Just Me and My Girl ~ May 29-June 2, 2012 - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I thought I'd start this TR off by sharing my "travel binder" with y'all. This one is small in comparison to my others. The one for the cruise is already bigger than this one is. I will post pics of it in the cruise PTR/TR that will start in about a month. Double digits aren't far away for that trip and I am so excited since I have never cruised before.
These binders are more of a personalized offshoot of the Passporter. The first year I took my Passporter but there is so much information in them and I didn't need all of it so I came up with these binders to cater to our trips. I normally would use the Passporter Pockets that come in the deluxe ring version of the Passporter but this trip was so short I didn't want to buy an extra set for 3 full park days. I decided to print some "daily highlights" fill in sheets from the Passporter Sidekick instead.
Here is a pic of the cover. I always buy the soft sided binders where you can decorate the cover and spine. The cover sheet is from the PP Sidekick which you can personalize.
Next is a pic of the inside cover. I have the packing lists which I also printed from the PP Sidekick in the cover pocket along with the Disney mail that has the Photopass Card and discount vouchers (which we never end up using). The other side has a sheet protector pocket thingy with the Tallahassee ressie confirmation email (and the room keys now) and on the back side is our WL ressie confirmation email. The blue packet is our arrival packet from the WL.
On the left is the WL ressie, our parking permit while on WDW property, my Key to the World Card and a parks map that was mailed to me from Disney. The right side is our itinerary, also an e-worksheet and in the PP Sidekick. I this worksheet!!
Behind the itinerary is a WL resort map and Park Hours that I created based on where we might go that day.
Next up is another sheet protector pocket thingy which holds our one dining ressie to Tea. On the back side of that is a letter we received about fire drill that was to occur while we were at the WL. Then I have the menus to the restaurants we were to eat at. Tea, Crystal Palace and Sci Fi. Now I'm hungry!!
Okay reached my 5 pic limit in this post - more to follow in the next post.
***I think I have corrected the issue with the pics so sorry if it seems disjointed as I deleted the original post***
After the menus I have another sheet protector pocket thingy which holds all the park maps we picked up while at WDW. It also housed most of our receipts from each day. Following that I have a map/directions to US and a ride list I created for Steph and me to try and tackle! No pics of that section, . The next sheet protector thingy holds Steph's and my US-IAO Park Passes and the photo claim ticket for our ride photo. Didn't end up buying it as the price was outrageous!!
And bringing up the rear are the Daily Highlights fill in sheets. Which I did try to fill in each day.
So there you have it, my craziness all together neatly in a binder. Awesome so I can find things later and when I ever get around to scrapping I have a great resource to use!!
Now - Let's get this party started: May 28th - Departure Day (Memorial Day)
I'm one of those people that have a hard time going to sleep the night before a trip and then staying asleep when I know I will be leaving for Disney soon. I think I ended up falling asleep around 1am and then heard Steph leave for work at 4am. She works at Starbucks and usually opens. Memorial Day was no different. After that, sleep was practically non-existent. I'd call it cat napping at best. David had to work too but he was sweet and had turned off his alarm so we could "sleep in." babe, I know you were trying to help!
Around 6:30am David decides to get up as one of our fur-babies, Lucky, is our "watch" kitty and when patterns change it bothers him. Lucky had been meowing off and on since around the time David's alarm normally goes off at 5:15am. I stayed in bed and watched the end of our local news and the beginning of GMA. At that point the other fur-baby, Shasta, decided he needed to join me on the bed for some cuddling.
Steph wasn't to be getting home from work until noon so I had some time to finish getting things ready. David left the house around 7:30am and I decided to get the day started. First thing on the agenda was getting the Tahoe a bath and fueled up.
Bath at Sparkles Car Wash: $10.99 for the $17.99 wash between the hours of 8 and 10am. We were there at 9:30am. YAY $8 savings already!!
Fuel at Kroger: $67.00 for 20.7 gallons @ $3.23. Not a complete fill up for the Tahoe but great start as fuel has been around $80 for a full tank.
As I was turning into the neighborhood, Steph called to say that she would be getting out earlier than expected. That was great news but I didn't think I could get us out the door any sooner than originally planned as I still needed a shower, pack the cooler and load the Tahoe with all our stuff. As soon as I got home, I got myself all cleaned up and finished packing the daily used stuff into my bags. Steph had left her luggage in the living room so my bags joined hers.
Next I was off to the kitchen to start getting the cooler packed and ready when I heard Steph come in. YAY! A helper! Steph cut up some fruit and veggies as I packed and iced down the drinks. Once we were done we loaded up the Tahoe.
Definitely bringing Dr Pepper!
We had a mutli-pack bag of Sun chips and a bag with peanut butter, plasticware and more drinks in front of the bags between the two middle seats. The cooler is sitting right behind the two front seats so the passenger can open it without having too move around to much. It was loaded with strawberries, apple slices, watermelon, carrots and celery. We made a ranch dip with sour cream and HVR powder mix and I bought chocolate flavored cream cheese. YUM!! There were also some water bottles and DP bottles in there.
With the Tahoe loaded, Steph and I did a quick run down of everything on the packing lists ( those things, thanks PP!!). Seems as if we had all we were gonna need. Steph went to grab her purse and her jacket and the fur-babies had some demands that had to be met before we could leave.
Shasta really was making his demands heard by laying on Steph's jacket while Lucky waited patiently off to the side. After a few pets, , and kisses, Steph and I were out the door, just a little before 1pm. Now, honestly, I can't remember if I ate anything for breakfast that morning but I must not have based on what happens later on.
Traffic was for the most part easy peasy. This was the first time we didn't have any unexpected major freeway shutdowns on our way out of town. However, I started to develop a headache while I was driving us out. We stopped for fuel in Hammond, LA @ Bayou Boyz on Pumpkin Cent. We paid $62.30 for 18 gallons @ $3.49. It was now 5:45pm according to the receipt. I turned over the driving duties to Steph and decided to take some headache meds and rest for awhile. Within the hour my head felt better but my stomach was not a happy camper. I don't get car-sickness or motion-sickness so I was really curious to why my stomach wasn't feeling well. Looking back now, it's probably cause all I had eaten so far that day was the fruit and chips we brought with us. Not enough food stuff to take my headache meds with so for the next 3-4 hours I suffered with a tummy.
As we arrived in FL I started to pay attention to time as we had a reservation at the Courtyard by Marriott in Tallahassee. Tallahassee is on Mickey time while we are on CST. I have had bad luck with hotels giving away my room since I usually check in late. I decided to call them around 10pm Mickey time to remind them I was still coming. I started feeling a little better and Steph wanted me to drive the rest of the way since I am pretty familiar with the area. We pulled off the highway and did a "firedrill" style change of seats at the stop sign and then pulled right back onto the highway. We finally arrived at the hotel by 11pm CST/midnight Mickey time. Check in was smooth and soon after we were passed out in la la land.
If y'all remember, TS Beryl had been on land for about 12 hours by the time we arrived in Tallahassee. Luckily, for us, we didn't catch any of the from Beryl on the way to Tallahassee. When we arrived, we could tell Tallahassee had gotten some rain cause the ground was still wet but it never rained on us during the drive. All in all, besides me feeling yucky for a few hours it was a smooth road trip. Our only expenses for the day were the two tanks of fuel and the car wash before we left.
Tomorrow is another partial road trip day and arrival day . Does TS Beryl make its way outta FL before we hit the road?? Does my stomach play games with me again?? Stay tuned.....
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Last edited by Shelley the Pooh; 06-15-2012 at 01:26 PM..
Reason: fixed pic links
Love your binder! I make a very similar one for each trip and have to say that I was quite excited when I found a Mickey Binder at Walmart recently to use for my next trip!!!
You are making me miss my Yukon.......had it for 10 years and just recently traded it in . Miss all that room BUT don't miss the fill ups!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Sorry your tummy was bothering you. Seemed like a nice leisurely drive so far. In a way I'm almost looking forward to doing that one day, but I need a bigger car - maybe a YUKON! And I think I know the rain answer - I mean I did arrive the next day and I know what the weather was like.
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Great start! Love the organization of the binder. I also can't believe how light of packers you guys are! If I had the room, my back would have been loaded!
Your trip down to Florida seemed good!! Sorry about the headaches unfortunately I know very well what you were going through. Not fun!!
Can't wait for day 2!
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Check out my Pre-Trip Report for our 9/18-9/23/12 trip here:
Thank you for showing in detail how you did your binder. I LOVE it! I'm not sure I'll have time to do one like it for my next trip (but it would have been perfect for this kind of complicated itinerary-- mixed AbD tour-park touring-cruise). The trip after this summer, though, the binder is the way to go!
How awful to have a bad headache for the drive. Glad the meds did their work, but too bad they were hard on your tummy. But you made it to your destination in fairly good shape!
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I want to thank everyone for the sweet comments about the binders. I making them and am glad that y'all enjoyed them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Love the binders!
Glad you've made it to Florida, although sadly I can't see any of the photos in that installment.
Thanks Cheryl.
It was weird about the pics because I could still see them in the post but I did notice the thumbnail attachment wasn't at the bottom on my first posting attempt. It's all fixed now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by honeybee723
Love your planner, and the trip sounds like it's started great, but I can't see the pictures either.
Melissa. I gave those pesky pictures a talking to and I believe they are behaving now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great binder! Glad you made it to Tallahassee!
Thank you Marnie. We were so happy it was a pretty smooth start.
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Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
Love your binder! Sorry your tummy wasn't off to a good start. Can't wait to hear more!
Thank you so much! My tummy and I aren't as good of friends as we used to be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Love your binder! I make a very similar one for each trip and have to say that I was quite excited when I found a Mickey Binder at Walmart recently to use for my next trip!!!
You are making me miss my Yukon.......had it for 10 years and just recently traded it in . Miss all that room BUT don't miss the fill ups!
Thanks Lisa. How awesome about the Mickey Binder. I wanted to do something a little different for my 1st cruise binder so the cover is something I designed with a printing program I have. I am also going to print it on magnet paper to decorate our door while cruising.
Yeah the fill-ups kinda hurt, especially with the fuel prices going up more than they come down. But I my Tahoe. She's been an awesome vehicle so far!
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Last edited by Shelley the Pooh; 06-18-2012 at 01:21 PM..
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. The next sheet protector thingy holds Steph's and my US-IAO Park Passes and the photo claim ticket for our ride photo. Didn't end up buying it as the price was outrageous!! 
She works at Starbucks and usually opens. Memorial Day was no different. After that, sleep was practically non-existent. I'd call it cat napping at best. David had to work too but he was sweet and had turned off his alarm so we could "sleep in." 
babe, I know you were trying to help!
tummy. 
from Beryl on the way to Tallahassee. When we arrived, we could tell Tallahassee had gotten some rain cause the ground was still wet but it never rained on us during the drive. All in all, besides me feeling yucky for a few hours it was a smooth road trip. 
Our only expenses for the day were the two tanks of fuel and the car wash before we left.
Stay tuned.....
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