LAST DISNEY DAYS

The forecast for this past weekend wasn't great with more rain and some cool temperatures so Saturday we went to the beach.  Not great beach weather but we had all hit the wall and needed a break from Disney.  Huntington Beach has an off leash dog beach and Charli hadn't had much exercise lately so we let her run.  Very happy dog.  We walked down the beach to the Pier where we met up with Jeff/Carrie and the boys.  They ended up walking out on the pier and staying the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.  We wimped out and headed home after a few hours.

Sunday more rain was forecast in the afternoon so in the morning we headed to Downtown Disney, which is just outside of Disneyland proper.  Its filled with stores and restaurants and one of the parking lots provides free parking for 2 hours which can be extended to 4 hours if you eat in one of the restaurants.  We browsed the stores and then had an excellent lunch at a New Orleans style restaurant.   Lori had Blackened Chicken Mac n' Cheese which was excellent.  The kids spent the day in the pool at their hotel.

Monday, after a couple days of rest, we met back at Disney ready for more excitement  We spent the day racing to different rides between the 2 parks; Disneyland and California Adventures.  Our only stops were for snacks and lunch.  We stayed till 2:00 and then took the shuttle back to the RV to give Charli a walk.  Then at 5:30 we headed back for the evening so we could take in the water and light show called World of Colour.   We had been at Disney one other evening and saw the Electric Parade down main street and of course the Fireworks which are fantastic.  I discovered midway in our shuttle ride from the RV Park to Disney that I had forgot my Disney pass.  The Shuttle driver thankfully agreed to take us back to the Park so I could get my Pass and then deliver us back to Disney.

Tuesday the kids headed back home and we had one more day on our Disney Pass so we spent the day walking through the park doing some shopping and taking in some great food.   No long lines waiting for rides on this day.

Overall our visit to Disney was a lot of fun but if it was just us we could have done it in one or two days however the trip really was made because of Oscar, Jack and Milo.  Was so much fun chasing after them and watching the joy and excitement in their faces.

Splash Mountain was a blast.
On the final drop Disney takes your picture which gets some great
expressions of happiness, joy and just a little bit of fear.
Or in my case a lot of fear.
This is an iPhone picture of their picture so the quality isn't
great but I think you get the idea.  

The Pier at Huntington Beach isn't near as long as the Pier at Oceanside
but both have a Ruby's restaurant at the end.
Kept looking for Pamela Anderson and that red bathing suit but there were no sightings. 

There were lots of Oil Rigs and Tankers just off shore.
We couldn't take Charli on the beach but for the Equine Patrol
the beach was not off limits.  My question is who picks up after them. 

5 full days at Disney and 2 full days at Universal Studios
and the smiles just kept coming.

Had to be careful walking down the street.
Never knew when you might be run over by a trolley car, a band
or various Disney characters. 

California Screaming.
Massive acceleration at the start with a 360 degree loop half way through the ride.
Lori and I stayed on the sidelines for this one.
The kids tried to get us on all the rides and soon learned that they had to
minimize how wild the ride was (ok, they had to lie to us) or else we
weren't going on some of the rides.  Lori went on a few that she regretted but
she lived and we didn't loose our lunch.  

My photography class in Desert Hot Springs taught us to use a flash to
fill in the dark shadows on sunny days.
Still a work in progress but getting better. 

Nice blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
The sky and some of the buildings are actually a backdrop.

Had to watch where you walked.
Usually it was to avoid tripping over 3 year olds who escaped from their parents
 or walking into people who were texting while they were walking.
These guys wandered across the sidewalk and totally stopped traffic.
Jack wanted me to get a picture so this ones for you Jack. 

Hot Fudge Sunday.  Tasted great and only $13.00 and yes that is U.S. dollars.
You don't go to Disney looking for a bargain.  

 Wednesday and Thursday the weather hit the mid 80's (sorry to all from Manitoba as you dig out from a major blizzard) and it was great just to sit around the trailer, take few walks around the RV Park and catch up on some reading.  Friday we head to Boulder City, Nv for 10 days and then Hurricane, Ut for 11 days.  Following that we head for home and hope that the snow will be gone and the flood waters don't block any highways.   We expect to pull in to Oakbank and stay with friends for a few days while we make arrangements to move into our, hopefully, completed house.

We have enjoyed our time in coastal California but it will be good to leave it and the millions of people and cars behind.  We do enjoy the conveniences of metropolitan areas but prefer to live in a more rural setting, surrounded by nature, with just a short drive to the city.   Guess thats why we really like Gold Canyon just on the outskirts of Phoenix and why we lived in a rural setting close to Winnipeg for the last 23 years.

Thats it for now.  Will be on the road for about 5 hours tomorrow and will provide my next report from Boulder City.  A small city just outside of the bright lights of Vegas.  We are consistent aren't we?

Till then.

Universal Studios

I was talking to the lady at the RV office when I mentioned that we were heading to Universal Studios and she said we should be ready for a 2 hour drive.  I checked our GPS and it said 35 miles and it would take just over an hour.  An hour for 35 miles seemed like a bit much but it didn't deter us.  Universal opens at 10:00 so we left at 8:40 and 1 hour and 45 minutes later we pulled in.  There was a lot of construction combined with rush hour which we understand starts at about 4:00 AM.

Universal Studios is much like Disney but with fewer people and shorter lines.  All good things.  The kids hit every ride in site and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Most of the rides were roller coasters or 4D rides and I prefer to keep my lunch in my stomach so we decided to take the Studio Tour and  browse the shops.  How boring.

We had purchased a ticket for 2 days however we covered most of what we wanted to see on day 1 so I doubt we will brave the L.A. gridlock for another day in Hollywood.  This opinion was confirmed when our drive home took 2 hours 15 minutes.  We heard that L.A. has the worst traffic in the world and I have no doubt that this is true.

Hogwarts in Harry Potter World.  

Also in Harry Potter World and no thats not real snow.   
We also got a glass of Butter Beer.
The shops included all sorts of Harry Potter paraphernalia from robes, 
scarves and even magic wands. 

Notice the lack of people.  Lots of the restaurants and shops were closed.
Perhaps open on weekends or during peak season. 

The buildings at the bottom of the pic are the Universal Studio backlots.
We took a tour which included being in the middle of a flash flood
plus a 3D King Kong show and a 3D Fast and Furious show.  

This broken up Boeing Jet liner was part of the movie War of the Worlds. 

This Transformer was one of 3 that put on an excellent photo op for people.
It was amazing how lifelike the robots movements were.

At one point Milo couldn't join the rest of the family on a ride due to a height restriction.
He was relegated to a playground under the supervision of Grandpa and Grandma.
He was not a happy camper.

After moping a bit he slowly got into hanging around with some of the other kids. 

Then he decided to change his perspective by hanging upside down.

All was forgiven when he was presented with an Ice Cream cone almost as big as him.  

Thursday the kids headed back to Universal Studios and we stayed at the RV Park.  Their drive home on Wednesday was only an hour versus our 2 hour plus drive.  The big difference was they didn't return till 6:00 and missed most of rush hour.  We are somewhat restricted in how long we can stay away as Charli can only hold it so long.

We spent Thursday taking Charli for a few walks around the Park and gave her a bath in the do it yourself dog wash located in the Park.  The RV Park is also stocked with all sorts of fruit trees and since most are in season we ended up picking a bag of 3 different types of oranges plus some limes and lemons.  We can pick all we can eat and am looking forward to enjoying them over the next few days.  Other than that we relaxed in the sun and 80 degree temps.  Keeping up with the grandkids is not an easy task.

Friday we are heading back to Disney in the afternoon and staying till 10:30 so we can take in the Main Street Electrical Parade and Fireworks.

Till then.

Disney 1st 2 Days

We left Vista on Friday for a short drive up I-5 to Orangeland RV Park.  Our home for the next 2 weeks.  The trip was ok as all traffic was slowed down due to a few accidents so people weren't whipping by us at the speed of light.  We pulled in to a drive-thru spot, love drive-thru's, and had lots of time to get set up and relax.  Saturday was nice and sunny so we took a drive around the area to get oriented.  

Disney is only a few miles up the road however the RV Park provides a shuttle for $3. per person which beats the $20 cost of parking in the Disney lots plus the added aggravation of the lineups to get into the parking lot.  On one of our walks around the park one lady mentioned that Disney is the most expensive place on earth and after 2 days I tend to agree with her.  The other thing I noticed is that there are lineups for everything and we aren't here in the busy season.  You lineup for 30 minutes for a 2 minute ride although I must say Disney does know how to do line-ups.  They have the ropes and chains similar to what I am familiar with after working in the Bank for 35 years however they make it quite entertaining with points of interest along the way plus the lines are very deceiving.  You think you are almost done when the lineup takes another turn. In front of you are another series of ropes previously unseen and you quickly realize you are no where close to your destination.  

Disney, like Coastal California, is a mass of people and frankly I will be happy to move back inland where the hectic pace of mankind is balanced with a little more mother nature.  Guess you can take the boy out of the Prairies but you can't take the Prairies out of the boy, to coin a phrase. 

Son Jeff, his wife Carrie and their 3 boys, Oscar 12, Jack, 9 and Milo 6 flew in on Saturday night and despite the fact that the forecast for Sunday had a strong chance of rain we agreed to meet at Disney at about 9:45.  It turned out to be a grey day with scattered showers however the grandsons were not to be deterred and their spirits were anything but dampened.  They hit a number of rides, some of which Grandpa and Grandma joined them on and some, where we feared for our lives, or at least our lunch, we deferred.   All in all everyone had a great time and frankly I just enjoyed trailing after them and watching the smiles and wide eyes on the kids faces. 

Monday we decided to stay home as the forecast was for much of the same grey skies and showers however the kids went and enjoyed another wet day at Disney.  We stayed in the trailer and watched the Trump antics on CNN.  Entertaining but a bit depressing.  Tuesday the skies cleared and we joined them again for another trek thru the Disney Kingdom. Disney has this down to a science and they have been at it a long time, in fact as long as I have been on this earth given that they opened in 1955.  Every corner is a new adventure with rides, gift shops and restaurants.  The price of admission is hefty but that is only the beginning.   

Here are a few shots of our first 2 days.  

We waited outside of security for the kids and it started to rain.
Lots more of that to come.  

Oscar, Carrie, Milo, Jack and Jeff.
All ready for fun although Milo is recovering from an ear infection.  

The Carousal moves faster than you would think when you are trying
to get an in focus picture of every body

Pulling up the rear I saw a lot of the back of heads.  

"Its a Small World After All"
Below, a collection of shots of the boys as we cruised along in our watercraft.  

Jack always looks like he is planning something just slightly evil.
Thats cause he is.  

Every once in a while you would think Milo would start to tire.
Then seconds later he was off at top speed.  

Dad and eldest son, Oscar.

Lori and Minnie in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle.
The promo shots always have a picture of this castle with no people in front.
I can tell you that that shot doesn't exits for the paying public. 

Jeff, Oscar, Carrie and Jack.
Milo is dressed in a "Snitch" costume and his pink ear is barely visible over Jeff's shoulder.
This was the Jungle cruise ride which got us somewhat wet but entertained all. 

The Giant Turkey Leg was a meal to be shared

But it seems Oscar ended up with most of it.  

Everybody liked the Adventure Trail, especially this rope walk.
My knees hurt just watching them.  Sucks to get old. 

Milo got crammed in with Mom and Dad on this one.  Meanwhile below....

Oscar and Jack couldn't stop smiling and planning who was going to
bump into who next as the cars spun in circles.

Having this much fun must be illegal somewhere but not at Disney

This was well after the ride stopped but the boys kept on banging into each other.
Brothers!! 

Walt and Mickey, who started it all, in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle

The fashion attire of the day.  Whatever keeps the rain out.
We ended up buying rain ponchos with Disney characters on the back.
Lori is wearing her mouse ears and her poncho

The New Orleans section will require a longer visit by Lori and myself. 

The Mark Twain river boat

People, more people and yet even more people.
And this was a slow day. 

Wednesday we head across town to Universal Studio's.  And I thought the traffic in San Diego was bad. 

Till then.