So BUSY!

Wow!  It's Wednesday, and there hasn't been a blog since Saturday.  We have been leaving the hotel around 6 a.m. and falling into bed, exhausted, around 11 p.m. to do it again the next day.  No time for blogging!

No weigh in today either because there is no scale anywhere around.  we are in Phoenix right now at a Super 8, a pretty decent Super 8, but they don't have a scale.  Imagine that.  I kind of think I'm doing okay.  Except for Monday, I have logged all of my calories into the Lose It! program.  There has been a LOT of walking so far.  I can only imagine that I'm at least staying the same.  I will admit that Monday I over ate.  We had a big lunch of soft veggie tacos with refried beans at DCA, and then a fabulously special dinner at the Carthay Circle restaurant.  I had a shot of expensive whiskey and two different glasses of wine during the day.  We skipped dessert, but there were still a lot of calories consumed.  On the other hand, we walked about five miles total.  It was over a mile just to walk to the park from our hotel, and another mile to go back.  I am sure we strolled several miles around the park because we criss crossed it multiple times. My legs ACHED at the end of the day.  We had to sit down in the Grand Californian Hotel for a break on our walk home. Mark was actually complaining of chest pains on the walk home.  Kind of crazy scary.  He chalked it up to the alcohol, the cold bothering him, and just too, TOO much activity.  He's fine now.  Don't worry!

Our D23  convention was much better than the previous one in 2011.  Many of the problems that happened, long lines and getting shut out of events, were addressed.  We brought a portable camp stool with us, and so did a LOT of other people.  When we had to wait in two hour lines, we took turns sitting down, so it was less difficult.  We did not get shut out of anything we wanted.  We planned our events, and we made everything we planned.  Clearly the people in charge made improvements.  In general we had a wonderful time.

Monday we spent the whole day in Disney's California Adventure park.  The new Cars Land, with its three new rides, and the new Carthay Circle restaurant were all excellent.  We also caught almost every show of any kind.  All the shows were also excellent.  We had a detailed plan, stuck to it, and got everything done with time to spare.  It was a great day.

Yesterday we drove about 7 1/2 hours to Phoenix, where the temperature hit 109 while we there. Our rental car this time, a Chevy Sonic, has a thermometer on the dash telling us the outside temp.  We drove away from the Anaheim area in the mid-70s and watched the gauge climb as we drove east.  It hit 100 around lunchtime in Palm Springs, CA.  Once we were in Arizona it was over 100 and hit a high of 109 when we were checking into the motel.  Crazy.

Mark has developed a nasty cold.  Lack of sleep, a lot of activity, and close quarters in the convention with thousands of strangers is a sure fire way to catch a bug.  This is his fourth day, so there's probably a few more days before it's over.  I am trying hard to avoid catching it.  I guess I'll let you know if I'm successful!

Today we slept in.  It was delightful.  Mark fell asleep about 10 p.m. and slept until nearly 8.  I'm sure his body was craving that sleep.  We are going to hit up a pharmacy because he needs to refill a prescription. Then we are going to the see the Orioles play the Diamondbacks for the fourth game of this series.  The game starts at 12:40 p.m. here in Phoenix.  That seems like an odd time to us.  We plan to eat lunch in the stadium.  According to their website, there is a Subway in there!  We have our orange Oriole shirts and hats.  I also have Oriole socks.  I feel a little embarrassed to wear it because they have lost the three previous games to the Diamondbacks.  Last night they were ahead 3-0 and then pissed it away, losing 4-3 in eleven innings.  Sigh.  Maybe we will bring them luck this afternoon.

Time to go shower and dress.  We brought in a Grand Slam from Denny's last night for our breakfast.  We are sharing one Grand Slam, so we each will have two scrambled eggs, one piece of whole wheat toast, and some fruit.  Not bad.  If I have a Subway salad for lunch in the stadium and another Denny's dinner, it will be a great day. That's basically the same day I had yesterday.  I'm happy that I'm still feeling in control over my eating.

Here are a few pictures from the last few days.

This was a VERY special concert Saturday night.

Richard Sherman is 85 and plays everything by heart.

This session Sunday morning featured four people who actually worked with Walt.  L to R they are two writers, then a costumer who did the Small World dolls, and an Imagineer.

The Archives featured recent movie and Mary Poppins, but also TikTok from Return to Oz!

In the Imagineeer area, there was a mock up of the new Disney Springs.  It's what Downtown Disney in FL is going to become.

Nick Patera sang two songs!

Our last session was on Jack Wrather and the Wrather corportion.   

They built the original Disneyland hotel.

And our final activity was the Voluntears program.  This year we decorated lunch bags and filled the with snacks for a food bank.

I haven't finished uploading the DCA pictures, so I'll include some of them next time. I should be able to write another blog tomorrow before we head out to the famous Heard Museum.