Day 3 - 5 - The Events

As I try and catch up, I will fill in the major events over the Friday (Stone Mountain), Saturday (Disney Quest) and Sunday (Play Mobile Fun Park)

Friday - Stone Mountain

I woke to a day of great anticipation. I had run across a Stone Mountain advertisment a couple of years ago, and was thinking of incorporating it into a family trip at that time. I could not make it work and have been looking for another opportuinty to visit.

The price of admission was reasonable ($28 for an adult, and $21 for a child) and included a second day for free. (Editor's Comment) - Afterwards I would suggest that a second day of the same activities is not necessary, the afternoon of the first day may not even be necessary.

The major attractions include the Skylift (not running due to winds), the Great Barn (a multi level, cargo net, fun slide, foam shooter facility), Yogi Bear 4d Movie (10 minutes or so), and a Sky Rope Course (three levels of ropes, and platforms)

Things I liked

1) The general atmosphere of the park. Very relaxed, and very calming.

2) Sky Rope Course - Kids had a blast. Dad needed to do mental preparations before attempting (If my 7 year can do it, so can I... If my 7 year can do it, so can I...). First level was easy, Second level got into some small problems, thought I would need one of those 16 year old employees to hold my hand and help me through it... 9 year old was not impressed - could tell by the look.. it is a good immitation of her mothers look. Will  need to talk to Deb about that .

3) Yogi Bear 4D movie. However you really should just call it, a Yogi Bear 3D movie, with water being splashed on you.

Things that I didn't like

1) Could really go through the park in less than a day.

2) The Great Park is really a McDonalds playground on steroids. It has some good points, but in general is average. The kids convinced me to go down the 4 storey slide. Got about 7 or 8 electronical shocks, got another look from my 9 year old.

3) Halloween Scavenger Hunt Prize - give the kids a small paper bag that would hold $2.00 worth of penny candy, and fill it with it 9 cents worth of candy for completing the Hunt. Not trying to sound ungrateful, but what really is the sense. It just looks cheap.

Overall, its a 5 or 6 out of 10.

Saturday - Disney Quest

Again another event that I have been trying to make work the last couple of years. Cost could be best described as "Disney". It is not a discount type of attraction.

Essentially, it is a 5 level arcade with current games and games from years gone by. Their is an area for younger children, as well as older ones.

For once it was a normal type of event. No crazy stories or events, except when our oldest didn't want to play an interactive game and just left while the game was in progress, stopping the event immediately, and all the people who waited to play had to leave and re line up. We did not make too many friends at that moment. I gave her a look. The score currently is two looks by Emily, one look by Dad.

The only thing I would say is that 1 adult reliving his youth, and two kids is tough to navigate, and really, you want your kids to be at an age when you can let them loose, and meet at a certain time.

Overall a seven out of ten.

Sunday - Playmobile Fun Park

I could just see the plan for this place. A group of executives trying to figure out how to sell more product. One has the idea to get more children to play with the toys, and another saying of course that is what we want. The idea gets expanded. Lets build a giant area, where the kids can play all of our toys, for as long as they want and only charge a $1 per child. Than we will empty that play area into a store, chaos will transpire and the dollars will flow. A pure marketing genius.

So as the kids played,

I was working on carting all of our acquisitions. It is important to note at this time, that I was also purchasing for another lady in the office, and she gave me a sizable budget, which required a couple of phone call during the acquistion phase to get further approvals.

However it did not take long to pack up the purchases, squeeze the kids into the van, and complete our third straight day of activities.

Rating - Not rated - this was really a shopping trip. If you want a rating for the actual park, my comment, is that it was $1 to enter, most of us spend a dollar or a variety of things with little regards, but keep in mind, it may cost you a dollar to enter, but it will likely cost you many more to leave.

Day 1 through 3 - The Drive - Vacation #2

Well we are back at it again.

Another trip, another blog. I will do my best to try and keep it updated on a daily basis.

Overview of the Trip

Greg to leave with the two oldest and drive down to Orlando. Departing on the Wednesday and arriving on the Saturday, with a one day stop in Atlanta, to go to Stone Mountain. Deb and the youngest to leave Saturday by plane and arriving in Orlando on the Saturday. A week in Orlando, with the parents dropping by for a few days, with stops at the Playmobile Fun Park, the new LegoLand, and Mickey's Halloween Party. After the first week in Orlando, the second week to be spent on the Disney Magic. After arriving back from the cruise, Deb and Chloe will fly back, and Dad and the two girls will drive back.


Updating Rules and Concluding on a General Thought

So after travelling 2000 plus km again with 2 children, while my wife flew with the youngest, I have come to the following conclusion - I think I may need to be tested because I am likely insane.

Although I must admit I am still learning my own rules. I successfully applied Rule 12, as I ensured I had all electronic chargers packed. It only took about 3 hours into the drive to hear, "Dad I think I forgot to pack the Ipod charger."

I also learned that my crude generalization of women in Rule #11 was completely wrong. I clearly established travel time with both my daughters, and we were out on the road in advance both times. The only conclusion I can have is that the problem does not lie with Women, but rather my wife. From now on, rule #11 will be changed to, When traveling with Deb - lie about the departure time, cause it is the only way you can have a fighting chance to leave on time.

 A quick recap of the drive .

We left Hamilton a little after 5 on Wednesay morning. The girls slept, I drove. I think this is going to be the theme for the week. We made our way to I-75 and arrived in London, Kentucky at 5 in the evening. A little less than 1100 km in a 12 hour period. Impressive since I have two people who need to go to the washroom every couple of hours. The worst part is I am one of the two.

The highlight of the day came when we got to Cleveland and it started to rain, when we finished for the day about 6 hours and several hundred km later, it was still raining. There is nothing like being boxed in by a couple of transports, running the wipers at full blast, and not making a dent at the amount of water on the windshield.

Thursday started the same way Wednesday ended, with rain. The good news was the drive was only going to be a few hours and we arrived at Stone Mountain by midday. By the end of the day, the sun was out, and the drive was much more pleasent.

Got to watch a cop car chase down a sports car (that is the best description this non-car guy can give), watch the car pull into a grassy area, do a 180 and appear to have a show down with the cops. In times like this it is important to (1) not stop and watch, (2) tell the kids to hit the floor, and (3) pray that they dont open fire.

Friday, we left Atlanta mid afternoon, after a few hours at Stone Mountain, and arrived in Orlando by 9pm. The drive was not so bad, we had dinner on the road (a drive through visit to a convenient McDonalds) which I will discuss in more length later.

Correction to Rule #11, it is all women. I swear the kids were just trying to sucker me in. A good 1/2 hour of scrambling around, with a lot of, yep Dad its done... its never done.

Observations during the Drive

Open comment to truck drivers. I have come to understand the racing term called "drafting" (this is when one car sits behind another car, to eliminate any wind resistence and be able to get some additional speed). This does not apply to driving on the I-75. I swear, that an 18 wheeler, can not gain any additional speed when it is drafting behing a dodge caravan. It just is not possible (you just have to believe, similar to gravity, it just works). Should those situations arise, I would advise you to put on your signal, advance to the left lane, pass the dodge caravan, and than go back to your original lane.

Ranking Cities by Drivers

3. Orlando - It is almost like the car is being driven by a nav unit, that is just a few seconds behind.

2. Cincy - It is never too late to make a lane change

1. Atlanta - Not sure if it is pure volume, craziness, or just stupidity. Whenever I drive in this area, I just pray. It is the only area that I have seen a police chase through the highway system, and multiple accidents.

Signs and Advertisements along the way.

Deer signs can be found littered around New York, and surprisingly they all say "Caution Deer Signs - 4 miles", if Deer is always in a 4 mile group and the groups overlap, would it just not be easier to say Caution - Deer. That what they do in Kentucky, it just makes sense.
Pennsylvania - the drive was short, but the number of "Love Shop" signs were significant. It either means the love business is doing great and they are reinforcing their brand, or in these times of high unemploymet it can purchased or rented. I have no idea. Just seemed excessive.

Steak and Shake - the home of 6 meals for under $3.99. Really? $3.99?? Really?

Funniest Radio Interview heard on the Drive

Discussing with Darryl Hannah why she is part of the 99% movement. The highlights, discussing Darryl's new website, darryl hannah loves life . com. Does it mean Darryl Hannah LOVE life or Darryl Hannah LOVES life. Darryl's comment was that is was the second, the guy on the radio said he would be much more interested in the first. The interview went downhill from there. He proceeded to ask whether she was ashamed of her success, since she had money, and prestige and did she really need to spend time at the park. Well worth the 15 minutes.

US Politics

I am way over my head, but I heard that Rick Perry as part of his political movement was going to make a call to a "flat tax". Really ??  No issues that I can think of... its not like there are several professions out there that rely on complex tax laws. Its not like these groups have any significant capital for lobbiest. The concept great the reality not so great... 

McDonalds

I realize there are many different parts to this machine, but the concept is simple, take the order, take the cash, give back the change, give the order. I don;t know if it just me, but it seems that everytime I order, one part of the concept goes poorly. I placed an order, was told the price was $19, gave the girl a $20, she put the money on top of the cash register, looked at me and said "How much change are you expecting back?" My expectation was the dollar. My daughter in the back of the van, busy playing nintendo DS, listening to her ipod, even piped in at a dollar, but I swear the clerk had no concept of the math. As a side note, I would strongly discourage establishments from having staff working the cash register when they either can't do the simple math, or read the results on the cash register. We will call that Rule # 20