Ted in New Mexico

 Ted finally got to see New Mexico in the daylight. I think he was pretty impressed.

Here is Ted at the Continental Divide in Gallup, NM

• The Continental Divide is the name given to the mountainous divide of the Americas which separates watershed to the Pacific and to the Atlantic Oceans
• The Great divide is the most prominent because it runs through both the American and Canadian Rocky Mountains
• The Divide begins at Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska and ends in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego in South America
• The Great Divide Hiking Trail follows the Continental Divide closely and crosses it no less than 30 times

Ted LOVES the Cracker Barrel restaurant and general store. The Cracker Barrel is famous for many things, one of them being their rocking chairs. The only downside to the Cracker Barrel is that the nearest one is 146.79 miles away from home, in Kingman, AZ.

• In a typical year the Cracker Barrel serves: 13.1 mil pounds of chicken tenders, 121 mil slices of bacon, 151 mil eggs, 11 mil orders of Chicken N' Dumplins, 37 mil portions of grits, and 56 mil pancakes
• On a typical day Cracker Barrel uses 70,000 lbs of flour to make made-from-scratch biscuits and dumplins
• 10,000,000 Peg Games were made exclusively for Cracker Barrel in the first 41 years
• Cracker Barrel has sold over 4,000,000 Moon Pies in 2010

 Ted picked up his first cache of the day in Gallup, NM at the Donuts and Deli:

The view from Gallup reminds Ted of the movie Cars, which took place along Historic Route 66.

• Gallup is one of the oldest towns in the U.S. and can be traced back to 2500 B.C.
• The railroad paymaster David Gallup established his headquarters in the town and workers were soon "going to Gallup" for their pay
• The main street of Gallup became part of Route 66 in 1926
• The El Rancho Hotel in Gallup has hosted Ronald Regan, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn and Kirk Douglas

 Ted says that this is a sad sign of the times for Old Route 66.

• Route 66 was created when New Mexico was only 14 years old.
• When it began, it was little more than 400 miles of gravel road
• Today there are over 260 miles of pre-interstate era Route 66 that remains driveable
• The Route 66 Neon Sign Restoration project by the New Mexico Route 66 association was been restoring vintage neon signs in Tucumcari, Santa Rosa, Moriarty, Albuquerque, Grants, and Gallup

Who knows where Ted will end up tomorrow! Keep watching to find out whats next on Ted's meandering adventure!

(facts via: absoluteastronomy.com, crackerbarrel.tekgroupweb.com, legendsofamerica.com)

Ted's Next Adventure:

Late last night Ted raced into New Mexico too fast for a good photo. Stay tuned for more Ted in  New Mexico!

Ted Heads Into Arizona

 Ted finally makes his way out of California and into the great state of Arizona! Here he is just passing through the border into the Grand Canyon State:

Some fun facts about Arizona:

• The state of Arizona has two state colors: federal blue and old gold
• The official state neckwear of Arizona is the bolo tie and the official gem stone is Turquoise
• The amount of copper used to top the state capitol is enough to make 4,800,000 pennies
• In Arizona it is illegal to keep a donkey in your bathtub
• It is illegal for a citizen of Arizona to refuse someone a glass of water
• Camels were once used as a mode of transport in Arizona
• In Tombstone it used to be illegal for persons over 18 to smile and reveal more than one missing tooth

Ted went out for some geocaching while eating out at the famous Roadkill Cafe in Seligman, AZ

He made sure to hide the cache really well for the next cachers who come along.

Some fun facts about the Roadkill Cafe and Seligman, AZ

• The Roadkill Cafe is famous for serving dishes such as: Splatter Platter, Swirl of Squirrel, Big bagged Stag, and Highway Hash
• Seligman was founded in 1886 at the junction of the railroad from Prescott to the Santa Fe's main line.
• In 1987 the state of Arizona dedicated the old U.S. Route 66 from Seligman to Kingmanas Historic Route 66

Ted also spent some time "Standin' on the corner" in Winslow, AZ.

Some fun facts about Standin' on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona Park

•  The Standin' on the Corner in Winslow, Arizona Park began with a land donation from the Kaufman family
• A Trompe L'oeil artist John Pugh painted the two story mural and the life-sized statue (pictured above) was created by sculptor Ron Adamson
• The park is in memory of the lyrics "Well I'm standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see; It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me"
•  Until the 1960's, Winslow was the largest town in northern Arizona
• In 1994 a foundation was started to restore downtown Winslow by purchasing the historic Fred Harvey Hotel and Restaurant and designing the Standin' on the Corner in Winslow Arizona park

 
 
 (fun facts via: buzzle.com, route66seligmanarizona.com, standinonthecorner.com)
 

Ted Lights Up Dodger Stadium

 Ted LOVES fireworks! Lucky for him he has a family of pyromaniacs -erm- pyroTECHNICS I mean. Yesterday his chaperon Jenny was asked to help shoot off fireworks at Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers!

 Here is Ted helping to set up all of the fireworks "shells" behind the scenes. Each explosive gets shoved into one of these black PVC pipes and wired to a pin board.

The pin board is then wired to a main control box, where the lead technician fires each numbered  shell according to directions fed to them through their headphones.

One of the perks of being on the fireworks crew is great food. Here Ted helps Jamie cook up some burgers with the expert use of a crowbar.

Here's some fun facts about Dodger Stadium

• There is parking available for 16,000 cars.

• Hosted 1984 Olympic competition

• In 1991, the stadium hosted the Opening ceremonies for the United States Olympic Festival and later that summer showcased the top amateur baseball players from around the world in the second annual International Baseball Association World All-Star Game.

• There were no drinking-water fountains when Dodger Stadium was first built.

• Original design had a huge fountain in center field, like that in right-center at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium.

• The see-through "peekaboo" windows in the bullpen fence were installed in 1974.

• There is no "400" sign in dead center field (it was taken down in 1980) - the two "395" signs are just left and right of straightaway center field

• The stadium is expandable to 85,000 seats.

• When foul poles were installed in 1962, it was discovered that they were positioned completely foul. A special dispensation was received from the National League so that they were recognized as fair, but the next year the plate was moved so that the poles are now actually fair.  

  Stay tuned for Ted's next adventure!

(interesting facts via: baseball-statistics.com)

Ted Eats at Dinah's

This morning Ted was spotted chowing down a hearty breakfast at Dinah's Family Restaurant.

Since 1959, Dinah's has...

• Has served over 20 Million customers.
• Used over 5,000,000 apples to make our World Famous Apple Pancakes.
• Used 45 million eggs to make breakfast.
• Used 2,000,000 pounds of bacon & sausage
• Used 8 million pounds of Potatoes.
• Served 20,000,000 pancakes
• Sold 500,000 pies
• Served 15,000,000 cups of coffee

Whew! Now that's a lot of food! Hopefully Ted only ate a fraction of that, otherwise he may feel a little bloated tomorrow.

Ted Does Disneyland (part 4)

Ted rounds off his Disneyland trip with another fireworks show and the Jungle Cruise! Read on:

Ted's friend Justin likes to think that Ted is a bunny rabbit in front of Tarzan's Treehouse.

Tarzan's Treehouse

•  Tarzan's Treehouse opened 23 June 1999 and is located on the former site of the Swiss Family Treehouse, an attraction that opened in November 18, 1962 and was based on the Disney film "Swiss Family Robinson." For its reintroduction as Tarzan's home, 10 feet were added to the tree. The 450 branches were redressed with nearly 6,000 lacy leaves, then draped with moss and covered with jungle vines to make it feel like the rightful home to the "Lord of the Apes."
•  There is ONE original branch with the old leaves remaining on the tree, they replaced all the leaves except for that one branch, just to leave behind a little bit of history.
•  Tarzan's Tree House has many different rooms, but has no bedrooms. When I asked a cast member, she said, "Tarzan doesn't need a bed." I then said, "What about Jane?" and she was speechless.
•  The tree is a 150-ton structure anchored by massive roots reaching 42 feet into the ground. 
•  The tree is nicknamed Disneyodentron SemperFlorens Grandis (meaning a large, ever-blooming Disney tree.)

Ted's cousin Denise shoots off the fireworks for Disneyland's Fantasmic! Ted wanted a picture with his famous cousin.

At the end of the night Ted took a spin on the Jungle Cruise, just as I anticipated.

Jungle Cruise

•  Each of the scenes in the Jungle Cruise attraction is taken from the True-Life Adventure Film Series that Walt Disney produced in the early 1960's.
•  The Jungle Cruise and River of America used to be connected by an open waterway
•  There is a live Macaw in a cage in one of the second floor windows above the entrance.
• When you reach the Lost Expedition, a crate behind the gorillas says "WED Expedition." WED stands for Walter Elias Disney. These famous initials pop up everywhere in the parks, and are almost as common as Hidden Mickeys.

Ted got to enjoy one last fireworks show. This time he waited to see the Magical! show

• Eden Espinosa, who is the main vocalist during the show, got her start at Disneyland by performing in shows such as the Spirit of Pocahontas and Animazement!.
• The Dumbo that flies above the castle during the “Baby Mine” segment is actually a puppet. A person is inside it controlling the ear flapping, trunk waving, and feet kicking. 
•  The technology used to propel Tinker Bell through the air actually first made its inaugural appearance in Remember... Dreams Come True. Before this, Tinker Bell would make her nightly single pass over the castle thanks to gravity and a push from the Matterhorn mountain. 
•  This show is the first time that 6 high-powered spotlights, 3 on either side of the castle, have been utilized. 

Today, Ted moves on towards Kansas in his cross-country adventure!


(interesting facts via: hiddenmickeys.org and mouseinfo.com)

Ted Does Disneyland (part 3)

 Ted is back again for more Disneyland madness! Its almost dinner time now, so Ted is eating out, and getting ready for his favorite fireworks show: Fantasmic!

The Blue Bayou Restaurant (one of Ted's family's favorite big Disneyland splurges)

• Blue Bayou is themed to be a backyard party. The tables, lawn chairs and the lamps and the trees all form a backyard
•  The Blue Bayou is the only place in Disneyand that serves yellow lemonade. If you buy it anywhere else, it will be pink.
•  There is a really long conveyor system that moved dirty dishes from the Blue Bayoo and other New Orleans restaurants. This is to help combat a roach problem caused by the humidity from the Pirates ride.
• The oft rumored and now confirmed Club 33 is located above the Blue Bayou. You can find the small unassuming green door to the club just down the alley from the entrance to the Blue Bayou.
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This is Ted's favorite spot to watch his cousin blow up fireworks for Fantasmic!, our favorite Disney fireworks show.

Fantasmic!

•  Fantasmic! was originally called "Imagination" in 1992
•  Before the show Fantasmic, at about 8:50, you could see the flower pedals from the jungle scene being ready. Also if you go toward Critter Country you could see the cast members preparing the ship for the Peter Pan scene.
•  The door over the dragon pit (as it is actually known rather than the stage well) weighs 10,000 pounds.
•  On Fantasmic the snake is held by the pirates. If you look under it you can see their pants. This is used to get them from one side of the island to the other where the pirate ship is

Ted went on Pirates of the Carribean. The ride was so exciting, the photos of Ted inside the ride were quite blurry! He enjoyed it very much, however.

Pirates of the Carribean

•   Walt Disney worked extensively on this attraction, but passed away before it opened in 1967. It features one of the most elaborate uses of Audio Animatronics figures ever attempted by Disney.
• The portrait of a young woman (the one that changes into the Medusa) that hangs in the entrance hall of the Haunted Mansion pictures the same girl that is dressed as a pirate in the painting in the skeleton's tavern in Pirates of the Carribean.
• Some of the skeletons on the ride are real! When the ride was built, life-like plastics had not been invented yet. The real skeletons were bought as ex-research skeletons.
•  Known for their inside jokes, the artists for this attraction modeled some of the pirate faces (particularly the mischievous ones) after themselves.

Space Mountain

•   Space Mountain cost $20M to build - it cost more than the original park in 1955 dollars.
•  Just after you are loaded in the cars on Space Mountain, they move forward a few feet and stop: this is for two reasons:
• To weigh the whole car and occupants (as the weight is crucial to ride spacing - previously mentioned)
• to "charge" the phosphorescent gowing panels on the side of the car using the black lites in the walls.

•  You used to be able to stick pennies to the walls in the queue line for Space Mountain. Since the past two remodels, the paint has been replaced with a demagnetized type.
• If you are ever on the ride when it breaks down, the lights will come on and you can view the entire ride. A cast member will then release the safety brake on your car and you and your party will have to exit the ride.

Ted also likes to get dinner and a show at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon! Can you spot the Hidden Mickey that Ted found?

The Golden Horseshoe Saloon

•  If you sit in one of the stage boxes that are at the stage level in the Golden Horseshoe Revue, the performers will often look over at you and give you some silly looks and even talk to you while the show is going on.
• While walking past The Golden Horseshoe Saloon, listen to the theme songs of Blazing Saddles, Bonanza, The Wild Wild West, and Roy Rogers theme to Pecos Bill.

The last Disneyland post will be up tomorrow, as Ted's family has a tendency to stay as long as possible in the park, sometimes more than an hour after closing! They are quite skilled at convincing cast members to run a ride "just one more time!"
Hint: The best ride to go on very very late at night is the Jungle Cruise. After closing, the tour guides give up being family friendly and just goof off. I (Julie) LOVE hearing their non PC jokes!

Stay tuned!