Travel journal from our vacation

Ok, you have to keep in mind that I was scribbling this in shorthand into a little book along the way, so some of it will need further explanation (email me if you really want more info on anything).  Enjoy!

Aug 3, 2007  I'm so excited!  Only a few more days til we leave!  The time can't pass quickly enough.

We just found out this morning that due to a big boo-boo, we'll be driving home instead of flying.  It knocked us off course for a while, but this is a fixable mistake.  A couple extra days on the road...a couple more states to visit...a couple more nights in a hotel.  It's do-able!

 

Aug 8, 2007  12:30pm

The plane took off on time & we've been flying for about an hour & a 1/2 now.  We should land @ 2:00.  (our time--12:00 CA time)

 

The pressurized cabin is making my head feel funny but not nauseated -- just a weird pressure sensation, hard to explain.  Needless to say, I'll be glad to get there.

 

Savannah & Samuel are sitting w/ Larry.  Sarah & I are together.  Sarah & Samuel were a little scared of take off, but they seem fine now.

 

Security was no problem, but was a little more thorough than other flights I've been on.

 

9:10pm (11:10pm TX time)

Wow...what a long day.  We arrived in CA on time.  No sooner did we hit the ground than my tummy started feeling wonky.  We got to the hotel & had some snacks from our welcome bags (thank you Jerry & Sheryl!!).  It calmed my stomach a little but we were all hungry, so we went to a Mexican place ("Acapulco" restaurant down the street) for a 3pm lunch/early supper.  We ate & then went across the street to the Whole Foods Market.  While there, my stomach got even worse crampy & nauseated feeling.  I'm not sure if it's the elevation or having had my equilibrium all messed up earlier on the flight or maybe the stolen (HA HA) chicken wrap I ate on the plan, but I felt awful for several hours.  We came back to the hotel & rested while the kids watched some cartoons.  When we got up, we all went down to the pool.  I sat & watched for a while, but finally the Pepto-Immodium-anti nausea meds cocktail kicked in & I swam.  It was so very relaxing & calming, so I'm glad my tummy finally got better!!  The kids & Larry even prayed for my stomach tonight on the way to the pool (in the elevator).  I'm not sure if they were more worried about me or the risk of missing out on Disney tomorrow if I didn't get better!  ha ha!

 

Weather is warm/hot w/ a good breeze all the time.  Very comfortable!

 

9:20pm (11:20pm TX time)

Time for bed!  We've been up since 5:30am (TX time), so that's nearly 18 hours now.  Yawn!

 

We're in Room #601, Holiday Inn on Ventura Blvd in Woodland Hills, CA.

 

Oops...forgot to mention that we saw Warner Bros., NBC Studios, ABC, Disney Channel and the Disney studios today (all on the way to the hotel from the airport).  Cool!

 

NOTE to those reading this:

I didn't really steal the chicken wrap.  On the flight, no meal was served but you could buy a snack.  I opted for an Asian Chicken wrap.  The flight attendant said he'd finish giving out the other drinks & such and then come back to get my credit card for the wrap.  He never came back & I completely forgot about it until we were in the car on the way to the hotel.  The kids & Larry teased me all night about "stealing" the chicken wrap.

 

Aug 9, 2007  10:26pm  (12:26am TX time)

Long exhausting day, but WOW!

 

We got up at about 7:00.  Kids were already awake, dressed & sitting on the side of their bed watching us sleep.  I think they were anxious for Disneyland!  ha ha!  Too cute!  We went downstairs for breakfast & left the hotel about 8:30-8:45.  The guy @ the front desk told us it would take 45 min- 1 hour to get there.  Wrong....2 hours!  The kids were WOW'd by everything from the parking trams to every ride to all the cool topiaries all around the park shaped like Disney characters.  Here was the order of our day:

 

Entered the park @ Main Street USA & quickly went to Tomorrowland where we:

1.  saw Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (cool 4-D show!)

2.  tried to ride Space Mountain (it was broken down & they were actually in the process of pulling passengers off the stuck ride...uh oh!)

3.  considered riding the Nemo submarines but there was a 2+hour wait!

4.  Kids rode Astro Orbitor (rocket ride)

5.  got water

 

We moved onto Fantasyland:

1.  lunch at the Village Haus restaurant

2.  rode Casey Jr. Circus train

3.  kids & Larry rode Dumbo flying elephants

4.  kids & Larry rode the tea cups (Mad Hatter)

 

We left Fantasyland after having been there for nearly 4 hours & went through Frontierland where we bought frozen lemonades.  Everything we wanted to ride had too long a wait, so we went to New Orleans Square to ride the Haunted Mansion.  We all went in, but Sarah got scared, so she & I went outside to wait while the others rode.  Afterward, we got on the Disney Railroad & rode as far as Fantasyland before we got off --no A/C & it was HOT!  Since we were back in Fantasyland, we rode "It's a Small World".  The line was too long the first time we were there.  We got another round of drinks when we left there & headed for Adventureland to take the Jungle Cruise.  Everyone loved that!

 

By that time, it was getting late and everyone was tired.  We got to Disney @ about 11am & by now it was nearly 7pm.  We stopped on the way out & bought everyone Mickey ears & took a few pictures in them.

 

We can see why people buy 2-3 day tickets b/c there just wasn't enough time to do it ALL like we wanted to.  We had to skip a lot of rides/shows that we would've enjoyed just for time's sake.

 

Traffic moved along faster on the way home & we were back to the street w/ our hotel in about an hour +/- a few minutes.  We went to a place called California Chicken Cafe for supper & ate like kings!  Yum!  We were shocked at the SIZE of the "side orders".  We were expecting Texas-sized side orders of the things we ordered, but each one came on a platter!  What a side!!!  Wow!

 

Aug 10, 2007  9:45pm (11:45 TX time)

We ate the breakfast buffet again this AM before heading out to the Hollywood Wax museum & Guiness Records museum.  Drove around & saw the Hollywood Hills, Walk of Fame & other sites.  We came back to the hotel to rest, then went to the beach.  The kids LOVED it.  Went to Mogan's Cafe for supper & it was COLD.  We were seated outside and we were all still damp from the beach.  They had to turn on the heaters, but we were still chilly!  Brrrr!  Came back to the hotel & swam again til after dark.  Yawn!  I'm beat!

 

Aug 11, 2007  11:02pm

Today we spent the morning @ the pool.  Everyone got a little sun & enjoyed a relaxing day.  We left here @ 3:00 to head to the Bar Mitzvah.  It was about 45 min away in Camarillo.  Meeting Jerry was at first a little awkward, b/c it's been such a long time coming & we feel like we've known each other forever.  Larry ended up telling a few jokes, loosening things up & then we all laughed & it was very comfortable.  The rabbi was very nice -- reminded me a lot of Terry Cadwell, same stature & demeanor & teaching style.  He wrote a book called "The Christian's Guide to Judaism" & gave Larry a copy.  The service was very formal in the liturgy & ceremonial stuff, but very informal in the setting and the way the rabbi presented things.  Samuel fell asleep minutes into the service.  He looked so cute in his Yamulkah.  The service was 2 hours long.  Wow.  The kids sat very quiet & respectfully through the whole thing even though the majority of it was in Hebrew.  Very interesting, but long.  Jerry ended the service w/ a very sweet tribute to that he'd written for Zach.

 

When we moved over to the country club, the kids immediately jumped into the racing simulator & enjoyed a few laps around the track.  They took pics by a Mercedes & a Rolls Royce for the "pit passes".  The big party was inside-- a DJ & dance floor was set up w/ every sort of racing themed decor you can imagine.  We had a salad & a fantastic dinner and watched a sweet powerpoint video Jerry created for Zach.  It had pics of his birth through today.  Very sweet!  Then they had the Mother/Son dance to "Beautiful Boy" from Mr. Holland's Opus.  Love that song!

 

Oh, I forgot.  Earlier in the evening, we did the traditional "horrah" (sp?) dance where everyone circles & sings.  It was cool!  They lifted Zach into the air in a chair like you see in movies.  Very cool!

 

We left about 9:30 b/c we have to get up early tomorrow to start the drive home.  Jerry walked us out & hugged us.  It was sad to say goodbye but it was a great meeting of one of my 1st long-time internet friends!

 

Thank you, Jerry & Sheryl, for having us.  We all had a wonderful time!

 

Tomorrow we will begin the long trip home.  Protect us, Lord & carry us safely home.

 

Aug 12, 2007

2:35pm--222mi into our journey--Mojave desert

9:30pm--we're at the hotel, all checked in & kids in the shower.

We made it to Winslow, Arizona.  It was a long day.  Lots of driving.  We're "taking it easy" tonight (Eagles song).

 

During the ABC game in the car today, we had some funny answers.

"I" is for ick on the windshield (Sarah)

"F" is for snakes farting in the desert (Samuel)

"T" is for topography (Larry)

 

Aug 13, 2007  10:30pm

We're in Amarillo tonight, anxious to make it home.  We should get there by tomorrow evening.  Larry is beginning to get stressed out about work stuff--which is his usual last day of a vacation thing.  He's had a fun experience seeing drum corp teams along the way (going to & from).  His leg has bothered him a little today, but otherwise he's doing alright.

 

We went to the famous corner in Winslow, AZ this morning before we left & stopped for a couple pictures.  Saw some neat Indian artifact stores along the way.  Had to clear up a lot of stereotypes for the kids about Indians/Native Americans, though.

 

Drove all the way across NM in one day.  Sure is smaller than Texas!

 

Can't wait to return this rental van to the DFW airport tomorrow.  The next time we're shopping for vans, we know what kind to NOT look at.  Can't stand this thing.  I'm ready to get in our Honda & go HOME!!  Woo Hoo---Whitehouse!