shortage of cats and kittens today at the shelter. I think they did one of those “off site” adoptions this weekend at one of the Pet Smarts in the Orlando area, and it must have been very successful. Both the cat condo and the general cat population area are about half full. Still, though, lots of cats, and I busy myself with socializing them and cleaning their cages. I sign off on several adoption forms, but how many of these actually go out the door I do not know because these sign-offs (showing the office staff that Introduced the cat to the prospective owner) are late in the day, and sometimes the paperwork can take up to an hour depending on how busy the up front office is. I do have one touching story: a woman who appeared to be in her late 30s or early 40s came in looking for a white cat (more like an 8-month kitten) who was in a cardboard box nursing 4 kittens of her own, and someone had left the entire box by the side of some road. She took t...

Sat/Sun 12/17 and 12/18/11 With this being the last full weekend for holiday shopping, I don’t think it’s wise to go anywhere near the malls today or tomorrow, so I just lay low. Saturday morning I change out the kitty litter. I make a trip to Walgreens for a comb and some hair conditioner. I never usually use conditioner, but I think all the chlorine in the swimming pool and whirlpool at the fitness center is wreaking havoc with the little bit of hair that I have left, so I’m hoping the conditioner will put a little bit of moisture back. I have lunch at Firehouse Subs, then get a brownie at Bubba Lou’s Bodacious Bar b Que and have it with a cup of Starbuck’s Coffee because this particular Starbucks does not sell brownies, and the gal masquerading as a barista behind the counter claims they've never had brownies. I did not realize this, but the bakery items are not consistent from store to store, which is kind of maddening. She tries to sell me instead on a Salted Caramel Sweet Squ...

Friday 12/16 I need to get my eBay packages mailed today, especially since all three are international destinations. I start by locating a Fed Ex/Kinkos office center, because I have no printer with me. The closest one is located in a giant Marriott hotel/convention center about 6 miles away. I head over there, and thankfully they are not very busy there because there are no conventions going on this close to Christmas. I get my labels printed, and the printing plus the computer time (about 10 minutes) comes to around $8. I know that sounds like a lot, but it’s still cheaper in my mind than going out and buying a printer and paying for toner cartridges and lugging the damn printer around. Next, I head over to post office. And despite near bedlam conditions in the lobby, I actually get in and out pretty quickly. I need to overcome my phobia of the infamous International Drive (called I-Drive by the folks down here). Ever since Dawn and I had that hair-raising experience last winter of...

Thursday 12/15 I was thinking of going to Disney Hollywood Studios, but after the hectic day yesterday, I decide to take things a little more easy. There is a spa at the shopping center where the fitness center is called “Massage Envy,” and they are advertising first-time customer massages for $39 for 60 minutes. That’s too good to pass up, so I call them and they can get me in at 1 p.m. today. I pack the gym bag, but with no intention of working out; only to use the pool and whirlpool at the fitness center after the massage. I get checked in at Massage Envy, fill out the paperwork, and am introduced to “Eileen,” my massage therapist. She does a nice job, concentrating on my neck and shoulders, which I’ve requested. Not the best massage I’ve ever had, but certainly very nice, and Eileen is “chatty,” and gives me a couple of tips about navigating Orlando, specifically to take Universal Blvd. when trying to get anywhere on I-Drive, since Universal parallels I-Drive and is much less busy ...

Wed. 12/14 Today is another 5 hour shift at the animal shelter. Things get off to a good start, but then somebody wants to see one of the kittens, and I discover her hind quarters and rear legs are covered in her own poop. Is there anything more pitiful? So I do the best I can to wash her off, with her screaming and flailing her little razor tipped claws all the while. I manage to get her cleaned up, and the lady adopts her (whatever it takes for a good cause I guess) but now my volunteer T-shirt smells of kitty poop, and I guess it’s OK because it goes well with the cat urine I got on myself because I handled a Persian who apparently peed all over herself coming out of anesthesia. So I feel I really earned my stripes today. But then I walk into the break room, and some shelter employee is selling hot dogs for a buck apiece to help United Way. I of course oblige, but then she hits me up for a $10 scented candle, and this is where I draw the line, and politely say no. And I am reminded ...

Tues. Dec. 13 Today is the first visit to DAK. It’s a gorgeous day today weatherwise. I get to the park about 11 a.m., and the park looks to be pretty busy. I’m parked in the “Dinosaur” lot, which is the second lot out from the entrance. I tram in, get through the entrance, and head to “Expedition to Everest” which is the signature ride in the park, only to find it closed due to repairs. It never re-opens the entire day, and there is a lot of disappointment in the park. So I go for the Kali River Rapids instead, donning my poncho. I draw the unlucky straw, and am seated on the leading edge of the raft as it goes over the falls. The poncho protects me somewhat, but the entire seat of my pants gets soaked as the tsunami of water spills over my head. It is great fun. I stop at the “Yak and Yetti” café and get a not-too-terrible cup of coffee for $2.99 to go with the half of an energy bar that I brought along. I find a secluded table around the corner from the main seating, and enjoy my co...

Monday Dec. 12 Today is a banner day at the Orange County Animal Shelter. I go there expecting it’s not going to be very busy day, and I end up adopting out six kitties … all of them kittens. So along with my usual duties of socializing the cats, cleaning cages, scooping poop, etc., it turns out to be a busy day. We also get in to the cat condo an adult female, medium hair, who is just the sweetest girl, but has the nastiest upper respiratory infection I have ever seen. She labors just to breathe, and she has a nasty cough. But she cuddles up to me and purrs (it sounds kind of like a gurgle), and I try to give her extra attention. I hope she is able to pull a miracle and get over this cold, but I don’t think chances are good. I also get my first nasty scratch of the season --- about a 2.5 incher on my left arm – from a six month old tabby. She didn’t mean to … she just flailed her front arms while I was trying to put her down, and she caught me with one of her claws. Here is a picture ...

Saturday/Sunday Dec. 10 & 11 Things are somewhat falling into a routine here, so I’m going to combine blog entries like I did last winter. Saturday is earmarked for some routine chores, so I changed out the kitties’ litter boxes, and put them in the dining room to get them out of the guest room in preparation for Dawn’s visit. There’s   no furniture in the dining room anyway, so this is a good place for them. I also went to Walgreens to get my prescriptions set up. There was only one pharmacist on duty, and he only wanted to set up the three Rx’s that I was out of, so it looks like I will have to make at least one more trip to get everything set up. Chalk up another example of how everything is harder than you think. I got back to the condo and decided to go down for a nap this afternoon. Abby keeps me company and lies still next to me the whole time. Very sweet, and a rare occurrence from Abby who I swear suffers from kitty A.D.D. I get up around 4 p.m., pack the gym bag and h...

Friday Dec. 9 A full day today.  I arrive at Epcot at about noon, park, ride the tram and get through the entrance. Looks like a medium-busy kind of day. It’s Friday, so I figure it will be busier than other weekdays. I ride the major Rides (Test Track, Soarin’, and Spaceship Earth) but mostly just laze in the World Showcase, wandering the 13 countries. I make dinner reservations for Dawn and I on the 23rd … lunch at the Rose & Crown Pub/Tavern, and dinner at the Nine Dragons. I get a coffee Americano at Italy and have it with an energy bar that I bring along for “lunch” to try and reign in expenses a little bit. I have a nice conversation with a couple from Fairbanks, Alaska, at the Rose and Crown terrace. They have traveled here in motor home. First flying from Fairbanks to Las Vegas, where they have their motorhome parked, and then motoring across to Florida. They are parked at the Wilderness Reort and Campground, and use Disney Transportation to get around. I tell them ab...

Thursday Dec. 8 The inside of the condo is cold enough this morning (66 degrees on the thermostat) that I have to turn on the heat! It got into the 40s last night, and today’s high is only supposed to be 61. I start out with a Florida Navel orange and coffee, and a little later have oatmeal and a piece of peanut butter toast. My second shift of the week at the Animal Shelter starts at noon, so I spend the morning doing blog and internet. I pack a sandwich and my gym bag and head over the shelter and sign in. I help adopt out two kitties, one goes to an androgynous couple in their 20s where I can’t really tell if they’re both girls or boys or one of each, or whatever, so I just refer to them in the generic “you guys.” But at least they have their own cat carrier to take the kitty home, so it looks like they have a clue. The other adopter is well-dressed 40s something cougar with a boob job who’s dressed in form-fitting designer clothes and wants me to know she lives in “Doctor Phillip...

Wed. Dec. 7 Taking it easy Up at 8 a.m. and start with coffee and grapefruit.   I am contemplating another Disney park today, but decide against it and just take things easy in the morning, catch up on the blog and internet surfing, play with Phoebe and Abby, and cook part 2 of my breakfast, consisting of two over easy eggs, sausage, and one piece of toast. I do list one watch on eBay from the “stash” of watches I have brought with me. I decided that four months would be too long a time without producing at least a little income, so I brought some inventory with me, and of course have my digital camera to take pictures to upload with the listings. At around 1:30, I finally get dressed and head out. First stop is a dollar store for a couple of batteries for my bedside clock. I score a pack of 2 Panasonic AAA’s for a dollar. Is it just me, or have the “big name” battery makers like Duracell and Energizer gone apeshit with the packing and “bundling” to the point where you can’t get aw...