Bearshorty's musings

( True Blood S4E1 )

Today was a pool day. I got egg and cheese on English muffin and hash browns and tea at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. Then I just went to the pool. I finished the June National Geographic and went swimming. Then we got Indian buffet for lunch and wrapped up gift shopping. I got a little Minnie bowl for Galya for when she is old enough to eat solid food. After lunch it was pool again. And now I’m all packed. It has been a really good vacation and I don’t really want to go home but it is time.

Today we went into Universal Studio’s Park – the regular one. We had breakfast at home. I woke up at 6:30 to book us a shuttle so we could leave at 7:50 again. Again today was a nice hot sunny day, but not humid – so really nice for me and a little hot for Bear but fine with some water.

Unlike yesterday with Islands of Adventure, by the end of the day I felt like I got through a whole park and really didn’t need more than a day there. And we did lots of rides and shows. This park is more audience oriented – more shows and 3D type rides. Still lots of fun, of course, just different. Bear did the red roller coaster that takes you up vertically first (I know my limits) and he did the Mummy ride because I wasn’t sure about that, but everything else we did together:

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I actually woke up by myself at 6am, which usually happens if I know I need to wake up early to go somewhere. We had to leave at 7 for the airport even as our plane did not leave until 11:40 because Papa was awesome in driving us to the airport before going to work. It was out of his way too. I made bagel with cream cheese to take with us to eat at the airport and the whole flying and the logistics of the day went really smoothly.

We were at the airport by 8:05 despite some traffic, checked in one of the kiosks and dropped of our bags. We had our bagels then and went through security. By 9 we were in the airport proper where I got nice big tea at DunkinDonuts. JFK airport is one of my favorites because it has nice shops and atmosphere. And the next two hours passed really quickly. We walked around a bit to stretch our legs, I got USAToday to read and we bought some sandwiches to eat on the planes. (I got this really good turkey sandwich on wheat bread).

And I was not really nervous today until the time we actually had to board. Maybe it was because Bear was here too and because it was only a two and a half hour flight. I never flew JetBlue before but it was a nice flight, not surprising based on their reputation. There was TV in front of every seat and I could watch the “Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” in the second part of the flight. So despite some turbulence and my ears hurting as usual on descent, it was a good flight.

I passed the first half of the ride by appropriating Bear’s netbook and writing a short fanfiction story about Remus and Sirius where Sirius is nervous about flying on a plane with no magic around. I was basically using my nervousness while flying and being creative with it, which was an excellent way to pass the time.

Once we got to Orlando, the logistics went smoothly too. We got our bags really quickly and our ride met us by the baggage claim as promised. I really liked the little train that takes you from the arrivals to the main terminal. And I liked the car with soft leather seats that took us to the hotel. The check-in went pretty quickly too.

It is over 90F but since it is a very dry heat today with no humidity, it really does not feel that hot. After unpacking, Bear and I took a little walk close to the hotel to buy water and breakfast for later in the week (our hotel has a fridge and microwave). Then we went to the pool. We sat in the shade where I got Bear hooked on “Hunger Games” while I went swimming. The water was so warm it was lovely. Then I just read National Geographic although article about child brides was not congruent with a lovely hot summer day. Great article though.

For dinner we went to the hotel buffet restaurant, which was actually pretty good – lots of options, pretty cheap and desert.

Tomorrow, Harry Potter! I can’t wait.

And now a treat: Weird Al's parody video of Lady Gaga's "Born this Way"
Here is "Perform this Way"