Disneyland (the final day)

We decided to sleep in a little, and hit the park a little before 11am. We started the day in California Adventures because we were told that the Aladdin show was good ... who was it that told me that? I really need to talk to them. It SUCKED! It is the first thing I've seen here that I hated from start to finish. If you like bad acting and singing, combined with some so-so theatrical tricks, then this show is for you ... but let you be warned! I sat there with my head in my hands just waiting for the damn thing to be over. It may not have helped to have seen Wicked twelve hours before.

Hailey and I rode the Tower of Terror again. It wasn't nearly as terrifying the second time around (third for Hailey,) then we had to hit Bugs Land. Zakiya loved it, of course. They have some nice little water areas in there with these big misting bars. A nice way to cool off.

Zakiya and Becky stayed in Bugs Land for a while, and Hailey and I went over and rode California Screaming two times in a row. Fun! Fun! Fun!

We noticed that the park was far more crowded than at any other time during our visit, and it was also REALLY hot yesterday. By the time we arrived at Disneyland, around 1pm, we were begging for shade. We ate lunch at the first restaurant where we could sit down and was cool.

It seemed to be a day for characters ...



After lunch we began to discover just how crowded the park was. We had been commenting to each other that the lines were never bad, even when we didn't have a fast pass, we never had to wait more than 20 minutes for any ride.

We knew we wanted to ride Splash Mountain again, so during lunch I walked over to get us fast passes. It was about 2pm. The fast pass distribution was closed and the wait for the ride was over and hour. This was how it was for nearly every big ride.

We took the girls over to meet the Princesses. They got to chat with Mulan, Bell, Jasmine, and managed a quick picture with Minnie right before she went off to join the parade.





The heat was so bad, we went on It's a Small World again, just to be able to sit in the air conditioning for a while. I was able to block out the sound of that damn song ... It's a small world after all. It's a small world after all. It's a small world ... ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

One of the rides we wanted to do, but never did, was Finding Nemo. It doesn't have a fast pass, and the shortest we ever saw the line was a 90 minute minimum wait. We talked to several people that said the ride wasn't that good, so we just stayed away.

We didn't have much interest in the "Honey, I shrunk the Audience" ride. It just looked cheesy, but then I read in a guide book that the show was pretty good, besides, it's indoors and air conditioned!

The show is really very entertaining, scary even. Easily the best 3D I have ever seen, and the addition of other enhancements in the theatre make it a rather thrilling event.

Afterward, we rode the monorail and then walked back over to see how long the wait was for Splash Mountain. Still over and hour. Hey! There's the Pirates of the Caribbean again ... ahhh, nice and cool down here!

Hailey decided she wanted to go on the Haunted Mansion again, this time with me. Zakiya decided she would brave it too. They both fared far better this time.

Splash Mountain? Still over an hour wait.

We ate dinner and then rode the train all the way back to Main Street. When we arrived at Main Street, we noticed Mickey signing autographs, so Hailey and I walked over and waited in line. After a few minutes, Mickey's handler or body guard or whatever that person's title is, announced that Mickey had to leave, so Mickey started down the line of people, taking quick pictures. We were about third in line at that point. Mickey came up and Hailey stepped forward. I tried to snap a picture, but the woman behind us pushed her four children in.

Mickey didn't miss this, however. He looked at me and pointed to Hailey. I nodded. He finished the photo with the kids, stepped up and grabbed Hailey's hand and waived for me to follow. He made a b-line for a far corner of Main street and then leaned over and whispered something to his security guard. Once we were away from the crowd, he signed Hailey's book, gave her a hug and allowed me to take a proper picture. Thanks Mickey!



We did a little shopping and then found a spot for the fireworks again. We noticed a lot of new things this third time. Amazing how much you miss in a show like this.



After the show, Becky and Hailey headed back for Space Mountain, (an hour wait), while Zakiya and I went in to Star Tours. The wait was minimal and the ride was fun. Zakiya liked it a lot. I figured that Hailey and Becky would be in line for a while, and the wait at Autopia was only 25 minutes so we got in line ... 45 minutes later, we finally got into our car! Ughh! It was after 11pm by the time we got off that thing!

Okay, off to Splash Mountain! ....

11:20pm. Still a 45 minute wait!!!! We were going over the final plunge right at midnight. We made our way out and got our customary midnight ice cream on our way to the exit. Thanks Disneyland! It's been fun!

Day 6 Hollywood!

We started our 6th day at the beautiful Getty Museum. In talking with my relatives over the weekend, none of them had been there, though they all said they wanted to go. What a treasure. You have to pay $8 to park your car, but there is no admission fee. Wow.

We got to see Edouard Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergere as well as Vincent Van Gogh's Irises.

Then we went out and wandered through the gardens. It is a gorgeous place, though we were rather hot.



After the Getty, we went into Beverly Hills and had lunch with a friend of mine I have not seen in 21 years. After lunch we continued up Santa Monica Blvd to Hollywood and the walk of fame.



The girls liked trying to fit their hands and feet in the different stars' impressions at Graumann's Chinese Theatre.
After walking up and down Hollywood Blvd, we came to the gorgeous Pantages Theatre. Hey! What's that on the marquee! What's playing there?!? It's "Wicked"! Let's go take a look ... what do you know, they just happen to have tickets for us!


The touring show came through Portland a year or so ago. Becky wanted me to get tickets for her birthday ... but I, um, waited a little too long and they sold out completely ... (hang my head in shame.)

This made up for it ... I think. Becky discovered, after we entered, that this was the Broadway cast, NOT the touring cast, and our 6th row seats were pretty darn good too! The girls were enthralled, and I even liked it!

Afterward, we hung out by the stage door, and got auto-graphs from most of the cast, including Eden Espinosa who played Elphaba. She was fantastic and is good reason to see this show alone. Here she is with Hailey. Zakiya had passed out by then.

Disney (A day of rest?)

Yesterday was a rest day. A little lounging by the pool...




Followed by some shopping in Downtown Disney (no entry fee required to shop!) We paid a visit to the Lego store. Hailey apparently forgot ALL of her Jedi training ... (and check out Zakiya's expression.)


We wandered around and saw the sites, bought a few nic-nacs. Zakiya got a Dumbo doll! That's all she's been talking about.

And what shopping trip in Southern California would be complete without a make-over???



We finished off our day with dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. There is a thunder storm every half hour and the elephants next to our table trumpeted about every ten minutes!
And after dinner, we walked across the street to see Ratatouille.

Disneyland Day 3 (California Adventure)

We hit California Adventure on our third day (Monday.) We didn't arrive until about mid day, and were pleased to discover that it wasn't too crowded. We were hot, so we went on the Grizzly River Rapids three different times. That's it there behind Becky and the girls.


Becky got the worst of it each time, it seems. The boats turn randomly, but she always seemed to end up on the downhill side when we landed. By our final ride, late in the day, she was drenched. :)

We ran into a bunch of characters here today, including Stitch, Aladdin, and Minnie Mouse. We also saw Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, but couldn't catch up to them.




We watched the High School Musical Pep Rally (which Hailey loved) and also the Pixar Block party, which includes just about every well known Pixar character. The girls went out and danced with one of the performers.


One of the things I have noticed at every performance, is how hard these performers are working. This is a tough gig, and everyone always seems to be giving it their all. It's fun to watch.

Other highlights of our day here, were Soaring over California, which is perhaps my favorite ride so far. It is an amazing experience. Zakiya was grinning from ear to ear through the whole ride and completely comfortable. She just put her hands in her lap and giggled and smiled. While I enjoyed it tremendously, I was still a bit nervous and at least held on.

We rode the Tower of Terror. Hailey rode twice because Zakiya decided it was too scary for her. It was indeed terrifying, though I thought a little too short.

We finished our day by riding California Screamin' which was great fun. Again, Hailey rode twice, once with me and once with Becky. Zakiya was two inches too short for the ride. When Hailey and Becky went back for that ride, Zakiya and I decided to try out the Ferris wheel which has gondolas on tracks that roll back and forth. It took forever to get on the ride, despite the short line, and then we were on the ride a long time too. I think we were in line and on the ride for more than an hour. We were more than ready to get off when the time came.

We ended the evening with the Electrical parade. For some reason, they close California Adventure down at 9pm, which seems silly to me.

We have a few things left to do at each park, so we are planning on our last day inside the parks on Thursday. Tomorrow we are off to the Getty Museum and Hollywood and a special surprise for Becky and the girls. Stay tuned.

Disneyland Day 2

Our third day in LA, our second day at Disneyland. Saturday, we drove up to Santa Clarita to see all my relatives. My cousin Mary had a big spread of food and the girls played in the pool ALL day. I haven't seen most of my cousins and aunts since our wedding. We got back to our hotel around nine and crashed, knowing we had to be up extra early on Sunday for the choir performance.

We were up a little after 6am and at the park right after 8am. The choir went into Toon Town at 9am for some workshops and rehearsals and performed at noon.


The choir did an outstanding job and sounded excellent. The acoustics in the plaza gardens are excellent. Some people came in to listen, but mostly it was just the parents and relatives. We didn't really care, nor did the children.

While Hailey was off getting ready for the performance, Becky, Zakiya and I went on Space Mountain. Zakiya liked it but said, "I think I'm gonna puke" and I had to agree. Space Mountain had just opened the last time I was here and I was too scared to go on it. Once was enough. I really like to see where I am going!

After that, we headed to Toon Town because Zakiya wanted to see Minnie's house. We wandered around there and Zakiya rode Goofy's roller coaster twice.

After the performance, we had to return to Toon Town to pickup Hailey. On the way, we discovered Merlin trying to find a temporary ruler. He picked Zakiya out of the crowd, after a strapping young man failed to pull the sword from the stone. Zakiya pulled the sword out easily and was awarded a medal and proclamation!





She was thrilled, of course, and stared at that medal all day. At one point, late in the day, an older security guard came up to me and told me not to let anyone have the medal. He said there are a lot of Disney freaks that will offer to buy it for $100, because they know they can get $250 for it on ebay. I assured him that it was NOT leaving her possession.

Once the choir came out from Toon Town, Hailey told us that they got to meet Jack Sparrow! They had a good time. Hailey rode Goofy's roller coaster while Zakiya went in to meet Mickey (Hailey wasn't interested.)

When we rode Space Mountain early in the day, we thought we would all ride again so we got some fast passes, but upon reflection, neither Zakiya or I wanted to go back, so Becky and Hailey rode Twice! The last time they went, they got to sit in the front. Becky finally admitted that the front is a bit much!

Having conquered Space Mountain, Hailey decided she wanted to be a Jedi, so she went to the Jedi Training Academy.

They trained her so well, she was allowed to battle Darth Vader! I shall not turn to the dark side!


Hailey was quite proud of herself and is practicing her Jedi moves every moment now. After all that excitement, we headed over to Autotopia. Hailey was just tall enough to drive on her own. I was in a car with Zakiya. I think she took great pleasure in bouncing us back and forth! I tried taking photos of Hailey in front of us, but could only ever get the back of her car.
We headed into Frontierland after all that. Too much future for us, we had to go back in time. Zakiya and I went over to get a fast pass for Splash Mountain. It was so busy though, that our Fast Pass (at 4pm) was for re-entry at 10pm!!!

While we waited for Becky and Hailey, we went into the Haunted Mansion. Zakiya said on Friday that she wanted to go to a haunted house, so we walked in. We got just inside the door and Zakiya asked, "Is this a haunted house?" "Yes." I said. She grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward the exit. "Let's go!"

I assuaged her a bit and we went in. She was shaking for most of the ride, but didn't say much. Once we got outside again, she stopped and asked, "Is that fake?" I told her that it was all fake and she just said, "Oh!" and was totally fine with it after that.

We missed Hailey and Becky on their way over, so they went into the Haunted Mansion too and had an equally frightening experience. Poor Hailey started crying when she saw me afterward.

We went to watch the parade and saw the latest addition to the cast of characters ... Ratatouille.


We were enjoying the parade when Becky started screaming, "It's Mary Poppins!" We never knew that Becky was such a Mary Poppins fan! I think she even scared the poor girl playing Mary.

It rained a bit on us during the parade, but hey, we're from Oregon!

We got a bite to eat and enjoyed a beautiful sunset from Tarzan's tree house. The photo doesn't do it justice.





We had intended on taking a break from the park in the early afternoon, but we just kept going and none of us were tired.

We rode the Thunder Mountain roller coaster two times in a row and then went and watched the fireworks show again, this time from Main Street. It is much better from the front of the castle!

We hit the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster, which was a hoot, and then finally made our way back over to Splash Mountain. By ten thirty, there was really no need for a Fast Pass, as we walked right on to the ride. We all thought it was the best thing we had been on yet, so promptly got off and ran around and back on again. We've got a great picture of us on our second trip. I'll post it after we return.

We decided that we were done. It was after eleven, so we grabbed some churro's and headed toward Main Street.

We ate dinner across from the Indiana Jones ride, and while we were sitting there, they closed the ride. Zakiya isn't tall enough, so we thought, for that ride, so I promised Hailey I would take her on Monday or Tuesday. Then, as we were walking out, we passed Indian Jones, re-opened and no line (nearly midnight). So we said, what the heck! Hailey and I went in, then, just before we reached the ride (man that is a long walk in!) Becky and Zakiya came running in .... "She's tall enough! She's tall enough!"

This was easily our least favorite ride. The details were great, but it wasn't much fun and VERY bumpy.

So, we wandered out of the park and made our way home ... at 1 am. Wow. What a day. Let's get some sleep.

Disneyland Day 1

That's right! We're in Disneyland. Hailey's choir is performing here on Sunday so we have taken advantage of the event to spend a couple weeks in southern California.

We got in to LA around noon, got our car and headed for Anaheim. Of course, we promptly hit a traffic jam, thanks to an accident. At one point we travelled about 2 miles in twenty five minutes. We got a bite to eat, took a nap and hit the park at about 6:30.

We walked in to main street smack dab into the back of a parade. We were following the parade for a few minutes before we realized we had suddenly joined in.


We spent the next six hours covering almost all of fantasyland, including It's a Small World, Dumbo, The Mad Tea party, and The Matterhorn in the dark, to name just a few.




















We caught the fireworks display, although we were caught between the carousel and Snow White's castle and never knew quite where to look, as fireworks were exploding on both sides of us. We did get a great view of Tinker Bell during the show as she flew over our heads, which was really cool, although we weren't able to get a good photo of her.



We closed the park down and staggered back to our hotel. Off to see relatives tomorrow and then back to the park on Sunday for the performance... stay tuned.

The middle of nowhere...

Have you ever wondered how to get to the middle of nowhere? I have been there. Here's a picture.

A little over 35 years ago, my parents, along with many of their friends, bought land near Paulina, Oregon. An existing ranch was subdivided into five acre plots and was sold as the next "Crooked River Ranch." None of the land was ever developed.

When I was just barely five years old, our whole family, along with our friend's family, packed into a single motor home and drove out to see our land. No one from our family has been back since. This past week, for the first time in 35 years, I returned to see what has become of our land.

I am happy to report, not a single thing has changed. It is still 60 miles from anywhere. There is the town of Paulina, just a few miles away, but there is very little there either. Here's a picture of the general store.


We were camping near Bend for the 4th of July, and decided to take a day trip out to see what was happening. We have had a few inquiries into the property in the past year or so and wanted to see why.

We drove out to Prineville, had lunch and then continued another 60 miles east. It was 97 degrees. There is nothing there.

The dogs got to play in a creek near Prineville reservoir, but it was otherwise a long drive.

Our van hit 100,000 miles about halfway between Prineville and Paulina. If it hadn't taken us so long to get out there, we might have continued on into the Ochoco mountains to Wolf or Sugar creek, but we had to settle for some ice cream from the Paulina store.

So. If you ever want to go to the middle of nowhere, I can tell you how to get there.