Bus Blogging

by Pa Rock
Consummate Traveler

We are riding a Disney Bus enroute to Port Canaveral and our big cruise. One of the many instructions was to plan on turning our cell phones off during the voyage to avoid international roaming fees. That means The Ramble will probably be shut down until Sunday as well - not that anyone but Tim and Phillipia will probably notice!

Disney World was fun, and Boone was old enough to enjoy it. His dad also seemed to have a very good time. The people who did not seem to be having fun were the very young - ages seven and below - and their bedraggled parents. Most of that group were fussy, angry, and tired (kids and parents!). It would probably work better for little kids to come in the winter when it isn't so sultry and all of the screaming and stampeding older kids were safely back home and in school or institutions.

I did see lots of grandparents on this trip, and most seemed to be having a grand time showing Disney's world to their progeny. I know that taking my grandson to Disney World has been a special adventure for me. I hope that someday he will bring his children and grandchildren here and tell them about his first visit at Disney World with his dad and Pa Rock.

A Disney Adventure!

by Pa Rock
World Traveler

I'm off on another trip tomorrow, a fun adventure to Disney World in Florida followed by a cruise to the Bahamas on one of Disney's big boats (probably the S.S. Goofy!). My oldest son, Nick, and his only son, Boone, will be waiting for me at the Port Orleans Resort at Disney World.

This will be my third summer of going somewhere with Boone. Two years ago he and Nick and I rode Amtrak from Topeka to Flagstaff and then drove south in a rented car to Phoenix where we met his new cousin, Sebastian. We also took in Sedona and the Grand Canyon on that trip. Last summer he and his Dad flew to Phoenix and we drove to San Diego where Boone was able to see the ocean for the first time. You only get to see the ocean for the first time once, and Pa Rock was thrilled to be there when his oldest grandson had that experience!

Boone is ten-years-old now and should really enjoy his time in the theme park and at sea. (I once told a friend that a Disney Cruise was my definition of hell, but he assured me that the kids are kept very busy and the old fogies are free to enjoy more leisurely pursuits.) I'm sure that we will all have a blast!

And,yes, I'm going to be on the lookout for pirates. It would be like just like that devious (yet charmingly flamboyant) Captain Jack Sparrow to try something on the high seas!

More to follow...

Hell

by Pa Rock

I have always contended that my definition of Hell would be a Disney cruise, a long ocean voyage on a big red ship with hordes of crumb-snatchers swarming across every deck like so many crazed and starving locusts. A recent article on the Internet, however, has led me to a clearer understanding of just how truly awful Hell could be.

It happened this week when a large group of adolescent girls who were attending cheerleading camp at the University of Texas decided to see how many of their group could squeeze into an elevator. Twenty-six of them managed to get inside and then ride the elevator down three floors without mishap - until they tried to exit their big sardine can. It was then that they discovered the doors wouldn’t open. Fortunately, each was equipped with a minimum of one cell phone, so they were able to call for help - and then, most likely, spent the rest of their ordeal texting each other about their tragic situation. (OMG!) The vacuous teens were pasted to each other for twenty-five minutes until a repairman managed to pry the doors open.

If I expire in the pursuit of sin, may I wake up screaming on a cruise ship crammed with out-of-control children rather than in an intellectual vacuum of compressed cheerleaders. There is Hell, and then there is Hell!