The Los Angeles County Arboretum
Our Canon PowerShot bit the dust, so I was at a botanical garden without an actual camera - something similar to torture. To say I like to take a lot of pictures of flowers and stuff is a bit of an understatement. But it turns out there was a lot less flowers and a lot more bark at the Los Angeles County Arboretum. Due to major damage caused by a wind storm in November, most of that bark was either lying on the ground or being sawed into smaller pieces and cleaned up. There were still things to see, so I was forced to capture nature with my smartphone camera. You can judge the results for yourself. Universal's Islands of Adventure
To cap off an incredibly short trip to the Sunshine State, I chose to spend as much time as possible at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Joining me were Erik and Misty of Erik & Smisty's Florida Oddventures and Erik & Misty's Smoky Mountain Adventures fame. Erik and I go way back, back to the days of the Haunted Shack, but that's a whole other story. This update is about Florida. We also took a brief tour of SeaWorld, but don't ask me why that's not in this update. Just enjoy these pictures because it takes me forever to organize photos, OK? Halloween Horror Nights Orlando
This was my fourth year at Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, and I'm admittedly a huge fan of what Universal puts together every single October. The detail and scale of their attractions pretty much beats every single Halloween event out there. Whether it's actually scary or not is something else, which brings me to 2011. Something was a little off this year. The mazes fell generally into three categories: Scary and amazing to look at, amazing to look at but not really scary, and pretty terrible and not scary. Thankfully, only a couple of mazes fell into that last category, but so many fell into the second that I was disappointed. Georgia Aquarium
Landlocked Atlanta is one of the most unlikely places to find the world’s largest aquarium, but that’s where it is, nestled between the World of Coca-Cola and a Legal Sea Foods restaurant. I was actually really hesitant to go because my last photo trip involved an aquarium and I was really hoping to visit the botanical gardens. But crappy weather and a handful of recommendations persuaded me to go the aquarium instead. It was worth it, with the high cost of admission being my only complaint. In fact, it blows every other aquarium I’ve been to out of the water. Aquarium of the Pacific
While I enjoy visiting Southern California's many theme parks, the week between Christmas and New Year's Day is the absolute worst time to go. This year I decided to pay a visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. I realize some people out there have objections to aquariums and zoos, but I don't agree with many of their arguments (as long as the facilities are properly maintained). A lot of great work and research come out of aquariums and zoos, and it's a great opportunity to see and learn about many species that we'd otherwise never experience in our day-to-day activities. |
@thegeekticket: I know, the term is "cat guardian," not "owner." But "cat guardians" sounds like a series of young adult novels. #MyCatFromHell @thegeekticket: Maybe these cats would be in better moods if their owners didn't give them stupid names. Mr. Fluff? Penny Lane? #MyCatFromHell @thegeekticket: A show called "My Cat From Hell" is playing all day on Animal Planet. I discovered my cats are definitely not from Hell. Maybe Fontana... |
