Wednesday, August 16, 2006 A

"First Sights"
4:20am

I'm still operating on Eastern time. Maybe it's not such a bad thing as I relive my vacation. Oh, Florida is a green and watery place! The view out the squarish oval of the plane window revealed many small lakes amidst thickly treed green areas. It's not like that in the desert. Hard, angular pointy tan mountain edges amidst flat tan areas is what I'm used to seeing. Only in the cities do I see small and orderly placed greenery sparsing dotting the landscape. Along with those two scenarios is a difference in air, too.

When I got off the plane in Orlando, I felt as though I was going to drown in the moist air. But it wasn't long before my lungs adjusted. A shock awaited me on the return trip. When back again in desert lands, it seemed the dryness was pulling the moisture right out of my eyes even. My throat was dry, too. Now, of course, I'm more used to the dryness. While my lungs and eyes could appreciate the more moist environment, my skin appreciates the drier air. The slightest bit of exertion in the Florida air rendered me drenched in sweat. In contrast, although yesterday's 105F /40C heat baked me, I did not break out in a sweat.

I think we'll stay here in desertlands. Meanwhile, I'll treasure my memories of a beautiful place. When we got off the plane, we found our way to an express bus which took us to our resort. The Colorado Springs has a very impressive lobby:

(Always, remember you can click to see it larger. )


Row of people lined up for checking in...


Closer view of that lovely fountain...


You can faintly read "DISNEY'S Colorado Springs Resort" in the fancy wall deco...

Wednesday, August 16, 2006 B

"Second Sights"
4:59am

I had hopes I'd keep a written portion of this journal going while on the trip. After the first entry, my intentions fell by the way side. However, I do have one entry from this time:

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Wednesday, August 9, 2006
6:36am
Still dark outside, Julia is showering. I take time to collect my thoughts. Such a green, swampy place this is! How moist the air is, and how easily I sweat, droplets rolling down my face! Last night's excursion to Epcot was unplanned, I hadn't studied the website for it. So I was surprised to find "The Living Seas" not an IMAX movie as I'd hoped, but a program for kids, albeit well done with a talking cartoon turtle that responded to people in the audience. I think the computer program for the turtle has animations for each word the human operator says, (who can recognize for instance, the young girl in the front row in the spotted blouse).

What was a surprise was the Mission to Mars. An awesome simulation of space flight that was really quite thrilling. And there were fireworks!

Today it is critters we will see, LIVE, no animatronics, live real critters.

Julia has emerged from the shower and maybe I'd best be getting ready!

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I didn't get many successful pictures from the Epcot area:


Frustrated I was that the beautiful fountain did not show up well...


So I tried the flash, which did not work at all!

After reading the manual that came with the camera, I learned there is a special function for night time pictures. Too late to save that fountain. But I did get the famous globe with Mickey's magical hand:

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