Hey guys! After a (Very!) long hiatus, I finally have more to post! Between moving and working a zillion hours (26 hours at MK in the past 2 days!) Its funny- I used to be on the internet almost constantly, but now Ive lost the ability to sit still. Ive gone from someone who never goes out to someone who is never home, in a matter of weeks. Thus, the slow updates! (Case in point, the above paragraph is all that I got typed on Tuesday!) Anyway, we seem to have left off at....
Oct 29th, 2007
What can I tell you about the 29th? It rained. A lot. A whole lot. And then there was some rain.
I poked around my room for several hours, waiting for the rain, rain to go away. I watched High School Musical, I played on the internet, I read, I organized my suitcases, I gave up, said screw it, and went to Animal Kingdom anyway.
My theory was that the rain would make the park a) totally uncrowned, and b) awesome, because the animals would be active. It was fairly good in theory, except that I ended up with very squishy socks. This led to a somewhat amusing incident involving me standing in the public restroom at Animal Kingdom Lodge, attempting to dry my socks with a hair dryer, and everyone who came in looking at me as if I was crazy. Hello there! Yep, just doin a little laundry. What? No, Im not staying here
I just came for some food. And to dry my socks. The usual. Have a nice day! But Im getting ahead of myself.
As I said, after glaring at the rain for quite a few hours, I figured that being the sort who climbs the highest mountains just to get a better view, a little rain would probably not kill me.
Behold my rainy day hotness:
Nothin says sexy like an 87 cent Wal-Mart Poncho, a Mickey baseball cap, and super-frizzy hair. HOT. Not pictured: Soggy socks.
This was my I am getting rained on, but am still awesome pose, and after the photographer snapped this picture, she told me to stand normal now. The normal pose photos look incredibly stupid, because well, hello, I am rain-soaked and wearing a glorified trash bag. I am incredibly tempted to work as a part time Photopass person just to get some GOOD photos out there. There are so many fun poses you can put people in- WHY do so few photographers put in any effort?
Anyway! Im pretty sure Animal Kingdom is my favorite park, although I am pretty fickle. Its the only park that is a totally different experience every time. As much as I love Pirates of the Caribbean, for example, those rascally pirates are always going to be begging for the redhead. But if you ride the safari this morning, the male lion may be awake and alert, but this afternoon, a giraffe walks right past your vehicle. Today the gorillas are active and visible, tomorrow the tigers are going for a swim. You never know what to expect, and its all set in an incredibly lush, beautiful, exotic, art-filled setting.
Im a little bit obsessed with the random art at Animal Kingdom (DAK). Every bench, every sign, ever t-shirt rack, every last detail fits the theme. And if you look close enough, there are some incredibly clever touches.
This rack holds shirts
It looks like the researcher has just stepped away from the desk for a moment
Blurry photo, but this baobob tree constructed of drums made me giddy.
I also love that an entire section of one stores is decorated with llamas. Its like they did it just for me!
Its llama-tastic!
There are statues poking out here and there
Im also a little obsessed with African art. And my new proclivity towards taking photos of paintings I cant afford.
Important scientific thoughts seem to be thought here!
Tranquility
I LOVE it when birds model for me!
Work it, baby!
After less than an hour of sloshing around the park in fairly constant rain and very constant puddles, I got tired of wringing the water out of my socks, and decided to head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for some Zebra domes and dry socks. Of course, the only socks they had were sold in a pack for $16, and I decided it just wasnt worth it, so I went for the zebra domes instead!
Hello, my darlings!
After some dome-shaped goodness, I stopped in the restroom near the pool, hoping for a hand dryer to dry my socks with. Instead, I found that they have a hair dryer in there! Score! Unfortunately, it takes a VERY long time to dry socks with a hairdryer, so after about 10 minutes, I gave up and headed back to my own resort for some socks of the non-squishy variety.
AKL was turning into a quagmire! My socks were equally squishy.
I am a little bummed I didnt get to stay here this trip. I miss my giraffes!
(I snooped around a little again, hoping to find a Cast Member from a Swahili-speaking country to chat with, but yet again, no luck! What fun is speaking eight zillion languages if I never get to use them?)
Apparently, this is the proper place to unload your elephant!
I got back to the resort around 3:30pm, and decided to just hang out and relax until the Adv Club opened, because I was pretty much over the rain at this point. I spent some time reading and being lazy, and then left around 6:30 to catch the bus. I NEVER make it to the Club for opening, so I was looking forward to catching some of the shows I usually miss. However, Murphys law kicked in, and when I arrived right at 7pm, the person at the door informed me that there was a private party tonight, and they wouldnt be opening until 10pm. Doh!!
I wandered Downtown Disney for a while, swung by Epcot and the Beach Club, killed some time at my resort, and then went back to the club when it opened. A whole day of doing pretty much nothing had drained me of energy, though, so I only made it through about an hour before deciding to just call it a night.
(I promise the rest of the days wont be this painfully boring! I feel bad for coming back from a long break with a boring update!)
I am, however, EXHAUSTED! I just got out of Traditions at 4pm (It's now 5:30), and I really, reallllly wanted to just lay down and nap, but instead I decided to set off in search of a place with free wi-fi, so here I am! (Panera Bread neaish my house- YAY) My internet at home won't be installed till Thus, so this is my "batcave" for now. 
!!! I too have bookmarked your blog and will be following your adventure closely, and cheering for you every day 
! That and a job working at the MK, what more could a girl ask for 
!
