The last two days have not been such an excellent adventure; they've been kind of dull. That's why I didn't blog last night. We are wearing down. It's time to go home, and if we had any sense, we would have started home today. But we don't have that much sense. We were so close to St. Louis, and we want to see the Cahokia Indian Mounds really, really bad. So we pushed on.
Yesterday, we went on a second Mammoth Cave tour, but we didn't like this one as well. The tour guide was OBSESSED with the history of the local mining industry, so instead of a general history tour talking about the mining, the War of 1812, and the prehistoric people who used and were buried in the cave, we learned A LOT about the mining in the cave. Way more than I ever cared to know, and Livy was dead bored. Our guide never even mentioned the prehistoric people, and at the time, I wanted to kill him and leave him to naturally mummify, like the bodies he didn't tell us about.
After that, we drove ALL DAY. We made it to Evansville, IN and left again this morning on the trip to St. Louis. We got here, ate a midafternoon meal, and now we are settled into our hotel. We are like old ladies, and all we want to do today is just watch movies and relax.
Tomorrow, we'll go to the Indian Mounds, then we'll start making our way south.
I like being an adventurer for a while, but right now I want to be a cud-chewing cow in my very own well beloved field. I want to chat with the other cows, do the mundane chores it takes to keep the field all green, and rest in my own warm stable.
Showing posts with label Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure. Show all posts
12/15/09
Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Five
Livy and I went back to the Parthanon today. It rocked, again. We had seen the outside lit up at night, but neither of us had ever been inside. It was worth putting off our exit from Nashville to go back and see it. Inside the Parthenon is a huge, to scale, recreation of the original statue of Athena. That original statue is lost, but an artist from Nashville read up on the ancient sources and made the statue based on what the original was supposed to look like. Well, it was amazing. It is as tall as the whole inside of the temple, all covered in gold. Athena is holding the goddess Nike (victory) in her right hand, and she holds a huge shield with Medusa's head in the middle in her left hand. The inside of the shield is painted with a gorgeous battle scene, and the outside has Amazons on it. Athena is wearing her armor and helmet, all gold, and it is just a stunning sight. There are lots of casts of the statues found in the pediment of the temple, and we had a great time identifying which gods and goddesses were there. Livy, who has never shown an interest in mythology, is suddenly excited about hearing stories about Athena. I think we'll get the Ariadne story when we get back, and we might even start with the beginning of the Illiad. I don't think she will care a jot for the battle parts of the tale, but the beginning with the goddesses and Paris and the golden apple might be fun for her.
After the Parthenon, we had a picnic in our car and set out for Mammoth Caves. I don't think I have ever been to Kentucky, so that's kind of neat-o. Lots of horse farms, as one might expect. We got to Mammoth Caves early in the afternoon, so we decided to do a cave tour even though we were trying to have a low key day. The caves were stunning. Our tour guide was a park ranger who knew tons of stuff, and once he discovered I was actually interested in his knowledge (which didn't seem to be the norm), he told me tons of stuff about the caves. We did a 2 hour hike through some wet, dome and pit caves (vertical caves), quite a few dry horizontal caves (some very large rooms from collapses), and some amazing rooms of formations that looked like frozen waterfalls (they are really made out of limestone). I learned there are caves made out of coral reefs too (though not here) in places where there used to be seas (Carlsbad Caverns are these kinds). I think Livy and I may have to get some books on caves, cause it was real interesting stuff.
The people on the tour with us were a whole other kind of thing. Here was the list of characters: the guy who really thought he was funny and his wife who agreed, though nobody else did, the foreign bartered bride from Eastern Europe and her older husband (she was all protective of Livy with me right there and it nearly drove me crazy - I swear to God my 6 year old can walk down a hill unassisted, and if she's cold, she'll ask for her coat without some overbearing stranger telling her to put it on), the three college aged girls, one of which was claustraphobic (why would you go in a cave?), a nice older lady who was also actually interested in the science of the cave and busted the husband of the Euro-bride trying to break off a stalactite, and three South Koreans who took a lot of pictures. So along with cave crickets, packrats, bats, and eyeless fish, the cave was well-stocked with exotic species.
Anyway, we liked the caves so much, we are headed back to do another hike through. The tour today was centered on the formations, but the one we are going to tomorrow is about the history of the caves (the Indians that used them and the white people who rediscovered the caves and made them a tourist attraction).
Tonight, we did do our relaxing. Livy watched two movies (Little Miss Magic and Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm). I kind of watched with her (which means I oohed and ahhed when she insisted I look at some magic spell or an amazing punch Batman gave the bad guy), while I read Guns, Germs, and Steel. I'm not a big non-fiction reader, and I have tried this one before, but some many people I generally trust on book recommendations told me I MUST read it, that I am trying it again. It's not that I find it boring; quite the contrary, I like it a lot. But soon, I will be tempted by a juicy novel, and my resolve to read even the most interesting non-fiction will waver. Even now, I am contemplating a new mystery novel by Charlaine Harris, Moll Flanders, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and a journey through Johnson's Rambler essays (which are technically non-fiction, but they are literary, they read like fiction for me).
But no great literature or science for me now. I'm gonna watch I Love Lucy and fall asleep. Good night.
After the Parthenon, we had a picnic in our car and set out for Mammoth Caves. I don't think I have ever been to Kentucky, so that's kind of neat-o. Lots of horse farms, as one might expect. We got to Mammoth Caves early in the afternoon, so we decided to do a cave tour even though we were trying to have a low key day. The caves were stunning. Our tour guide was a park ranger who knew tons of stuff, and once he discovered I was actually interested in his knowledge (which didn't seem to be the norm), he told me tons of stuff about the caves. We did a 2 hour hike through some wet, dome and pit caves (vertical caves), quite a few dry horizontal caves (some very large rooms from collapses), and some amazing rooms of formations that looked like frozen waterfalls (they are really made out of limestone). I learned there are caves made out of coral reefs too (though not here) in places where there used to be seas (Carlsbad Caverns are these kinds). I think Livy and I may have to get some books on caves, cause it was real interesting stuff.
The people on the tour with us were a whole other kind of thing. Here was the list of characters: the guy who really thought he was funny and his wife who agreed, though nobody else did, the foreign bartered bride from Eastern Europe and her older husband (she was all protective of Livy with me right there and it nearly drove me crazy - I swear to God my 6 year old can walk down a hill unassisted, and if she's cold, she'll ask for her coat without some overbearing stranger telling her to put it on), the three college aged girls, one of which was claustraphobic (why would you go in a cave?), a nice older lady who was also actually interested in the science of the cave and busted the husband of the Euro-bride trying to break off a stalactite, and three South Koreans who took a lot of pictures. So along with cave crickets, packrats, bats, and eyeless fish, the cave was well-stocked with exotic species.
Anyway, we liked the caves so much, we are headed back to do another hike through. The tour today was centered on the formations, but the one we are going to tomorrow is about the history of the caves (the Indians that used them and the white people who rediscovered the caves and made them a tourist attraction).
Tonight, we did do our relaxing. Livy watched two movies (Little Miss Magic and Batman: The Mask of the Phantasm). I kind of watched with her (which means I oohed and ahhed when she insisted I look at some magic spell or an amazing punch Batman gave the bad guy), while I read Guns, Germs, and Steel. I'm not a big non-fiction reader, and I have tried this one before, but some many people I generally trust on book recommendations told me I MUST read it, that I am trying it again. It's not that I find it boring; quite the contrary, I like it a lot. But soon, I will be tempted by a juicy novel, and my resolve to read even the most interesting non-fiction will waver. Even now, I am contemplating a new mystery novel by Charlaine Harris, Moll Flanders, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and a journey through Johnson's Rambler essays (which are technically non-fiction, but they are literary, they read like fiction for me).
But no great literature or science for me now. I'm gonna watch I Love Lucy and fall asleep. Good night.
12/14/09
Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Four
Today was kind of lame, partly cause we are very tired, but also because some people think that if you make something technological, it is automatically better. See, we went to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. It wasn't awful; we had fun and all. But if I had been in control of the amount of money that clearly went into this museum, I could have made a much better one. It was kind of gimmicky. For example, remember that game where prairie dogs pop up and you have to whack them with a big mallet? Well, change the prairie dogs to cylinders with pictures of food on them. You have to whack the healthy food. It might as well have been a worksheet; "circle the healthy food." I prefer the kind of science museums where you use the exhibit to figure out real scientific principles, not just regurgitate info you memorized at school. We did this moon walk thing, where you are attached to a machine that takes away 5/6 of your weight, but that was it. It didn't really teach anything. The scale that showed your weight on different planets was cooler. We played a video game where the pathogens and the red blood cells battle each other in a laser gun kind of thing. It was fun, but not because of anything sciency. We could have just been playing any shoot-em up video game. The museum was too text based as well; Livy wasn't able to figure out what to do with the hands on things without reading, and the points of the exhibits weren't clear without a lot of reading. There were a few things I couldn't figure out how to use at all, and I can read the instructions.
There were some things we really liked. We did a simulated roller coaster ride in a flight simulator. Since Livy isn't tall enough to ride roller coasters yet (and she desperately wants to), it was a real treat for her. We saw a demonstration of how to make bubbles filled with fog using liquid nitrogen (the lady said dry ice would work too), and using soft gloves, Livy got to bounce bubbles. There was a tower we climbed way up to the top of the museum, and we got to look down on Nashville. And I loved the exhibit of the planets to scale so we could see how big they were in comparison with each other.
Final evaluation: It wasn't awful, and if we lived in Nashville, we'd go occasionally. But as far as traveling, don't bother. We like the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville (north of Atlanta) and The McWane Science Center in Birmingham WAY better. Much more real science, much more approachable for children, and no computerized worksheets masquerading as science.
After this, we went to the grocery store and took a rest and ate dinner in the motel room. We like the Opryland Hotel so much that we went back for seconds. We walked through the awesome indoor gardens again, looked at all the waterfalls and fountains, walked through the outdoor lights display again, closely examined the statues of sheep in the nativity scene trying to determine which were boys and which were girls (they were not anatomically correct, to our dismay), and had ice cream in front of the dancing fountains (they shoot up in time to music and change colors). It was awesome again, but we left early, cause we are just so tired.
I think we need a more relaxed day tomorrow. We should have relaxed tonight, but we couldn't resist the Opryland Hotel. So, we are laying around tonight watching a Discovery Channel show on killer catfish (Livy thinks cable is so cool!) Tomorrow, our only real touristy plan is to go back to the Parthenon, and after that, we'll make the drive to Mammoth Cave. We won't actually go to the caves tomorrow, though. I think we will eat supper in our room and then just watch movies together; on a trip this long, I am learning that you have to pace yourselves.
There were some things we really liked. We did a simulated roller coaster ride in a flight simulator. Since Livy isn't tall enough to ride roller coasters yet (and she desperately wants to), it was a real treat for her. We saw a demonstration of how to make bubbles filled with fog using liquid nitrogen (the lady said dry ice would work too), and using soft gloves, Livy got to bounce bubbles. There was a tower we climbed way up to the top of the museum, and we got to look down on Nashville. And I loved the exhibit of the planets to scale so we could see how big they were in comparison with each other.
Final evaluation: It wasn't awful, and if we lived in Nashville, we'd go occasionally. But as far as traveling, don't bother. We like the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville (north of Atlanta) and The McWane Science Center in Birmingham WAY better. Much more real science, much more approachable for children, and no computerized worksheets masquerading as science.
After this, we went to the grocery store and took a rest and ate dinner in the motel room. We like the Opryland Hotel so much that we went back for seconds. We walked through the awesome indoor gardens again, looked at all the waterfalls and fountains, walked through the outdoor lights display again, closely examined the statues of sheep in the nativity scene trying to determine which were boys and which were girls (they were not anatomically correct, to our dismay), and had ice cream in front of the dancing fountains (they shoot up in time to music and change colors). It was awesome again, but we left early, cause we are just so tired.
I think we need a more relaxed day tomorrow. We should have relaxed tonight, but we couldn't resist the Opryland Hotel. So, we are laying around tonight watching a Discovery Channel show on killer catfish (Livy thinks cable is so cool!) Tomorrow, our only real touristy plan is to go back to the Parthenon, and after that, we'll make the drive to Mammoth Cave. We won't actually go to the caves tomorrow, though. I think we will eat supper in our room and then just watch movies together; on a trip this long, I am learning that you have to pace yourselves.
12/13/09
Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Three
Today was our best day yet!
After we checked out of our hotel, we headed up I-24 toward Nashville. Livy worked on a math workbook, and I listened to Eclipse. Yes, I am one of those Twilight people. We spent several hours in Sewanee, TN, where I went to college. It is a gorgeous small town with a gorgeous small university that dominates its culture. I know several of my college friends are reading this blog, so I am going to go into some detail that the rest of you might wish I had deleted.
When we drove onto the domain, I explained the legend of the Sewanee angels to Livy, and we tapped the roof of the car like a good Sewanee person should. (I also wouldn't let her walk on the seal, just in case she ever wants to go to Sewanee, but I did tell her it wouldn't really keep her from graduating. Not true, but still fun.) We went to All Saints Chapel, of course, which she was super interested in, partly cause it is so pretty and partly cause she hasn't been in many churches. She was fascinated by the bishop's chairs, and I am pretty sure she now thinks Sewanee has 27 kings, while the rest of us only get senators and representatives. Here are a couple of pictures from the chapel. The first one is Livy in front of the high altar. The decorations are still up from Lessons and Carols, and the whole place was just resplendent.
The next one is me holding the hymnal in my old choir stall. I sang a little and listened to the reverberations from the high ceiling, but my voice is not as good as it used to be. It could get back there, but I was practicing so much. I really miss singing compline, and I wish I could be in Sewanee during the week sometime to go an hear it.
The next picture is Livy standing in front of the doors to the chapel, and I like it mostly because the fog is so very typical.
It was so foggy that, though we went to The Cross and to Green's View, we couldn't see a thing. I think Livy would have really enjoyed the overlooks. We drove past the house David and I lived in when Livy was a baby, and I told her about all the things she did there and what we did together in town. Seeing that house on Mississippi Avenue made me revisit (for about the millionth time) what kind of a weird hold Sewanee has on me. I mean really, I graduated from college and then moved away. But then I came back. I left again for many reasons (some having to do with the place, but not most of them), but even now, the second I get onto the domain, I'm thinking of how I want to live there again. It's a weird magic spell, and it got cast the second I went there for my scholarship interview. After taking the tour and having my interview, I called a friend back home and told him that this place was otherworldly and perfect for me. I turned down a more than full scholarship just to get a half scholarship and a chance at a full one at Sewanee (luckily some girl went to Yale, and I got hers, yippee!). It's like I just can't ever get away from there; like Sewanee exerts some kind of gravitational pull on me. I still feel that, even knowing all its faults.
Anyway, we also went to the equestrian fields and petted some horses. We walked through the Shakespeare garden across the street from Warren McCready's house. We went through the cemetary, which is my second favorite cemetary in the world and was my favorite picnic lunch spot for years. I visited the grave of an old professor who I was very close to, Dr. Bonds. Melinda and Carolyn, I know this may seem crazy, since none of us are particularly mystical, but I thought of you two and how he loved us all and I just told him right out loud how well you two were doing, how happy you were with your families and your passions. This is one of the only times I ever missed Sarah Downey and that weird girl who spoke Latin and Lander Dunbar; it just seemed right that all of us should commune there, have a cigarette, and criticize the Spanish department.
After we left Sewanee, we drove on to Nashville - more math, more Eclipse. Our next stop was the Parthenon! Yes, folks, we visted the Parthanon. Well, a full size replica. Cool, huh? We only got to see the outside, so we are planning to go back on Tuesday and see the statue of Athena. Pictures so you will believe me that this cool thing exists. The last one is of Livy by a column, so that you can get a feel for the scale.
After we checked out of our hotel, we headed up I-24 toward Nashville. Livy worked on a math workbook, and I listened to Eclipse. Yes, I am one of those Twilight people. We spent several hours in Sewanee, TN, where I went to college. It is a gorgeous small town with a gorgeous small university that dominates its culture. I know several of my college friends are reading this blog, so I am going to go into some detail that the rest of you might wish I had deleted.
When we drove onto the domain, I explained the legend of the Sewanee angels to Livy, and we tapped the roof of the car like a good Sewanee person should. (I also wouldn't let her walk on the seal, just in case she ever wants to go to Sewanee, but I did tell her it wouldn't really keep her from graduating. Not true, but still fun.) We went to All Saints Chapel, of course, which she was super interested in, partly cause it is so pretty and partly cause she hasn't been in many churches. She was fascinated by the bishop's chairs, and I am pretty sure she now thinks Sewanee has 27 kings, while the rest of us only get senators and representatives. Here are a couple of pictures from the chapel. The first one is Livy in front of the high altar. The decorations are still up from Lessons and Carols, and the whole place was just resplendent.
The next one is me holding the hymnal in my old choir stall. I sang a little and listened to the reverberations from the high ceiling, but my voice is not as good as it used to be. It could get back there, but I was practicing so much. I really miss singing compline, and I wish I could be in Sewanee during the week sometime to go an hear it.
The next picture is Livy standing in front of the doors to the chapel, and I like it mostly because the fog is so very typical.
It was so foggy that, though we went to The Cross and to Green's View, we couldn't see a thing. I think Livy would have really enjoyed the overlooks. We drove past the house David and I lived in when Livy was a baby, and I told her about all the things she did there and what we did together in town. Seeing that house on Mississippi Avenue made me revisit (for about the millionth time) what kind of a weird hold Sewanee has on me. I mean really, I graduated from college and then moved away. But then I came back. I left again for many reasons (some having to do with the place, but not most of them), but even now, the second I get onto the domain, I'm thinking of how I want to live there again. It's a weird magic spell, and it got cast the second I went there for my scholarship interview. After taking the tour and having my interview, I called a friend back home and told him that this place was otherworldly and perfect for me. I turned down a more than full scholarship just to get a half scholarship and a chance at a full one at Sewanee (luckily some girl went to Yale, and I got hers, yippee!). It's like I just can't ever get away from there; like Sewanee exerts some kind of gravitational pull on me. I still feel that, even knowing all its faults.Anyway, we also went to the equestrian fields and petted some horses. We walked through the Shakespeare garden across the street from Warren McCready's house. We went through the cemetary, which is my second favorite cemetary in the world and was my favorite picnic lunch spot for years. I visited the grave of an old professor who I was very close to, Dr. Bonds. Melinda and Carolyn, I know this may seem crazy, since none of us are particularly mystical, but I thought of you two and how he loved us all and I just told him right out loud how well you two were doing, how happy you were with your families and your passions. This is one of the only times I ever missed Sarah Downey and that weird girl who spoke Latin and Lander Dunbar; it just seemed right that all of us should commune there, have a cigarette, and criticize the Spanish department.
After we left Sewanee, we drove on to Nashville - more math, more Eclipse. Our next stop was the Parthenon! Yes, folks, we visted the Parthanon. Well, a full size replica. Cool, huh? We only got to see the outside, so we are planning to go back on Tuesday and see the statue of Athena. Pictures so you will believe me that this cool thing exists. The last one is of Livy by a column, so that you can get a feel for the scale.
We found another cheap, but not so bad, motel, moved our stuff in, had a huge fight in which she shirked work and I yelled (not either of our most shining moment), resolved our fight and cuddled, and then went out to dinner. After dinner, we went to see the Christmas decorations at the Opryland Hotel, and I am telling you people, everyone needs to do that. And I mean even the people in New Zealand and China and California. Here's what it has: 2 million lights, an inside river (yes, seriously), conservatories, walking paths, a boat you can ride, carriage rides through the grounds, waterfalls. I'm reading back over that and it just doesn't sound as great as it was. You'll just have to take my word for it. Go. Now. Oh, and I forgot the camera, so I have no proof.
Livy fell asleep the second we got back to the motel, and I am not far behind. Nashville rocks!!! By the way, I won't be able to post any more pictures, cause I got the fake SD card stuck upside down in the laptop. (Aaron, don't freak. It will be easy to get out with plyers or tweezers, neither of which I have.)
12/12/09
Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day Two
Last night I slept like crap. I kept having dreams about The Mummy by Anne Rice, not scary, but kind of sad. Plus, Livy kicks. But, I am so tired, and I have drunk enough red wine, that I know I will sleep better tonight. Right now, we are snuggled up in bed, me typing and Livy watching mindless TV and eating cashew butter. We'll probably be asleep ridiculously early for us, and get up early and head out to Nashville.
What we did today: We got up, ate a bite from our cooler, got ready, and headed out to Chattanooga. We rode the carousel at Coolidge Park down by the Tennessee River. Here are a couple of pictures of Livy on the carousel.
Then we walked around by the river and found a pier to walk out on and watch the riverboats going by. Livy climbed on the statues at one of our favorite fountains. In the summer, water shoots out of the sidewalk in all kinds of patterns, and children play there in their swimsuits. The water was off of course, but the statues are still cool. Here's Livy on an elephant. You can see the pedestrian bridge behind her.
We went to lunch at Thai Smile in downtown Chattanooga. When Livy was a baby and I lived in Sewanee, when we drove in to go to the health food store, we would always eat lunch at this restaurant. They love babies, and they love children. They are so happy every time we go there and Livy actually eats Thai food. They seem to get so much pleasure out of watching her eat Tom Ka Gai soup, chicken satay, wonton soup, and Nam Tok. The cook even came out of the kitchen because the waitress had told him that Livy loved the wonton soup, and he wanted to talk to her himself. We had a yummy lunch, sharing all that good food between us. I've noticed that Thai restaurants seem to be so child friendly, in general, and not in that American way that makes me crazy. They don't have extensive children's menus or coloring books or loud atmosphere to cover the screaming. They just treat children like people, feed them real food, talk to them, and seem to enjoy having them in the restaurant. Once when Livy was 8 months old or so, a Thai waitress in Jacksonville insisted on carrying her into the kitchen to show her husband how cute she was. I just love that attitude towards kids.
After lunch, we met up with Sam Kennedy and his son Jamie for the first time in person. It rocked. I love meeting someone new that I actually intend to see again and get to know better. I've been on a streak with this. I had lunch with Jason and Megan Stotts earlier this week, and they were fantastic too. Hooray for my three new Objectivists who don't have corn cobs up their butts (a real plus for people you want to be friends with)! Anyway, we met Sam and Jamie at the Creative Discovery Museum downtown. Of course, since Jamie is two, he loved the stairs and the wheelchair ramp and dumping bowls of water onto the floor best. Livy loved the water exhibit too; they have pieces to create damns of different shapes, water canons, and cranks that lift water and pour it down chutes. Here are a couple of pictures of her doing water stuff:
The museum also has a cool musical instrument section, a theatre with real lights and sound effects (where I got to play the role of a mooing cow who gets beamed up by a space ship), a gigantic climbing structure, a rooftop with simple machines (using pulleys to lift your chair up high, a seesaw thing to pump air and shoot a ball, etc), and a tower looking out over Chattanooga.
We came back to the hotel early, about when it got dark, and we've been relaxing every since. I am finally letting down after this semester.
More tomorrow from Nashville.
12/11/09
Kelly and Livy's Excellent Adventure: Day One
So we are off on our roadtrip! It is my first trip alone with Livy, except going to see family, and so far it is amazing! Other people add stress and expectations, even if the people are fun, but when it is just the two of us, we are so chill. We do as we please, eat what and when we please, and say what we please. There's just nobody in the world who you can let down with like your child. Livy only wants to have a good time and be with me, and as long as we are doing that, she couldn't care less what we do. It's very freeing to travel with someone who thinks that my conversation is the most interesting in the world and who loves me so much. She is as spontaneous and non-planny as I am, and she couldn't care less if we play everything by ear. Also, we don't get to be alone very much, and I love it. Okay, enough gooey. Here's what we did today:
We left Atlanta in the late afternoon, after packing our stuff, putting ice in our cooler, and going to the grocery store. We have cashew and almond butter, yogurt, pepperoni, ham, cream cheese with onions stirred in, bananas, apples, milk, and lemonade. That's mostly what we are going to eat all week. We're going to picnic almost all the time. We have two overflowing suitcases filled with clothes that we will probably have to wear more than once, stuffed animals, this laptop, and the most basic toiletries. We didn't have room for shampoo, so we are going to wash our hair with soap. I'm proud to be the kind of people who think that stuffed animals and a laptop to blog on are more important uses of space than shampoo. We think that most people are too clean anyway. Maybe we won't even wash our hair!! Ha! See how carefree we are!
We made the drive to Chattanooga and got here just before dark. The whole way we listened to The Spiderwick Chronicles by Toni DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. It's the story of three siblings who move into an old house and discover that it is inhabited by all kinds of fairies. So far so good. It's no Narnia, but I like it. Livy is mesmerized by it. We are staying for the next two nights at a Super 8 motel in Fort Oglethorpe, GA, right outside Chattanooga. Staying in downtown Chattanooga is super cool, but also super expensive, so we are just going to drive in both days. After we settled into our room and decided important things, like who gets to sleep on which side of the bed, we went out for the evening.
We ate supper at Zaxby's (not out of our cooler like we were supposed to, ha ha, carefree), and then we went to see The Princess and the Frog. We loved it. The music is so much more fun than other Disney movies (jazz and zydeco), and I liked the humor. There is some mysticism, of course, but we choose to blow off that stuff. Instead, we focus on how the princess is a super hard worker who has to learn that there are other values to have besides just career and how the prince is a lazy womanizer who learns that hard work and real love (not just partying with lots of women) are important values. We like those lessons. Plus, talking frogs, who doesn't love those?
Now we are snuggled up in a big king sized bed (a real luxury for us). Livy loves to sleep with me (she wishes she could all the time), and it's a treat for me too. A treat that is only fun because it isn't every single night. :) I'm gonna post this and then maybe finish my new Anne Rice novel, The Mummy or Ramses the Damned. It is a lot of fun, so far, more like the Mayfair witches and less like Interview with a Vampire and The Vampire Lestat; that's a good thing. Plus, come on, a mummy who wakes up and turns out to be all hot, brilliant, and charming? (In fact, Jenn, could you please tell Brendan that I now lust for vampires and mummies. Mummies are kind of like Frankenstein's monster, right?)
This picture is our before photo. We asked a lady to take it at the RaceTrac where we filled our cooler with ice. Even though I am terrible about remembering to take pictures (they make me feel disconnected, sometimes, like I am an observer of life instead a participant, so I never have gotten in the habit), I am going to make a real effort on this trip. I want to have a photo record of our adventures, and I want you guys to see the cool things we are doing. I have decided that it is okay to spend a bit of my time on the meta-level, watching our progress as we make it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
