Orlando, Florida

What a way to end Summer Vacation 2008. HOOTERS, DISNEY WORLD’S MAGIC KINGDOM, HOOTERS, ISLAND OF ADVENTURE, HOOTERS, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO, HOOTERS, EPCOT, HOOTERS, HOOTERS, and MORE HOOTERS.

The last leg of our Journey was filled of adventure, trying to find seven hooters in central Florida, and classic Florida favorites. Randi and I arrived in Florida during a tropical storm. Trying to fulfill Josh’s fantasy of finding 25 hooters before December 31, 2008 to honor the silver anniversary of Hooters, he obtained a special passport. In this special passport, if you obtain 25 stamps, you are eligible to attend a special silver anniversary party in addition you will be entered in a contest to win $25, 000. We only have a few left and plan to have a wing party on October 25, 2008 in Islandia, New York.
What can I say about Disney World except I never get tired of that place! Randi and I enjoyed some of our favorite rides at the Magic Kingdom including Space Mountain and The Haunted Mansion.

In EPCOT we enjoyed all of the countries and rides along with Nemo’s New Crush Adventure. That was an amazing experience with great special effects. We also enjoyed EPCOT with Randi’s cousin Seth and his fiancée Jennifer.
Universal Orlando Resort is really becoming another great amusement destination in Orlando. They have two theme parks both of which have the classic rides and some newer thrill rides. One of their newest attractions includes The Simpson’s Ride and Live Recordings of various Television events. Randi and I participated in both. First we rode The Simpson’s ride through Krusty Land and then we went to a LIVE taping of TNW wrestling. TNW is a premier wrestling organization famous in Canada. All in all it was pretty fun to watch the live recordings.
I had a fabulous summer and I am even more excited for the fall. Randi and I have adopted a bunny (Black Jack), I am starting classes at Stony Brook University, I am working at Plainview for another year, and oh, I almost forgot, I am getting MARRIED!!!

I would love to thank everybody who we met on this trip and everybody who had been a true reader of the BLOG since day 1 (Grandma and Mom). I also want to thank Mom, Dad, Stacy, Joshy, Bobby, Randi, and Black Jack for everything they do on a daily basis and for making this trip possible.

UNTIL NEXT SUMMER!!!!!

Cody, Ucross, Rapid City, Denver, Amtrak

After the manual labor, we left for Cody, Wyoming. What is one to do in Cody you ask, well see the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum of course. But before I talk about that, I wanted to let you know as we were driving from Yellowstone towards Cody, we were caught in the middle of a forest fire. The Shoshone Fire, it is believed that this fire was started by lightning.. We were never in any danger but you could see the smoke and we watched the fire helicopters load and dump water and drove past a fire base camp that was set up at the foot of the mountain. It is some pretty serious stuff! Although they like to let some fires burn out naturally, this was the original plan with this fire when it started over a month ago, but the winds had changed directions and the fire was heading right towards Cody, our next stop.

The Buffalo Bill Cody Museum was great. They had many different neat exhibits. They have a museum of natural history, the Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, Cody Firearms Museum, The Buffalo Bill section and two outdoor statue/garden areas. The town was very similar to an old little western town; they even have a gunfight every night at 6pm. After dinner we were treated to a rodeo and a cowboy musical review, the fun never ends! The hotel bar was named “Bottoms Up” so I had to go in and do a Bottom’s Up! When we awoke the next morning, the town began filling with smoke and ash from the fire, boy was I relieved to be leaving.

When we left Cody, we headed out towards a town called Ucross, it has a population of 50 and they kept telling us that they had a surprise for us! Well, first off we stopped at a place called Dirty Annies. Here we were invited to dig for fossils and some Devil’s Toe Nails! It was great! After a nice lunch we were off to Ucross. We found out that Ucross was a ranch, and the other surprise was horseback riding! I do not like horses, but with the help of some friends, I jumped back on the horse! My horse was named Little Abner, he has an eating disorder, and he likes to eat everything! Once I heard that, I knew we were going to get along just fine! At Ucross we were also invited to go swimming, trout fishing and do some paddle boating! Good Times!

After Ucross we were off to Rapid city stopping at The Crazy Horse Monument which after 60 years is still being completed, I even got a video of them blowing up some rocks to so they could continue to carve the mountain. The face of the Crazy Horse Monument alone is bigger than all four faces of Mt. Rushmore! It is going to be a beautiful monument when completed! They had 1/34th scale model of what the Crazy Horse will look like when it is completed. Also, take a look at the Fighting Stallion sculpture, they are both resting on the tail of one of the horses! What a fantastic tribute to the North American Indians!

After Crazy Horse we went to Mount Rushmore, it is funny how one place can make you feel so patriotic! Did you know that Mt. Rushmore was only going to be three faces and not four! The plans had to be changed 9 times and it is still not finished, no one has any ears! After Mount Rushmore we were off to the town of Rapid City, which is a very odd place. They have a life sized dinosaur on top of the hill and they have statues of past presidents on every corner. At the end of the day we were treated to an outstanding cocktail party, an even better dinner and then we said our goodbyes! The trip is almost over and soon it will be time to go home!

Well the trip is far from over, as of now I am in Denver, the sight of the Democratic National Convention, lots of security, lots of press and a whole lot of people! Oh! Amtrak is already delayed 6 and a half hours…by the time you read this, I would have left Denver at 4:00am and missed my connection in Chicago! This trip is ending as well as it started! GO Figure!

Any how I arrived back home 24 hours later than anticipated. I was put up for the night in Chicago, was able to get another Hooter’s Stamp, see some movies, go back to Navy Pier and have a great time! The worst part is that my ride home was in coach! Well, I survived that and I am home safe and sound!

Again, I want to thank all of you who made this possible…Amtrak, T-Roosevelt for setting aside land for national parks, Mom, Dad, Scott, Stacy, Randi and Bobert for either coming with me or taking care of things at home while I was away! I’ve thought of you all often during the trip, never doubt that! Well the summer of 2008 it is time to pay some bills, get ready for work and write a best mans speech for a wedding! Work, Work, Work!