236: The Cartoon Episode
How appropriate that our 10K Bae, Billy Flanigan is giving the magic word of CARTOON this week, as years ago, he told me while we were running side-by-side on treadmills, that I ran just like a cartoon. Yup! We still laugh about it today, decades later!
Also, I spent 10 months living in Lancaster, PA, where Alison spent her 10K this week, so let’s see if she pronounces it correctly! (nope:) They are VERY particular with the way it’s said, just like Louisville!
Alison is obsessed with the DASH Rapid Egg Maker Lulu bought her! And she’s especially obsessed with the ‘poke it first’ recommendation! Personally, I can’t do eggs, but, I’ll happily ‘egg’ you both on with this healthy treat! (insert respectful gag reflex)
Doing a stage show without your glasses can be problematic and even more so, tough going safely from light to dark quickly on/off stage! But, now armed with her newest prescription since the pandemic began, Lulu is obsessed with her new contacts!
This is a true 10K wishlist item! This is a board like train stations use to tell you the train info, but this one you can program to say whatever you want! You just have to drop $3000! No big deal on a 10K day!
This being a super hot summer no matter where you are, Alison wishes she liked wearing shorts. I’m with you, Alison…less sweaty bits showing is the way for me too!
Sometimes these two besties are freakishly similar with their days but this week, not so much! It’s a great ‘opposite ends of the spectrum’ 10K kinda day! And I love it! This week, Alison chose Lancaster, PA, where she would be able to bring her daughter and pals to enjoy the Cartoon Network Hotel. Now, this was definitely not there when I lived in Lancaster in 2000/2001. (click the word for the proper pronunciation) During the 10 months I lived there, I enjoyed the reasonably priced and incredibly fresh produce from the Amish roadside stands, drank beer surrounded by young Amish men at the YP (Your Place) bar, famous for the YP Stromboli and learned way too many disheartening and unsavory things about the Amish community. But, I’ll keep all that info under my modest grey bonnet for now.
The Cartoon Network Hotel features six Cartoon Network series: The Amazing World of Gumball, Adventure Time, Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls, Steven Universe and We Bare Bears where Alison & the girls stayed in the Power Puff and The Amazing World of Gumball suites. She also added tickets to Dutch Wonderland, which was “Awarded the Amusement Today Golden Ticket for Best Family Park of 2021. Dutch Wonderland Family Amusement Park is located directly next door to the hotel and features over 35 family-friendly rides, attractions and shows!” I do remember driving past that small theme park every day and all the locals just adored it.
Always a teacher, Alison wanted the young ladies to learn a bit about the Amish way of life. So, they went on the Unique Amish Emersion Experience. “You’ll visit a working farm and will meet a local Amish family, will drive through miles of scenic countryside, will visit an Amish-owned creamery for ice cream, and much more.” I’m holding back all the info and stories I know about the seemingly quaint and idyllic Amish life, so if you are curious, do some google digging and read for yourself about the many unsavory realities behind the Amish community. Alison wanted to make sure that the girls weren’t wearing their usual crop tops and short shorts in front of the Amish, so she ordered the some modest dresses on Etsy.
Dinner was at the Cartoon Network Kitchen where they enjoyed a themed dining experience in a Dream Cube where they got to laugh and sing along to classic cartoons as they ate. I wonder if dinner included any scrapple? For a goetta-loving Ohio girl, it’s not too much of a leap with its basic recipe of fat, meal or seed and spices. Try it! You might like it!
Another staple of the Lancaster experience is the Turkey Hill, somewhat similar to a 7-11 where you can get gas/snacks and drinks but a bit more like United Dairy Farmers where you can also get ice-cream. I actually went to a couple Turkey Hills where you could also get fresh bait. So, there’s that! And, although I’m not a sweet tea drinker, I think Lancaster natives would want Lulu and Alison to add TH Sweet Tea to their ‘Who has the best Sweet Tea’ competition. But, Alison took the young ladies to the Turkey Hill Experience. “The Turkey Hill Experience features interactive exhibits allowing you to learn about dairy culture, the story of Turkey Hill Dairy, and how the company's ice cream and iced tea flavors are selected and created.”
Not that you asked, but fun fact about buying booze in PA: To get beer, you go to a Beer Depot where you buy in bulk. Or you can buy up to 2 6-packs on one check at a bar from the bartender. If you want more than that, you have to close out the check, take it out to your car and come back to do it all over again. Not that I ever did that…but… Oh, yeah, and you can’t buy beer/wine at the Turkey Hill. Wine and liquor is available at Liquor/Spirit stores. The more you know!
This 10K day closed out at the Wolf Sanctuary of PA for their Full Moon Fundraiser! It featured a bonfire (weather permitting), live entertainment and guided tours. The guides provide information on the sanctuary wolves, facts and info about wolf conservation and biology. Well prepared for a cooler night, she brought Yeti blankets, flashlights, and Cliq Products bottle-sized chairs for her and the ladies for this incredible experience.
What’s the birthplace of Nevada, you ask? Well, Dayton, Nevada is the answer! Lulu was inspired by the Looney Tunes Roadrunner Rules for this Cartoon Episode and swiftly found out that it’s not easy to drop 10K in Dayton, NV so she stayed in a 7-acre estate Airbnb, decked out with an arcade, pool table, gourmet kitchen, grill, whirlpool spa, and it’s five minutes to the beach. (“The Glenwood” near Lake Tahoe)
For this trip, she flew Alison from Tampa, 1st class and they enjoyed a breakfast of eggs flown in from Acme Fresh Markets cooked in a Demeyere Atlantis Collection 5.5 qt sauce pot with lid and seasoned with some Acme Superior Salt Mix. After all that eggy goodness, Lulu decided to take a nappy poo in her new (ACME) Rosia Velvet recliner with cup holder from Walmart. Sure that she’ll need to recover from napping in the recliner, Lulu decided to get an Acme Locomotive Whistle that she could use to summon Alison to help her to the couch. But, alas, Alison didn’t hear it as she had gone sight-seeing in the quaint downtown area of Dayton, the gold rush town claiming the 1st sight of gold in Nevada. Feeling better, Lulu decided to order an Uber to go find Alison downtown so they could go to lunch, but the car she thought she ordered was actually a (Acme) 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle The Anvil 502 Big Block Die-cast model. Just another great theming of the Roadrunner, right?? Get it, the ANVIL!? Love it!
Lunch with Alison was at The RoadRunner Cafe before having to grab their passports in their Jacob McAllister personalized Louis Vuitton Passport Covers in monogram canvas for a unique adventure to visit the Republic of Molossia, “a micro-nation, entity that claims to be an independent state but whose sovereignty is not recognized by the international community. Micro-nations are distinct from micro-states, such as Liechtenstein or Vatican City, whose sovereignty over extremely small territories and populations is internationally recognized.” You can watch the documentary, A Tiny Spark, which explains about the man who created this republic of his own.
Most of the time, I am ALL IN for the food Lulu chooses, but this day I am a HARD OUT with all this egg eating! Yipes! They finished off the rest of the 18 eggs she flew in with their lunch leftovers. I think I’d pop over to The Republic of Molossia to see what unique meals they have exclusive to their region. Heck, I’d pick pork rinds over eggs any day!
Alison is now amongst the ranks of us fun ladies beyond our ‘ingenue’ years!! She just turned 40 and she is happy about her super fun (almost) surprise birthday party! Good going, friends and family!
Lulu is happy she just realized she likes frozen yogurt bars. She has always wished they were ice cream, but looks like she’s crossed the threshold of yogurt/ice cream life! Those froyo bars take me back to the 80’s, y’all!
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