Here's to One More Day Above the Roses

"I miss my home - chimney stacks and cobbled streets I know. Wherever I go, I close my eyes and the memories take me home." - Gaelic Storm

Yesterday, we did absolutely nothing but drive for fourteen hours.  Well, drive and go to a terrible hotel (from our favorite chain, which made it extra disappointing - at least they stood by their 100% satisfaction guarantee and refunded the night). We meant to go to the Gateway Arch, but our 11 hour drive became 14 thanks to construction, so it just wasn't meant - Scott and I even quarreled mildly during a particularly nasty traffic jam right before the hotel, so we were not willing to go back through that traffic to see the arch this morning.

Today was Scott's birthday, so the plan was simple - go to the Dayton Celtic Fest, drink Guinness and cider, and watch Gaelic Storm.  We had a fabulous time - Gaelic Storm may be one of the best live bands ever, and the tent was rocking, as always. Scott especially thought it was one of his best birthdays ever.  The kids abandoned us for seats rather than the dancing crowd near the stage, but quickly discovered that they should have stayed - they declared the people near them "no fun" since no one played along with the bands many sing-alongs, and they couldn't find seats anyway.  Even then, they were laughing about the band's jokes when we met up with them after the concert.

The only problem is that the lines above are only too true.  We miss our home.  We've had fun everywhere we've been.  We've seen amazing things, and had wonderful adventures.  But it's time to go home. Tomorrow, finally, that's what we will do.

There's Always One

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day started out well.  We stopped in Winslow Arizona (standing on the corner, such a fine sight to see) and took sunny pictures of our first intended Route 66 attraction.  And then we were chased by a nasty thunderstorm all the way to Amarillo.  We never got another opportunity to stop.  No kitchsy roadside attractions, no Cadillac Ranch.  Ah, well. At least we made it safely to Texas.  Tomorrow's trip is even longer!

Quick Stop, Big Drop

"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal." - George Will

 

The problem with the clever quote above is with me.  I don't like baseball, and I don't like huge canyons dropping away from an edge a breath from my clumsy feet.  So I'll have to turn this blog post over to Scott for an unbiased assessment of today's quick stop at the Grand Canyon.

 

It was another long drive this morning, and it started with the fairly busy San Diego area freeways. Things got interesting as we took California 62 and US 95 through the deserts of Southeast California.  Jenn and I made jokes about aliens and Knight Rider, but mostly we were interested in the new type of scenery.  We were amused by the fact that, unlike other times during this adventure, this area of the country was exactly as we expected.  The high point of the day, literally, would be seeing the temperature on the car dashboard hit 108 F.

We made it to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon right before five o'clock.  Unfortunately, the visitor's center closed at five, which made it fairly useless.  The canyon itself was a majestic site to behold.  We hung out around Mather's Point to take in the sight.  I was surprised to see as much green as I did in the canyon.  We couldn't see the Colorado River.  However, I think I was able to tell where it was.  We didn't stay long as an afternoon monsoon was threatening to ruin our view.

On the way back, we saw a small herd of female elk and a badger along the side of the highway leading back to I-40.  Once we hit Flagstaff, we found our way to a Five Guys for a dinner and a reminder of home and settled in to our hotel room. 

 

Relaxation and Recovery

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean." -Arthur C. Clarke

We were too tired to check out the USS Midway today. Too much traffic, too many people.  So we headed for the beach at Coronado.  There were other people there, too, of course, but with such a big, beautiful beach, there was plenty of space for us to wade and relax.  We spent an hour or two there, got some groceries, and are now spending the afternoon at the hotel pool.

We are ready to head home tomorrow.  There are still a few stops along the way, but it has been a long vacation, and we are worried about our cats - my sister and brother-in-law can't find them. We should be home by Saturday, but hopefully they turn up before then.

Science and Science Fiction

"Allons-y!" - The Doctor
"Seriously, there's an outrageous amount of running involved." -Donna Noble

Yesterday and today were busy, busy days, with very little time for rest.  We did sleep somewhat late on Saturday, and then headed out to the California Science Center to see the space shuttle Endeavour.  The shuttle itself, and its associated exhibit, were great.  The rest of the center was not too very exciting, though I enjoyed the aquariums in the Ecosystems exhibit and the roses in the garden outside.  We also got to see an iMax film about the Artic which had lovely photography, but a rather heavy handed message about global warming.  However, the generally rude behavior of the other museum guests and the drivers on I-5 left us all with a negative impression of the L.A. area.  We did some laundry, ate dinner, and headed to bed fairly early in anticipation of a very early start the next morning.

At 3AM, we got up, took quick showers, packed the car, and headed to San Diego.  We arrived around 5AM to discover the line for Hall H stretching all the way around the convention center and along the marina in two directions.  We got in line, without much hope of making it in.  I sent the kids and Scott off to the registration table to grab their passes, and held their spot in line.  Unfortunately, while they were gone, Misha Collins from Supernatural jogged by, and I couldn't even get a picture for Kairi - just this blurry shot of the back of his head.

The line moved quite a bit while they were gone, but we were still far away from the convention center when I ran to get my badge.  And then we waited.  And waited. And waited.  The time for the Supernatural panel came and went just as we got into the chute that was next for Hall H.  Then ten people got in, then ten more.  We moved slowly, slowly along the several tents in the chute.  Then Supernatural was over.  Then the Breaking Bad panel was closed.  People were abandoning their places in line.  Seven long hours after we got in line, twenty minutes into the Doctor Who panel we were a mere 15 people from the door.  The line started moving again.  The security person counted heads and closed the chain right behind Kai and Nick and right ahead of Scott and I.  I told them to go, just go, we'd find them later.  The guard noticed my distress and realized the kids were alone.  She said, "One. I can let one of you in."  So I gave Scott a shove and told him to go.  Someone in one of the nearby chutes said "That's motherly love," causing a laugh among everyone in earshot.  I waited another five interminable minutes, and then I got into the panel myself (I missed the trailer premiere, but no harm done).   What annoyed us all a bit after all that anxiety was the fact that there were hundreds of empty seats in the room, and hundreds of fans still stuck outside.

The actual panel was great.  The actors, writers, and directors were funny and entertaining, and the whole panel was hosted by Craig Ferguson, which made it even cooler. 

After the panel, we headed to the exhibit hall.  The kids were a bit disappointed in the remaining items for purchase, but Nick found a few souvenirs.  It was packed elbow to elbow, hard to navigate, and frankly not a lot of fun.  Kai was very disappointed not to find anything to buy, but she didn't want to pay premium prices for things she could find at home or on the internet.

Still, we went to Comic-Con!  And we saw Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman and Steven Moffat and David Bradley and Mark Gatiss, and Misha Collins (sort of).  We met a few really creative cosplayers, and it was definitely an experience.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the USS Midway and the beach, but we're making up for the sun in Seattle with rain in San Diego (and Los Angeles yesterday) so we will play it by ear.

I Don't Mean to Alarm You...

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, or you wouldn’t have come here.”  -Lewis Carroll

 

Denizens of Disneyland, I must sadly bring to your attention that something appears to be wrong with your castle.  As Scott said, "Did someone wash that with my red t-shirt and shrink it?"

We've been to Disney World so often that Disneyland just felt weird to us.  It was familiar, but not.  Similar, but not at all the same.  Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, but Disneyland will never have the magic for us that Disney World does.  I know it's supposed to be Walt's park, but hey, if he thought it was perfect, why did he do it over? Still, we had a very fun day at Disneyland and enjoyed many of the new-to-us attractions and rides. 

If the pictures look like all we did was run from ride to ride all day, that's more or less accurate.  One thing that frustrated us about Disneyland (and maybe we've just been lucky in our many trips to WDW) is that attractions and rides seemed to break down constantly.  We had to walk away from 5 rides and come back later over a two day period due to "technical difficulties".  Indiana Jones seemed the worst of the lot in that regard, as it broke twice as we walked up with fastpasses.  Fortunately, it makes up for it by being a really great ride - entertaining, exciting, and full of great effects.  We all thought it was our favorite in the park.   The Matterhorn was fun (but no Everest, or even Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which was closed for refurbishment - didn't count that in the broken total above), Winnie the Pooh was just weird (you need some bouncing honeypots in that ride, seriously), and Roger Rabbit was just okay (the spinning function didn't seem to work well on our car).  We all thought Mr. Toad was a bit surreal, but fun.  The other dark rides that don't exist in Disney World were pretty cute - Alice, Pinnochio, and the somewhat different Snow White (which doesn't exist any more).  We preferred the Disney World version of Buzz Lightyear, but have to give the edge to Disneyland's Pirates and Small World, and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is much better than The Seas with Nemo and Friends.  Most of the other overlapping rides were split decisions between family members or so close as to be indistinguishable.  We rode on about 20 rides, saw Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, did the very sweet Sleeping Beauty castle walkthrough, and visited the Stark Industries Iron Man tech exhibit at Innoventions.  By that time we were again too exhausted to stay for the evening fireworks or Fantasmic! so we bailed and headed back to the hotel.

We did do one other thing, though - Monte Cristo Sandwiches and Mickey-Shaped Beignets at Café Orleans in New Orleans Square.  YUM!!!   

We are supposed to be going to the California Science Center right about now, followed by a trip to the touristy parts of Hollywood.  However, after the schedule we've been keeping, we are too exhausted to get an early start, so everyone is sleeping in while I post this entry.  I'll post later whether we got up the energy to do more than laundry!

Disney Day!

"When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do." - Walt Disney

Yesterday, we left bright and early for California Adventure.  As we should be leaving right now for Disneyland, I will have to keep this short, but I promise a more detailed trip report later on the Disboards.

Many of the rides in California Adventure are duplicated in Walt Disney World.  We have been to Disney World many times, so our priority was to get on the rides that are different.  Our biggest priority there was the entire land that Florida is missing - Cars Land.  We hurried in and got a fastpass for the headliner, Radiator Springs Racers.

What can we say?  The theming was amazing, and once we rode Radiator Springs Racers, we had to go back for a second fastpass.  It is definitely my favorite Disney ride in any park, which is a problem, since it is so far away.  Disney, add Cars Land to Florida, please!!

Then we rode on pretty much everything else in the park.  Other than the Silly Symphony Swings (which Kai and Scott thought were too close to the Zephyr, which they had just rode), Mickey's Fun Wheel (which had a long wait and no one really wanted to ride anyway), and the kiddy rides in the Bug's Life section, we rode it all.  Other than Radiator Springs Racers, which was everyone's favorite, Scott and Kai's favorite was California Screaming, and Nick and I loved Tow Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. (Okay, that's back in Cars Land, but that's life!)  The two new to us dark rides, Monsters Inc. and Little Mermaid were cute.  The Aladdin show was funny and really great, especially the special effects, although it would have been nice if the stunt Aladdin and Jasmine looked more like the stage versions.  The park's theming was interesting, but a bit disjointed.  We loved the Animation Academy building - it's much better than Disney World's version.  Plus, we got to draw Steamboat Willie and Phineas and Ferb! Gotta go, Disneyland is calling.

California Drivin'

"I had to stop driving my car for a while... the tires got dizzy." - Steven Wright

I am exhausted, Scott is even more exhausted, and both kids are wide awake.  It probably comes from driving from the top to the bottom of the country in two days.  The adults get stress, the kids get lots of backseat sleeping.  Despite our best efforts, we showed up after dark both days, including the night when we were camping next to the ocean in bear country. Still, we made it, and we did get to see some amazing things.

Yesterday, at the end of a drive that seemed to last forever, we made it to the Redwood National Forest.  We stopped briefly in a pull-out to take some pictures.  Some were standard road trip shots, but most were at the request of my two cosplayers, who thought the giant trees were perfect for pictures of them as Bilbo and the Doctor. 

We also got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time, albeit briefly.  We hope to spend a day at the beach later in the trip, though.

 Today our only driving break was a quick stop at the Jelly Belly Factory.  The line for the tour was over an hour long, so we just enjoyed the cool decorations and got a few beans for the road.
 
 The most harrowing part of our drive was the final push through I-5 in Los Angeles.  The traffic was terrifying, and the speeds insane.  At one point, a giant bus flew past us with sparks flying from their back tire, swerving and listing dangerously.  A few moments later, a highway patrol car flew up the line of traffic on the right, crossed all the way to the HOV lane (where the bus was), caused everyone (including us) to hit their brakes to avoid him, and then lights flashing, escorted the disabled bus to the shoulder, again causing brake lights everywhere.  As we flew past, we discovered it was actually a sheriff's department bus carrying inmates.  Seriously, are we in LA, or an action movie?

Still, we are here, and installed in what seems to be a decent enough inn near Disneyland, so I'm going to try and get some sleep before a long day of fun at California Adventure!

Slinging Salmon, Starbucks, Ships, and Sunshine?

"It rains 365 days a year, 24/7." -Angie
"Stay away, Bigfoot lives in Seattle." -Jeff

I am starting to think this rain thing may be anti-Seattle tourist propaganda. Either that, or I am a Photoshop genius.  You will have to decide.

We headed across the sound on a very cool ferry this morning.  Jeff, Angie, and Christopher showed us around the Seattle waterfront. We enjoyed the beautiful views, the strange and curious objects in the shops, and Nick got a strong kick out of the first Starbucks.  (It was nice of Jeff and Angie to indulge him there, as they are not fans.  I think Jeff said, "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks.")

We then headed for Pike Place Market, which was amazing.  The fresh fruit (especially berries) was delicious.  Scott got cinnamon almonds, and I got a dried bouquet of flowers.  It was fun watching them throw fish around. All of the gorgeous flowers were $10 or less a bunch. Then they took us to Golden Age Collectibles, and the kids spent all kinds of souvenir money on fandom related items from Doctor Who to Sherlock to Supernatural.  Scott picked up some Firefly stuff, and even I got an Agent Coulson SHIELD ID badge. We finished the day with a Chinese buffet and are now relaxing before some massive driving scheduled for tomorrow. I just wish we had more time with our family.

Nothing to See Here...

Hi all!  We had a safe and uneventful drive to Bremerton, WA, where we are visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.  We did some catching up over a delicious dinner.  I think today we are off on adventures in the Bremerton and/or Seattle area, so I will post an update tonight. Have a great Monday - we hope to!