Part 2: Our Visit to The Happiest Place on Earth

Sunday, November 7, 2010:
Rigor mortis had set in by morning, although oddly enough, mostly in my hip flexors (which have plagued me ever since the broken leg and which were what I was feeling during the run, but they've never been a post-race issue). My actual injured leg was stiff in the knee, but I've had worse just training. My chafing was almost nonexistent compared to other races. But the fate of one toenail on my right foot looks uncertain at best. I had a big list of things I was planning to do that I knew was a pull-out-all-the-stops recovery plan to get me up and onto that plane back to Orlando by afternoon and I did em all. Compression tights, my stretching DVD, heat, ice, pain gels, even eating a huge spinach and chicken salad at 8:00am. Hobbled around to pack up and leave the condo by 11:00am. We headed back to the expo to pick up my last bags and my finish photo. Then on to lunch at Sharky's for gumbo, fish tacos, and my full 2010 quota of all things fried (shrimp, fries, onoin rings)---mmmm. Did a bit of window shopping in Panama City Beach to kill time and then headed for the airport. Forgot to drink my last coconut water I had saved for recovery, which resulted in a security search of my bag and a TSA tossing it (aaaaa!). Two short flights later we were in Orlando and onto the Disney bus, but all-told we didn't make it to our room at the Wilderness Lodge until after 1:00 am and we were zombies.

Monday, November 8, 2010:
Waking up in the Wilderness Lodge...and then watching Sporty Spice wake up like a kid on Christmas morning, was pretty cool. We can see the pool and courtyard that looks like Yellowstone Park out our window. Very sunny but a little cool out. We headed down to the little pickup breakfast stop downstairs. I must say I believe I had, hands down, the best cinnamon roll of my entire life.
We took the boat over to the Magic Kingdom and we were there!
An unexpected surprise was that they had already decorated and started all the festivities for Christmas at the park.
Cinderella's castle is all draped in lights. With the cool weather, it works for me. The first ride Sporty wanted to go on (of course) was the train ride around the park, so we got the lay of the land. Our next ride was Space Mountain. Sporty headed right in and took the very front seat; definitely the first ride of that caliber for him and he did great. We did Tomorrowland, including the Buzz Lightyear ride and the People Mover and on to Frontierland and Adventureland where we hit the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean, among others. Had lunch at a colonial tavern place. Then on to my favorite--Fantasyland! Small World, Peter Pan and then Toon Town, which Sporty loved, being such a huge fan of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We met Mickey at his house and had our picture taken with him.
We were SO tired by the time the park closed at 7:00 pm! We took the boat back to the hotel and had the best dinner at the fancy restaurant there. Wood smoked salmon and a berry cobbler. It is so amazing to me how Disney can carry a theme (Wilderness Lodge, Pacific Northwest) to the Nth degree, even to the menu. Sporty had the coolest dessert: a white chocolate Mickey Mouse puzzle with frosting "paint" on a palette-shaped plate.
Cruized the gift shop and came upstairs and called the pet-sitter. Our 20 year old diabetic cat passed away in her sleep today, and although not a huge surprise, it saddens us nonetheless.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010:
Our Epcot Day! First we grabbed some coffee downstairs and did a couple of clues from this Hidden Mickey Hunt Sporty Spice is obsessed with. Then onto a bus headed for Epcot. First thing, we headed straight for France and had pastries and coffee for breakfast.
Then we went back to Futureworld, where there were so many things to see. Sporty loved the spaceship flight simulator and the race car test track (we did that one twice). We went to the Innovations building where there were all these cool interactive exhibits and "shows" and games; one was a 3-D storm-readiness thing and one was an interactive recycling game). We did the Nemo ride at the aquarium-exhibit part which was really cute, and came back after dinner for Soarin', this really cool simulator ride that makes you feel like you're soaring over California in a hang glider.

Then we got to my favorite part--the different countries. We went on the boat rides in Mexico and Norway and looked in some shops. By the time dinner rolled around we were starving. We got into the most amazing buffet in Germany. Wonderful German food in what felt like an outdoor restaurant in Germany. And there was a German band and the kids, Sporty included, were all doing the chicken dance on the dance floor.
We ended our night with the amazing fireworks and light show they have. And with Sporty buying this cool Buzz Lightyear light up toy--and then tripping and splitting his lip open on the cement on the way back to the bus.