The rest of the story - the PCB last minute trip

It has been almost three months since I left off, almost too long to remember the details; a lot of life has happened since that first week of August, but I won't leave a blog unfinished, so here is the rest of the story.

Waking up to a nice, now clean, condo was nice. A quick bite of cereal, and a variety of breakfast options for everyone else, and it was beach time! Nice waves, a bit too much seaweed, but I love the ocean and feel at home, lovin' it.  Savannah and I attempted a sand castle or two, but sand art is not one of my many talents, so we laughed at our creations and jumped back into the water.   Dennis, not loving the beach, volunteered to run various errands for us and on one such grocery trip, I asked him to bring back a floating sling chair for the ocean - it was great, I loved it - now my feet do not have to tangle in the sea of brown weed (yuck).  I know, I know, it's good for the environment, and extremely healthy to eat (purified version), but I just don't want to play in it.

Savannah in the sand

 Let's discuss food for a few minutes - after all, Dennis and I love seafood, and PCB has some of the best.
The 2nd night we had a date with the Captain - Anderson, that is. Dennis and I joke often about leaving early on a Saturday, driving down and eating at this, our favorite seafood restaurant, and we could be back in time for church the next morning. We've never actually done that, but it has been tempting; we seriously love the food here!  However (yeah, you know something is about to go wrong when I begin a sentence with that word, right?) my anticipation of my favorite meal being set down in front of me was suddenly crushed as the waiter said, " oh, we don't have that right now, it's out of season".  WHAT? I've been eating here since I was 13, I've never heard of out of season for Broiled Florida Lobster!!!  Not happy, not happy at all. After I picked my chin up off the floor and dried the tear forming in the corner of my eye, I decided I would order the regular Maine Lobster. It was good - much better than Red Lobster, but not my Florida Lobster. For those of you who don't know - there is really a huge difference, I'm not just being picky.

Lynne, Matt, and Savannah

Bop, Nana, and Savannah at Capt' Anderson's

Bop and Nana

Other places we ate were Boondocks (great fried Grouper), and Bishops Buffet (all you can eat Crab Legs, among other things) Bishops may have been the best place we ate all week!

Daddy and his girl@ Boondocks

Boondocks

Mommy and her girl @ Boondocks

Savannah played at the Gulf Highlands Clubhouse Pool by the beach and then we all enjoyed the pools just steps from our condo right before we finished our fun in the sun each day.

Lynne and Matt brought their Electric Ice-Cream Freezer, so of course I made a couple of batches that we all enjoyed, while there and totally disregarded any hint of a diet - but this is vacation!  

Matt and I talked and dreamed of owning a condo here (or down the road) one day, but that maybe just a dream - check back with us in a few years, we'll see what develops.  It is a nice dream, though.

A night of playing Putt-Putt,  Ashford U grading late at night and early mornings, sun and beach by day, and yummy dinners at night - totally a success!

Next trip - Gone Country - with Crystal Gayle and the Hiawassee Mountains.

Day One – Arrival Day. “Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Clean Up”.

Yes, from the title, you can already tell this is going to be interesting, so let’s get started. Anxious to get to Florida, the Sweatt’s (Lynne, Matt and Savannah) grabbed lunch from the drive-through at Taco Bell in Phoenix City, Alabama, while Dennis and I scarfed down a quick Chick-Filet lunch before leaving Lithia Springs. Dennis and I rolled into Dothan, Alabama just in time for four o clock traffic (central time zone) and our ETA of 5:25 p.m. suddenly changed.  By the time we made it to Panama City (not the beach), we were now in six o clock traffic and of course getting stopped by every traffic light.

The tone on my iPhone rang indicating I had a text and the evening was about to get interesting.  Lynne and Matt had arrived, successfully opening the gate with the code we were given, and retrieving the key from the lock box for the unit, my text read something like, “The condo has not been cleaned and it is filthy, can you call Mark and let him know?”    I called Lynne and we discussed the situation and she took pictures of the state of the condo while she waited on me to reach Mark.  After phone calls and text back and forth, he apologized and said this had happened to him before, but he would get someone out to clean it for us. By the time, Dennis and I arrived and unpacked, we were still getting “I’m working on it and I’m so sorry”, from Mark and the rental management company for his condo.  I told Mark we were going to dinner and if we needed to clean it, we could, but we expected a refund of cleaning fees and more for our trouble and time. He promised he would honor that or find someone to clean it before we got back in.  Obviously, we did not unpack everything, and would wait until the maid had finished cleaning to move in for the next four nights.

Frustrated and tired was an understatement at this point, but we were in Florida, at the beach, and headed to a restaurant where someone could wait on us and bring us yummy food; so it wasn’t all bad.  If we could just get the maid situation worked out, all would be good. Captain Jack’s Seafood buffet sounded good to us and was very close by on Thomas Drive, until… we drove through the parking lot and into the overflow lot and no spaces anywhere. Ok – this is not happening, next choice – one of Matt’s favorite’s “Angelo’s” and we knew they had plenty of parking.  When we arrived, we did find a parking space – at the back of the lot! This place serves consistently good food and moves crowds fast, we stayed J 

Dennis and I split – N.Y. Strip / Baked Potato and Salad

Savannah – Chicken and Fries

Lynne – Shrimp

Matt – Hamburger Steak

My steak was a little too rare for me and very thick, and Matt’s hamburger steak was a bit over-done so we ended up swapping some and everyone was happy. In the middle of dinner, Mark called and a maid service was on the way to clean the condo.  Yay, finally!!  After dinner and feeling very full, we stopped by Walmart to stock the kitchen for breakfast, lunch and snacks. We planned on eating out every night – this is Florida after all; eating seafood is mandatory, right?

Lynne and I shopped while Matt and Dennis stayed with Savannah in the car.  We tried to hurry with our not-so-long list, but this Wal-mart was layed out differently than ours at home and the shelves and freezers looked like a hurricane was forecasted. This is absolutely the worst Wal-mart either of us have shopped in.  2 cartons of Blueberries in the store – 1 bad, 1 good; no Kitchen trash bags (unless we wanted to by a box of 80); Strawberries – eeew, No way, yuck (mold, wrinkled) and the ice-cream freezer was bare.   We got essentials, enough to make do, and finally checked out.  All three in the car swore we took forever in the store – Lynne and I thought we were quick, considering what we had to work with.  That’s ok –next time they can tackle the mess.  Which is exactly what happened, Dennis ended up going for short grocery runs to the nearby Publix for the next few days.  On the other hand, anytime the five of us were in the car at night, out for dinner, when we would pass the Walmart, Matt would say, I don’t care where we need to stop, but it’s not going be Walmart”!!

Excited to enter a clean condo, we walked in, unloaded the groceries and disappointment hit. The bathroom had been cleaned, so that was good, and the sheets and two towels (yes, this place sleeps five) were in the dryer – still wet.  Savannah’s feet were a little black, so we realized the floor needed mopping.  Lynne and I had bought some Clorox spray cleaner, so she mopped the floors throughout the condo, and I sprayed everything with Lysol, thoroughly.  After several timed rounds in the dryer, the very thin sheets and towels were still not dry – ugh, this is not fun at 11:00 p.m. at night (central – so to our Georgia bodies it is midnight). 

We decided we could sleep on the beach towels we had brought and cover up with the blankets we had in the car, not ideal, but we are tired.  Time to pull out the sofa-bed for Dennis and I and treat with Lysol…. Hmmm, really – the mattress is about 2 inches thick and slants down at the head into the bottom of the couch back – this is not going to work –clearly! We Lysol’d but quickly decided that I would just sleep on the couch by myself, as a couch – not a sofabed and put it back together.  Savannah would sleep on the love-seat, and Dennis took the wall bed, that was actually in good shape (super-twin size).  Now that we had the living room sleeping arrangements figured out, Matt and Lynne took the small bedroom, the floor was clean, hopefully linens would be dry in the morning, we called it a night.  Surely things would look better in the morning.  Night.

Last minute trip to Panama City Beach July 29 – Aug 2 2014 Cooke’s and Sweatt’s

The Birth of a Plan

Lynne and Matt had a few days off at the end of July to spend with Savannah before school started back on August 4^th.  Prices were high this time of year, looking at a quick getaway to a beach resort in Florida or South Carolina as it is high season, and most of the ‘deals’ had already been booked, leaving vacancies only for the higher end resorts. Looking for a deal, daily was getting a little frustrating for this impromptu last minute idea for a getaway.

Tired from weeks of running errands, work, church building needed repairs, and emergency room trips for my parents (Penni), Dennis and I were having dinner one night when he said,  “we need a weekend away”.  I immediately sent Lynne a text and asked if she and Matt would be interested in splitting the cost with us for a condo for a few days. This was NOT a trip I had planned and budgeted for either, so this would be the ideal solution.

The idea proved easier than reality. Finding an affordable, available, condo in prime season, without a six or seven night minimum took hours and days of phone calls and internet searches. Finally, we found something suitable at Gulf Highlands Beach Resort in Panama City Beach, Florida.  A 1 Bedroom/ 1 Bath that would sleep 5 with a separate bedroom, we agreed, while small, this would work.  We were very familiar with this resort as we have friends that own vacation homes there and over the past twenty-five years we had stayed in one or another of the units and were always very satisfied. Not a beach front resort, the gated complex does boast 10 pools on site, tennis courts, a designated walkway across the street to a beach clubhouse with small restaurant and large pool, and the star attraction – the beach and ocean.  None of our friends units were available for the days we needed, so after searching, we settled on one we found in VRBO with many good reviews, except one (more on that later).

Excited, we counted the few days left until time to pack and go. We worked on Monday and Tuesday morning (except for Matt – who was off on Tuesday). Driving separately, Lynne and Matt left about 11:30 and Dennis and were able to get away around 1:00 p.m.  Finally, sit back and relax – here goes…

Next up – Day One

Day Four – The Journey Home and Closing Thoughts

Monday morning, we all rolled out of bed around 8:30 a.m. and hurriedly packed the room up and started making the multiple trips to the truck to load everything. Breakfast in the food court on our way out (Kayna mistakenly put coffee instead of syrup on her pancakes – yeah, don’t ask – I have no idea how she confused the two), and then a quick stop by the arcade.  As a part of our package, we had 100 free tokens to use, so that meant one game each for the kids. Christian has just learned to play baseball this year, and never played an arcade came before – word to the wise: don’t give a 3 year old a hard ball for skee ball and let him do it himself.  Thank goodness the cage was not real glass, up top, because he threw a fast ball pitch right in the middle of the upper section.  After I caught my breath, and quickly looked around to see that we were the only ones in the Arcade that morning (thank goodness), Bop and I gave him quick skee ball lessons. He didn’t really get it, but still had fun trying J  The girls played a quick game of basketball. We said our goodbye’s to the beautiful Riverside resort and Mickey and headed home, leaving the purple signs behind, until next time.

Closing Thoughts

·         Magic Bands – We are big fans of the new Magic Bands. They are comfortable, waterproof, easy to use for both adults and children. Having your hands free while gathering food at the food court, walking through the parks and at entry, and late at night coming home to your resort hotel,  it is just touch Mickey to Mickey and you are done.

·         Fast Pass+ - Overall, we like the new system. I didn’t have to run across the park to grab a paper ticket (that I then had to keep up with) several times a day. I am a very scheduled person anyway, so pre-scheduling my fast passes was not a problem for our park touring life style. The week before we went, Disney added the ability to add a 4^th, and more FP after your original three had been used. I am sure that helped our experience be more positive since we took advantage of that. And we were able to get a headliner (Space Mtn) very late in the evening, so the strategy works well.  It would be nice if when park hopping, you didn’t have to use your original three FP all in one park before you could add another one.  Being able to get Kayna a FP for Tower of Terror would have been nice. Disney is still tweaking this system so perhaps they will add that ability. If so,  the FP+ would get a 10 in satisfaction from me.

·         At 62 and 56, bad knees and some arthritis, and blister prone feet (since I was a child), Dennis and I will do the parks differently from now on.  We will probably rent a scooter for at least part of the day.  I love Disney parks, so why subject my body to pain for days after, when it’s not necessary.  Also, when taking small children on an extra magic night scheduled day in the parks, it is worth it to go back to the resort for a few hours and nap. Trying to nap in the park, just didn’t work for us. I’ve tried it both ways, and getting out of the park, for just a little while, is totally worth it.

·         After a 17 hour day in the park, we will not drive all the way home the very next day – we needed a rest day, or at least just drive ½ way home, rest around a pool somewhere, and then drive home the next day.  Our schedule did not permit that this trip, but we will make sure it does next time before we commit to going at a particular time.

·         Port Orleans (Riverside and French Quarter) is a beautiful resort area and still one of my favorites.

·         Favorite Rides of the day for all of us:

Bop                 Buzz Lightyear

Nana                Space Mountain

Kayna              Space Mountain

Christian          Buzz Lightyear

Savannah         Little Mermaid, Under the Sea

·         The meal plan is totally worth it for the way we do Disney with kids. We always have at least one (1) character meal, and we like to take a break and have a nice sit down lunch and dinner. It puts a little sanity back in the day and slows us all down.  Plus, once I start vacation, I don’t have to worry about the cost of the meal, it is already paid for (to me that is a huge part of enjoying vacation).

So I guess it is Kelsi and Lauryn’s time, the next time Bop and Nana visit The World, probably in 2016.  But first, Dennis and Penni may do a honey moon do-over (couple trip) for our 40^th wedding anniversary next year ( hubby’s idea, and yes, I jumped at it).

That’s it for now –thank you for reading along.

Day Three (Part 3) Pirates or Swimming – it’s tomorrow

I met Bop and the kids in time to ride the Carrousel, choosing a horse beside Christian. Wow, where has the day gone? It’s after 8:15 p.m. now and time to head to dinner at The Plaza. We checked in at the podium and had about a 10 minute wait.  This is a cute, low key restaurant on main street with really good food. A little out of the main thoroughfare so, a quiet respite from the otherwise crowd-crazed day.  The kids all had chicken and fries, Bop – a cheeseburger and I had Tomato Soup and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. It was very good, and Christian even helped himself to some of my soup. 

Savannah is a little tired

that's better, all smiles while waiting on food

As we finished eating, the nighttime parade was starting, so Bop took the kids outside to watch while I paid the bill. Later, I joined them outside on the side street with a front on view of the castle, a perfect viewing spot for the fireworks.  There were a few small trees and a couple of table umbrella’s at the edge of our viewing area, but they were low enough not to block the fireworks.  There was a sitting wall we propped on, while we waited.   Then, the Fireworks Nazi showed up, a cast member who was a little too enthusiastic about enforcing the rules.  She paced back and forth, barking orders like a military operation, for any people walking through, it was “ move on through, don’t stop!” and for us, it was “ feet behind the white line, don’t stand on the wall,“ …. Over and over and over for about 20 minutes.  I realize she was just doing her job, but this is Disney, be happy, my goodness!!

The kids loved the fireworks, and Christian stood in the stroller for a good view. We saw Tinkerbell fly from the castle, I never get tired of seeing that.

Time for Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear.  Kayna and I had a blast and with our fast pass it was a walk on to the ride. On our way out through the gift shop, I picked up our portable charger, now fully charge. That is pretty cool.   We met Bop and Savannah, and Christian was now sound asleep in the stroller, he was done for the night.  I sat with him outside while Bop took Kayna and Savannah on Astro Orbiter.

It was now after 11:30 and we walked through Fantasy Land where Savannah, Kayna and I rode Dumbo (with no wait – gotta love “extra magic hours” nights). Then we headed to Adventure Land to ride Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride.  We were all thirsty and looking for a drink, even just water, after 11:30 proved to be a challenge. I guess no-one should be thirsty at midnight in the Magic Kingdom (LOL).  Finally, I found a gift shop still open that had bottled water and used our last two snack credits for that. When I came back out, Savannah was sound asleep in her side of the stroller, gone for the night.

Flying with Dumbo

My favorite pic of Savannah

Kayna and I rode the Magic Carpet Ride and she dared the camel to spit on her – he did, of course, (always does) and she loves that.  I had promised Kayna that I would ride Splash Mountain with her as the last ride of the night.  I didn’t want to walk around the park after midnight wet, so if we were going to ride, it would be the last one. So onward to The Mountain.  My knee has a bit of arthritis in it, and was killing me now, as well as my blistered feet, but I hobbled my way up the path (after swigging down 2 Advil).  As we got to the entrance of the ride, we were met by two cast members that said, “ if you are headed to Splash, it is closed for the night” -  Oh man, I walked all this way and now it’s closed (ok, I didn’t say that out loud, I was nice and just said, “thank you”)! But I wasn’t happy.  Hmmm, let’s see, maybe I can make this work for my aching knee and feet.  I turned to Kayna and said:

Nana “ I have a deal for you, you decide, ok? 

We can ride Pirates of the Caribbean as our last ride of the night since we go right by it on our way out”  or… we can go ahead and leave the park and when we get back to the resort, we put Christian and Savannah to bed, let Bop watch them, and I’ll go swimming with you (it’s 12:45 a.m. now).

Kayna  “ Swimming!”

Wow, that was easy, she didn’t even have to think about it.  So now, the long trek out of the park to the buses. Loading the bus with a double stroller and two sleeping kids took some strategy, but we made it.  I got Christian out of the stroller first, and Kayna went to grab seats on the bus, I laid Christian down propped against her lap, then exited the bus to go get Savannah.  I brought her on, all the while telling the bus driver,  “ My husband’s coming with the stroller, don’t leave him J “     He shook his head, and said, take your time.

We made it back to the resort, and were the last stop (several people got off at the wrong stop and had to get back on).   Kayna and I put on our swimsuits quickly and I hobbled out to the pool at 1:30 a.m.  The water was warm and felt great on my blistered feet.  We didn’t stay long and by 2:15 a.m. we were both saying goodnight to one another in the bed.

Day Three (Part 2) I’m late (almost) for a very important date – in the Beast Castle

 Transportation from one park to another should be simple – Disney has never agreed with this scientific fact, and thus begins our journey.  Bus from Hollywood Studio’s to Contemporary Resort, off bus, through hotel, find elevator to Monorail, Monorail (stopping at every resort on Bay Lake) and finally to the Magic Kingdom; wow, that took a while.  As soon as we stepped off the bus, we all heard the familiar, “Nana, I have to go…”   again. We quickly got through bag check-in, and Bop took care of renting a locker for our nighttime clothes bag, and told me to take Christian to the RR under the train bridge and entrance to Main Street.  So off we went, only that is not where the RR’s are located once inside the park, so hurriedly we set off to find them, and did, by City Hall.  Once finished, I sent Bop a text so he could meet us on the porch of City Hall. It took a while, but he finally found us and we walked towards the Castle.

The clock is ticking and I know that the Beauty and the Beast Castle is in Fantasy Land, but not sure where. Before the addition of the new phase, I could have walked through Fantasy Land with my eyes closed and taken us to any point. But everything looked different now, and even with a map, it was somewhat confusing.  We had a fast pass (a very hard pass to get) for lunch in the castle, to arrive between 1:20 and 1:50.  Passing in and out of Storybook circus along with hundreds of people, we finally realized the right path to the castle and arrived at 1:30.  The standby line was very long (people wait over three (3) hours to get in for lunch) but because I had the coveted fast pass, we checked in at the podium and were instructed to go right in J  There was a family at the podium right before us whose fast pass had not gotten recorded correctly and they were turned away because of not being on the list.  They had made changes after their initial signup on the internet (this is supposed to work, but I have read that many people lose their pass when making changes, so just a word of caution if you are going to book this fast pass – get it like you want it the first time and then leave it alone).

The details of this castle are amazing from the bridge over the mote, through the entry way with knights in armor. We had preordered our food on the internet site, so we just signed our receipt for the dining plan linked to our magic bands and walked into the ballroom and chose a table.  Savannah had fallen asleep before we entered the castle. I hated for her to miss this, and considered waking her up, so let her sleep while we waited on our food.  After about 5 minutes, our lunch was delivered from big rolling carts. Our magic bands acted as a GPS for the waiter’s and they knew exactly where to bring our order (kind of George Orwell’s 1984 like, but very cool). 

Nana – Croque Monsieur

Bop – Turkey Sandwich

Christian – Turkey Sandwich

Savannah – Turkey Sandwich

Kayna – Braised Pork, veggies and Potato’s  (maybe Disney really is magic because Kayna liked and ate the green beans – a miracle, if you know anything about her).

After eating, I woke Savannah, gently and slowly, and she loved that she was sitting in the ballroom.  The windows that surrounded the room looked out on a special scene (not the park) where it looked like nighttime and it was snowing; very magical.  She didn’t want to eat yet, since she was still sleepy, so I told her we would stop later and get her something to eat.  I did wake her up, afterall, so I thought getting her a meal of her choice later was only fair.

Ballroom in the Be Our Guest Dining Room

Savannah zzzzzzzz

Turkey Sandwich (Kids meal)

Once we left it was time for our first ride fast pass, Splash Mountain.  Savannah did not want to ride, and so I sent Bop, Kayna and Christian off to the mountain, while Savannah and I went to the Pinnochio Haus restaurant for her Chicken Caesar Salad.   Savannah and I made our way to Frontier Land to meet the rest of our group by the Mountain, but it was nearing 3:00 p.m. and we were caught in parade traffic, so we stopped on the bridge by Splash to wait, and then meet up with them after.

Side Note: The line to meet Anna and Elsa was over three (3) hours long today, so we did not even attempt, but they were near the front of the parade, so we got our glimpse here, with Olaf, of course.

Cinderella

Tiana

Anna and Elsa

Rapunzel (Bop's favorite princess - well besides me, his daughters and granddaughters)

Ariel

it's TINK

Mickey and Minnie

Once the parade was over, and our group was back together, it was time for our 2^nd fast pass to BTMRR (Thunder MT RailRoad).  Christian was NOT a fan of Splash Mtn after riding it, but agreed to ride BTMRR with me, and Savannah would ride with Bop.  With our Fast Pass, we had no wait time in line.  Ok, so Christian nor Savannah are fans of either of the fast mountain rides. No more for them, they will stick with the slow, fun rides. They were troopers though, and at least tried them.

Time for a break and lemonade slushies and popcorn. We had snack credits on our dining plan, so once again, just tapped my magic band and got our food. After a quick rest, it was time for our last pre-scheduled Fast Pass to Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid.  Christian made me promise that it was a “slow” ride before he would even consider riding it J  Remember this phrase, “ Take us back to where we were “?   We needed to go back near the Beast Castle, but Bop’s internal GPS was working fine and he led us right to the entrance.  Everyone loved the relaxing and cool ride. This is Savannah’s favorite ride.

Beast Castle

Cindy's Castle

After the ride and walking through the park some, it was time for another snack – this time: Milkshakes, Floats, and a Sprite (for Bop).  Delivering everyone’s drink to them as we sat on the wall around Fantasy Land, I had taken two sips from mine when Christian announced, “Nana, I gotta go RR…”   so, off we went.  All in all he has done so good with this, though. He is three (3) and so much excitement and different schedule and foods today and not one accident.  I’m not complaining – just my legs and feet (ha)!

It is about 6:00 p.m. now and everyone is really tired now, so time to visit “Hall of Presidents”, and grab a nap. There was about a 15 minute wait, so we walked around the lobby and Kayna took pictures. She loves history and while this attraction may totally bore most kids, she was really into it; made it much more fun.  One more trip to the RR while we waited (for Christian) and then enter into the large, cool, comfortable, dark room.  Well…. Scratch nap time, that didn’t work, the cool air gave the kids all a second wind and they were ready to go.  Ok – to Infinity and Beyond, it’s time to go ride Buzz Lightyear.  We all loved that ride and it became Christian’s favorite.

Hall of Presidents

George W's boots

A tired little boy (Christian)

Buzz Lightyear Lobby

Let's go for a ride

My feet are beginning to burn and hurt, and for the first time in forever, my knee started hurting, bad. Limping along we decided to split up, and Bop would take the kids on the Tea Cups and Carrousel, while I went to run a few errands:

1.      Our portable charger needed a re-charge as it was dead, so I took it to the Space Mountain Gift Shop in Tomorrow Land where they have a charging station (room for 9 devices, each in locked, individual, containers).  You swipe a credit card (no charge) to open and connect your device to the charger, then close and lock the container.  The credit card you used is the only way to open, so it is secure.  You then leave and come back whenever you are ready.

2.      A new phase of the Fast Pass + system that just started last week: now that we have used our original three pre-selected fast passes, I could get a fourth (4^th) one at a Kiosk.  I split our passes up this time and got FP for Space Mountain for Kayna and I, and everyone else would ride Buzz Lightyear with their new FP.  We got similar time slots, for right after the Fireworks, at 10:30 p.m.  Perfect timing.  Maybe this will redeem me a little for not riding Tower of Terror J 

Space Mtn