DAILY DIARY – DEBUNK THE JUNK, APRIL 6, 2004

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Receipt available as a pdf

Day 6:  Exhausted.  After traveling to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />Orlando, FL, and spending the afternoon and evening at Universal Studios “riding the movies,” I’m certainly ready for bed.  But I just couldn’t resist spending a few minutes relating my McDonalds experiences today.  Fortunately McDonalds can be found pretty much everywhere one travels so finding food was no problem.  As a matter of fact, I chose the particular Clarion Hotel I’m staying at because there is a McDonalds literally right next door.

I managed to pick up a yogurt parfait and a large Diet Coke on the way to the airport so I could have some breakfast on the plane.  Surprisingly while going through the security check point I was asked to place my large drink in the bin with other items so it could be scanned, fortunately there was nothing dangerous found inside, so I continued to drink it.

The only problem I encountered yesterday was discovering there were no McDonalds onsite at Universal Studios Orlando.  What a challenge it was to avoid buying some sort of meal or sweet treat especially with all the incredible smells wafting through the air.   A trip through the Monsters Cafe was sheer agony especially when confronted with the dessert section with chocolate cake and other goodies, but I managed to prevail and walked away, a bottle of Dasani water eased those cravings very quickly.  During my travels I will have to drink bottled spring water order to stay hydrated so that will be an added parameter to this 30 day test. 

The nice thing about Universal Orlando is that the attractions change occasionally so even if you have visited before there is always something new.  I visited familiar rides like Earthquake and Back to the Future and enjoyed new rides such as Men in Black (I scored over 81,000 points) and Twister.  The new Animal Planet show is delightfully entertaining and the Horror Make Up Show is one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen but definitely not for the squeamish.  I had a wonderful visit but by the time 8 PM rolled around I was definitely hungry and I was torn between riding more rides and finding food…..food won out and I returned to my hotel and the McDonalds next door. 

So far I feel great, alert and energetic. I’m looking forward to walking on some beaches tomorrow.  Perhaps I should acquire a pedometer and see if I can take the recommended 10,000 steps a day.  I feel like I took 50,000 steps walking through Universal, maybe even 100,000, but at least walking is one of the best exercise programs one can engage in and almost anyone can do it.  So get out there and walk as if your life depended on it, because it does.