Presidents Wax Museum in Clermont, FL

I've already visited the President's Hall of Fame, but Aric had not been here yet, so we went to visit today. Since I already shared pictures of the wax figures last time, I thought I'd share some new things this time.



A model of the White House being built:

A ballot box from the famous "hanging chad" election. Nathan voted using one of these machines when all of that happened so he is particularly sentimental over it all.

This was new. Or at least the one wax figure was new since our last visit here.

Something funny happened while we stopped here. Last year, Auburn and Austin were not huge fans of this place because of the wax figures. Something about a horror movie they saw. I don't know because I'm a big scaredy cat and never watch horror movies. They laugh at me all the time about it. Which means I get to laugh at them when they can't go through a wax museum due to them.



So I'm telling Aric how wimpy they were, and how I teased them about the wax figures coming to life. And I snap Obama's picture.

Then I pull the camera away from my face, and go to walk away. I think to myself, that's odd...I swear his head was facing the other way a second ago.

I stand there and watch and....nothing. So I shrug my shoulders and chalk it up to me getting old and go to walk away again. And out of the corner of my eye, I see him move. AHA! I turn and see that yes, he is moving. I'd have given anything in that moment to see Austin and Auburn jump twenty feet into the air when he did that. I know, that's not very motherly of me...but they started it. Aric is brave, he just walked up even closer to Obama to watch him move. Then he said, it is kind of creepy. Well, it was...but don't tell the other two that we said that or we'll never be able to laugh at them.



On to the next new exciting thing. Bush, with fortune telling capabilities. I had no idea this was a career possibility for one of our former Presidents! Looks like tons of fun to me. I might have to become a President, just so I can do this afterward!



He was really good at it too. Completely believable! He even gave Aric and I our own unique predictions. Just so you know, I'm waiting on a letter that could very easily change my life! Aric needs to give Bush money so he can further our country's educational platform for the betterment of his future. (Not sure it the betterment of his future part was for Aric or Bush. He wasn't real clear on that part.)

And this is not new, but this is my favorite thing in the whole museum. I get teary eyed just looking at the picture of it:

Love this unique place and I really enjoyed our time chatting with the owner, and creator of the figures and wood carved items inside.



Living the life in creepyville, Florida!

Mt. Shasta, Avalanche Gulch

Mt. Shasta had been on our radar for a while and since northern California had a good forecast, we decided to head south. It is the second highest volcano in the lower 48 (Rainier is the highest). This is the view from the trailhead at Bunny Flat (6,900'). The huge valley in this photo is Avalanche Gulch. The route starts up the left side, goes around Helen Lake (10,400') and ends up on the right side.We seem to spend a lot of time standing still and looking up. The snow was firm and allowed us to make good time. We made it above the Red Banks in time to see the sunrise. There is nothing like watching a sunrise from high up on a mountain. It was starting to get cold and windy.The shadow of Shasta is projected onto the countryside as the sun comes up. Next, we had to climb a feature called Misery Hill and a few false summits. We finally made it to the true summit.Doug and Dave on the summit. You would think that northern California would be warmer on June 25th, but it was cold at 14,162'!When the conditions are good, you can glissade about 3,000' down this route. The snow was still too firm, so we had to walk down. There were still a lot of climbers heading up.

All that was left was the long drive home. We got to see a bunch of deer, antelope, turkey vultures and about 10 more snow covered volcanoes.

It was fun to take a road trip to a new area and finally climb this giant.

Dessert at Farmers'

Dessert at Farmers', originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

The San Luis Obispo Farmers' Market is much more than just a place to buy fruits and vegetables. You can get culinary delights such as tri-tip sandwiches and teriyaki bowls to churros and strawberry shortcakes like the ones seen in this picture.

Cuba?

We went high up on a mountain, saw trees, and signs. A Cuba sign? Where are we any way. Actually this Cuba is a tiny town in northwestern New Mexico but there are better ways to get there thanthis road which ment about 50 miles on a dirt road full of mud and ruts. We turned around at the sign and headed back to Jemez Springs.

The Restaurant

My cousin, John called this morning. He is buying a restaurant. This is just another part of the endless loop running through my family. When my father first got married, his father black balled him in the Greek community because my dad dared to marry a non Greek. Papou hoped he'd give up, but stubbornness also runs in our family. My dad got work at the Macomb Deli (where the Zebra Room is now) right across the street from where his parents lived. Every day, his mother would go over there trying to convince him to reconsider his marriage. She offered him trips to Greece and money. She proposed sending him back to G.W.U. Then, when all else failed, she cried. Nothing worked. My father didn't particularly like the restaurant biz, but that was what he knew. He was nineteen years old with a baby on the way. The jobs he had before were picking up balls at a driving range, selling The Saturday Evening Post, and being a busboy for his father's restaurant, Macomb Cafeteria.

Later, the golf ball experience may have helped my dad get work picking up hangers off the floor for the Hecht Company, but the $15 a week was not cutting it for him. Finally one of the black balling Greeks, Steve Demas, broke down and he became a helper on a laundry truck. Eventually he was promoted to Service Manager, and got to drive a Ford coupe with the words QUICK SERVICE LAUNDRY lettered in gold on the door. By then he was 21, and he had two kids. My Papou broke down and rented him a road house called the Hollywood Inn out in Camp Springs, Md. They could live there cheaply enough, but the catch was he had to run the restaurant. By day, he worked for Quick Service and put flyers on people's cars advertising chicken dinners at the Hollywood Inn. On the weekends, he fried the chickens.

During World War Two, Papou talked my dad into running Churchhill's Bar and Grill with my Aunt Catherine and Uncle Mimi who had just arrived from Greece. Churchill's was where Cactus Cantina is now. If you go there you can see the old glass door where my mother used to sit at the cash register It was open from 6 a.m. til 2 a.m., and they all lived upstairs. My dad had to work the night shift until Uncle Mimi learned how to mix a cocktail. At the end of the war, they were able to sell Churchill's and buy their own linen service- Modern Linen. Soon my brother and all three of my cousins were drafted to go work there. They hated it. Everybody hated it, except for my uncle and my father who thought it was a piece of cake compared to running Churchill's.

Many years later, after my uncle died and my father retired, Modern Linen was sold and my cousins and brother all chose different trades. One became a teacher. One went into pest control, and one has passed on. But now years and years later, my cousin has decided to buy a restaurant. I can't wait to go.

Ski of Dreams

After spending 36 solid hours stuck in our tent at high camp, we were treated to fresh turns all the way back to Paradise.

Ninja Squirrels

The squirrels here are really entertaining. They like to mess with poor Ava, who is generally sitting on the back of our couch looking outside. They seem to taunt her endlessly. I'm not sure if they have nothing better to do, or if they are trying to intimidate her.



Let me show you what we are dealing with!



I know, this guy is trying to look all innocent here. Don't fall for it though.



He knows we are onto him. First he runs away. Then when that doesn't work he tries to be very still, thinking he can blend into the tree.



As soon as he sees that we are not going away, he turns all, "HELLO! MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA! YOU KILLED MY FATHER! PREPARE TO DIE"




This is just the tip of the iceberg. They climb on top of the RV and throw acorns on the rig. (Ok, here is where Nathan will say that is just the acorns falling from the trees but I know better!) We hear their little feet scurrying all over the roof. I keep expecting to see one of them peeking at me through the skylight while I take my shower someday.




We are not scared though. We will defend our little space here and our little dog. Time will tell how this battle will end!




Living the life in Sunny again Florida!