Off to Valleyfair yesterday, the Minnesotan answer to Alton Towers - the major difference being it is not found at the end of a country road, slap-bang in the middle of a tranquil, country village. Lots of similarities; The Corkscrew, Nemesis and rubbish food (although Staffordshire has probably never seen giant turkey legs and Dill-Pickle-On-A-Stick). There's also a very tiny water-park, with a few slides and a jump around in the waves pool. T was extremely disappointed that she was an inch too short for a lot of the rides. Me, I'm concerned that next year I will be dragged around on them.
All the creatures have successfully come out of hibernation and are now creating havoc in the garden. The raccoons like to sit in the tomato plants, for instance, as testamented by their little muddy footprints around the edges. One raccoon, who seems quite young and little compared to some which come around, eats his cheese and Branston like a six year-old. He held up the sandwich (he was there in broad daylight), opened it carefully, putting the top piece on the floor. He then commenced licking the pickle off, then gently peeled off the cheese and nibbled that, followed by the two pieces of bread. His nose goes up and down as he eats, making his whiskers tremble like a particularly agitated RAF Flight Sergeant.
The temperature, thanks to El Nino, zipped up to a toasty 34 degrees yesterday. Today it's a bit colder, but hopefully all the rain will be tonight and we will have a clear day for boating on the lake tomorrow.
School holidays start in 2 weeks' time. This year we will be playing tennis, doing outside swimming lessons, making forts, jam-tarts and a bit of a mess, then making up and a spot of TV. That's the first day sorted, then.
30 May 2010
16 May 2010
Miami mia
We did that thing the other day which teachers hate, and took T out of school for a week to take advantage of cheap(ish) flights to Florida. For the first time, we went to Miami. It was super - and it amazes me how each state can be; in effect, a different country. Everyone spoke Spanish (including me, I was very proud! Yes - I ordered a coffee), and it just didn't seem like the US at all. Miami South Beach was amazing- all the art deco houses were super-looking.
Our hotel, The Viceroy, had a 100 m pool. I started swimming and thought blimey, it's a bit far. The end dropped away onto a vista of the harbour, and each morning at 7 I had the whole thing to myself.
We were able to go fosicking and found clam fossils on the foreshore of the hotel which itself was very grand. Each time I used the toilet I felt a need to fold the end of the toilet paper into a point. It has apartments as well as hotel rooms, although not that many of the apartments have been let. The food was great there, although the service was a tad Mediterranean. Most restaurants we went to made an effort to get T served first, which is always appreciated (via tips).
It never felt dangerous there and in fact the ambiance wherever we went felt great. We stayed in Miami for 3 nights, taking in the Everglades. Even though we saw lots of alligators on the air-boat tour we did (like on the James Bond movie), we even saw them when we stopped the car at the side of the rod....one came up begging like a duck in Sands End.
We then had another three days down in Key West ("Drive 157 miles and arrive at destination"). The drive down is quite long on single carriage-way roads, so we had a few stops to feed the tarpons (enormous greedy fish) at Robbie's Pier, and a couple of gardens.
Key West wasn't at all what I expected. It was streets of touristy two-level stores, lots of partying, but a nice atmosphere. The snorkeling was great. We took a small tour boat out (just us and three crew) to a reef about 7 n miles away (about an hour's trip). Luckily the sea was completely calm. T adored the snorkeling and was out for about an hour, spotting turtles and lobster plus loads of fish. She pootled off back the boat and sat on the dive ledge, feet dangling over the side, whilst I swam around the reef and saw (and this gets closer and bigger in the re-telling) two reef sharks swim passed. As I have no real idea about fish I thought "Cool!" and then saw T's feet flapping in the water. How exactly does one sacrifice oneself? Pretty amazing though.
Came back to cold weather when people complained there was a chance of snow, yet today it is a muggy 90. I have planted marigolds and remain optimistic that deer are allergic to them as it makes them sneeze.
Our hotel, The Viceroy, had a 100 m pool. I started swimming and thought blimey, it's a bit far. The end dropped away onto a vista of the harbour, and each morning at 7 I had the whole thing to myself.
We were able to go fosicking and found clam fossils on the foreshore of the hotel which itself was very grand. Each time I used the toilet I felt a need to fold the end of the toilet paper into a point. It has apartments as well as hotel rooms, although not that many of the apartments have been let. The food was great there, although the service was a tad Mediterranean. Most restaurants we went to made an effort to get T served first, which is always appreciated (via tips).
It never felt dangerous there and in fact the ambiance wherever we went felt great. We stayed in Miami for 3 nights, taking in the Everglades. Even though we saw lots of alligators on the air-boat tour we did (like on the James Bond movie), we even saw them when we stopped the car at the side of the rod....one came up begging like a duck in Sands End.
We then had another three days down in Key West ("Drive 157 miles and arrive at destination"). The drive down is quite long on single carriage-way roads, so we had a few stops to feed the tarpons (enormous greedy fish) at Robbie's Pier, and a couple of gardens.
Key West wasn't at all what I expected. It was streets of touristy two-level stores, lots of partying, but a nice atmosphere. The snorkeling was great. We took a small tour boat out (just us and three crew) to a reef about 7 n miles away (about an hour's trip). Luckily the sea was completely calm. T adored the snorkeling and was out for about an hour, spotting turtles and lobster plus loads of fish. She pootled off back the boat and sat on the dive ledge, feet dangling over the side, whilst I swam around the reef and saw (and this gets closer and bigger in the re-telling) two reef sharks swim passed. As I have no real idea about fish I thought "Cool!" and then saw T's feet flapping in the water. How exactly does one sacrifice oneself? Pretty amazing though.
Came back to cold weather when people complained there was a chance of snow, yet today it is a muggy 90. I have planted marigolds and remain optimistic that deer are allergic to them as it makes them sneeze.
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