Mini TR for another Boston Road Trip - updated Nov 22

[KathyM2]

Good plan.
Can I just go to bed now and wake up Jan 1, 2022?????

Geeez and here I thought "I" was a pessimist lol

 

[pkondz]

Geeez and here I thought "I" was a pessimist lol

 

[Steppesister]

How are the holidays going for everyone?

I worked on Christmas Day but the kids and I had a nice long weekend at the Oregon Coast over New Years which made up for it. Hope you are staying warm, healthy and happy, Kathy. Just now finally making my way back onto the threads I've neglected, including my own, and getting myself re-introduced around here. I miss the company of my DisPeeps.

man that sh*& is expensive

Yep... and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[KathyM2]

I worked on Christmas Day but the kids and I had a nice long weekend at the Oregon Coast over New Years which made up for it. Hope you are staying warm, healthy and happy, Kathy. Just now finally making my way back onto the threads I've neglected, including my own, and getting myself re-introduced around here. I miss the company of my DisPeeps.

Hey thanks for stopping by!!! Sounds like a lovely holiday!! Mostly staying warm here - so far the weather has been relatively mild (by Canadian standards lol) I probably just jinxed us to a polar vortex...but yeah! Actually was thinking of you because my son is applying to University of Portland and University of Denver...and we have never been to either of those places...isn't that in your neck o'the woods? I'll let you know if he gets in lol

Missing the DisPeeps too and also missing having anything Disney related to chat about lol..still holding out (minor) hope of getting back before my AP expires in August...

 

[KathyM2]

Friday Jan 22nd!!!

Hi DisPeeps!! How's everyone keepin' on these days?? I for one have mixed feelings about the fact that it's Jan 22nd!! Part of me is all "how can it be ONLY Jan 22nd??" because every day feels so long.....But then two seconds later I'm all, "wow, Jan 22nd already??? It's been over a year since we started hearing about this virus in China!!? Wow...time flies" So yeah, like everything...a bit confused and conflicted around here!!! Let's see what exciting news I can muster to share with you all....

My NYE was...oh so exciting!! I told each of my kids they could order whatever they want on Uber Eats!! So....my DD and I had steak and mashed potatoes from the Keg - a Canadian chain that I'd say has pretty darn good steaks for the money. They also have this amazing dessert called Billy Miner pie that is sort of like a mocha ice cream cake and is the best thing ever. So. We had that. My son preferred his fave chicken wings from a nearby place called St. Louis that actually does have pretty darn good wings. So. That was that. Then we watched the scene in NYC on TV...which was...pretty bizarre I thought with it being so quiet. I guess it was entertaining enough...but being the pessimist that I am...it was a bit of a struggle to not find it somewhat depressing.

Tried to cheer myself up with a distraction and some watercolours in cheerful tones...



Let's see...next up...TRAVEL!! What???? Yeah we went on a road trip lol....a whole 1 1/2 hours away up to my parents cottage. Don't worry...we did not pass go or stop anywhere on the way to shop!! We packed all our food in cooler bags and did not see a soul!! It was pretty snowy up there. We don't often go in the winter because none of us are particularly handy and in the past it seems like every time we have gone in winter...something happens...we have had power outages, ice storms, stuck cars, frozen pipes, no propane....the list goes on, so forgive me for being a little hesitant on the whole thing. BUT my parents are getting on, and my dad loves going up there in the snow and sitting by a warm fire, which I do have to admit is quite nice. It's the only real wood burning fireplace that exists in my life right now and it's a pretty nice thing. However...since the bedrooms are upstairs....it does make for sauna-like sleeping conditions...but I digress. We only stayed for a couple of days since my daughter had online school and while she can technically do that anywhere, the internet isn't stellar up there so she found it frustrating. I did have a few nice dog walks in the snow though and the views were pretty!



My son whom I may have mentioned here...is on his uber long thanks to covid holiday break still, so he wanted to enjoy his Christmas gift of camera a bit around the city. Last weekend we went downtown and took some pics of the skyline. He wouldn't share his pics which are undoubtedly way better than mine...but this was my best shot....



And finally...inauguration day had arrived....I spent the day watching CNN and stuffing my face - Cheez-Its went first...and then chocolate chip ice cream!! I won't get all political and explain but...I'm sure you get it. In any case....it was delicious and unhealthy and perfect for the day!



In other news, my son's work was chosen from over 900 entries to be shown at an art show at an art museum as part of a high school art show in Springville, UT!!! (near Salt Lake) His piece is called "Faces of a Pandemic" and was done using a process called Tintype (which I also had to Google). I am so proud of him, and also so so heartbroken that I won't be able to travel to this show to see his work in person!! If anyone reading happens to be in the area...check it out!! My son is the kid in the top left corner BTW.


Lastly...my son is leaving on Sunday to return to Utah for his final semester at boarding school. Yes, yes, I am sending my son back into a hot zone!! BUT as I may have mentioned...it's in a tiny town and I feel like once he gets there he will be safer than at home. BUT the travel is getting more and more complicated every day. Luckily the restrictions seem to be not going into effect until Jan 26...and he is going on Jan 24th...so crossing everything that nothing else changes with respect to travel before he has safely arrived back in his dorm room!! He has had his covid test, negative...phew!! and I have stocked him up with masks and wipes and hands free snacks for the trip, so...hoping all goes well!!

And finally....in Disney news!!! Got your attention? lol. Wishing!!! As some of you may know, I bought my first ever AP last March...yeah I'm that idiot lol. With the extension etc due to closure it's due to expire in August 2021. I'm REALLY hoping beyond hope that somehow...I will get vaccinated and/or travel restrictions will change before then such that I will be able to get in at least a few more Disney days!!! For same reasons...also hoping still that I can travel by May 2021 for my son's graduation in UT...but sadly that hope is dwindling by the day as vaccines seem to be in short supply everywhere....BUT trying to stay positive there!!!

Just keep swimming right!

 

[pkondz]

I for one have mixed feelings about the fact that it's Jan 22nd!! Part of me is all "how can it be ONLY Jan 22nd??" because every day feels so long.....But then two seconds later I'm all, "wow, Jan 22nd already???

I know!!!!
Exactly this! How is that even possible? All (well... 11 months) of 2020 was like that too.

It's been over a year since we started hearing about this virus

It feels like it's been over a year since Jan 1.

DD and I had steak and mashed potatoes from the Keg

How was it? I've been loathe to order thinking that the steak would be too cool and tougher.

They also have this amazing dessert called Billy Miner pie

Ohhh... yes! Sooooo good!

Then we watched the scene in NYC on TV...which was...pretty bizarre I thought with it being so quiet. I guess it was entertaining enough...but being the pessimist that I am...it was a bit of a struggle to not find it somewhat depressing.

I didn't watch, but... yes, I imagine that would be a bit disconcerting.

Yeah we went on a road trip lol....a whole 1 1/2 hours away up to my parents cottage.

Nice.

in the past it seems like every time we have gone in winter...something happens...we have had power outages, ice storms, stuck cars, frozen pipes, no propane....the list goes on

Yikes! I can understand your hesitation!

my dad loves going up there in the snow and sitting by a warm fire, which I do have to admit is quite nice.

mmmmm... that sounds wonderful. Don't blame him one bit.

he wanted to enjoy his Christmas gift of camera a bit around the city.

Nice.

this was my best shot....

Nice shot!

I spent the day watching CNN and stuffing my face - Cheez-Its went first...and then chocolate chip ice cream!! I won't get all political and explain but...I'm sure you get it.

my son's work was chosen from over 900 entries to be shown at an art show at an art museum as part of a high school art show in Springville, **!!!

Congrats to him! Impressive!

And finally....in Disney news!!! Got your attention? lol. Wishing!!!

I cashed in my AP for the refund, although I only had a couple months left on it. Hope you get some use out of yours.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[KathyM2]

How was it? I've been loathe to order thinking that the steak would be too cool and tougher.

I'm not sure how they do it where you are, but here most of the locations of the Keg only do curbside pick up and don't offer delivery on delivery apps or otherwise. But we have one pretty close to home so we were able to pick it up and get it home while it was still warm, and while that Billy Miner pie was still frozen! So it was pretty good!!

I cashed in my AP for the refund, although I only had a couple months left on it. Hope you get some use out of yours.

Yeah I was really torn on the decision about keeping this or not, but of course back in April 2020 when I made that decision...it seemed like FOR SURE it would be possible to go before August 2021....but sadly...now it's definitely not a sure thing.

We are back to no contact now, and it is sad of course. We hope to get back to family bubbles at some point, but who knows?

Ugh. No contact is so brutal. We have had a family bubble with my parents the whole time, and while it does seem somewhat risky with cases being what they are....this has gone on so so long I would really be missing so much of my parents' aging lives and they would be missing so much of their grandkids...we were weak and just could not do it. That said, we have all been pretty obsessively careful in not interacting with anyone else.

If you haven't tried diamond painting Kathy, there is a good hobby that makes time fly!

I HAVE tried diamond painting!! It was actually one of my earlier pandemic pursuits I think back in April or May lol...I did enjoy it but those beads are so dang tiny...I found it kind of tiring after too long...I think maybe I need a "diamond painting for seniors" lol kind of like a large type book lol...I want to have something that is engaging and fun but not sooo challenging that it's frustrating lol

 

[pkondz]

I'm not sure how they do it where you are, but here most of the locations of the Keg only do curbside pick up and don't offer delivery on delivery apps or otherwise. But we have one pretty close to home so we were able to pick it up and get it home while it was still warm, and while that Billy Miner pie was still frozen! So it was pretty good!!

Okay, got it.
I'm not sure if I'd go pick it up. It'd be about 20 minutes (not during rush hour) on a good day to get it home. Not sure how warm it'd be by then.
We've decided to wait until we can actually go sit in.
Hopefully that'll happen eventually.

Yeah I was really torn on the decision about keeping this or not, but of course back in April 2020 when I made that decision...it seemed like FOR SURE it would be possible to go before August 2021....but sadly...now it's definitely not a sure thing.

I know... sooooo frustrating.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[KathyM2]

We've decided to wait until we can actually go sit in.
Hopefully that'll happen eventually.

I can understand that. The Keg at home just isn't the same lol. Some people think it's cheesy I know, but I actually really like the atmosphere in their restaurants. There's a great one - the Keg Mansion in an old mansion here in Toronto, lots of legends about it being haunted and such. Back in the "before times" we used to go for quite a few celebrations.

At the same time though, we have 4 gigantic potentials of virus exposure, so it also makes sense not to be pressing our luck. It's no win right now, but at least we are all healthy and talk on the phone daily.

Downside of diamond painting - apparently none of them are a standard framing size, so now that I'm done, I had to trim off several rows to get it to fit into an ugly frame. Good thing I was experimenting with cheap frames and a cheap first "painting".

Ugh. Yeah...the lockdowns are so conflicting and it's hard to know what's right to do, and what's "safe" and what's worth the risk etc...ugh. Hate it all.

Re: Diamond painting frames...ugh. That stinks but yeah I think you'd want it in a frame after all that work!!

 

[pkondz]

I can understand that. The Keg at home just isn't the same lol. Some people think it's cheesy I know, but I actually really like the atmosphere in their restaurants.

I do too! Sometimes it gets a little too loud (and I avoid one Keg here in the city for just that reason), but I love going.

There's a great one - the Keg Mansion in an old mansion here in Toronto, lots of legends about it being haunted and such. Back in the "before times" we used to go for quite a few celebrations.

I took a look on Google street view. That place looks great!

 

[KathyM2]

I took a look on Google street view. That place looks great!

It really is. It has all these different rooms and you can request which one you want to dine in lol sorta like the Beast's castle lol. Some are quieter and smaller and others are more open.

 

[pkondz]

It really is. It has all these different rooms and you can request which one you want to dine in lol sorta like the Beast's castle lol. Some are quieter and smaller and others are more open.

ooooohhh.. love that!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Happy New Year, Kathy!!

 

[KathyM2]

Happy New Year, Kathy!!

Same to you!!

 

[KathyM2]

Hi DisPeeps!

I didn't call this an "update" because really...I have no news lol...just here to say hello and keep this thing from growing mothballs.

It's getting even MORE boring around here on lockdown....I have done some more cooking and baking...signed up for Goodfood - one of those meal delivery kit things....and ordered a takeout afternoon tea from a hotel for Valentines day...with my daughter and parents lol. I will post pics if it's as good as it sounds!!

Other that that...it's beyond cold here so. Trying to keep up with my long daily dog walks, but when it gets so cold your face hurts in seconds...I limit to a short jaunt to the park with the dog and a quick jaunt back home!

Of course, further travel restrictions in and out of Canada are not boding well for my getting to my son's graduation in May. Right now there is threat of having to stay in a quarantine hotel for $2k upon your return. Right now until April 30th, hoping that was just to kill March break travel and that it will go away by early May. Otherwise...I'm not sure what I will do. My son may have to hotel quarantine by himself and I may or may not get to see him graduate. I'm very sad about this, and trying not to lose all hope - YET. But it's not looking good.

Onto cheerier subjects...also still holding out a glimmer of hope of getting back to Disney before AP expires. But I was reading up on the new - no EMH, just early entry for onsite hotel guests??? Can you guys tell me if I'm understanding this correctly? That means you can get in early to any park any day, but with covid you need a reservation at a specific park anyway...but so at that park...early entry is automatic?

But does this mean that if you are staying OFF Disney property...you will never again have a chance to rope drop anything? If that is the truth...why isn't everyone going nuts about this? Maybe because who knows what will happen when things eventually get to some semblance of post-covid "normal" and they figure it out...but...this seems like a big deal to me! I love me some Disney bubble and all, and hope to stay onsite again sometimes...but....depending on the circumstances and who I travel with - ie: big spenders or not...sometimes it just makes more sense to stay offsite...but then...NO rope drop? That means basically no headliner rides at all unless you want to be in line for literally hours...?

Am I understanding this correctly? I guess that is Disney's way of getting more onsite guests while they removed more of the benefits of staying onsite like the DME.....? Am I missing something?

Sigh. Still hoping I can get back someday...but this is...discouraging...

In good news....Canada has agreed to allow 6 doses to be extracted from each dose of Pfizer vaccine!! Yay!! I find it so absurd that they had to do a study on this and then make a rule...just do it people!!

Hoping everyone is well and just keep swimming!!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[KathyM2]

Hey there fellow cold Canadian! I am on staycation this week, and with this weather I actually have not even left the house for ... umm, I think this is going on Day 4 now.

Hi there Donna!! Yeah...if it wasn't for the dog walking I don't think I would leave the house ever in the winter...with online groceries these days, and well, online everything else...I think it would only be taking the garbage out lol! But the dog makes me go, and like you I have to do the booties and coats and I just dread it every time because it takes so long to get ready to go!! I try to make it worthwhile and do a decent walk but...when it's this cold...actually it's not even the cold, it's the treacherous, icy sidewalks that really make me turn around and go home!

As discouraging as it seems right now for travel this summer, I am still 1% hopeful that trips might happen this year.

I will hang onto that 1% with you!! Here's hoping!!! I just found it really hard to watch the SB on Sunday and have it look like people are behaving "almost normally" over there. I know it's nowhere near normal...but it's like a lot of Americans are just...going about their lives? It's hard to watch without being both jealous and angry! I could go on...but I won't because I know there are all types here lol

And yes, the early entry is odd, and not well liked by me, a night owl. I guess it's a bit understandable that with reduced staffing and reduced experiences open they are in a precarious balance of staffing and perks. Hopefully those that are able to visit at this time are doing so safely and still finding some of the magic to enjoy.

Yeah, I am more of a morning person and did like to try to rope drop...but there will be no use to that if you are offsite. However...like you said, hopefully this is just a temporary pandemic thing...although if Disney sees it making them money...then who knows if it will stick!

 

[pkondz]

I didn't call this an "update" because really...I have no news lol...just here to say hello and keep this thing from growing mothballs.

signed up for Goodfood

Curious to see what you think of it.

ordered a takeout afternoon tea from a hotel for Valentines day...with my daughter and parents lol

Oh, that sounds great! Looking forward to your report.

Other that that...it's beyond cold here so.

Here too. -34 this morning. Or maybe that was yesterday. Either way... brrr...

but when it gets so cold your face hurts in seconds...I limit to a short jaunt to the park with the dog and a quick jaunt back home!

Totally get that. I've put my limit for going for a run at -20C. And since it hasn't been above that for 3-4 days... no runs.

Of course, further travel restrictions in and out of Canada are not boding well for my getting to my son's graduation in May. Right now there is threat of having to stay in a quarantine hotel for $2k upon your return. Right now until April 30th, hoping that was just to kill March break travel and that it will go away by early May. Otherwise...I'm not sure what I will do. My son may have to hotel quarantine by himself and I may or may not get to see him graduate. I'm very sad about this, and trying not to lose all hope - YET. But it's not looking good.

Yeah, and I just heard today that they're going to require a negative covid test at land crossings too, now.

But I was reading up on the new - no EMH, just early entry for onsite hotel guests???

Yup. You read that right. 30 minutes early entry.

But does this mean that if you are staying OFF Disney property...you will never again have a chance to rope drop anything?

Hmmm... I guess the answer to that is... correct.

If that is the truth...why isn't everyone going nuts about this?

Oh, they have been. It's just died down a bit.

In good news....Canada has agreed to allow 6 doses to be extracted from each dose of Pfizer vaccine!! Yay!! I find it so absurd that they had to do a study on this and then make a rule...just do it people!!

I know. They were doing it anyways, so...