Orlando Day 3

We went to Wet n wild in the morning- We had planed to get there for when the park opened, but we got distracted by breakfast.

We got there just before 11 and it was HOT.

As far as we can figure out, this is still the "off" season with spring break starting on the 10th April, so everything is really quiet still.

We didn't have to queue for more than 5 minutes for ay of the slides- We went on almost everything- It got a bit buisier about 2pm so we decided to call it a day- the passes are valid for 14 days so we can go back whenever we like for as long as we like, We'll get plenty of time to go on the disco slide.

After Wet n Wild we went to the CSI experience- which strictly prohibits photography- unlike wen n wild where you can take as many photos as you like of what/who ever you please- We sloved all th crimes and had our CSI certificates emailed to us!

:D

It was really good.

Traff loved it- he was very thorough when looking for clues at the crime scene but a bit rubbish at finding the right evidence to evaluate... We almost had some very strange crimes to solve.

After our outings, we headed to Wallgreens to get some picnic bits for dinner and then had a dip in the pool.

I tested out my Over Board camera case. I have to be honest, putting Traff's very expesive camera into a ziploc bag and taking it into the pool did feel incredibly risky- however, all was good and it worked really well!

:)

Happy Days!

Although, our underwater photography needs some work- lots of crotch shots and one or two of nothing at all and some we couldn't determine what they were. I have far more respect now for ayone who manages to take photos when scuba diving.

After swimming I went back to Walgreens to get some fro-yo. it's amazing! $3 and you can have any flavours or toppings you like!

I can live with this! 

Orlando Day 2

Not so much to report today- Traff git a marketing cal on his phone at 5am (10am UK time) So it was another early start for us!
We were up, dressed and out by 8am and we went in search of breakfast and aspirin for our cocktail induced headaches from the night before (Geekeasy make a cake flavoured cocktail).

We went to Wallgreens (The staff are superfrendly whenever you see a staff member they ask you how you're doing ad welcome you to the supermarket, this is very difficult to negotiate when hungover) I was really shocked by the things you can buy in the pharamacy section- Obviously you get your normal stuff, but in huge boxes- They also sell Valium, Tramadol and Broad spectrum antibiotics just off the shelf.
Mental.
After the supermarket we walked in the direction of Ripleys "Beleive it or not" and looked for something to eat.
No dice. Too early.

We went back to the hotel and woke ray and John up by hammering on their door, by the time they too were washed, dressed and ready to go most of the shops and cafes were open.
We tried a new diner for breakfast- Perkins- I had potato pancakes and they came with a call of what looked like icecream- Rather too loudly I was like "Is that ice cream?!" and the waitress almost wet herself laughing and had to explain it was butter.
No-one has let me live it down yet, but it really did look like butter.

Ripleys beleive it or not was ace- I've learned to make a shrunken head so I personally feel it was money well spent.

After Ripleys we went back to the hotel. I slept off my hangover for a few house whilst Ray, Joh and Traff went swimming.
I think I made the better choice as I am the only person who isn't bright red all over and radiating heat.
Winner!

We had a Balcony picnic for dinner- We went back to Wallgreens and got a cool box, cheese, bread, crisps, beef jerky, beers, and loads of american "candy" to try!
I also got some factor 110 suncream and an enormous can of ice tea! I'm not sure which I was happier with!

After dinner we had a swim, it was weird for it to be getting dark ad for it still be hot enough for outdoor swimming. Very nice.

Orlando Day 1

We woke up at 5am- which us understandable as we;
a) Went to bed at 9:30pm
b) Are 4 hours behind so it'd be 9am at home

Traff was really awake so he went out for a walk, I stayed in bed and did some puzzle book puzzles ad then had a really long shower.
Traff came back with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for breakfast and he made me a cup of earl grey tea using the teasmaid. Impressive.

It didn't really get light until 8am so we got to watch the sun come up.

we started the day by mooching by the pool waiting for Ray and John, It was really hot- I slathered myself in factor 50 and my face is still a bit burned.
We walked out of the hotel and left down international drive, Ray and John hadn't been up very log so we stopped of at Dennys for them to get some breakfast- I had a milkshake with Oreos in it- they also had one which was basicly a blended apple pie!
Ray had baby doughnuts for breakfast, Traff and John went for a more traditional breakfast meal.

We Walked down international drive after breakfast just to see what was there- the answer is EVERYTHING! and everything is huge. I cannot get over how big and flashy al the buildings are- and I cannot get over the crossings- you have 20 seconds to run across the road! arrgghhhh. How do the elderly cope?!

We walked as far as wet n wild just to see how easy it was to get to- as the ticket is a 14 day pass- We stopped off in almost all of the trashy tourist shops on the way. John was after some new flipflops and it was nice to get out of the heat and enjoy the AC!
We found some very gaudy hats and Traff got to try on some wigs.

We also played Gator mini golf and we paid a bit extra to go into the enclosure and feed the gators. They hiss when they're grumpy! The guy who co-ran the mini golf rescued the gators from local farms where they breed them for shoes/belts/handbags generally they "dispose of" the boys as they're not so useful, so he takes as many as he can ad gives them a happy life of sunbathing and tourist feeds.

Before the mini golf we had beers in an irish pub called murphys.

We walked back along the mainroad and went to the Wallgreens supermarket by the hotel for cake and tea. I was saddened by the lack of tea varieties- I'm on the green tea now as I didn't need 100 tea bags for 9 days.

Traff got a new tattoo and then We went back to the hotel and had cake and beers on the balcony whilst getting ready to go out for the evening.

For something a bit different and for Traff to watch the wrestling we got a Taxi to Geek Easy bar and comic book shop.The ower was really impressed that w'd com all the way from the UK to visit his shop and wrestling screening night- he even put a table out for us! We were likefamous people! Lots of the regulars came to chat to us and it was fun.
They had a yummy cocktail menu with harry potter names and ace food- Yummy burger ad tater tots- which it turns out are hash browns.
We got Karl a present from Geek Easy too.
:D
To thank him for looking after Swimmy and The Baracuda. I hope they're behaving for him.

london - new jersey - orlando - bed

On Saturday we headed into london, as our flight in the morning was a really early one, we decided the best thing to do would be to stay over near to heathrow.
Knowing that the tube would be crazy bust I devised a quicker and more ingenious way to get to the airport- Get the stopper into north london, Change at West hampstead, get the  London overground to South Acton, Walk a mile to Acto tube station and do the last bit of the trip on the tube, completely avoiding central london.
Totally genius.
Except that overground line was closed for engineering works.
2 hours 4 trains, a lift, a 2 mile walk around the tower blocks of Acton and a rail replacement bus later we finally arrived at The Doubletree by Hilton.
Only to be told that they were really very sorry, but our rooms wouldn't be ready to check in for 40 minutes.
So we availed ourselves of the bar. I had a tea.. which was delivered as a coffee... and traff had a beer which they managed to get right.

When you check i the give you cookies. very ice cookies, but its still a bit of a weird concept.
The rooms were lush as you would expect, nice big beds and lots of free pens!

We couldn't get the boarding passes online so we went to the airport in the evening. after much too ing ad fro ing ad £40 on taxis it turned out that because John was a naughty boy and had to get a visa from the embassy he had to collect his boarding pass on the day of the flight, from an airline representative.
So, we went to get some dinner. John really wanted to get a harvester meal for dinner, and after discussion with the taxi driver and a google search we found the nearest on in Ruislip, 10 miles away, So we embarked on a epic 20 minute drive on the M4, and M25 only for it to be fully booked with no tables.
We ended up across the road at "The Duck House" pub. The food was really good- Traff and I both had portabello mushroom burgers and they really were the best I've ever had.
If you're ever randomly in Ruislip, go for it.

We got back to the hotel, had a night cap and hit the hay- bed about 10, up at 4am for the flight and lost and hour for daylight savings.
Don't we look bright eyed and bushy tailed for 5am?

All the flights went fine- I bought a puzzler book so I was perfectly happy. I did also try to have a nap but traff got rather excited when we were flying over greenland/iceland/the atlantic/canada/ america and kept trying to show me things out of the widow. good geography lesson. rubbish game of I spy. when over loud your options really are "I spy with my little eye, something begining with W/S/C/S"
which would be "Wing" "Sky" "Clouds" "sun"

We landed in new jersey and John got whisked away by airport security they were nicer to us- the guys who stamped our passports through Traff looked like the singer from taproot and kept asking "Are you sure you're not in a band?"
They returned him to us with enough time to go to a "bar" before catching our connecting flight (Which I managed to get on using the wrong boarding pass!) gin and earl grey cocktail. yesssss.

We got to Orlando fine, Picked up the SUV and Ray drove us to International Drive.
Our hotel Is massive- very USA.
All Motel style rooms with balconies and a pool. It also has a huugggeeee shiny sign up on the main road so we found it before the sat nav.
W got settled into our rooms- The went for dinner i the hotel as we were too tired to go very far. We had planned to go ad watch Wrestlemania at the Geek Easy Bar ad Comic book shop. Not a Chance!

We had pizza at the pool bar- no word of a lie it was the size of a bicycle wheel and equally thick. I managed to eat half and had the other half bagged up to go. I don't think I can face eating it but It seemed too wasteful to leave it!

**NB- I'm having distict difficuly typing- I bought my old laptop and because the battery is dead and only works when plugged in, I chucked it in my hold bag as it would have been useless on the flight and just a pain in the arse to carry. It seems to have taken a bit of a direct hit at some point and the keyboard is rather random.
Apologies for missing letters.
Usually easy to fix, but the mouse pad is also a bit dodgy now. it keeps randomly highlighting ad deleting stuff!

Friday night Pamper party

Yesterday evening Abida and I went to Salma and Ayesha's for a pamper party- It's not usually my cuppa but it was actually really lovely and very relaxing- Just what I needed after a super long week at work.
These are my spangly new shaped coral nails:

Salma also gave me a facial which was really good- Today my face is much less shiny and better moisturised than usual.
Fingers crossed it stays that way!

It was really lovely to catch up properly with Abida- who's been crazy lately with job interviews and her university course finishing shortly- She secured a permanent position at work on Thursday so she's feeling a little more chilled out. She used play dough in her interview and was commended for her creativity.
I haven't seen Salma and Ayesha in almost a year! They're always crazy busy with friends and social stuff and have changed jobs a few times- London to Sandy to Northampton and now they're moving house too- I don't know how they have time to do so much stuff! I'm hoping to see them a bit more when work gets less mental in the summer- So we'll all have a bit more time. At the moment whenever I'm about they're away and vice versa (I know, thats the story of my life at the moment.. I'm never free when anyone else is!)

Work gifts

I am spoiled today!
:D

I also got given a creme egg, but I ate it immediately!

:)

STEM fair in the news :)

Granny Mac's Wedding Photos

My Mum has started making digital copies of all of the photos in her enormous photo collection- This is her next big project (She was off on one about buying a negative scanner for her computer- I think she might be pretty serious!). Thankfully she hasn't uploaded all the shameful baby photos yet.

She's started with my Granny's wedding album-Which is really lovely. The photos are brilliant because they're so candid! They really show how pleased and excited they were to be married, and they even catch my great great Grandma telling of one of her grandchildren! I also love that the wedding presents were photographed- It seems such a weird thing to do but I now know that my jelly bowl was my Granny's wedding present (I will be soooo careful with it)!
My Granny and Grandad got married immediately after the 2nd world war ended- She was in the wrens and was a real looker in her uniform- she even won some medals (Although, she never really talked about it). After the war they moved to Oxfordshire, where he worked at AEEA (now RAL) and she worked part time in the jewellery shop (And spent far more than she earned I imagine).

My sister and I were always very close to my Granny- She always gave excellent advice and had the most brilliantly stocked kitchen- She was old school in her hospitality, I swear the poor gas man when he came to read the meter was forced to drink several gallons of tea from her best tea service (Royal Albert roses) and eat an entire battenberg. She also had a really love for cherry pop. All breakfasts were fried, all baths came with bubbles and red lipstick was the order of the day. A woman of excellent tastes, in my expert opinion!
She also attempted to teach me to sew, flower arrange and knit- I took reasonably well to the first skill but the other two were lost on me entirely.

Her life advice that I have taken very seriously on board is as follows:

• Only use a good hairbrush (Nothing but a Denman will do- My Denman hairbrush she gave to be when I was about 8 finally fell to bits last week- I have dutifully replaced it)
• Lipstick can be used as rouge- once the tubes get really worn down, dig the old lipstick out and keep it in an old powder compact.
• Always provide endless cups of tea to visitors, and cake, if possible. Being a good host relies on your guests being well fed and watered.
• Eat the things you like and enjoy them- you won't be here forever
• Cut flowers last longer in Lemonade
• Oil of Olay. I am a convert. It's keeping me wrinkle free.
• A petticoat will stop your unlined skirt getting static on your tights and riding up.
• Always scour charity shops for bargains- One man's trash is another man's treasure.
• Make time for everyone and Treat people as you would like to be treated. Listen to people and be as kind as you can. good manners and kindness cost nothing.
• Written correspondance and Thank you cards may be old fashioned, but they also show a far greater amount of care and gratitude than an text or an email.

Morag Spearfish is my Alias

I was watching an episode of Jonathan Creek and one of the characters was called Mr Spearfish.
I told Traff I thought it was the best name ever!

He said that if we ever had to run away together to evade the law, we would be Mr & Mrs Spearfish.
Mr River Spearfish and Mrs Morag Spearfish, our respective favourite names.

I was talking to Jay about it- his initial response was to say that I would never pass as a Morag, He then decided that if I had brown hair and rounder glasses I could be a Morag.

We started to discuss what she would be like- and this is what we have concluded:

• She wears a tweed jacket and a brown pencil skirt with a long slit up the back to show just slightly too much leg, with stockings, not tights.
• She wears sturdy brown leather shoes, from a shoe maker.
• She is stern looking and wears her hair in a bun, except in the evening where she lets it doesn't and is foot loose and fancy free- but never in front of the butler.
• She's outdoorsy, but doesn't like the sea.
• She works as a librarian and consultant from the chaise lounge in the library but on Saturdays she enjoys shooting pheasants with the men.
• She likes the finer things in life.
• She wears tasteful gold jewellery.

Needless to say I'd make a rather rubbish Morag Speafish- so ladylike and serious.

My plan B alter ego is to be Rhydian Davies, A gay painter and decorator from South Wales.

New boots!

Today Traff and I hit the shops- he was after a new wallet and whilst he was man shopping in TK Max I went to have a look at the boots.
There wasn't anything that took my fancy in the ladies section, so I went to find Traff who had given up on a wallet and was looking at converse trainers in the man shoes section.

That is when I realised that having massive feet is a bit of a blessing- I can buy mens or womens shoes- Why did I not think about this before?!

So, I am now the proud owner of these Kurt Geiger brown leather boots.
:D
Well, I'd never have been able to walk in any of his women's shoes.

Hiking- Amptill

Tats and I went on another adventure today- We went on walk around Amptill starting at the park and walking along the green ridge trail. The whole route was 8 1/2 miles, but we skipped out the bit around Amptill village so we did a maximum of 6. not too shabby.

The park is the Site of the old Amptill castle- which is long gone- however, the grounds (Landscaped by capability Brown!) are still there to walk round and enjoy.
Apparently the Castle was used to house Catherine of Aragon once she was divorced from Henry VIII so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. This monument was erected to commemorate her time in Bedfordshire.

 This is the view from the top of the ridge in the park, Good job Mr Brown- Stunning views- it even makes the wind turbine look like a feature.

 We also found a series of rocks dedicated to Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth. I'm sure she's delighted.

 We walked along the ridge for a few miles and came to a medieval church- It this was the view of it miles further on from the bottom of the hill- you can see that we walked a loooong way.

We carried on walking until we got to the testing ground a millbrook where the route took us up and round the testing area- We could hear F1 cars but we couldn't see them- I'd have liked to have seen that!
We got just over half way round the route and found a notice from the council pinned to one of the signposts telling us that the route was changed due to major roadworks . the map they'd included was awful. We stood there for a bit with the OS map trying to figure an alternative route but it was toooo cold. In the end we walked back the way we came- which meant we had to do all the massive hills twice!