Dad, Andrea, and I went out to the Black Hills last week. You may recognize many of the pictures, but the experience really doesn’t get old. I also added some fun music. 😉
I just noticed “Rough Lock Falls” should be “Roughlock Falls.” How did the computer pick out the picture with the mistake? Ugh.
While I was gone, my building was painted. I have posted a picture of that too.
We also went to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Rocky Mountain National Parks.
Also, I have posted a flashback on the Snake River.
I had a fun week at work. I went to a “Doing Business in Panama” event at Port Tampa Bay. I was about ready to leave when the Port people asked to me to take a tour if I had time. It was amazing. I got to go behind the scenes in restricted areas. I got to see command control. I saw a metal cruncher that can crush a car in 4 seconds. I was able to see fuel being pumped that was the equivalent to a car’s entire tank in 1 second. Port Tampa Bay provides fuel for the entire I-4 corridor and 40% of the state. I didn’t take many pictures due to being in the restricted zone. It was pretty neat though.
Today, I went to Disney’s Contemporary for a briefing from the Florida Chamber. It was interesting. They said that Georgia spends more money on its one Port in Savannah, than Florida spends on its 15 ports! I learn a lot of interesting facts.
But I gotta go. I am headed North for the week. (The pictures are backwards and not flipped correctly, but I ran out of time)
If you follow the link, you will find a newsletter that is sent out by the man who was in charge of organizing the Chinese trip to Orlando in May. His newsletter is sent out to over 1800 economic development people.
Disney has a new thing out for Summer called “Frozen Fun.” I am sure no one is less excited than my cousin. He thought it was too “musicy.” I agree that “Let It Go” is over-played.
I went and rode Toy Story tonight. I learned all the secrets from online, but I think I need a teammate to get a really high score and to unlock everything.
I went to see “Frozen Fun” after riding Toy Story. They have ice skating for $10. You have to wear a helmet. You can also build a snowman out of what looks to be real snow. They, of course, have a merchandise area and a food area.
I rode Star Tours and then, I ran out of things I wanted to see. I left and walked to Epcot. I had heard that there was a new kind of ice cream in France. It was amazing. It was like cinnamon, caramel apple crumble crunch. I got it in a waffle cone. It was the best ice cream that I have had in a while. I saw some of IllumiNations and walked back to Hollywood Studios.
The Frozen fireworks are fun. Anna, Christoph, and Elsa and animated Olaf have a little show. I think the Frozen theme runs until September.
I don’t know why it said private. I thought I clicked unlisted, but anyways it should be fixed on the post below.
On the Fourth of July, Andrea and I woke up and went to Trader Joe’s. It just opened a few miles from where I live. It was fun. I will go there occasionally. I have two Publixes, a Walmart neighborhood market, a Trader Joe’s, a GFS Marketplace, a Sedanos, a Sam’s Club, a Target with a small grocery section, and an Aldi’s relatively close to where I live. I should stick to Aldi’s, but those other places are fun occasionally.
Andrea and I went to Hobby Lobby across the street from where I live to get the gems. Those gems would have worked well for the Dwarf Ride too as the Dwarves are gem miners. Then, we went to Downtown Disney. We made it to Epcot just in time to see the last special Voices of Liberty in the theater. I like it when they play the branches of the military song and the members stand up.
Everyone in Epcot was either wearing a Brazilian jersey, a Colombian jersey, or a patriotic outfit (minus a few like Andrea and Weston). The Epcot viewing area was full, so we went to the Boardwalk. The ESPN Club was also full, but the crowd for the Brazil-Colombia match was fun to watch. I was surprised to see how many Colombians were around. One guy like 15 years old had a Donald Duck hat on, a Colombian jersey, and American flag Toms shoes on. It was a neat experience. They are passionate about the game.
We went back into Epcot and met the family. We rode a few rides including Soarin’, the Nemo Ride, and saw Turtle Talk with Crush. We saw the already-posted fireworks at 10 p.m.
(I apologize for my voice. Whoa. Sorry. I guess you are more used to it than me. Yikes.)
Andrea found an idea online that said during PhilharMagic when Ariel is saying she has all these materials, but she wants more and the jewels come out to you in 3-D, it is fun to bring little jewels and pretend that you caught them. We went to Hobby Lobby and bought pink and diamond jewels and it worked out well.
I have much more, but I have limited time. I will update more later.
Andrea made it to Orlando at 4:35 p.m. after a security, maintenance, weather, and another random delay. She was supposed to make it by 1 p.m. I picked her up and went back to work where two colleagues stayed really late to meet her. I appreciated that. We went shopping and then, went to Magic Kingdom. We went on Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress, PhilharMagic, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Splash Mountain, our third Fast Pass, was down for the night. I told Andrea Dad’s tips and she got over 100,000 on Buzz Lightyear which is a new record for her.
We saw the best fireworks show, but it was very busy. I can’t imagine tomorrow night. The same fireworks show was going off behind us too, so people at Downtown Disney could see them.
I also saw an old friend who picked up hours at Magic Kingdom tonight. It is crazy to see someone in a costume I know these days.