June 26th, 2009- The Chaos Continues

Vacation- a time to relax and sleep in as late as your heart desires. And then you're woken by the fire alarm going off.
It was 10 AM. Mom and Maude shot out of bed, confused, looking around, trying to focus and figure out what was going on. I laid still, eyes still closed, listening. Meanwhile, Granny was in the bathroom panicking, thinking she had done something to set an alarm off.
Eventually, they came on over the PA system and gave the all clear.
How's that for a start to the day?

I dozed for a few more minutes before getting up and snacking on some leftovers with Mom while waiting for Maude & Granny to wake up for the day.

Around noon, we decided to take the initiative and help them wake up.

Finally, once everyone was up and ready, we headed out.

On the way to the elevator, we bumped into a lady from the housekeeping staff. While talking with her, we learned that the fire alarm goes off almost every day because of the continuing construction on the new wing.
Lovely.

The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cool, and sunny skies full of puffy clouds.

For our first stop of the day, we scooted across the street and up to the top of the Skylon Tower.

It was exactly as we left it last time, but still an impressive and gorgeous view, perfect for picture taking.

Beware Goat Island! Canada's only island fully inhabited by bloodthirsty Goat People.

We descended down to street level and pounded the pavement up to Tony Romas for a (really) late breakfast. I had been craving some really good chicken fingers for a while and these totally hit the spot.

Maude vs. Cheesecake

We also went and found my brick from last time.

I love it there- the food, the music they play, it all just does it for me. I wish we still had a Tony Romas around here.

Next up, we were aiming for the Pen Centre, so we headed back to hotel to get the van.
The sign said to allow up to fifteen minutes for valet to bring your vehicle. No biggie. So we waited.

And waited.

A half hour went by before the van showed up.
I've always been one to keep my cool when I'm frustrated, but this was pushing it. The little things were piling up and I wasn't digging this hotel.

So, we loaded into the van and hurried off toward St Catharines.

We wandered around the Pen Centre for a couple hours. It's so much bigger and nicer than the malls around here, I actually love just roaming around inside. It's even interesting to people-watch, it's so noticeable how much more peaceful, laid back, and just generally happy Canadians are compared to most folks in these parts.
I bought myself a copy of Let the Right One In on DVD and we headed back towards Niagara Falls.

We dropped off our purchases in our room, then made our way back down to the first floor to get some dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill. I'm a macaroni junkie, so I was ready to chow down. So, we got to our table, looked at our menus for a few minutes, and then I asked a question I didn't think I'd have to ask- "Does anyone see macaroni on the menu?" We asked our waiter and it was confirmed. Romano's Macaroni Grill does not serve macaroni.
I repeat.
NO. MACARONI.

Macaroni disappointment aside, dinner was good. I particularly enjoyed the ultimate leaning bellini I had.

The restaurant itself basically seemed like a slightly more upscale (pricier) version of Olive Garden, though I think I prefer Olive Garden.

From there, we headed across the street to the casino for a little while. I'm not much of a gambler, so as usual, I gave myself a nice low limit and stuck to the slots. In the end, I didn't win anything, but had a good time playing.

It was getting late, so once Granny and Maude finished on the slots, we mozied on back to the room. The next day was the concert, so I definitely wanted to be well rested. Stuffed, tired, and hoping for no more fire alarms, I drifted off to sleep.

June 25th, 2009- The Other Side of the Storm

As usual, I had planned to leave early in the day, around 9 or 10 AM. Also as usual, we got off to a late start, leaving the house around noon.

Our first stop was a couple streets over to pick up Granny. We grabbed Granny, then Maude called just as we set out to pick her up. She called, saying that the news was reporting Farrah Fawcett died. It's weird, celebrities seem to die when I go on vacation. Anna Nicole Smith, Steve Irwin, etc. Kinda creepy.
So, by the time we drove out, picked up Maude, and really on the road, it was somewhere around 2 PM. Definitely later than I had hoped.

The ride started out pretty smooth, despite the hot (especially hot for this summer) temperatures.
As we drove through Pennsylvania, approaching the New York border, the skies in front of us grew dark.

A few minutes later, we were driving through a downpour, accented by heavy winds and some wicked looking lightning. Thankfully, most of it had stopped by the time we reached the rest stop in Angola, save for the occasional stray drizzle. We popped in, grabbed a quick bite at Denny's, and got back on the road.

A windblown Granny tells us it's all good!

We finally crossed the Peace Bridge into Canada, rode into Niagara Falls, and arrived at Hilton around 7 PM. As we pulled in and waited to unload the van, Baytosh called to tell us that Michael Jackson had died.
See what I mean?
That one was a bit of a shocker.

We unloaded and headed in. I was pumped. The Hilton had been renovating for a while and the room I booked was part of the brand new wing, which opened less than a month earlier.
Only three of the six elevators were up and running at the time, so there was a bit of a wait, but I figured it's just one little inconvenience.
The bellman that helped us to our room, Stu, was really cool. He kind of looked like Simon Pegg. All was going well, the room looked great. Excellent view of the Falls, fireplace, flat-screen TV's...then we found a sizeable problem. To summarize, the bathroom door wasn't exactly handicap-friendly and I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have been able to hold it all weekend.
Stu went from room to room, checking to see if any of the bathroom doors were different, but no luck. He hung around with us for quite a while, calling down to the front desk, searching for any kind of solution for us.

Finally we ended up downgrading and moving over to a room in the older wing. We got into that room around 8 PM.

As they unpacked, and helped the confused lady who thought our room was hers, I flicked on the TV and saw that The Dark Knight was on and it was right at the pencil scene. That was an enjoyable little moment of relaxation.

It was starting to get dark out and I wanted to do something, so we left the room and aimed for the Falls. We decided to cut through casino, so we took the walkway that went over the street that connected our hotel to the casino.

The walkway.

So, we walk cross over the street...and find stairs on the other side. Besides turning around and going back, the only way into the casino was through the parking garage, so through the parking garage we went.

Through the casino, down the hill, and we were down by the Falls. We made our way up the sidewalk and through the mist and looked at the Falls, illuminated in the night.

Once at the top of the Falls, it was getting a bit chilly, so we shuffled into the Table Rock building to warm up a little. While inside, I consulted the all-knowing mystic, Zoltar! And before you ask, no, I didn't wish I was big.

It was getting late, so we headed back up the hill and had dinner at the Keg inside the Embassy Suites. As always, it was delicious.

Totally stuffed, we made our way back up the street to our hotel to get some shut-eye and prepare for a full day.

Snippage

I've been back from my trip for a week and haven't gotten caught up enough to blog about it yet. I'll do that soon, but for now, here's a short entry.

Back on the 23rd, I went and donated my hair again. It was getting really long and I was ready, so Erin at Imagine Salon & Spa went to work on my mane.

As usual, it felt really good to donate it, plus I had a brand new do when I hit the road.

So, does it look alright?

The Following Fifteen

Yesterday, the family all gathered over Grandma's house for Father's Day/Grandma's birthday. It's been about a year and a half since I put together a family video (and they've made a point of frequently reminding me), so I surprised them with a new one.

This one's a followup to The First Four, highlighting Matthew's fifteen months since that video. I give you... The Following Fifteen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgv0av9xVaA

June Updates

Just thought it was high time I posted updates on some things, so here goes.

It's been pretty slow going on new projects lately. The main reason is basically that I've just been stressed out with life these days and pretty much stuck in a bad mood since I got sick a couple months back. I honestly just haven't been in a frame of mind where I'd be able to work on these without feeling like I'm just going through the motions. I don't want that to happen and I'm working on powering through it. Things ARE moving forward. It may be slow, but it's happening.

I've been doing some fun stuff lately, but nothing has been able to snap me out of this funk I'm in. I'm hoping something comes along soon and does the trick.

I'm looking forward to the Canada trip at the end of the month. The Chantal concert at the winery might be just what I need.
Grandma and Maude are tagging along with Mom and I for this one. It'll be the first time the four of us have gone on a trip together since the Corrs adventure of 2004. If that trip is any indication, this one ought to be a blast.
The hotel room is booked, our passport cards (what a rip) have arrived, I'm ready to go. Everything's ready.
Now we wait.
Sixteen days to go.

I've been hanging with Bridget a bit lately, which has been fun. Things got hectic and we didn't get to see each other for a long time, so it's been cool to be able to catch up, vent, and swap music with her again.

I saw Terminator Salvation after much waiting and anticipating. It was alright. I'll admit, I had pretty high expectations, and while it didn't quite live up to those expectations, I didn't dislike it.
Up, on the other hand, I thought was amazing. Heartbreaking, funny, just a beautiful movie. I thought the 3D was fantastic was incredible too. Just an all around great experience at the movies. I'd love to go see it again.
Currently at the top of my "to see" list is The Hangover.

On the Fan Film front, word is that Stan Lee traveling, but the DVD is on his desk waiting for him. This waiting to hear something is torture.

There's really not much else to update on at the moment. I'm feeling pretty boring story-wise. Hopefully some summer adventures will change that.
Now go outside and get some sun, you. There's only three months until The Beatles: Rock Band comes out, so I better get outside before that addiction hits.

At the Zoo with the Crew

Larry made some plans a while back for the gang to go to the zoo. This past Saturday, those plans came to fruition.

I was running late when I woke up and, honestly, not feeling my best, but decided to push myself and go anyway. I was happy to hear the other zoo-goers were running late, yet I somehow managed to run even later.

Mom and I eventually arrived and met up with Larry. We walked and chatted with him as he led us to Clint, Larry's girlfriend, Shannon, and her kids. After they had a quick bite to eat, we headed out into the zoo.

It was so strange, I went to this zoo all the time as I grew up, but this was my first visit in at least 10 years. There were so many new attractions and areas, I found no sense of where I was as we wandered around.

It was perfect zoo weather- mid 70s, not too cloudy, not too sunny, though I still managed to get a sunburn.

A zoo trip is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just jump to some pictures and interject sporadically. Don't forget to click to see them bigger.

Love the colors on these guys.

They have a new area where you can ride a camel. None of us took part.

A freaky looking lemur.

Check out the tail on this dude.

Loved the outdoor gorilla area.

They had a whole dinosaur exhibit going on. The animatronics were okay, but they earned major cool points for blasting John Williams' Jurassic Park theme at the entrance.

They tore down the old bridge that used to cross over the zoo, I think this is the new one going up.

Larry, Shannon, and the kids walked faster than the rest of us, so Mom and I hung with Clint most of the day. Here's us chilling at the bench by Monkey Island.

My camera's memory card filled up at this point, so that's it for pictures.

We ended up rushing to the RainForest with just 15 minutes left before it closed. It was a hurried walkthrough, but we got to see some cool birds, orangutans, a big python, and Clint got to see the crocodile before we were told to leave.

It was a fun day and a cool trip down memory lane full of old memories and new experiences. It sucked that we didn't get to see the elephants, as they're currently building a new enclosure for them, but hey, it'll be another reason to go back. And I would love to go back soon with Matthew.
And a fresh memory card.

VI

Six years today.

Miss you.

Love you.