Author: Foxpartyofone

Solo traveler just trying to get a table for one😁 People ask me why I travel alone. I guess the short answer is I look at my life in terms of how much time I have left. If it works out for me to go somewhere, to see something, to do something then I’m going to do it. The future is not guaranteed and I want no regrets.

Legoland

Park day 2

Woke up at 7:30am Camden came down to my room and we went downstairs for breakfast. I tried to get him to get chocolate milk lol but he picked cranberry juice and strawberry yogurt.

Randy got stuck in the elevator yesterday so I’ve been taking the stairs. The hotel itself is fine. I think they are just having staffing issues. There is a shuttle but it’s not reliable. We took a tour of the Legoland hotel yesterday. The rooms are cool. They are themed on different Lego characters but I am so glad we aren’t staying there. It’s a madhouse, kids running around everywhere. Too much chaos for me.

Noa is ready to hit the park!

It’s 69 degrees and partly cloudy. Nice coastal weather. We made it to the park around 10:45am. There was a lot of people waiting in line but the park wasn’t that busy.

Camden rode a couple of “safe” rides, watched a couple of shows and played some games. I’m pretty sure his concern for the rides breaking down and going too fast are from his mom lol. Noa will my daredevil 😂

On to the water park. I made sure to bring swim clothes today lol. Camden and I went down the small kiddie slide together and I tried to bribe$$ Camden into riding the big tube ride but that was a no go lol. (this brought back memories of bribing the kids to waterski lol). I was freezing so I got in the box that blew hot air for five minutes. It was awesome 😁

Back to the hotel to pack. I got to my room and I had left the, “do not disturb” sign on the door. Housekeeping skipped my room yesterday so I figured I’d be fine again today. I walked in and they had stripped my bed, threw the blanket on the floor and piled all the pillows, including mine, in the middle of the bed. They took all my dirty towels but didn’t leave me any clean ones. And then they left. I called the front desk and the guy dropped off new sheets and a blanket. So, I get to remake my own bed? 🙄 so annoying. I booked through a travel site so I will have to complain to them.

A little bummed we didn’t make it to the beach but all in all it was an awesome trip😁

Legoland

Park day#1

Well, after sleeping eleven hours I am refreshed and ready to go. Downstairs for breakfast. First breakfast bowl I’ve had with salad in it lol.

Weather is 66 degrees and blue skies. We made it to the park around 11am. We met up with one of Krystal’s friends and her daughter. Let the fun begin!

We equipped Camden with an air tag. I wish they had those when Krystal and Kasey were growing up. That was my biggest fear. Lost or stolen.

Me: Camden, want to go on that ride?

Camden : no scary.

Me: Camden, want to go on that ride?

Camden : no scary.

Me: Camden, want to go on that ride?

Camden : no scary.

Me: how about this one?

Camden : okay. Coast Cruise.

90 minute wait time🙄😂. He is his mother’s child.

This theme park is very much hands on and things got better. Camden tried out a few rides and got his drivers license 😁

There are these signs all over. I know there is a water shortage but I drank a big cup of water from the faucet last night at the hotel😲 I wonder where that water came from? And what about this fountain? I’m sure the kids playing in it never have their mouths open.

There are also warnings on the app and around the park that they only accept credit / debit cards at their park and hotels. They have Cash-to-Card Kiosks where you can exchange cash into a prepaid card that can be used as a VISA card. A reverse ATM machine lol. I had noticed at a local smoothie shop they had trouble giving out change. I guess the change shortage is more prevalent here than at home. Which brings me to the smashed penny machine. It takes dollars or a card as payment lol. They must be premaid or just full of pennies. I remember when they were two quarters and a penny lol. I guess that dates me😂

We went to the water park for a while. It was super crowded but the kids had fun. We’re going back tomorrow so I hope it’s cleared out.

Apple fries. Sounds delicious, right? Well all I heard was fries and whip cream so I ate them. They were delicious going down but once they landed, not so good. Then I remembered they were apples. On my FODMAP diet they were on the do not eat list. I now know I am definitely allergic to apples. Then we went to dinner and I ordered a cider. Well duh, that’s made out of apples….I only drank half before realizing this and feeling sicker. The rest of the night was not good.

Oh well can’t wait till tomorrow.

Legoland

Travel day

I went to bed at 8:30pm last night. Set my alarm for 2am but I woke up at midnight. I packed and repacked my bag, trying out a couple different scenarios…..I know I’m crazy lol. I ended up with my REI Big Haul 40L backpack / duffle bag and a small backpack purse. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I stayed up and left the house at 2:30am. Stopped at Chevron since a coworker said that to get the most fuel in your tank you should get gas when it’s colder out, thanks Crystal 😁

EUG Eugene

I hate driving in the dark. I used Maps to get to the airport and it had me turn into the first parking lot. After putting in my credit card at the gate I found out it wasn’t connected to any of the other lots so I had to walk a mile to get to the terminal. I wasn’t even sure where the terminal was but I saw a couple getting out of their car so I ran to catch up with them. Lol they probably thought I was a stalker. Next time I will remember that. Oh well. I got my exercise for the morning.

I scored TSA precheck so I flew through check-in. That meant I didn’t have to take any electronics out of my bag. I still had to take off my jacket and shoes but it was quick.

Boarding. They gave out substantially large sanitizing wipes so I channeled my inner Krystal and wiped down my seat lol. They didn’t really look at my bag. Hmm I probably could have just brought the original suitcase 🙄 oh well better neurotic than annoyed. I scored the whole row of seats! No annoying neighbors to ignore.

It’s raining. Can’t wait to see the sun. I’m in need of a healthy dose of vitamin D 🌞

Landed in SFO San Francisco. Three and a half hour layover. What to do? What to do? Well, find my next gate for one. I walked around in a circle for twenty minutes until I decided to ask for directions. I was lost lol. The TSA officer pointed to the sign right behind me. Haha how embarrassing. Oh well, I made it to my next gate. I guess there are directions on the app but I didn’t know that. So, what am I going to do? Well, I saw a sign for yoga 😂 or I could walk back down to the other gates for shopping but I found a prime seat for waiting to board. So, people watching it is. I did learn from the best. Thanks Kris😁. Welp. Pretty boring or I’m just not any good at this lol.

Boarded flight #2. Boeing 737. Plane is full but the middle seat is empty in my row. Yay! Again. No bag checks.😲🙄. There is no under seat storage for my seat this flight so I put it up with the carry-ons. This flight is only a little over an hour so I will be fine. The lady across the aisle got stuck with a young family that purchased two seats and a lap baby. Dodged that bullet.

Landed in San Diego at 12:30pm. Now I just need to figure out how to get out of here. Ground transportation? I’ll try that😁. They really should specify car pickup😂. Oh well I found Randy.

Staying at the Marriott. Nothing fancy. They tried to charge me for my room again. I told the person at check-in I booked through a travel site and already paid. That settled I’m on the second floor and Krystal and Randy are on the third floor.

Went shopping at the outlet stores. I got told my shirt was, “interesting”. Really?

Ate a quick bite in my room I passed out at 8pm. I’ve been up for twenty hours!

Legoland

Packed😁

Okay. I am packed and ready to go. I have packed, checked to my paper list and repacked and I think I have everything.

The garage is cleaned out and ready for the dogs and Sunny, my plus one.

Krystal and Randy stopped by and took my pillow, blanket and food in their car. That way I only have a carry-on and my backpack to worry about. There is a layover in San Francisco so less is better.

I packed my backpack with my essentials for the airplane ride.

1. Ipad mini

2. Headphones

3. Hat

4. Sunglasses

5. Snacks

6. Battery pack

7. Switch lite

If you don’t know me, yes, I am a gamer. I love Zelda and I just got the newly remastered game, Skyward Sword for the Switch. It originally came out for the Wii but I was not a fan of the Wii’s style of playing, slashing and jumping around. I’m a thumb player, so I never played that version of the game. So far it’s pretty good.

Also, if you can’t tell, I don’t want any idle chit chat from my seat mates lol. I think they should get the message 😎🎧🎩 😂

I did decide not to get a hotel for the night before. So, that means I will be getting up at 2am in the morning so that I can get ready and drive the hour and a half to the airport. Boarding starts at 5:25am.

Checked in to my flight and found out that there is a 17 inch limit on carry-on unless I am a member of some club 🙄. The bag needs to fit under the seat in front of me. So, I will be repacking tonight or pay $25 to check my bag when I get there. I really don’t want to check my bag. It adds another hour leaving the airport. Hopefully one of my bags will work. Maybe a duffle.

Wish me luck🤞🏽

Legoland

Two weeks to go😬

Flights? Check.

Flying out of Eugene at the buttcrack of dawn. I have considered getting a hotel close by so I get a little more sleep before I need to be at the airport. Otherwise I will have to leave the house by 3am😲 so that has a pin in it for now.

Park tickets? Check.

A two day park hopper was around $155.00. This includes the regular theme park and the water park. BTW I also love water parks😁 This is going to be an awesome trip!

Hotel? Check.

We picked a hotel that was about a mile away from the park. We looked into the Legoland Resort, which was cool with all of their themed rooms but it was just too expensive. Around $300 more which could buy a lot of legos lol.

Packing? In progress.

The suitcase is on the floor, conveniently placed so that when I think of things I need I can just throw them in. I will organize it in a few days. I got a tip from a reader to try rolling my clothes for packing. I usually use stuff sacks but I have heard of this but never tried it. I will see how this goes. A small backpack for the park with a hard sided food container for snacks, water bottle, sweat cloth, battery pack for my phone, cord, antibacterial wipes, bandaids, duct tape for blisters, lip balm and sunscreen.

Dog sitter? Check😁

Axel, Kohl, Ozzy and a plus one, Sunny lol and the cats but they are pretty self sufficient. Krystal is dropping Sunny off on their trip down. They will be driving. Kris will take care of them Saturday and then Tracy will take over starting Sunday. She is the best and all the animals love her.

This is going to be a bonzai trip for sure. Same time frame as Disneyland. Fly out, park for two days and fly back. The only difference is that I had more time to prepare.

Legoland

In less than Thirtydays

So, the title says it all. I’m going to Legoland with less than a month to plan. My daughter, Krystal, is my opposite. She could pack tonight and leave tomorrow for anywhere. I need at least three months to plan a trip. I am not a spontaneous person. I am calculated lol.

She came up with the brilliant idea to go to Legoland for Camden’s birthday, next month. I’ve always wanted to go. For those of you who don’t know me, I love theme parks and Legos lol. Roller coasters are my favorite. I know that the park is geared more towards little kids but I would love to experience it through Camden’s eyes. So here I am, scrambling to plan flights, hotel rooms, dog sitters, pack and organize details.

Flying Allegiant would be my first choice because of price and convenience. It’s a direct flight, but they only fly on certain days of the week. I can fly out of Eugene, choosing the dates but it’s twice as much as Allegiant and there is a layover in San Francisco. I could fly out of Portland which is cheaper but there’s the three hour drive. So, I need time. Much more time to figure out the flight and packing and doing the walk throughs in my mind of how things will go down.

Packing. I have my paper list going. I feel like it makes the trip seem more organized if I write it all down. The trip would require two days of travel clothes and two days at the park so that wouldn’t require a lot. I am going with carry-on. It’s so much easier than dragging a big bag. In all reality, if I forget something I can buy it when I am there. I guess I shouldn’t stress so much on packing but it’s just in my nature lol.

Thirtydays 2021 recap

Well, and just like that. 2021 is one and done. I guess that should have been my new year’s resolution. Blog for a whole year. I’m actually kind of proud of myself for sticking to it. I think I’m going to print it out so I can read it beginning to end.

So, recap. I’m a little late with this. I quit the gym for a couple of months and I found that was when I blogged the most. So, back at the gym and back to the blog. How do I blog and workout at the same time? Well, my favorite machine is the ARC trainer. It’s just like an elliptical but no arms so that leaves my hands free to type on my phone. Lol helps with my balance too!

Twelve 30 day goals.

1. No online shopping

2. No candy/chocolate

3. Shop small

4. The Purge

5. Green drinks

6. No snooze

7. 64oz water

8. Trash less

9. Trash less 2.0

10. No social media

11. Anti-inflammatory diet

12. Bullet journal

Favorite thirtydays?

It would have to be trash less. I learned a lot about my garbage habits and how I look at packaging of the stuff I purchase. I am still using the un-paper towels and handkerchiefs. I rarely use paper plates and disposable silverware. I bring my reusable shopping and produce bags when shopping. I still use the composter for food garbage.

I cringe with every piece of garbage I put in the trashcan. I wrack my brain on how I can reuse it. I know, by keeping it kind of goes against my second favorite thirtydays.

The Purge. It was very freeing donating bags of stuff that I knew I would never use. I didn’t do the Marie Kondo method, holding it while asking myself if it brought me joy🙄. Nope, I held it up and asked myself how much would it cost me to replace it. Pretty much all of it was minimal dollars except the stuff that had sentimental value. I’m still going through the house now. Someday it will be cleaned out.

Hardest thirtydays?

Has to be the no social media. I don’t really consider myself a social person but social media makes it easy to be social while not in person. You can connect with people near or far with a post, message or a like on their page. Covid kind of cut off the in person meet ups so I think for some it was a needed interaction. I gravitated more towards Instagram because of no politics, just fun stuff. Reddit is my second favorite. Just a forum you can talk to others with similar interests. There is some political stuff but not as much as Facebook and Twitter. They have really gotten more about politics and advertisements which I find annoying but some of my friends only use those venues so I can’t dump them. Tiktok is probably the worst. Laying in bed, swiping through video after video while not realizing an hour or three has passed. I did learn some stuff about plants and iPhone tips but was it really worth it?

Easiest thirtydays?

Had to be the 64 Oz of water per day. I found I drink twice that a day. I love water. Room temperature, not cold or with ice. Just gulpable, sitting out on the counter, water lol.

Which thirtydays have I kicked to the curb?

No snooze. That one was impossible. I am not going to lie. I’m not a morning person. My alarm is set for 6am and most days I make it out of bed by 7am if I’m lucky. Maybe I need to go back east for a month so when I get back I’m used to getting up at 3am 😂

The bullet journal was tough. I live a pretty boring life so the daily bullets were hard to find something interesting to write about. I still keep a bullet journal but it’s just a recap of the month or if something exciting happens.

I am sad that this blog is over but I think a foxpartyofone trip may be in my future. Stay tuned😊

The Fodmap diet

Definition : FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, which are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly. Some people experience digestive distress after eating them.

It was suggested that I try the fodmap diet and a probiotic for my stomach issues. So here goes nothing. I was already avoiding foods that contained gluten but I had become lax in consuming foods that contained wheat and my insides have not been my friend for a while.

I pulled up the food list and there were a lot of food items on there that made me sick. By sick I mean bloated, thinking I might have swallowed a bowling ball, and nauseous. All. The. Time. So, the big one was wheat and gluten which seems is in everything. Bread, bars, cereal, soups, sauces and most prepackaged foods that I am used to eating. Apples, pears, beans, cauliflower, yogurt, tomatoes and regular pasta had already been taken out of the equation as known irritants. The surprises were avocados, processed meats, yogurt, pistachios, ice cream, honey and granola. I eat those a lot. The premise to this diet is to eliminate the bad items and then add them back and see what happens.

It’s been two weeks. Wish me luck 🤞🏽

Thirtydays

Bullet journal

December is done and what I thought would bean easy thirtydays, was not. Unless something out of the ordinary happened it’s hard to write something every day. I have come to realize my life is pretty boring. During the week I go to work, work, come home and go to bed. Oh, I eat and play with the animals in between all that but it’s not that note worthy lol. The weekends are a little more interesting. I hang out with my partner. Maybe we go do something or maybe we just sit around the house and vegetate.

I do like the concept of bullet journaling. It kind of reminds me of a calendar. Small bits of information for the month. It also allows for a little time to reflect on the day. I do wish I had kept all of my calendars from the past. There was so much of my life written down in one small square. I think I will continue with a scaled back version and write bullets of things to remember just not every day.

Stay tuned for my recap. 😁

Thirtydays

Anti-inflammatory diet

Welp, I have to say that this thirtydays was mostly a bust. My list of foods not to eat was pretty much my entire diet. Why did I choose to do this one? I have had stomach issues because of gluten and some minor joint pain from overuse and abuse probably the last ten plus years and I felt like it was worth a try.

The list of foods to avoid was long and intimidating so I picked a few and went with it.

I cut out gluten and wheat. I’m no stranger to that diet so it was a noticeable improvement in my stomach health. I abstained from fast foods and cookies brought in to work by coworkers. I also quit eating processed meats. That was a tough one. Lunchmeat, meat sticks and Spam. I like to eat things that are easy lol. I added tuna, tilapia and salmon for dinners. For lunch I ate avocados, nuts and hard boiled eggs. I continued drinking a green drink in the morning. That’s probably the only way I get my veggies lol. This got old real fast. I am not a super chef so cooking for just myself is a chore. If someone could just invent a breakfast, lunch and dinner pill I would be fine with that.

Will I continue with this diet? Gluten and wheat free, yes. I will try and throw in some of the, “yes foods” intermittently but probably not everyday.

Now, onto my last thirtydays of the year. Seems crazy that it’s already December. I read an article about bullet journaling. Basically you just write a few words for each day. No big commitment to writing paragraphs but it could turn into one. It also helps focus on what happened with your day. Instead of always moving forward it gives you a chance to reflect. My plan is to write something every day in December.

Wish me luck🤞🏽