Trailer Trip

Our first stop was at Fort Rock State Park southeast of Bend. We then drove through the Sheldon National Antelope Refuge and stopped for the night in Winnemucca Nevada. 

Sunday we continued east into Utah and stopped at the Bonneville Salt Flats to stretch our legs. Then we drove to Moab for the night.  

Our next stop was at the Four Corners Monument, where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona meet. Owned by the Navajo Nation, the monument is surrounded by stands where tourists can buy native American art and small items. 

We continued on into New Mexico, passing Ship Rock, and stopped for the night.

Spring Update

 

Besides our trips to Disney World, nothing too exciting happened this spring. Lily got bigger, and Susan and I drove back and forth over the passes between Bend and Portland to spend time together. We made short trips down to Fresno in California and up to Seattle, but didn't get to do anything fun during them.

The kids continue to enjoy the parks with friends when not working. Bryan continues to pick up merchandise shifts on occasion.  

I interviewed for and was hired for a position for ODOT in Bend, and started on June 1st. Although I'll miss my co-workers in Beaverton, I'm looking forward to not driving over the pass weekly.

As Jenn's Disney College Program was coming to an end, we planned a trip out to Florida with our trailer to bring her back. Saturday, we loaded up and headed out through the Oregon Outback on our eighth trip across the U.S.A.

Pandora, World of Avatar

Yesterday, Bryan got to do a cast preview of the new Pandora, World of Avatar area at Animal Kingdom. The area is opening later this month in the old Camp Minnie-Mickey area. 

It has two rides, a boat ride and a simulator where guests "fly" over Pandora. Bryan said the latter, Flight of Passage, was amazing, and probably his favorite Disney ride ever. 

He went with a co-worker, and was impressed with the details and the look of the land. Besides the two rides, they enjoyed drinks at the bar and a meal at the counter-serve restaurant, 

Dapper Days at Disney World

 

At the end of April Susan flew out to Florida to visit the kids. On Saturday she and Jennifer attended Dapper Day at Magic Kingdom.

On Sunday they went to Epcot.  

On Friday I flew out to join them. We stayed in a villa at Saratoga, and spent one day checking out the Flower and Garden festival at Epcot. 

We spent another at Animal Kingdom, and had lunch at the new restaurant next to the future entrance to the Avatar land, Tiffins. It was very good. We flew home this morning.

Flower and Garden Festival

We made it to Disney World Monday afternoon and checked into a room at Saratoga Springs that looked out at Disney Springs.

Tuesday we went to Epcot for the Flower and Garden Festival. We rode a few attractions and checked out the gardens and topiaries. 

We also visited Jennifer at work. After her shift was over she and Bryan joined us for dinner at the Oktoberfest restaurant in the Germany pavilion. It features long, tiered tables that look down on a stage with traditional German entertainment. I really enjoyed it.

We flew home Wednesday.

Heading South

 

Sunday morning we crossed into Kansas. When we reached Hays, we turned south after a brief stop at Fort Hays State Historic Site.

We continued south to Fort Larned National Historic Site, where we stopped for a longer visit. Fort Larned was built in 1860 to protect travel on the Santa Fe Trail from hostile Native Americans, and served that purpose for almost 20 years before it was abandoned.

From there we continued mostly south to Tulsa Oklahoma. I was hoping to eat dinner at a Hard Rock Cafe there, but learned when we got there that the location only had a casino and hotel, so we ate at a Freddy’s nearby. We decided to drive all night to give us more time in Florida. It was raining hard with lots of lightning until we reached Arkansas. We continued southeast through Mississippi and got to Mobile Alabama the next morning.  

We stopped at the Memorial Battlefield park in Mobile to stretch our legs a bit, although we didn't tour the USS Alabama there, then continued east into Florida.

Across the USA again

Once it was clear they would be staying at Disney until at least the summer, the kids started asking about bringing them another car. I was able to get a few days off at the end of March, so we hit the road on our seventh trip across the U.S. We spent Friday driving to Utah with few stops.

   

After spending the night in Heber City, we continued east to Dinosaur National Monument. We spent a few hours checking out the visitor center and the "Wall of Bones" building, then continued east into Colorado.

We stopped for a bit in Steamboat Springs, then continued on into Denver. 

We ate dinner Saturday night at the Hard Rock downtown (this was the 18th we've been to) and walked around a bit, then drove a few more hours before stopping for the night.