Hello All! I am sorry that it has taken so long for this update. I am back from my own personal trip to The Happiest Place on Earth, and have even more inspiration to continue. I would have had this up earlier, but one of my dogs ran away while we were gone so I have spent many days of the past week in the desert looking for her. I hope you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me.
Chapter 9
Critter Country
As they walked over to Critter Country, Woody stopped to take Jordan's picture in front of Tom Sawyer Island. He made her lean against the railing by the river, and he timed everything just right so that the Island and the Riverboat were in the background.
He smiled when he looked at the picture on the screen. This one was going on his desk. She was so beautiful.
They arrived in Critter Country and decided to go on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh first. They were just about to get in line when Woody suddenly stopped and started looking around.
Jordan was confused, "What?"
"Where is it?"
"Where's what?" She gave if a funny look.
"The Country Bear Jamboree. They look it out and put Winnie the Pooh in its place."
"I am getting a slight sense of déjà vu, except for the fact that this happened in Fantasyland but…what?"
"It was a show, these mechanical bears and other animals singing and dancing. It was a fun."
"Well, now they have replaced it with a different bear. Let's go."
They went through the short line and climbed into the back of the beehive to being their journey into the Hundred Acre Wood.
They encountered Heffalumps and Woozles, blustery thunderstorms and much much more. It all ended with the celebration of Pooh's birthday.
When the ride was all over they got their pictures taken with Pooh and all of his friends.
From there, it was off the Splash Mountain to find their laughin place. As they stood in line, Jordan watched other people take the plunge into the Briar patch.
"So how wet do you actually get on this ride?"
"It really depends on where you are sitting. Sometimes you only get a few drops and then sometimes you get completely soaked. If you don't want to get really wet, you can always do the duck and cover."
"What exactly is the 'duck and cover'?"
"You put your hands up when you start to go down the drop, which is when they take your picture, and then when you hit the bottom you duck and cover because that is when you hit the water andit issplashed everywhere."
As the line continued to move, they eventually passed signs that said, 'Caution you may get wet!'
Jordan wasn't too keen on being drenched and having to walk around the rest of the park. Walking in wet jeans could be very uncomfortable. On the other hand, it had its advantages. Being wet meant that she could get cold so that was an excuse to have him hold her all the time, and seeing her in a wet t-shirt might give him some ideas. She would just have to wait and see.
They were finally loaded into their log. Jordan ended up sitting in the front of the log with Woody in the seat behind her. When the log was completely loaded they were off.
They rounded the first corner were they saw the houses of Brer Fox, Brer Bear, and Brer Rabbit. Jordan was so busy looking at the houses that she didn't realize that the first drop was coming up. Her eyes widened when she turned to look just as the log was about the drop. She was surprised but the welcomed it, throwing her hands in the air and screaming loudly. She could hear Woody behind her and expected that he had his hands up as well.
The splash wasn't very big. She only got a few drops on her jeans. She turned behind her to look as Woody, "You get wet?" He looked down at his pants, "No, nothing yet!"
Their log round another corner and they entered the land that Uncle Remus so vividly described in the Song of the South. Jordan was amazed at all of the animatronic animals. She kept looking back and forth between both sides of the log to try and take everything in.
As they continued along, she could see that they track in front of them began to get dark and she could no longer see where it lead. The only thing that she front of her was Brer Bear's butt. Just as he said, "There is nothing in here but bees," The log once again took another plunge, this time dipping a few times before reaching the bottom.
"Oh my god!"
Woody screamed from behind her. She was about to say the same thing herself. Once again, she turned to look at him, "How wet are you?" "My entire right side is soaked, right down to my shoe." "Me too! I didn't get anything straight from the front. It all came from the side."
She faced forward, wondering if she could get any wetter then she already was. Her betwas yes.
The mood of the ride became very dark. Mothers were singing to their children, warning them not to go to the laughing place or the fox would get them too. The log then began to make its final assent. To the left of the log Jordan watched a projection of the Rabbit and the Fox. Brer Rabbit was tied up begging for his life, asking the Fox not to throw him in the Briar Patch.
She could see the daylight in front of her now; she knew that the big drop was coming. She gripped the handles on either side. She could not decide if she had the guts to let go and put her hand up or if she was going to hang on for dear life. She liked roller coasters, but this was different then the others.
At the last minute, she somehow found the courage to put her hands up. She was in awe as the log came to the top of the mountain and she could see over the park, but that awe was quickly turned into terror. Her eyes grew bigger then ever before as the log began to plummet. She forced herself to keep her hands up as she screamed bloody murder. She could hear Woody let out a loud, "Woo-hoo!"
When the log hit the bottom, the force created huge waves. A large volume of water came over the front of the log completely drenching Jordan. Even if she had tried to do Woody's duck and cover, it would not havehelped.It was now her time to say, "Oh my god!" Woody's only response was to laugh.
"You were warned!"
"You want some of this Hoyt?" She turned to glare at him.
"Oh yeah what are you going to do, make me go on the ride again and sit in the front?"
"No. I have something a little easier in mind."
With that, she proceeded to ring her hair out directly in his lap.
"You like that now Farm Boy?"
"You are plain evil!"
She was about to respond but the log once again entered the Song of the South land. Woody began to sing along with all of the characters to "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da."
They passed the boat with all the characters. Woody pointed out the window that was above their heads as the Disneyland Limited traveled through, making its trip around the Magic Kingdom. They smiled and waved to the passengers on board.
Seconds later, they passed Brer Fox and Brer Bear who were trying not to be eaten by an alligator. Further down their journey, they found Brer Rabbit safe in his own home in the Briar Patch.
They had to wait a few minutes for the log in front of them to change passengers. When they got out their log, Woody finally got to see just how wet Jordan really was.
"Wow!"
"I told you! I am soaked!"
"Do you want to go back to the room and change?"
"No. I will probably be ok. I might get a little cold, but I can deal with it."
He smiled to himself, a comment coming into his head. He fought back and forth with himself for a moment, 'Say it! Don't say it! Just say it! Don't say it! Damn it Hoyt just do it!'
"I will always be here to keep you warm."
She was taken back for a second. She did not expect him to say something like that at all. That comment alone was making her warm. She just winked at him and said, "I bet you will."
Now he didn't know what to say. She just turned and walked away, leaving him to stand there and process what she had just said.
Woody finally caught up with her when she was looking at their picture that was taken on the final drop. He laughed when he saw the look on her face in the picture. Her hands were up but she looked like she was about to die.
He, on the other hand, looked completely happy. His hands were up and he was looking straight into a camera, sticking out his tongue.
"So what do you think? You want to buy the picture of your fist adventure on Splash Mountain?"
"Sure, I think it's funny. How did you know where the camera was?"
They made their way outside to the booth where they could purchase the picture.
"I don't know. I guessed actually. Apparently I picked the correct group of shrubs to look at."
Woody started laughing as they got further out into the daylight. Jordan was completely confused.
"What?"
He just continued to laugh.
"What?"
"You're just a lot wetter then I then I could really tell inside. Go and stand over there I have to get a picture of this."
Jordan stood by a Splash Mountain sign and struck a pose. Her T-shirt kept sticking to her body. She wondered what would happen if she walked around in a wet shirt for the rest of the day, now she was going to find out.
She made him take a picture by the sign too. He tried to refuse, but she was too amused by the fact that there was a big wet spot on the front of his pants that made it look like he had wet himself. He blamed that on her when she pointed it out to him.
"It is your fault that my pants look like this!"
"My fault? How is that my fault?"
"My pants were totally dry…in that area, until you decided to ring your hair out!"
"Yeah, yeah…blah, blah…it is all my fault. Everything is my fault. Deal with it Hoyt. Now just stand there and look pretty so I can take the picture!"
It would've been more correct for her to say, drop dead gorgeous but she figured that would be a bit much. She took the picture and they got in line to buy their photo.
They had the picture sent to their hotel so they wouldn't have to carry it around all day and were off to the next ride.
"Well, it looks like next stop on our Disneyland journey is The Haunted Mansion."