Westward

Monday morning, we stopped at Ocmulgee National Monument near Macon, Georgia. This site preserves Native American mounds. We then drove across Alabama and Mississippi and stopped in Vicksburg for the night.

Tuesday morning we visited Vicksburg National Military Park. Vicksburg was important in the Civil War because it could be used to control traffic on the Mississippi river.

In the afternoon we visited Poverty Point National Monument in northern Louisiana, which is also about the Native American mound-builders.

South Carolina

On Saturday we left Disney World and headed up to Hilton Head, South Carolina, for the night. We stayed at Disney's resort there, in a villa in a building by the pool.

We walked along the beach near the Beach House Sunday morning.

Leaving Hilton Head, we headed northwest to near Columbia and picked up Lily, our new Sheltie, then headed west on our sixth trip across the U.S.

Grandstand

On Thursday we moved into a villa at Saratoga Springs. We stayed in the Grandstand area, which is nice because it's close to the main pool and boat dock to Disney Springs and is the first stop on the bus route, so it's easy to get a seat on the bus in the morning when heading to the park, and you're first off coming back when you're tired from being in the park all day. It's also got a nice quiet pool. 

At the Studios, the old Pizza Planet restaurant had been changed into PizzeRizzo, and themed to the Muppets, which is appropriate because it's across from the Muppet 3D movie. 

At Epcot, the Food & Wine Festival ended, and the holiday decorations went up. I enjoyed checking out the exhibit about Shanghai Disney in the China pavilion. 

Wilderness Lodge

On Sunday, we moved to a Wilderness Lodge DVC one bedroom villa. From our balcony we could see the progress they were making on building the new DVC cabins along the lakeshore.

That night we attended a Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom. Jennifer enjoyed meeting special characters, and we all enjoyed the holiday decorations and snacks. 

We enjoyed walking around the resort. Near the pool they are building a new restaurant. They are also adding another pool.

This morning we went to Animal Kingdom, where work continued on the new Pandora area. 

And Disney World Yet Again

Last Friday, Susan and I flew out to Disney World again. On Saturday we went to Epcot, where Jennifer enjoyed the fall Dapper Day. 

We also checked out the Food & Wine Festival offerings, including the Festival Center, in the old Wonders of Life pavilion. There were several dioramas inside made of chocolate that were really cool. We ate lunch at Le Cellier in Canada, which was very good. 

The first couple of nights we stayed at Pop Century. This morning we drove down to Celebration to see where Bryan worked, and had lunch nearby.

Fall update

A nice feature of working at Disney World, especially for those in merchandise, is the ability to work in different locations. Earlier this month, the kids got to work together at Disney World when Jenn picked up a shift at Mousegear in Epcot.

When they aren’t working, the kids enjoy going to the parks. Last month they attended a Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom with friends. 

They also checked out the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot.

I generally spend the weekends in Bend, and when I have time work on the pole barn. A friend helped me pull wire and install a subpanel early in the month, and since then I’ve been adding lights and outlets. 

Disney World again

Our first three nights we stayed in a studio at Bay Lake Tower, right next to the Magic Kingdom.

Thursday night Susan and Jennifer attended the Halloween Party at MK, while Bryan and I hung out in Epcot and watched Illuminations.  

Friday and Saturday nights we stayed in a concierge room at the Grand Floridian. We spent some time at Epcot, but we also spent a lot of time enjoying the pool and the complementary snacks and drinks at the hotel. Yesterday we flew home.