The Trippining part nine: sweet endings

Today we head back to Michigan. I'm feeling much better after last night's bout with dehydration, so there's a small bright side. yaaaay.

FiL made us home made waffles for breakfast. Mmm. No pictures. Those things are loooooong gone.

Not sure if we're gonna do anything before heading to the airport. We're supposed to get back at 11:30pm tonight. So...that's fun.

-

Spoiler alert: we got home safe and sound. I took a few parting pictures.

Some final shots on the drive to the airport:

Not many people leaving on our flight:

Mid-flight action!

A so-so dinner during our layover at Atlanta. The shrimp-burger patty was fine, but the buns were awful.

Some evening action shots, courtesy Bahamute:

All in all, it was a fantastic, much-needed trip. I'll miss all my amazing family in FL, but I am happy to be home.

The Trippining, part Eight: Surprise surprise

So, I'm up for some mystery thing FiL planned. All I know is that we're getting breakfast afterwards. I'll fill you all in as soon as I know. Or rather, as soon as I get home, write, and post it tomorrow.

-

It was a trip to the salon for a mani-pedi! :D

I also got my eyebrows waxed.

Now, back to the house to nosh, and relax.

-

Pizza night! Our aunt made so many home made pizzas, guys.

This wasn't even ALL the pizzas! It was crazy.

I got a little dehydrated (we party hard here), and Bahamute took me home early. I managed to drink a lot of water, and stay awake just long enough to watch the 1st new episode of MST3K.

Now to get ready for tomorrow, when we fly home. :(

The Trippining part six and seven; taking a break

I went into ultra-relaxed mode the last two days, so they'll both be in one post.

Wednesday we went to the beach! It was beautiful, but the rip-tides kept us from swimming. Still got some color. Now I'm off-white!

Found a lizard clinging to the beach chairs. Later spotted another one in the car. Good thing I'm not afraid.

-

We played trivia at the club that night, and came in 2nd. It rained, and I saw some local fauna.

-

Yesterday, we did NOTHING. It was glorious. We had dinner/karaoke at the tiki bar.

It was a beautiful night.

Today is our last full day, and it'll be a family pizza night. So happy I've finally gotten some real rest.

The Trippening part five; that's entertainment

FiL made us a huge breakfast of bacon, gravy, eggs, hash browns, and drop biscuits. But  no worries, we're gonna work all that off by immediately going to the movies with the family.

-

Look at this cool display the theater had:

And yes, I liked the movie.

We saw Going in Style, a really funny bank-heist movie, and (apparently) a remake.  Would recommend to anyone who enjoys Freeman, Caine, or Arkin.

After the movie we had lunch at Jason's deli. Now, I come from a long line of people who can be particular about delis, but this one was very nice. And you got complimentary ice cream!

A very accurate portayal of my caprese panini.

I'm resting a bit now, before tacos and trivia night at the local clubhouse with the family.

-

Minor/major no-vacation note here: yes, the press secretary is a Nazi. Yes, he needs to be fired. No, I don't think he will be. I'm so tired of posting about how I'm terrified for my friends and family. I'm no less terrified, but I can't spend every moment screaming. There are memes I could add here for visual appeal, but fuck that, I'm not about to let this be a joke.

And yes, this happened on the first day of Passover. Seems like we need a modified end to the prayer.

"Praise to You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe, for giving us life, for sustaining us, and for enabling us to reach this season.

...for we may not reach another.

Happy Passover.

Okay, back to the family fun. Promise.

-

Another night spent at karaoke, with friends, family, and tacos.

Specifically these tacos, Mmm.

It was a great day.

Florida, the Trippening part 4: Lazy Monday

After a pleasant evening spent singing karaoke, drinking, and watching Gods of Egypt, I woke feeling refreshed. Today we're having breakfast at a local diner, the 2002.

-
Breakfast was great. It was followed by golf-karting around the neighborhood, vising relatives. I saw some hornets, a mostly dead roach, and a cat.

Not this cat, but it was strikingly similar.

-
Lunch time! We're getting seafood at The Thirsty Clam.

Mmm, so many great choices:

A festive tiki-post on the patio watched us eat.

This was the remains of my Country Boil. I would have taken pictures before, but I didn't.

There was a parrot sanctuary next door:

We left full, and very happy.

-

Evening fun! Music Bingo, where they play a little of a song, then tell you the name in case you don't know it (like I didn't with many).

Bahamute took a mid-game...gaming break.

I got a little bored at times and drew a bunny. Bahamute thought the basket was a potato. :(

They played a few songs all the way through. Here's a group of ladies dancing to uptown funk. Seriously.

But in the end, Bahamute and I won the 'cover all' challenge!

Aaaaaand, so did all these people.

Well, we got a free drink voucher (which went happily to FiL).

And when we came home, a new frog friend greeted us!

As they say down here, just another day in paradise.

Florida, the Trippening part 3: On the Move

So, as you know, Bahamute and I were supposed to leave for Florida yesterday. Turns out Delta has canceled over 3000 flights due to either bad weather four days ago or a strike (opinions are split).

This blog will be a series of interjections as they happen (for me) so excuse the bizarre formatting. Also, for the duration of the rip, these will be posted the day after they happen, so...fyi.

Anyway, on to the observations!

-

• Waiting for our plane at the flint airport. It’s late, but I can see it coming down the runway, getting ready to discharge the passengers coming from (I presume) Atlanta.
• Taking the opportunity to enjoy the airport wifi and load some askreddit threads for later perusal. I also have rifftrax, podcasts, and books of course. Right now I’m reading The Gift of Fear, which I recommend to everyone. It’s about using common sense to stop avoidable violence. I’ve also go a book of Vietnamese fairy tales, but I’m not in the mood for fiction just now.
• I’ve also packed a few things for re-reading, I.E. The Gunslinger, and the Color of magic.

-

• Flight took off without a hitch, aside from being a little late. We have a 50 minute layover in Atlanta. Should be enough time to get to the next plane…

-

• The flight out of Atlanta went perfect. We got to Florida, ate, drank, and sang karaoke. And I saw a frog!

All in all a good day. I just wish it had been a day earlier.

Florida, the Trippening Part Two: FUCK YOU

Here's my comment on the Delta Airlines FB page, without edit.

You've stolen a day of my vacation (PTO, which I can't get back), money from the person who was going to drive us, time from the already short visit between myself and my loved ones, and all the execs can say is "recovery has not been ideal and we apologize for that"? Try recovery has been nonexistant, and your loyal customers are the ones paying. I wasn't notified of this any earlier than a couple hours before my flight (for which I got up at 3:30am), and only then because my wonderful husband McKinley checked the times. At least we're not trapped at the airport. Just in our home since we gave our car keys to a friend for the week.

If  cant tell, Delta pushed our flight back by a day due to the massive shitstorm in their Atlanta hub. Bahamute found out about this at 3am Saturday, when we had to get up for our 6am flight. It's now set for Sunday 4/9 at noon. Assuming that isn't cancelled too.

I used PTO today, and I'm not even going to be able to leave the goddamn house. Everyone always said Delta was shit, but my past trips have been great. Guess I was wrong.

Ignore the animations, its the only version I could find.

Now, to wait until a decent hour so we can disappoint Bahamute's father with the news.

Fuck you, Delta.

Florida, the Trippening Part One: Prep

My annual family trip to Florida to see my father-in-law and other Florida family is about to take off.

Hope that pun wasn't too...PLANE for you! Hahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Yes, in just a few short days I'll be flying down for fun in the sun with family and friends. You may remember a  previous trip, where I visited a zoo, collected shells, and had an awesome time.

I'm excited to write about it, but at the same time my blogs may be a bit sparser, because I'm going to be having a lot of fun. It'll also be a nice break from the ceaseless pop culture blogs of late.

I'm so excited to be somewhere warm with people I love. If something crazy happens in the world of popular culture I'm sure I'll make time for it. But recently we've already had a new movie with Harley Quinn, the return of Zim, the IT trailer dropping, Wreck-It Ralph's sequel title, and Rick and Morty's surprise premier. What more can possibly happen?

Maybe the announcement of another season? At this point, anything is possible!