Cumberland, Caverns, & Crazy Street Names

Okay, let me pick back up where I stopped in my last post.
I went to Dave & Buster's on Monday at the Providence Place Mall in Providence, RI. It was so much fun - I had parmesan chicken alfredo, which was yummy, then played in the game room with my dad and brother (my mom was helping back at my aunt's house). I played a lot on the Cyclone game, which is the one where the light goes around and you try to press the button and make the light stop in between the two bars. I won it 5 times, which gets you, depending on the machine, up to 300 tickets. With our combined total of about 5,000 tickets, I got a teddy bear and a pair of black shorts with the pink "D&B" logo on them. Later that night, we had burgers and watched Push, which was really neat.
We left Cumberland, RI the next day, stopping at Roadside America in the afternoon. It was great to see it again because the first time I went, I was too young to read the brochure telling what style the house was, or what this building was modeled after, or how long it took to handpaint the stained glass windows for the church. We drove further up the road until we got into Virginia, where we stopped at a town called New Market, which was the site of a battle in the Civil War. We ate dinner at this diner called the Southern Kitchen, where they had little jukeboxes mounted to the walls by each of the booths, which my dad tried out (I think he played "Soul Man"). At the hotel, I got a Shenandoah Valley t-shirt, blue, of course, which was really soft. And being that it was the site of a Civil War battle, the street names were: Cadet Rd., Congress St., Dixie Ln., Stuart St., Stonewall St., Lee St., Confederate St..
So this morning, we went to Luray Caverns, which was really neat. We took a self-guided audio tour through the mile-and-a-quarter section of the cavern. I loved it! Then, we spent the next 4.5 hours in the car, and we finally got home at around 5:00. We just had Chinese food for dinner, and now I'm really exhausted...

My Trip So Far

So I'm at my aunt's right now on her computer since my phone won't let me see the whole page at once cuz it's such a small screen. But anyway, I've been having lots of fun!
The drive up was not that bad, although we did hit traffic in Pennsylvania (I think). We moved like nine miles in just over an hour, the reason being that a truck tipped over. I figured out that we were driving the same way (maybe the same highway) that everyone else went through on the field trip. I saw all kinds of signs for Civil War stuff - Stonewall Jackson's headquarters, Harpers Ferry, Antietam, and Gettysburg.
Spending time with my three cousins (all boys - the oldest is a year younger than me) was so cool. I went to Blake's baseball game, and they won! I watched a Yankees game with Brian, and Adam and I talked non-stop. Their friend, Michael, was staying over, and he was pretty nice. And of course, my aunt and uncle were awesome.
Now, I'm at our other stop on this trip - my aunt and uncle's place in Rhode Island. Their new baby, Ava, is so adorable! (Their place is about three hours away from my aunt's in New York.) We're going to have dinner in a little while, then tomorrow we may go to Dave & Buster's, a game room/restaurant place similar to Wilson's from the sixth grade field trip.
Anyway, I'm really tired right now - I've been staying up pretty late these past few nights and have been getting up early, too. Don't know if I'll post tomorrow or not; it will depend on what we're doing and if I get any free time. Adios!

Pre-Trip Post

So I'm leaving in about six hours (so when you read this, I'll already be on the road). I'm still not totally packed - I need to put all my essentials for the car into a tote bag. And pack my toiletries and my pool stuff (both my aunts have pools close by) and feed Ella before I leave. I'm taking lots of magazines, as well as a 600-page book, an iPod, my Nintendo DS and a portable DVD player, which I know sounds like a lot, but when you consider that I'll be in the car 28 hours round-trip, it doesn't seem as bad.

In other news, my dad got a job, after being out of work for over a year and a half. His new position is the events coordinator for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. We went out to dinner at Applebee's tonight, supposedly because my dad didn't want to dirty the dishes and have to wash them before we left. So we get our food, and he says, "We're not just here so we don't have to wash dishes later. I got a job and figured we should celebrate." And it was surprise to all of us - even my mom didn't know. Apparently the lady who was doing the interviews called this morning and said he had been unanimously approved by the board he had been interviewed in front of only a few days ago. So we're all in good spirits tonight for that reason.

Anyway, just thought I'd post something before I left. I may use the computer at my aunt's house to post something, or I may see if I can do it through my phone. I'll see you guys when I get back!

Trip Info & Other News

Okay, so as I promised, here's the details of the trip:
Friday - leave home at around 7 am, drive 10.5+ hours to NY (my aunt, uncle, and their three boys), get in around 7 pm
Saturday - at their house
Sunday - leave for RI in the morning, a 3.5 hour drive from NY, arrive in the early afternoon
Monday - with my aunt, uncle, and their new baby
Tuesday - leave RI, drive about halfway back to Winston, stop and spend the night in a hotel
Wednesday - drive the rest of the way home [We'll be stopping at Roadside America on the way back; I don't know whether it will be Tues. or Wed.]

I won't have my laptop with me, as I really won't need it. I will have my cell phone though, so feel free to call or text me whenever. I'll probably be updating Facebook, as I can easily access it on my phone, so check there for updates on where I am, what I'm doing, etc.

In other news, I went to the orthodontist a few days ago, as an "emergency" appointment. I had been biting down on some stupid contraption they put in on my bottom front brackets, so they removed it. I can't wait for August 4th - I may get them off then! [Okay, I'm too excited - anything can happen...]

New clothes - I bought two new pairs of sandals, since I had practically worn out the ones I had been wearing (they were actually from last summer). One pair is black, the other is white with multi-colored dots. And I'm waiting on a shirt to arrive from Forever 21 (scheduled to be delivered tomorrow [Thursday]), which I'm using as a pajama top; I bought shorts at Deb to wear with them. And I finally bought some denim shorts - yep, I finally fit into a size zero! I was so tired of shopping for shorts in the kids section, cuz I hate all the designs they put on them.

So anyway, I'll probably post something tomorrow night before I leave, but for now, that's all I have to say...

What I Did Today

So this is what I did today...
Went to Enchanted Cottage (scrapbooking store) with my mom and brother - my mom was looking for some embellishments for a scrapbook she's making for my new cousin, I bought some stickers and some Little Mermaid paper and stickers cuz I want to do a page using some of the pics Sylvia posted on Facebook.
Had lunch at North Point Grill (again, with my mom and bro). Ordered the fried flounder, as usual, and it was good.
Went to Carmike to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I'd never read the book, but I had a good idea of what was happening. Good movie overall, just a little longer than it needed to be...
Got home and watched Night at the Museum on tv, which even after I've seen it 4 or 5 times, is still as funny as it was when I first saw it. (Can't wait for the second one to come out on DVD cuz I'm definitely buying it, along with the first one...)

It has been really quiet at the house this week. My mom's been at work (except for today), dad's doing some construction work for a friend of his, and my bro's been staying up all night and sleeping through the day - although he's asleep right now cuz my parents made him stay up all day so he could get back into his normal sleep cycle for our trip to NY and RI on Friday. [More about the trip in the next post I decide to write either tomorrow (Wed.) night or during the day on Thurs.]

Randomness!

Just got back from the mall - I had so much fun. Sylvia makes it so funny! So I had lunch at the food court, and as usual, Chick-Fil-A was good. The only other thing I bought was a mint chocolate chip truffle from Godiva, which is weird for me because I can usually find something to buy at the mall. But I'll be going back with my mom on Thurs. because I need shorts and a set of pjs.
As for the rest of my day, I've been updating my Facebook account and listening to music. I think I may read a little today - I started Killer (the sixth Pretty Little Liars book) last night. I'm glad it's only 350 pages and in large print, as I just read 612 pages of small font in only 4 days... haha, that shows how much I've been doing (or haven't been doing) this summer. I think this is the most I've read in one summer, and it's only been about a month and a half!
So anyway, I'm going to see my new cousin in a little over a week - we're going to stop in New York to see my aunt, uncle, and three of my cousins (all boys) before heading up to Rhode Island to see my aunt, uncle, and their new baby girl. I think we're going to stop at Roadside America on the way back, which, for those of you who don't know, is a roadside attraction where they have a whole mini town set up and there are moving things like trains and ski lifts and every half hour or so, they dim the lights and you watch all the lights in the town fade, while listening to patriotic music. It's a really neat place (I've been there once before).
But for now, I'm at home just about all the time, bored, but always seeming to find something to do...

Early Riser

My first thought this morning at 7:45 was "why did I wake up this early"? And of course, I don't have an answer because logic would tell me that since I stayed up until 1:30 am, I should wake up when I normally do, around 11 am. But whatever...
The past week has been extremely boring. My only highlight was finishing a 355-page book in 4 days, something I don't think I've ever done before. My mom is supposed to take me to Kohl's tomorrow - I need another pair of shorts, as well as a new set of pajamas, since I've been wearing my longsleeve set for way too long.
Nothing much else to write about...my mom is going over to Whistlestop to man the store, my brother's going with her, and my dad is going golfing with my uncle and some of my uncle's friends later today. Then we're all heading to my aunt & uncle's house for a cookout tonight.
So yeah, I'm kinda bored...obviously.