A Weekend Away By Myself

Chris rarely travels for work but when he was preparing to leave for a week-long trip in May, I was very jealous.   I was jealous that he was getting to stay in a hotel by himself.   

On July Fourth, I received an email from my former boss, Becky, asking if I wanted to join her and some other PTs at a conference at Disney World.   I immediately responded "Yes!"   

I registered for the conference and immediately booked my own hotel room.  Last week, I shared at Bible study that I was excited beyond belief to travel alone and stay alone in a hotel room and hang out with some physical therapist friends.   One of the other women in my Bible study said that a recent marriage conference the speaker had shared a story where four sisters, who were all moms,  were interviewed after running a marathon.   They were asked, "What motivated you to run a marathon?" One of them responded, "We thought it was a good way to get a Saturday to ourselves." The speaker at the marriage conference concluded the story by saying, "Men, your wives would rather run a marathon than spend another Saturday taking care of toddlers!"  I wouldn't say that exactly, but I was ready for a little break.   

I love my family but I so enjoyed the time away.  I found it interesting that the two young therapists who are not married and do not have kids chose to room together but those of us who are older and have kids got our own rooms!   

It turns out, I was only in my room to sleep.  And I didn't get a lot of sleep.  I can't believe how much fun I had!  

The conference was ok.  I thought I would be very intellectually stimulated and that my brain would enjoy a good workout.  Some of the sessions were wonderful and thought provoking or at least very interesting but some of them were almost insulting in their basic presentation of material even new graduates would know.  

 The conference was a mixed bag but the fellowship with my friends and fellow clinicians was extremely enjoyable.  Unfortunately our fearless leader, Becky, could not be there since she was cheering on her husband who swam two miles in the Chesapeake Bay and then biked over 100 miles on Saturday.  

For lunch on Friday, we headed to the pool bar for fish tacos.  We saw this little gator on the way. 

The conference ended at 4:00 on Friday giving us the prefect opportunity for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!  Cara and I are Disney fanatics and we were able to convince the other three that this was what we should do.  Thankfully, we all loved it!  

They decided we should all dress up.  They had cool iron on decals and capes and I wore a Spider Woman dress costume. 

I  knew we could get into the party after 4:00 even though the party is from 7:00 to midnight.  We got there around 5:15.  Cara and I both have apps on our phones that show the wait times for rides.  It had just rained and the park was not crowded.  We went straight to Space Mountain. Marcia isn't a roller coaster fan but we talked her into riding Space Mountain.  She liked it!   

We got her on Big Thunder Railroad also.  

Cara had already booked Tony's Town Square for dinner.  It was nice to sit down and enjoy some delicious food.  We were in and out in a hour which we gave us time to find a great spot for watching the Boo To You Parade. This is my favorite parade and the other female superheroes liked it also.  

It's hard to get pictures of the night-time parades but I got a few. 

The other three left a little before 11:00 but Cara and I closed the park down!   We were able to ride all the rides except Splash Mountain , because no one but me wanted to get wet (I rode it six weeks ago so I was fine with not riding it), and the Speedway, and Carousel.   We also Trick Or Treated.  

Pooh and friends were out in their costumes.

At midnight, Cara and I walked into the bakery on Main Street and they locked the door behind us.  She  really wanted an ice cream sandwich and she was able to talk me into eating half of it.  All I can is, "Yum!".  After indulging our sweet tooths, we headed for the exit since the park was closed.  

After the last session ended at 6:30 on Saturday, we headed to Downtown Disney.  We ate at 

Paradiso 37.  

Laura, Ashley, and Cara.

Me and Marcia

The food was delicious and we had a table right beside of the water.   The music was great and we had so much fun!  The guy beside of me is an adaptive trike vendor who worked with Becky's office for at least seven years.   

Unlike the night before, Cara and I were the first ones to leave.  We left a little after 11:00.    

We went to the first two sessions but we skipped out on the last session.  We went to the pool instead!  We still talked about pediatric physical therapy though because that's what we do and that's our passion.  And yes, we went down the waters slide!  

All to soon, it was time to take the Magical Express back the airport and head home.  I feel refreshed.  Of course, I missed Chris and the kids but oh-my-gosh was it good to get away!   I'm already looking forward to my next trip with these wonderful women and Becky!