"...Buenos dias, Guten tag, ni hao, As-salam ʿleykum, Bon Giorno....can we leave now?"
....it is ever-so-evident that my family [myself excluded] is not a fan of World Showcase, which probably explains two things:
1) once Dylan skee-daddled, he became M.I.A. and refused to answer his cell phone
2) the further into World Showcase we traversed, the faster the pace became, both knees screaming from the ever-increasing burn, until eventually Mexico, Norway, China, and even Italy became a blur.
Whenever we are in the World Showcase section of Epcot, inevitably my family makes a beeline for the other side of the lake, leaving as short as possible trail in their wake. My poor knees can only take so much. I have to laugh internally, amazed at the lack of eye contact they make with the passersby AND CMs alike, usually failing to stop and enjoy all that these 'faraway lands' have to offer. I dare say that none of them have ever stopped to delight in some of World Showcase's simpler pleasures, like Churros in Mexico or a Grand Marnier Grey Goose Orange Slush in France, or a Cloudberry Horn in Norway, or even a Shwarma platter in Morocco, but hey, that's THEIR loss. Unfortuantely, it's mine as well, since it does not bode well that I lag behind.
Well, we were headed towards The American Pavilion, upon my insistance, of course, since we've never even ventured into its lobby, let alone the attraction. Eventually, my persistance paid off - Dylan answered his cell phone after only ten or eleven tries - and we agreed to wait for him near the fountain that graces the front of
The American Adventure.....as he approached us, my mind [so I thought] was playing tricks on me, when I suddenly exclaimed to myself,
"What the....??" Dylan apparently made more than a bathroom pit-stop [does he have secret aspirations to be 'like Mike'? I certainly HOPE NOT!]:
...the show was pleasant enough, taking us on a journey through some of the high [and low] points of American History. At the very least, we did get a chance to sit and relax, and it WAS air-conditioned. Upon the end of the show, we quickly hurried through the nearest exit and continued around the lake, making our way through Morocco and the Casbah:
...pausing in France to enjoy some of the characters that meandered into the area:
....I did have other photos, which included the likes of several
Aristocats to offer, but they are forever stuck in the hidden recesses of my [now defunct] old cell phone....if anyone is a self-proclaimed 'tecchie', perhaps they can figure out how I can retrieve those lost moments in time....I should be quick to point out that most of the buttons are now non-functioning, which forced me to unexpectedly hurry out to purchase a new phone in the first place....
....we eventually made our way back to Futureworld, once again meeting up with Jean and Maureen, who decided to take a photo of Dylan as well:
....we were situated under the breezeway between Innoventions East (or mebbe it was West - I never fail to get those two mixed up...) and Epcot Character Spot, watching the stressed-filled moms and dads [and brood] trying to patiently wait their turn to spend a moment or two with their childrens' favorite characters, while we merely sat on the other side of the glass wall, luckily separating US from the screaming herds of unhappy tots [boy, oh boy, this is certainly one of those times when I don't miss THOSE days]:
[...okay now, this is creepy - is she stalking me?]
....and continued on, just in time to catch the tail end of the 'musicianship' of those awesome Jammiter dudes:
....before quickly turning around to catch a glimpse of the antics of Dylan's beloved Chip and Dale, but first, a little side-story. As we sat on our bench and people-watched until we finally decided that we were going to ride
Living With the Land, we noticed the ever-growing queue to catch a photo with those adorable furry friends. However, Dylan is no longer interested in that sort of thing, albeit they are still his favorite characters. I took it upon myself to nicely ask the assisting CMs if I could just snap a quick shot of them, sans humans, and they were so obliging. Since it took mere seconds, the line of people didn't really notice the short, unobtrusive delay:
....we followed the distinct aroma of hot cocoa and hurried towards
Living With the Land one last time...
[...continued on Page 76 - Post #1139...]