National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Thursday 8 September – part three: getting a million miles away from it all!
With those items bought, we headed back to the car and out towards Yellowstone. We drove down the I-90 for about 30 miles and I really wasn’t expecting the scenery to be so stunning. The sun was creating some beautiful colours on the land spread out in front of us. Before today, I could never understand why anyone would want to live in as remote a part of the States as this, but now I could start to see the attraction. Certainly, Bozeman had just about everything that people would want for day to day life and it was nowhere near as remote as I thought it would be. :
We turned off the freeway, following the signs for Yellowstone National Park...
As we did, we saw fewer and fewer cars. We saw more going the other way, with maybe two or three going our way. The scenery became more and more spectacular and, at times, we followed the path of the Yellowstone River, which was very cool and something I had no idea that we’d do. It was just beautiful and so peaceful. You really felt as if you were a million miles away from the rest of the world.
We've been lucky to have a few trips out west in the mountains. Each trip I keep snapping away photo after photo. No matter how many you take, how you try to work the angle or the sun, it just doesn't compare to the beauty when you are there live and in person!! Looking forward to more beautiful scenery!
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
We've been lucky to have a few trips out west in the mountains. Each trip I keep snapping away photo after photo. No matter how many you take, how you try to work the angle or the sun, it just doesn't compare to the beauty when you are there live and in person!! Looking forward to more beautiful scenery!
I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much justice I thought the camera did what we were seeing this trip - it's the first time I think I've ever said that.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Thursday 8 September – part four: this is a shock to the system!
Finally, we got to Gardiner, which was a sudden shock, to find a relatively big town in the middle of nowhere. As you can see, it had a lot of stores and facilities:
The reason soon became clear, the entrance to the park was literally around the corner from the town, with a gift shop and visitor centre, so of course we had to go and explore. I got a set of fridge magnets and an official guide, which the guy in there told me was a good choice.
Just around the corner, we got some photos of the Roosevelt Arch at the entrance...
... and then just a few metres further in is the official entry sign.
A look back towards the sprawl of Gardiner
You then pay your $25 to the ranger at their cabin...
... and you’re off and running. It’s interesting here, as the scenery remains spectacular, once you officially enter, if you see what I mean. It doesn’t just suddenly become spectacular. What I mean is that you could easily have had the entrance five or ten miles back, as the landscape is just as beautiful there.
We didn’t even realise until we saw the photos that there were animals in this shot!
Within a mile of entering the park, we saw loads of people parked up and Mark immediately saw why – mountain goats, so I hopped out to get some photos of that and the river on the other side of the road.
A couple of miles later, we stopped for some more photos...
... and then there were a few on the way for good luck too!
I'm glad to see there isn't more touristy sprawl outside the park entrance. The town is nice-looking and fits into the landscape as much as it can. I think I was expecting it to be a mini-version of the highways leading into WDW, with T-shirt and souvenir shops and Walmarts and chain restaurants.
That's the best time of day to spot animals, I'm so glad you did! Mountain goats are amazing; I don't know how they walk on the side of mountains like that! Love the light in the photos - that not quite sunset but not quite daylight either. Perfect!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
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I got a set of fridge magnets and an official guide, which the guy in there told me was a good choice. 
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