Thought Patterns

Back!

We had an absolute blast! But, like all vacations, I am glad to be home. It is exhausting for me to be so ON all the time.

I'm still going over the images. I filled one 1GB SD card and almost filled a second card with photos and mini-movies.

The Family:

Part of the "resort", the All Star Music:

Just a quick note.

We're having a blast! Tomorrow (Wednesday) we are leaving the park to go to Sea World. So far, we've seen a lot of fun stuff! And we've done a lot of fun things! And we've done fun things together!

I know, not very creative. But I'm beat. My butt hurts. My feet hurt (I don't know why, since I've been on me butt all day). Oh! We went to see a Nemo thing (good) and a Stitch thing (stank, literally), and we saw the Carousel of Progress thing, had dinner with characters (Disney characters, that is).

Enough! Gotta go. Did I mention my butt hurts?

Thank God.

Okay, the vacation started out rocky to begin with.

One of the cats got ill right before we were to leave so we had to put it off a day. Pav spent the all trip at the vet's. That's a story for later.

We finally left 1pm Wednesday. It promptly started raining until we were about four hours into the trip.

I was only able to drive for two hours before I was done. My body just can't do it anymore, dammit. We didn't even make the trip in one day. We were both so exhausted. The hotel we stayed in was awful. It's off of exit 205 on Interstate 81. Big name but big suckage.

The rain that we had left behind on day one caught up to us for most of the second day, much to our joy. (insert sarcasm) We got to Lorna's mom's place in Boyertown, PA without any more adventures, though.

I stayed there one night and headed to Jersey on Friday, saw Kelli test for and get her first degree black belt. I can't remember the name of the style they follow but I call it Moo Shoo Duck since it has Moo Duk in it. Anyway, saw Kelli get her belt then went out to a celebratory dinner at a place called Prospector's. Decent place.

I wasn't feeling well (truck lag?) and had bourbon salmon. Not bad, but didn't taste any bourbon. And yes, it was cooked thoroughly. After that, we ran some errands and returned to my brother's house. I really love my niece and nephew and I had a lot of fun with them. Ryan and I played some Xbox games. Ghost Recon (?) and some sort of race car thing. Kelli had her cousin over so I didn't see much of her while the cuz was there.

I still wasn't feeling well but I ate two slices of pizza and, later, some ice cream cake. Ryan and I stayed up late playing with the Xbox and on the computer.

When I woke up Sunday, I felt like crap. What I had to eat the day before violently exited the opposite end. I lay on Kelli's bed while she told me the names of all her stuffed animals (and she has a lot). I felt so lousy that I had my bro test my blood sugar in case I was crashing from the cake the night before. Nope, 'twas fine. I was supposed to go visit Mom but I just kept feeling worse as the day went on. Finally, when they left for Mom's, I left for PA and Lorna. All I could think of was getting to Lorna. I feel bad that I didn't see Mom. I normally would have gone to her and had her fix me but my step-Dad's brother was in town too and they were having this gathering. I did NOT want to hang with strangers while I moaned, groaned, and pooped my brains out.

The trip back to Boyertown from Riverside took much longer than it should. I pulled over at a rest area off the turnpike and slept for about 45 minutes. Then I continued on. I got to Boyertown, caught Lorna up on the black belt thing and bits of the trip, then I went to bed. I got up a few hours later and hurled what little was in my stomach.

We went to the doc Monday (yes, I was feeling that bad) and he confirmed what we were afraid of: another bout of diverticulitis. And a bad one. He prescribed liquid diet and two antibiotics.

Tuesday morning, Lorna says she's not feeling well and then she gets sick too. We think it was either a 24hr bug or a combination of too much licorice and bad Lebanon bologna. By Wednesday morning she is feeling mostly better and we finally leave Boyertown Wednesday afternoon, drive until 7ish, stay overnight, then continue the drive today.

Lorna's feeling better, although wiped out, but I'm still puny. I managed to eat a baked potato a short while ago so if it stays in, I'll be able to eat more tomorrow. This morning we stopped at Cracker Barrel where I had some cereal and banana. It didn't stay put very well, though.

The dogs are thrilled we are home. Sam is in Lorna's lap in the recliner. The others are stretched out around us. Jo and PopCorn are on the bed, declaring they are Queens of the House. My fish are doing great, although I see less shrimp, I think.

And so, we are home, at last.

I'm outta here! I'm gone! I'm hittin' B for Boogie. I'm making like a tree and leafing. I'm gonna be a baby and crawl right on out of here. I'm gonna let the door hit me where the good Lord split me.

In other words, I am going up Nawth to visit family. We are leaving either late tonight or very early in the morning. I will return Monday-ish.

I may cut up a short story and post it here, a little each day. Just have to decide which one.

Yep. We survived the visit from the relatives. We were all exhausted but had a blast! Last year when they were down, it rained the entire week. This time, it only rained in the afternoon.

We went to several places:
Cradle of Forestry
North Carolina Arboretum
Blue Ridge Parkway
Douglas Falls area (the road was closed)

Unfortunately, my wheelchair malfunctioned and I was stuck in a manual chair all week. This limited what I could do with everyone else.

At the Cradle of Forestry, we went through the center and the kids did a scavenger hunt in the main exhibit. There were a lot of things up some stairs and a cool tunnel, neither of which I could view. I did, however, get out of my chair and go up two steps to "ride" in the fire helicopter. It is a real helicopter–main body only–with a video screen, realistic noises and movement, and a video taken of a real fire survey done in Idaho. The kids (Kevin, Colleen, Ryan, and Kelli) went on a guided hike while Lorna and I chilled out. I could have gone on it if I'd had my power chair. Lorna and I want to go back soon and do both trails.

At the NC Arboretum, we went through the Bonzai Exhibit. Wow! What a treat! We also went through the Quilt Garden although the photo on their site is not what it looks like now. (Colleen sent me a bunch of images from their week here. I'll upload them soon.) The Information Center is excellent. While we were there, my kid bro saw the Segway tours and was drooling to go. However, they were full so already we have plans for next year! The "kids" went on two of the trails while Lorna and I lounged in the air-conditioned center. They came back soaked in sweat from the hot and humid day!

As always, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a relaxing place to cruise. We used it to go to the Cradle of Forestry. It was raining when we came back by the Pisgah Inn. Colleen wanted to take some photos from there. But even without the rain, the fog was thick. She did get some great photos from the Parkway and I'll let you know when/where I upload them. We took two vehicles due to the 6 of us and the winding roads. We all fit in their rental car but none of us wanted Colleen to barf. Lorna and I had the kids which was, well, interesting. At our first tunnel, for some reason Ryan decided to scream "We're gonna die!" which set me and Kelli to screaming too. As soon as we were out of the tunnel, we all stopped at the same time. It was cool! And yes, we did this for every tunnel, all five or six of them. Lorna took over for me because my throat was not working right.

Last year, Lorna desperately wanted to take the kids hiking. This year, she got to. She wanted to take them to Douglas Falls where she and our friend Lori went a few years ago. It is an easy .5 mile trail. However, the road to the parking spot was closed so she and the kids found another trail nearby. They had a blast! While they were there, Kevin, Collen, and I went to the laundromat and then to Blue Mountain Pizza for a leisurely lunch. Less than ten minutes after we ate, Kevin's cell phone rings. Lorna and the kids are back in Weaverville and want to eat. But Lorna has no cash. So we turned around and joined them at Waffle House.

We also did a lot of sitting around and playing Uno. It is our favorite group game. None of us are overly competitive so it is relaxing too! Last year when it rained so much, we played a LOT of Uno.

I wish they were still here. I love those four. Ryan and Kelli were wired to the max and wore the four adults out each day. We missed them though, after we got a few days of sleep.

My brother and his family–Kevin, wife Colleen, kids Ryan (the karate kid) and Kelli (the princess karate kid)–arrived Sunday. Then Lorna made it home late last night. Right now they are all at a ball game while I take my chair in to the shop to get fixed.

At any rate, I love my brother and his family. We are having a blast so far! I will try to keep everyone updated but you can bet I'll not get much writing or editing done (don't tell Jane!).

Kev and I had a venting and ranting spell last night as we bitched about Shrub Jr. That was fun! I like that he has the same opinions I do.

Whatever "IT" was, I seem to be ready to face the world again.

Did anyone other than Winston notice I wasn't here?

I'm going to work on the edits for BGCFA before Jane hunts me down. With my brother and his family coming here the 9th, I'd like to get the first 45 pages done and sent to her.

Lorna's heading up Nawth again. When she was up the last time, an aunt died but they put off the memorial until the 8th. So she leaves Thursday night and returns Sunday or Monday.