SUMMER VACATION

I meant to write about our vacation as soon as we got back, but it’s been over a week now, and I am only just now finding the time. It’s starting to really amaze me that for someone who lives basically a very dull life, I never seem to have enough time for everything. How does that happen?

But as for the vacation, it was a great way to get away from it all, if only for a short time. The drive from Tuscaloosa to Orlando is of course a LONG one, and the first day, that’s about all we did. Once we got to our rented house, though, it was beautiful…at first. But then we discovered a few pesky little problems: a dead bug, then a LIVE bug, a blood spot on the sheets, and a toilet that would not stop running.

This is NOT what we signed up for! We put a fresh sheet over the blanket and did not get anywhere near the dirty sheets, and when we finally had the time and remembered to call the maintenance guy, he sent someone over right away for the toilet. I guess you can’t expect everything to be perfect but these few little things kind of freaked us out, to the point that when we make this trip again, even though this place was a great deal financially, we will probably want to stay somewhere else.

But otherwise the house was great, with TV’s in every room, a well-stocked kitchen, washer/dryer, security alarm system, swimming pool. On Sunday John and Karin visited with the kids and Barbara, and we had a nice lunch. The kids got to swim in the pool, and later we played a guessing game on the computer, which was a lot of fun.

Afterwards, Russ and I dipped into the pool a bit, then went back to the Wal Mart we had found earlier in the day when preparing for the luncheon, and looked around some more. We bought a set of jigsaw puzzles, thinking we might have time to do one, but that alas did not happen the rest of the trip. (We’d done a jigsaw puzzle on our last trip to Gulf Shores and really enjoyed the relaxing activity, but this time around there was not enough free time, and somehow we never really got started.)

Sunday evening Joey came in, and we all started watching The Avengers , then woke up early to head out to…Islands of Adventure!! Joey went on the Hulk roller coaster five times, and also on the dragon coaster in the Harry Potter area, but Russ and I played it a bit safer. Russ and Joey did the Spider-Man ride, but I didn’t, not being a fan of thrill rides.

However, Russ enjoyed the river raft ride so much that he convinced me to go on it with him just before we left for the day. You want to wait till the end of the day to do this one, because you are going to get SOAKED! It was a ton of fun. Late in the day, after a 90 minute downpour that really slowed us down and emptied out the park somewhat, on the raft ride was only middle-aged me and Russ, a mom and dad with two little kids, and two young gay guys. I really can’t say which of us was having the most fun, and it struck me that there are aspects of these theme parks that appeal to all walks of life.

One thing that did appeal to me was this entire Harry Potter village, but it was so freaking packed with people you could barely move around! The line for “butter beer” stretched for miles, so it wasn’t until later in the day that we finally got to try some (and it’s delicious, and if you want to do it at home, I think you could combine cream soda with a little butterscotch ice cream and get similar results).

We walked through the castle but did not go on the Harry Potter ride because there were warnings that it could cause motion sickness. Joey went on it, however, and the guy that did the Hulk FIVE TIME said yeah, the Harry Potter ride gave him motion sickness. Very glad I did not try it!

That night, coming back to the house we ate a ribeye steak and potato dinner which Joey had requested, then finished up watching The Avengers. The next day was our scheduled “down time” and we sat around the house watching TV all day. Somehow we got started with this SyFy show called Face Off, a competition that pits serious makeup artists against each other in bizarre challenges like “Create a werewolf from another planet,” or “Create a giant, and you must incorporate at least two heads in your design.” Joey watched several episodes with us, then had to get back home to pup Reggie. We watched a few more, but in a while I was ready for a NAP!!

The next day we went to Epcot, which has a much different feel than Islands of Adventure, a slower pace, heavier on the educational aspect. I was delighted to find that Spaceship Earth had been updated to include the more recent advancements in communication, and really enjoyed creating my own vision of “the future.”

At this visit to Epcot I finally got to see the Captain EO 3-D movie, which was a hoot. Also did some of the old favorite rides, and got to see the a cappella Americana singers.

But I was disappointed that we somehow could not time it to be around for any of the street shows I was looking forward to. We ate a small lunch in China and were timed perfectly to see the Chinese acrobats, but of course that was when the afternoon Florida rain started falling. This time however, we were ready, carrying ponchos and umbrellas. Learned a few valuable lessons during this trip to the theme parks!

Epcot was not at all busy during this Wednesday in May, but a word of warning: don’t think that means you can just stroll into any restaurant and sit down to dinner. You have to make reservations. We couldn’t get into Mexico, but did enjoy a nice dinner of rainbow trout in the seafood restaurant in Futureworld.

Then it was time for the fireworks, which were spectacular, then it was time to go home! I am here to tell you that there is NOT enough time to see an entire park in one day, whether it’s Islands of Adventure, Epcot, or anything else. We did not get to do the new Soarin’ ride at Epcot, and Russ was disappointed that the Jurassic Park ride at Universal was down for maintenance. Well, I guess this just means we will have to be making another trip at some time in the future! 🙂

In fact, we are already planning how we might do our next vacation to the theme park area. We’re thinking of perhaps flying in, to save valuable time, and having Joey pick us up at the airport. And then maybe next time we’ll stay in one of the theme park hotels. I would not be at all averse to staying in the Contemporary Hotel, with the monorail passing right through the lobby. This time our accommodations were economical, but maybe next time we’ll go for convenience.

On Thursday we headed home, another all day event. On the way down to Florida we listened to music, quizzing each other on old songs, but on the way back we did not turn the music on even once, we just talked. I love traveling with Russ and just talking with him. When I moved up to Alabama and we made the 11 hour trip in the Saturn, with the two cats in crates in the back seat, that was how we did it, with no music, and just talking the whole trip. It was a magical memory for me, and now I have another. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of just being and talking with Russ.

We stopped at a Citrus Stand where I saw this baby alligator in a tank and bought some fudge as “thank you” gifts for Russ’ mom and sister, who were stopping in to check on Squee. Then we stopped at a Steak n Shake in Tallahassee for lunch, because we do not have a Steak n Shake in Tuscaloosa. Very cheap, and pretty good! I’m hoping someone thinks to bring a Steak n Shake to our neck of the woods. We need this restaurant!!

Oh! And while I’m at it: when we first got into the Orlando area, we went to a Denny’s down the street from our rental house, and had a very reasonably priced breakfast which included free coffee after 10pm, and then come to find out that Denny’s gives a 20% discount to AARP members! Whoa! We have GOT to get one of these in our town as well!

We got home late Thursday, and Squee actually seemed pleased to see us, rubbing and purring, instead of turning his back on us, like Boogins used to do. Boogins was the greatest cat ever, but he sure would get mad when you left him alone for a long time. Of course he quickly got over it, but he liked to annoy you with that “Oh, were you gone? I hadn’t noticed…” routine whenever we would come in from a vacation. Jeez…

On Friday we continued vacationing in town, having a buffet lunch on campus, then Saturday and Sunday we put away the vacation stuff and basically relaxed, only doing a little work on the blog, and didn’t even touch the podcast. Of course, we are getting ready to post a new podcast this weekend, so this week has been busy getting that all prepared.

And here we are! It was a fun week last week, and we’ll do it again sometime, but for right now, it’s back to business as usual. Already looking forward to our short vacation to the coast in August.

It is just way too easy to become a vacationin’ fool!

(By the way, scroll down to see my update to the previous post, Joey Visits Universal, for an important development in Joey’s life!)