My Fan Girl Moment

Time to lighten things up on this blog!

I have to share my true (completely unexpected) Fan Girl moment from our Disney World Trip.

We started our Walt Disney World portion of our trip my all-time favorite way - with a Character Breakfast before park opening, in the Animal Kingdom park. The very first time I saw the Tree of Life in 1999, with no one in front of it, first thing in the morning, it took my breath away. In fact, I teared up...and I still do. The 145 foot tall, 50 foot wide tree is covered in 325 hand carved animals. It's a true work of art that brings to life the magical way every life is interconnected. No matter what you think of theme parks, this is worth the price of admission alone in my book... but I digress. Those moments of  awe were completely expected, but it was amazing to share that same emotion with My Sailor for the first time. He 'got it' before we arrived when I told him about what it was like, but now he 'get it' in a whole new way.

 

And if you think my Fan Girl moment happened the first time we met the main Mouse himself, you'd again, be wrong. Yes, I love meeting the big cheese in the fuzz, and decked out in his explorer gear is a highlight, but it wasn't the 'gasp!' moment that I didn't see coming. Oh - I still gasped, but it was complete predictable.



Taken by My Sailor while in line for Everest

 It actually happend while we were in line for a favorite Animal Kingdom attraction - Everest.

Everest is what it looks like - a roller coaster. The tallest mountain in Florida, the view from the top is amazing. But Disney is known for their stories and their attention to detail. The line for this attraction is no exception to this.

View from the top of Everest

 The line for Everest casts riders as adventurers on an Expedition to climb Mount Everest. The line takes rides past prayer flags, altars, and other bits and peices of amazing artwork.

Deeper into the "Yeti Museum" there are remains of gear from other climbers who were stricken by the fearsome yeti. There are photos of animals that live in the area and bits and peices of evidence of a yeti found throughout time. The cross over between the real world and fiction makes it decidedly believeable.
  Now I've been in this line before. In fact, before my Fan Girl moment, I'd been on that line at least 6 times.
 But this time, I spotted this....

The Famous Yeti Footprint

  Now, you may not know who this is and may be chuckling at the yeti footprint, but this is someone I would LOVE to be my travel guide someday. This, dear readers, is Josh Gates.
Before you ask that crazy question, "Who is Josh Gates?" Let me educate you. Josh Gates basically has one of my dream jobs. He's a professional adventurer. I first became aware of his adventures when I discovered Destination Truth.  Basically, he travels all over the world looking for the truth behind mythical beasts, like the Yeti. On his journeys, he experiences local cultures and takes their legends and myths seriously as the Destination Truth team has a great time - and finds the truth behind some of these as things. (I honestly don't believe humans have discovered every creature there is to discover on earth, so I'm glad things like this show are around to keep our egos in check.)

NOW THAT YOU'RE ALL UP TO SPEED....

When I first spotted my favorite travel guide my face was something like this coupled by a girlish "ee!" of excitment that doesn't come out of my mouth often... if ever. I've met a few celebrities before and I'm not the type to drool all over myself, scream, cry, wet myself, jump up and down, etc.

I actually remember the episode where Josh found this footprint. A few Designation Truth episodes happily reside on my ipod for when I travel.

Thanks again, Disney for combining 4 of my favorite things - Josh Gates/Destination Truth, Travel, a great story, and My Sailor.

Too bad he's in the Navy! Otherwise we'd strap on our backpacks and see if Destination Truth needs a hand!

For now, I'll have to settle for whatever truth Odin and Clydas sniff out.