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- (If you’d like to take a stroll down memory lane – here are the past 4th of July Abby’s Saturday posts! #306, #253, #154, #103, #51)
- We have a LOT of stories to tell from this week. Some good, some not-so-good. I honestly don’t even know where to start.
- As I shared last Saturday, Derrick’s Grandfather passed away the week before last, so we traveled last weekend to be with the Abbey family for his memorial service. It was really lovely getting to see so many extended family members that we haven’t seen in a very long time.
We already had planned to take this entire week off in order to travel & ride some new roller coasters, so we simply shifted our plans around a bit.
We are very spontaneous when it comes to roller coaster adventures & we rarely book our hotels more than a few days in advance of our trip. However, after our experience 2 weeks ago with booking our hotel in Hershey, PA, we decided to step out of our norm & actually book our hotels 2 weeks in advance. (It’s a long story, but in a nutshell, we had a really hard time finding a hotel in Hershey – every hotel was booked solid & the hotels that had vacancies were triple the regular price.)
Well, when we had to shift our plans around, that meant we needed to cancel and/or reschedule all of those hotels we had booked. We always book everything thru Priceline, and so we were able to cancel/reschedule 2 of the 3 hotels with no problem at all. However, we had booked the 3rd hotel at a “non-refundable” rate.
We simply chalked it up as money lost & moved on.
Something made me decide to open up a chat with Priceline’s customer service team, just to be sure we were not able to cancel that reservation. I figured – what was the worst that could happen? They say, “We’re sorry, but it’s a non-refundable booking.”
I hopped into a chat & Priceline’s customer service team was amazing. Not only were they sympathetic & understanding, but they pulled strings & contacted the hotel we had booked for an exception, which was granted & we were able to get all of our money back.
I was so incredibly impressed. Like I said: we always book our hotels thru Priceline – but we’re officially customers for life now! - So, our original plans were to visit Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and then spend 2 days at Carowinds. When things got shifted, instead we visited Six Flags Great Adventure, Kings Dominion, and then still spent 2 days at Carowinds. It was so desperately hot. We were under heat advisories the entire time – with temps reaching up into the upper 90’s – feeling like 100’s. It was intense. I don’t think I have ever sweat so much in my entire life.
- We made it thru Six Flags & Kings Dominion (two parks we have been to before) and then set our sights on Carowinds – a brand-new-to-us park. We were so excited to finally get to Carowinds & ride Fury 325 & Copperhead Strike – two coasters that have been at the top of Derrick’s bucket list for years now. Once upon a time, we had planned to visit Carowinds in 2020, but with the strict pandemic regulations, the park actually never opened last year.
We finally made it to Carowinds on Tuesday & we were there about 3 hours before Braelynn started to act a little funny. She started to complain that her head hurt and then she told us that she was “so tired” (which, if you know Braelynn, is completely out of character). She plopped herself into the stroller, curled up into a ball, and we knew that something was wrong.
Assuming that the heat had just overtaken her, we decided that I would return to our hotel with the kids, while leaving Derrick at the park to get in some rides. We hoped (and planned) that we would be able to return to the park that evening to get dinner & ride some more.
Well, spoiler alert: the kids & I never made it back to the park that day. Braelynn basically passed out as soon as we got back to the hotel. She had a low-grade fever and she threw up later in the evening. Derrick was stuck at the park & had to get an Uber in order to get back. It was a rough day.
Braelynn woke up the next morning and said that she was feeling better. Her fever was gone & she seemed to be acting like her normal, usual, silly self. So, we headed back out for our 2nd day at Carowinds.
Unfortunately, we barely lasted in the park 10 minutes this time before we realized that she was not feeling better. And as the crowds were rushing into the park, we found ourselves, once again, leaving. The kids & I returned to our hotel, leaving Derrick behind once again. Braelynn rested for a few more hours & then finally seemed to be back to 100%.
We returned to Carowinds for the last 3 hours of the operating day – Leander rode a few rides, I ran around like a mad-woman trying to get photos of the coasters for Derrick – it was a bit crazy.
And the next day – we headed home.
We still don’t know exactly what happened with Braelynn – whether it was a 24-hour stomach bug she picked up or just the intense heat. No one else ever got sick (thankfully) & she has been completely fine ever since. - So, normally I hate coming home from a big trip. Usually, I’m ready to hit the road again & want to be anywhere but home. But after this week? Home is the only place I want to be. I am so thankful to be home now with no plans to travel for the next few weeks.
- Today, I am off to shoot a wedding that has been in the making for a long long time. Meagan & Rob were supposed to get married last summer, but COVID screwed up their plans, so they rescheduled their wedding, then rescheduled it again, and then rescheduled it again. And TODAY is finally the big day. It is going to be EPIC!
[…] like to take a stroll down memory lane – here are the past 4th of July Abby’s Saturday posts: #358, […]