Good Morning, America

The Friday after Thanksgiving each year is the annual Lighting Ceremony at the Coeur d'Alene Resort (where I work).

Around 5:00 PM the holiday parade starts. When the parade is over (pretty much right in front of the Resort) there's a speech given. It's usually some officer of the corporation that owns the Resort. There is then a big fireworks show (better than the Fourth of July fireworks) immediately followed the lighting of the light displays.

We have over one million lights in various displays up for the holidays. Our cruise boats on the lake take a trip to the "North Pole" each day from the Lighting Ceremony through New Year's. They go around the Resort to see the lights and then head across the lake. Santa and Mrs. Claus greet the visitors and there's a whole "village" of light displays set up over there for people to see. (You never actually leave the boat. Santa and Mrs. Claus are real people, but they talk to you from the shore of the "North Pole".)

We really do Christmas in a big way at the Resort.

Good Morning, America will be doing a live broadcast from the Resort this Wednesday, November 28. And, yes, GMA is an east coast-based show. We're in the Pacific time zone. That means that they will be broadcasting live really early in the morning.

You can read about the broadcast and the rest of the Holiday In Lights stuff we do at the Resort website.

I will be working very late Tuesday night. With all the prep work going into this show they want manager coverage through the night. I have to stay until 1:00 AM or so. (It would be later, but I have to be home when Anne goes to work.) But I'd rather stay at work late than have to wake up to be there at 2:00 AM like my boss is doing. (Even though Anne does something similar every single day, I would still rather stay up late than get up early.)

In other related news, Anne brought Sydney down to the Resort on Friday for the Lighting Ceremony. They ate dinner and then watched the parade. I got off work and met them and we watched the fireworks together.

We were a little concerned about Sydney. We thought the loud bangs of the fireworks might frighten her a little. But our fears were unfounded. Sydney loved them. She watched the whole time with wide eyes and a big smile. She thanked us after it was done and said she had fun.

Then we had to get home. The crowd was huge this year. Quite possibly the biggest crowd I've seen for a Lighting Ceremony. (Thanks, I'm sure, to GMA going to be there on Wednesday.) That meant lots of traffic to fight through to get home. It took us about an hour, most of that sitting in traffic on surface streets.

When we got home Sydney told me thank you again and once again said how much fun she had.

This Wednesday - in the late afternoon well after GMA is done and gone - we're going to go on the North Pole cruise. They like employees to go on the cruise each year to be familiar with it. So the three of us are going and Sydney can get a taste of this Santa person. We've been talking him up a little bit, but she doesn't seem to know or care that much about Christmas. Well, other than the lights. And the fireworks.