Day Fifty-One: Our California Adventure

Our plan for today was to head back to DisneyLand, for all of the things we missed, and then over to California Adventure, for everything else. We finished DisneyLand with Star Tours, which was the same as the ride in Florida. We wanted to get Erik something with Jedi Mickey, but couldn't find anything suitable. Sorry! We went on Space Mountain. I wasn't ready for it. They take you up two large hills at the very beginning, so all I could think was "Where is the huge downhill?" Since it was so dark in there, you couldn't tell where it was coming. Around every turn, I was freaking out a little. Robyn was next to me and just kept laughing!! We were really hoping to do Nemo's underwater ride, but it was closed when we got there. We had done everything that we wanted, so we went to a gift shop to do some shopping, and headed out of DisneyLand. It was sad.
Afterwards, we went next door to California Adventure, which is where they have more of the "adult" things to do. You could tell you're in California, when DisneyLand has a winery and cellar on the premise! Our first stop was to their "Hollywood Pictures Backlot". We were excited because we had just been there! We decided to go to the MuppetVision 3D. So much cooler than the one in Florida!! It starts off with the 2 old grumpy guys sitting in the balcony, criticizing the show. It had all of the "cheap 3D tricks" (like Kermit promised against) but newer ones, too. Somehow, they had Fozzie shoot a water gun at you and they had bubbles all over the place. They also had some more characters come out of doors and stuff. At the end, the building 'blows up' and it looks like there is fire coming out of the walls and stuff. When the show was over, you couldn't even tell what had been there. It was so cool!
Our next stop was to the Monsters, Inc. ride. At the end, the train stopped at the old boss lady. We figured that it was to let the cars in front of us off. No big deal. Then she started talking. She was like "Hi girls. You two in the third row (where we were sitting), are you two twins or something?" "Uhh... " after being in shock, "...yeah...". "Oh, nevermind, you humans all look the same." The girl in the front kept turning around to look at us. I was still in shock. After that, we met Sulley (also from Monsters, Inc.) and he gave us a great big hug and kisses! (It makes you wonder who's actually under the costume...) Anyway, it made our day!
The Tower of Terror is right next to it, so, since I promised Robyn I would do it, we went in that direction. Luckily, there was hardly a line (surprising) and we were able to go up rather quickly. I was shaking the entire time! Apparently, though, I have grown up a lot since Florida, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The picture at the top says otherwise, though, because I definitely covered my face at the top. They opened the doors to the outside twice, which made it worse because you knew that the only direction to go was down. It was a good thing we went when we did because the line when we got out was huge. We walked through "a bug's land", which is set up to be you walking around like a bug. Everything is high above you. We took pictures with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater from Cars. After that, we walked around their Paradise Pier. It's designed to look like a boardwalk pier, and has shops, restaurants, and more rides. We went on the "Toy Story Midway Mania", which is a ride where you have to hit the target to get points. There are a bunch of different games that you play. It is another competitive one. Robyn won, but it was close! There is also a Ferris wheel there, with a huge picture of Mickey in the center, but we decided to head out and try to find the "Soarin' Over California" ride. It is one of the rides they pride themselves on, so we went for it. It is also one of the more popular rides, which made for a super long wait. It was about an hour until we actually got to go on it. They set it up to be sort of like an airplane, but once it starts, your feet end up dangling off the floor (our would anyway!) They take you over Yosemite Falls, Redwood Creek, the Golden Gate Bridge, Napa, and a few more. It was nice to see the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day, but I don't know if I would have waited in line to go on it again. I'd rather see the real thing! Since it took longer than we wanted, we didn't have time to do much else. It was a little disappointing, but we did everything we wanted to. We didn't do a very good job of planning- another day would have been perfect. All in all, though, DisneyLand was so much fun! It is absolutely amazing how much work and effort goes into running something like that, and as well as they do! And the artistic ability to build the sets and rides! Half the time, we were just looking at everything around us, not paying attention to the actual ride! Each character looks like who it's supposed to be and stuff. It's amazing!!
After Anaheim, it was off to our next stop. Since the last two days had been pretty long, we were going to stop for coffee before we got any farther. Turns out, the GPS thinks that there is a Starbucks in the middle of a gated community in the Laguna Hills. After getting turned around in a very affluent community, we decided to get back on the highway and keep going. We tried to go on the Pacific Coast Highway, but ended up going north on it. After turning around, we decided that it would probably be best to go on I-5 and just get to the campground. Since we couldn't find somewhere to stop, we figured we would get a water from one of the rest stops. It didn't taste 'right,' but it was legit bottled water, so we drank it anyway...Nothing has happened yet... We stopped at the store to pick some stuff up, and finally got to the campground. It's only two hours from Disney to here, but it felt like forever! We pitched our tent and made dinner. Now it's time for bed!!

Day Fifty: I Kissed a Mouse, and I Liked It!!

What better way to spend day 50 than at Disneyland!! After starting our day with warmed-over French toast sticks (a la Central), we headed over to the park. We saw Goofy as soon as we walked in, but he had a huge crowd around him, so we didn't stop to take a picture with him. We walked up Main Street USA, which is a bunch of little shops and cafes. We started making mental lists of which ears we wanted! (There are so many new ones, it was tough to pick!!) One of the stores had animated windows of all the classics- like Snow White, 101 Dalmatians, and The Lion King. We went on a few rides, like Pirates of the Caribbean (they sure did an excellent job with the movies- Captain Jack Sparrow looks just like the character from the ride), the Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain (the picture at the top was priceless!) Next to Splash Mountain was 100 Acre Wood, home to Winnie the Pooh. We took pictures with Pooh and Eeyore (gave them big hugs!!) Tigger had just left, which was a little disappointing. We went on the psychedelic Pooh ride. Next, we went to the Pirate's Lair, which was a deserted pirate island. They had caves and things to climb in, up, and through. There was also a cage of bones and the pirate's booty!! Then we went to FantasyLand, where we met Tinkerbell and some of her fairy friends. (I don't know why, but Tinkerbell didn't look very happy to see us...)
Since we didn't want to miss Mickey and Minnie, we decided to go on a hunt for them. Luckily, we didn't have to look very hard for their houses in ToonTown. We walked over there and waited for Minnie. Once we got her picture, we walked through her house and took some pictures. Her house led to Mickey's Theater Barn, which is where they were showing all of his old movies. We were finally able to see the Big Cheese!! We took our one chance to give Mickey a kiss on the cheek! Sure hope Minnie doesn't mind!! (As the photographer said, it was our new Facebook picture!) By this time, we felt like total 6-year-olds, so we decided to wait in line with them to see the Princesses. We met Belle (love her dress!) and Arielle, and Tianna. We also saw Aurora tell her story of Sleeping Beauty. Then we went to 'It's a Small World". After that, we tried to watch Mickey's Soundsational Parade, but since we were a little late, we didn't get very good spots. Luckily, most of the characters were high on floats, so we were able to see some of them. Each float had a different character/movie and each had it's own song. It was fun to sing a long with the ones we knew! I didn't realize that Mary Poppins was part of Disney, but at least I knew what the float was supposed to be unlike the person in front of us. He said it was iCarly, and clearly it wasn't. We also couldn't figure out how Arielle got on her pedestal with a fin on, but somehow she did!
After the parade, we went to Wonderland. We went to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and rode in his teacups. We took the Alice in Wonderland ride (and quickly found out some more information about Seattle from the girl at the control). Then we took Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (it wasn't that wild). We took a small break, went back to the hotel to get warmer clothes on (imagine!), and continued on. We spent the evening with the classic Disney characters. We went on a flight with Peter Pan, went on a journey with Pinocchio, and went with Snow White on her scary adventures. When you watch the movies as children, you see the fairy tale in it, when you see them as adults on rides, you realize how creepy some of them really are and are surprised you didn't have nightmares after watching them!!
Since we still had some time before the park closed, we went over to TomorrowLand to Buzz Lightyear's ride. The newer rides are pretty neat because they are all interactive. This one, you help Buzz try to shoot all of the bad aliens. We are the only two who made it rather competitive. If only we had figured out sooner what we were supposed to be doing! After Buzz, we decided to go back to the hotel and rest up for another fun-filled day!

Day Forty-Nine: Oooh, That Burns...

Today started early, because we were planning on going to the beach to people-watch. It turns out that our first stop wasn't the beach. We saw the Hollywood sign yesterday. But we wanted to get closer. So, our first try was unsuccessful, in a way. We ended up driving through the hills again, the same direction as we did yesterday. After about 30 minutes of driving along Mulholland Drive, we decided to find an address that was supposed to be the best place to see it. We followed the directions, with only a handful of turn-arounds (it was the GPS's fault this time), and a vicious-looking guard dog. We were able to get there. It's best seen from a little "park" up in the hills. When you imagine it, it seems a whole lot bigger than it actually is. We were surprised at the size. We felt a little better that we couldn't see it before today.
After that, we finally headed over to the beach. We parked at Santa Monica Pier and walked up and down the boardwalk. We walked down to Venice Beach. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. The boardwalk there is lined with different types of vendors. There were artists, tattooists, and (probably most of), medical marijuana joints (pun intended). There were way more than you would expect, and they were all talking very quietly, trying to get people to go in. After a while, we decided to turn around, before it got any weirder (and deciding that not everyone there had talent). We walked back on the beach- talk about a great calf workout! The water was really cold still. We also saw probably the coolest summer camp. The Santa Monica Parks Department holds their summer camps right on the beach- including surfing and beach soccer. Totally jealous!! After we got back to the Santa Monica Pier, we spent a little bit of time walking up and down it. It's very touristy. We were able to see the sign for the end of Route 66 (we also saw one on the actual road, too, today.)
After we were there for a while, we decided to leave and head to Anaheim. We left at 3:00. We weren't sure if we were going to be too early. Turns out we didn't need to worry about that. Today was the first day we got stuck in 'real' LA traffic. After about a half-hour, and no car snacks, we decided that the best way to get through the traffic was to sing through it. So, we sang a few songs, and eventually the traffic eased. We entered Orange County and Anaheim. We found our hotel, which is right across the street from Disneyland!! Talk about convenient!!
After unpacking, etc, we walked over to Downtown Disney. It's an area with a lot of restaurants and stores. When we got there, it wasn't too packed, which was good. We walked up and down the street, looked in the stores, did a little shopping. After a while, we decided to stop for dinner and drinks. We went to a Mexican-themed restaurant. Talk about spicy! Ate about a half of a jalapeno and didn't know until it was too late! The margarita helped a tad. I think my lips are still tingling!! When we finished dinner, we kept walking around. It was pretty crowded by then. We were able to sort of see the fireworks at Disneyland. After that, we decided to walk back to the hotel and get ready to spend tomorrow with Mickey and Minnie!!

Day Forty-Eight: "I Look to My Right and See the Hollywood Sign"

Well, almost...
It's amazing to see where people are from around here. Most of the cars have California license plates (obviously), but very few are actually from here. Our neighbors are from Burgundy, France and another family is from the Netherlands. There are so many people here- such a diverse area. The only one I've met that does is the lady at the front desk, who's aunt and cousin actually live in Connecticut. (She was disappointed that we didn't bring them- I don't think they would be very comfortable squished into the back seat. I told her that, she wasn't buying it...) After breakfast, we spent a little trying to map out where we were going to go today. So many options! As we were doing so, one of the tour guides came to pick up a group of people, and he asked us if we wanted to go (I'd rather take my own tour), and we said no. (He probably just wanted someone who understood him...) He then asked us where we were from. We said Connecticut and he was like, "Connecticut is one of my favorite states." Robyn acted just a little too surprised!! I guess it would be OK if your friend lives in Greenwich and you live just outside of LA. We finally got our list of places and headed out.
Since we are outside of LA, we have about a 20 minute drive to the city. 20 minutes if everyone just drives the speed limit and uses their blinkers (no one does here). However, this gave us some time to look at the cars drive by us, pretending that there were famous people in them (ie Taylor Lautner). We also saw a military truck drive down the highway. Nothing out of the ordinary, except this one had a "Student Driver" sticker on it! I don't know where his instructor was, because he was driving in the shoulder. But I guess with something like that you can... Also, since there are so many people here, and so many license plates, they started using symbols in their numbers. They have hearts and stars on their vanity plates! I wish we had that!!
Anyway, our first stop to day was in honor of Mom. We headed out to Calabasas, home to the Kardashians. All of the houses there are exactly the same, but they're all huge! It's a small town, though. We passed by their store and took a picture of it. I bet Robyn to go in, but we agreed that we would probably be kicked out before setting foot in the store. We may or may not have seen Bruce Jenner running down the street. I don't know if it was actually him because he was going at a pretty decent speed. We had come up with this whole story we would tell them if we saw them. And funny, it would all be true!
After that minor detour, we headed towards the city, and the first thing we wanted to see was the Hollywood sign. We followed the directions that were given, and somehow missed it. The two of us somehow miss this huge sign. We did find a big 'B', though. (I guess we also missed a 14,000 ft mountain, and we were on the mountain...) We were all sorts of turned around, but did pass by Nickelodeon Studios, Warner Brothers Studios, a few others. By this time, we decided that we needed to find another point to go to. This time, we went to Hollywood and to the Walk of Fame. We were able to find this one with ease!! We also found reasonable parking, which is always good in a city! We walked up and down the Walk, and took tons of pictures of stars. Some more than once. From there, we walked down Sunset Boulevard for a little bit. We ended up back at Hollywood and Highland, which is where the Walk starts, and where all the touristy areas are. We walked through the Hollywood and Highland Complex, which is kind of like an open-air mall connecting the Kodak Theater, where they have all the award shows, and Grauman's Chinese Theater, where they have all the hand and foot prints. They also make it easy to buy an Ipod or Proactive out of a vending machine. This was where we finally saw the Hollywood sign, even though it was kind of small from here. They were shooting a commercial in the complex. This is also where they film a lot of the Hollywood gossip shows- the TV Guide Channel's studio is right down the street.
After we did all of that, we were determined to find the sign again, for some more pictures. We had found a driving tour that was supposed to show it, so we went for it. We ended up driving in the Hollywood Hills (made famous by 'The Hills'). The houses there are GINORMOUS!! But a lot of them were for sale. We ended up driving around longer than we wanted, and only got a few picture of the city from above. Somehow, we still missed the sign. The whole area is a bowl, which should make something like that easy to spot. Apparently not. So, after driving around, we decided to find a few cities. We found Bel-Air (a huge chunk of it is gated off) and Beverly Hills. We drove down Rodeo Drive (complete with 'Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery', not to be confused with the Wellness Center that performs 'Lipomassage') and Santa Monica Boulevard. We also passed by the entrance for UCLA. Didn't see much of it, but it looks pretty big!!
The last stop we made was towards Downtown LA to see the Disney Concert Hall. It is known for its architecture. It's a pretty neat building. The pictures didn't come out so good because it was getting dark. Between there and our camp, we passed the Los Angeles Times building and the Staples Center. Luckily, nothing was going on because it would have made the traffic a nightmare (it was pretty heavy, even for 8:00). We are planning on spending most of tomorrow here too, before heading to Disneyland tomorrow night!! It's great to feel like a little kid again!!

Day Forty-Seven: Cruising Down the California Coast

Happy Anniversary, Sarah & Erik!!
We were planning on sleeping later today, since it was only a three hour +/- drive to Los Angeles. The birds had a different plan. We woke up to a rooster set on snooze and a flock of birds in the tree above us. Let's just say they have pretty good aim. Unfortunately. We made breakfast and as we were cleaning up, we saw a squirrel carrying a pinecone. Now, the pinecone was the same size as the squirrel, so to see him carry it up the tree (and doing a flip) it was very impressive!! Luckily, it was only his footprints we saw in all the sand near the tent (we were worried...) After only taking 20 minutes to pack up (new record), we headed south to Los Angeles. We decided that we wanted to take the Pacific Coast Highway as much as we could, because we wanted to drive along the ocean. (Turns out 101 goes right along the ocean, too, just from a little higher up.) There were some spots that there was nothing going on, and then there was one spot where all the surfers were. We also saw what looked to be the Black Pearl, but six more ships came out of the fog, so we decided that it wasn't that! Hopefully we'll be able to see it in Disney! It was also interesting because there is a section of it where people in RV's can rent a spot and vacation right along the road. Doesn't do much when you're trying to take pictures, though.
We also passed a ton more farms today. There were handfuls of people at each one, picking and plucking. We saw the farm land and shipping plant for Fresh Express lettuce and a production plant for International Paper. Pretty neat. There was also a piece of land that was bright orange. We're not sure what they were growing, but it was interesting to see this block of orange in the middle of green. (Yesterday we passed Raisin City, California, home to Sun-Maid raisins. There was a sign along the side of the road.)
Once we got into the LA vicinity, the landscape was definitely not what we were expecting. We haven't actually driven through LA, but did drive through Pasadena. There are huge mountains out here, and the fog/smog is ridiculous. We just hope we'll be able to see everything tomorrow!! After driving around for a little, we decided to head to the campground to set up, and figure things out. (The lady at the front desk has family in Connecticut. We had a nice conversation about it...) We put the tent up and we were going to head out to see what is around here. We are right next to the Fairplex, which is where they hold the LA County Fair in September. We are also near a small airport and a raceway. The train also came by once, but it doesn't seem to bee overly loud here. We needed to get some things at the store, so we went to Walmart. Fanciest Walmart we've been to. We had been playing a game this afternoon, trying to see which cars drove by. The cars in the parking lot were high class. There were Mustangs, Mercedes, and Lexus-es up and down the parking lot. Definitely wouldn't expect that! We got our stuff and headed back to the campground for dinner. We are spending the night trying to figure out how to do the most in a short time. Hopefully we'll be successful! Then it's early to bed to start our day pretty early!!