(no subject)
So, I'm back from vacation. Yesterday I spent getting my brain back together from the trip, but now I'm good. I wrote this in 750 words about it - I'm gonna split the days into two posts, since they got long.
I am back from vacation. My hips hurt, my thighs hurt, and I'm tired. It was, to be frank, a fucking awesome trip.
I went to sleep on Wednesday, had trouble sleeping. I woke up far too early I felt, waking up around six. I was able to get dressed and get ready. I woke up, Mom and I went over to Grandma's house.
Grandma was being kind of irritating. She was being pessimistic, being all "If she doesn't arrive soon they'll miss the plane!" and I was having an awful allergy attack. I was getting upset and it was starting to show.
But Grandma O'Connor arrived eventually, and we got in Mom's car. We started the drive, and Grandma told me that we were, in fact, going on the train. Needless to say I was excited. We're having a roomette, which, if I remember the Amtrack site correctly, is going to have WiFi and beds. Oh yeah.
The morning was chilly and cold. The sky was dark, and I looked up at it and saw just clouds. I thought of it a bit like Minecraft - it looked dark, but at the same time everything seemed kind of... bright. Well, not bright, but I could see it. It was cloudy, and I was a little sleepy, but that's okay. I kept hearing 'Scarlet's Walk' in my head, repeating a couple of different lines in my head. I don't know why, but it was. I always associate that album with travel. So maybe it's not so much of a mystery.
Anyway. We arrived at the airport, and we got a wheelchair. I went through the TSA quickly, and I was pretty happy that they weren't very concerned with us. Then we started the walk properly.
The airport is very, very pretty. Bright and shiny, and we walked past the fountain. The fountain looks like a black disk that shoots streams of water into the air. They arc and then fall, and it's fun to watch. The water is dancing. We went down an elevator and through the tunnel I'd heard about before.
It plays soft, techno music that soothes more than excites. The tunnel is blue and pink, but it changed colors the entire time. It felt... like magic, really.
So after a little bit more, we came to the terminal. I ended up walking along people movers, since the man pushing Grandma in the wheelchair was walking quickly. There were bars and such along the way, and I kept looking at them and trying to remember them, thinking 'okay, that's that place's name, maybe that character works there.' as I was. I'll check out the airport website again before I make my decision.
The gate was small. I was surprised - it was a cute little terminal, and I was excited. I found out why it was such a small gate - it was for a small plane.
I didn't get much of a view, since it was a rainy day and there was a lot of cloud cover. I was also exhausted. I fell asleep on Grandma's shoulder, and I had minecraft related dreams. When my ears started to pop, I woke up, and we were landing. The plane ride was only supposed to be about an hour or more, so it wasn't too surprising.
We got off and we got into the airport - it was possibly the smallest airport I've ever been in. It had a kind of pink paint job done to the inside of it, and it was interesting. So we went on our way, and we got into a nice cab.
When we left the airport and got onto the highway, I saw them.
Mountains. Mountains everywhere.
I kept looking out the windows, just amazed. Michigan is... flat. Ohio is flat. These were beautiful, regal mountains, covered in trees and I felt so, so small looking at them.
We made our way to the hotel, and the cab driver told us that that's where the place we would be eating at was, and he pointed to the aquarium, which we were literally only a block away from. I started grinning, already excited. I couldn't wait.
Grandma and I entered the hotel, and it was... beautiful. There was a nice little restaurant/lobby thing, and an outdoor patio with a fire pit and chairs to relax on. There was a little area where you could get drinks and snacks if the restaurant wasn't open. I managed to find the pool, and I decided that later on, after Grandma and I went to dinner, I'd go swimming.
The staff told us that our room wasn't ready just yet. I asked Grandma if she would be okay by herself, and she said yes, just go and enjoy myself. I left my purse with her but took my wallet and my phone with me.
it was cold and windy out. I tried to walk as quickly as I could, and I had to be careful crossing the street a couple of times. But I made my way to the aquarium, I found the place where I paid for tickets, I paid my fair, and I went in.
I started out with the river section first. It showed the 'backyard biomes' where little kids could see things like snakes and bugs. I got to pet a lovely corn snake named Cornelius. He was soft and a darling red color.
There was one area where there was a kind of observation deck. I looked out of this giant window and saw a beautiful view of the river and the mountains. Again i felt small, and I wished I could have been there longer. There was a lot of beauty in Tennessee.
I walked through a spinning door and into a spot called 'the canyon.' There were some snakes in glass boxes, and it was a large room with trees and warmth and a glass ceiling. I heard and smelt water as soon as I walked in, and this was where the otter exhibit was.
For several minutes there was only one otter swimming around, but it seemed to like the attention. It pushed off a large rock in its exhibit, and would flip over, showing its brown, fuzzy belly. Another otter joined it and they swam back and forth, diving under the water and having a lot of fun.
I kept walking, and there were different views of different tanks. Maybe you saw one tank from above, but as you kept walking you might have seen it from below. In one room I sat and watched the otters swimming underwater for a little while. They knew we were watching, so they swam by us and looked at us, then swam back up to the surface. I think otters have a lot of fun, personally.
I saw catfish as big as small children. I saw sea turtles and fish as big as my arm. The ceiling of one area was beautiful - cold color lights in thin lines, in wave patterns. The aquarium showed different types of rivers as well, from Asia to Africa to North America to South America. I saw koi and, in one area made to look like a swamp, an egret and an alligator, complete with a snapping alligator turtle.
After I was done looking at the river section, I came across the souvenir shop, and I got Mom a little clay frog and myself a stuffed sea turtle. I have decided to name it Tim The Turtle, in honor of my favorite troll, Tim Sutton.
I paid for the stuff and I went over to the Ocean building. Apparently a school was having their field trip that day. I instantly felt a little nervous, but I hid in an observation room until they had all passed by. It was like the room in the river exhibit, just a different view of the river and mountains. When I couldn't hear the flock of kids anymore, I decided to start looking around.
I first saw a little pond thing, with two sting ray on the bottom. One was brightly colored, yellow and blue.
Next thing I saw were two beautiful macaws, blue and grooming each other. I watched them for a little bit, and then I saw the touch pool.
It had shark fish and manta rays and sting rays. I took my jacket off and I put it around my waist, I put the bag down and I put my hand in the water. They were a little unsure of me, but I got to pet a couple of them, and one bumped right into me. They're so soft and so fun to watch. They look like they're floating, really. It's fun to watch them.
i knew I had to be back before six, though, so after I watched and petted them for a little bit, I went into the butterfly garden. I saw a couple of large butterflies with eyes on their wings - I think they were owl butterflies, but I'm not sure. They might not have been.
There was a window where you could see the cocoons that butterflies were emerging from. There were some still inside the window, which meant that they were young, and that they had just emerged. They were flapping their wings strongly, and they were so beautiful.
In the ocean building they had penguins, and oh man, it was so much fun. They jumped off their rocks and into the water, swimming around placidly. They practically shot out of the water when they wanted to get back onto their rocks.
There was a beautiful coral reef as well. And Jellyfish. So many jellyfish. There was one room that i went into - on the front (what you saw when you walked in if you didn't turn your head to the left and right) wall and the back wall, there were two tanks of jellyfish. On your left and right, there were mirrors. It gave the illusion of being in a hallway filled with jellyfish.
After that, I found a hallway made to look like an underwater cave. There were glass windows in the roof of it and the sides, so that you would look through and see the coral reef you saw part of before. Different perspectives everywhere. It... yeah. It was beautiful.
The ocean exhibit was smaller than the river one. I left after that, making my way back to the hotel. It was freezing, and I was cold and hungry, so I didn't waste any time.
When I came back, Grandma was still waiting in the lobby, and by this time our room was ready. So we went up to our room, and after being nearly frozen by the wind and being a little exhausted from not having much sleep and walking a lot, I collapsed on the bed and took a nap.
I woke up after about an hour of sleeping, and Grandma and I got ready to go to dinner. The restaurant was... beautiful. Black and white, and there was a vertical line of mirrors in frames on one side of the restaurant. The ceiling was high, too. We were lead to a back room and we ordered out dinner.
The shrimp cocktail was okay. The chicken de mere was... That made up for not eating at all that day. And then I had a large plate of creme brule.
Yeah.
After we left, we got in a taxi, and the driver showed us all around downtown Chattanooga. The city is beautiful at night - all light and shadows. He drove us to the art district, and that was cool.
After we got back to the hotel, I went swimming. The pool was bath water warm, and I spent a while just swimming. I looked out at the patio while I was, and I decided that when I was done I was gonna go and sit by the fire pit and read.
I went back to the hotel room and I toweled off, got dressed, blow dried my hair after I washed the chlorine off in the shower. I asked the man at the desk if he would turn the fire pit on, and he did, and I sat out there. It was quiet, and peaceful, and the fire was warm. I read my book until the fire went out.
I crept back up to the room, I shut off the TV and light, and went into bed.
I'll talk about Rock City tomorrow, when I'm awake. I've written a lot today. Now, I rest.
I am back from vacation. My hips hurt, my thighs hurt, and I'm tired. It was, to be frank, a fucking awesome trip.
I went to sleep on Wednesday, had trouble sleeping. I woke up far too early I felt, waking up around six. I was able to get dressed and get ready. I woke up, Mom and I went over to Grandma's house.
Grandma was being kind of irritating. She was being pessimistic, being all "If she doesn't arrive soon they'll miss the plane!" and I was having an awful allergy attack. I was getting upset and it was starting to show.
But Grandma O'Connor arrived eventually, and we got in Mom's car. We started the drive, and Grandma told me that we were, in fact, going on the train. Needless to say I was excited. We're having a roomette, which, if I remember the Amtrack site correctly, is going to have WiFi and beds. Oh yeah.
The morning was chilly and cold. The sky was dark, and I looked up at it and saw just clouds. I thought of it a bit like Minecraft - it looked dark, but at the same time everything seemed kind of... bright. Well, not bright, but I could see it. It was cloudy, and I was a little sleepy, but that's okay. I kept hearing 'Scarlet's Walk' in my head, repeating a couple of different lines in my head. I don't know why, but it was. I always associate that album with travel. So maybe it's not so much of a mystery.
Anyway. We arrived at the airport, and we got a wheelchair. I went through the TSA quickly, and I was pretty happy that they weren't very concerned with us. Then we started the walk properly.
The airport is very, very pretty. Bright and shiny, and we walked past the fountain. The fountain looks like a black disk that shoots streams of water into the air. They arc and then fall, and it's fun to watch. The water is dancing. We went down an elevator and through the tunnel I'd heard about before.
It plays soft, techno music that soothes more than excites. The tunnel is blue and pink, but it changed colors the entire time. It felt... like magic, really.
So after a little bit more, we came to the terminal. I ended up walking along people movers, since the man pushing Grandma in the wheelchair was walking quickly. There were bars and such along the way, and I kept looking at them and trying to remember them, thinking 'okay, that's that place's name, maybe that character works there.' as I was. I'll check out the airport website again before I make my decision.
The gate was small. I was surprised - it was a cute little terminal, and I was excited. I found out why it was such a small gate - it was for a small plane.
I didn't get much of a view, since it was a rainy day and there was a lot of cloud cover. I was also exhausted. I fell asleep on Grandma's shoulder, and I had minecraft related dreams. When my ears started to pop, I woke up, and we were landing. The plane ride was only supposed to be about an hour or more, so it wasn't too surprising.
We got off and we got into the airport - it was possibly the smallest airport I've ever been in. It had a kind of pink paint job done to the inside of it, and it was interesting. So we went on our way, and we got into a nice cab.
When we left the airport and got onto the highway, I saw them.
Mountains. Mountains everywhere.
I kept looking out the windows, just amazed. Michigan is... flat. Ohio is flat. These were beautiful, regal mountains, covered in trees and I felt so, so small looking at them.
We made our way to the hotel, and the cab driver told us that that's where the place we would be eating at was, and he pointed to the aquarium, which we were literally only a block away from. I started grinning, already excited. I couldn't wait.
Grandma and I entered the hotel, and it was... beautiful. There was a nice little restaurant/lobby thing, and an outdoor patio with a fire pit and chairs to relax on. There was a little area where you could get drinks and snacks if the restaurant wasn't open. I managed to find the pool, and I decided that later on, after Grandma and I went to dinner, I'd go swimming.
The staff told us that our room wasn't ready just yet. I asked Grandma if she would be okay by herself, and she said yes, just go and enjoy myself. I left my purse with her but took my wallet and my phone with me.
it was cold and windy out. I tried to walk as quickly as I could, and I had to be careful crossing the street a couple of times. But I made my way to the aquarium, I found the place where I paid for tickets, I paid my fair, and I went in.
I started out with the river section first. It showed the 'backyard biomes' where little kids could see things like snakes and bugs. I got to pet a lovely corn snake named Cornelius. He was soft and a darling red color.
There was one area where there was a kind of observation deck. I looked out of this giant window and saw a beautiful view of the river and the mountains. Again i felt small, and I wished I could have been there longer. There was a lot of beauty in Tennessee.
I walked through a spinning door and into a spot called 'the canyon.' There were some snakes in glass boxes, and it was a large room with trees and warmth and a glass ceiling. I heard and smelt water as soon as I walked in, and this was where the otter exhibit was.
For several minutes there was only one otter swimming around, but it seemed to like the attention. It pushed off a large rock in its exhibit, and would flip over, showing its brown, fuzzy belly. Another otter joined it and they swam back and forth, diving under the water and having a lot of fun.
I kept walking, and there were different views of different tanks. Maybe you saw one tank from above, but as you kept walking you might have seen it from below. In one room I sat and watched the otters swimming underwater for a little while. They knew we were watching, so they swam by us and looked at us, then swam back up to the surface. I think otters have a lot of fun, personally.
I saw catfish as big as small children. I saw sea turtles and fish as big as my arm. The ceiling of one area was beautiful - cold color lights in thin lines, in wave patterns. The aquarium showed different types of rivers as well, from Asia to Africa to North America to South America. I saw koi and, in one area made to look like a swamp, an egret and an alligator, complete with a snapping alligator turtle.
After I was done looking at the river section, I came across the souvenir shop, and I got Mom a little clay frog and myself a stuffed sea turtle. I have decided to name it Tim The Turtle, in honor of my favorite troll, Tim Sutton.
I paid for the stuff and I went over to the Ocean building. Apparently a school was having their field trip that day. I instantly felt a little nervous, but I hid in an observation room until they had all passed by. It was like the room in the river exhibit, just a different view of the river and mountains. When I couldn't hear the flock of kids anymore, I decided to start looking around.
I first saw a little pond thing, with two sting ray on the bottom. One was brightly colored, yellow and blue.
Next thing I saw were two beautiful macaws, blue and grooming each other. I watched them for a little bit, and then I saw the touch pool.
It had shark fish and manta rays and sting rays. I took my jacket off and I put it around my waist, I put the bag down and I put my hand in the water. They were a little unsure of me, but I got to pet a couple of them, and one bumped right into me. They're so soft and so fun to watch. They look like they're floating, really. It's fun to watch them.
i knew I had to be back before six, though, so after I watched and petted them for a little bit, I went into the butterfly garden. I saw a couple of large butterflies with eyes on their wings - I think they were owl butterflies, but I'm not sure. They might not have been.
There was a window where you could see the cocoons that butterflies were emerging from. There were some still inside the window, which meant that they were young, and that they had just emerged. They were flapping their wings strongly, and they were so beautiful.
In the ocean building they had penguins, and oh man, it was so much fun. They jumped off their rocks and into the water, swimming around placidly. They practically shot out of the water when they wanted to get back onto their rocks.
There was a beautiful coral reef as well. And Jellyfish. So many jellyfish. There was one room that i went into - on the front (what you saw when you walked in if you didn't turn your head to the left and right) wall and the back wall, there were two tanks of jellyfish. On your left and right, there were mirrors. It gave the illusion of being in a hallway filled with jellyfish.
After that, I found a hallway made to look like an underwater cave. There were glass windows in the roof of it and the sides, so that you would look through and see the coral reef you saw part of before. Different perspectives everywhere. It... yeah. It was beautiful.
The ocean exhibit was smaller than the river one. I left after that, making my way back to the hotel. It was freezing, and I was cold and hungry, so I didn't waste any time.
When I came back, Grandma was still waiting in the lobby, and by this time our room was ready. So we went up to our room, and after being nearly frozen by the wind and being a little exhausted from not having much sleep and walking a lot, I collapsed on the bed and took a nap.
I woke up after about an hour of sleeping, and Grandma and I got ready to go to dinner. The restaurant was... beautiful. Black and white, and there was a vertical line of mirrors in frames on one side of the restaurant. The ceiling was high, too. We were lead to a back room and we ordered out dinner.
The shrimp cocktail was okay. The chicken de mere was... That made up for not eating at all that day. And then I had a large plate of creme brule.
Yeah.
After we left, we got in a taxi, and the driver showed us all around downtown Chattanooga. The city is beautiful at night - all light and shadows. He drove us to the art district, and that was cool.
After we got back to the hotel, I went swimming. The pool was bath water warm, and I spent a while just swimming. I looked out at the patio while I was, and I decided that when I was done I was gonna go and sit by the fire pit and read.
I went back to the hotel room and I toweled off, got dressed, blow dried my hair after I washed the chlorine off in the shower. I asked the man at the desk if he would turn the fire pit on, and he did, and I sat out there. It was quiet, and peaceful, and the fire was warm. I read my book until the fire went out.
I crept back up to the room, I shut off the TV and light, and went into bed.
I'll talk about Rock City tomorrow, when I'm awake. I've written a lot today. Now, I rest.