Monday, March 15, 2021

Flor-lando Trip - March 2021 (part 2)

Our third park day of our trip to Orlando was to Epcot - right at the beginning of Walt Disney World's Flower & Garden Festival. Normally folks' trips to Epcot mean a lot of food - but during a festival, it means even MORE food!




Our first stop was the iconic Spaceship Earth ride.


Then we headed over to Mission: SPACE (we all rode the easier, "green" version..)

After riding the Soarin' Around the World and checking out the SeaBase aquarium, we headed into the heart of the festival and the World Showcase.
We started our culinary journey at the Honey Bee-stro.
 

Then we moved on to the Canada and then the United Kingdom.
As part of the festival, there were numerous fantastic topiaries around.

We saw more character calvacades at Epcot as well, including these princesses in the United Kingdom.

There was a beautiful view of Spaceship Earth across the lake from France.

I stopped to rest my feet for awhile in Morocco. 



Italy


China

Mickey & Minnie!

Dad having some fun in Norway

A Three Caballeros sighting in Mexico!

Dad tried a "garden margarita" in Mexico - it literally had lettuce juice in it... 😬

Me and Donald 💙... oh yeah, and Daisy I guess...

Photos in front of the butterfly topiaries on our way to the butterfly house


Winnie the Pooh had his net ready for the butterfly house!

To end the evening, we headed back to Germany for dinner at the Biergarten Restaurant.






Flor-lando Trip - March 2021 (part 1)

This March I went with my family to Orlando for a wonderful vacation. Originally, we were to go in June 2020 as a sales incentive trip my sister earned - but due to COVID, it was rescheduled for this month.


We flew in on a Saturday and my folks picked me up. Our room was not ready yet, so we drove over to Disney Springs and checked out the shopping!


Mom & I both have braces on our left braces - twins!


After checking out Disney Springs, we headed to the military resort, Shades of Green, to check into our room. It's a gorgeous property!


The lobby!

The view from our balcony

Friday, December 18, 2020

We moved!

This October we decided to down-size and move back out to Chugiak (about 6 miles north of our former home in Eagle River)! We are loving having a bit more land, a one-story home and less house to clean!



Merry Christmas 2020!

 Merry Christmas 2020 from the Gichards!


Also, we moved this year!


Monday, June 22, 2020

Valdez!

After 20+ years of living in Alaska, I finally checked Valdez off my Alaska bucket list! This past weekend, we rented a travel trailer and spent a few days in Valdez, Alaska and Andrew also went do-netting on the Copper River!

Our rental rig for the weekend!

The drive over to Valdez did not disappoint - especially from Worthington Glacier, through Thompson Pass and into Valdez-proper!


Worthington Glacier outside of Valdez


Thompson Pass




We stayed at the KOA outside of Valdez with our life group and had a blast!

Our campsite for the weekend

Building an extra shelter with a tarp (fort-building for the guys)



Creativity to stop the rain from pooling


Friday morning we all headed into town and explored the town and harbor area.



After lunch in town we headed to the Old Town Site's beach and explored.










After the beach we went to the other side of Lowe River and checked out the Solomon Gulch Hatchery and the road out to the terminus of the pipeline.




Andrew and I then checked out two beautiful waterfalls outside of town: Bridal Veil Falls and Horsetail Falls - they were gorgeous!



 

Horsetail Falls






That evening we relaxed at the campground and discovered a fun, new game called "Throw, Throw Burrito" - it was a blast!

Andrew made his wonderful Dutch Oven Shepherd's Pie!





Night Two of shelter building
 Saturday, the guys headed out to the Copper River to dinner while the ladies and kids had lunch in Valdez, played at the park, and hung out at the campsite. We had a wide range of weather, from sun and warmth in the morning, a downpour midday, and overcast and a bit of wind in the evening. Gotta love Alaska!



Andrew also got a king salmon!
 The next morning we headed back home, with some more wonderful Alaskan views.

Last morning in the campground



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