I love Frasier

Since becoming a stay at home mom, I have a few guilty pleasures that I have succumbed to. One is the Sonic happy hour with my $0.92 large coke. The other is my current Netflix craving, Frasier. Tim and I are firm believers that life should not be wasted sitting in front of the TV, but we do appreciate a little mindless entertainment after a long day of yard/office/baby work.

Two years ago, Tim gave me a 6 month subscription to Netflix. Let's just say that I never turned in my discs on time and somehow to this day we justify this $10/month expense, even though it is never spoken of in our budgeting meetings. We do not get cable, so this is our means of staying current with the world. Well, that and internet. And talking to people.

Our television selection is very limited due to the length of our rabbit ears. We get the major network channels, half a dozen religious channels, and half a dozen Spanish speaking channels. One of our channels is 51, which carries some off the air sitcoms, one of which is Frasier. While this show is mostly ridiculous, I became hopelessly addicted. The subject matter is pretentious and above my head, but the humor is extremely clever. From Niles's painfully obvious infatuation with Daphne to the inability to capture Merris on camera to Frasier's ineptness at keeping a girlfriend... it's like a train wreck and I can't stop watching. Such good character development!

I have all ten seasons on my Netflix queue.. and I am nearing the end of season 8. Yes, hopelessly addicted. I have found it very hard to find a good comedy on TV these days, and I like the instant gratification of having my favorite show on DVD. I do have to say that I absolutely LOVE 30Rock. This humor is extremely clever (yes, even beats Frasier, I'm afraid). I hold 30Rock in as high esteem as Arrested Development.. maybe even higher. OK, so enough blogging about mindless matters, but I had to share one of my latest guilty pleasures. More to come!

Update on Life

It has been forever since I have blogged as you can see from above. I am not still 32 weeks pregnant, in fact, my baby is now 43 weeks out of the womb. These 43 weeks have kept me pretty busy and I'd like to say life is a little more under control. OK, it is more under control, but still very busy. I miss the days of writing a blog.. "the days" I'm talking about, being our road trip to Texas two years ago. I know, I am a bad blogger, but I will chalk that up to pregnancy and early motherhood to forgive myself. OK, excuses aside, here is the update and current status of our lives.

Tim and I are coming up on our second year back in the Lone Star state. We moved here in November of 2008 for Tim to take a job with my dad's company and for us to relocate closer to family. We were in the family-absent state of New York for awhile (10 years for Tim, 2 for me). While we loved the beauty of upstate New York, we felt the call to be near family as we were looking to start a family of our own. As we searched and prayed, we felt led to Texas where Tim came to work for my dad's company. He has been serving as a Six Sigma Black Belt (no, not working security) where he seeks to improve processes in the company, saving them time and money.

As for myself, I came home and worked a variety of jobs (dental mergers and acquisitions, waitress, personal assistant) until finding my ultimate full-time job as Mom. Tim and I got pregnant (ok, mostly me there) in February of 2009, welcoming our sweet baby boy on November 2. We have loved just about every minute of being parents (exception: anything in the 3-5am time range). Parenthood has be a huge change in life. It has shown me how to love like I didn't know I could. I would do anything for him. I can see it will be a challenge for me as he gets older to do what is best for him when it would be so easy to spoil him rotten. Not having extra cash is helping me to not spoil him right now :).

The Clymer family currently lives in a house in

Waller, TX, about 40 miles north of Houston. We live in a small subdivision of about 25 lots that are 3-7 acres each. We call 3 acres our little piece of heaven. Well, it is becoming heaven. Our subdivision used to be a watermelon patch, so it is pretty bare. We have planted about 40 trees, half of them being fruit trees. We hydroseeded our own lawn, put in our own beds, and maintain everything ourselves. So you can imagine we don't have a lot of free time, but we love making this place our home. It will be interesting seeing what it looks like in 10 years when our trees are bigger. I have included an aerial picture of our house so you can see how open things are with our tiny trees.

Well, I believe you're up to date and can now follow my posts a little more easily. I'm looking forward to talking with you about life.

Baby Clymer: 32 Weeks Old

The end is near! Less than two months to go before baby Clymer is here with us. Pregnancy has been a smooth ride so far but I'm not quite as comfortable as the first two trimesters. The baby has wedged his/herself into my right rib cage so that it is daily pain. It's not unbearable, but definitely uncomfortable. I remember the early pregnancy days when I would wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and be surprised at my belly and have the "oh yeah, I'm pregnant" realization. Now it feels like I've been pregnant forever! It has been a fun time and mostly stress and pain free, so I feel blessed for that.

I am afraid for childbirth, which I hear all kinds of horrible stories about. I think just the physics of childbirth scares me. I know it's the unknown that's scary, really. I know everything will be fine though.. women have been having babies since the world began, so I can do it, right? :) Tim and I are taking a childbirth class on Saturday, so hopefully that will relieve a lot of fears too. I keep reminding myself that it will only be (hopefully) one painful day, and then it will be over, and we will have a baby!

All of the getting ready for the baby has helped me to stay upbeat and excited. I love the baby room! It is two shades of green with a beautiful tree on the wall. I feel so good every time I'm in there - I'd like to move in! I hope it is cheerful for the baby too. Who knows, maybe his/her favorite color will be green like mine :). I am really grateful for how much my family has helped us get ready. My mom has done all of the painting and crafty detail-work to make the nursery so cute. Tim has been indispensable with picking up the slack for me since I'm tired more often and can't do all that I could before the pregnancy. He rolled all of the baby walls twice and has done all the yard work for 6+ months! This is also impressive because it's been his first Texas summer with several weeks above 100 degrees and no rain. He is a trooper and I am lucky. The rest of the family has been great with feeding us and helping get other parts of the house in order. At the end of this month, I will be starting my "housewife/stay-at-home mom" duties. This should give me one month to get the house whipped into shape :). I don't know, I'm beginning to think that never really happens in life! Surely it won't after kids :)

Well, just wanted to update everyone on my/our current state of mind and excitement. Next week I should have a great post because it will be our final ultrasound and last view of the baby on the inside - I can't wait!

Baby Clymer: 18 Weeks Old

Baby is the size of a: Mango

We had our second ultrasound this afternoon. It was so exciting! We got to see our developed baby for the first time. It was very magical seeing arms and legs, fingers, toes, even a yawn! It is so amazing how a baby grows. Ours is healthy and active, never staying still! The baby is 9 ounces, which is the exact weight it should be. We are 18 weeks, 3 days today and so happy to have seen our baby :) (and we're not finding out the sex, so you can be surprised with us :) )

Baby Clymer: 15 Weeks Old

Baby is the size of: Navel Orange

Well it's time to pick up the ol' blog again because so much is happening and we want to keep all of our friends and family up to date. In the past six months, we have moved to Houston, bought a house in Waller, TX, 35 miles north of Houston, and now we're expecting a baby! We like to squeeze all of the major life events into a year if possible:). The past five months have been filled with lots of house and yard work. The house we bought was a spec house and did not have any landscaping done. With the help of our friends Summer and Kirby, we hydroseeded (blue spray-on grass you see on the highway) our lawn and got a sprinkler system in. With the help of my mom, we got flowerbeds put in all around the house. It still looks a little bare, but everything is in place to be beautiful some day.

OK, but the big news is the BABY! We started trying to get pregnant at the beginning of the year and by the end of February, found out it worked! We actually found out the weekend Tim's parents were in town to visit. I took a pee test and got two lines instead of one, which is positive! We decided to hold off on telling anyone until after our first doctor's appointment to make sure and to get further along too. OK, we did share the secret with our friends Corrie and John because Corrie is also pregnant, due in October. I decided that if it was going to be a secret, I at least had to talk to one person to go through this with me. And no offense to Tim, but knowing I have a baby in me is such a crazy, weird thing to me.. and I needed a like mind to bounce things off of:).

The first doctor's appointment was amazing! I was so sad Tim was out of town because I got to do an ultrasound, which I had no idea about. They do it early on to measure the baby. By doing this, they can determine the date of conception, and therefore, the most accurate date of delivery. When I went to the doctor, I wasn't sure what I would hear from them because I had zero symptoms of being pregnant, aside from missing my period. I have been so lucky to not have any sickness at all, even until week 14 where I am now.

We went to our second doctor's appointment at the end of April (on Allison's birthday actually) and I wasn't sure what to expect then because I didn't feel pregnant at all and wasn't showing at all. I was glad to find out I was still pregnant, and even cooler -- we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! I was pretty surprised because of where they used the doppler device. It was waaay lower than I expected the baby to be. But if I think about my uterus.. that is where it is located.. so I guess that makes sense. They say that in the next month or two, my uterus will begin to rotate to point out, I believe, and that is when I will start to show.

Well, just this week, I am starting to feel slightly bigger below the belly button. It is very minimal, but I read something that said your baby bump is firm feeling, not just pudgy fat. I had gotten a little pudge around the belly button (probably because I'm eating so much), but didn't look pregnant in my opinion. I know I've been at least a little bigger though because only three pairs of pants fit me still.

Another thing that's new: The doctor told me at my last appointment that I may get some sharp pains in my uterus as the ligaments around it are stretching to adjust to its growth and movement. I think I felt the first of those this morning when I was working out with my aunt. Something definitely felt sharp, but not unbearable. It felt like cramping in the area but with sharp pain too. It went away, like she said it would, and I've felt a few of these little pains throughout the day. This is exciting because it means the baby is getting bigger and I'm going to be showing soon! People say be grateful for not showing, it will come, etc, but it's hard for me to feel pregnant when I haven't been feeling physically different... so really I'm welcoming any changes right now. I know it will come with time, but I'm getting excited as I can feel things changing, and really this is the first change.

I'll keep you all posted on our progress and all the other things going on with us. Hopefully on a frequent basis again! We'd love to hear from everyone too, so please comment!

Uncle Dave and Aunt Christine Get Five Stars!!!

OK, for real. This is the last last blog on the road trip. Thank you to all that have followed us!

Uncle Dave has religiously followed our blog and I have done a poor job wrapping things up. He has been sitting on pins and needles waiting for his review... and the verdict is five stars! OK, it may not have been the absolute most amazing stop of our destination, but spending time with family (especially Aunt Christine and Uncle Dave) warrants the addition of more stars.

We arrived that afternoon in Stephenville, The Cowboy Capitol of Texas (and the home of Aunt Christine and Uncle Dave). After getting turned around one last time by Lori, we reached our destination. The ranch (their home) is situated on the top of a hill and overlooks a lot of the county. There is a train track down below where we used to deface pennies as kids, and there are cows that roam the property, and occasionally and emu (ok, that only happened once, and man was it fun to chase). I hadn't been to the ranch in probably five years, due to all of the "living out of state" stuff I was doing. Aunt Christine and Uncle Dave weren't living out there full-time yet, and I had heard that they put in a few upgrades. Well, the house looks totally different, and in a good way. There are beautiful hardwood floors, color on the walls, new countertops, and a state of the art "man shed" in the back for all of Uncle Dave's hobbies. After touring that, I think Tim has plans in mind for his own... It is a very nice home and I'm glad that Uncle Dave (and soon to be Aunt Christine) gets to enjoy his retirement out there. We enjoyed a wonderful meal, good conversation, and Roy Orbison on Uncle Dave's new HD TV. It was quite the treat.

We have really enjoyed the drives through the countryside. There is something very peaceful and simple about it. One of my favorite things about home is round hay bales in a field. I remember playing on them as a kid.. and all of the simple things that could keep us entertained for hours. I think Tim and I are hoping to have those simple joys when we settle into our next home.

Texas Our Texas.

Well, as most of you have guessed, we've been in Texas for quite some time now... not eternally stalled in New Orleans as our blog would suggest. This is the final post to wrap up our trip.

We left Ruston around lunchtime, said goodbye to our friends, and made for the Texas border. We knew we were getting close when we saw the biggest tires ever (everything's bigger in Texas, remember?:)). Not on a truck, as some might think, but being carried by a semi. Seriously, two people could have lived in one of these tires and been perfectly cozy. Shortly after the tire spotting, we reached the Texas border. We had to get out for a picture (above) and some maps. It was a very big and nice visitor center. We expected the ladies at the counter to be the darned nicest people in Texas, but they weren't. They were nice enough I suppose, and gave us maps, and welcomed us to Texas. Maybe we were expecting a party?:)

Oh well, it was back to the road and on to Burleson to stay with my cousin Anna, her husband Steve, and boys Owen and Ben. We pulled in a little before dinner and got to meet my newest little cousin Ben. This kid has HUGE brown hair. He's only six months old, and they've had to cut his hair twice. He's got the biggest eyes and these little chubby cheeks - I dubbed him the Precious Moments doll. We spent the evening talking and playing with Owen, who loves his truck! He's very cute. I'm excited about being here to get to see my cousins and aunts and uncles more. Unfortunately when you live out of state and the extended family is spread out, you rarely get to see them. That's one thing that's nice about Tim's family, they all live close to each other, for the most part. After our enchilada dinner, we turned in for a night on the comfiest pull-out sofa I've ever slept on.

We began the next day with a nice breakfast and some play time outside with Owen. Around 11, we hit the road for Grandma's. We arrived at 11:30, just in time for lunch at "the home". Now when you think of a retirement home, I know cute doesn't come to mind, but my grandma's place is cute, seriously! It is a gated community with little red brick houses. Grandma lives there and has everything one person could need, and then some. She eats all of her meals up at "the building", which is a restaurant and community center type place. This is the place where I played bingo and went swimming as a kid. The food was tasty. We had a lot to choose from and it all was great. We visited a bit more with Grandma and then it was off to... Stephenville!

Almost there!

We deviated from the logical path to Houston to visit friends in Ruston, LA and family in Ft. Worth, TX. It was well worth it! From New Orleans, we headed north to Ruston where our friends Paul and Emily live. Tim and Paul grew up together and went on their first road trip together, where Tim and I met! So it was special to meet up with Paul near the end of our trip and the guys could compare stories. It think our trip was a little cushier than the guys first trip. Hey, I'm not complaining:).

Paul and Emily live in a cute little apartment close to where Paul is finishing up his doctorate. Emily is working for a church nearby and her friends there had been asking her to come to a high school football game for some time. This was the last of the season, so we all headed out to the last football game of the season for West Oachita High School. While the game was less-than-victorious, the fans were great, and I was quickly reminded of what a Southern accent should sound like. We rounded out our evening with a bite at Bennigan's and a great night's sleep.

New Orleans

After our day in Destin we packed up, assessed our sunburns, and headed towards New Orleans. It got cloudier as we got there, so we decided to stay in a hotel for the night. The problem was, our laptop had been acting up (read: randomly freezing), so we weren't sure if it'd behave long enough for us to get a room booked. Thankfully on our way we found some free wifi (thank you Mississippi rest stop!) and the laptop behaved for long enough for us to get a room booked for the evening. That secured, we made our way to the Bon Ton Cafe in downtown New Orleans for some dinner. Again, it was recommended by our Road Food book and marked as a deal with entrees under $10 (this is important for later). So we got there and parked downtown without much incident and made our way to the restaurant with me in shorts and a tshirt and Katherine in capris and a tank top. When we arrived at the restaurant, we noticed cloth napkins on the tables and a dark quiet atmosphere and a sign on the door that said "Proper dress required". Uh oh. So we went in anyways and were greeted by what we figured was the manager. Katherine asked, "So, what sort of dress is required?". "Oh, business casual", the manager answered, then stated, "I'd say you're casual, so come on in". The restaurant was fairly empty at this point, and the current patrons were mostly in khakis and button down shirt attire. We looked at the menu and found that while perhaps you could order an appetizer for under $10, there was no way that entrees were that inexpensive. I felt a bit uncomfortable in my blue tshirt with Texas logos and tried to scoot under the table to hide the fact that I was wearing shorts. I sat up extra straight and put on my best manners to try to pull off the "well cultured person who is too cool for dress codes" look. The staff was all very kind, though I did hear someone talk to the manager and heard something like him defending us saying "Well, the dress code is business casual and they are dressed casually", heh. Our waitress came and took our order, with Katherine ordering Red Fish Bon Ton and me ordering the Crawfish dinner. It was all excellent, and I got to try 4 new dishes in a night with my order. All dress-related awkwardness aside, I'd have to say it was the best restaurant-cooked meal of the trip. We finished dinner with their excellent bread pudding with whiskey sauce then conspicuously made our way out of the restaurant and to our car. With no ticket on the car, we were happy campers and made our way to the hotel for the night.

Destin, FL

We packed up the car from our four day Disney vacation and hit the road for Key West, the next trip destination. When we programmed the GPS, it said Key West was like 7.5 hours away! Earlier in the trip, we had done some calculating and thought it was like 4.5 hours. We did some quick math and determined that if we went to Key West, we'd only be able to go for one day, then we'd be driving 8-10 hour days to make sure we made it into Houston on time.

We nixed our original plan and immediately headed to Destin, our next trip stop. It took about 4-5 hours, but we made it in to Destin with 15 minutes to spare to check in to our campsite. We had the nicest park ranger ever there, and he hooked us up with a sweet spot right by a lake. We sure hoped this wouldn't turn out like our last lakefront campsite... a tent full of water and a night at a motel. Well, everything was just fine. We hit the road by 7:30 and were on the beach by 9.

Destin is a beautiful little beachside community. There are lots of neighborhoods and shops... really anything you could possibly be looking for. I was really scoping it out because my friend Stacey and her husband Trae are being stationed there in the spring. I think they lucked out and will have a ton of visitors, us included! We made our way to the beach with all of our beach garb. It was warm enough, so we put on our swimsuits. We staked our claim with beach towels on a 10 foot square of beach, and I immediately lay down to work on the pasty-factor. My poor body hasn't seen sun in 4 years - it practically glows! Well, I set out to get a lot of reading done, which was great, but I got a burn that was no fun. I'm still itching a week later!

Tim had a great time. He actually went all the way in the water and swam a bit. I was a pansy and only got in to my ankles. Hey, if it was 90 out, it would be a different story! He also flew his new kite a bit. He still hasn't watched the stunt instruction video, but he was improvising pretty well with some of his own tricks. We wrapped up the morning with some PBJ's and made our way to the next stop - New Orleans.

Day 4 - Epcot again

Well, we love Epcot, what can I say. On our last day it looked cloudy out, so Tim checked the weather, with it saying it would be clear with a high of 80. So I decided to brave the misty weather in shorts, knowing it would warm up soon. Well, it never did! I was pretty chilly all day. Oh well, we mustered through:).

Since we spent our first day at Epcot at the World Showcase, for the most part, this time we explored all of the rides and other exhibits. We did the GM Test Track where we sit in a car and experience all of the road tests a new car goes through before it is put on the market. OK, so I think it was dumbed down quite a bit from the real thing, but it was still fun and educational. The last test we went through was a crash test, where they slam the car into a wall. They shot us off and just as we were about to hit the wall, it opened, and we shot out onto a test track instead. We flew around this track at over 60 mph... without a roof! It was pretty exhilarating, and well worth the wait just for the speed. What can I say, I like fast cars:) We also picked out our new vehicle... you like?:)

We also went on a "Living with the Land" tour where we learned about different initiatives to harness energy, grow food, and live well with the earth. It was pretty neat -- not too hippy:). We got to tour through some of the Disney vegetable gardens too where they use a lot of cool techniques to grow food. It made me want to have a greenhouse. I'll have to get one of those after I get my courtyard:)

We also went to a center where they have Segway demonstrations. The times I have seen Segways, my impression has been, "man those things look dorky". After the demonstration, I feel the same way, but am much more impressed with the technology. These scooter type machines are ultra sensitive to your movement, and the slightest pressure on your toes triggers it to go forward, and conversely, the slightest pressure on your heals causes it to stop. These things can also literally turn on a dime. They really are a great way to get places, travelling at 4 times the speed a human walks (12 mph). All in all, a cool thing, but I still think walking is the better option for me.

The last ride of our day was Soarin'. We had been a couple of years ago, and I didn't think I was too impressed, so I had low expectations going in. The ride was a very pleasant surprise.. I'm not sure why I didn't like it the first time. You sit in these gliders that have about 10 seats each, then when the ride begins, you are raised over a huge IMAX screen, slightly tilted forward. That way, when they rush you over mountain tops and through canyons, you really do feel like you're soaring. They even pump orange scent into the room as you fly over an orange grove.. oh Disney:) I have decided this is a pretty cool ride. It was my least favorite line to wait in though... man was it long!

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

Today we went to Animal Kingdom. This park was built in 1998, and we did not go on our last trip, so this was our first time. Walking into the park, it was not at all showy like the others. There was no huge globe or hat to make a statement, but instead, you walked in through a forested area. It really felt like you were walking on a rain forest path. The park was divided into several countries that each had different rides and exhibits.

I would say Animal Kingdom is a cross between an amusement park and a zoo. We walked through a zoo-type area that had tigers. They were lounging about as tigers do. We also saw a hippo, from the top in this picture. You can walk down below the hippo pond and see into the water from the side. It was amazing to see this gigantic animal bobbing around in the water. Also, we found out that hippos don't swim, they walk around on the bottom of the lake. They're such cute animals... but in reality, they are super territorial and aggressive. So no cuddling with hippos, ok?:)

There was another part of the park called Disney Animal Safari. I have never been on a safari in a wild animal park and was way psyched to do one. You wait in a line, like most Disney attractions, then board a large truck with about 10 rows of seats. There is a safari guide, and he is pointing out all of the animals along the way. From the start we saw some crazy animals I'd never seen before - an okapi. It looks like a cross between a zebra and giraffe. They are pretty cute. Then we saw giraffes, wildebeests, funky cows, funky deer, rhinos, lions, ostriches, warthogs... the works. There was a path we drove on, and the driver made every discovery of a new animal seem like the first time he'd ever seen them. It was funny.. One thing I wondered, but realized later, was that there were a ton of animals all in one place, and many of them eat each other. In order for this not to happen at Disney, they have cattle guards and chains between each section. These are things that aren't very obvious as you're driving, but all part of the master plan of Disney.. pretty clever.

From the Safari, we went on to Expedition Everest, a roller coaster that went through Mount Everest. The story behind the ride is that you're on a train up Mount Everest as an explorer, but you have not honored the yeti of the mountain. He is very angry and has ripped up the tracks, and you go on this death ride all through the mountain, mostly in the dark. Near the end of the ride, you come face to face with the yeti... in the dark. I'll have to admit, it's pretty scary. I wasn't feeling the best when I got off the ride. Not because of the scary factor, but because of the queasy factor. We went and ate some barbecue and I quickly felt better:).

We ended the day with the Jammin' Jungle Parade and hit the sack.

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios

Well, we chose to go to Hollywood Studios today. The weather forecast looked like it might be a little overcast and rainy, so we thought we'd do more indoor stuff here. We did not go to Hollywood Studios a couple of years ago when we were here, so this was our first time since little kids! I had forgotten a lot of it, but did remember going to a Honey I Shrunk the Kids area and having my picture taken with Antee. I was pumped to see that he's still there and I got the "20 years later shot". I think last time I was riding him:). I didn't want to push the little kids off this time...

One of our favorite parts of the studios was a new ride called "Rock N' Roller Coaster with Aerosmith". You walk into the area under a suspended car on train tracks. There is a huge red guitar as you walk in - probably two or three stories tall. We stood in line for some time, but one thing we have discovered about Disney is that they put as much time into their lines as they do their rides. There is always something to look at, watch, touch, or do as you wait. Those Disney folks... so smart! So we got into the last holding area before boarding the coaster. We entered what looked like a studio where Aerosmith was finishing up an album... they "saw" us there, then invited us to their concert. They left in their limo, and we had another car coming that would take us an alternate way to bypass the NYC traffic. We climbed into this car-type roller coaster, heard a lot of noise, then a 3-2-1 and it shot us from 0-60mph in 3 seconds I think. It was an indoor coaster that went upside down, sharp turns, steep drops.... it was awesome:) I really enjoy roller coasters. I don't like ones with sudden drops though... and I usually get a little nauseated after a couple of hours on them. Disney is nice though because there is so much to do, you can take your time with everything.

We also went to the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. It was a little cheesy, but the stunts were pretty cool. This picture of Indy is right before he falls in a pit. I wish I could post the video I took of the escape scene where he and the girl jump on an airplane, then he has to fight this big guy who winds up getting shredded by the airplane propeller. It's pretty amazing how they do all of the stunts. We also went on a back studios tour that showed us how they did some of the shots from the movie Pearl Harbor. It all looks funny watching it, but when it's played back on video with editing, it is very convincing.

The craziest part of our day was at the "Lights, Motors, Action: Extreme Stunt Show". It was a awesome stunt show with car chases, jumps, and effects. They showed many car chase and motorcycle chase scenes. The last part we saw was this scene where a guy gets top secret information, jumps on his motorcycle, and is chased around the city. He took this one jump off a ramp and when coming down the other side, he hit and flew off his bike, hitting the ground and skidding for awhile. We all sat there watching, waiting for him to move, and the "film crew" halted things... all part of the act, we thought. Nope, he really wrecked and they shut the show down. The ambulance came while we were exiting, and we saw Mercy Flight overhead as we walked away. Nuts. We did just check online and it says the guy is ok... but still! That was crazy. And I got it all on video, kinda crazy.

We also saw a stage show of Beauty and the Beast, my favorite Disney movie. It had the general plot and all the best songs from the movie. It was very large scale on stage... not quite the Broadway show I've seen, but still pretty impressive. They also do the whole thing in 30 minutes, which impressive as well.

To end the night, we saw Fantasma, a lights, water, and stunt type show. It has Mickey from Fantasia, having a great dream where when he raised his arms this and that way, the water would shoot up around him in different colors. They also projected scenes from different movies onto the water.. which made some amazing affects. Then began his nightmare and the witch from Snow White took over and summoned all of the other Disney villains who had a hey dey with Mickey's dream. At the climax, there was a huge real-life dragon that appeared. Mickey eventually slayed the dragon and peace was restored to his dream. Then a cruise boat with all of your favorite Disney characters came along. Overall, a very impressive display. Very larger than life.

Yay Disney!

Day 1 - Epcot
The last time Tim and I were in Disney was in December of 2005 when we were still dating. Since we dated long distance for almost two years, it was always interesting to see where we would meet up. Most of the time it was in New York or Ohio where I was living at the time. Sometimes it was in Pennsylvania and Texas where our families are... and then this one time it was at Disney World:). My college roommate Sara Joy was living in Gainesville, Florida for a year and we planned a Disney meetup trip for the three of us. We stayed in this super shady Days Inn where there were literally bugs in our beds and we woke up to a woman crying... not the best accommodations. The park, however, was fabulous. And this is why we built in a Disney portion to our trip.

We began our Disney vacation with Epcot, what we remembered to be our favorite park. It was a lot like I remembered as we walked in and the huge spaceship earth globe stood in front of us. This is a great focal point when you're trying to find different attractions! We immediately made our way through all of the rides and attractions to get to the World Showcase, a collection of different countries from around the world, all situated around a large lake. Each country has a distinctive architecture style that houses an attraction like a film or an educational ride. There are also gift shops with items for sale from that country, a restaurant with native food, and both are typically operated by natives of the country. All of these things really make you feel like you are in that particular country. That night we stopped for dinner at Morocco where we got this delicious shaved beef and chicken with a cream sauce on it, hummus, a parsley salad, and a piece of bread. It was very enjoyable. Afterward, we strolled through the shop that was in an adobe-type building. The shop clerk said hello to us and asked us if we knew Arabic. We said no, and he asked our names, then wrote them for us in Arabic. He said the Arabic alphabet has five or more letters than the English alphabet. These letters allow them to write many sounds that our alphabet doesn't. He demonstrated some of the more throaty sounds known to that region and then pointed out where they were in our names. It is very interesting and makes a lot of sense. Such an educational trip:)

OK, so it wasn't all educational, a lot of what we did was EAT. There was a wine and culinary festival going on while we were there. In addition to the little food shops at all the countries, there were booths set up that had three different foods not found on the typical menu. It was a lot of fun to stop by all of these booths and get samples of foods we'd never tried or heard of before. My favorite was a dish native to Cape Town called bobotie. It was like meatloaf in consistency, but with raisins, and then a mango chutney poured over the top. It was a great combination of salty and sweet. We tried many other things like creme brulee from France, scallops from ?, wild mushroom soup and pierogies from Poland, and tres leches from Buenos Aires. It is super easy for these little samples to add up in cost, but I think it is still worth it, because where can you try foods from all over the world in one place?

We also saw some films in circlevision, which is a room you stand in the middle of and there are screens in a circle around you. It creates this great affect as you swoop through canyons and cities. It is very neat to look in front and back to see everything at the scene. We saw shows for Canada and Japan. We also caught some musical acts. There were The Beatles in London, of course, and then there was a band in Louisiana called the Pine Leaf Boys. There were an awesome zydeco band - a type of music I love. You can't not listen to it and smile. I think it's the accordion that makes me smile. I feel the same way about steel drum music - it's just happy music. Another show we saw was in China. It was an acrobat show with about 10 young guys. They say they're 16, but the verdict is still out... kidding. These boys were amazing! It's like their feet are spring loaded. They bounce forward and backward, upside down.. so effortlessly. There was also a guy there that had a board on a cylinder that he rolled back and forth on, and flipped bowls on top of his head. I'm not even sure how you come to acquire this skill.. I'm sure through a lot of trial and error.

We ended our day at Epcot without the fireworks, because there was quite a crowd and we didn't want to wait for the bus for an hour. We retired to our Disney resort (value resort, we're not too hoity toity:)) - The Pop Century Resort. It was an interesting place, decoratively speaking. Our section was supposed to encapsulate the 50's and 60's, and had bowling pins and yo-yos for staircases. The buildings were also a lovely violet color. Not sure I'll be incorporating what I've seen into our next home. Thankfully our rooms were fairly plain in their decor so we could go to sleep at night:)

PS - As a sidenote from Tim, we've opened up commenting to everyone and not just those with openid accounts.  So feel free to comment!

Cumberland Island

We decided to go ahead and go to Cumberland Island today. I reeeeally wanted to see those wild horses:). We took a 45 minute passenger ferry over to the island where we were greeted by a kooky park ranger named Rene. She has loved the island since she was a kid and when she was old enough, she got a job there, and hasn't left since... and she is in her 50's I'd say. She describes herself as a geographically undesirable woman, therefore never having married. She seems perfectly content with her island though.

So we embarked on a tour with Rene where she recounted the history of the island which once belonged to Native Americans, then was inhabited by different settlers and owners. She had us (10 adults) standing in as actors as she recounted the story. Overall, it was amusing. I got to be Catherine Greene, who was very popular amongst the men, and kind of a modern woman.. wearing pants when she rode horses, wowee! Hearing all of the stories and side stories gave life to the place. There are ruins of several mansions on the 15 mile long island. The mansions were destinations of the rich and famous at one time. In fact, the island was owned by the Carnegies until 1972 when they gave it over to the park service. The deal they struck was funny though, and some family members still live in the houses there. It was interesting to walk around, wondering if the other people there might be cabillionaires.

After our walk around the ruins of Dungeness, we walked through the sand dunes to the beach. We walked for awhile down there, picking up shells. We found several good ones, but no big ones. Cumberland Island is also near a submarine base, and the Navy had to dredge a couple of passages for the submarines. The stuff they dredged up now lines the roads that go through Cumberland Island. I found a shark's tooth out on the road! After walking the beach, we headed inland through an oak grove. These were the coolest oaks I'd ever seen. It felt like we were walking through an enchanted forest, the way the limbs started at the ground and sprawled everywhere as they tried to reach the skies.

As we made our way to the front of the island, our time on the island was coming to an end... and we hadn't seen horses yet! I was very glad we came, and in retrospect I would have come without seeing the horses, but I still wanted to see them! As we got back to where we arrived, Tim saw one! And then three more! There were several grazing at a distance, and I was happy:). We still had an hour to kill, so decided to walk back to the ruins where we had been tipped that we might see more horses. Sure enough, there were about ten more that we saw. There were some young ones, and older ones, all looking very different. These horses belonged to Andrew Carnegie's mother, and when she died, in her will she said to let the horses go on the island. Apparently she had Morgans, Mustangs, Appaloosas, Thoroughbreds... many different kinds of horses. So the horses there today are mutts.. but very pretty mutts.

I'm very glad we went to the Cumberland Island National Seashore, and I would love to go back sometime and camp. It is an island you could spend a week exploring!

Savannah

This morning we journeyed back into Savannah for a little more touring around. We parked near Forsyth Park, 10 acres that was dedicated as parkland back in the 1850's. There are so many green spaces in Savannah - it is beautiful. In the park and all over the city are these massive oak trees with limbs sprawling all over. There are also some of the biggest magnolia trees I've ever seen. We have magnolias in Texas that I thought were big, but some of the ones in Savannah were as big as oaks! Walking through the historic neghborhoods in the city, we saw some beautiful architecture. I'm not sure what the style is called, but there is a lot of brick with big windows and a lot of iron gates, railings, and huge scroll brackets that held up balconies. Many of the houses had courtyards, which I loved. I decided that I'm doing one at the house we build someday:). My grandmother used to have a courtyard at her house and it was so peaceful. It is an area that had either brick or concrete floors, planted areas on the sides, or potted plants sitting around, and many times a fountain. many have little garden spaces in the middle that are divided up by boxwood hedges. Some have little statues too. As you can tell, I'm in love with courtyards:) Check with me in 10 years to see if I have one:)

After walking down many streets and through many parks, we went back to the car to make our way to the Georgia-Florida border. On our way down, we got gas and stopped at an outlet mall. I was down to two pairs of jeans for the trip, and then got a hole in a conspicuous place, so it was Gap time. I found a great pair for $20, can't beat that. From there, we stopped at the Visitor's center for Brunswick and Cumberland Island - the area we were headed. I was really interested to get some information on the Cumberland Island, because they have wild horses there and I've always wanted to see wild horses:)

Charleston and Savannah

Tim again.  This morning we awoke in Myrtle Beach to a cool but otherwise beautiful morning.  The view from our hotel was really nice (especially for the price!), and we got a late start to get on the road by 10 or so.  I don't know what it is about being on the road, but I can't seem to want to get an early start unless we're camping.  I'll definitely have to get back in a more normal sleeping routine soon.  I remember being up really early all the time on my previous trip, but maybe that was due to it being summer, with a really early sunrise, and temperatures rising quickly.  Plus, Paul (who I went with on the trip, for those not familiar) used to get all cuddly in the mornings and it creeped me out.  Just kidding, Paul!

Anyways, we really didn't stop in Myrtle Beach for anything site or souvenir-wise.  I suppose the place must appeal to some people, and probably is a good family destination, but I think I'd rather spend my vacations away from large groups of unfamiliar people.  That could be the introvert in me showing.

So, after a relatively short 100 miles on the road, we came to Charleston.  Using the Road Food book given to us by Nathan as a guide, we decided to stop at Jestine's Kitchen for lunch.  It was really quite good, probably some of the best food of the trip.  I had a fried oyster po boy (a sub for those from the north), and Kat had the fried chicken, along with the "table wine", which is really just sweet tea.  Believe it or not, it was my first sweet tea of the trip and I made up for lost time by drinking like 3 glasses of it.  After walking around town a bit and looking at all the fancy stores we couldn't afford to go into, we hopped in the car and headed towards Savannah.  Along the way, we stopped at a roadside shop and picked up some sweet potato butter (like apple butter), as well as some kinda praline mustardy glaze, and a praline for good measure.  I don't know that I've ever had a praline before, but I think I'll be having more of them in the future because it was really good.  I've actually started a list of some foods I've had or heard of along the trip to try making them when we finish the trip.  The south really has a lot of delicious food.

Upon arriving in Savannah we followed our normal "first time in a new city" routine.  First, we look for the first signs of any sort of visitor's center and attempt to stop there.  Then, we get frustrated when we get lost or can't find parking or encounter a lot of traffic (it never fails).  Finally, once we get our bearings we calm down and start to enjoy the place.  Kat and I were talking today and saying that we don't really like touring around cities.  I told her that I thought it was mostly due to the stress of working your way around an unfamiliar place, that we liked Rochester once we knew where we were going, and she agreed.  Still, even if the stress of unfamiliarity weren't an issue, I think I'd choose touring around a National Park over seeing a major metropolitan area.

Once we got ourselves situated and parked in Savannah, we spent some time just walking around, taking in the waterfront and a lot of the area around the capitol, as well as few trendy shopping type areas.  I've heard that the homes and the architecture around Savannah are really beautiful so I'm looking forward to seeing that.  I think tomorrow we'll do a sort of self-guided walking tour of some of the homes and such around town then hit the road to end up somewhere in southern Georgia, or maybe Florida.  Who knows.

Part of what I like about the trip is that we're constantly not really knowing where we'll lay our heads down at night, where we'll be exploring the next day, who we might meet, and what situation we might run into.  I've stated to some that I think my first road trip around the country with Paul was one of the best things I've ever done.  I don't think it was just the experience of seeing all of those sites or being on a 5 week vacation.  I'm beginning to become more convinced that it was the fact that we were going around the country and really had no idea what would face us on a day to day basis.  Things were unknown and new and sometimes a bit scary and it was all ok.  We made it through just fine.  I think it gave me the confidence to step out a bit more, to be adventurous.

Perhaps more on this later, but for now, it's time to hit the sack.

Driving across NC

Well, Oakboro was a bust. I'm beginning to think that guy was having fun with a couple of tourists. It was a no stoplight town without even an interesting main street. Oh well. We quickly hopped back on main roads, then highways, and sped our way across North Carolina, headed for the coast. The highlight of the day and an extra programmed destination of the day was lunch at Sonic. We saw our first Sonic somewhere in Virginia, but weren't able to stop until our uneventful day-o-commuting. Man, was it heaven. I got a bacon cheeseburger, cheese tator tots, and a cherry lime slush. If I were on death row, that just might have to be my last meal. Well, maybe not, but there is something very comforting about Sonic food. As we sat there and waited for the car hop to come out, I told Tim of the many weekends of my childhood that I spent at the farm, and how most involved a trip to Sonic. Back then my favorites were a corn dog and grape slush - I have matured to better things now such as tots with cheese.
Anyways, as you can see, our day was pretty uneventful. I did notice that as we neared the coast, the land became flatter and pines were much more prevalent. It reminded me very much of driving through Texas. It's neat how as I get closer to home, things are becoming more familiar to me. I'm not typically one for nostalgia, because so many times it's just an inconvenience, but with no agenda and tons of time, I am soaking it all up.

Tim might say the highlight of his day was stopping at a place called Mackey's Ferry Peanuts. It was a place in the middle of nowhere, but with big signs advertising boiled peanuts. Well, neither of us have ever had boiled peanuts, but by these signs, we assumed it was a local delight, and we pulled over. Tim went up to the counter and ordered some like they're his favorite. The guys asked, hot or cold? Tim said hot, like he knew it was the best. Well sir, they were hot, fresh out of the boiler, I believe. They were interesting. They were hot and a little mushy. They still had the flavor of typical peanuts, but just took on a hot and mushy form. We still have them today, so now they are cold and mushy. I'm glad we tried them, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. You just get your hands messy.

From the peanut store, we made our way to our campsite for the night. It was a place called Pettigrew State Park, situated on a lake and a wildlife reserve. We were really just looking to get to sleep and get started on our next day, so we didn't bother with the wildlife reserve. That also could have to do with the ranger telling us there had been a mother bear and two cubs spotted recently. We did check out the lake though. It was a huge lake - 16,000 acres. It was a crystal clear evening and very pretty as the sun was setting over the lake. From here, we went back to our tent and found we had some neighbors in the site across the way. It was a couple of guys with a boat who we found out were expecting some other guys later at night. Well, by later at night, we thought, 8, 9, 10... something like that. Well, they got in at 4:30 this morning. Apparently they drove in from West Virginia.. and instead of wanting to sleep like normal people, they got their buddies up and proceeded to talk loudly, build a fire, make breakfast, and every other noisy thing you can think of. While in the bathroom, one of the guys asked Tim if he heard them come in. Tim said yes, and they guy kinda shrugged it off. Tim said he wanted to yell at the guy. Oh well, we were up and on the road by 8:30.. never to see those yahoos again.

The Outer Banks

We arrived at the Outer Banks by 10 and made our way toward Kitty Hawk, where Tim had bought stunt kites as a kid. We passed a couple of kite shops on the way, but Tim assured me that the best one was all the way in Kitty Hawk. Well, Kitty Hawk came and went and we found ourselves all the way in Duck, NC before we knew it. Using Lori, the faithful GPS, we got ourselves turned around on backroads for a good while, then Kitty Hawk bound once again. Well, as it turns out, the awesome kite store was one of the shops we had seen on our way. We parked and went into this store, that I think may have been pink on the outside with every kind of kite or windsock flying from the building. The store had TONS of stuff from clothing, to kites, to toys.. but we (I mean Tim) were only interested in kites. Tim got to talking with a kite lady and soon had his prized kite picked out. These kites are hand sewn and can do many tricks like spinning and flying low. I'm sure there are other things.. and Tim got a CD to learn them.

From the kite shop, we headed south to Nags Head for some lunch. We found a place recommended by the NC visitor guide - Sam and Omie's. We got a very interesting lady as a waitress. I'd say she was drunk, but it was 11 in the morning, so I'm thinking she's just a nutty local. She recommended the grilled fish cake sandwich, which we both got. It was very tasty and the fries were to die for. For dessert, we had homemade banana pudding. Neither of us had ever had homemade banana pudding before, and let me tell you, it was amazing. I can tell the difference in the boxed pudding. This stuff had a nicely whipped texture, vanilla wafers at the bottom, and chunks of banana throughout. After this scrumptious meal, we hit the road again.

Our next stop was the Bodie (pronounced body) Island Lighthouse. There are many beautiful lighthouses on the Outer Banks. We stood in the sun awhile and looked at it, toured the visitor's center, and picked up a couple of patches for Tim's patch collection. From the lighthouse, we went to the grocery store, picked up a few groceries, and hit the beach. We got there around 3 and set up our beach towels. There were fishermen spread along the beach, but the whole time I sat there, I didn't see one of them catch a fish. Tim pulled out his new kite and took it for it's inaugural flight with much success. No major crashes, and lots of loopty-loops. I finished the book I had been reading, The Ultimate Gift - a great book, I highly recommend it. We made PBJ's for dinner, enjoyed a drink as the sun set, and overall just relaxed while enjoying the waves and sun. Then we packed it all up and headed to our campsite.

We stayed at a place called Camp Woods, which is a RV park with a few tent sites. The woman there set us up with an awesome site right on the edge of a pond. I took full advantage of the nice bath house, then settled into the tent for some reading before bed. We had settled down into our sleeping bags, were talking, when we heard something lightly hitting the tent. Tim said, is that rain? I said, no way, it was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky. Not 10 seconds later, the skies parted and it poured! I'm not talking a light rain, even a heavy rain, it was a HUGE rain with 35 mph winds. We quickly zipped up the tarp cover and bunkered down for the storm. We didn't make it half an hour before water was coming in the tent on Tim's side. He scootched over to my side a little more to avoid any dripping. We lay there as the winds ripped at the tent and the rain poured. We could heard loud things outside the tent, but had no idea what they were. Soon after, we had a branch come down on the tent. Luckily it wasn't big, but it scared us enough to run out of the tent into the car. Now, we're in the Fit, so sleeping in the car is out of the option. After not much deliberation, I started calling motels for late night rates. On the second try, I found a place for $50 and we left our tent to the storm.

Lexington

This morning while soaking up the last of the free cable at the Knight's Inn, we heard that there was a Barbeque Festival in Lexington, NC, a city which was on the general route of where we were headed. (Actually, we didn't know where we were headed) So we set out bright and early, barbeque on the brain. (We treated ourself to Mexican the night before, so it was time for my next fix of Texas favorites). We arrived a the Walmart parking lot for the shuttle around 10:00. Once on the shuttle, we struck up a conversation with a local guy who was extremely friendly. He was excited to hear we were down all the way from NY. He said this was the best barbeque in the country. I told him I wasn't sure, I was from Texas after all. He said this stuff is different from Texas barbeque, it's vinegar based. Hey, I'm open-minded, I definitely wanted to try this stuff. (Especially after all the junk we've been cooking up on the road). Oh, and lastly, we asked his opinion of where to go in NC since we were passing through. He said definitely go to Oakboro. Stay tuned for what that was like.

We entered the Barbeque Festival at the north end of what I think was Main Street. They blocked off traffic for about five or ten blocks down and all along each side were food booths, exhibits, and crafts. The first exhibit we came across was the Lumberjack Competition. Now, I had seen these things many times on TV and always thought it was amusing how throwing an axe or chopping a piece of wood had become a talent to perfect, worthy of a medal and the worship of many men and women. Well, I went up front and center to get a piece of the action. Not only were there burly looking lumberjack men, there were young guys fighting for the honor of best axe throw. I've never thrown an axe myself, so I guess I shouldn't knock it - I'm sure those things are heavy. We saw some talent out there I believe. Looking around at the crowd, I didn't see anyone about to pee themselves over a bullseye with an axe.. so now I'm almost wondering if it's like an exclusive club.. kinda like a Dungeons and Dragons club. Maybe it's enough to these guys to be cool to each other. OK, so that wasn't all of the festival.

We walked a block further and encountered a sand sculpture about 29 feet tall. It was a large birthday cake with pigs all over it, eating it mostly. And of course there was a pig in a wig popping out the top. This was the 25th anniversary of the festival, so they did it up big. The pigs are the mascot of the festival because barbecue in North Carolina is pork based, for the most part. We did make it down to a booth and both got barbecue sandwiches, Tim's with cole slaw, mine without. It was tasty and we both enjoyed it. Is it as good as Texas barbecue..? Even if it was, would I say so? Probably not:). Darn that Southern pride.

There were also many craft booths with birdhouses, pottery, clothes, jewelry, etc. One of the first booths we came to were selling these hand-sewn bags made from fabric scraps. There were adorable, and I got one for myself. After milling from booth to booth, we stopped by to see the Budweiser clydesdales. They are huge and beautiful animals. I've seen them before, but am blown away by their size and muscles every time I see them. They really look like gentle giants (that's not to say I'd go walking behind one of them!). From here, we went on to one of the many stages set up around the event. The featured entertainer of the evening was Leanne Womack. I don't know that I'm wild about her music, but she really does have a beautiful voice, somewhat like Alison Krauss. The best part of the concert was listening to one of her sideliners that she switched off singing songs with. His name is Jamey Johnson, and he is a pretty funny guy. I'm not saying I agree with everything he sings about, but he is pretty straightforward and hilarious at times. For an example, check out his song "Women." Well, after half dozen songs, I was pooped. We headed back to Walmart, bought the Jamey Johnson CD (yeah, we're bad), and hit the road for our campsite that would put us closer to Oakboro, North Carolina's pride and joy.

Camping was pretty good. We went on a Saturday night before Halloween, which apparently is a big deal in these parts, because there was trick or treating and a "decorate your campsite" competition. We were supposed to vote for the best one, but were having such a fit with our campfire that we never got around to it. We bought a bundle of wood for $3, which we thought was a pretty good deal. Well, little did we know, this was wet wood on a very humid night. We fought with that fire for hours... but the flame would never keep. Well, Tim said it did eventually, but I had long since gone to bed, and when I looked in the morning, there was more wood left than there was burnt. I will give my man credit for fanning the crap out of that wood for hours.. I'm surprised he's not sore today. Oh well. We're not fooling with fires tonight, that's all I know.

(No, it was not as good as Texas barbecue)