Well, it was a white Christmas for sure.

In the past month, there was a statewide blizzard warning.  It left drifts from waist deep to neck deep all over town.  Luckily, just days before, I brought the tractor up from the farm and put the big snowblower on it it and parked in my garage.  Lifesaver.  During the first big storm, I went downtown at 11:00pm to clear off the first foot or so from the storm.  I figured getting more off now, meant easier going in the morning.  I found one of the sidewalks downtown almost bare.  Few wisps of snow.  The South side of the building had a knee deep drift running the entire sidewalk.  It took nearly an hour to clean this off.

The next morning, I saw a huge plow tailing at the end of the driveway but I could see tire tracks from last night in the middle of the driveway.  Nice….until I saw the back window and could not see the front of the car.  It had all drifted waist deep from the door to the car and to the garage.  I cleaned out the driveway and needed to take some coffee to People’s Bank, our downtown neighbor, customer, and bank.  Remember the knee deep snow I moved?  It was replaced by a drift that was neck deep on me.  The wind-swept side was a solid waist deep.

I refused to take the shovel out of the car and went back home.  It took nothing to swallow my pride and decided that it people drive their lawn tractor to the gas station in the Summer, I could surely drive a snowblower to where it was needed.  7 blocks up, and 2 over, it really was a quick drive.  There was a few intersections that I needed to turn the blower on to get past the piles of crud in fear of getting stuck.  Still, even with this power, I could push my way into a drift, hop off, then use the shovel to knock down the edges and try again.  It took a good 2.5 hours to clear this little area.

Fast forward to Christmas.  The Moon family came the weekend before to have Christmas and celebrate Mason’s birthday with us.  This was the first time in I don’t know how many years that we didn’t travel for once.  Instead of the usual camping experience in our house, they rented the hotel from Trailside Lodging and loved it.  We also met them for a great gravy covered breakfast from the Uptown Cafe.  We had a great time, and a nice low-key Christmas.

Nearly a week later, the forecast had another ‘epic’ storm on the way.  The predictions changed daily, but it sounded icy and deep.  I decided to fire up the generator, get fresh gas and find the cord.  I had plans for wiring in the furnace, I still should have gotten the connection ready.  Luckily, the power never went out.

During the first few flurries, I kept up with the driveway and sidewalk.  On Christmas morning, there was at least 8″ plus drifts.  I got our driveway done quickly, helped my dad clear his then went downtown in fear of the sidewalk again.  At least, the drift was narrow, but still about chest deep.  Most of the sidewalk was quite low, as in the max height of the snowblower.  I got on the sidewalk, and had to start at the Uptown’s door in order to reach my spot.  I got quite a good path going before I hit the drift.  Had to hop off once and knock it down.  After that, I was able to get through it and reach the corner.  From there, I was able to do laps up the sidewalk, even clearing the path past Uptown more.  During this, Wayne had shown up with his snowblower as well.  I had moved around the corner to avoid blowing snow then found him helping clear the last of my sidewalk in appreciation.  I had the same issue on the East side, I had to work my way down the sidewalk, past a pair of businesses from the curb cut to get into my area again.  Luckily, about an inch more fell during the rest of the day.

It is deep, the farm is at a standstill.  I did recently burn a large amount of barn out in the cold, the day before the first snow came.  Bonfires do keep the chill off.  Things are buttoned up and stored for winter.  Once spring and warmth returns, we’ll be back at it.  The next wave of crib work will make sure huge and noticeable improvements.

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Apparently our ISP changed our servers and broke our picture gallery.  We complained, and they helped fixed a server name reference.  It worked for a day or two, now it’s completely broken.

We’re working on it.  In fact, I had just run to the farm to take pictures of all the progress this Fall when I found out.

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Stairs!  This is excitement.  We have about half of the 2nd floor subfloor down, but we have been using a ladder to get up and down.

It took a while, about 3 days of looking, thinking, and scratching to finally figure it out.  I knew how to cut each step into the stringer, but failed to see how to form the top and bottom.  Finally I got it and drew out a template.  Swiped it both sides with a circular saw, then used a chisel to get those final bits out of the corners.  I realized the next morning when I went back to fit it, that I left the bottom stair too thick.  It was the full 7.5″ like every other stair.  I didn’t subtract the extra height of the first stringer.  Zipp, took a little extra off.

These were 16′ boards.  Even with that much, we knew they would not span from the 2nd floor of the crib down to ground level.  The plans called for a platform in the corner.  We never quite planed for the exact height of this platform, or how many stairs would come out the other side.  The results, 7′2″ clearance from the overhang to the closest stair, good.  The platform would be about 2′ off the ground.  That should give us 3 good stairs that will go over the existing sill plate for the main bin supports.  This could not have fit more perfect.

Other good news.  There is a solid wall between the greenhouse and ‘house’ portions.  It has 1 door panel, but not the other, working, part of the double door yet.  For giggles, there are two large storm windows on the exterior greenhouse wall.  It cuts down a little wind/rain possibility, but having a window does so much for the feel.  I also have the framing ready for a bank of 4 very large windows to go across the West end of the crib, overlooking the farm.  However, due to the small amounts of heat, light, and available days I’ve decided to let this sit as-is until spring until we cut the holes out.

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After a cold fall, it has warmed back up a bit out here.  We have been getting a few hours of work done nearly everyday at the crib.  The highlights include:

• The front bin has been removed.
• Fresh sub-floor covering the greenhouse sides, the front bin, and the opposite side up to where the stairs are planned.
• Bunch of structural repairs and reinforcements
• Two lost windows covered with plywood for the winter
• Still trying to evict the pigeons.
• A new pit cover in the greenhouse.

I want/hope to make a big swoop of progress to finish up a bit this weekend, and get some pictures taken again.  The next big steps will be:

• Framing for windows on the front wall.  Probably install them in the Spring anyway
• A Staircase!
• Electrical on the 2nd floor.  An outlet or two will be better then these extension cords.
• Cover that last window.
• Add solid sheathing between greenhouse and ‘house’

The size and shape of the main room has really become apparent.  It looks pretty cool.  All this floor to walk around on - amazing.  What else could you do up here?

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Ok more melodramatic then it sounds.  Going back over our trip, you heard all the highlights, nothing bad besides a few lines…..well, here’s the dirt.

First off, the trip was designed to be as cheap as possible.  Knowing that you do not go to Disney for the hotel experience, we picked the cheapest level, the value resorts.  The rooms were clean, beds comfy.  The maids kept setting up displays in the windows containing any balloons, stuffed animals or other souvenirs they came across.  Cute.  We did pick the most Disney themed value hotel, All-Star Movies.  Huge decorations, but well done to every detail.
The hotel bad side…We did pick the standard room, not the preferred rooms.  I knew this would mean a further walk to the food and bus stops. In reality, the walk wasn’t that far.  The cafeteria was another issue.  This was the last week of the free food plan.  Which means everyone was there.  The single cafeteria could not keep up at peak volume, and definitely could not sit everyone.

A odd thing to note about the free food plan, which runs every year.  They make you use all parts of each meal.  Breakfast included a meal, a drink, and either a 2nd drink or a fruit.  Since we bought the bottomless coffee mug (probably unneeded after all) we had to keep getting an extra juice, or keep loading up on fruit.  However, we would pack mule these extra into the park for a snack later on.  They do make sure the size matches the eater, so we had to shuffle large drinks onto the adult trays and swap back at the table.  The same thing for dinner, a meal plus desert.  Just try to tell them you’re not hungry and to skip desert.

The buses were an issue here.  Besides having long lines in most of the queues, non-prime times ran combined buses.  This meant they stopped at all the All-Star resorts, Sports, Music, then Movies.  This meant catching a midday bus a challenge, if there was room, you had to stand.  We always new where the bus stop was….it always had the longest line by two-fold.  After a large night time event, 4 buses would fill up and leave before you got a chance.  Coming or going, Movies was a cattle call.  Most buses, expect to stand.  Oh yeah, Value resorts are the furthest away, so the rides are longer.
Food and reservations.  I only booked reservations for the character meal ahead of time, which was still difficult a week before.  If you are going during a free dining plan period…plan plan plan.  I stopped at the concierge desk every morning and night, just looking for a sit down place to eat.  This was a major factor in decided which park we went to, since we did not do park hoppers.  On a day where we could not get reservations, I checked in at a couple of restaurants, and they were so busy that they were not even accepting walk-ins.   We did use our entire allotment of meals in the end, but the last night, we picked Mason up a counter-service meal (cheese pizza) then we used 2 sit down meals for in-room pizza delivery.  At least you got a 2-liter and a pair of deserts with it.  During the week we laughed at pizza service, but it wiped out our account later on.  Reagan actually ate the cheese pizza, and Mason and I split the new pepperoni one.
Use the weekly park schedule.  The Extra Magic Hours are good to know about.  We never got the extra hour in the morning benefit…slept late, no alarm, body used to the next timezone over.  The longer we took in the morning, the worse the breakfast line was.  We did use the evening hours to our benefit.  TIP:  Go to Epcot on an Magic Hours night, watch Illuminations, then find something else to do.  You have to show your room keys to get into rides.  You will see the masses pouring out to the buses.  Wait an hour or two, get some rides with no wait time, then get a chance for a seat on the bus.

Booking:  Only tip I remember is that the passes default to park-hoppers, and for all days that you are scheduled to be there.  This includes the day to arrive and the day you leave.  Our flights landed at 4pm and left at 7am.  We would not need a park ticket on those days.  Double check this, plan on some hotel pool time or go to Downtown Disney and save 2 days of tickets.
Fast-pass.  Use them.  What is a fast-pass…a ticket for standing in line.  You can walk up to a crowded ride, find the fast-pass machine, swipe your hotel card, and you get a ticket for what time to come back.  You need one for each person of course, so bring all the hotel keys.  We found a huge benefit by having one person run over to another ride and get passes.  Then meet up again for another ride or two, perhaps lunch.  When you get back to your ride, there is a separate line that takes you right to the front.  Do it quickly, as they limit the number of passes allotted each day on rides.  They could be gone before noon.

Epcot.  We refer to World Showcase as the Epcot death march.  Really, it is so big that if you go here first, you will be amazed how small the other parks seem.  Since the Food and Wine festival was happening this week, there were some good wine samples around.  You also can’t pass Germany without a local beer, pretzel, and some kind of worst/schnitzel.  We found a two-drink minimum let you forget your feet for the day.  However, I kept shaking my head at people who had too many and argued with their kids that they needed the the All-Star Music bus, not this one that says all-star “resorts”.  2 should also be the limit.  Interesting side note:  There is no alcohol at the Magic Kingdom, yet that is where people are the most grumpiest.  Connection?

Meals.  Before, we tried to keep costs down and did snacks and counter service meals.  Budgeting $75 per person a day was not hard to stay under.  Since we had the meal plan, we were introduced to more sit-down restaurants.   They are so worth it.  Yes, we picked some expensive ones, and ordered the most expensive plate most of the time.  There are some reasonable places to choose from.  Sitting down, in air-conditioning, being served, refills; wow.  The relaxation, full belly, and a break for the feet are worth it.

Could we beat the true cost of a meal plan?  Yes, skimp save a couple of bucks.  The extras we pocketed from breakfast saved us from getting a snack just hours later.  Getting used to sit-down was the hard part, but I will never go back.  Our estimate, at least $700 eaten. This trip, we probably came out ahead to the advertised cost vs what we ate.
Bonus:  Chase Disney rewards card.  I cashed in $275 ‘Disney Dollars’ in to use for tips, more snacks, and whatever toys we picked up on the way.  I really used it for the ‘drinks’ the plan did not cover.  We used this up on the last day.  We also brought $200 cash, and for a few little things, but mainly tips, we came back with over $100.

What would I change….

Staying at a value resort.  Dunno.  If it meant being able to afford a Disney trip or not.  I would stay here again.  Cost of a closer room, possibly worth it.  The moderate resorts do have multiple dining choices and extra bus stops.
Free meal plan…oh yes, and I’ll have the Steak and Shrimp please.  Would I buy a meal plan…..hmmmm.  I dunno.  You could eat cheaper then face value, but you enjoy the food more when you try to use it up.
Time of year.  About perfect.  Few hot muggy days, some perfect days.  Halloween was a good temp, early December was a little cool, but it’s empty.  School was in, so it was little kids only.  No middleschool/teenagers to be seen.  Just families with small kids.  Homeschooling is cool.
Kids.  Diapers and Disney are probably not a good mix.  Strollers too big for lines and buses.  Plenty of scares.  I have never seen so many kids in the hotel pool wearing life jackets.  Get a few years on them.  I bet 4 is good starting age, they can walk.

Airlines….First, the Disney luggage/transfer thing was really cool.  Didn’t have to pick up your bag at the airport, it showed up in your room.  Didn’t even have to check them back into the airport.  Even better, the hotel prints your boarding pass.  You only have to walk through security.

However the airlines get worse.  Now they charge per bag.  Then they forget to load it on the plane….and they only “guarantee a best effort to get you bags to the destination within 24 hours of your flight.”  Nice service you pay for.  I also noticed that the flight crew is there “primarily for your safety” now, and will only “try to help if you need anything during the flight”….like a $4 snack.
Repeat as is, definitely.   Hopes…move up a hotel bracket.  Dreams….Go for deluxe hotel/plans

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