Day 80. Old Maid Cheater

My next three stories will all revolve around my favorite place. Disney World! And, no, it has nothing to do with my recent dive into the world of travel agent. I have some great memories, as I'm sure everyone does, with vacations. I try and make it to WDW at least every other year. Ever since I went for the first time with Blake, I have been enchanted.

So, of course I agreed to go when I was asked by Judy and Ginny for a road trip . We would bring Kristy along and introduce her to Disney or "the mouse house" as Blake used to call it. Speaking of Blake, she let us use one of the condo's that she and Bob owned at Ocean Reef Villas in New Smyrna Beach. It sat on the Ocean and had a great view.

So we loaded our luggage and bags of "let's keep Kristy and Carole busy in the back seat" into the car and then we were off! Did I mention that we have this habit of starting out at an ungodly hour? That helps to keep everyone in the backseat asleep for the longest part of the trip. Guess what - that never works.

In those days we used the AAA 'Trip-Tik' system. No GPS, instead the map was cut up into what could be considered bite-sized pieces. I used to love holding the Trip-Tik and watch the locations go past...then turn the page. It was the best feeling to know you were that much closer to Florida.

We traveled for what felt like a month to get through Illinois - when you head North to South it is one of the longest states you need to drive through. But we made it without too much fuss. After all, we were excited to get to our final destination. After traveling through Missouri, we stopped for the night in Tennessee (or maybe Georgia, hard to remember). Then got up bright and early (again) to head to our beach house.

The second day was not as smooth as the first. Sure we were still excited, but by this point Kristy (7) and I (20) were not getting along so well in the back seat. So let me just put it here in writing. Kristy cheats. You read that correctly. She's a cheater with a capital C! We were doing so well and then we decided to play old maid. I'm not sure how many games we played, but all of a sudden she wouldn't take the Old Maid from my hand. Then I saw it.....someone had bent the Old Maid! I didn't do it, so it had to have been Kristy. She swore she didn't and a fight started. Yes, I am not proud to say it, but I was fighting with a seven-year-old in the back seat of Ginny's car.

But she cheated!

OK - so that was pretty much the joke the rest of the trip. And that was a fair joke. In fact, I do still laugh about it today.

After the obvious cheating incident we didn't use the cards for the rest of the trip. We just entertained ourselves with reading, coloring and flipping the Trip-Tik.

We enjoyed our week at the Condo, The sand was hot, but the ocean was cool. Finally we  took Kristy to Disney World. You'd think she would be mesmerized - right? Well not this kid. She was hot and would have preferred to stay at the pool or on the beach. 

I know she out grew that since she has taken her children to Disney at least once. I saw the pictures! Plus the adult Kristy even ran the Disney Marathon through all four parks. Something I would never even try - unless someone was driving a golf cart. I'd do that!

Blake joined us at the pool a couple of times to lay out, share stories, and give us ideas of places to visit and eat. It was a fun trip. The road home wasn't as exciting as the road to Florida. But at least there was no more cheating!