Goin' Out To Cally – Part 39, Universal Studios, Meteoric Goals

As Tim, Beth and I got ready to tackle Universal Studios, Sunday decided that her idea of relaxation was to spend the day at the house, just hanging out. To be honest, I was a little thankful. It would allow me time to try and reconnect with Tim and Beth alone, drawing from our previous, pre-trip relationship in an attempt to try and bury whatever hatchet had been thrown into the mix when I invited Sunday on the journey.

Beth on the phone talking to her parents.

Growing up in Florida, I had visited Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom on a couple of occasions. One of my strongest memories was going on a trip with my family and some neighbor kids. When we went into the Haunted Mansion I was petrified. At one point there was this glowing spider on the wall and I freaked, burying myself in a neighbor kid’s chest and crying the entire time.

Beth gave her family continual updates.

I had never been to Universal Studios, which served as both a theme park and a working studio. Many years later they would build another Universal Studios in Orlando near Walt Disney World, but in 1988, the only place to ride the famed Universal rides was in Los Angeles.

Barely avoiding the jaws of King Kong.

As was standard practice for Tim and I, the three of us arrived at the Studios early and made a counter clock-wise attack to the park. Knowing that most people tend to flow right when they enter a park, we headed left. We went on as many rides as possible, King Kong, Jaws and the long, but interesting tram ride through the different types of studio locations. We drove through the western town, the suburbia town, the Middle eastern town and many other places.

Avoiding the jaws of Jaws.

My imagination was racing. I wanted to hop off the tram so badly and disappear into the studios… into the magic of movie making. I kept saying to Tim, “Wouldn’t it be cool to be able to shoot something on this lot?”

Escaping a flash flood.

I got to see where they shot Leave It To Beaver and the infamous Psycho house from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film. Being a Hitchcock nut, I was almost giddy with childlike excitement as we slowed in front of Norman Bates’ house. I kept thinking “Hitchcock stood right here, making movies.”

The Psycho House.

I was so envious. I so wanted to make movies for a living and seeing locations where some of my favorite films, like Back To The Future, had been filmed… it just flamed my passion for filmmaking even more.

Tim and Beth happy and in love.

On a personal note, I was envious of something else… of Tim and Beth. They were so in love and excited about their future. I had nobody. I had a long term relationship while in college that ended before my senior year. I dated a few girls after that, but none of them ended very well. In those quiet moments men don’t discuss with each other, I was pretty lonely. To get through the days, I would convince myself that I was too busy to get into a long term relationship, but the reality was that it was very hard to find anyone with whom that natural magnetism just clicked.

Me eating some lunch...
here a carrot stick to be exact.

I suck at being alone. The worst decisions I’ve ever made have been driven by loneliness. They’re not life shattering decisions, just bad choices that ended up disappointing myself more than anyone else.

By the time we got back to Paul and Anne’s house, we could all sense an increased tension in the home. Anne pulled Tim aside and said, with her female protection radar in full swing, that she wasn’t comfortable having Sunday stay at home all day in the house because she spent most of the time in her scanty nightie while Paul was home.

Anne felt threatened and Tim understood. He promised that Sunday would join us for the rest of our days’ events.

As we got ready for bed again, I realized that Sunday's luggage may not have been filled with sleeping bags or tents or plastic stakes or anything actually useful, but she did have a hell of a lot of lingerie. Not that that's a bad thing...

And so ended the ninth day on our trip to Cally.

********

Part 39, (Text, Audio) - Part 38, (Text, Audio) - Part 37, (Text, Audio)
Part 36, (Text, Audio) - Part 35, (Text, Audio) - Part 34, (Text, Audio)
Part 33, (Text, Audio) - Part 32, (Text, Audio) - Part 31, (Text, Audio)
Part 30, (Text, Audio) - Part 29, (Text, Audio) - Part 28, (Text, Audio)
Part 27, (Text, Audio) - Part 26, (Text, Audio) - Part 25, (Text, Audio)
Part 24, (Text, Audio) - Part 23, (Text, Audio) - Part 22, (Text, Audio)
Part 21, (Text, Audio) - Part 20, (Text, Audio) - Part 19, (Text, Audio)
Part 18, (Text, Audio) - Part 17, (Text, Audio) - Part 16, (Text, Audio)
Part 15, (Text, Audio) - Part 14, (Text, Audio) - Part 13, (Text, Audio)
Part 12 (Text, Audio) - Part 11 (Text, Audio) - Part 10 (Text, Audio)
Part 09, (Text, Audio) - Part 08, (Text, Audio) - Part 07 (Text, Audio)
Part 06 (Text, Audio) - Part 05 (Text, Audio) - Part 04 (Text, Audio)
Part 03 (Text, Audio) - Part 02 (Text, Audio) - Part 01 (Text, Audio)