Disney World

By aaron.axvig, Sun, 09/22/2013 - 23:00

Monday was an early morning. To make it to Orlando at a reasonable hour I departed at 6:40. It is 160 miles there and I met Nick on the Epcot end of the monorail by 10:30. I remember when I was probably 8-10 years old my dad had gone through the Epcot sphere thingy and absolutely would not tell me what was in it. Now I know and it is pretty cool! So that was the first ride, and the rest I did included: around the whole country lake thing, Mission Space, Splash Mountain, People Mover, the paddle-wheel ferry, haunted something, and Carousel of …Innovation? Oh and also it rained constantly from about 2:00 on. For some reason we did not spring the $5 for a rain poncho; I think we got a little bit wet at first and decided to deal with it, and then when we started really getting wet we didn't want to give in. After thinking that maybe my jeans were finally wet enough to pose a risk to my phone, I put it in Nick's backpack.

All the rain and it being a weekday in the off-season meant that I spent a grand total of about 10 minutes waiting in line. That and having and experienced guide meant I was able to pack a lot in but I really barely scratched the surface. I had to leave before the parade and fireworks so I could meet Dan so I said goodbye to Nick and walked out the gate while he went back a different way. 50 yards out of the gate I reached for my phone and realized it was still in Nick's backpack. Hurrying back, I could not see him. So I ended up in guest relations calling all the numbers I have memorized-Mom, Dad, and their landline. My mom has Nick's number so it would have worked great but there was no answer on any of them. So I walked back outside to see if Nick had thought of my phone and come back, and I remembered that I knew my sister's number too (she would have had to think of someone she knew that had Nick's number so I wasn't real hopeful on that) but as I was going back to try that Nick came walking up waving my phone around. So here's to Nick's memory--it is pretty darn good. (At one point I was planning how I might have to call 1-800-MEDORA1 and persuade someone there to give me some numbers such as Sarah or Kinley.)

Then I dried out, found Dan at his hotel, and got him all caught up on my trip. It is pretty silly that he and I both live in Fargo and don't see each other much besides an annual hunting trip, and then we meet up in Orlando. But it was great to see a familiar face. Two for the day actually, because Nick counts for that too.