Vacation Report
Okay, so it's been nearly a week since I got back from my trip-thing, and I've been putting this off. mainly because I was so distracted by all the crap I had to catch up on. I also waffled, because I wanted to sort out the pictures I took, but upon further inspection, the only ones that needed sorting where the ones for the caves (see below for more info). So. This is the meager offering from the off-line journal I kept during my week, with pictures linked to save on download time and to make for easy reading.
And the cast of characters, by family grouping (and by no means the complete list, but the ones that were around for most of the week), were:
- Shannon and Kevin with kids Mark and Bethany
- Dawn and Pat with kids Jack and Joey
- Linda and Ed with kids Edward, Jonathan and Carly
- Inta and Danyel
- Owen, LeeAnn and Jenna
- Zane and Michel
- Me and my mom
----------
July 27, 2008 -- 9:30pm
Okay, so. Update.
After a very late start (edit: see this post), my mom and I were on the road by 4:30pm-ish. A quick stop at Wal-Mart for some last minute things and we finally got on the highway to head to (Collingwood). We made a stop at Timmies in King City, then one last stop in Barrie, and we finally arrived at 7:45pm. (A note: It's only supposed to take 1.5 to 2 hrs to drive here, and if you eliminate the stops, then yes. We hit somewhere between that.)
I suppose this trip's first, random SGA moment was a peace offering from the Fandom Gods for A) taking away the free time I had to preview Continuum this weekend, B) airing the the first Season 5 episode that I have been dying to see since (JoeM) blogged about it (and, indeed, had his "What Was I Thinking?" break-down posted as of this morning), and C) making Continuum's release the same week as this trip.
The moment? A house in Stayner with a large sign proclaiming it as "Casa Mallozzi". If I had been prepared, I would have snapped a pic. I apologize. (edit: I tried to catch it on the way back, but as with things like this, I totally missed it. Remind me the next time I say I'm going to Collingwood, and I'll try and snag it then.)
But! I am here. I have books, journals and my 3 main SGA fics with me. Wish me luck in the fic-department :)
----------
July 28, 2008 -- 8:30am-ish.
So, after a rousing game of "Forks" (usually "Spoons" but, alas, we had no plastic spoons), I finally headed to bed at about 1am. Ish. It still took me a whole to fall asleep. I suspect the lack of a second pillow to prop me up when my sinuses acted up.
All I have to say, is that my mom's family is a fund buncha drunks. I had one cousin come over to wax poetic about what she wrote in my journal. (edit: "All is well in my world" - Louise Hay) It involved a bit about the suicide of her lover, and how if it hadn't have happened, she would never have met her husband. She said the phrase she wrote me is what got her through the ordeal. Said she's write it 300 times in her journal on one page, and on the next write out her thoughts on the subject. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Me? I merely praise God for the day he has given me, regardless of what bad stuff has occurred (or not, as the case may be), and continue to praise Him and give Him the car keys so he can drive. I swear, it;s amazing how things turn out when I do that :)
Okay, so two kiddies, Jack and Mark, are playing black jack. They? Are under 10-years-old. I';mma go see if they'll deal me in :) (edit: Ha. I didn't make it over in time. They had called it quits by the time I got there.)
Speaking of Jack, he dressed up as Elvis yesterday and signed autographs and took pictures for cash. I missed it, camera-wise, but yeah. It was hilarious.
----------
July 29, 2008 -- 10:08am
Yesterday, me and mom went into town to get me a pillow, amongst other things. I bought a buncha postcards (you know the drill!) as well as some munchies. Because of our trip, we missed the beach/pool run. Oh well, we'll catch the next one.
We did the bonfire thing last night, complete with S'mores and star gazing. Kevin and I saw a couple of satellites, but one was far too bright to really be one, but it was too high to be an airpane and not fast enough to be a shooting star (because it was travelling at similar speeds as normal satellites do). We speculated that it might be the space station, but later it occurred to me to ponder whether the station was in geosynchronous orbit or not. Remind me to look it up. (edit: I just looked it up, and no, the station is not in geosynchronous orbit. So it could very well have been it. Which is all kinds of cool.)
I was in bed at a more resonable midnight, and I had a better sleep, despite not napping in the afternoon. Also learned how to play Cribbage, which - in this family - is almost a get-together prerequisite.
On tap for today are the Scenic Caves and Gem Mining. This is going to be chaotic. With 10 of us being kids (and I'm including Danyel and myself in this count), it's going to be a logistics nightmare. Specially considering that two of'em are really picky/fussy. Also, pray that my camera battery holds out ^.^
One final addendum: Coffee with Baileys is EVIL. Note to self: to combat the addictiveness of this evil upon your return to civilization, please look into buying Irish Cream-flavoured, er, cream, for your morning coffee needs. All of the taste, none of the alcomohol.
Okay, I lied. Another addendumL my knee, the cap of which I so lovingly slipped nigh-on 9 years ago, is getting the workout it needs to help restrengthen it: going from my room in the basement up to the common room on the second floor is a pain in the ass. So is hauling my butt up and down from the top bunk, upon which I sleep. Bleh!
5:44pm
Scenic Caves = Post of their own. Pics, OMG!
I spent a crap load of cash at the souvenier shop. Part of it was for maple cream cookies (mana!), maple tea and maple coffee, all of which are made from 100% pure Canadian Maple Syrup. I got more postcards, too, and a little something for certain someones, so watch your mail boxes, my friends.
When we got back, I headed to the (public) (beach) with Dawn, Pat, Jack and Joey. Swam out in (Georgian Bay), which is always neat :)
----------
July 30, 2008 -- 10-ish? mer?
It was an evening of cards and hot tubs. (I just saw a clock, it's 10:53am.)
..Okay, pre-empted entry due to manicure/pedicure from bethany and Carly. S'noon now. I paid the exhorbitant amount of $6 (for) (their) (handiwork). (edit: Not bad for 7-year-olds, eh?)
Plan for today was Wasaga Beach, but the thunderstorm this morning seemed to dash those plans. However, it's warmed up considerably and there may be a possibility of salvaging the trip.
Jack, Joey and Pat are on their way home today. Others are off tomorrow, and everyone else needs to vacate the day after. I want to say today's Wednesday, but the absence of my watch has caused me to lose track after we got here...Sunday? Was that the day? Oy, the mind boggles. How anyone living up here keeps track of anything is beyond me.
Today is the day I hopefully learn Three-Dragon Ante (and suddenly I have this insane desire to play WoW). My mom has helpfully agreed to aid me in this. So off I go for the time being.
Oh! Almost forgot. Managed to figure out "Frozen Planet"'s timeline, and it wasn't as frakked as I had originally thought. I suppose I knew what I was doing after all! Hee :)
Beach Side - Time Unknown
Water = warm
Weather = Warm with a wicked breeze and occassional cloud cover.
Hpefully I can get some sun on my legs ^.^ That way they'll match my arms!
We decided to hit a (part of the beach) further down from (the main drag). It's (less crowded) and (much quieter), which is nice and is more conducive to keeping tabs on our "brood". This? is (the perfect way) to spend an afternoon, iffin I say so. And I say so :)
10:03pm
...OW.
Know how I said I do the bone-headed sun burn thing only once each summer? I lied. I, in my infinite wisdom and desire to "get some colour" on my legs to shut m y dad up, decided that the quickest way to accomplish my goal would be to forgo the sunscreen from the waist down. Yu-huh, I burn just as crispy on the legs as I do up top. Possibly more-so, since - unlike the relative coolness and non-stingy, easy-sleepy of my shoulders-fiasco - my legs sting like nobody's business and oh crap the heat. I'm sitting outside for as long as possible before attempting the bunk-climbing. I suspect an early night...oh! I just had a brainstorm. If no one has an air mattress I can steal for the night, I'll snag a couch upstairs. It's the safer, comfier way to sleep, though it means I'll porbably have to stay up a wee bit later in order to ensure no interruptions.
To add insult to injury, the burn isn't even, well, even. It's splotchy, with several small white patches, and you can tell the angle of the sun by the burn line. Eewww.
...ow.
----------
July 31, 2008 -- 10am
Air Mattress = WIN!
My legs are still a little owie, but the constant sting and 90% of the heat is gone. Sheets don't burn and shifting in bed isn't the exercise in agony it was right when I went to bed. (edit: I had to work through as many sun-burn-related issues as humanly possible while still away, because I knew that I'd have absolutely no patience for them when I got home, and I'd be miserable for days on end.)
The irony of the whole thing hit me when I realized that the only side I could lie on (the un-crispy side, as it were), is the one side in which I cannot breathe, due to my sinus problems. Go figure!
This is our second-last day here, and check-out time is 11am tomorrow. Folks have been trickling out since Monday, and by tomorrow, it'll be me, mom, Linda, Jonathan, Owen, LeeAnn, Jenna, Kevin, Shannon, Bethany, Mark, Danyel and Inta in our house ^.^
----------
August 1, 2008 - 12:05am (edit: a.k.a. bed-time after events of July 31...bleh. Almost though I frakked my dates.)
We did (the) (tie-dying) (thing) this morning. Much fun was had by all, especially the kids. Mark went so far as to tie-dye his underware.
Afterwards, mom and I headed to Blue Village, while the kids went back to the pool. (edit: it occurs to me to do a seperate post for this one, too, since there's a bit more than a few pictures, and I never actually wrote up more than "we headed to Blue Village". And the pictures do need a bit of explaining, so yes. Blue Village = Post of its own.)
After dinner, most of us headed to Wyevale for Edward's ball game. Danyel, LeeAnn, Lina and I used lip liner to decorate our faces with things like "Go Ed, #7!" and the like. We got back around 10:30pm-11ish and Jenna and I had our asses handed to us in Cribbage by Johnathan and Danyel.
So, check-out is in 11 hours. I should be as the point of typing all this up in about 15 hours. And the pictures. Oh god, the pictures.
Sigh.
----------
Yes. So that was it, mostly. Two more posts with pictures from the Scenic Caves and Blue Village shall be forth coming at some point. As it was, mom and I were back in the city around 2-2:30pm last Friday. My poor sunburned legs are now at the incessantly itchy, yet easily ignorable stage, though the colour is still a little too dark red for my liking in some places. I ventured to de-fuzz my legs two days ago, since the hair was even more annoying, and did nothing to help the sunburn and my well-being. Outside of catching up with online stuff, I have hit the ground running in regards to work, but with our new Assistant Manager, Tim, my shifts have been cut down to about 3 per week, as opposed to 5 to 6 shifts per week. Yes, my paycheck will take a huge hit, but the additional time off is shiny for my up-coming class in september, as well as possibly giving me more time to write.
As it was, any days off I had prior to this were spent goofing off, because I was so totally burned out from work, and my brain couldn't handle anything else. So, unless I had two or more days off from work? I got nothing done outside of DVDs, video games and other related brain-dead activities. And the cutting of shifts on the heels of a week off is actually great timing, since I won't be uber-stressed with the return to work.
So, yay vacation!
And the cast of characters, by family grouping (and by no means the complete list, but the ones that were around for most of the week), were:
- Shannon and Kevin with kids Mark and Bethany
- Dawn and Pat with kids Jack and Joey
- Linda and Ed with kids Edward, Jonathan and Carly
- Inta and Danyel
- Owen, LeeAnn and Jenna
- Zane and Michel
- Me and my mom
----------
July 27, 2008 -- 9:30pm
Okay, so. Update.
After a very late start (edit: see this post), my mom and I were on the road by 4:30pm-ish. A quick stop at Wal-Mart for some last minute things and we finally got on the highway to head to (Collingwood). We made a stop at Timmies in King City, then one last stop in Barrie, and we finally arrived at 7:45pm. (A note: It's only supposed to take 1.5 to 2 hrs to drive here, and if you eliminate the stops, then yes. We hit somewhere between that.)
I suppose this trip's first, random SGA moment was a peace offering from the Fandom Gods for A) taking away the free time I had to preview Continuum this weekend, B) airing the the first Season 5 episode that I have been dying to see since (JoeM) blogged about it (and, indeed, had his "What Was I Thinking?" break-down posted as of this morning), and C) making Continuum's release the same week as this trip.
The moment? A house in Stayner with a large sign proclaiming it as "Casa Mallozzi". If I had been prepared, I would have snapped a pic. I apologize. (edit: I tried to catch it on the way back, but as with things like this, I totally missed it. Remind me the next time I say I'm going to Collingwood, and I'll try and snag it then.)
But! I am here. I have books, journals and my 3 main SGA fics with me. Wish me luck in the fic-department :)
----------
July 28, 2008 -- 8:30am-ish.
So, after a rousing game of "Forks" (usually "Spoons" but, alas, we had no plastic spoons), I finally headed to bed at about 1am. Ish. It still took me a whole to fall asleep. I suspect the lack of a second pillow to prop me up when my sinuses acted up.
All I have to say, is that my mom's family is a fund buncha drunks. I had one cousin come over to wax poetic about what she wrote in my journal. (edit: "All is well in my world" - Louise Hay) It involved a bit about the suicide of her lover, and how if it hadn't have happened, she would never have met her husband. She said the phrase she wrote me is what got her through the ordeal. Said she's write it 300 times in her journal on one page, and on the next write out her thoughts on the subject. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Me? I merely praise God for the day he has given me, regardless of what bad stuff has occurred (or not, as the case may be), and continue to praise Him and give Him the car keys so he can drive. I swear, it;s amazing how things turn out when I do that :)
Okay, so two kiddies, Jack and Mark, are playing black jack. They? Are under 10-years-old. I';mma go see if they'll deal me in :) (edit: Ha. I didn't make it over in time. They had called it quits by the time I got there.)
Speaking of Jack, he dressed up as Elvis yesterday and signed autographs and took pictures for cash. I missed it, camera-wise, but yeah. It was hilarious.
----------
July 29, 2008 -- 10:08am
Yesterday, me and mom went into town to get me a pillow, amongst other things. I bought a buncha postcards (you know the drill!) as well as some munchies. Because of our trip, we missed the beach/pool run. Oh well, we'll catch the next one.
We did the bonfire thing last night, complete with S'mores and star gazing. Kevin and I saw a couple of satellites, but one was far too bright to really be one, but it was too high to be an airpane and not fast enough to be a shooting star (because it was travelling at similar speeds as normal satellites do). We speculated that it might be the space station, but later it occurred to me to ponder whether the station was in geosynchronous orbit or not. Remind me to look it up. (edit: I just looked it up, and no, the station is not in geosynchronous orbit. So it could very well have been it. Which is all kinds of cool.)
I was in bed at a more resonable midnight, and I had a better sleep, despite not napping in the afternoon. Also learned how to play Cribbage, which - in this family - is almost a get-together prerequisite.
On tap for today are the Scenic Caves and Gem Mining. This is going to be chaotic. With 10 of us being kids (and I'm including Danyel and myself in this count), it's going to be a logistics nightmare. Specially considering that two of'em are really picky/fussy. Also, pray that my camera battery holds out ^.^
One final addendum: Coffee with Baileys is EVIL. Note to self: to combat the addictiveness of this evil upon your return to civilization, please look into buying Irish Cream-flavoured, er, cream, for your morning coffee needs. All of the taste, none of the alcomohol.
Okay, I lied. Another addendumL my knee, the cap of which I so lovingly slipped nigh-on 9 years ago, is getting the workout it needs to help restrengthen it: going from my room in the basement up to the common room on the second floor is a pain in the ass. So is hauling my butt up and down from the top bunk, upon which I sleep. Bleh!
5:44pm
Scenic Caves = Post of their own. Pics, OMG!
I spent a crap load of cash at the souvenier shop. Part of it was for maple cream cookies (mana!), maple tea and maple coffee, all of which are made from 100% pure Canadian Maple Syrup. I got more postcards, too, and a little something for certain someones, so watch your mail boxes, my friends.
When we got back, I headed to the (public) (beach) with Dawn, Pat, Jack and Joey. Swam out in (Georgian Bay), which is always neat :)
----------
July 30, 2008 -- 10-ish? mer?
It was an evening of cards and hot tubs. (I just saw a clock, it's 10:53am.)
..Okay, pre-empted entry due to manicure/pedicure from bethany and Carly. S'noon now. I paid the exhorbitant amount of $6 (for) (their) (handiwork). (edit: Not bad for 7-year-olds, eh?)
Plan for today was Wasaga Beach, but the thunderstorm this morning seemed to dash those plans. However, it's warmed up considerably and there may be a possibility of salvaging the trip.
Jack, Joey and Pat are on their way home today. Others are off tomorrow, and everyone else needs to vacate the day after. I want to say today's Wednesday, but the absence of my watch has caused me to lose track after we got here...Sunday? Was that the day? Oy, the mind boggles. How anyone living up here keeps track of anything is beyond me.
Today is the day I hopefully learn Three-Dragon Ante (and suddenly I have this insane desire to play WoW). My mom has helpfully agreed to aid me in this. So off I go for the time being.
Oh! Almost forgot. Managed to figure out "Frozen Planet"'s timeline, and it wasn't as frakked as I had originally thought. I suppose I knew what I was doing after all! Hee :)
Beach Side - Time Unknown
Water = warm
Weather = Warm with a wicked breeze and occassional cloud cover.
Hpefully I can get some sun on my legs ^.^ That way they'll match my arms!
We decided to hit a (part of the beach) further down from (the main drag). It's (less crowded) and (much quieter), which is nice and is more conducive to keeping tabs on our "brood". This? is (the perfect way) to spend an afternoon, iffin I say so. And I say so :)
10:03pm
...OW.
Know how I said I do the bone-headed sun burn thing only once each summer? I lied. I, in my infinite wisdom and desire to "get some colour" on my legs to shut m y dad up, decided that the quickest way to accomplish my goal would be to forgo the sunscreen from the waist down. Yu-huh, I burn just as crispy on the legs as I do up top. Possibly more-so, since - unlike the relative coolness and non-stingy, easy-sleepy of my shoulders-fiasco - my legs sting like nobody's business and oh crap the heat. I'm sitting outside for as long as possible before attempting the bunk-climbing. I suspect an early night...oh! I just had a brainstorm. If no one has an air mattress I can steal for the night, I'll snag a couch upstairs. It's the safer, comfier way to sleep, though it means I'll porbably have to stay up a wee bit later in order to ensure no interruptions.
To add insult to injury, the burn isn't even, well, even. It's splotchy, with several small white patches, and you can tell the angle of the sun by the burn line. Eewww.
...ow.
----------
July 31, 2008 -- 10am
Air Mattress = WIN!
My legs are still a little owie, but the constant sting and 90% of the heat is gone. Sheets don't burn and shifting in bed isn't the exercise in agony it was right when I went to bed. (edit: I had to work through as many sun-burn-related issues as humanly possible while still away, because I knew that I'd have absolutely no patience for them when I got home, and I'd be miserable for days on end.)
The irony of the whole thing hit me when I realized that the only side I could lie on (the un-crispy side, as it were), is the one side in which I cannot breathe, due to my sinus problems. Go figure!
This is our second-last day here, and check-out time is 11am tomorrow. Folks have been trickling out since Monday, and by tomorrow, it'll be me, mom, Linda, Jonathan, Owen, LeeAnn, Jenna, Kevin, Shannon, Bethany, Mark, Danyel and Inta in our house ^.^
----------
August 1, 2008 - 12:05am (edit: a.k.a. bed-time after events of July 31...bleh. Almost though I frakked my dates.)
We did (the) (tie-dying) (thing) this morning. Much fun was had by all, especially the kids. Mark went so far as to tie-dye his underware.
Afterwards, mom and I headed to Blue Village, while the kids went back to the pool. (edit: it occurs to me to do a seperate post for this one, too, since there's a bit more than a few pictures, and I never actually wrote up more than "we headed to Blue Village". And the pictures do need a bit of explaining, so yes. Blue Village = Post of its own.)
After dinner, most of us headed to Wyevale for Edward's ball game. Danyel, LeeAnn, Lina and I used lip liner to decorate our faces with things like "Go Ed, #7!" and the like. We got back around 10:30pm-11ish and Jenna and I had our asses handed to us in Cribbage by Johnathan and Danyel.
So, check-out is in 11 hours. I should be as the point of typing all this up in about 15 hours. And the pictures. Oh god, the pictures.
Sigh.
----------
Yes. So that was it, mostly. Two more posts with pictures from the Scenic Caves and Blue Village shall be forth coming at some point. As it was, mom and I were back in the city around 2-2:30pm last Friday. My poor sunburned legs are now at the incessantly itchy, yet easily ignorable stage, though the colour is still a little too dark red for my liking in some places. I ventured to de-fuzz my legs two days ago, since the hair was even more annoying, and did nothing to help the sunburn and my well-being. Outside of catching up with online stuff, I have hit the ground running in regards to work, but with our new Assistant Manager, Tim, my shifts have been cut down to about 3 per week, as opposed to 5 to 6 shifts per week. Yes, my paycheck will take a huge hit, but the additional time off is shiny for my up-coming class in september, as well as possibly giving me more time to write.
As it was, any days off I had prior to this were spent goofing off, because I was so totally burned out from work, and my brain couldn't handle anything else. So, unless I had two or more days off from work? I got nothing done outside of DVDs, video games and other related brain-dead activities. And the cutting of shifts on the heels of a week off is actually great timing, since I won't be uber-stressed with the return to work.
So, yay vacation!