Y is for Yellow Car

noreply@blogger.com (StrongTree CenterGarden) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Here we are in Orlando, Florida. As you can see we made it to Disney's Magic Kingdom and the "Tomorrowland Speedway."

I have loved driving these cars ever since I was a kid at my first time visiting a Disney Park in California. Okay, I was an older kid, 16 years old, with a real driving license... but it was still a blast! At Disneyland (Anaheim) this racetrack attraction is called "Autopia." At Tokyo Disneyland the attraction is called "Grand Circuit Raceway." Yes, I have also been to Tokyo Disneyland. And though I have visited Paris, I didn't go to EuroDisneyland or Disneyland Paris.

On our band trips, after my friends and I finished the ride we would run all the way back into line. Once back on the course, we would be naughty and slow down our cars causing a large traffic jam behind us. Did you ever notice the Disney cops on the bridges of the racetracks? I bet they are there to prevent kids like us from stopping along the track and goofing around. Hey, it's Disney... aren't we supposed to get a little "goofy." Har, har, har. I also enjoyed letting the steering wheel go and bouncing the car side to side as I hit the rail on the turns and the little curves along the track. I don't suggest you do that with your real cars.

In this third photo we are at the Fun Spot Action Park in Orlando, Florida. A pretty cool place even though I into it with a family who was saving places and line jumping. I guess they were being a little "goofy," but it got on my nerves. Anyway, gotta love the race cars at these amusement parks.

In this last photo we are on a Dune Buggy Safari in Cozumel. This Dune Buggy Safari was an awesome excursion for our cruise. There were about 7 dune buggies together on this trip. We stopped for a pit stop at a little shack where a little old man stood with his machete waiting for us. He cut open a few coconuts and we drank coconut milk and ate fresh coconuts. It wasn't a high speed safari trip, but I did take some small liberties with the dune buggy like I did with the race cars at Disney.

Us and Yellow Cars... how many more photos can I find?

W is for Washington Monument

noreply@blogger.com (StrongTree CenterGarden) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Here I am at the Washington Monument, not the "Washington Memorial," which some people inaccurately name.
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You can go to the top of the 555 ft 5 1/8 in tall monument by getting free tickets through the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/wamo/). If you are lucky you may even see Marine 1 land and take off at the White House.
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In this photo, you may notice that the Washington Monument has two different colors of sandstone. The cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848. However, due to political quarrels, lack of funds and other issues construction ceased in 1854 leaving the monument incompletely built at less than 150 ft tall. The Civil War had passed and more than two decades later President Ulysses S. Grant signed a bill to complete the Washington Memorial project. The monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885 (remember George Washington's birthday is February 22). After work to the interior was finally completed the monument was opened to the public on October 9, 1888.

This monument was the first stop on our "DC by Foot" tour (http://www.dcbyfoot.com/dcbyfoot.html). At the base of the monument, our guide told us the story of a Vietnam Vet who drove a vehicle (van or truck) up to the monument in protest to nuclear weapons and threatened to blow up the monument. I guess the guy's name was Norman Mayer. The incident took place in December 1982. Mayer was killed by sharpshooters posted in a building across the way from the monument. Our guide says that this is the longest confirmed sniper kill in US history. I don't know if that is true, but he did show us the bullet hole in the side of the monument about 8 to 10 feet from the ground. Mayer isn't that tall, but he would be if he were standing on his vehicle. It's quite an amazing story and there are lots of articles online. Articles about the incident say that US Park Police unintentionally shot Mayer. Word to the wise... don't mess with those National Park cops.

The trip to the top is short, but well worth it. Be sure to get your tickets early. In the elevator ride you'll see the memorial stones(http://www.nps.gov/wamo/photosmultimedia/index.htm) inlaid within the wall of the monument.

A to Z: Around the World

Y is for Yellow Car

W is for Washington Monument