MAYBE A MAY TRIP?? 3 WEEKS SAPPHIRE FALLS 2021

[schumigirl]

Egads, thought I had missed an entire report... So happy you're all staying safe and that Kyle is working from home. I've been working from home for the last 13 years so I know all about self isolating. I told someone the other day, who is now working from home, that it wasn't all it cracked up to be and they agreed. I'm still considered essential and am filling in for some at the other practice from out of state so I seem too busy. Oh well, I guess I should be happy to be working.

lol......I didn`t want to start a whole new report......so changing titles was the easiest thing to do.

Oh so you`re used to the home working? Yes, if you are doing someone else`s work too you will be extra busy!!! Oh I hear you, my niece is in the fashion business in a round about way...and has been furloughed for now, but thinks she will be out of a job when this is over....or before. She has a mortgage and bills to pay, so although she is being paid for now, how long it`ll last is a massive worry.

Yes, it`s a novelty for some for sure, but I know although Kyle is happy to be working from home, as are we....he will miss his work colleagues and friends too. We have no clue as to how long this will last, but the company wouldn't go to all this trouble for two weeks.

Glad you`re still reading along though.....will kick start it next few days hopefully.....it`ll certainly give me something to focus on as we`re not doing much else right now......

 

[schumigirl]

I think it`s hard to start this up again without thinking of course it may not happen. But, as so many of us are, we are forever hopeful and right now it`s looking ok for September.

I know travelling may not be ideal, but if we all wait till there`s a vaccine....we`d still be home alone next year, and unless you and your whole family plan to avoid every other person on the planet till then, you`re at risk whatever you do. I like the idea of getting back to normal albeit being extra careful and being as sanitized as you can be.

I had a cough few weeks ago and still have it a little, so still no going into stores for me as you feel like Frankenstein`s monster as the villagers run away as soon as you start hacking......not a pleasant feeling and I`d feel exactly the same if it was someone was doing the same thing around me......and one thing I may worry about on a flight.....

​

Having a lot of spare time is a little crazy at times and I have found myself wondering weird things like how do we really know what Dinosaurs sounded like? What if they meowed like a cat, who would know......….I wondered if George Orwell realised he was right about cameras watching us everywhere, but didn't realise it would be us putting them up in our home ourselves by choice!! And who first saw a chicken lay an egg and thought.....oh lovely, we`ll eat that completely ignoring the real mind blowing question of which came first of course...…..

My brain goes to the oddest of places at times......

But, basically we are all doing great. We had a scare when my nephews wife was tested for the virus as she is a front line nurse and had symptoms, thankfully she tested negative and could get back to work. So she is one of two in my family who are front line nurses right now.

Now Kyle is working from home we are all happier that he isn't having to go into a busy office environment.....it was strange at first having him working out of the way in our office, but we soon got used to it and I am very much enjoying being able to make lunch for him everyday...…

We have begun volunteering to deliver packages for vulnerable folks which will take a little of our time up. We can do it with no contact with another human being which is ideal. Someone loads our trunk up and we drop the boxes at doors and run back to the car......it`s a little thing to do but folks need the service.

So life goes on albeit a little different right now. We have zoom, facetime and so on......that`s how we keep in touch with friends and have enjoyed a few quiz nights that way.....I`d love to see friends, but we aren't taking the risk of even meeting up and walking with each other at a distance...….it`s not worth the risk as some have underlying conditions and we are being sensible. Can you imagine how guilty you`d feel if you passed on something or caught something and passed it on to your own family? Not something my friends and I are going to risk.

Easter was strange as we again, weren't going to risk a meet so we all did our own thing.....as the rules say......it`s not too difficult is it.

We have our daily walk up into the woods behind us, no one else is ever around, except for the deers…..we occasionally see and wave to the farmer next to us. Social isolation is easy up there. And we seem to be passing our time nicely, as I cannot believe it`s already half way through April!!!! How did that happen...….

Since I last posted Virgin Atlantic have contacted us to cancel our May flight .......although we knew it was coming, it still sucks to see it in print.

They have updated the time you can rebook up until May 2022 which will suit most folks I know. We still plan to rebook our flights for next May instead of end of April because of the change of booking time as soon as they are released. Originally Virgin stated you had to fly before end of April next year. Not looking forward to the price for that, but it certainly won`t be any cheaper that`s for sure. But, whatever it is I`m sure we`ll pay the difference. Just hoping we can get Premium as I think the flights are going to be busy.

We also heard from our friend that Sapphire reservation has been cancelled, and we have also cancelled everything else we had arranged.

With May out of the way.......Onward to September.



The flights are again with Virgin (won`t do the pictures again) and have what we think are better seats than what we had in May. In May on the way out, we were in the middle row of four, we much prefer to be in a two together. On the way out we have the last two seats in Premium upstairs, and our favourite two seats at the rear of the downstairs premium cabin.....of course our May flights were booked as Thomas Cook went bust, so we booked what was available. This flight we booked as soon as they were available and got to pick our favourite seats......I hold no such hope for next May! Although even if we have to fly economy we will.

We fly on September 6th and leave Oct 1st so 26 nights for this one......our overnight is the same hotel as May and the 5th September is our wedding anniversary so we`ll have a nice anniversary dinner there before finally making it to our American happy place.

When we booked this one for September they had Executive Rooms available again, so as we really like their lounge, we of course booked it quickly. I`m sure we`ll enjoy another meal in the Brasserie Blanc restaurant from the first few posts.

It really is lovely and our food there has never disappointed.

Is it time for some food pictures........

On previous visits we have enjoyed some lovely steaks for dinner and last visit we made it for lunch....so as it`s been a while I think I can revisit some of our favourites......

Kyle`s fish and chips were a treat, and if we make lunch in September I may be tempted......Tom too!!!!

Steaks here were beautiful. I was impressed how impressed (I know) we were with this restaurant. I had never visited a Raymond Blanc restaurant before, but certainly would go to another in another City anytime.

And their fruit pavlova was delicious.

So, as you can imagine we are desperate to get back to the Marriott at the airport and get ready for our flight the next day.

We love our night before at the airport hotel and it is absolutely a sign that our trip has began.

The car service we use has been booked since we booked the flights last year, it`s the same local firm we have used the last year or so. I feel bad for them right now as they have lost a lot of their business for airport runs and we hated cancelling them for May as many others have had to do. But, we have our bookings in place with them for the next two trips.

One of the things we may have to do is redo our ESTA`s, which we have to have to fly. I`m assuming our GE is still valid but will check that too. ESTA`s are $14 each and we renew them every two years. But, with this whole virus situation, many people`s ESTA`s were cancelled. It won`t take long to redo them.

As of now it is 142 days till we fly.

It sounds so long away right now, but we have been very lucky to have visited Orlando for around 110 nights in the last two years alone......so, we have been luckier than some folks who I know haven`t managed to get there in a while and were hoping this summer would be the time to visit. One of my best friends was planning to spend a month between July and August this year for their 25th wedding anniversary......I know how disappointed they`ll be if it doesn`t happen. But, I think it will.


Coming up.....hotel choices for Orlando........back real soon....

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Sorry about your May trip officially being canceled... Knowing it's going to happen is hard, but receiving the official cancellation notice is worse...

But you're lucky, you still have the September trip to look forward too... And September will be here before we know it!!!

Glad you, Tom and Kyle are able to social distance without a problem... And that's so sweet of you to volunteer to deliver packages to the vulnerable people... I'm sure they really appreciate it!!!

We have a week at Animal Kingdom Lodge planned for mid October and if we cancel, my sister will lose her DVC points... So we're going and if we have to we'll just hang at the resort and relax, swim and watch the animals... We originally planned on going to Discovery Cove and Sea World... It's still 6 months away and a lot can happen between now and then...

 

[Elsaspiritanimal]

Having a lot of spare time is a little crazy at times and I have found myself wondering weird things like how do we really know what Dinosaurs sounded like? What if they meowed like a cat, who would know......….I wondered if George Orwell realised he was right about cameras watching us everywhere, but didn't realise it would be us putting them up in our home ourselves by choice!! And who first saw a chicken lay an egg and thought.....oh lovely, we`ll eat that completely ignoring the real mind blowing question of which came first of course...…..

So funny! It is amazing where one's mind can travel isn't it! Looking forward to the plans for your September trip!

 

[vrajewski10513]

I know travelling may not be ideal, but if we all wait till there`s a vaccine....we`d still be home alone next year, and unless you and your whole family plan to avoid every other person on the planet till then, you`re at risk whatever you do. I like the idea of getting back to normal albeit being extra careful and being as sanitized as you can be.

I'm a person that's all for the current stay at home orders, but I completely agree with you. We can't just stay at home for the next 18 months (the estimated time to a vaccine in the US) but I do believe that life as we know it will be changed. I always questioned why in Japan and China so many people wore masks out in public... now I think that will become the norm over here as well for the forseeable future.

We have begun volunteering to deliver packages for vulnerable folks which will take a little of our time up. We can do it with no contact with another human being which is ideal. Someone loads our trunk up and we drop the boxes at doors and run back to the car......it`s a little thing to do but folks need the service.

That's so kind of you!

We have our daily walk up into the woods behind us, no one else is ever around, except for the deers…..we occasionally see and wave to the farmer next to us. Social isolation is easy up there. And we seem to be passing our time nicely, as I cannot believe it`s already half way through April!!!!

Oh how i miss the fresh air. I'd love to take the baby for a nice walk in the sunshine. It snowed here yesterday. I really need to move somewhere it doesn't SNOW IN APRIL!

We fly on September 6th and leave Oct 1st so 26 nights for this one

You cross over our trip! Ours us MUCH, MUCH shorter lol but we will be there 9/17-9/20! Maybe we will see each other in the fog

 

[schumigirl]

Sorry about your May trip officially being canceled... Knowing it's going to happen is hard, but receiving the official cancellation notice is worse...

But you're lucky, you still have the September trip to look forward too... And September will be here before we know it!!!

Glad you, Tom and Kyle are able to social distance without a problem... And that's so sweet of you to volunteer to deliver packages to the vulnerable people... I'm sure they really appreciate it!!!

We have a week at Animal Kingdom Lodge planned for mid October and if we cancel, my sister will lose her DVC points... So we're going and if we have to we'll just hang at the resort and relax, swim and watch the animals... We originally planned on going to Discovery Cove and Sea World... It's still 6 months away and a lot can happen between now and then...

Yes, we got a double whammy that day.....lol....but, yes we have two more trips this year to look forward to, and we are....desperately looking forward to them. Talking to friends in Orlando makes it worse somehow at times as we just want to be there and see them.....we miss them a lot. But emails and calls help.

We were glad to help. Those folks organising it all, across the country are doing a wonderful job, so it`s lovely to be able to help where we can.

Oh that would be such a shame if your sister lost the points....so, yes, I`d still go and make it a relaxing time. By then it will be better....I`m sure of it......and yes, it is a way off yet.....

 

[schumigirl]

So funny! It is amazing where one's mind can travel isn't it! Looking forward to the plans for your September trip!

Tom always marvels at some of the statements that come out of my mouth at times......he looks at me in wonderment and you can see him think....what!!!!!

Yep, plans coming up.......

 

[schumigirl]

I'm a person that's all for the current stay at home orders, but I completely agree with you. We can't just stay at home for the next 18 months (the estimated time to a vaccine in the US) but I do believe that life as we know it will be changed. I always questioned why in Japan and China so many people wore masks out in public... now I think that will become the norm over here as well for the forseeable future.


That's so kind of you!


Oh how i miss the fresh air. I'd love to take the baby for a nice walk in the sunshine. It snowed here yesterday. I really need to move somewhere it doesn't SNOW IN APRIL!


You cross over our trip! Ours us MUCH, MUCH shorter lol but we will be there 9/17-9/20! Maybe we will see each other in the fog

Yep, I think I`ll be quite nervous first time we go out in public....but it has to be done eventually......yes, I agree, our new normal will be different....

Thanks....the folks who arranged it are brilliant, and are in it for the long haul, so we said we`d help where we could.....to be honest, it`s nice having something useful to do as well.

Snow is never nice in April!!! Oh I now what you mean about getting the baby out for fresh air....it`s one of the nicest things to do.....

Oh how lovely!!!! There`s a whole load of us going all through September......I always try to take note of who`s going when and look out for them......I tried to see Raeven last year, but it was just so busy......and yes, foggy.....lol......it would be lovely to say hello for sure......

 

[macraven]

Schumi, you forgot to add in that your birthday is also celebrated in ..........September...

 

[schumigirl]

Schumi, you forgot to add in that your birthday is also celebrated in ..........September...

lol......now I have another reason to celebrate...….couldn't forget that...…

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

Schumi, you forgot to add in that your birthday is also celebrated in ..........September...

Yup same day as my Grandmother and Sister and 5 days before mine!!!!!!!!!!

@schumigirl

Sorry I had to boycott the updated report for a bit as I felt so bad for you, and so many others for having to cancel frankly, maybe it wouldn’t be real if I did, no matter how many times you’ve been when it’s like your second home it’s really tough, at least for us we look so forward to our trips.

Hopefully some great stuff for HHN to look forward to and maybe even another chat!

We’ll have to get walkie talkies to chat with each other now because they’ll have us 6 feet apart

 

[Raeven]

I like the idea of getting back to normal albeit being extra careful and being as sanitized as you can be.

Same here!

so still no going into stores for me as you feel like Frankenstein`s monster as the villagers run away as soon as you start hacking

Before we shut down I sneezed at work and my boss yelled "Don't be doing that!"

 

[DisneyLifePapioNe]

Same here!



Before we shut down I sneezed at work and my boss yelled "Don't be doing that!"

My wife has bad allergies and she can sneeze 5 times in a row, I dread the day we’re out now and she has a spell because it will be like a scene out of Monsters Inc when the monster has a sock stuck to him......

 

[Raeven]

My wife has bad allergies and she can sneeze 5 times in a row, I dread the day we’re out now and she has a spell because it will be like a scene out of Monsters Inc when the monster has a sock stuck to him......

I completely understand haha I'm dreading that happening too. I think I might have allergies because I often sneeze a bit in the morning and then I'm fine after that I also sneeze more than once in a row when I do (usually 2's or 3's) which people find quite alarming these days.

 

[schumigirl]

Yup same day as my Grandmother and Sister and 5 days before mine!!!!!!!!!!

@schumigirl

Sorry I had to boycott the updated report for a bit as I felt so bad for you, and so many others for having to cancel frankly, maybe it wouldn’t be real if I did, no matter how many times you’ve been when it’s like your second home it’s really tough, at least for us we look so forward to our trips.

Hopefully some great stuff for HHN to look forward to and maybe even another chat!

We’ll have to get walkie talkies to chat with each other now because they’ll have us 6 feet apart

My wife has bad allergies and she can sneeze 5 times in a row, I dread the day we’re out now and she has a spell because it will be like a scene out of Monsters Inc when the monster has a sock stuck to him......

 

[schumigirl]

Same here!
Before we shut down I sneezed at work and my boss yelled "Don't be doing that!"

I completely understand haha I'm dreading that happening too. I think I might have allergies because I often sneeze a bit in the morning and then I'm fine after that I also sneeze more than once in a row when I do (usually 2's or 3's) which people find quite alarming these days.

lol.....you feel awful though don't you when you cough or sneeze now in public...…......oh another who sneezes in multiples........oh that would make a real picture with DLPN`s wife, you and I all together at the one time.......quite the image!!!!

I was behind someone who had a very cheap perfume on a couple of years back....oh my goodness.....it set me off so bad!!! And she glowered at me!!!! Then people wonder why I carry my own perfume around with me all the time......

 

[I-4Bound]

Last night, I got a survey from Universal asking how I felt about certain safety measures they were considering. Some were pretty tame, like wearing masks and having extra hand washing stations, but some were pretty strict, like making everyone take a Covid test before entering the park It also mentioned limiting park capacity to 50% and closing all indoor rides. I thought y'all might be interested to hear about it. I have no idea how they are going to get people back into the park with all of this going on, but I hope they come up with a plan that people can deal with.

 

[macraven]

I would not mind doing a covid test on guests

Where I am, can’t get them.

 

[schumigirl]

Last night, I got a survey from Universal asking how I felt about certain safety measures they were considering. Some were pretty tame, like wearing masks and having extra hand washing stations, but some were pretty strict, like making everyone take a Covid test before entering the park It also mentioned limiting park capacity to 50% and closing all indoor rides. I thought y'all might be interested to hear about it. I have no idea how they are going to get people back into the park with all of this going on, but I hope they come up with a plan that people can deal with.

I got that survey through this morning Andrea......it made for pondering for sure.

I was curious what kind of testing kits they plan to have as they seem to be rarer than hens teeth!!! I’d happily submit to a test or temp check.

I wonder how workable wiping down the whole ride seat after each user would work......maybe if they did the restraints and where your hands go?? But some put their hands underneath them, so they may have to wipe the whole thing down........it’s a no win situation for them.....

The survey I got mentioned how would I feel if they went down to as low as 25% capacity.......and social distancing for many things and also no self serve any more, touch free paying for food, merch and parking. It was quite the read.

Makes you wonder what the parks will look like in the future......

 

[schumigirl]

I would not mind doing a covid test on guests

Where I am, can’t get them.

Yep, it’s not exactly easy to get one over here either!!!