Somebody's Gonna Pee in a Cup, West Coast - Link to new TR 1/21

[afwdwfan]

Squirrelly kids can really ruin a show. Not that they ruin it on purpose of course but ti's exhausting trying to keep them engaged, pay attention to the show on your own and actually enjoy any of it. It has happened to all of us. There will be a point in time where it will be magical for all of you, this just wasn't it.

Yeah. We'll give it a chance another time. I'm just not in a hurry to do it again soon.

That kind of experience can utterly ruin a place for you. I've still never eaten there and this doesn't make me want to!

I know. I mean I really liked the theming, I thought it was a cool place to check out and the food was fine. And despite all that I'm in no rush to return.

That will give you a heart attack and a hard time going back to sleep!

It definitely tested our reflexes!

Crush rocks, I can't blame him!

I always enjoy the show. I hope DS gets a chance to ask a question sometime. And I kind of regret not doing it again when we were in DL.

LOL! I have mixed feelings on this one. Very pro nursing here but not a let it all hang out kind of gal. Still I can't really censure it even if I don't always find it appropriately handled. Awkward though to be sure.

Yeah, I get that. I know she's well within her rights to do what she's got to do, but when she's sitting a few feet away from 2 total strangers on the same bench... just awkward.

That is so NOT too much pizza for 4.5 people at my house. Just wait!

I completely understand.

Oh man, I feel your pain, I am reliving the E's childhood here!

Well, to make things more interesting now, DD has recently decided she no longer likes pizza and refuses to eat any at all.

Not a fail, just a new normal. Hard to transition though. Impressed you went and found a warmer pool. I'd have bailed entirely unless there was a hot tub nearby!

I don't like the new normal!

We had promised the kids some swim time though. So it was either suck it up in the cold more crowded pool or go to the one that I knew from prior experience would be warmer and deserted.

BRUTAL start! But the kids sure looked happy, saw their favorites and the food was decent. At the end of the day the pro's outweigh the stressfull start.

Absolutely true... the day started off about as bad as it could have, but by the time we left, it was a complete success.

I have to say, in Feb, the RRC lines were BRUTAL and times horrible, pretty constantly. Even single rider was a major challenge, I got on it once I think the whole trip and was thwarted quite a bit. It does open back up but you have to be willing to swing by there a lot to catch it just right.

Yeah... I've got to think the Tier system has an impact on this... I mean everybody goes for the TSMM FP+ and then you're plugging up the queue and single rider line at RNRC the rest of the day. I mean, just my observation, but it seems like the lines there are worse now than they were before FP+.

I really don't blame you at all!

Not my finest moment.

Love the jokes!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe how much you got done this day, especially in comparison to many of the others. You really had quite a productive day all around.

And honestly, this was the most crowded day we experienced at MK. I think it was just the fact that we chose to focus on attractions that aren't near the top of everyone's must do list. It just made it more laid back and manageable.

That is a RIOT! Frameable!

I'm glad everyone enjoyed it.

I was dying at your description of the Anna/Elsa Dress Nascar pit stop tire change. Poor thing and good for her for ruining a few pictures! I am glad it was good character interactions all around.

Having entertainment when waiting in line is always a good thing. Even if the line is short. I did feel sorry for the little girl. But watching her disrupt her own pictures was priceless.

I am really impressed that you held it together! Poor thing though (and I hope she had insurance). The last night is always so sad, nice that it ended with a special meal even if poor Mickey did get whacked upside the nose!

Well, I at least held it together long enough to walk away from the scene of the accident before I laughed.

6 people and....little kids. It is draining. You didn't add in the keeping kids entertained, dealing with moods and naps, picky eating, all of that. It adds up and wears you out. It is a new normal for a while but it DOES get better. I promise!

Well... I haven't mentioned anything yet because we have just entered the talking phase. But I might be getting ready to plan a trip for 14 in about a year and a half. It would include a family of 4 first time visitors, a family of 4 second time visitors who had a less than stellar first trip... and a couple of people who took a "once in a lifetime" trip with us and now want to go back. But of all the kids that would be going, DS is the oldest, and 3 of them are younger than DD.
I'm always glad when DW is asking me to plan another Disney trip, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for this.

Looking forward to DL!

Me too! I hope to get to it soon!

 

[afwdwfan]

Catching back up again. I forgot about all your back issues! Not a fun way to go into the trip. Sounds like a couple of eventful flights.

They were certainly eventful. And I was glad to have them behind us with a week of warm weather ahead!

I've been catching up on your trip report, really enjoying it by the way , but I wanted to comment on your experience at ETWB. We were there at the end of January with our daughter and family and they asked all the kids to go up in the front of the workshop, like they did when you were there. I can see why they do it that way but it does make it scary when the children are really young. I'm surprised that the CMs would let your daughter wander off to the side rather than keep them together until their parents arrived.

Our five year old granddaughter got to be Chip, too. It was a perfect role for her and one of the better ones. Our seven year old grandson volunteered to be in the show and he held a plate. In spite of not caring for princesses, he had a big smile on his face when he met Belle.

Well, I can see where corralling toddlers in the wardrobe room could be like corralling cats or squirrels or something. But it definitely caught me off guard at that point in time. You'd think a word of caution for parents of young children, ie. toddlers, to stay close despite the command to move to the side would be in order.

I'm glad the grandkids were able to get involved with the show... and enjoy it. Funny how the attitude can change when the princess gives them some one on one attention.

Oh gosh - I have so been there where they want exactly what you don't have ... or what some other kid has "But I want the pink cup!" .... "really? you've never wanted a pink cup before?!?!?!" And on an airplane in that situation every minute must have felt like an hour. Glad you survived though

Kids just seem to know the worst possible times to do things.

Speaking of surviving - I can't imagine how freaked out I would be if someone jostled me awake on a plane only to wake up to someone passing out - I would totally think something majorly wrong was happening ... something that may or may not involve zombies

Hey, I was a zombie myself at that point in time!

I also have been there where you are leaving the parking garage at an airport and your GPS can't get a signal and there is nothing you can do but but leave and hope you don't go in the entirely wrong way/into a bad neighborhood. I definitely don't have a good sense of direction so I probably would not have done as good a job as you did on the fly.

It helped that I had looked at a map and saw where I needed to go in relation to where the airport was. The airport is right there near downtown where you can see it from a lot of places, so orienting myself to the airport and the water helped tell me which way I needed to go.

Your hotel looks nice, and very nice view!

It really was a fantastic place to stay. No complaints!

I was trying to watch on the ship. Could not be rooting for Wisconsin and Michigan State more! I just love Izzo, and I picked Wisconsin to upset Kentucky!

Ok, I wouldn't say I love Izzo. But he's a heck of a coach, especially this time of year. Bo Ryan, I can't stand. But, when March (and now April) rolls around, it is all about the B1G.

I think a rematch of the Big Ten Championship game would be a fitting way to end things on Monday night. Definitely won't be easy for that to happen, and smart money would go against it, but I think Wisconsin has the veteran experience, talent and the right kind of personnel match ups to give Kentucky some problems. We'll see!

Regardless, I hate both Kentucky and Duke. I just hope one of them doesn't win.

I don't remember if I knew about the furnance. That's a huge chunk of money...I know. We had to get a new furnance and central air at the same time last year (and a hot water tank just six months before that).

I don't think I posted about it here. But yeah, big chunk of money and a PITA to deal with between our trips. We actually had to schedule a second day for them to come back after we returned from California to finish hooking everything up. They essentially just put the furnace in and hooked it up so that it would run, but they had to come back to finish the install of everything else.

I'm exhausted just reading about the 3:15 departure, DD not being happy on the plane with her snack choices or movie choices and then a man literally passing out at your feet. What a start to the trip.

Well, one thing is for sure... we didn't have a boring flight.

I'm glad you finally got the GPS up and running and were able to find the hotel. It looks like an awesome view.

It was an awesome view, amazing room, comfortable beds. No complaint at all about the hotel!

 

[pkondz]

Not a big Anchorman fan, huh?

You know, I actually did like it.
But I'm pretty sure I watched it on a midnight shift.... which would explain why I hardly remember anything from it.

I have never lost a phone...

No? Perhaps I was mistaken then.......

He said we'd never own another furnace as durable as the one we had in and he wouldn't touch it until we absolutely had to.

Not surprised.
Same thing with windows.
"Get our new windows and save!"
Great. How much?
"$5,000! But you'll save on your heating bill!"
Uh, huh. How much?
"Uh... well.... up to $300 a year!"
So I'll break even after 17 years? Awesome. When do you think I'll have to replace them?
"Probably not for at least 15 years!!!"

Terrific.

Now I have noticed we're using less gas and it actually heats the house better than the old one. So that part is nice. But we had to pay for it to get to that point.

Well, that's good at least.
And since you had to replace it, might as well be happy with it.

He apparently didn't want my business anyway if that's the best he could do when I told him I'd be getting other quotes.

I wonder how many times he hears that people will compare... but never do and just hire him anyway.
Probably often enough that he doesn't really have to try too hard.

Well, here's the deal. There wasn't going to be anyone in the house.

And we have insurance.

So if a furnace install is going to go sour, now's the time.

Never thought of it that way.
I'd be lying in bed being startled every few minutes.
"What was that! I better go check the furnace!!!"

Well, you know, I'm just working my way up to your level.

An admirable goal.... but probably no attainable.

Well, that might be a stretch...

No. We won't stretch. Then we'd just throw our collective backs out.

I mean that is the first time I've ever been prescribed a steroid and now I totally get why Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire did it.

I don't know... but our travel agent found this flight and it was less than half the cost of the next cheapest. I can sacrifice some sleep for that!

I get that!

We essentially managed to get flights cheap enough that we covered our entire stay in San Diego and about 75% of the cost of all 4 of our plane tickets with that money

Nice!

Well, we do have a dog crate...

See? Problem solved!

The underpowered new 4 door Charger family cars don't even deserved to be compared to the old muscle car versions.

Oh. Well that's..... disappointing.

Maybe it is just a car thing.

Maybe. I never rent trucks so it's possible.

 

[eandesmom]

Ok I knew about the back and the kids being sick but the furnace too! Calgon take you away!!!!!!!!!!!!

DW and the kids sat on the right side of the aisle. I was in the aisle seat right across from them. This is how we ended up being seated for all of our flights. We got on the plane and things were ok at first. But DD decided she didn’t want to sit in her seat. She wanted DW to hold her.

Then she wanted snacks… right now!!!

Oh, you have fruit snacks for me? No! I want Pretzels!

Do you think I’m stupid??? Don’t even try to give me Cheerios!

What is that? A pretzel? No, I want a fruit snack!

Literally, no matter what we’d offer her, she wanted something else. The. Whole. Flight.

She also wanted her tray table down all the time. And didn’t care what the flight attendants said. We tried to use the threat that they’d kick her off the plane and even that didn’t phase her.

In the end, whatever DD wanted at any point in time during any of our flights, we didn’t have. They don’t allow bags that large in the cabin. She was a real PITA on the plane. It wasn’t horrible, and I don’t think she made a lot of noise and distracted others for the most part… at least I hope not. But she made DW’s flights a living hell.

No, I wasn’t completely off the hook. She came and sat on my lap some, but she’d always sit with me for a few minutes and then want mommy.

You know… whichever parent didn’t have her is who she wanted.

She did end up falling asleep in DW’s lap eventually so it didn’t work out too horribly. DS had the window seat and he crashed shortly after take off, so DW was able to put up the armrests and stretch across all the seats with the kids.

Oh. Yikes. Poor everyone involved. Sadly, possibly including those around you. Based on what you describe I'd imagine disturbance didn't extend beyond the row in front of you, possible in back but more likely in front. It can be SO hard at that age and so draining on the parent(s) trying their hardest to minimize behaviors. The tray table thing can be a nightmare for the person in that seat in front of the child though, I've been in that seat before and ugh. So...it could have been worse right? No shrieking? I am exhausted just reading it though.

We were racing the sun across the sky, staying just ahead and in the dark. I spent most of the flight reading, but I managed to close my eyes at one point and get a little bit of sleep for a few minutes. That is when the excitement started.

I had drifted off and was out cold. All of a sudden, I felt someone grab my shoulder. I woke up in a panic, just in time to see the guy who had grabbed my shoulder pass out on the floor of the plane.

Freaked me out!

Apparently, the guy was diabetic and had gotten out of his seat to head for the lavatory. He just flat out passed out momentarily and ended up grabbing me on his way down. There was a doctor the row in front of me fortunately, and one of the flight attendants was a medic so they were quick to attend to him and get him back on his feet and back to his seat.

Now that would be memorable! Oh my goodness.

The second flight was shorter. Thankfully. And the sun was up. Not that sleep was even a consideration for me anymore after the adrenaline surge on the first flight.


DD did even worse on this flight than the first one. She absolutely freaked out because we didn’t have the movie she wanted to watch saved on any of the devices we had with us. I don’t even remember what movie it was she wanted, but we had Planes Fire and Rescue and Frozen. Which are 2 big time favorites in our house and watched on heavy rotation. We also had a couple of others, and she wanted none of them. She did cry and I’m sure caused a distraction for a while. Thankfully DW got her to calm down after maybe 5 or 10 minutes, but it definitely felt much longer than that!!!

Poor kiddo, sounds totally out of her element and possibly in need of a major nap.

I pulled out my GPS, which I had preprogrammed the hotel’s address into before we left and plugged it in. We headed out of the parking garage, and of course the GPS hadn’t picked up a satellite signal yet.


Eventually, we arrived at our hotel. I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to check in or not since it was so early, but luckily our room was ready.

We stayed at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, and I have to say, it was very nice! The hotel is made of 2 towers, with a pool and recreation area between the 2 of them on the 2nd floor roof. Our room was in the southern tower with a north facing room. We overlooked the pool area and could see out beyond the hotel overlooking Seaport Village and the bay.

We unpacked the bags with the clothes we brought for our time in San Diego and settled into our room. We’d had a full day of travel already, finally settled into our home for 3 nights, and it was still not even 11 am. The only thing we need to do in relation to the conference today is pick up badges at the Convention Center.

Good heavens, after your morning? I'd say lunch and a NAP! LOL

 

[eandesmom]

I don't like the new normal!

suck it up buttercup

LOL!

Sorry. This too shall pass and you will miss it. Or at least miss parts of it for sure!

Yeah... I've got to think the Tier system has an impact on this... I mean everybody goes for the TSMM FP+ and then you're plugging up the queue and single rider line at RNRC the rest of the day. I mean, just my observation, but it seems like the lines there are worse now than they were before FP+.

At RRC in particular, I agree. I know that's exactly what happened to me.

Well... I haven't mentioned anything yet because we have just entered the talking phase. But I might be getting ready to plan a trip for 14 in about a year and a half. It would include a family of 4 first time visitors, a family of 4 second time visitors who had a less than stellar first trip... and a couple of people who took a "once in a lifetime" trip with us and now want to go back. But of all the kids that would be going, DS is the oldest, and 3 of them are younger than DD.
I'm always glad when DW is asking me to plan another Disney trip, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for this.

Ummmmmmmmm

At those ages you'll have to give up any illusion of getting much done. Not to say it can't be a lot of fun but working around various agendas on what time to get to places, what's important and well, naps....the time windows get shorter. At least if you all try to do everything together. If the various families do their own thing and meet up at points it can be a lot more manageable. That is what we did at that age with our large group and it really helped keep the stress levels down.

 

[Steppesister]

This report is next on my list to visit... Just marking my place.

 

[pkondz]

This report is next on my list to visit... Just marking my place.

Let me help! YOU ARE HERE.... Dang it... where's the "up" arrow???

Nevermind.

 

[Steppesister]

Let me help! YOU ARE HERE.... Dang it... where's the "up" arrow???

Nevermind.

Seriously. I need all the help I can get! XP

 

[afwdwfan]

No? Perhaps I was mistaken then.......

Destroyed? Yes.

Lost? No.

Ok I knew about the back and the kids being sick but the furnace too! Calgon take you away!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our month between trips was anything but dull.

Oh. Yikes. Poor everyone involved. Sadly, possibly including those around you. Based on what you describe I'd imagine disturbance didn't extend beyond the row in front of you, possible in back but more likely in front. It can be SO hard at that age and so draining on the parent(s) trying their hardest to minimize behaviors. The tray table thing can be a nightmare for the person in that seat in front of the child though, I've been in that seat before and ugh. So...it could have been worse right? No shrieking? I am exhausted just reading it though.

It was awful! I hope she didn't bother others too much. I don't think it looked like she had much of an impact on them. She really wasn't playing with the tray table, but she just wanted it left down and started to throw a fit when we had to put it up. Thankfully, no shrieking. She cried some, and I'm sure the rows around us could hear, but it didn't last terribly long. It sure felt like a long time though.

Now that would be memorable! Oh my goodness.

Um... yeah. Quite a way to wake up.

Poor kiddo, sounds totally out of her element and possibly in need of a major nap.

Good heavens, after your morning? I'd say lunch and a NAP! LOL

That would have been the smart plan. But with the time zone change, I kind of wanted to try to push on, enjoy our "free day" in San Diego and adjust to the new time zone.

suck it up buttercup

LOL!

Sorry. This too shall pass and you will miss it. Or at least miss parts of it for sure!

Yes, that is true.

Ummmmmmmmm

At those ages you'll have to give up any illusion of getting much done. Not to say it can't be a lot of fun but working around various agendas on what time to get to places, what's important and well, naps....the time windows get shorter. At least if you all try to do everything together. If the various families do their own thing and meet up at points it can be a lot more manageable. That is what we did at that age with our large group and it really helped keep the stress levels down.

Oh, I know. Part of what worries me is that MiL and FiL went with us... and we had a good time. But they didn't want to do anything or go anywhere on their own. They were pretty overwhelmed by everything and they just wanted to go along with us no matter what we did. And if this is how they expect this potential trip to work...

There's just no flippin way.

Like I said, early in the planning stages and we can't even get everyone to confirm their interest and the dates. But I've already had some questions and comments that make me really nervous about trying to plan this one.

This report is next on my list to visit... Just marking my place.

Um... ok.

Let me help! YOU ARE HERE.... Dang it... where's the "up" arrow???

Nevermind.

Always willing to lend a helping hand.

Seriously. I need all the help I can get! XP

Oh, we know.

 

[pkondz]

Always willing to lend a helping hand.

And failing miserably! Yay me!

 

[Steppesister]

Ok, I'm back!




Be still my heart! You were actually overlooking Seaport Village! Oh my the memories I have of that very special place to our family. In fact, it was one of the last places I ever saw my aunt (the one mentioned in Previous TRs who passed away shortly after that trip.)

I spent many hours with high school friends shopping and hundreds of meals with my family. I hope you drove over to Coronado too.

Glad you are happy with the furnace. I am really hoping ours hold out until I'm done with school, but it may not. I really don't know where that money would come from since I had to borrow for the first time the day before yesterday for tuition. Furnaces aren't a small expense!

Ok, the plane trips just sound like the antithesis of a cake walk. I can totally relate with having "that kid" on a bazillion cross-Atlantic flights. UGH! It's like kids have a "let's be reasonable switch" that is inactivated as they cross the plane door. Nothing makes them happy.

Were you the one asking for restaurant recommendations once upon a time? Maybe the El Indio will make an appearance soon if so. So yummy and pretty close to where you were staying.

Someone passing out by me would freak me out too. Good reminder that hypoglycemia is a good first check with something like that! I wonder if he had a med alert bracelet on. Glad help was close by and he was well taken care of! How scary for everyone. Ask me about the time I was in a tour bus in Switzerland, and a guy was looking out of the 2nd story through a sunroof. Backwards. His head vs. an overpass. It was ugly. He landed next to me. (Apparently he lived as I had to give a witness statement sometime later.)

Anywhooooo, thanks to your trusty readers for their help.

 

[afwdwfan]

Be still my heart! You were actually overlooking Seaport Village! Oh my the memories I have of that very special place to our family. In fact, it was one of the last places I ever saw my aunt (the one mentioned in Previous TRs who passed away shortly after that trip.)

I'm sure it must definitely contain some special memories for you! We liked it there. It was a neat area and having it so close to the hotel made it very nice for going out and grabbing a bite to eat.

I spent many hours with high school friends shopping and hundreds of meals with my family. I hope you drove over to Coronado too.

I would have liked to have done that. But it just didn't happen.

Glad you are happy with the furnace. I am really hoping ours hold out until I'm done with school, but it may not. I really don't know where that money would come from since I had to borrow for the first time the day before yesterday for tuition. Furnaces aren't a small expense!

No. Not a small expense at all. Good luck, hopefully you're done running it until next year anyway now.

Ok, the plane trips just sound like the antithesis of a cake walk. I can totally relate with having "that kid" on a bazillion cross-Atlantic flights. UGH! It's like kids have a "let's be reasonable switch" that is inactivated as they cross the plane door. Nothing makes them happy.

That's a pretty accurate assessment of it. It was almost like she had to be stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.

Were you the one asking for restaurant recommendations once upon a time? Maybe the El Indio will make an appearance soon if so. So yummy and pretty close to where you were staying.

I was. And unfortunately, we didn't experience a huge variety of San Diego dining. As you'll find out soon...

Someone passing out by me would freak me out too. Good reminder that hypoglycemia is a good first check with something like that! I wonder if he had a med alert bracelet on. Glad help was close by and he was well taken care of! How scary for everyone. Ask me about the time I was in a tour bus in Switzerland, and a guy was looking out of the 2nd story through a sunroof. Backwards. His head vs. an overpass. It was ugly. He landed next to me. (Apparently he lived as I had to give a witness statement sometime later.)

OMG!

I'm just glad all of him landed next to you instead of just a body or a head.

Anywhooooo, thanks to your trusty readers for their help.

What would you ever do without @pkondz ?

 

[afwdwfan]

Tower, This is Ghostrider Requesting a Flyby.

​

We had just finished unpacking in San Diego, and it was still only around 11 am, local time. But it had been hours since we had anything to eat so we decided to head down to Seaport Village and check it out. We ended up at the food court there.

The food court area is really nice. All kinds of options for food you can go order and then sit in an outdoor courtyard area. DW and I quickly spotted the Mexican place and decided we’d be ordering there, but the kids wanted hot dogs and fries. We ordered their food from the hot dog window and then I headed to the Mexican place to order ours.
We got a table and sat down to eat. DW and I both thought our food was excellent… and while not cheap, it was reasonably priced for what you got, I felt.

The kids on the other hand, hardly ate their food. I think they ate some of their fries, but wouldn’t touch their hot dogs. We kept trying to get them to eat, with no luck. Finally at one point I told DD I’d eat her hot dog if she wouldn’t. As stubborn and independent as she is, this almost always works. She gets downright mad when I threaten to eat her food and will pretty much down anything just out of spite so that I can’t eat it. When I threatened to eat her hot dog, she had no reaction. I grabbed it and took a bite and I quickly understood why.

Worst hot dog ever.

It was just downright disgusting. I’m not sure why, but that thing was just nasty. We threw about $12 worth of hot dog in the trash.

While we were sitting there, I took my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It had turned off somehow. Hmmm…. odd.

We finished eating and debated what to do next. We still had all afternoon to kill. I had to get to the convention center before 5pm to get registered, but we wanted to do something fun for a few hours.

When we left the hotel, our plan was to just go eat and then figure out what we wanted to do next. We chose not to bring the stroller with us. By this point, we’d already walked halfway through Seaport Village. We figured we’d just as well keep on going and go see the USS Midway. DS walked most of the way on his own. He did insist on a piggy back ride from DW at one point, but then he continued walking. DD rode on my shoulders the whole way.

No better way to find out how the back is than by putting it to the test.

We thought about spending some time at the zoo or some other places, but in the end we thought that USS Midway probably made the most sense for us from a cost perspective and for the amount of time we had. After driving to the hotel earlier in the day, we figured that it didn’t make sense to drive to the ship and pay for parking so we decided to walk.

The Midway was a great way to spend a few hours. The cost of admission includes an audio device for a self guided tour. Since we had the kids, we chose to forego that option because we knew they wouldn’t have the patience to wait while I was soaking in every detail… which I would. So we really didn’t get the full, in-depth tour while there, but we spent quite a bit of time on the flight deck and in the hangar where we could check out the airplanes.

While we were there, I took my phone out of my pocket to take some pictures. It was off. Again. What the heck is going on???

I stood on the flight deck for about a half hour listening to a talk about how the catapult works to launch the planes and a detailed description about all the jobs and people involved with making each launch happen. I was fascinated by all of it. I mean he talked for a solid half hour about all the details and checks and balances that the flight crew goes through to launch a plane… only they run through that whole process about once a minute per catapult. Absolutely incredible.

DW and the kids were bored by this point and she found a bench over by the edge of the flight deck overlooking the bay. They were just relaxing and enjoying themselves while I was getting educated.

We headed below deck at this point and saw the galley and some of the officers’ quarters. But DS and DD didn’t like it down there and wanted to go back up to the planes. Good thing we chose not to do the audio tour. We headed back up and let DS climb in a few more cockpits, then we decided we should probably head back to the hotel.

We really only spent maybe 2 or 3 hours on the Midway. For me, it was well worth the price of admission and I could have easily stayed there a lot longer. I think the kids enjoyed it. Mostly DS, being that he is a big Planes fan. We told him it was a ship like the Flysenhower and it had planes on it, so he really only cared about the planes.

We headed back out to the street and walked to the hotel. This time instead of walking along the water and through Seaport Village, we chose the sidewalk that was a little bit of a more direct route. At this point, I’m still carrying DD. I carried her to the carrier. I carried her most of the time we walked around on the carrier. And I was carrying her on the walk back to the hotel. My back was feeling a lot better by the time we left, but I could tell I was going to be pretty uncomfortable by the time we got back to the room.

When we got to the hotel, I told DW to take the kids to the room and I’d keep walking and go to the convention center to get registered. I really don’t remember what the conversation was at that point or why on Earth we did it this way, but she decided they’d just go with me. So here I am, still carrying DD. Somewhere around this point she fell asleep… so now I’m carrying her while she sleeps.

The hotel was a couple of blocks from the convention center, but we got there and got registered for the conference. We headed back to the hotel and ran into some people we know from Indiana along the way. They invited us to meet up for dinner, but I declined. I told them once I get to the room I’m taking a shower and laying down and then I don’t intend to move until morning.

We made it back to the room and I did just that. Once I laid down, I could really feel my back stiffening up again. I turned to my stash of orange bottles and got myself comfortable. I was still on my steroid prescription until Tuesday, but this evening, I needed the muscle relaxer and pain killer to help it out.

DW offered to go look for some cereal for the kids to eat for breakfasts and said she’d just bring food back to the room. Since there was a Cheesecake Factory right next to the hotel that we could see from our window, it seemed to be calling our name.

DD was still asleep at this point, but I woke her up to give her a bath and put on pajamas. She went right back to sleep and never even woke up to eat that evening.

DW returned with our food from Cheesecake Factory and we had a nice laid back dinner in the room. I made myself stay up for a while, trying to get on California time. I think it was about this time when I posted on the Disdads Facebook page about our arrival in San Diego and being just a few days away from Disneyland.



That’s when someone replied asking if I was going to Disneyland for the race.



Uh… what race?



Total trip planning fail on my part. I didn’t realize we were going to be in Disneyland the week of the inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon until just a few days before arrival. I started stressing out and looking for information about it. That would be something I would end up doing a lot during free time and while sitting in conference sessions.

I posted about it on here the following day, and I appreciate Cynthia helping me out with some information about the runs and how things work. But holy mackerel, what a pain in the butt it was.


We’ll get to that later.



*******



The next few days were basically conference stuff…

I think I woke up every morning at around 4 am… which would be 7 at home. I managed to make myself lay in bed and get a little bit of sleep after that, but not much.

It rained on Sunday.


All day.


In Southern California.


Where they tell me it isn’t supposed to rain.


We assumed that a hotel being used for the conference, but sitting 2+ blocks away from the convention center might have some kind of shuttle or something to keep you from having to walk in the rain. But no… We were told we could get a cab. Well, we’d need a cab with 2 child seats so we braved the rain and walked.

It was just a light mist. But it misted all day long. When we went to lunch, we got wet. Back to the hotel, wet. I think it was in the 60’s that day so it wasn’t too bad, but someone told me they saw on the news that there was a winter weather advisory. I guess if that’s a winter storm to the locals, I probably shouldn’t complain too much. These folks clearly don’t know what winter is.

I won’t go into too many details about the conference itself, but we had a speaker on Sunday morning who was a former SEAL. Rorke Denver is his name, he’s written a book and was in the movie Act of Valor. I don’t know how long he spoke, but it felt like it was only 5 minutes. He’s one of those speakers who really commands your attention and keeps you entertained. I truly could have listened to him talk about his experiences and the SEAL training program he used to oversee all day long.

On the other end of the spectrum, we had Jay Leno. He was the keynote speaker at our closing session. I was really excited to see him, but I was extremely disappointed.

I expected it to maybe be a talk about his car collection or some kind of life experience. I mean it was presented as the keynote speech. Usually there’s some kind of a take home point from a keynote speaker.

Instead, he did a stand up routine.

And it was a stand up routine that quite frankly, was highly offensive and not all that funny.

People were getting up and walking out. It was bad enough that email apologies from higher ups in the organization were coming out the following week. They claim that they had had some discussions with him and he totally just went off script.

I wasn’t personally offended by his routine… it just didn’t think it was funny. I mean in the 45 minutes or so that he was up there, I think I might have laughed once.

And it was the first joke he told.

Our kids were young enough that it wasn’t too bad. He wasn’t dropping F-bombs or anything like that. The language was actually pretty clean, but the subject matter was anything but. I feel like it was all over our kids’ heads, not that they were paying attention anyway - we had coloring books and crayons for them, but if DS was a couple of years older we would have joined the rush for the exits. It was just bad.

A few hours before we saw Jay, we had a little bit of a break at the conference. We didn’t really have enough time to go back to the hotel, or go anywhere else for that matter. So we started exploring the convention center. We found a patio off the back side of the second floor with a beautiful view. We turned the kids loose to run and play. I just found a spot to sit and relax.

And I posted a picture of this boat to the Disdads Facebook page with a comment about wanting to become a pirate.

I mean, there’s gotta be some Dole Whip mix on there, right????

During the conference, I was continuing to have problems with my phone. Just about every time I’d put my phone in my pocket it would turn off. I keep it in an Otterbox Defender case because I’m hard on phones. I’m active, I’m often outdoors working with large equipment and power tools… there are just a lot of ways to wreck a phone. And I’ve discovered what a lot of those ways are.

Some of you who have followed other TR’s of mine might remember mention of a phone that I destroyed because I had it in my pocket when I waded into the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago. This is the type of thing that just happens to me.

Usually due to a moment of stupidity on my part.

Anyway, I discovered that I could turn the phone on, squeeze the Otterbox, and it would instantly turn off. When I took it out of the Otterbox, I could squeeze it, shake it, do anything to it and it would stay on. At least there’s an easy solution. I’d been having some problems getting my phone to charge for a while as it was. I wasn’t quite due for an upgrade, but I’m on Verizon and I’d had that phone long enough that I had been considering just trading it in and upgrading with their Edge plan.

I figured I’d just carry it without the Otterbox until I got home, then I’d see about getting a new phone. Problem solved...

We had a great lunch on Sunday at a place called Rockin’ Baja Lobster. We asked someone for a recommendation for a place close to the convention center since we didn’t want to go very far in the rain and this was the suggestion. I really liked it. They had a chip and salsa buffet… all different kinds of salsa. You just go up and get whatever you want. It was great, and I ate way too much.

I ordered a burrito there and that thing was huge. I couldn’t even finish the whole thing. This will probably be the only time you ever see me say that about anything that actually tastes good. Normally I’d just power through and find a way to eat it all. But there was just no way, I had already eaten until I was miserable.

If you like seafood, or Mexican, or just love chips and salsa and are in the Gaslamp District of San Diego I’d recommend it. The prices weren’t outrageous, the food was phenomenal and tasted fresh and the portions were huge.

DW likes Hard Rock Cafe. We’ve got a small collection of glasses from different HRC locations. It turned out that we ended up with a discount card for the San Diego HRC at the conference, so we decided to stroll through town and try that on Monday for lunch. I have to say for all the HRC’s we’ve been to San Diego is the least impressive. I’d skip it if I had it to do over again.

On the bright side, it is quite a walk from the convention center and we came back a different street so we got to get out and explore the city some that afternoon.

For dinner on Sunday, we went to Buster’s Beach House in Seaport Village with another couple from home. It was a nice place to eat. We chose it for it’s proximity to the hotel, but the food was good. It isn’t anything special, but it has all your basic bar food and seafood options.

We also ended up eating there Monday night as well. We were invited to dinner with a group of people from our district in Indiana and they chose to go there. It might have been nice to try something else, but I can’t complain about going back there. The food was good. I had a burger one night and fish and chips another. Both were good. I hear the pizza was good too, but I never tried any of it.

We finished our Monday night dinner there at halftime of the NCAA National Championship football game. I’d been following it on my phone during dinner, but I was ready to get back to the room and watch the rest of the game. DW wanted to do some shopping so she and a couple of other ladies from our group headed off to the shops while I took the kids back to the room to get them baths and ready for bed.

The conference had concluded by this point and our time in San Diego was coming to an end. We had a good time and San Diego is a beautiful city. It was nice to be able to explore a bit and get to restaurants and the convention center by foot. The only negative was the rain on Sunday.

Tuesday morning we’d have some time to explore either some more of San Diego or the Anaheim area as we’d be moving from our beautiful San Diego hotel to the Grand Californian!

We had no definite plans at this point, but decided we’d just see what we feel like doing in the morning.

 

[pkondz]

But it had been hours since we had anything to eat so we decided to head down to Seaport Village and check it out. We ended up at the food court there.

Nice that they (obviously) had a place for your DS to land his F14.
Very thoughtful of them.

DW and I quickly spotted the Mexican place and decided we’d be ordering there, but the kids wanted hot dogs and fries.

Children. Wanting hotdogs?
What next? The apocalypse?

She gets downright mad when I threaten to eat her food and will pretty much down anything just out of spite so that I can’t eat it.

Uh, huh. Enjoy it while it lasts.
She'll figure you out oh.... I'd say in another year or two.

I grabbed it and took a bite and I quickly understood why.

Worst hot dog ever.

It was just downright disgusting.

Ew. Too bad you didn't take them back for a refund instead of dumping them.
I'd be interested to know what they'd say.
Did you get the kids anything else to eat?
Or were they okay with the fries?

While we were sitting there, I took my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It had turned off somehow. Hmmm…. odd.

First thought. Battery.

We figured we’d just as well keep on going and go see the USS Midway.

No way! Cool!

DD rode on my shoulders the whole way.

Oh, boy. I can already see where this is going.

No better way to find out how the back is than by putting it to the test.

Uh, huh. Did you even think about that at the time?
Or were you too busy being excited about the ship?

they wouldn’t have the patience to wait while I was soaking in every detail… which I would.

ditto.

While we were there, I took my phone out of my pocket to take some pictures. It was off. Again. What the heck is going on???

Yup. Still thinking battery.

One of my favourite planes!
I used to watch (and love) a show called Baa Baa Black Sheep (later called Black Sheep Squadron)
that had some great F4U Corsair flying footage.

I was fascinated by all of it.

I bet!

My back was feeling a lot better by the time we left, but I could tell I was going to be pretty uncomfortable by the time we got back to the room.

Uh, huh. Here it comes folks.

Somewhere around this point she fell asleep… so now I’m carrying her while she sleeps.

"With drool running down the back of my neck."

I told them once I get to the room I’m taking a shower and laying down and then I don’t intend to move until morning.

Good plan.

I was still on my steroid prescription until Tuesday, but this evening, I needed the muscle relaxer and pain killer to help it out.

Oh, really? Gee, I'm so surprised to hear that.

Since there was a Cheesecake Factory right

Wait! Stop! What????
Love Cheesecake Factory.
Well, except for one little problem.
Their meals are so huge that occasionally I run out of room for... well, the cheesecake!

DD was still asleep at this point, but I woke her up to give her a bath and put on pajamas. She went right back to sleep and never even woke up to eat that evening.

Awww... Poor tuckered out little tyke.

That’s when someone replied asking if I was going to Disneyland for the race.

Oops.

I think I woke up every morning at around 4 am… which would be 7 at home.

Way to acclimatize yourself, dude.

These folks clearly don’t know what winter is.

we had a speaker on Sunday morning who was a former SEAL.

Okay, that's pretty cool.

On the other end of the spectrum, we had Jay Leno. He was the keynote speaker at our closing session. I was really excited to see him, but I was extremely disappointed.

I would've been too. You'd figure he'd be a great speaker.

Instead, he did a stand up routine.

And it was a stand up routine that quite frankly, was highly offensive and not all that funny.

That sucks.

People were getting up and walking out.

Whoa! That's really bad!

I wasn’t personally offended by his routine… it just didn’t think it was funny. I mean in the 45 minutes or so that he was up there, I think I might have laughed once.

And it was the first joke he told.

And I posted a picture of this boat to the Disdads Facebook page with a comment about wanting to become a pirate.

I mean, there’s gotta be some Dole Whip mix on there, right????

Usually due to a moment of stupidity on my part.

I had already eaten until I was miserable.

That strikes me as really funny.
We're stupid that way.. no?

 

[SarahDisney]

The kids on the other hand, hardly ate their food. I think they ate some of their fries, but wouldn’t touch their hot dogs. We kept trying to get them to eat, with no luck. Finally at one point I told DD I’d eat her hot dog if she wouldn’t. As stubborn and independent as she is, this almost always works. She gets downright mad when I threaten to eat her food and will pretty much down anything just out of spite so that I can’t eat it. When I threatened to eat her hot dog, she had no reaction. I grabbed it and took a bite and I quickly understood why.

Worst hot dog ever.

It was just downright disgusting. I’m not sure why, but that thing was just nasty. We threw about $12 worth of hot dog in the trash.

You should have known something was up when she let you eat it ... you shouldn't have needed that bite. Really.

While we were there, I took my phone out of my pocket to take some pictures. It was off. Again. What the heck is going on???

I had a similar problem with my last phone - whenever I took it out of my pocket, it had either just restarted or was in the middle of restarting (for no apparent reason). And it took forever (like 10 minutes) to restart.
But I'm guessing your problem may have been more complicated ...

I stood on the flight deck for about a half hour listening to a talk about how the catapult works to launch the planes and a detailed description about all the jobs and people involved with making each launch happen. I was fascinated by all of it. I mean he talked for a solid half hour about all the details and checks and balances that the flight crew goes through to launch a plane… only they run through that whole process about once a minute per catapult. Absolutely incredible.

Sounds really interesting ... I'm glad you enjoyed it!

We really only spent maybe 2 or 3 hours on the Midway. For me, it was well worth the price of admission and I could have easily stayed there a lot longer. I think the kids enjoyed it. Mostly DS, being that he is a big Planes fan. We told him it was a ship like the Flysenhower and it had planes on it, so he really only cared about the planes.

I've never seen planes, so I don't know what the Flysenhower is, but ... isn't the whole point of an aircraft carrier the planes? (Yes, I know there's other stuff there, I've been on multiple aircraft carriers ... but the planes are often a big part of it)

My back was feeling a lot better by the time we left, but I could tell I was going to be pretty uncomfortable by the time we got back to the room.

Ouch.

I think I woke up every morning at around 4 am… which would be 7 at home. I managed to make myself lay in bed and get a little bit of sleep after that, but not much.

Yeah, jet lag is fun. I think my first day in California was the first time in my life that I was awake and vibrant by 6 AM (I had been up since about 4:30)

It rained on Sunday.


All day.


In Southern California.


Where they tell me it isn’t supposed to rain.

It never rains in Southern California ... it pours, man, it pours

From my first trip to Disneyland ...

I won’t go into too many details about the conference itself, but we had a speaker on Sunday morning who was a former SEAL. Rorke Denver is his name, he’s written a book and was in the movie Act of Valor. I don’t know how long he spoke, but it felt like it was only 5 minutes. He’s one of those speakers who really commands your attention and keeps you entertained. I truly could have listened to him talk about his experiences and the SEAL training program he used to oversee all day long.

Always nice to have a speaker that is interesting and engaging!

Instead, he did a stand up routine.

Did he at least make farm jokes?

I mean, there’s gotta be some Dole Whip mix on there, right????

Maybe it was headed to Disneyland to drop off some Dole Whip mix.

I figured I’d just carry it without the Otterbox until I got home, then I’d see about getting a new phone. Problem solved...

Maybe ... but I'm still guessing it was more complicated than that.

I ordered a burrito there and that thing was huge. I couldn’t even finish the whole thing. This will probably be the only time you ever see me say that about anything that actually tastes good. Normally I’d just power through and find a way to eat it all. But there was just no way, I had already eaten until I was miserable.

Did you wrap up the leftovers and take them home for later consumption? (Do normal people do that or is it just me?)

 

[Steppesister]

Dang it!! There ya go, posting another update before I've had time to get around anyone else's TR to catch up. Shoot, now I'll have to spread a little thinner...

I'm sure it must definitely contain some special memories for you! We liked it there. It was a neat area and having it so close to the hotel made it very nice for going out and grabbing a bite to eat.

I'll take the lazy way out (or quicker) and red my remarks rather than break up the quotes...

Nice eats in such a relazing, seaside sort of way. Not a lot of fast food per se, but oh so Cali!


I would have liked to have done that. But it just didn't happen.

Boo. I guess you'll have to go back again.

No. Not a small expense at all. Good luck, hopefully you're done running it until next year anyway now.

Getting closer. Although I flipped it on this morning. We had a woodstove fire a couple days ago; those don't tend to really end until June.

That's a pretty accurate assessment of it. It was almost like she had to be stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.

Kids just know how to do that. It's instinct.

I was. And unfortunately, we didn't experience a huge variety of San Diego dining. As you'll find out soon...

Noooooooooooo!!!!
OMG!

I'm just glad all of him landed next to you instead of just a body or a head.

There was gray matter. I think I passed out.

What would you ever do without @pkondz ?

I briefly clicked on the TR links for him? her? Please a NAME?!! I am on WAY too many to keep up as it is. But I saw "intriguing" writing- which always draws me in. Do I dare?? Of course, I'm always looking for new readers too....

 

[Steppesister]

The Midway is an excellent way to spend a few hours! Good choice. But please tell me you took note of the Star of India as well!

I'll bet your back was KILLING you! Good call on the muscle relaxant and pain med.

Sorry Jay was so disappointing. I guess that is why we have the FCC- self-control and self- censoring can be sadly lacking in some cases. (The late night show, I surmise, would be rather raunchier without)

I'll bet the folks in Cali are wishing they'd have rain like that for hte next several months straight; I hear mandatory restrictions are now in place up to 25%. They are in rather dire straights at the moment.

And yes, all guys need a "pirate fix". I rather enjoyed Captain Philips, but then again it was Tom Hanks.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

We kept trying to get them to eat, with no luck. Finally at one point I told DD I’d eat her hot dog if she wouldn’t. As stubborn and independent as she is, this almost always works.

Sounds like LIttle Miss!

That’s when someone replied asking if I was going to Disneyland for the race.



Uh… what race?

Oops!

It was just a light mist. But it misted all day long. When we went to lunch, we got wet. Back to the hotel, wet. I think it was in the 60’s that day so it wasn’t too bad, but someone told me they saw on the news that there was a winter weather advisory. I guess if that’s a winter storm to the locals, I probably shouldn’t complain too much. These folks clearly don’t know what winter is.

Man, I'm in the south and 60's is considered spring like weather!

People were getting up and walking out. It was bad enough that email apologies from higher ups in the organization were coming out the following week.

Yikes what a disappointment!

I wasn’t personally offended by his routine… it just didn’t think it was funny. I mean in the 45 minutes or so that he was up there, I think I might have laughed once.

And it was the first joke he told.

Ouch!

When I took it out of the Otterbox, I could squeeze it, shake it, do anything to it and it would stay on. At least there’s an easy solution

I figured I’d just carry it without the Otterbox until I got home, then I’d see about getting a new phone. Problem solved...

Why do I get a strong feeling this is leading to something?

 

[pkondz]

I briefly clicked on the TR links for him? her? Please a NAME?!! I am on WAY too many to keep up as it is. But I saw "intriguing" writing- which always draws me in. Do I dare?? Of course, I'm always looking for new readers too....

See? All you had to do was ask.... or demand.... whatever.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

Hi….
My name is Rob and I’m afraid I allow other things (like work and… and… oh yah, more work) to get in the way of my Disney addiction.

Andy…
You are way too good about keeping up with your TRs (unlike the idiot who shall remain nameless that looks back at me from my mirror). I hit my annually imposed Dis Board black-out time in February and March, and when I finally get back over here not only have you already finished the entire TR, now you adding a whole separate trip onto the end of it.

Now how am I supposed to be giving you inordinate amounts of grief if you go and finish entire TR’s during the time when I can’t be giving you inordinate amounts of grief!

I suppose that I’ll just have to start off from here then.

Tower, This is Ghostrider Requesting a Flyby.

Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.

Sorry, Goose, but it's time to buzz a tower.

The food court area is really nice. All kinds of options for food you can go order and then sit in an outdoor courtyard area. DW and I quickly spotted the Mexican place

Hard to go wrong there…
well, Toco Bell would be going wrong, but does that really count as a “Mexican place”?

but the kids wanted hot dogs and fries.

Much to learn, they still have. Much.

Finally at one point I told DD I’d eat her hot dog if she wouldn’t. As stubborn and independent as she is, this almost always works. She gets downright mad when I threaten to eat her food and will pretty much down anything just out of spite so that I can’t eat it.

Hummmm…
If that’s how she deals with you now, I can’t wait to see what she’ll be doing to your sanity based on any opinion you might care to express on any guy she wants to date.

When I threatened to eat her hot dog, she had no reaction. I grabbed it and took a bite and I quickly understood why.

Worst hot dog ever.

I can see it now…

You take that bite, give two about two chews, then stop suddenly… an expression of horror close akin to being told that a Disney park if full to capacity just as you were the next person in line at the gate quickly washes over your face… you wait a moment, give it one more chew… and then start looking for somewhere to spit without the kids seeing it directly.

Oh how I wish I had the pictures of that moment.

Consider it fair warning, now you know what to expect when your DD doesn’t fight you.

While we were sitting there, I took my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It had turned off somehow. Hmmm…. odd.

<<queue ominous background music >>

We figured we’d just as well keep on going and go see the USS Midway.

What!!!!

The Midway was a great way to spend a few hours.

Noooooooooooo!

You got to board a ship…
That is on my list of must sees…
And that I can’t get to!

<< an expression of horror close akin to being told that a Disney park if full to capacity just as I happen to be the next person in line at the gate quickly washes over my face>>

Noooooooooooo!

<<mumbles under breath>> Payback’s a bit**, ain’t it.”

They were just relaxing and enjoying themselves while I was getting educated.

Well it’s about time you considered doing that, at least.

We really only spent maybe 2 or 3 hours on the Midway.

Yea, yea… twist the knife why don’t ya’.

So here I am, still carrying DD.

That’s a lot of carrying there.

Somewhere around this point she fell asleep… so now I’m carrying her while she sleeps.

Dead weight…. Dead weight…

Once I laid down, I could really feel my back stiffening up again. I turned to my stash of orange bottles and got myself comfortable.

We now return you to the Andy Show; sponsored by Glaxo-Smith-Kline…

DW returned with our food from Cheesecake Factory

Cheesecake Factory… and yet she actually shared it with you?
You’re a lucky man.

That’s when someone replied asking if I was going to Disneyland for the race.



Uh… what race?

Whoops.

I started stressing out and looking for information about it. That would be something I would end up doing a lot during free time and while sitting in conference sessions.

It rained on Sunday.


All day.


In Southern California.


Where they tell me it isn’t supposed to rain.

Yah, I had that shipped out there special, just for you.

I guess if that’s a winter storm to the locals, I probably shouldn’t complain too much. These folks clearly don’t know what winter is.

Bless their hearts….

I won’t go into too many details about the conference itself, but we had a speaker on Sunday morning who was a former SEAL. Rorke Denver is his name, he’s written a book and was in the movie Act of Valor. I don’t know how long he spoke, but it felt like it was only 5 minutes. He’s one of those speakers who really commands your attention and keeps you entertained. I truly could have listened to him talk about his experiences and the SEAL training program he used to oversee all day long.

I’d like to have heard him speak as well.
I imagine that was absolutely fascinating.

On the other end of the spectrum, we had Jay Leno. He was the keynote speaker at our closing session. I was really excited to see him, but I was extremely disappointed.

Well, he is retired, ya’ know.
And retiring from late-night telle, ain’t quite the same as retiring from something like, say… The SEALs.

Instead, he did a stand up routine.

And it was a stand up routine that quite frankly, was highly offensive and not all that funny.

Wow…
I mean, just: wow.

And I posted a picture of this boat to the Disdads Facebook page with a comment about wanting to become a pirate.

​

I mean, there’s gotta be some Dole Whip mix on there, right????

TAKE NO PRISONERS!!!

Some of you who have followed other TR’s of mine might remember mention of a phone that I destroyed because I had it in my pocket when I waded into the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago.

This is the type of thing that just happens to me.

Usually due to a moment of stupidity on my part.

I figured I’d just carry it without the Otterbox until I got home, then I’d see about getting a new phone. Problem solved...

What could possibly go wrong?

I have to say for all the HRC’s we’ve been to San Diego is the least impressive. I’d skip it if I had it to do over again.

Duly noted…

Tuesday morning we’d have some time to explore either some more of San Diego or the Anaheim area as we’d be moving from our beautiful San Diego hotel to the Grand Californian!

Now you’re talkin’.

And there’s another knife you can drive right into my back.
Have fun twistin' it there buddy.