Waldo in the great outdoors Part 2!

By request! But he left his swimsuit at home so no chance for a dip and no time to linger for a tan!
Another lake, but this one is much bigger. Hint..he IS in Illinois and the lake is man-made...bu it's NOT the "Largest man-made lake in Illinois". That's all I'm giving you!

Waldo in the great outdoors

Waldo enjoyed motoring in the countryside this afternoon. When we got to the lake he wanted to take his stripes off and go skinny-dipping but there were too many people around. It's a good thing since I don't think he can swim! But where is he?

Waldo spreads joy to those around him!

I had a classic moment in Waldo the other day. We were stopped at a red light with the windows down, enjoying the day. All of a sudden a little voice says "Excuse me sir". I turn and see a cute little boy, probably 7 or 8 sitting in a big pickup truck in the turn lane next to me. I said "Hi" and with wide-eyed wonderment he asks "How fast does that Coop go"? I said, "oh, pretty fast, probably around 120mph. It's a fun car". His eyes widened and he got a big smile on his face. Before the light changed, he said "Thank you" and we motored on...but I'm certain that the sight of Waldo will live in that boy's heart forever!

So Waldo is spreading the "joy of motoring" everywhere he goes!

Waldo goes to Mimi's Cafe

And yes..in a big huge empty parking lot someone parked next to him! I guess his stay in the hospital hasn't reduced his charm that seems to draw others near him!

Waldo is out of the hospital!

Waldo is out of the hospital!

Finally! A clean bill of health and now we can motor together again! His big BMW cousin was merely transportation...and will never replace Waldo!

Just where IS Waldo?

Unfortunately still at the doctor....so his big older cousin is keeping one of Waldo's favorite spots warm for him!

Waldo is in the hospital!

I hope he's not afraid. He does have a lot of friends to keep him company. This is a tough one...he IS in the picture...can you spot him?
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Someone snuck up on Waldo!

See, I told you he didn't like his picture taken when he's dirty. Here Erin musta snuck up on him as he was dozing in the sunshine...he's gonna be VERY unhappy the next time he sees her!

Waldo with a beard?

One thing I've learned about Waldo is kinda hard for me to admit. I guess a parent should be honest about their child, but most are either delusional, or just don't realize the faults of their child. Now, I'm not saying that Waldo has any faults...it's just that...well...OK, I'll say it. He's vain. He REALLY does not like others to see him unless he's REALLY clean! And that's kinda hard to do in central Illinois in the wintertime!

But, I caught him snoozing in the afternoon sun today and was able to get a shot of him (he's gonna be VERY angry at me!) As you can see, I guess he's trying a new look in the winter...he's growing whiskers!

Waldo goes to DisneyWorld!

I took him all the way to Disney and only got two pics of him! Trouble with DisneyWorld proved to be the idea of getting him near a recognizable landmark. For those Disney-philes out there, you can just make out either the Swan or Dolphin hotel in the background.

He was VERY disappointed as he was not able to meet either of his two idols: Herbie or Lightning McQueen. Maybe next trip!

Here at least he was kept company in those huge, scary parking lots with a red-headed cousin! Can you pick him out?

Interesting tidbit about the way Disney has their parking lots angled...it REALLY seems to be the perfect angle to greatly reduce the chance of a door banging into his body! And, since Waldo is so compact ((whatever you do, do NOT call him small! He HATES that!) he could often be parked near even large SUVs and there was NO WAY their doors could harm him.

His doctor's office is very upscale!

Complimentary bottled water and snacks in the waiting room, a Dyson AirBlade with which to dry your hands (have you ever used one...it literaly BLOWS all the water off your hands with high-speed air jets), and complimentary products for the ladies! (don't ask how I got this last pic!)

A true "Where's Waldo"!

Courtesy of the doctor's waiting room...can you spot him?

Gotta Love It!

This is on my way to Chicago when I took Waldo to the doctor a few weeks ago...45.0 mpg according to the trip computer! He made it up to 46.4 mpg before I hit traffic. I had driven over 100 miles at this point and it's saying I can go an additional 537 before refueling! The actual hand-calculated mpg for the trip, with all the in-town driving, and the fact that they let Waldo idle for quite awhile in the shop while they were working on him, he averaged over 40.4 mpg for the entire 320+ miles!

His range will really be put to the test in two weeks, when I take Waldo on his first trip to WALT DISNEY WORLD! (yes, he's a little young, and probably won't remember it, but it'll be so cool to see how he reacts the first time he drives through the gates!) He's hoping to meet his movie star idols, Herbie and Lightning McQueen, but I told him to not get his hopes up too high!

Wherever he goes, he draws a crowd!

As we've discussed before, I believe Waldo has an anti-social streak in him, as he never wants to be next to other car..er, I mean kids! Anyway, as you know he usually parks far away from others...but inevitably, when I return, others have congregated around him! I guess they just are hoping some of his Waldo-ness will rub off onto them! (And this one was obvious...see how it's hugging the line NEXT to Waldo?!? Arrgh!)

What happend to Waldo?

I parked him here in the evening, and by the next morning he'd GROWN?!?
No, that's just a big BMW cousin of his...a loaner while Waldo was at the Dr's office. And here's a question for you fellow parents: have you ever taken your child to the Dr and they LOST him or her? Well, regretfully, I have! I went to help diagnose his issue and walked out of the office with the service tech, all the while I'm telling the tech what sort of ailment befell Waldo. After a few minutes walking towards the back of the lot, the tech asks, "where's your car?". I looked at him and said "I'm following you...I thought YOU knew?!?"

Long story short, they had given him a bath (which I did NOT authorize...I just can't stand the idea of others molesting my poor Waldo with their harsh shampoos. He has such sensitive skin!) and they had parked him WAYYY in the back near some of his brothers and sisters, and behind a big BMW cousin (and misplaced the key!). I'm no child psychologist, but if you ask me, I think he was ashamed of the way they had violated him with the automatic wash machine, and he was embarrassed, and thought I would be mad at HIM instead of the bad men that subjected him to the torturous machine and its foreign drying cloths!

Two for one!

It's been awhile, so for any of my faithful readers, I will give one FREE YEAR paid subscription to either the Random Melly Button Blog or The chronicles of Urbania if you successfully guess at one of these two locations!

This one is another not so nice neighborhood...but oddly enough, two of the three places that most people do this in town are within sight of each other!

He's really trying to hide here. I think my 'anti-social" comment got to him!

!

I'm worried that he's anti-social....

He never seems to park next to other kids (I mean cars!)...what's up with that? He claims it's because he's so small that everyone picks on him!

So yes, he's eating again...but the parking lot was REALLY full, so he had to go to the overflow (yes, there were still places closer than he ended up, but he's just that way!)

So where is he?

Oh no...he's all wet!

OK, so the blur isn't signifying he's moving (although he DOES like to move!, and it's not an artistic expression...BUT, it does help to make what was going to be an EASY one maybe not quite so easy!

Yes, he's eating...but where?

This is a toughy!

SO I'll give you some clues:
1) He IS doing an activity that you've observed him doing in another blog entry.
2) He's NOT eating!
3) He's NOT in Champaign-Urbana!
4) He's at only one of 3 places he could be to do this activity in the Champaign County area

No, he's NOT eating!

OK, so Waldo's travels have shown us a lot about his personality:

1) He LOVES to eat
2) He rarely leaves Champaign-Urbana
3) He likes to go to movies
4) He LOVES amusement parks (that's one of the times he HAS to leave town!)

This location reveals another one of Waldo's favorite pastimes previously unrevealed.

Where is he?