Down to Florida

 

Tuesday we continued south through Tennessee to Lookout Mountain, which is just south of Chattanooga on the border of Tennessee and Georgia. The site was important during the Civil War, and the battlements are part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.

We walked around the site and watched a film at the visitor center, and enjoyed the views of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River below.  

From there we continued down to Atlanta, where we had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown, the 13th HRC we have visited. That night we arrived in Disney World, completing our fifth trip across America.

Driving Across US Part 2

 

Sunday morning, we turned south off of I-80 and took rural Nebraska highways through small towns to Homestead National Monument. The visitor center had a nice museum about the homesteading of the plains, as well as the Homestead Act in general, and we enjoyed walking around some of the outbuildings.

From there we headed down toward St Louis, where we visited with some of Susan's cousins. Yesterday, they joined us for lunch at the Hard Rock in St Louis (Number 11). 

From St Louis we drove across southern Illinois and Indiana to Nashville. I was hoping to visit the Parthenon, but we arrived just after it closed for the day. 

For dinner we went to the Hard Rock in Nashville, the twelfth we have been to, then drove a bit further before stopping for the night.

Driving across the US

After the kids had been out in Florida for a month, they started asking about a car, so a few days ago we headed out in a car loaded with stuff for them. Our first stop was off I-84 in Idaho, between Boise and Twin Falls. The Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and the Minidoka National Historic Site share a visitor center in Hagerman.

After checking out the visitor center we headed out to the sites. There wasn't a lot to see at the Fossil Beds, mostly views of the hills and the Snake River.  

The Minidoka site was more interesting. It's the remains of an old internment camp, where Japanese citizens were held during World War II. This site was fairly new, and might be worth a return visit in a few years as they fix it up.  

We proceeded across Wyoming on I-80 and into western Nebraska, where we were briefly delayed by a storm.

Cast Connection

 

A nice perk to being a cast member is shopping at Cast Connection. This store on the west side of property features left over merchandise from the parks and some groceries, sold at a pretty good discount. It also has old furniture that has been pulled from resorts or offices.

 

The kids continue to enjoy hanging out in the parks, the water parks, and Disney Springs when not at work.

 

Bryan spent his birthday going "around the world" at Epcot - having a drink at each of the World Showcase pavilions.

I spent the weekend in Bend adding a rock driveway to our pole barn.

DCP Part 2

Last week Bryan joined Jennifer at WDW. Jennifer ended up working mostly at Epcot at park arrivals, while Bryan was assigned to merchandise at MouseGear in Epcot. We flew out with Bryan.

We stayed at Coronado Springs and spent some time getting stuff the kids needed, but also at each park. The kids joined us when they could. Animal Kingdom had recently started staying open later at night, and it was nice to see projections on the Tree of Life, as well as doing a Safari ride after dark.

 

The new Norway expansion was opened at Epcot, and we rode the new Frozen ride. We also hung out a bit in the new DVC lounge above the Imagination pavilion. 

We also spent most of a day at Disney Springs, checking out what was new. Yesterday we flew home.

Summertime

While the rest of us spent most of July working or hanging out in Bend, Jennifer continued to hit the parks, usually with friends. She spent Independence Day at the Magic Kingdom.

Two weeks ago, Jenn flew back to attend the wedding of friends from Washington. Bryan served as a groomsman. We hung out in Centralia for a couple of days, then Jenn flew back to Florida. 

Last week, she spent her birthday visiting the parks. As usual, she and her friends wore themed outfits, and met characters.

This weekend my mom came up for a visit. We visited the Newberry National Volcanic Monument south of Bend, and took a short hike to the Benham falls on the Deschutes River.

Disney College Program

 

As soon as we got back from Japan, Jennifer headed out to Florida to start in the Disney College Program. She had tried to get into the program in previous years, but was not accepted due to her young age.

She moved into a room in one of the apartment complexes Disney maintains for the college program east of I-4 near Disney Springs, then went through the Traditions class and earned her ears and name tag.

She was assigned to work at Typhoon Lagoon. When she's not working she spends time in the parks, mostly dressing up and meeting characters.

The rest of us moved out of our rental in Beaverton, and into our house in Bend. I rented a room from a friend in Vancouver Washington, and usually drive to Bend on the weekends, but sometimes Susan comes over to stay with me in Vancouver. When I'm in Bend I often work on the pole barn, and sometimes I get visitors.