A Fiend Looks at Fifty-A TCD Birthday Trip Report

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

My kids drowned out your singing while typing as I was reading... I'm gonna have work on their manners.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That's the first time I've seen Mrs. TCD.

Looks like you married up Andrew.

You are absolutely right about that, Lou.

I hit the proverbial lottery in the wife department when I was lucky enough to marry Mrs. TCD.

I married way, way, up!

The only problem is that Mrs. TCD is very classy. Which means she doesn't like hanging out in the camper for long periods of time.

I think the littl girl in this picture shows that, for her at least, it was worthh the money. :D

Thanks for singing while you typed it - it really helped me feel like I was there.

Yes, you're right about that.

One thing that you can't deny is that people love this show. They put it on three times a night, 365 days a year, and despite the high cost, it is usually sold out.

People are crazy.

Disney capitalizes on that.

TCD,

Loved reading about your night at the Hoop De Doo. I have been twice, once when I was 15 and a second time when I was 16. (I am now 44, so its been a LONG time!!!) We always talk about going again, but the pricetag always takes my breath away!!!!! Its funny how it hasnt seemed to change much over the years. I remember twirling my napkin and hitting a spoon on the washboard.......good times!!!

Can't wait to read more!

Heidi

They did recently change a couple of songs because of a copyright issue, but the changes are not noticeable unless you are a HDDR geek.

Otherwise, you are right, what you see today is the same show that was first performed back in 1974.

That's pretty remarkable.

My kids drowned out your singing while typing as I was reading... I'm gonna have work on their manners.

Your kids did you a huge favor.

I lied about having a good singing voice.

I don't.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

Great update! :heart: Now I'm feeling all sappy. We very rarely see the whole TCD family together, and your girls are such good sports. Those pictures alone are worth the price you paid, PLUS you got chicken & ribs.

I don't love the new Six Bits. Looks like he needs a little meat on his bones.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I have never seen Mrs. TCD or the Older DD so that was a first! $31 might not be too much for a family portrait!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Is there another update coming today?

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Great pictures, and you look so good in your Mater Hat!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great update! :heart: Now I'm feeling all sappy. We very rarely see the whole TCD family together, and your girls are such good sports. Those pictures alone are worth the price you paid, PLUS you got chicken & ribs.

I don't love the new Six Bits. Looks like he needs a little meat on his bones.

Yes, you are right- getting the whole family together these days is a rarity.

And, the girls are good sports.

No one really wanted to go to the HDDR too much.

But we all ended up having a great time!

So, it was worth it.

But, next time, I say we stick with a GAG, and spend the extra money on more nights at the Fort!

I have never seen Mrs. TCD or the Older DD so that was a first! $31 might not be too much for a family portrait!

Yes, we have lots of family portraits, and I'm glad that we do.

Is there another update coming today?

No, I don't think so.

I have to upload some more photos first.

It looks like that won't happen until tomorrow.

Great pictures, and you look so good in your Mater Hat!!!!!!!!!!!

Well thank you very much. I thought I looked pretty good in the Mater hat too.

Of course, that was after I had consumed all of that free sangria!

(Don't worry, I only cared to drink the first glass. Actually, I didn't even finish it- I knew I had to drive to get Rocky)

TCD

[JARRSHEL 0]

Happy birthday TCD the big 50. Just turned 49 in Aug. the shock of 50 is already starting to set in. We have not been HDDR because of the cost and the fact I,m not a big chicken and rib fan . Strange I know , what can I say.

[Grumpy and Grandma 740]

TCD (Andrew) Just want to say a belated

:and your still a "youngun"..

[caveat lector 181]

... let me tell you that the cost for the five of us to attend after including tax was $295.

HOLY COW BATMAN! That is some serious jack!

That is (one of) the problems with being an accounting type. For that kind of smack, my mind always equates to what else it buys:

x number of nights at the Fort

x G U and G's from Trails End

x extra days on a Kenny cart

x number of rediculously priced Disney beers.....

Ah hell, I'm going to take off my green visor and arm band for a second.

Glad you had a GREAT time at the "revue." :)

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

HOLY COW BATMAN! That is some serious jack!

That is (one of) the problems with being an accounting type. For that kind of smack, my mind always equates to what else it buys:

x number of nights at the Fort

x G U and G's from Trails End

x extra days on a Kenny cart

x number of rediculously priced Disney beers.....

"Hosting" a airstream rally at FW Nov 2012 and of all the things they didnt want to pay for apparently the "revue" is the one thing they did. Sadly I will probably attend and I don't like fried chicken or ribs. *gasp* did I just loose the last of my southern cred?

I am sincerely hoping that the show is good.... at least it will be somewhat painless as we will using the dining plan that trip.

[stacktester 78]

Glad I got in on page 3. There's one pic of Mrs TCD looking at someone kinda scarily. No I wasn't there. :rofl2: :rofl2:

Andrew I am envious of your girls hanging with an old man. I only hope Annie will be at the fort when I'm 50. Oh and Happy Birthday. Send my regards to Mrs TCD. Maybe tell her to turn the lights on.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Glad I got in on page 3. There's one pic of Mrs TCD looking at someone kinda scarily. No I wasn't there. :rofl2: :rofl2:

Andrew I am envious of your girls hanging with an old man. I only hope Annie will be at the fort when I'm 50. Oh and Happy Birthday. Send my regards to Mrs TCD. Maybe tell her to turn the lights on.

always pushing your luck

[LORNADUCK 261]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW. Glad you had a good weekend before BD. I couldn't think of a better place to spend it. Matter of fact I spend mine there every year for the last I don't know how many.

[lklasing 16]

Well, as usual I'm late to the party, but I'm in earlier than page 9 like last time! Having said that, Happy Birthday, TCD! Great report, as always. Glad Mrs. TCD and Rocky could join you this time. Looking forward to more!

[We4mickey 6]

Happy belated Birthday TCD!!! What could be better than spending it at the Fort. Wish we lived close enough to do it. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Happy Birthday Andrew!

I don't care if he is personable or not...that new Six Bits looks just wrong to me. He's so wrong that he's not even Bix Sits. From here on out, I am referring to him at Dip Shits.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Glad I got in on page 3. There's one pic of Mrs TCD looking at someone kinda scarily. No I wasn't there. :rofl2: :rofl2:

Andrew I am envious of your girls hanging with an old man. I only hope Annie will be at the fort when I'm 50. Oh and Happy Birthday. Send my regards to Mrs TCD. Maybe tell her to turn the lights on.

I am sure Annie will be there. It's only a couple years off.

[stefa70 205]

Happy Birthday Andrew!

I don't care if he is personable or not...that new Six Bits looks just wrong to me. He's so wrong that he's not even Bix Sits. From here on out, I am referring to him as Dip Shits.

:yourekillinme:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Happy birthday TCD the big 50. Just turned 49 in Aug. the shock of 50 is already starting to set in. We have not been HDDR because of the cost and the fact I,m not a big chicken and rib fan . Strange I know , what can I say.

Yes, you are right behind me! Today is my last day of being in my 40's. It is still hard for me to believe that as of tomorrow, I am eligible to join AARP. Oy!

TCD (Andrew) Just want to say a belated

:and your still a "youngun"..

Thanks, Dave.

And, you were late at all.

My birthday is tomorrow.

We celebrated a week early.

HOLY COW BATMAN! That is some serious jack!

That is (one of) the problems with being an accounting type. For that kind of smack, my mind always equates to what else it buys:

x number of nights at the Fort

x G U and G's from Trails End

x extra days on a Kenny cart

x number of rediculously priced Disney beers.....

Ah hell, I'm going to take off my green visor and arm band for a second.

Glad you had a GREAT time at the "revue." :)

LOL!

You and I are cut from the same cloth. I had to force myself not to think about the other things I could have spent that money on. But, you only turn 50 once, and this was the perfect way for my family to celebrate. I'll probably won't be back to the HDDR until my 60th!

"Hosting" a airstream rally at FW Nov 2012 and of all the things they didnt want to pay for apparently the "revue" is the one thing they did. Sadly I will probably attend and I don't like fried chicken or ribs. *gasp* did I just loose the last of my southern cred?

I am sincerely hoping that the show is good.... at least it will be somewhat painless as we will using the dining plan that trip.

Yes, the show is good! It certainly isn't the food that keeps folks coming back.

Glad I got in on page 3. There's one pic of Mrs TCD looking at someone kinda scarily. No I wasn't there. :rofl2: :rofl2:

Andrew I am envious of your girls hanging with an old man. I only hope Annie will be at the fort when I'm 50. Oh and Happy Birthday. Send my regards to Mrs TCD. Maybe tell her to turn the lights on.

Donnie-

This was the first trip in a long time that I didn't run in to you at the Fort.

Mrs. TCD kept expecting you to show up.

She was really disappointed that you didn't.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW. Glad you had a good weekend before BD. I couldn't think of a better place to spend it. Matter of fact I spend mine there every year for the last I don't know how many.

Thanks, Lorna.

I am with you, I am happy to spend as many birthdays as I can at the Fort!

Well, as usual I'm late to the party, but I'm in earlier than page 9 like last time! Having said that, Happy Birthday, TCD! Great report, as always. Glad Mrs. TCD and Rocky could join you this time. Looking forward to more!

Thanks, Leslie.

Yes, you are improving.

How are your plans for your special trip coming together?

Happy belated Birthday TCD!!! What could be better than spending it at the Fort. Wish we lived close enough to do it. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

Thanks, Lynn.

There is still a lot of story to tell. We are still on Friday, and we have all day Saturday and a pretty eventful Sunday morning to cover.

So stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Andrew!

I don't care if he is personable or not...that new Six Bits looks just wrong to me. He's so wrong that he's not even Bix Sits. From here on out, I am referring to him at Dip Shits.

Dave, I literally laughed out loud at that!

Good one.

The only thing is I'm not allowed to say cuss words.

So, I will have to call him Dip Spits!

And, you are right, casting this nerdy geek as Six Bits is unbelievable. The kid is funny and all, but having a nerdy guy play Six Bits changes the whole dynamic of the show. The star is now Claire (the ditsy blond). It's a weird thing. It ain't right.

I am sure Annie will be there. It's only a couple years off.

Tell, him Michael!

The fact of the matter is that if we are lucky, we are all going to hit 50 at some point. Some of us already have, and others will get there some day.

It beats the alternative.

TCD

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

The new Spits Dip (Six Bits) looks like a young Bill Gates in the photo with his hat off - at you don't get any nerdier than that!

One day early, but

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK- this will be a short post.

But, it will be followed by a long post in which you will get to see the winner of the TCD Real Man of Genius Award for this trip.

No worries.

After our fun time at the HDDR, we arrived back at camp at about 11:30.

It was time to go spring Rocky from doggy jail.

We were planning to let him play on the Best Friends dog park after we picked him up. So, all the girls came along for the ride.

We got to Best Friends just before midnight.

It was dead there.

I am not sure that they are getting much business from park visitors.

We picked up Rocky.

He was happy to see us.

He seemed like he had a good time.

We headed out back to the dog park.

This is a great perk to boarding your dog here.

The Fort's dog park closes at dusk.

It's nice to have a place for your dog to burn off steam before bed time.

Rocky had the dog park to himself.

He ran right in to the fountain:

He wanted to have a drink.

But, the water jets spray randomly, and every time Rocky ran up to one, it stopped:

That was some good fun!

I wished they would let the pet owners control the water jets by remote control. That would be even funnier!

Rocky got mad at the random water jets, and started running around.

Here, he has what we call the "crazy eye." He gets that way when he is over tired. He goes nuts and runs around. It only lasts for a few minutes, and then he typically will drop and fall asleep:

But, first, he wanted to get a drink.

The water jets were still mocking him:

Finally, he caught one:

Then it was on!

He drank like a camel at an oasis:

He even waited around for some water to shoot out of this regular sprinkler head:

After Rocky drank more water than we thought possible, he ran around and lifted his leg on every vertical thing he could find in the dog park. When he ran out of vertical things, he went after the horizontal ones. Then, he hit some of the spots he had already covered just for good measure. What I am trying to say here is that the dog somehow let out more liquid than he took in. And that is saying something. We are talking gallons. (A word to the wise- don't sit on the grass at the Best Friends dog park).

After Rocky had recycled all the fountain water, he was finally ready to go.

So, we headed back to the Fort.

It was now past midnight.

That meant we had to go straight to bed.

Not!

Come on, you know that's not how we roll!

It was time for some late night looping.

There wasn't much to see.

It was very dead around the Fort.

The only thing interesting we saw was a family setting up a tent on the 1900 loop, using their headlights to see in the dark.

They were the only campers on the entire loop.

I don't know why they were assigned there.

I think that would be pretty creepy to be in a tent all alone on a loop. Especially setting up late like that.

After we had thoroughly looped, we hit the hay.

It had been a super-fun day.

And, as we turned in, we noticed that the sky had cleared, and the stars were twinkling. It had been a pretty cloudy, and occasionally rainy day. It looked like we were in for better weather tomorrow.

Coming up . . .

Rocky is up with the sun.

And we find our RMOG!

I think you will like this guy!

TCD

[Sensei 18]

Glad to get this in before tomorrow - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TCD. :bday:

Turning 50 is just a number. And as you said, it beats the alternative.

[stefa70 205]

Mason does the same thing "marking" everything in the entire loop when we walk. After the first couple of times, he's empty, but he will still lift his leg and try for at least a squirt.

Love how Rocky thought the sprinkler head may have spit water. He's too darn cute!

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

What you could say is that your 25 with 25 years experience at it, or 30 with 20 years experience...etc...etc..etc.

For instance I have been 29 for the last 7 years. I'm more than good at it. I might turn 30 next year and I might not.

I am hiding those pictures of Rocky from my dogs. They would have fits to go visit "that" dog park.