On the Road Again----SOON "In search of SNOW and FLOWERS" - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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We are going to be very busy today and are leaving in the morning for a few days as you will read in this update. We need pixies for this trip that we will be able to get DW's Papa moved without any major issues. The move will not actually be finished until Monday of next week when we are able to get his furniture moved in and setup.
The purpose of this trip is for us to spend some quality time together. DW has been spending about 1/4th of her time taking care of her family in Virginia. Her Papa and her sister live about a 6 hour drive from our home in NC. Her Papa has been living in an assisted living center in the locked area for memory patients since last summer. She visits him every day when she is there. About two and a half weeks before we leave for this trip, we will be going to Virginia to pick up her Papa and move him to an Alzheimer’s home near our home. We will go up and spend two days getting his personal stuff packed and loaded into DW’s SUV. In order to get him checked into the home before the weekend, we will return home on Thursday and spend a night in a hotel about 30 miles from the home. Then we will move him in on Friday. Our son and his wife are going up on Friday to get his furniture from the home and bring it back. We can’t move the furniture in until Monday. DW will be helping our son do this while I work. Once we get Papa settled in, it will only be about ten days until DW and I leave for vacation. DW’s brother who lives with us and our son will be checking on Papa while we are away.
Also, on her monthly trips to Virginia, she becomes the primary caregiver for her disabled sister. Normally her children take care of her but since DW stays at her house she takes over. She drives her one hour each way to Richmond three times a week for treatments. DW also takes care of her sister’s very large but loving Boxer who never sleeps all night.
As you can see, DW leads a very stressful life and I have tried to take her away as often as I can. Since September of 2012, we have spent 5 weeks at WDW, 1 week in Colonial Williamsburg, 1 Week at a resort in the mountains of Virginia, and about 2 weeks in Pigeon Forge, TN. For 2014, we have booked this April trip for 2 weeks at WDW, in September 2 we have more weeks at WDW (this time with one week at the Villas at Wilderness Lodge.) DW has already asked me if it would be possible to go back to WDW in Dec for the second or third week. She really loves the Christmas decorations and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I love to try to get pix but have only had limited success. We will probably go to the mountains during the summer for a week or two as well. Of course, this all depends on the health of the family and our bank accounts.
Now back to the planning. We are now at 21 days before we leave and I know that there are a lot of things still to do.
1. Get our taxes done or file an extension before we leave.
2. Get Papa settled into the new home.
3. Review camera equipment and make sure that everything is ready. DW and I both have new cameras and we are just starting to learn them. I will download the manuals into each of our computers. DW has a Nikon S9500 and my new Nikon D5300 body arrived today. I have been using a Nikon D5100 but with all of the upgrades made to the new model I chose to make the move. We have several very functional cameras which are going to be put on eBay or Craig’s list as soon as we get back.
4. Complete current client work.
5. Schedule client appointments for when we return.
6. During the week of March 18, make the ADRs for the September trip.
7. Finish getting the trading pins and supplies ready. We have about 400 pins for trading this trip.
8. Get the new Rx lenses ordered and mounted into my frames.
I will try to get some pix from previous trips loaded so you can see who we are and where we are going to be staying. If you didn’t guess the Snow I will be looking for is not the white fluffy kind but the beautiful Snow White.
I hope the move goes smoothly. What a stressful time your DW is currently having. I love how you try to take her away as much as you can - what a wonderful thing to do.
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It's great that you're making it possible for your wife to periodically get away from the stresses of being a caretaker. I hope the move for her Papa isn't too hard on everyone, including him. Change is difficult to handle for alzheimer and dementia patients and their people.
Thanks for all of your comments and concerns. Judy and I will be leaving mid morning this Tuesday to go to Virginia. We do have to make a stop at the Veterans office just inside Virginia to finish some more paperwork for her Papa. He has a dentist appointment on Wednesday and we will be packing up his clothes and personal things when he gets back. We plan on leaving to come back on Thursday morning around 8 am. Hopefully, we will be able to get him to his new home by mid afternoon. If not, we will see how we do with staying in a motel along the interstate before we get home. We cannot bring him to our house as Judy's brother is living with us in our spare bedroom. BTW, I do not know if I mentioned it before but her brother is also disabled. He was a victim of a home invasion while he lived in Alaska several years ago and now has severe PTSD along with a lot of physical problems (too long a list to publish.)
Wishing you safe travels as you take care of family. Both you and Judy sound like very caring folks, and it's nice that you can get some time to yourselves in your travels to Disney and other places.
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I love how you try to take her away as much as you can - what a wonderful thing to do. 
Holly: 
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