Chapter 10 – Surprise Vacation

 

Towards Thanksgiving and on into December our parents would be talking and having conversations that would abruptly end when any of us entered the room.

The closer it was getting to Christmas break, the more stranger they became. At this point the 3 of us were certain that they were planning a surprise for Christmas.  We tried to pry from them what they had planned, but it did no good, they were tighter than Ft. Knox.

Christmas morning I was woke up at like 7 AM by mom.  She changed me and handed me a baby bottle of warm milk and I was re-dressed in my footed sleeper and then wheeled to the living room where mom and dad must have been up to the wee hours wrapping presents.

I got some new onsies, games for my Xbox 360, an iPad, a digital video camera, socks and pants, sleepers and overalls.  The last item I got was a pair of mouse ears from Disney, with my name on them, then mom handed me an envelope……

Inside was train tickets from Toledo to Washington DC, and then to Orlando, and 3 tickets for Disney and Universal Studios.  I looked on the train tickets and they were to depart tomorrow, which was Saturday night at 11:00.  Just then my mom turned on the TV and I saw a webcam ontop of the TV, when the TV came on it was Matt and Mike’s living room.

Mike and Matt were pretty much dressed just like me, in diapers and footed sleepers.  They too were sporting mouse ears. “We’re going to Disney World Justin!” Matt said

“Me too!” I said excitedly. “I got train tickets, I’ve never been on a train, it sounds fun”

We talked on Facebook and text throughout the day and that evening they came over to our house, so we all could leave for the drive to the train station together.  Our parents arranged for a van to come pick us up and take us to the station, which meant that our lift van was not going to sit in the lot for the whole time we were gone.

When we arrived at the train station around 10:00 and we were greeted by the conductor and several Red Caps who helped get our luggage to our sleeper cars, and then helped load me and my wheelchair aboard. I’m glad that we got sleeper rooms, as it was easier for me to get out of my chair and for me to get changed.  By the time the train left, I was quite wet and messy too.  The trip from Toledo to Washington DC was 13 hours long, but it was through the night.

As soon as we got settled in, there was a knock at the door, it was our car attendant.  He gave us a reservation for breakfast and let us know how meals would work for me, as I was unable to get to the dining car, since it is upstairs on this train.

I then drifted off to sleep, only to awaken somewhere on the east side of Pittsburgh as the train switched over to another track and a freight train barreled by us with its horn blowing.  I soon drifted off to sleep with the gentle rocking of the train

The next morning (Sunday) outside of Cumberland MD at 9:15 there was a knock on the door for our sleeper car.  It was James, the car attendant letting us know that our reservation was soon in the dining car, or should I say everybody else’s reservation, I was staying put.

Our parents got us all changed into clean diapers and headed upstairs.

Matt stayed back and ate breakfast with me, while our moms, dads and Mike went upstairs to the dining car for breakfast.  We both got cream stuffed crepes, yummy!!

Matt and I talked about all the fun things we were going to do at Disney, and some places that we wanted to go to in DC too.

Most of all Matt was excited cause his mom and dad said that he could stay diapered the entire time.  I asked him if Mike was planning on wearing the whole time as well, and he thought so, as usually Mike would tell one of his parents or just change and not get into another diaper if he didn’t want to wear; and so far he did not act like he did not want to be diapered.

After Matt and I were done eating, our car attendant knocked on the cabin door and I yelled for him to come in.  He brought us both warm chocolate muffins.  He also left us a large size trash bag.

“Good morning boys, I brought you some dessert for you, and I will take your plates.  I also wanted to bring a larger trash bag for you to throw your diapers away in, having 3 boys in diapers, our little trash cans are just not big enough for that trash.

“If you need anything just press the call button.  When your parents get back I will be more than happy to make the room up for daytime if you need it.  Did you want me to make your beds up now”

We told him we were good with the bottom bunk staying as a bed, we thanked James, and he left.  Matt and I played around on our phones till our parents and Mike came back.

I knew the condition of Mike’s diaper as soon as he came in, he was also red faced as well

“OK stinky, assume the position” Shirley said as she laid out a changing mat on the other sofa and Mike laid down on it

“I’m sorry mom, I tried to hold it till we got back here, but I just couldn’t” Mike said

“It’s fine, that is why you are in a diaper, to use them, not take them off all the time.  So, I take it that you are going to be diapered the whole trip too” Shirley said

“Well… I… Um” Mike hem-hawed

“Yes or no!” she said smacking his exposed bottom

“OW!! Yes, I thought I would try” Mike screeched as his mom kept right on with the diaper change.

Shirley let his legs down onto a dry diaper and taped it shut “there all done!” she said as she saw the large trashbag hanging on the closet door.

“I see that James brought us a larger trashbag, such a nice man”

“He is very nice, he brought us chocolate chip muffins  too” I said

It was about 10:30 am Sunday morning, and we had about 75 more miles to get to Washington DC, but it would take another 2 hours to get there.

Matt, Mike, and I all talked about the things we wanted to do in DC while our parents sat and read some brochures that they brought along.

About 12:15 James came to our car to let us know that we are going to be pulling into DC and came to collect the trash and brought us some bottled water and snacks before we left the train.

“Ummm can you come back in about 10 minutes, I’m going to change the boys before we get to DC” Shirley said

“Sure thing, Trust me, they are not the only kids their ages who wear diapers, my sons do as well” James said

“Really?” I said inquisitively “do they need them for medical need”

He got a look on his face of wonder, knowing that I understood that not all kids wear diapers for medical need.  “Well my older boy used to need them, and he decided he wanted to keep wearing them, and my younger son just never got out of them.  They both are potty trained, but they like their diapers”

“Well I like wearing them and so does my brother Mike, but Justin has to wear them cause he has no control” Matt said

“Oh, it’s no problem, you three are well behaved, some kids are running up and down the train, which isn’t safe, nor is it very nice to the other passengers. I will be back before we pull into DC to take care of the trash.

Sure enough he came back, just as we all got done being changed and he bid us farewell, and told us to enjoy DC and then Orlando when we got there.

When we arrived at Union Station in Washington DC, again we were helped with our luggage by the red caps, we were staying a night and afternoon in DC to see the sights. We got to our hotel, and dropped off the luggage at our rooms, grabbed some stuff from the luggage and set off.

We had booked a hop on and off bus that their entire fleet was wheelchair accessible.  I was glad that I had packed my smart drive wheel.  I knew that even though we were on a bus tour that there would be a lot of ‘walking’ and my arms would be so tired.  I had charged it up before leaving the house.

“What is that thing” Matt asked seeing my dad clamping the device to the frame of my wheelchair.

“It’s a smart drive, it gives me a little help when wheeling around for long distances, where my arms are going to be very tired.  It makes touring places more fun for me.” I said.

“Ok, all done, here’s your wristband” Dad said “Everybody ready to go?”

We headed to the lobby and out to the street and soon a bus came along and stopped.  The driver motioned for us to stand back, and deployed the ramp.  It flipped outward from the entrance and the part inside the bus was a ramp up to the floor level.  As soon as I wheeled forward I could feel my assisted drive help push me upwards.  Everybody else followed up the ramp.  Once inside dad helped strap my chair down while everybody else found a seat.  Some other passengers were nice enough to move so that we all could sit together.

The idea was to go as far out as we could which was Arlington National Cemetary where we watched the changing of the guard.  Then to the World War II Memorial, the Holocaust Museum before heading back to the hotel.

The next morning we packed up our luggage, stored it at the hotel and went out on the bus tour again.  Today we wanted to see the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and then to Fords theatre.  By the time we made it through all the stops, we were hungry and it was about 3 hours before the train took off, so we went back to the hotel and we got shuttled to Union Station to board our train.  We got a quick bite to eat at the train station after we checked our luggage in.

Our train was scheduled to leave at 7:30 pm. So we would get dinner on board the train.  The adults decided to eat by themselves tonight and left us kids in the sleeper car.  Our attendant Brian was so nice, he too had heard from James about us and made sure the car was stocked with bottled water, and trash bags.

After dinner, Brian came back with hot fudge sundaes for us all.  By this time I was hoping mom came back soon, I was sure I had messed, and it smelled like somebody else did too.  It was rank in here!

Our parents came back shortly and had us all taken care of in no time at all.

“OK, now we are going to bed early tonight as we arrive in Orlando around noon, and we will have a busy day, and I don’t want to be dragging around cranky little boys” My mom said

“But mom! It’s not even 10 O’clock I don’t want to go to bed this early, it is vacation!” I whined, she didn’t budge on it either.

Our moms then proceeded to get us ready for bed for the night, Brian came in and made the car into beds.

“Look who has some nice jammies” Brian cooed as he looked at the three of us in footed sleepers, we blushed 10 shades of red.  “ok all done, you boys have a nice sleep tonight” he said as he turned to my mom and asked about the breakfast reservation for 7:00 am

“OK bedtime” Shirley said and turned off the light.

Matt and I texted back and forth for about another 30 minutes before we got told to go to sleep, that was about 9:30 PM

Sometime in the night I woke up to the sound of the train coming to a stop somewhere outside of myrtle beach SC, I think a freight train woke me up again, but again I drifted off to sleep, only to be woke up by my dad changing me about 6:45 am

“You stunk!” was all he said as he cleaned me up and re-diapered me “there all done”

“where are we?” I asked groggily

“Outside Savannah Georgia” He whispered, “We need to get breakfast in, then we will get a lunch right before getting off the train at 12:30”

Again we had breakfast in our room and then napped a bit till around noon, then got a light lunch, got changed, and gathered our things to get off the train.

Meeting us trackside was Mickey, Goofy and Pooh.  We grabbed our luggage and headed to the ground transportation.  Mom had called ahead and made sure the resort would send a handicap van.