We have had quite a wet fall. Someone today was telling me this was because it is a la Nina year. I hadn't heard that. But we picked up over an inch of rain in October, another 1/2 inch in November, and now we have a 'pineapple express' pounding the Southland. They're calling it a 'storm of the century' around here (which is funny to those of us from the East Coast who experienced the Storm of the Century that occurred in 1993) (but not to those people whose houses are now filling with mud). So far in December, I think we've gotten close to 2 inches. This is a lot of rain for us, especially this early in the wet season; the storminess is just starting.
We had a bloody awful crossing today, which was entirely unexpected. I tend to be quite obsessive in the winter about sea conditions, constantly checking the channel buoy to see the swell height and period and looking at the wind vectors. I had been reading the latest marine forecasts from the National Weather Service (4 to 6 foot swells with <2 ft wind waves, 10 to 15kt winds), and the buoy was looking reasonable (3-4 ft swells at about 9 seconds). In the morning, the wind was calm and the sea looked pretty calm. But at noon, the wind started howling, really howling. I was hoping it was just the tunnel effect we get at the Isthmus, and the the boats in the harbor didn't seem to be bouncing around on any big swell. So we board the boat at 3:30 (the wind's been going for about 3 hours now). I say something to the captain about how "it shouldn't be that bad out there", and he just smiles ruefully and shakes his head. I get the dread sense I have miscalculated somewhere.
The captain decides to hug the coast heading west before cutting north across the channel. When I've been on boats doing this before, it was in high seas and the captain was trying to put the boat in the trough of the swell for the crossing. In this case it was so we could get the wind behind us. This worked out pretty well, although the captain seemed to be working pretty hard to keep the boat surfing straight down the front of the swells. I didn't think the ride was too bad at that point. The captain and mate were talking about how the swell was coming from a different direction than was typical. This led to the complication of us being pushed much further west on our course than planned, so when we got to the other side of the channel, we needed to cut east, which put us sort of side-on to the swell. The mate was sent below to the main cabin to tell the passengers that the ride was about to get rougher, and it did. It was only seven miles, but it was a hard seven miles. Several of the people downstairs got sick (including half of my family), but we made it. Thank goodness it's only a 90 minute trip. Everyone was feeling a little wonky getting off the boat.
Angry, angry ocean. No fun.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Grand Canyon
This year for Thanksgiving Long Beach Schools had the whole week off. Why? Furlough days. The state's financial crisis led to budget cuts which caused the school district to decide to lump three of the mandated 5? furlough days onto Thanksgiving break. Not a bad idea, really, unless you have a real job. Fortunately, my time is a bit more flexible, so we decided to take a mini-vacation that week and spend Thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Arizona. We planned this out in advance, for once. Actually, funny story there. I was in NH for my grandmother's memorial service (no, that's not the funny part) and I was talking to my parents and sister about Thanksgiving, and Aunt Sh was standing nearby, so, just to be obnoxious, I said, "we can all meet at Aunt Sh's house," and she said, "That's fine with me! The more the merrier." So we quickly agreed to this plan before she thought better of it. Sweetie thought it would be fun to drive out (and cheaper) and then we could also do some sightseeing at some National Parks.
We decided to leave the Sunday before Thanksgiving and drive to Barstow to get a leg up on the drive to Arizona. It was very windy and even a little rainy, which for Barstow, is kind of unusual. Also unusual was the notice they handed us when we checked in at the hotel. Recent water tests had found unacceptable levels of chemical contamination, so none of the local water was to be consumed (you were still allowed to wash in it, but...yeah). The desk clerk gave us 10 bottles of water. I felt very bad for that community. Can you imagine not being able to use the water that came from your tap? Anyway, the next morning we were off to the south rim of the Grand Canyon!
From Barstow, we took I40E, following the path of historic Rte 66 ("...Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino..."). It was a long drive across the Mojave Desert, and while this might be entertaining for a while to an adult, the landscape gets rather monotonous to two young boys. So we have a DVD player in the car for them to fight over. Calvin almost instantly broke his headphones, so Sweetie and I got to listen to, but not watch, several movies. We also had arguments over who lost the remote, who was pulling out the chord that connected the two monitors, the ever popular what-are-we-going-to-watch-next, and who's turn is it to control the player. Finally we crossed the Colorado river into Arizona. Northern Arizona, if you haven't been there, is very pretty - much more forested than I thought Arizona would be.
The weather had been sort of gloomy - plenty of cloud cover - but we'd only had a few snow showers that didn't really amount to anything, so we were feeling pretty good about dodging a weather bullet, since we were driving a Prius with bald tires. We got to Williams, and turned north on 64 to get to the park. We stopped to get gas before we got into the park, and then the snow started. Deceptively light at first, but then it started sticking to the road. At that point, Sweetie noticed that all the cars coming south were covered with snow. We briefly weighed abandoning our plans, but, I argued, "we're only 20 miles from the park; we're practically there!" So we pressed on as it started snowing heavier and heavier, and blowing. Eventually we were crawling along, having seen at least one vehicle that had slid off the side of the road, in near whiteout conditions. (Sweetie claims this to be an exaggeration, however I maintain that we NEARLY DIED.) We got to the park entrance at which we were asked if we were staying in the park that evening. "Who," I thought to myself, "would be arriving in the snow in the dark and not staying?" However I politely informed the nice young ranger that we were staying at the Yavapai Lodge, and could she do something about the weather.
We slipped and slid our way to the hotel and checked in. The snow had stopped and we realized that we were now at the Grand Canyon in the snow at night with a full moon. This was too good an opportunity to pass up, so we decided to drive over to Yavapai Point and look at the snowy canyon in the moonlight. This was when we discovered we couldn't find Hobbes' brand new winter jacket that was bought expressly for the cold weather we would encounter on this trip. We had it in the hotel the night before, but now it was nowhere to be found. Emergency jacket rearrangements were made (Hobbes wore Sweetie's fleece over every article of clothing he brought, while Sweetie wore her rain jacket over every article of clothing she brought), and we ventured out. Well, I should note that there was fresh snow on the ground, so we couldn't go anywhere (from the car to the room, from the room to the car, etc) without a five minute delay while the boys consumed snow while getting their gloves soaking wet. I tried several times to explain the concept of wet gloves=cold fingers, but the temptation of the snow was too strong. But we did get down to the point. There was no one there, and the wind was fierce, so I kinda parked at the bus stop, thinking we'd just be there a few minutes. We got out and walked to towards the rim. Hobbes immediately announced that he was freezing to death and had never been colder in his life and was miserable and wanted to go back to the room. We coaxed him to the rim so he could be amazed at the beauty. He was still freezing "to death". The new fallen snow (not that much really, maybe 3 inches) clung to the horizontal surfaces near the top 1/4 of the canyon. The bluish tint of the moonlight reflected off those white caps. It was lovely. But it was also about 25° with a 25mph wind. We didn't stay long. When we got back to the car, there was a Ranger pulled up behind our car. We waved, sheepishly jumped in the car and drove off.
Back at the room, summer was still in full swing. The thermostat was a bit touchy, and decided that it needed to be 85° in there. I had trouble sleeping, waking up finally at 4:30am unable to fall back asleep.
Around 7am we all got up, dressed as warmly as we could (long underwear, sweaters and sweatshirts, wool socks) and headed out for a day of exploring. The temperature was in the high teens, I think at that point. We went back to Yavapai Point (being careful to park legally) and did the morning Ranger talk on the canyon's geology. We learned the Canyon was formed by DUDE - Deposition, Uplift, Defenestration and Erosion (I'm not sure I remember that third one right). The Things earned Jr Ranger Badges which they pinned to the front of their fuzzy hats. Calvin made a snow angel. Then we took a hike along the Rim Trail up to Grand Canyon Village. It was still cloudy, which gave the Canyon a very dappled appearance. Different peaks would catch the sun at different times, and with all the canyons colors, it was rather kaleidoscopic in effect. Being appropriately dressed (although still with wet gloves) the Things really enjoyed the Canyon. At the Village we had lunch. There were quite a few people there (unlike the area in which we were staying), and when I saw the line at the restaurant I thought "this is going to take an hour", but we were seated very quickly and had a great lunch!
After lunch we decided to take the bus out to Hermit's Rest. To get to the bus stop we had to walk down past the head of the Bright Angel Trail. We saw several groups of hikers going down, and the Things were amazed at the concept of hiking down to the river. The bus stops at several overlooks on the way out to Hermit's Rest. We got off at a few stops to get some fresh views of the Canyon. The clouds had cleared away, and the temperature was now above 30°, so it was getting quite pleasant. Hermit's Rest was beautiful and remote. We hiked a very little way down the Hermit Trail, and then thought about getting back for dinner and some well-deserved rest. On the way back, the bus passed a small herd of elk. We had seen some mule deer and squirrels earlier in the day, but these were our first elk. We got back to our car, did some souvenir shopping, made sure we had all our NP stamps, and went back to the hotel.
That evening I turned the thermostat down until the heat clicked off, not knowing if it would click back on again. It did, keeping the room a much more comfortable temperature. When we woke up the next morning, this really strange frost, I think it was hoarfrost, like snow flakes standing on edge, was coating our car. It was time to leave the Canyon and head south to Aunt Sh and Uncle Ch's house near Tucson. I was a bit worried about how the roads would be since the temperature had never gotten much above 30° during the day and was down in the teens at night, but they were all perfectly clear.
We drove down 64, and took I40E to I17S. The landscape started to change. From Kaibab forest we turned to Sonoran desert. We started seeing the famed Saguaro cacti. To continue our sightseeing, we stopped at two poorly named sites, Montezuma's Well and Montezuma's Castle National Monument. These were poorly named because Montezuma never set foot near them, but the explorers who found them didn't know that. The well is a sinkhole that formed when acidic spring water dissolved a limestone cave. The lake is recessed because a hole in the side of the sinkhole drains it into the Verde River. The Sinagua natives used the location for a long time, then left. The water is highly carbonated (from dissolving all that limestone) and poorly oxygenated, so there are no fish. A unique ecosystem involving amphipods, water scorpions and turtles has evolved there. The castle is a large cliff dwelling that was constructed in several phases. It is in a nice cliff facing the Verde River valley, with trees all around. It must have been a nice place to live. We spent much more time here than we had originally planned, but Hobbes did get another Jr Ranger badge out of it (Calvin's still working on his.) We grabbed a quick lunch at a local casino (it was our only option), which was fascinating for the Things, and continued on to Tucson.
Part II coming - Saguaro National Park East and West!!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Fall
I was realizing I haven't posted in a while - nothing since vacation. So here's a bit of catch-up to where we are.
Calvin had a blast at camp. I saw him in between his two sessions (they take the hold-overs into Two Harbors for a day at the beach and ice cream). There was no hint of home-sickness. He was excited to see me and equally excited to go stand in line for ice cream. So things were going well there.
Sweetie had a great, yet tiring, time on her cruise. (I'll try to get her to post about that adventure.) She had to follow that up with 10 days of educating, which only added to the exhaustion. She was quite glad when it was over and she could catch up on her sleep finally.
School has started. We have a new teacher this year. She is younger than our last several teachers, but seems to have an even temperament and good control of the kids and the curriculum. The Things have both said they like her. Homework has begun, which means daily struggles with Hobbes to get his done in a timely manner (and correctly). I'm sure my mom is smirking about this, but Sweetie takes the brunt of that whining. The school is down to seven kids this year (including a couple kindergarteners), but we are open. In order to stay open next year we need to raise at least $50k, and maybe more. Which brings us to...
PTA has started up again. Again, since we're such a small group, pretty much everyone is an officer - I'm President, and Sweetie is Treasurer. It's much harder to do things because if we want to do anything EVERYONE has to be involved or we don't have enough people to do it. So that's going to be a struggle, since everyone (us especially) are so busy with other things like...
Cub Scouts has started up. Hobbes is a Webelos 2 this year, and Calvin is a Wolf, and I'm the Wolf Den Leader. So far we have one other Wolf Cub, although I'm hoping to get at least one more. I'm trying to keep the Wolf meetings on the same day as the Webelos meetings, since it's $10 in gas for every trip across the island. Our first meeting was this week and the boys had a good time running and jumping and somersaulting. Hopefully they'll be equally enthusiastic about flag ceremonies.
Work has also been a bit of a distraction. I was invited to go to Yonsei University in South Korea to lead a workshop on microbial genome annotation (something I know quite a bit from my TIGR days). Preparing for the trip took up much of my spare time. Then I arrived to find they wanted a second 90 minute workshop on the Manatee annotation tool. I'll do another post soon just on the Korea trip (with pictures!). Another interesting work-related item was the Wrigley Advisory Board meeting that happened last week. They allow the local faculty to sit in on the meeting and attend the dinner. The Board is populated with some very interesting and nice people. Sweetie and I enjoyed having dinner with them (and having an evening Thing-less).
The weather has finally turned summer-like, just in time for the official "season" to be over. Although along with the warm weather, we've also had some rain. Yes, rain! In October! A little early, but welcome. Perhaps this means we'll have a wet winter. I'm not looking forward to my annual obsessive preoccupation with the sea and swell reports, but at least Buccaneer's Day is behind us.
One last note: We finally got back our pictures from our water-proof camera we got on vacation, so I posted some new photos to Vacation Day 8 and Vacation Day 11.
Calvin had a blast at camp. I saw him in between his two sessions (they take the hold-overs into Two Harbors for a day at the beach and ice cream). There was no hint of home-sickness. He was excited to see me and equally excited to go stand in line for ice cream. So things were going well there.
Sweetie had a great, yet tiring, time on her cruise. (I'll try to get her to post about that adventure.) She had to follow that up with 10 days of educating, which only added to the exhaustion. She was quite glad when it was over and she could catch up on her sleep finally.
School has started. We have a new teacher this year. She is younger than our last several teachers, but seems to have an even temperament and good control of the kids and the curriculum. The Things have both said they like her. Homework has begun, which means daily struggles with Hobbes to get his done in a timely manner (and correctly). I'm sure my mom is smirking about this, but Sweetie takes the brunt of that whining. The school is down to seven kids this year (including a couple kindergarteners), but we are open. In order to stay open next year we need to raise at least $50k, and maybe more. Which brings us to...
PTA has started up again. Again, since we're such a small group, pretty much everyone is an officer - I'm President, and Sweetie is Treasurer. It's much harder to do things because if we want to do anything EVERYONE has to be involved or we don't have enough people to do it. So that's going to be a struggle, since everyone (us especially) are so busy with other things like...
Cub Scouts has started up. Hobbes is a Webelos 2 this year, and Calvin is a Wolf, and I'm the Wolf Den Leader. So far we have one other Wolf Cub, although I'm hoping to get at least one more. I'm trying to keep the Wolf meetings on the same day as the Webelos meetings, since it's $10 in gas for every trip across the island. Our first meeting was this week and the boys had a good time running and jumping and somersaulting. Hopefully they'll be equally enthusiastic about flag ceremonies.
Work has also been a bit of a distraction. I was invited to go to Yonsei University in South Korea to lead a workshop on microbial genome annotation (something I know quite a bit from my TIGR days). Preparing for the trip took up much of my spare time. Then I arrived to find they wanted a second 90 minute workshop on the Manatee annotation tool. I'll do another post soon just on the Korea trip (with pictures!). Another interesting work-related item was the Wrigley Advisory Board meeting that happened last week. They allow the local faculty to sit in on the meeting and attend the dinner. The Board is populated with some very interesting and nice people. Sweetie and I enjoyed having dinner with them (and having an evening Thing-less).
The weather has finally turned summer-like, just in time for the official "season" to be over. Although along with the warm weather, we've also had some rain. Yes, rain! In October! A little early, but welcome. Perhaps this means we'll have a wet winter. I'm not looking forward to my annual obsessive preoccupation with the sea and swell reports, but at least Buccaneer's Day is behind us.
One last note: We finally got back our pictures from our water-proof camera we got on vacation, so I posted some new photos to Vacation Day 8 and Vacation Day 11.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Vacation's End - CA here I come!
Today, I got to shepherd two Things back to CA all by my lonesome. They were very good, which was appreciated, especially due to my high stress level.
When I took Sweetie to the airport, it took about 40 minutes. But today, we got on I-4 and it was a parking lot. (Beach traffic? It's Saturday for god's sake.) I hadn't left enough time for I-4 to be a parking lot, so I scrambled about with the GPS and found an alternate route. I think we got on 417 to the FL turnpike to 528. It was much emptier that way, but I still didn't have time to fill up the rental before turning it in.
Entering the airport I saw that American only had something like 4 check-in spots open, and the line was ridiculous. We stood there for about 10 minutes (with the line not moving) when someone came out and said, "Anyone for LA?". Off we went to the front of the line. Ten minutes later we were in a huge line for security. My stress level was still pretty high. But we did make the flight. We even had a chance to pick up some food before we boarded. Tasty, expensive airport fast food. Mmmmm.
Like I said, the Things were excellent. No whining at all during the entire stressful journey to the plane. They've both reached ages where that's possible, thank goodness. The movie on the plane was How to Train Your Dragon, which is funny and entertaining, although the Things had seen it before. They continued their good behavior all the way to the apartment in SP.
At that point, everyone collapsed into a heap. A successful vacation. We have a day of shopping ahead of us, and then Calvin goes off to sleep-away camp for two weeks. Hobbes will be awfully lonely. About the time Calvin is back from camp, Sweetie will not only be back from the cruise, but done with the class, and then it's just a few weeks until school starts, and life returns to normal.
Or at least as normal as life ever is around here.
When I took Sweetie to the airport, it took about 40 minutes. But today, we got on I-4 and it was a parking lot. (Beach traffic? It's Saturday for god's sake.) I hadn't left enough time for I-4 to be a parking lot, so I scrambled about with the GPS and found an alternate route. I think we got on 417 to the FL turnpike to 528. It was much emptier that way, but I still didn't have time to fill up the rental before turning it in.
Entering the airport I saw that American only had something like 4 check-in spots open, and the line was ridiculous. We stood there for about 10 minutes (with the line not moving) when someone came out and said, "Anyone for LA?". Off we went to the front of the line. Ten minutes later we were in a huge line for security. My stress level was still pretty high. But we did make the flight. We even had a chance to pick up some food before we boarded. Tasty, expensive airport fast food. Mmmmm.
Like I said, the Things were excellent. No whining at all during the entire stressful journey to the plane. They've both reached ages where that's possible, thank goodness. The movie on the plane was How to Train Your Dragon, which is funny and entertaining, although the Things had seen it before. They continued their good behavior all the way to the apartment in SP.
At that point, everyone collapsed into a heap. A successful vacation. We have a day of shopping ahead of us, and then Calvin goes off to sleep-away camp for two weeks. Hobbes will be awfully lonely. About the time Calvin is back from camp, Sweetie will not only be back from the cruise, but done with the class, and then it's just a few weeks until school starts, and life returns to normal.
Or at least as normal as life ever is around here.
Vacation Day 12 - Bye-bye to Sweetie
Today was not the most exciting vacation day, but we definitely needed a rest day, especially Sweetie. Not because she was so tired yesterday, but because of what is in store for her. More on that in a moment.
We stayed in and did laundry and packed while the kids - wait for it - swam in the pool. Sweetie finally had a chance to talk to her mom and siblings and nieces and nephews. The kids watched some Mickey Mouse cartoons.
In the evening, I dropped Sweetie off at the airport. She is flying to SF and will be teaching 20 day class, of which the first 10 days are on a tall ship sailing from SF down through the Channel Islands to Catalina. Then the next 10 days are on Catalina, so she'll be home, but not home. This will be very exhausting, particularly because she will be a deck hand while on the boat. That means she'll have to stand watch, help with sails, and do all those tall ship things you read about in the Master & Commander novels. Very exciting, no?
Some of the other family left today, too. So it's really feeling like vacation is over. Tomorrow - we leave.
We stayed in and did laundry and packed while the kids - wait for it - swam in the pool. Sweetie finally had a chance to talk to her mom and siblings and nieces and nephews. The kids watched some Mickey Mouse cartoons.
In the evening, I dropped Sweetie off at the airport. She is flying to SF and will be teaching 20 day class, of which the first 10 days are on a tall ship sailing from SF down through the Channel Islands to Catalina. Then the next 10 days are on Catalina, so she'll be home, but not home. This will be very exhausting, particularly because she will be a deck hand while on the boat. That means she'll have to stand watch, help with sails, and do all those tall ship things you read about in the Master & Commander novels. Very exciting, no?
Some of the other family left today, too. So it's really feeling like vacation is over. Tomorrow - we leave.
Vacation Day 11 - Return of the Typhoon
Today, in part to make up for the day before, we let Calvin choose where we were going to go, and, of course, he wanted to go back to the water park. So it was off to Typhoon Lagoon again.
We started the day in the Wave Pool, which we hadn't done at all Monday. Hobbes and I went out a little deeper than Calvin and Sweetie. The waves were fun, but it was so crowded that I found myself checking upstream and downstream before they hit so I could see who was going to smash into me and into who I would smash. I almost lost my sunglasses twice. Every half-hour or so the mode of the pool changes from waves to swells (or vice-versa) So we played in the swells a bit, and then decided to move on.
At this point, vacation seemed to catch up with Sweetie and she said she was feeling very tired and a little unwell, so she went off to nap in a chair in the shade, while we boys roamed the park.
We went back to the Storm Slides and went down many, many times, and then went back over to the Mayday, Gangplank and Keelhaul Falls. All very wet, splashy fun. It was interesting looking at the other patrons now that it was later in the week: there were more people there, and the sunburns were much worse than on Monday.
Being back on the correct side of the park, we checked in on Sweetie (feeling better after her nap, but not up to speed yet). The Things got caught up in playing in the Ketchakiddee Creek splash park area (which they thought they were too old for the other day), so we hung out there for a while.
With Sweetie still staying behind, we went back down to the slides because Hobbes wanted to go down the Humunga Cowabunga again. I asked him if he could go by himself, since I didn't want to leave Calvin alone, and he was fine with that, so off he went while Calvin and I went down the Storm Slides. At the top, we saw him getting ready to go down. I shouted, but Hobbes didn't hear me. After that, Hobbes wanted me to go with him, so (being a very trusting parent) I told Calvin to wait at the bottom of the HC for us (which he did, very nicely). Boy that slide is quite a rush. I enjoyed my second slide much more than the first time on Monday. And I got less of a water wedgie.
Sweetie rejoined us. We went down to do the Crush'n'Gusher a few times, hit the wave pool again, and then large black clouds rolled in, and there was some thunder. The lifeguards blew their whistles and cleared all the attractions. It looked like it might blow over, but it was getting late in the day, so we decided to go back to the house...and swim in the pool.
After dinner, one of the cousin's came into the house saying "Hey come look at this!" So we went outside and found a big rhinoceros beetle! That was pretty cool. (And gives us our only pictures from today.)
This was our last day of activities for vacation, although there's still another day left. I think we've done enough and are tired enough to take a day off.
Today's (short) Scorecard:
We started the day in the Wave Pool, which we hadn't done at all Monday. Hobbes and I went out a little deeper than Calvin and Sweetie. The waves were fun, but it was so crowded that I found myself checking upstream and downstream before they hit so I could see who was going to smash into me and into who I would smash. I almost lost my sunglasses twice. Every half-hour or so the mode of the pool changes from waves to swells (or vice-versa) So we played in the swells a bit, and then decided to move on.
At this point, vacation seemed to catch up with Sweetie and she said she was feeling very tired and a little unwell, so she went off to nap in a chair in the shade, while we boys roamed the park.
We went back to the Storm Slides and went down many, many times, and then went back over to the Mayday, Gangplank and Keelhaul Falls. All very wet, splashy fun. It was interesting looking at the other patrons now that it was later in the week: there were more people there, and the sunburns were much worse than on Monday.
Being back on the correct side of the park, we checked in on Sweetie (feeling better after her nap, but not up to speed yet). The Things got caught up in playing in the Ketchakiddee Creek splash park area (which they thought they were too old for the other day), so we hung out there for a while.
With Sweetie still staying behind, we went back down to the slides because Hobbes wanted to go down the Humunga Cowabunga again. I asked him if he could go by himself, since I didn't want to leave Calvin alone, and he was fine with that, so off he went while Calvin and I went down the Storm Slides. At the top, we saw him getting ready to go down. I shouted, but Hobbes didn't hear me. After that, Hobbes wanted me to go with him, so (being a very trusting parent) I told Calvin to wait at the bottom of the HC for us (which he did, very nicely). Boy that slide is quite a rush. I enjoyed my second slide much more than the first time on Monday. And I got less of a water wedgie.
Sweetie rejoined us. We went down to do the Crush'n'Gusher a few times, hit the wave pool again, and then large black clouds rolled in, and there was some thunder. The lifeguards blew their whistles and cleared all the attractions. It looked like it might blow over, but it was getting late in the day, so we decided to go back to the house...and swim in the pool.
After dinner, one of the cousin's came into the house saying "Hey come look at this!" So we went outside and found a big rhinoceros beetle! That was pretty cool. (And gives us our only pictures from today.)
This was our last day of activities for vacation, although there's still another day left. I think we've done enough and are tired enough to take a day off.
Today's (short) Scorecard:
| Ride | Me | Sweetie | Hobbes | Calvin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool | B | C+ | A+ | A+ |
| Ketchakiddee Creek | C | n/a | C | C+ |
Monday, August 9, 2010
Vacation Day 10 - Calvin's Birthday
[Editor's note: You will notice, of course, that I am writing as though events happened today, rather than a month ago. This works better for me as a 'writer'. Also, wanted to note that updated ride grades have been posted for the days leading up to this one, and there may even be one or two new pictures, so take another look at the last few vacation posts.]
Today was Calvin's birthday. Turning the big 7. In celebration, we went to the Magic Kingdom, not because he really wanted to (he wanted to go back to the water park), but because most of the rest of the extended family was also going, and we thought it would be nice if we all went together. As it turns out, we did run into some of the other family groups during the day, but we didn't really do anything with them at the park.
Upon our arrival, we decided to go to Adventureland and check out Thunder Mountain Railroad. Calvin took one look and decided this was way too scary and he wasn't going on it. Vast amounts of cajoling, ego massaging, etc were for naught - he wouldn't go. So Hobbes and I took a ride, had a great time, told Calvin as much, but alas, still no movement. So Sweetie and Hobbes went while I tried to determine what Calvin DID want to do today (Sweetie has also tried this while Hobbes and I were on the ride). Well, he didn't want to do anything. Everything either fell into the category of Too Scary, or For Little Kids. On top of this he was upset with himself for being 'chicken', and he thought Sweetie and I were mad at him because he didn't want to go on any rides. We tried to straighten him out, to no avail. So we got something to eat, hoping that would improve his disposition.
After our snack, he was still being persnickety, so Hobbes and I went on the Splash Mountain flume ride. Once again, it was hot. Really, really hot, so the flume was popular. We got on line and the wait was 45 minutes, which really wasn't too bad, considering there was this huge group of Argentinian teenage girls in the park that day, who were hitting the rides in large packs. We were in front of them in line, thank goodness. While in line, I tried to explain to Hobbes what Song of the South was (the ride is based on it) and remember some of the Bre'r Rabbit stories. The ride was pure Disney and had a great flume at the end.
We found Sweetie and Calvin, and Sweetie told that they had arrived at a plan: she and Calvin would go and ride the Barnstormer (the only thing he agreed to go on) while Hobbes and I did what we wished and we would meet up later. Fine, so long as Calvin was happy on his birthday.
Hobbes and I went on a bunch of rides: Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin's Magic Carpet, The Enchanted Tiki Lounge (Under New Management). I even convinced him to try the Haunted Mansion, which was spookier than I remembered, but still not that scary. Hobbes was a little freaked out, and didn't like the ghost sitting in the carriage with us, but he got through it okay. We also did the Hall of Presidents. (Barak Obama got quite an ovation.)
It was getting on in the day, so we decided to try to switch off boys. As we passed the Magic Castle, on of the shows was going on, so we stopped to watch it. I didn't think Hobbes would be that interested (since it had singing and dancing and princesses), but he was pretty engaged.
We found Sweetie and Calvin. They had rode the Barnstormer many times, looked in Minnie Mouse's house, and then gone to the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor show twice. Once they texted in a joke, and it was used in the show, which I think was quite a thrill for Calvin.
Sweetie and Hobbes headed off for Space Mountain, and Calvin and I headed for the Jungle Cruise. Things were not to be, however. The line for Space Mountain was 70 minutes, and Hobbes didn't want to wait that long. Meanwhile Calvin and I stood in line for the Jungle Cruise only to have the ride break down when we were close to the front. So we headed over to the Aladdin ride. We stood in line, and Calvin worried about how high the carpets went. In the end, he got out of the ride because Sweetie called to say that if we didn't leave the park soon, the pizza party dinner we were supposed to be hosting back at the house wouldn't be until 8pm. So we bailed. (Although both Things did get Mickey Mouse watches before we left.)
We returned to the house, and the kids (duh) went swimming while we waited for the pizza to show up. We had a nice big family birthday party for Calvin (and Hobbes also got a few gifts). He's had some pretty lame birthdays in the past, because we're often travelling on his birthday, so I think he enjoyed being the center of attention at this big party.
Later that night, Sweetie and I were talking about Calvin's problems during the day, and we decided that on top of probably being tired, the last attraction we did Monday when we were at Magic Kingdom was that stupid Stitch's Great Escape experience, which scared the pants off Calvin. So maybe he didn't want to try new rides because he didn't want to be scared like that again. Who knows. I think at the end, he had an enjoyable day, and that's what's important, even if it didn't meet the expectations in my head.
Today's Scorecard (for new rides only):
Today was Calvin's birthday. Turning the big 7. In celebration, we went to the Magic Kingdom, not because he really wanted to (he wanted to go back to the water park), but because most of the rest of the extended family was also going, and we thought it would be nice if we all went together. As it turns out, we did run into some of the other family groups during the day, but we didn't really do anything with them at the park.
Upon our arrival, we decided to go to Adventureland and check out Thunder Mountain Railroad. Calvin took one look and decided this was way too scary and he wasn't going on it. Vast amounts of cajoling, ego massaging, etc were for naught - he wouldn't go. So Hobbes and I took a ride, had a great time, told Calvin as much, but alas, still no movement. So Sweetie and Hobbes went while I tried to determine what Calvin DID want to do today (Sweetie has also tried this while Hobbes and I were on the ride). Well, he didn't want to do anything. Everything either fell into the category of Too Scary, or For Little Kids. On top of this he was upset with himself for being 'chicken', and he thought Sweetie and I were mad at him because he didn't want to go on any rides. We tried to straighten him out, to no avail. So we got something to eat, hoping that would improve his disposition.
After our snack, he was still being persnickety, so Hobbes and I went on the Splash Mountain flume ride. Once again, it was hot. Really, really hot, so the flume was popular. We got on line and the wait was 45 minutes, which really wasn't too bad, considering there was this huge group of Argentinian teenage girls in the park that day, who were hitting the rides in large packs. We were in front of them in line, thank goodness. While in line, I tried to explain to Hobbes what Song of the South was (the ride is based on it) and remember some of the Bre'r Rabbit stories. The ride was pure Disney and had a great flume at the end.
We found Sweetie and Calvin, and Sweetie told that they had arrived at a plan: she and Calvin would go and ride the Barnstormer (the only thing he agreed to go on) while Hobbes and I did what we wished and we would meet up later. Fine, so long as Calvin was happy on his birthday.
Hobbes and I went on a bunch of rides: Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladdin's Magic Carpet, The Enchanted Tiki Lounge (Under New Management). I even convinced him to try the Haunted Mansion, which was spookier than I remembered, but still not that scary. Hobbes was a little freaked out, and didn't like the ghost sitting in the carriage with us, but he got through it okay. We also did the Hall of Presidents. (Barak Obama got quite an ovation.)
It was getting on in the day, so we decided to try to switch off boys. As we passed the Magic Castle, on of the shows was going on, so we stopped to watch it. I didn't think Hobbes would be that interested (since it had singing and dancing and princesses), but he was pretty engaged.
We found Sweetie and Calvin. They had rode the Barnstormer many times, looked in Minnie Mouse's house, and then gone to the Monster's Inc Laugh Floor show twice. Once they texted in a joke, and it was used in the show, which I think was quite a thrill for Calvin.
Sweetie and Hobbes headed off for Space Mountain, and Calvin and I headed for the Jungle Cruise. Things were not to be, however. The line for Space Mountain was 70 minutes, and Hobbes didn't want to wait that long. Meanwhile Calvin and I stood in line for the Jungle Cruise only to have the ride break down when we were close to the front. So we headed over to the Aladdin ride. We stood in line, and Calvin worried about how high the carpets went. In the end, he got out of the ride because Sweetie called to say that if we didn't leave the park soon, the pizza party dinner we were supposed to be hosting back at the house wouldn't be until 8pm. So we bailed. (Although both Things did get Mickey Mouse watches before we left.)
We returned to the house, and the kids (duh) went swimming while we waited for the pizza to show up. We had a nice big family birthday party for Calvin (and Hobbes also got a few gifts). He's had some pretty lame birthdays in the past, because we're often travelling on his birthday, so I think he enjoyed being the center of attention at this big party.
Later that night, Sweetie and I were talking about Calvin's problems during the day, and we decided that on top of probably being tired, the last attraction we did Monday when we were at Magic Kingdom was that stupid Stitch's Great Escape experience, which scared the pants off Calvin. So maybe he didn't want to try new rides because he didn't want to be scared like that again. Who knows. I think at the end, he had an enjoyable day, and that's what's important, even if it didn't meet the expectations in my head.
Today's Scorecard (for new rides only):
| Ride | Me | Sweetie | Hobbes | Calvin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Thunder Mountain Railroad | A | A | A+ | n/a |
| Minnie's Country House | n/a | B- | n/a | B+ |
| Splash Mountain | A | n/a | A | n/a |
| The Magic Carpets of Aladdin | C | n/a | B+ | n/a |
| The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management | C | n/a | B+ | n/a |
| Pirates of the Caribbean | B | n/a | B+ | n/a |
| Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe | D | n/a | A | C+ |
| Hall of Presidents | A | n/a | A | n/a |
| Haunted Mansion | B | n/a | B+ | n/a |
Vacation Day 9 - Animal Kingdom
In the interest of slowing things down a bit, this morning we took our time getting started. Around 11am we drove over to the Animal Kingdom, picking up a scooter for Grandma W, who was accompanying us today. It was hot. Really hot. Again.
Upon entering the park, we were confronted by the Tree - this is a very cool giant tree sculpture with animal figures worked into the bark. It was fun to try to identify all the critters in there, and as we traveled around the tree, each new angle revealed new creatures to discover. I thought it was very well done.
We looked at some animals, including a shark-looking catfish, a digging porcupine, some big storks, a pair of parrots, and the flamingos. One flamingo decided it was time to put on a little show, and was running around, flapping his wings in full mating display. We crossed the bridge into Africa, had a quick lunch, and then hopped on the Kilimanjaro Safari. This is a bus trip purportedly through the African savannah. They have lot of animals roaming around, and a few came very close to the truck, including a rhino, and a mother and baby giraffe. That was pretty cool.
After this, we took the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. The highlight was the baby gorilla. It was apparently 5 months old, and was taking a nap on the ground in the shade. It was so relaxed it practically looked deceased. But she was awfully cute. Mom didn't like everyone looking at her baby and picked her up. We also went through an aviary that had a number of colorful birds, including a striking violet-backed starling (which, alas, I got video of, rather than a picture).
As we were finishing this, we got a call from another part of our group. They had found the DINOSAUR ride, and thought the Things might like to try it. So we trudged down to DinoLand USA. A quick look at the descriptive sign (dark, shaking around, thrill ride) told us that Calvin would not like it, so Hobbes and I went in. And let me tell you, Calvin would not have enjoyed it. It was very dark, and every time you went around a corner, a giant dinosaur head pops out of the darkness at you. Pretty intense. And loud. I'm not sure Hobbes liked it that much; heck, I'm not sure I enjoyed it. But we survived and bought a souvenir.
Calvin was fading fast at this point. He was hot and tired and cranky. I tried to get him interested in going to It's Tough to be a Bug! (a Bug's Life-themed short movie) - no dice. How about the Kali River Rapids floom ride? Nope. Sigh. We decided to do the petting zoo, sorry, Affection Section, and call it a day. A short train ride on the Wildlife Express took us to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Before petting, we went into the (air conditioned!) Conservation Station and saw big insects, snakes, and talked to a lady about the food they feed the animals there. Then we went out to pat the goats and sheep. They also had a cow, some miniature donkeys, a pig and a llama, but they weren't very pattable. Calvin and Hobbes really enjoyed this, and it was a good way to end the day.
The Things were so exhausted when we got back to the house that they had to swim in the pool for a few hours to rest.
Tomorrow - Calvin's Birthday!
Today's Scorecard
Upon entering the park, we were confronted by the Tree - this is a very cool giant tree sculpture with animal figures worked into the bark. It was fun to try to identify all the critters in there, and as we traveled around the tree, each new angle revealed new creatures to discover. I thought it was very well done.
We looked at some animals, including a shark-looking catfish, a digging porcupine, some big storks, a pair of parrots, and the flamingos. One flamingo decided it was time to put on a little show, and was running around, flapping his wings in full mating display. We crossed the bridge into Africa, had a quick lunch, and then hopped on the Kilimanjaro Safari. This is a bus trip purportedly through the African savannah. They have lot of animals roaming around, and a few came very close to the truck, including a rhino, and a mother and baby giraffe. That was pretty cool.
After this, we took the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. The highlight was the baby gorilla. It was apparently 5 months old, and was taking a nap on the ground in the shade. It was so relaxed it practically looked deceased. But she was awfully cute. Mom didn't like everyone looking at her baby and picked her up. We also went through an aviary that had a number of colorful birds, including a striking violet-backed starling (which, alas, I got video of, rather than a picture).
As we were finishing this, we got a call from another part of our group. They had found the DINOSAUR ride, and thought the Things might like to try it. So we trudged down to DinoLand USA. A quick look at the descriptive sign (dark, shaking around, thrill ride) told us that Calvin would not like it, so Hobbes and I went in. And let me tell you, Calvin would not have enjoyed it. It was very dark, and every time you went around a corner, a giant dinosaur head pops out of the darkness at you. Pretty intense. And loud. I'm not sure Hobbes liked it that much; heck, I'm not sure I enjoyed it. But we survived and bought a souvenir.
Calvin was fading fast at this point. He was hot and tired and cranky. I tried to get him interested in going to It's Tough to be a Bug! (a Bug's Life-themed short movie) - no dice. How about the Kali River Rapids floom ride? Nope. Sigh. We decided to do the petting zoo, sorry, Affection Section, and call it a day. A short train ride on the Wildlife Express took us to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Before petting, we went into the (air conditioned!) Conservation Station and saw big insects, snakes, and talked to a lady about the food they feed the animals there. Then we went out to pat the goats and sheep. They also had a cow, some miniature donkeys, a pig and a llama, but they weren't very pattable. Calvin and Hobbes really enjoyed this, and it was a good way to end the day.
The Things were so exhausted when we got back to the house that they had to swim in the pool for a few hours to rest.
Tomorrow - Calvin's Birthday!
Today's Scorecard
| Ride | Me | Sweetie | Hobbes | Calvin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Island Trails | C | B | A- | B |
| Kilimanjaro Safaris | A | A | A | A |
| Pangani Forest Exploration Trail | B | A- | A- | B+ |
| DINOSAUR | B | n/a | D | n/a |
| Wildlife Express Train | C | B | C | |
| Conservation Station | B | B- | A | |
| Affection Section | D | C- | A | B+ |
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Vacation Day 8 - Water, water, everywhere
The Disney ticket package we purchased gave us access to their water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. As I might have mentioned, it's been really hot and humid, so we decided to check out one of the water parks. After extensive research, we decided on Typhoon Lagoon because there are fewer slides with height restrictions (for Calvin to ride).
[Better pictures are coming, but we need to develop our waterproof camera.]
Another nice thing about the water parks (besides the water on a hot day) is that parking is free, although locker rental is $10 (for unlimited access to a large locker for the day). Central to Typhoon Lagoon is a large wave pool, which I referred to as "stew" because of all the people floating in the water. We actually avoided that this day and headed right over to the Crush 'n' Gusher, a water roller coaster - you carry a tube up to the top of the tower and there's a series of drops and lifts, so it's not quite a floom with one large drop. There are actually three different courses to take, which speeds the lines and adds variety. This was one of the rides that Calvin was a tad too short to ride on; we said he could leave on his sandals to do the height check, but he refused, saying he didn't want to cheat (very admirable). So Hobbes and I tried it out and it was fun. So Hobbes went again with Sweetie.
Then we moved on to some other raft rides: Gangplank Falls, Keelhaul Falls and Mayday Falls. Gangplank was a "family" raft ride in which you got soaked. The other two were single-rider slides. They were all fun, but I liked Gangplank best. After lunch, we headed over to the Storm Slides. These were three water slides with different personalities: one had a dark tunnel, one was very twisty, and one was very fast. Calvin, in particular, loved these and went on them many, many times. (Here I will note that it was 110 steps up (and 37 steps down) to get to the top of the Storm Slides. Calvin went on them 9 times this day.)
Right next to the Storm Slides was the Humunga Cowabunga, a five-story straight down water slide. This also had a height restriction, so Hobbes an I did this first, and then Sweetie and Hobbes went. It's a tube, so when you start, you drop into pitch black, and then, when you get toward the bottom and start to see light, your feet start kicking up water, essentially blinding you. So you really can't see anything the whole way down. Terrifying.
We bounced among these rides for the rest of the day, and then left before dinner because we had a special appointment that evening. Yes, as part of Calvin's birthday, we had gotten tickets to the Pirates & Pals Firework Voyage, a cruise across the Disney Lake to see the electric parade and the "Summer Nightastic" fireworks show. We were met at the Contemporary Resort by Patch and Patch the identically named pirates who introduced Mr. Smee and Capt. Hook. Now I don't know if it was because we had a full, tiring day at the water park, or if Calvin was just a little freaked out by the costumed characters, but he wouldn't go anywhere near them and started saying he didn't want to go on the boat. Augh! So we gave him a coke and a brownie and some cotton candy and crossed our fingers. Hobbes was enjoying meeting the characters, and even had a minor kerfuffle with the crabby Capt Hook.
After the meet-and-greet with the Hook and Smee, it was time to split up into our boat groups and head down to the pier. Calvin got a special surprise here, because he was called up to be First Mate (that means he carried the flag and led the group down to the boat). I wasn't sure how he was going to respond to this given his behavior so far this evening, but he went right up when called and took the flag (remarking "but I don't know how to get to the boat") and off we went. He did a great job, and did get us to our boat; in return, he received a nice plastic cutlass from Patch.
The boat set sail, and there were jokes and songs and general rowdiness until we reached the position from which we watched the Electric Water Pageant, which apparently hasn't changed (much) since its debut in 1971. That was pretty enjoyable. We then celebrated birthdays (including Calvin's and Hobbe's) and anniversaries until we reached our position for watching the Summer Nightastic fireworks display. Let me just say Disney wins when it comes to fireworks - what a great display! Everyone oohed and aahed. On the trip back to the pier, we played a trivia game in which Hobbes won a water flintlock pistol. Everyone was very satisfied - and tired. At the pier, who should meet us, but Peter Pan himself! Calvin was having none of that, either, but Hobbes was a good sport and discussed how to defeat Hook with him.
Home, to bed, and looking forward to a lighter day tomorrow.
Today's Scorecard
[Better pictures are coming, but we need to develop our waterproof camera.]
Another nice thing about the water parks (besides the water on a hot day) is that parking is free, although locker rental is $10 (for unlimited access to a large locker for the day). Central to Typhoon Lagoon is a large wave pool, which I referred to as "stew" because of all the people floating in the water. We actually avoided that this day and headed right over to the Crush 'n' Gusher, a water roller coaster - you carry a tube up to the top of the tower and there's a series of drops and lifts, so it's not quite a floom with one large drop. There are actually three different courses to take, which speeds the lines and adds variety. This was one of the rides that Calvin was a tad too short to ride on; we said he could leave on his sandals to do the height check, but he refused, saying he didn't want to cheat (very admirable). So Hobbes and I tried it out and it was fun. So Hobbes went again with Sweetie.
Then we moved on to some other raft rides: Gangplank Falls, Keelhaul Falls and Mayday Falls. Gangplank was a "family" raft ride in which you got soaked. The other two were single-rider slides. They were all fun, but I liked Gangplank best. After lunch, we headed over to the Storm Slides. These were three water slides with different personalities: one had a dark tunnel, one was very twisty, and one was very fast. Calvin, in particular, loved these and went on them many, many times. (Here I will note that it was 110 steps up (and 37 steps down) to get to the top of the Storm Slides. Calvin went on them 9 times this day.)
Right next to the Storm Slides was the Humunga Cowabunga, a five-story straight down water slide. This also had a height restriction, so Hobbes an I did this first, and then Sweetie and Hobbes went. It's a tube, so when you start, you drop into pitch black, and then, when you get toward the bottom and start to see light, your feet start kicking up water, essentially blinding you. So you really can't see anything the whole way down. Terrifying.
We bounced among these rides for the rest of the day, and then left before dinner because we had a special appointment that evening. Yes, as part of Calvin's birthday, we had gotten tickets to the Pirates & Pals Firework Voyage, a cruise across the Disney Lake to see the electric parade and the "Summer Nightastic" fireworks show. We were met at the Contemporary Resort by Patch and Patch the identically named pirates who introduced Mr. Smee and Capt. Hook. Now I don't know if it was because we had a full, tiring day at the water park, or if Calvin was just a little freaked out by the costumed characters, but he wouldn't go anywhere near them and started saying he didn't want to go on the boat. Augh! So we gave him a coke and a brownie and some cotton candy and crossed our fingers. Hobbes was enjoying meeting the characters, and even had a minor kerfuffle with the crabby Capt Hook.
After the meet-and-greet with the Hook and Smee, it was time to split up into our boat groups and head down to the pier. Calvin got a special surprise here, because he was called up to be First Mate (that means he carried the flag and led the group down to the boat). I wasn't sure how he was going to respond to this given his behavior so far this evening, but he went right up when called and took the flag (remarking "but I don't know how to get to the boat") and off we went. He did a great job, and did get us to our boat; in return, he received a nice plastic cutlass from Patch.
The boat set sail, and there were jokes and songs and general rowdiness until we reached the position from which we watched the Electric Water Pageant, which apparently hasn't changed (much) since its debut in 1971. That was pretty enjoyable. We then celebrated birthdays (including Calvin's and Hobbe's) and anniversaries until we reached our position for watching the Summer Nightastic fireworks display. Let me just say Disney wins when it comes to fireworks - what a great display! Everyone oohed and aahed. On the trip back to the pier, we played a trivia game in which Hobbes won a water flintlock pistol. Everyone was very satisfied - and tired. At the pier, who should meet us, but Peter Pan himself! Calvin was having none of that, either, but Hobbes was a good sport and discussed how to defeat Hook with him.
Home, to bed, and looking forward to a lighter day tomorrow.
Today's Scorecard
| Ride | Me | Sweetie | Hobbes | Calvin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gangplank Falls | A | A | A | A |
| Keelhaul Falls | B+ | A | A+ | A+ |
| Mayday Falls | B | B- | B+ | A+ |
| Castaway Creek | C | C | C | C |
| Storm Slides (Stern Burner) | A | A | A+ | A+ |
| Storm Slides (Jib Jammer) | A- | A | A+ | A+ |
| Storm Slides (Rudder Buster) | A | A- | A+ | A+ |
| Humunga Cowabunga | B- | A- | A | n/a |
| Crush 'n' Gusher (Banana Blaster) | A | n/a | A+ | n/a |
| Crush 'n' Gusher (Coconut Crusher) | n/a | A | A+ | n/a |
| Crush 'n' Gusher (Pineapple Plunger) | n/a | A- | A+ | n/a |
| Pirates n' Pals Fireworks Voyage | A | A | A | A |
Vacation Day 7 - Off to Disney!
Today it was time to say goodbye to Grammy and Grandpa and head off to the W compound. One of Sweetie's nieces rented some houses for the W clan to stay in for a big family vacation. We were staying at a place called Solana, and the houses were really nice, and each had a swimming pool in a screened in back porch, and some games in the garage. We were staying with Sweetie's cousin and wife and their young son (a little younger than Calvin), Sweetie's 15-yr old nephew, and Sweetie's sister (Aunt T) and her husband. The rest were in the other house.
People were still settling in (they all were coming in from the Midwest), so we decided to hit the Magic Kingdom. The drive over took about 20 minutes, and after parking, we took the monorail to the park, and then rode the train to Mickey's Toontown Fair on the far side of the park. We looked in on Mickey's house, which was entertaining, and then stood in line in the Judge's tent to see Mickey. It was cool to see him (and Minnie), and I think the kids enjoyed it, although Calvin was a little unsure of them.
We then headed over to our first ride of the day, the Barnstormer, a little roller coaster. Lines weren't too bad, about 15 minutes, and everybody really enjoyed the ride. After that we headed over to Tomorrowland and the Speedway. I drove with Calvin, and Sweetie and Hobbes had their own cars. I thought this was a lot of fun, but Hobbes was having some trouble steering, so he was a little frustrated. After that, we grabbed a bite and then went to the Carousel of Progress. This is one of the rides I went on when I was here when I was about Calvin's age. Since then the ride has changed. It's not obviously sponsored by GE anymore, and they've changed the song that is sung (from "Now is the Best Time" to "A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow") and the last scene was modernized - I don't remember what it was like before, but it certainly didn't include a big flat-screen TV, video games and a laptop computer in 1976.
After that, we did the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, which was a funny show with some good audience participation. Everyone loved that. Right across the way was Stitch's Great Escape. In this, well, it wasn't really a ride, more like an experience, you're supposed to be a space police recruit trying to capture Stitch. You end up sitting in the dark with a harness down over you and they use sound and move the harness to make you think Stitch is running around on and behind you. I didn't think it was much of anything, but it scared the bejezeesus out of Calvin - he was quite unhappy about it. And then we were dumped in a gift shop and he bought a plush Stitch and was happy again. Go figure. We decided it was time to start heading to the exit, but on the way, we passed the Prince Charming Regal Carousel and had to give it a ride. We decided to take the ferry back to the parking lot, just for the experience.
Sweetie decided we should grade all the rides, so here's today's scorecard:
People were still settling in (they all were coming in from the Midwest), so we decided to hit the Magic Kingdom. The drive over took about 20 minutes, and after parking, we took the monorail to the park, and then rode the train to Mickey's Toontown Fair on the far side of the park. We looked in on Mickey's house, which was entertaining, and then stood in line in the Judge's tent to see Mickey. It was cool to see him (and Minnie), and I think the kids enjoyed it, although Calvin was a little unsure of them.
We then headed over to our first ride of the day, the Barnstormer, a little roller coaster. Lines weren't too bad, about 15 minutes, and everybody really enjoyed the ride. After that we headed over to Tomorrowland and the Speedway. I drove with Calvin, and Sweetie and Hobbes had their own cars. I thought this was a lot of fun, but Hobbes was having some trouble steering, so he was a little frustrated. After that, we grabbed a bite and then went to the Carousel of Progress. This is one of the rides I went on when I was here when I was about Calvin's age. Since then the ride has changed. It's not obviously sponsored by GE anymore, and they've changed the song that is sung (from "Now is the Best Time" to "A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow") and the last scene was modernized - I don't remember what it was like before, but it certainly didn't include a big flat-screen TV, video games and a laptop computer in 1976.
After that, we did the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor, which was a funny show with some good audience participation. Everyone loved that. Right across the way was Stitch's Great Escape. In this, well, it wasn't really a ride, more like an experience, you're supposed to be a space police recruit trying to capture Stitch. You end up sitting in the dark with a harness down over you and they use sound and move the harness to make you think Stitch is running around on and behind you. I didn't think it was much of anything, but it scared the bejezeesus out of Calvin - he was quite unhappy about it. And then we were dumped in a gift shop and he bought a plush Stitch and was happy again. Go figure. We decided it was time to start heading to the exit, but on the way, we passed the Prince Charming Regal Carousel and had to give it a ride. We decided to take the ferry back to the parking lot, just for the experience.
Sweetie decided we should grade all the rides, so here's today's scorecard:
| Ride | Me | Sweetie | Hobbes | Calvin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WDW Railroad | B | B | C+ | C+ |
| Mickey's Country House | A | B+ | A- | B |
| Judge's Tent | B | B- | B+ | B+ |
| Donald's Boat | D | D- | D | |
| The Barnstormer | A | A | A | A+ |
| Tomorrowland Speedway | A- | B | B | C |
| Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café | D | C | B- | A |
| Carousel of Progress | B- | C | C | B- |
| Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor | A+ | A- | A | A- |
| Stitch's Great Escape | C | C | B- | C+ |
| Prince Charming Regal Carousel | A | A | A- | B+ |
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Vacation Day 6 - A boat ride
Continues hot here in FL. Really, really hot. Like Florida hot. So today we decided to stick close to home (well, G&G's home) and do Mt. Dora proper. So we drove downtown and took a pontoon boat tour of the Dora Canal, which connects Lake Dora and Lake Eustis. We were clearly in retirementville, because the boat captain made a big deal about the safety of the boat (he's Coast Guard certified, the boat was Coast Guard certified, life jackets, fire extinguishers, bilge pump (on a pontoon boat, no less), etc.). I have to say it underscored the professionalism of the tour operators, but it also smacked of placating cranky worry-warts.
We departed from the Lakeside Hotel and started across the Lake Dora to the entrance of the canal. On the way we saw a tree where some Bald Eagles nest. One enters the canal by passing under an old railroad bridge, and then you're in a narrow, shallow channel. Much of it is surrounded by houses, but there's a stretch that is a good example of what central Florida looked like 500 years ago.
We saw lots of birds: Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Little Green Herons, Anhingas (including a nest with nestlings), Tri-colored Herons, Wood Ducks (and a cute little duckling), White Ibis (turns out that's plural), and plenty of Osprey fishing. We also caught a glimpse of a crocodile, several turtles, and even a couple of fish.
When we got to Lake Eustis, we simply turned around and went back. When we got back to Lake Dora, the Captain gave the Things a chance to drive the boat. Hobbes jumped at the chance and promptly paid little attention to where he was going. Calvin was tired at this point and didn't want to try.
When we got back, we had lunch at an English Tea Shoppe and then decided to do a little window shopping in town (well, the adults decided to; the Things suffered through it). The economic downturn has apparently hit Mt Dora's shops. My dad said there were quite a few businesses that were no more, but the block we walked around was quite lively.
Then it was back home to, you guessed it, swim in the pool before dinner.
We departed from the Lakeside Hotel and started across the Lake Dora to the entrance of the canal. On the way we saw a tree where some Bald Eagles nest. One enters the canal by passing under an old railroad bridge, and then you're in a narrow, shallow channel. Much of it is surrounded by houses, but there's a stretch that is a good example of what central Florida looked like 500 years ago.
We saw lots of birds: Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Little Green Herons, Anhingas (including a nest with nestlings), Tri-colored Herons, Wood Ducks (and a cute little duckling), White Ibis (turns out that's plural), and plenty of Osprey fishing. We also caught a glimpse of a crocodile, several turtles, and even a couple of fish.
When we got to Lake Eustis, we simply turned around and went back. When we got back to Lake Dora, the Captain gave the Things a chance to drive the boat. Hobbes jumped at the chance and promptly paid little attention to where he was going. Calvin was tired at this point and didn't want to try.
When we got back, we had lunch at an English Tea Shoppe and then decided to do a little window shopping in town (well, the adults decided to; the Things suffered through it). The economic downturn has apparently hit Mt Dora's shops. My dad said there were quite a few businesses that were no more, but the block we walked around was quite lively.
Then it was back home to, you guessed it, swim in the pool before dinner.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Vacation Day 5 - A Hike
Today we decided to take a hike at a De Leon Spring State Park. It was hot. You can swim in the spring, but there were a lot of people there, and we had that nice swimming pool at G&G's neighborhood to swim in, so we skipped that in favor of going for a walk in the woods. We took the Persimmon Tree Trail, although you were supposed to register with a park ranger before taking this particular trail. I will leave it to Sweetie's hiking blog to capture a full account of the hike, but I will say that it was full of wild life: big spiders,
a box turtle,
poisonous snakes,
regular snakes, toads, toads, toads, dragonflies, a couple skinks and anoles, and even a squirrel. And then there were all the bromeliads and spanish moss and other pretty plants.
The hike was over 4 miles, but very flat (no Catalina hike, this). We were thinking about going to the restaurant in the old sugar mill for a pancake lunch and then renting a canoe, but the wait at the restaurant was 90 minutes and it was really, really hot. So instead, we left the park and went to Gram's Kitchen for lunch (good food and cheap!), and then went swimming at the pool until the thunderstorms rolled in. That night, Grammy made some delicious oven-fried chicken for dinner, and we didn't watch the Princess and the Frog (the Things weren't interested).
a box turtle,
poisonous snakes,
regular snakes, toads, toads, toads, dragonflies, a couple skinks and anoles, and even a squirrel. And then there were all the bromeliads and spanish moss and other pretty plants.
The hike was over 4 miles, but very flat (no Catalina hike, this). We were thinking about going to the restaurant in the old sugar mill for a pancake lunch and then renting a canoe, but the wait at the restaurant was 90 minutes and it was really, really hot. So instead, we left the park and went to Gram's Kitchen for lunch (good food and cheap!), and then went swimming at the pool until the thunderstorms rolled in. That night, Grammy made some delicious oven-fried chicken for dinner, and we didn't watch the Princess and the Frog (the Things weren't interested).
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Vacation Day 4 - Kennedy Space Center
Getting up this morning was hard (still not quite over that jet lag). We grabbed a quick breakfast and drove over to Cape Canaveral (everyone slept except me). I'm not sure if it was because it was Thursday or if it was the heat, but it was not very crowded there that day.
We started the day with a brief play at the play structure because we had 10 minutes to kill before the Rocket Garden Tour. This was billed as a 15 minute tour explaining what all the various rockets in the Rocket Garden are. However we had the know-it-all docent who launched into a 40 minute, in-gruesome-detail description of the entire lunar program, complete with mild snide comments about what NASA's done since. I have to say he was a relatively engaging speaker, and he was certainly knowledgeable, but still, we had places to go. Amazingly, the Things stayed still for the whole thing.
After that, we took a break from the heat by going into the Early Space Program building. Inside were great displays including a mock Soyuz capsule, a lunar rover you could sit on, those tiny, tiny capsules they sent the astronauts up in, and the actual original Mercury mission control equipment.
We then walked around the Rocket Garden, sat in various modules, walked a gantry, and generally marveled at how short some of the rockets were that put men in orbit.
Next up was the shuttle Explorer. I'm not sure if this was once a test model, but they had it set up so you could see the size of the cargo bay and the crew space and flight deck. Next to this was the Shuttle Experience. This was a simulated shuttle launch. They have all sorts of warnings that old, sickly people shouldn't go on this because of the realistic shaking and noise, which scared off Calvin. He and Mom decided to watch the whole thing from the 'Observation Lounge'. G&G Hobbes and I entered the 'capsule' and we were off. Let me just say, unless you're incredibly frail or prone to motion sickness, this thing is pretty much a cake walk. It was a lot of fun. The best part was that doing this was included in the price of admission (as were both IMAX movies). AND the quarter you spend to put your stuff in a locker while you're in the ride is refunded. I love our government!
After a brief picnic lunch, we took the bus tour. The first stop was Observation Gantry LC 39. This is a tower that gives you a good view of the VAB (vehicle assembly building) and the two shuttle launch pads (A and B). As we drove there, we could see crews putting fresh gravel down in the track that the Launch Vehicle Crawler follows to take the shuttle from the VAB to the launch pads. One of them has been refurbished to be ready for the next generation Ares rockets. You can't go into the VAB anymore. When my family visited here in 1976 (when the space program was between Skylab and the shuttle) you could go in and see the biggest one-story building in the world, but now, since they store the SRB (solid rocket boosters) in there, no more tourists. The Things were not very impressed with this stop, as it was mostly looking a buildings and launch platforms sans rocket ships. Back on the bus to the next stop, the Apollo/Saturn V center.
You enter a large room and see a video describing the Apollo missions - very exciting stuff, from the tragedy of the Apollo I fire to the build-up to Apollo XI. Then the doors open and you enter Mission Control circa 1969, and You Are There as Neil, Buzz and Mike were launched into space. From there you enter a hangar containing mock-up of a Saturn V rocket. It's huge: 363 feet from stem to stern, weighing 6.7 million pounds. Wow. In addition to the Big Rocket, there was a chip of a moon rock there, which you could touch (much like the one in the Air & Space Museum in DC). So now we have touched two a moon rocks. Back on the bus to the last stop the International Space Station Center.
Here there was a movie that talked about NASA's current mission, the ISS. The best part of this was seeing the clean room where workers were preparing the payload for the next shuttle flight. There were also mock-ups of some of the modules, but at that point, we were a little burnt out, so we didn't take too long looking around.
We returned to the main visitor center complex and, after a brief snack, saw a 3D IMAX movie entitled "Magnificent Desolation". This attempted to give the viewer the experience of being on the moon. There were computer reconstructions of scenes of walking on the moon, interviews with some of the 12 men who have walked on the moon, and plenty of archival footage. Tom Hanks and some other recognizable voices from Apollo 13 (the movie) narrated. It was very well done and we liked it a lot.
All in all, a very successful visit. The Things really liked it, and I felt a bit like a Thing myself, seeing all that cool stuff that echoed throughout my childhood, even though I was too young when it was all occurring. That evening, we watched Apollo 13, so the Things would understand what an incredible event that was, in so many ways. And now, I need to go start preparing to become an astronaut.
We started the day with a brief play at the play structure because we had 10 minutes to kill before the Rocket Garden Tour. This was billed as a 15 minute tour explaining what all the various rockets in the Rocket Garden are. However we had the know-it-all docent who launched into a 40 minute, in-gruesome-detail description of the entire lunar program, complete with mild snide comments about what NASA's done since. I have to say he was a relatively engaging speaker, and he was certainly knowledgeable, but still, we had places to go. Amazingly, the Things stayed still for the whole thing.
After that, we took a break from the heat by going into the Early Space Program building. Inside were great displays including a mock Soyuz capsule, a lunar rover you could sit on, those tiny, tiny capsules they sent the astronauts up in, and the actual original Mercury mission control equipment.
We then walked around the Rocket Garden, sat in various modules, walked a gantry, and generally marveled at how short some of the rockets were that put men in orbit.
Next up was the shuttle Explorer. I'm not sure if this was once a test model, but they had it set up so you could see the size of the cargo bay and the crew space and flight deck. Next to this was the Shuttle Experience. This was a simulated shuttle launch. They have all sorts of warnings that old, sickly people shouldn't go on this because of the realistic shaking and noise, which scared off Calvin. He and Mom decided to watch the whole thing from the 'Observation Lounge'. G&G Hobbes and I entered the 'capsule' and we were off. Let me just say, unless you're incredibly frail or prone to motion sickness, this thing is pretty much a cake walk. It was a lot of fun. The best part was that doing this was included in the price of admission (as were both IMAX movies). AND the quarter you spend to put your stuff in a locker while you're in the ride is refunded. I love our government!
After a brief picnic lunch, we took the bus tour. The first stop was Observation Gantry LC 39. This is a tower that gives you a good view of the VAB (vehicle assembly building) and the two shuttle launch pads (A and B). As we drove there, we could see crews putting fresh gravel down in the track that the Launch Vehicle Crawler follows to take the shuttle from the VAB to the launch pads. One of them has been refurbished to be ready for the next generation Ares rockets. You can't go into the VAB anymore. When my family visited here in 1976 (when the space program was between Skylab and the shuttle) you could go in and see the biggest one-story building in the world, but now, since they store the SRB (solid rocket boosters) in there, no more tourists. The Things were not very impressed with this stop, as it was mostly looking a buildings and launch platforms sans rocket ships. Back on the bus to the next stop, the Apollo/Saturn V center.
You enter a large room and see a video describing the Apollo missions - very exciting stuff, from the tragedy of the Apollo I fire to the build-up to Apollo XI. Then the doors open and you enter Mission Control circa 1969, and You Are There as Neil, Buzz and Mike were launched into space. From there you enter a hangar containing mock-up of a Saturn V rocket. It's huge: 363 feet from stem to stern, weighing 6.7 million pounds. Wow. In addition to the Big Rocket, there was a chip of a moon rock there, which you could touch (much like the one in the Air & Space Museum in DC). So now we have touched two a moon rocks. Back on the bus to the last stop the International Space Station Center.
Here there was a movie that talked about NASA's current mission, the ISS. The best part of this was seeing the clean room where workers were preparing the payload for the next shuttle flight. There were also mock-ups of some of the modules, but at that point, we were a little burnt out, so we didn't take too long looking around.
We returned to the main visitor center complex and, after a brief snack, saw a 3D IMAX movie entitled "Magnificent Desolation". This attempted to give the viewer the experience of being on the moon. There were computer reconstructions of scenes of walking on the moon, interviews with some of the 12 men who have walked on the moon, and plenty of archival footage. Tom Hanks and some other recognizable voices from Apollo 13 (the movie) narrated. It was very well done and we liked it a lot.
All in all, a very successful visit. The Things really liked it, and I felt a bit like a Thing myself, seeing all that cool stuff that echoed throughout my childhood, even though I was too young when it was all occurring. That evening, we watched Apollo 13, so the Things would understand what an incredible event that was, in so many ways. And now, I need to go start preparing to become an astronaut.
Vacation Day 3 - Relax Day
This was a rare day by our vacation standards - we really didn't do much of anything. For some unknown reason, the Things awoke at 6:45 local time (having gone to bed sleep at about 11:30. I think they woke up, looked at the clock, it read the time they usually get up on the left coast, and so they got up.
Grampa heard them and got up and helped them with breakfast, then Grammy got up and they all went down to the pool. Sweetie and I slept. Around 11am, Grampa called to say they were ready to be picked up, so I drove down and got them.
They're having a heat wave in FL, which is apparently defined as about 3 degrees above the average temperature. Anyhoo, it's hot. Calvin decided he wanted to play soccer with the ball G&G got for our visit. So I dutifully went outside with him to find that, of course, the ball didn't come fully inflated. We played for a little while until we both were pretty sweaty (can you believe the US Soccer Youth Academy is in Florida?), then went in for lunch. Grampa and I attempted to inflate the ball, which led to the discovery of the air pump, the breaking of the only inflation needle we had, and the subsequent figuring out of how to work the air pump. We ended up with a ball less inflated than before because the needle broke off while inserted in the ball. We did get the needle out, but not before the ball further deflated.
So after lunch, the big activity was a trip to the store by Sweetie, Grampa and I, while the (very tired at this point) Things watched cartoons with Grammy. Lucky Grammy. Our shopping trip was successful, we returned and inflated the ball, and it was about dinner time. We had a lovely steak dinner and conglomerate un-birthday and un-anniversary party, and headed (that's right) back to the pool.
This evening there were lots of stunts (read nefarious attempts to drown either Dad or one of the Things). Again, we appreciated the wonderful pool, and then it was to bed for we had an early start in the morning.
Grampa heard them and got up and helped them with breakfast, then Grammy got up and they all went down to the pool. Sweetie and I slept. Around 11am, Grampa called to say they were ready to be picked up, so I drove down and got them.
They're having a heat wave in FL, which is apparently defined as about 3 degrees above the average temperature. Anyhoo, it's hot. Calvin decided he wanted to play soccer with the ball G&G got for our visit. So I dutifully went outside with him to find that, of course, the ball didn't come fully inflated. We played for a little while until we both were pretty sweaty (can you believe the US Soccer Youth Academy is in Florida?), then went in for lunch. Grampa and I attempted to inflate the ball, which led to the discovery of the air pump, the breaking of the only inflation needle we had, and the subsequent figuring out of how to work the air pump. We ended up with a ball less inflated than before because the needle broke off while inserted in the ball. We did get the needle out, but not before the ball further deflated.
So after lunch, the big activity was a trip to the store by Sweetie, Grampa and I, while the (very tired at this point) Things watched cartoons with Grammy. Lucky Grammy. Our shopping trip was successful, we returned and inflated the ball, and it was about dinner time. We had a lovely steak dinner and conglomerate un-birthday and un-anniversary party, and headed (that's right) back to the pool.
This evening there were lots of stunts (read nefarious attempts to drown either Dad or one of the Things). Again, we appreciated the wonderful pool, and then it was to bed for we had an early start in the morning.
Florida Day 2 - More Travel!
Early morning. Hopped out of bed and jumped on the shuttle to the airport. Then breakfast. We had a direct flight to FL, so that was good. The Things are growing up - we had no complaints about heavy backpacks or hunger or even boredom, really. I guess they were more excited about going than they were whiny. Any way, it was a nice flight. Sweetie sat next to the boys, so I just read a book and listened to music. I would've probably watched the in-flight movie (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) except the woman in the seat next to me took my audio jack, and I didn't feel like making an issue of it over that movie.
We arrived in FL not having had lunch (only snacks on the plane) but our clocks were all messed up anyway, so we left the airport for Grammy and Grandpa's. They apparently live in middle of nowhere. Coming from the density of southern California, central Florida is a vast, empty swampland. But eventually we got there and (after eating), the Things wanted to go swimming in the pool Grammy has been talking up for months. So despite the late hour (East Coast time), we hit the pool. And it was very nice. The water was warm, but not too warm; the pool is big; there was hardly anyone there for us to annoy: perfect.
We arrived in FL not having had lunch (only snacks on the plane) but our clocks were all messed up anyway, so we left the airport for Grammy and Grandpa's. They apparently live in middle of nowhere. Coming from the density of southern California, central Florida is a vast, empty swampland. But eventually we got there and (after eating), the Things wanted to go swimming in the pool Grammy has been talking up for months. So despite the late hour (East Coast time), we hit the pool. And it was very nice. The water was warm, but not too warm; the pool is big; there was hardly anyone there for us to annoy: perfect.
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