We did it. We were on our way to Disneyland. This was a long overdue vacation for our little family of four. Richard was still battling a cold, but was doing very well in the grand scheme of things.
We left the house at 12:00pm, and drove from Abbotsford to Portland. We forgot our purple bin full of dry goods and snacks. We stopped at Sizzler for dinner and at Target for some t-shirts for the boys and to replace our forgotten food.
Quote of the Day - Dexter
"My willy makes all the bathrooms golden."
Richard did almost all of the driving. He would rather fall asleep at the wheel than sleep while I'm driving.
We were packed full.
There was barely enough room for Dexter and Alton.
The drive was bleak with the only excitement being rest stops where the boys could let loose.
The first hotel night was full of drawing, playing, and short-lived journalling.
Day 2 - Saturday, February 25th
We originally had planned to drive to San Francisco, but left our planning too late and found no hotels available in or around San Fran. Instead we drove to Redding, CA through rain, snow, and hail to a slightly roomier hotel that had no fridge or microwave.
Rest stops, drawing, and humour all the way to Redding, CA.
The boys enjoyed one of the highlights of the trip that night which was a visit to the Burger King playplace for dinner and playtime. They had a blast. Richard and I kicked back with some pizza at the hotel.
Day 3 - Sunday, February 26th
We find Dexter asleep upside down in the bed which was just about every morning on this trip. We drove from Redding to Monterey stopping in San Francisco to see trolley cars, Pier 39, and the famous Boudin Sourdough Bakery.
Richard told AJ not to let me look at clothing, so AJ said, "Mom, just don't turn your head that way and then you won't see the clothes!"
We passed MANY outlets on this day of our journey, and stopped at none!
We meant to take the Golden Gate Bridge, we (Richard entered the wrong thing into the GPS) messed up, and only got to see it in the distance.
Steep hills paved with house, trolley cars, and the beach. Ahhh, San Fran.
Alcatraz is something we'll have to do when the boys are older.
Sightseeing, souvenirs, and sourdough!
Another highlight of the boys' trip......
The Lego Store! They got to spend some of their saved up Disney money.
Relaxing.
Playing with his special Pirates of the Caribbean Lego figurines.
Arriving in Monterey, welcomed by giant crashing waves.
Our cozy large room where you can see swimsuits drying after a frighteningly freezing walk back from the pool.
Day 4 - Monday, February 27th
After breakfast and a trip to Starbucks, we wanted to find the beach and let the boys see those waves up close. Unfortunately, the GPS (which was truly awesome for the trip and that's not sarcastic!) took us on a wild goose chase, culminating in a parking lot with a sandy hill across some railroad tracks. We knew the beach was just over that hill. We just wanted to let the boys put their feet in the water, but fate was not allowing that to happen.
During our journey, Dexter continues to ask if we can go home for playdates and certain toys that we didn't bring. I keep telling him that once we're at Disneyland, it will be so exciting that he won't want to come home. He says, "It won't be fun about that for me. I'm scared of the driving things." (rollercoasters) AJ doesn't seem to mind the long drives.
We definitely were not going to be able to dip our feet in the water. There just wasn't any time.
Dexter did not like having sand in his toes and was hilariously trying to get the sand off.
We drove past giant wood statues of farmers during our drive to Anaheim. I didn't get pictures of them, but at one of the rest stops, they had a picture. You can see a real person up on a ladder working on it. That gives you an idea of how big the wood panels were.
The beautiful rolling hills of California.
They looked like velvet.
Then it happened, right as we were passing an exit, we saw a sign that said ...I-5 closed..
... due to .... SNOW !
It was too late to get off. The traffic was stopped. It took almost 1.5 hours to get to the next rest stop that was only 1.8 miles ahead. It changed our arrival time for the hotel from 5 or 6pm to 10pm. It was horrible. We had to get off the highway and go around. Snow.
This meant there would be no dinner with my friends we were meeting. Instead we'd meet up with them at their rental house in the morning, and walk together to Disneyland.
And that's just what we did. Tomorrow would be DISNEYLAND!!
But not before we hit more snow about ten minutes outside of L.A.
Good grief.
1 comment:
What a great drive down! I wish we could have driven...maybe one day.
Can't wait for installment #2!
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