[LLaffinPlace]

Day 4, Part 1 - February 9, 2002: Intrepid Traveller Down!

The day started early with Bob not feeling well. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] I lollygagged for a while, then got up and showered and shaved. I went down to Roaring Fork (RF) to get some breakfast--Bob was definitely not interested. Breakfast was crowded (it was roaring!) and consisted of apple-cinnamon oatmeal, fruit with banana, OJ and much coffee as I was feeling some effect of the wine and port from the night before; nothing terrible, just sluggish. I had my book with me, so I got more coffee and took myself off to the 4th Floor fireplace nook for some quality reading time. Later, I walked outside and stopped at the waterfall overlook before going back upstairs to see how Bob was faring. It was pretty clear that he would not be doing much today. So, there was nothing for it but to do as I had planned to do at some point on this trip, and take myself off to Sturdy Branches (SB) Fitness Center in the adjoining Villas at the Wilderness Lodge. We are just able to see the windows of SB from our balcony and people riding stationary bikes.

I checked in at the desk at SB and, because I planned to go more than once, opted for the length-of-stay option ($25) vice the single visit option ($15), leaving my room key with Joey, the CM. I had called several weeks ago to get a general picture of their facility and had talked to a very nice CM named Rusty. I must admit to having been pretty disappointed in the amount of information to be had about SB in the guidebooks--it was often hard to find even a mention--nor had I found any reference to it in the Trip Reports I had read. [No doubt that's because people can think of something else to do besides work out during their WDW visit. Go figure!] So here we go--breaking new ground!

It is a very nice, if not overly large facility, bright and airy with new, well-maintained equipment, including Cybex weight machines, Lifecycle elliptical machines, stairclimbers, and treadmills, and the stationary bikes we had glimpsed from our room's balcony. There was a set of dumbbells and flat, 90 degree, and inclined weight benches. Pretty standard, but well laid out. There was a water fountain with cups pretty central to all this, and the front desk had a small assortment of bottled water and fitness drinks. You go past the massage rooms and sauna to get to the locker rooms. Locker keys are provided--get a card from the CM at the front desk when you check in--they'll typically ask if you need one. The locks are quite sophisticated. You open the locker and insert the card with a magnetic strip in the back of the lock which then allows you to shut the locker, turn the key and remove it. I tried to do this twice on two different lockers and could not get it to work. [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img] Fortunately, another guy came in about that time and helped; I had the card in the wrong way--who knew? [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img] BTW, if you go to SB, don't take your dead cat into the locker room with you. There's no place to sling it. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] It was manageable with two of us in there (a bench in the shower room would be a tremendous boon), but with three men we'd've constantly been doin' the do-si-do or falling over top of each other.

I warmed up on the elliptical trainer which I favor over the treadmill because it is less impact on my knees. I moved on to the weight machines, the dumbbells, and back to the elliptical machine for 20 minutes (total of 35 minutes cardio if you're counting). I liked the ab crunch machine (well, as much as anyone can ) which was different from the abdominal machine at my home gym. Back to the locker room to shower and dress. While as I said it's not big, it was sparkly clean. There was liquid soap but no shampoo which seemed strange to me given the number of Mickey bottles that were no doubt within spitting distance in the WL and WLV. [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

I retrieved my room key and signed the bill, and hoofed it back to the WL--mere steps away. I went back up to the room to find Bob still resting, and washed out the exercise clothes and hung them to dry. I went down to RF with Bob's souvenir mug to get him some Lemonade; it tasted better than water, and we figured he needed to stay hydrated and it would be less acid than OJ. I also stopped in at the Mercantile and picked up a bottle of Pepto. Couldn't hurt. Depositing these with Bob, I returned to RF to grab some lunch: smoked turkey sandwich, more fruit, soda, and a cookie bar. Compared to breakfast, RF was a ghost town. I finished up with some coffee.

Bob and I left the room to let Housekeeping (Lodgekeeping? Mousekeeping?) do their thing and sat a while in one of the common areas. He was still looking pretty pale. Bob encouraged me to go have some fun and not feel like I had to hang around. I told him that I would, but assured him that I had been enjoying myself already--we had about walked my feet off yesterday and I was enjoying a somewhat calmer day. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [Let me just add that I think I deserved a gold star or halo or "way to go" from Mickey for working out!] It was also clear that Bob needed to feel like he wasn't "spoiling my day" (even though he wasn't); he clearly felt bad enough without carrying that baggage too.

I left Bob to retrieve my hat and fanny pack (sunglasses and notebook and pen) from the room and headed down and out to the pier to catch the boat to the MK. We stopped at Ft. Wilderness Campground first. The boat person (no, Disney does not have boat people--stay with me here--I mean the CM on the boat. Honestly!) was really funny: "The Spectromagic Parade is at 7:00 PM, Fantasy in the Sky fireworks are at 8:00 PM, and the MK closes at 9:00. They let the dogs out at 9:30 ...<pregnant pause> ...101 of the little spotted things." [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Next: Larry (not Han) Solo at the MK

[ 03-03-2002, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: LLaffinPlace ]