Flat Lily's Adventures with Uncle Craig

Yep, my niece, Flat Lily came to visit,

This is my 7 1/2 year old niece's school project. They're reading "Flat Stanley". She visited me here in LA, and me being me, couldn't just keep her in LA, so we took a trip.

First, we headed up for a hike in Griffith Park here in LA. Great views, great hikes. Always nice to see the city from above. Lily climbed a tree, and I got a good picture of her with the mountains in the background.


Then we headed to a Superbowl Party to watch the New Orleans Saints at my friend's Todd and Rina's house. (There's a sentence of possessives). Todd's from Louisiana, so it was a blast to hang with him, Josh and others as the Saints pulled off a victory of epic proportions. Lily got so excited, she ran out onto the field to cheer them on. Flat Lily was lots of fun to have around. Made me wish real Lily was here.




Next...it was time to goto MIAMI!!!!

I mean, flat Lily had already ran the field, so why not go there for real. So I packed her up and we headed to Miami to hang out with my friend Tom as he did a concert for his family in a high school. It was a fun night and Lily danced a lot.

Next it was... CRUISE TIME!

Again, it's me, I like to travel, so dear flat Lily had to jump on board the ship and share a room with me, Tom, David and Olga as we sailed to the Bahamas. First stop, Hot tub! We all enjoyed a sunset while sitting on the back deck of the cruise ship as it headed out to sea. The weather was pretty chilly for Florida and the Bahamas (45 at night), but Lily's sweater kept her warm.



We had a blast on the cruise. We went to the beach, went swimming, played putt-putt on the top of the ship. Lily was an expert at ordering food in the dining room by the end of it. Her favorite was the liquid chocolate cake and ice cream. It made her hyper, but that let her dance away on the dance floor. Nobody slept much, but we all had fun.

While in Nassau, I took Lily scuba diving with Sharks! Well, actually since she isn't certified, she was a little young to go on the dive, still she enjoyed the pictures after the fact. She said she wouldn't have been scared. Flat Lily's full of adventure after all.

Once back in Florida, we stopped by the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. There we took a shuttle launch simulation ride together. Lily loved it! She was cheering the whole time. And since we'd already taken off into space, we took a quick space walk amongst the stars. And we thought "well shoot, we're all the way up here" so Flat Lily suited up in her space gear and enjoyed a walk on the moon and we jetted over to Mars for a walk on the red planet. I'd love to say Flat Lily discovered Alien life forms on Mars, but come on, that would be taking this story a little beyond the realm of reality, don't you think?



Back in Los Angeles, Flat Lily and I took a hike up to Griffith Park observatory, and saw the Hollywood Sign on her last day here.

It's sad to see Flat Lily go, but I know she had a great time and I enjoyed her being here as well. I wish she could stay longer, but hopefully her memories and pictures from her trip will bring her happiness for years to come.

Love you Flat Lily (and the real one too).
Next visit: Disneyland!

Uncle Craig

Need To Travel...

So, I've discovered this about myself. I need to travel.
It's not a want, or a desire, or a passing wish. It's a NEED. If I don't get out of town for at least a few days every month, or two at the most I start to go stir crazy. Now a day at the beach or hike in the mountains (I'm lucky enough to have both close by), can alleviate the urge for a little while, but in the end...I've got to do it.

I've got to get out of my comfort zone, get out on the open road, or in some unfamiliar town, or country. Just SEE something different.

I think my wanderlust comes from my folks, we'd always take family trips multiple times a year. See sites all over Colorado, the West, the East, the Midwest. All over. Camping, hotels, flights, driving. Oddly enough, always within the USA. The only "international" trip we ever went on as a family was a 3 day cruise to the bahamas when I was 16. (Ironically, the trip I'm going on with Tom, Olga and David next week is going to be to Nassau in the Bahamas as well. Origionally it wasn't, but the cruise we were on...got cancelled. Crazy. So now it's to one of the few places I've been on a cruise ship. Oh well, will be fun.)

So yeah, I'm going stir crazy sitting in my house, revving up for the feature film I'll be directing this year called "Straight On Till Morning", and really, REALLY wanting to travel.

Good thing I'm getting out next week. :)