# Our “California Adventure” a Road Trip to the West (Update: Day 17  - There and back again)



## MarbleBob

*Our “California Adventure” - a Road Trip to the West.  5,000 Miles, 6,000 Photos, and Countless Memories!*

Hello everyone, and welcome to my latest trip report.  I call this our “California Adventure”, because even though we visited Disneyland on this trip, it was only a part of our 17 day road trip that covered a good part of the Golden State.





In a nutshell, we drove from St. Louis, MO to San Francisco, CA.  Toured the Bay Area for a few days, visited Yosemite, spent nearly a week in Anaheim/LA, and visited sites along the old Route 66 on the way back home, including a stop at the Grand Canyon.  We left St. Louis on June 12 and returned on June 28.





We peppered the trip with a fair amount of Disney too!  Starting with a visit in Marceline, MO (site of Walt’s boyhood home).  We explored the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.  We stopped at Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park (LA) and got to meet Bob Gurr (Disney Legend.)  We spent three full days in the DLR parks for the Diamond Celebration.  And finally, we got to see some of the inspiration for the Cars movie as we traveled home with stops on on the old Route 66.

It was truly a spectacular vacation!!!  We had some amazing experiences and I can’t even begin to describe the breathtaking sites as we passed through 11 states.  It’s not called, “America the Beautiful” for nothing!!!





I took over 6,000 photos and nearly 4 hours of video on this trip, and I have a lot of cool stuff to share with you.  So, let’s go ahead and get started with the family introductions, trip background, and then the actual trip report!!!


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## MarbleBob

*Table of Contents*

Introduction
Meet the Family
Trip Background
Day 1 - Friday, June 12 - And We’re Off!! (Marceline, MO)!
Day 1 - Friday, June 12 - Part Two
Day 2 - Saturday, June 13 - Trains!!!!
Day 2 - Saturday, June 13 - Part 2
Day 3 - Sunday, June 14 - A family Reunion
Day 4 - Monday, June 15 - California!!!
Day 5 - Tuesday, June 16 - Japantown
Day 5 - Tuesday, June 16 - Golden Gate Bridge
Day 6 - Wednesday, June 17 - Santa Cruz!
Day 6 - Wednesday, June 17 - Roaring Camp
Day 6 - Wednesday, June 17 - Giant Trees and Disney Vans!
Day 7 - Thursday, June 18 - Walt Disney Family Museum
Day 7 - Thursday, June 18 - Walt Disney Family Museum - Part 2
Day 7 - Thursday, June 18 - Walt Disney Family Museum - Part 3
Day 7 - Thursday, June 18 - Lucasfilm and Fisherman's Wharf
Day 8 - Friday, June 19 - Yosemite Bound!
Day 8 - Friday, June 19 - Yosemite - Glacier Point
Day 9 - Saturday, June 20 - Yosemite Valley!
Day 9 - Saturday, June 20 - Yosemite Valley - Part 2
Day 9 - Saturday, June 20 - Yosemite Valley - Part 3
Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - L.A. Live Steamers and Bob Gurr!!!
Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park
Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - Candy Cane Inn & Downtown Disney
Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - Downtown Disney
Day 11 - Monday, June 22 - A day at the Beach
Day 11 - Monday, June 22 - A day at the Beach (continued)
Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 1
Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 2
Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 3
Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 4
Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 5
Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 1
Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 2
Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 3
Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 4
Day 14 - Thursday, June 25 - Disneyland - Part 1
Day 14 - Thursday, June 25 - Disneyland - Part 2
Day 14 - Thursday, June 25 - Disneyland - Part 3
Day 15 - Friday, June 26 - Drive to Grand Canyon
Day 15 - Friday, June 26 - Drive to Grand Canyon - Part 2
Day 16 - Saturday, June 27 - Driving through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas
Day 17 - Sunday, June 28 - And... were' home!
Closing Thoughts (video)


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## kaoden39

Love the collage! I'm excited to hear all about your trip!


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## PrincessInOz

Epic trip!  Looking forward to seeing a large percentage of those 6000+ photos.


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## momtohms

Following along!


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## kylie71

Can't wait!!


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## poohbear2

This is truly an adventure! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.


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## melk

I'm in! You really are fortunate to have experienced so much of the country...in one trip! Someday we hope to do a drive vacation of the western U.S.


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## MarbleBob

kaoden39 said:


> Love the collage! I'm excited to hear all about your trip!



Thanks kaoden39!



PrincessInOz said:


> Epic trip!  Looking forward to seeing a large percentage of those 6000+ photos.



Thanks PrincessInOz.  I hope to find a balance between sharing a lot of them without overdoing it.    



momtohms said:


> Following along!



Thanks momtohms!



kylie71 said:


> Can't wait!!



Cool kylie71!



poohbear2 said:


> This is truly an adventure! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip.



Thanks poohbear2! I look forward to sharing more about it too 



melk said:


> I'm in! You really are fortunate to have experienced so much of the country...in one trip! Someday we hope to do a drive vacation of the western U.S.



Thanks melk!  Fortunate indeed.  If you can pull it off, a western road trip is totally worth it. It was way cooler than I ever expected it to be!!  I look forward to doing another big road trip in the future.


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## MarbleBob

*Meet the Family*

Before we get going with the trip report, I thought it would make sense to introduce my family.  This will be somewhat of a rehash of content from my previous trip report introductions and especially the pre-trip report for this thread.  For those of you who’ve followed along before, feel free to skip ahead.  Otherwise, here’s the scoop on the “cast” of this report.

The trip consisted of my immediate family, my wife’s parents, and her brother (and his immediate family.)  All in all, we had 11 people on this trip.  It was quite the crew!

*About My Immediate Family*

DW and I have been Disney fans most of our lives. Both enjoying the classic movies and cartoons as kids, and we each went on family vacations to WDW several times. (She had gone 4 times and I had been twice.) The first movie that we saw in a theater together was 101 Dalmatians in 1996. And when we were first dating, I remember she mentioned that as a little girl, she dreamed of going to WDW on her honeymoon. So, later when get got married, the decision on where to go for our honeymoon was a no brainer! That started the tradition of including Disney in our family vacations and we've been going back for more ever since.





For most of my family, this was our third trip to Disneyland. DW and I went on a solo trip in 2010, staying at the Howard Johnson. And then DD15 (Princess) went on her “10 year old trip” with my parents in 2010, staying at the Grand Californian. Next up was DS12 (Buddy) who went on his “10 year old trip” with my parents in 2013, staying at the Disneyland Hotel. Finally, all five of us visited in 2013 staying at the Disneyland Hotel. That was DD8’s (Pickle) first trip to Disneyland. After two visits, we were hooked and couldn’t resist a third trip this year! We consider WDW our “home” resort, but Disneyland is now our favorite.





*Matt (me)* - Please don’t ask how/why I came up with the MarbleBob screen name, because I don't really remember. (It’s hard to believe I joined Disboards almost 12 years ago.) I'm not related to anyone named Bob and I don't even own any marbles. Some might argue, that I've lost a few marbles, but that's a different story. About me? I’m an IT manager, skateboarder, gardener, and of course, a Disney fan. I tend to go through phases where I'm super into Disney, and then I focus my interest on other things. But I always come back!!!





*Stephanie (DW) *- My best friend and awesome mother to our 3 kids. She isn't really any more or less into Disney than I am, but she's certainly more consistently plugged in. I think she's listened to almost every DIS Unplugged podcast through the years (both WDW and DL) and she's probably listened to every one of Ricky Brigante's Inside the Magic podcasts too. She keeps me up to date on the latest Disney related events, and she closely followed the plans for Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary, and made sure we were up to speed on the Diamond Celebration festivities.





I periodically make collages of our kids growing up with Disney. I thought it would be fun to make one out of a few scan’s from Stephanie’s trips to WDW as a kid.





*Princess (DD15)* - My oldest daughter. Obviously, that's not her real name, but that's the name that we'll use for this trip report. As mentioned above, she's grown up going to Walt Disney World, and loving Disney princesses. She outgrew the princess loving stage a few years ago, but her love for Disney hasn't diminished. She also loves everything Nintendo and Japan, and of course, her favorite Disney attraction is the Japan Pavilion in Epcot. And one of the highlights for her on this trip was visiting Japantown in San Francisco.





*Buddy (DS12) *- Also not his real name, but this is what we usually call him around the house. He's our engineer. He loves building things with his monorail sets, Legos, Rokenbok, trains, etc. And of course, his favorite past time is playing Minecraft on the computer.  His favorite Disney attractions are the trains, monorails, Expedition Everest, and California Screamin’.  Highlights for him on this trip include getting to meet Bob Gurr (designer of the original Disneyland monorail) and seeing so many trains across the country (including Bailey Yard, Walt’s Carolwood Pacific Trains at the Family Museum, Roaring Camp Railroad, Los Angeles Live Steamers, etc.)





*Pickle (DD8)* - We don't really call her this too much in person, but she owns up to her nickname, and it fits her well. Very sweet and loving, but she can be a bit ornery and spicey too! She's just starting to outgrow the princess loving stage, but she’s not quite finished yet. She seems to go back between favoring Elsa and Cinderella.





*About Stephanie’s Family*

*Stephanie’s Parents* - We’ve have a lot of Disney experiences with my parents, but outside of a daytrip to Walt’s hometown (Marceline, MO) last year, we had never gone on a Disney trip with Stephanie's parents before. So this was special treat for us! Dennis and Shirley have gone to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland multiple times through the years, but I think the last time that they visited Disneyland was right before California Adventure opened up.

For the sake of the trip report, we’re going to refer to them by the names my kids call them. Nanny and Grandpa.  Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that Grandpa has been a HUGE fan of Donald Duck since he was a kid!





*Dave’s Family *- Dave (Stephanie’s brother) and his wife (Angie) joinined us too. They have two kids, we'll call them Luke (6) and Leia (4) during this trip report. (Yes, there are a lot of Star Wars fans in our family.) They went on their first trip to Disney World with Nanny and Grandpa last year, and now have a Disneyland trip under their belt too. Pickle was super excited to travel and visit with her favorite cousins!





So, I guess that’s enough about the family.  How about a little more background on the trip before we get started?


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## MarbleBob

*Trip Background*

*Part A. * Over the past couple of years, we’ve been thinking that our vacations have been a bit too Florida heavy. Certainly, our kids have seen other parts of the country, but probably 75% of their trips have involved Florida and Disney in some shape or form. We've been thinking that we should probably broaden their horizons a little more before they grow up.

We thought about visiting the North East, NYC or even going up to visit an old friend in Montreal, or going to Wyoming/Yellowstone, or the Grand Canyon, etc. I had always wanted to do a mega road trip out west, and there's still the conflict of wanting to see other places besides Disney, but still wanting to experience Disney.... So we thought, how about driving to visit my aunt and uncle in San Francisco, then spending a couple days in Yosemite (I've flown over it countless times on the Soarin' ride, but I really want to see it in person!), and then make our way to the LA area... spend a few days at Disneyland and LA in general, and then stop at the Grand Canyon for a night on the way back. That would meet both parts of the vacation equation... Get a Disney fix, expose the kids to new parts of the country, and also satisfy a bit of the road trip dream. Perfect!!

*Part B.*  We travel with my parents more regularly (they share our love for all things Disney and it just works out), but It’s been a few years since we’ve gone on vacation with Stephanie’s parents.  We tend to plan our travels pretty far in advance and it seems like the last few times they’ve suggested a joint vacation, we’ve already had plans locked in, and we’ve had to decline.  When we dreamed up this vacation about a year and a half ago, we thought maybe we should give them a heads up about it and see if they wanted to join us.  We shared the outline of our plans to drive to San Francisco for a few days, visit Yosemite, spend several days in Anaheim, and then hit the Grand Canyon on the way back.  They were indeed interested.

*Part C.*  Dave and Angie realized that Nanny and Grandpa would have a lot of extra space in their mini van.  One thing led to another, and then we had another family joining us.  And Pickle was thrilled to find out that her two favorite cousins would be joining us on our vacation!

*Trip Overview*

Dave and Angie had slightly different objectives for their vacation, so although we generally travelled as a group, we split up quite a bit.  To start with they all (Dave’s family and Nanny/Grandpa) left a couple days early to see Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Devils Tower, etc.  Also, we split up quite a bit in San Francisco and LA.  And finally, they ditched us after the Grand Canyon on the way back (they travelled a few extra days with a stop at Carlsbad Caverns.)  This was actually a blessing in disguise, as keeping three distinct families on the same page was a bit of  a challenge.  I’m sure this helped quite a bit in reducing the inevitable friction between families on such a long trip.

Anyway, this trip report will center around my family.  You’ll see photos and mention of everyone else from time to time, but everything shared will be from our perspective.  Also, I plan to share bits and pieces of the whole trip, but I’ll share more details and photos of the Disney related experiences.

Finally, before we get going with the report, here’s an overview of how the trip played out for us:

*Day 1 *- Drove from St. Louis to St. Joseph, MO - With a stop in Marceline, MO (Walt Disney Hometown)
*Day 2 *- Drove to Cheyenne, WY - With a stop at Bailey Yard (the world’s largest train yard)
*Day 3* - Drove from Cheyenne to Elko, NV - Stops at Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats
*Day 4* - Drove from Elko to San Francisco, CA - Stops at Sacramento and Vacaville
*Day 5* - Explored Japantown SF and the Golden Gate Bridge
*Day 6* - Drove to Santa Cruz - Visited the beach/boardwalk, Roaring Camp Railroad, and Henry Cowell State Park
*Day 7* - Visited the Walt Disney Family Museum, Lucasfilm Office, and the Wharf area.
*Day 8* - Drove to Yosemite - Visited Mariposa Grove (giant sequoias) and Glacier Point
*Day 9* - Spent the entire day exploring Yosemite Valley
*Day 10* - Drove to LA - Stopped at Griffith Park to see Walt’s Barn and to meet Bob Gurr, checked into the Candy Cane Inn, and explored Downtown Disney
*Day 11* - Beach day - We visited Newport and Laguna beaches
*Day 12* - Spent the day at California Adventure
*Day 13* - Spent the day at Disneyland
*Day 14* - Park hopped between Disneyland and California Adventure
*Day 15* - Drove to Grand Canyon and explored the rim before sunset
*Day 16* - Drove to Amarillo, TX
*Day 17* - Final drive back home

Stay tuned for Day 1


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## BadPinkTink

all I can say is wow, and cant wait for updates. As a European, this kind of trip is one for "when I win the lottery" as my travel costs just to USA are over $1000, before even starting any kind of touring like this.


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## jhoannam

Sounds like a fantastic adventure


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## MarbleBob

BadPinkTink said:


> all I can say is wow, and cant wait for updates. As a European, this kind of trip is one for "when I win the lottery" as my travel costs just to USA are over $1000, before even starting any kind of touring like this.



If you ever can find a way to make it happen, you won't be disappointed!



jhoannam said:


> Sounds like a fantastic adventure



Thanks jhoannam.  Indeed it was


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## MarbleBob

*Day 1 - Friday, June 12 -  And We’re Off!!!*

As I mentioned in the overview, Nanny, Grandpa, and the others had already left to visit Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Devil’s Tower, etc.  The plan was to meet up with them the following day in Cheyenne, WY and then caravan together the rest of the way to California.  So we were on our own for the first leg of the trip...

This was perfect, because we decided to start our journey with a visit to Walt’s hometown, Marceline, MO.  We’ve been there a few times before.  It’s great for a day trip and certainly worth a visit on its own accord.  If you are ever even remotely close to being in the area, you should plan a visit.  For a Disney fan, it’s like making a pilgrimage.

We originally planned to drive to San Francisco in three days, which didn’t leave time for a stop in Marceline.  But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to stop.  It just seemed appropriate since we’d be seeing so many other Walt Disney related sites on this trip.  So, we decided to depart after lunch on Friday (instead of early Saturday morning.)

I took a half day off from work.  I got home around Noon, we finished loading the car, and we were on the road by 12:30 PM.  Not bad!!!

We drove north to Hannibal, waived to the giant Mark Twain statue, and then headed west on Route 36.  It took a little less than three hours to get to Marceline.  Sort of an uneventful drive, so I won’t bore you with the details...





I wrote a little bit about Marceline in the pre trip report, and see my signature for a TR from a couple years ago.  In a nutshell, the Disney family moved from Chicago to Marceline in 1906 when Walt was four.  They lived there for a few years, until 1910.  However, as an adult, Walt said, “To tell the truth, more things of importance happened to me in Marceline than have happened to me since or are likely to in the future.”  This is where his great love of trains started, and much of his time spent living on the farm served as inspiration for future movies and cartoons.  Later in life, he came back to Marceline many times, and had even purchased his boyhood home with the plans to develop a rural experience around it.  The idea behind this “Marceline Project” is really facinating.  Unfortunately, it was in its infancy when Walt died and it was scrapped (along side his Mineral King ski resort project http://www.yesterland.com/mineralking.html), so that they could focus on completing the Walt Disney World project.  The land was sold back to Walt’s partner, who’s daughter (Kaye Malins) still lives in the home today.  She’s the one who runs the Walt Disney Hometown museum, and has has opened up some of the original Disney farm property to the public. We’ve had a chance to meet her at the museum couple times, and she’s a real sweet heart.  (Actually all the people who work at the museum have been very sweet.)  Her story of growing up and interacting with Walt is pretty darn cool.

There are a few more sites of interest in Marceline, and I’m going to gloss over them here.  If you are more interested, go to the Walt Disney Family Museum website for more information.  And read this quick D23 article.  It does a better job at summarizing Marceline than I can.

So, back to the trip report….

We arrived around 3:15 PM.  The museum closes at 4:00, but that was OK because we’ve toured it twice in the last couple of years, so we didn’t feel like we needed a full tour this time.  But I did want to hit the gift shop before they closed.





Noting that the museum is located in former Santa Fe train station.  Pretty cool.  We took a couple minutes for a few photos.





And then the first train came barreling by.  Seems like one passes by every 10 or 15 minutes, pretty darn cool!  (Buddy and I stopped by earlier this spring just to sit and watch the trains go by all afternoon.)






The kids were having fun exploring the garden outside, so Stephanie and I went inside to visit the gift shop.  I knew that we’d have the chance to meet Bob Gurr later in this trip (more on him later) and I wanted to bring him a pin from Marceline and maybe a post card (and have it cancelled by the Walt Disney Post Office.)

I couldn’t resist getting a photo inside.  Kaye took the photo for us.  How cool is that!





A couple notes about that photo.  The Disneyland flag above us is the only DLR flag authorized to fly outside of Disneyland.  Walt donated it to the local school, when they renamed it to the “Walt Disney Elementary School”.  Also behind us in the glass case, is the desk that Walt sat at as a child. You can still see his initials carved into it today.

So yeah, we stopped to talk to Kaye and the other ladies for a few minutes.  We purchased the pin and post card, and then they wished us well on our journey.  Asking us to tell their Californian counterparts hello when we arrived.





Note that the photo above shows the back side of the post card.  Marceline has the only official Walt Disney Post Office in the country, and they have a special stamp that they use to cancel postage.  We headed over to the post office next to get this post card (as well as a couple generic envelopes) cancelled as cheap souvenirs.

Someone could write a whole blog post on just the history surrounding the Post Office, but I’ll just leave you with a couple photos.









The kids played outside in Ripley Park while I went to get the stamps cancelled.





I came out to find the younger two spinning on the merry go round. (And you can just make out another train passing behind that black locomotive.)






Classic!!!  I know that these things are dangerous and aren’t available in most newer playgrounds, but I totally remember playing on these things when I was a kid.  Great memories!!!

And of course, a quick snap shot of the locomotive located in the park.  Too cool!





All right, we don’t have a ton of time to spend in Marceline, so come on kids… let’s get moving to our next destination.  (Of course, they didn’t want to leave.)

So they say... Main Street Marceline served as a lot of the inspiration for Main Street Disneyland.  Of course, it’s not an exact replica or anything, but the main street “vibe” is totally there.  There are a several cool sites on Marceline’s main street (including the Uptown Theater where Walt held the Midwest premiere of The Great Locomotive Chase), but again, I don’t have time for all those details.  I did want to get a photo of our family on Main Street Marceline and then a similar photo from Main Street Disneyland for comparison.  You’ll have to wait until later in the trip report to see how they compare to each other.  Ahhh… the suspense.  





Next up, we headed a mile or two south to the Walt Disney Municipal Park.





The main attraction here, is the site of the old Midget Autopia ride.  You can Google it for more details, but basically Walt had it removed from Disneyland after a year or two because he didn’t like how parents couldn’t ride it along side their kids.  Instead of trashing it, he donated it to the town of Marceline.  I think this was the only Disneyland attraction to be repurposed outside of the park.  It fell into disrepair a few years later, but you can see one of the original cars in the museum back in town.  They have plans for a new version of the attraction.  I really hope that they can make it happen.





The cars and the metal track are long gone, but the concrete foundation is still present.  They turned it into a playground.





In the past, we’ve brought the kids big wheels and scooters to cruise around on the tracks.  No room in the car for those this time around, but they still had fun running along the tracks… pretending they were driving imaginary cars.





After playing on the Autopia track for a while, they moved over to the other old school playground equipment.





In the meantime, Stephanie and I just soaked it all in.  The weather was spectacular that day.  A nice cool breeze.  The wind pushing the leaves in all the trees.  The rolling hills in the background.  Everything was just so laid back.  That combined with the small town vibe of the area, really set us off in a positive way.  Things just felt “right”.  I can see why Walt held such a fondness in his heart for Marceline. What a great way to start our vacation!

A couple more freight trains rolled by too.  When it was time to load back into the car, we looked up to see Buddy and Pickle watching the trains together from the old Midget Autopia overpass.  OK, this trip is really starting off on the right foot.  (And I promise that the following photo was not staged.)


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## MarbleBob

*Day 1 - Friday, June 12 -  Part Two*

After we loaded back into the mini van, we headed over to our last Marceline destination before heading further west…  The site of Walt’s boyhood home and the Disney family farm.

Here’s a snap shot of the home.





I think it’s been renovated a bit and doesn’t really look like it did during Walt’s days, but Kaye and her family do an amazing job taking care of it.  We’ve passed it multiple times in the last several years, and the landscaping and upkeep is always impecible.  It sure has that quaint, small mid-western town charm!

Driving a little way back behind the house, you’ll find a small parking area for Walt’s Barn and his Dreaming Tree.  Again, you could write multiple blog posts on these two sites, but I’ll try and keep it quick…

Walt’s Dreaming Tree - When Walt was a child, he was too young to go out and do farm chores with his older brothers, so he was assigned the task of watching his younger sister Ruth.  They spent a lot of time playing and exploring around the farm.  One of Walt’s favorite spots was an old cottonwood tree.  Apparently, he’d do “belly botany” here - looking at various bugs and animals.  He drew from these memories when he created his Silly Symphonies and Mickey Mouse stories.  As an adult when Walt would return to Marceline, he would always set aside a few hours to come back and reflect under his tree.  This really feels like hallowed ground.




(I pulled this photo of Walt and Roy from the Walt Disney Hometown Museum's Flickr Feed, from this web page.)

Unfortunately, nature took its toll on the tree and it’s been in bad shape over the last decade or two.  Being struck by lightning and taking storm damage.  It took it’s last hit about a month ago and was toppled over in a storm.  It was a registered historical tree, and I’m not sure what they’ll do to preserve it’s memory long term, but there is cool part of the story that remains… About 10 years ago, Walt’s grandson and Disney ambassadors brought soil from the Magic Kingdom and water from the Rivers of America to be used in a ceremony when they planted a sapling from the original tree.  It’s known as the “Son of the Dreaming Tree”, and it seems to be thriving today.

This really had a big impact on Pickle.  She brought up the sad story multiple times during the trip...

Here’s a photo of Steph and Buddy in front of the toppled tree.






We took a few minutes to pay our respects to Walt’s Dreaming Tree and then we heading down the path to Walt’s Barn.

The kids were distracted by ripe mulberries.  Personally, I’m not a fan of those things, but the kids love them.  I hope nobody cares that they ate a few 






Turning the corner, the barn came into view...






And boy, isn't mid-Missouri beautiful?!?

More history…  Walt also spent a lot of time in the family barn.  It made such an impact on him, that he recreated it for the live action film, “So Dear to My Heart”.  And then later, he re-created it yet again at his home in LA.  He spent a lot of time tinkering in his barn when he created his small scale “Carolwood Pacific Railroad”.  It was his “Happy Place”, and is generally regarded as the birthplace of imagineering.






The original family barn is long gone, but they created a replica of it in 2001.  It’s really cool that this is open to the public.  Even cooler, you can go inside and leave a message for Walt on the walls.  Also, they have an arboretum with trees and other plants around the property.

Stephanie leaving a memory from our road trip.






And here’s a message that Princess left on one of the rafters last year.






It was pretty darn hot and humid in there, so we left a few minutes later.  Similar to the Main Street photo, I wanted to get a photo of the family in front of the Marceline Barn and in front of Walt’s Barn in LA.  Again, you’ll have to wait for the comparison photo 






At that point, it was nearly 5pm and time to be getting on the road.  We had about two more hours of driving until we reached our destination, so we decided to move on.

Before we finish off the first day of the TR, I’ll share a couple interactive photos that I took of the barn and tree last year.  If you click on these links, you’ll get immersive 360 degree photos that you can look around in (almost like you were standing there.)

Outside Walt’s Barn




Inside Walt’s Barn



Walt’s Dreaming Tree



OK.  Back on the road again!

We drove the last bit of the day and arrived at the Comfort Suites in St. Joseph, MO.





I wasn’t too impressed with this place.  It wasn’t bad, but there were a few head aches with it.  Quality was just OK (yes we are Disney snobs.)  I picked it because we needed a place that would sleep 5 and they had a sofa bed, but when we rolled it out, it had bugs and stains on the bed.  Buddy refused to sleep on it.  So there was that...

The rest of the room wasn’t bad though.





Anyway, we dropped off our stuff and headed for dinner.  Knowing that we’d be eating some great meals out west, we wanted to eat cheap earlier on the drive and splurge a bit more in California.  But I still like the idea of eating at unique places or chains that we don’t have at home.  I had heard of Taco John’s before, but never tried it.  The kids were all for it, so that’s what we had.

Stephanie liked it well enough, but the rest of us didn’t.  The kids kept on making potty jokes about it, because of its name.  I’m not a fan of Taco Bell either, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that it wasn't any better or worse than that.  Oh well, at least we can say that we tried it.

Strangely, the best thing on the menu (in my opinion) where these squashed tater tot things.  Not what I expected at a Mexican food place, but they were actually tasty.





I normally like to snap a few photos of our vacation meals, because it’s fun to go back and remember what we had later.  In this case, I didn’t really take photos.  Somehow, I ended up with these two.  Not good photos, but I guess that was appropriate.  LOL.









OK.  To be honest, we were really just going through the motions with dinner.  We had Yelped for unique places and read about an ice cream stand down the road.  Dinner was just something that we had to get through before we had dessert.  You know, because you can’t just eat ice cream for dinner.  At least, that’s what we tell the kids... 

So, yeah, we drove a mile down the street to Kris & Kate’s ice cream.  Good ice cream served to you from the window of a giant ice cream cone? 

Yes, please!!!





This placed had "road trip destination” and “cool factor” written all over it.  They played 50’s rock n roll (mostly Elvis) and had a GIANT menu that took a while to navigate.  Ultimately we all made our choices, and there were no regrets.  This is the stuff that dreams are made of.  What did we have for dinner again...Taco Who’s?

















We sat outside and enjoyed our ice cream for a while.   It was a pleasant evening.  The day was cooling off and we stayed until it was just getting dark.  Such a cool atmosphere, and a nice way to end the evening.

We stopped for gas on the way back to the hotel, and then headed up to our room.  Steph took care of a few things upstairs and I took the kids down to swim in the pool for a while.  We came back around 10pm and pretty much all went straight to sleep.

Day 1 was in the books, and all in all, it was a great start to the vacation.


----------



## kaoden39

What a nice way to spend your day! I'd love to see Marceline someday. It all looks fun and entertaining.


----------



## melk

Your 360 photos are cool, it really gives such a good perspective of just what it looks like.  And what a great ice cream place you found. It totally fits with just what I would expect to find on a cross country road trip.

Great start!


----------



## jedijill

You are off to a great start!  As a mid-Missouri native, I love the shout out.   I don't like Taco Johns either.  It is not that great.

Jill in CO


----------



## justafigment27

What a wonderful start to a wonderful trip report!


----------



## annegirl

Great start to the trip. 
The ice cream place looks like fun. 
And this picture-



MarbleBob said:


>



is fantastic. I love it!


----------



## wiscbugs

Trip likes it is off to a great start...anxiously awaiting the San Francisco portion!!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Joining in - can't wait to hear all the details and if you kept to the plan or had any hiccups or happy accidents.  I think it probably worked out for the best that the other families had some different plans and you weren't all together 24/7 ... like you said, just hard to get that many people on the same page for that long of a period of time



MarbleBob said:


>



Great picture!  I feel like I am going to take far to many pictures of that statue!



MarbleBob said:


>


 Love the collage - captured a lot of the sites you saw!




MarbleBob said:


>



Thanks for including that ... can totally see Pickles in these pictures of Stephanie

Marceline looks so cool and I can totally see just sitting there watching the trains go by!



MarbleBob said:


>



I love the idea of getting the post cards and envelopes stamped - and quite the sizeable stamp too!



MarbleBob said:


> You’ll have to wait until later in the trip report to see how they compare to each other. Ahhh… the suspense.



Great - now I have to read the rest of this Tripe Report ..... which I totally would read anyway.



MarbleBob said:


> but they still had fun running along the tracks… pretending they were driving imaginary cars.



Haha, I love this - also the one of the kids on the merry-go-round ... nice to see kids just playing like kids in a small town.



MarbleBob said:


> OK, this trip is really starting off on the right foot. (And I promise that the following photo was not staged.)



Aw, that is so cute!  Always great to see the kids showing love to each other and enjoying being together!




MarbleBob said:


> About 10 years ago, Walt’s grandson and Disney ambassadors brought soil from the Magic Kingdom and water from the Rivers of America to be used in a ceremony when they planted a sapling from the original tree. It’s known as the “Son of the Dreaming Tree”, and it seems to be thriving today.



That's really cool!  Seems like a good idea too - unless they'd want to re-create the tree via Disney fake trees like Swiss Family Robinson Tree House or something



MarbleBob said:


> And here’s a message that Princess left on one of the rafters last year.



That's really nice and super cool that you can come back and see that and remember that trip again.

Bummer that Taco John's didn't live up to the hype (I totally have a bunch of potty jokes in me head) but the ice cream place sounds great!

So glad you started this TR!


----------



## kylie71

I love your stop in Walts hometown, reminds me of trips to MO, when I was a kid to visit my Dads sister, in Cassville.  Small town USA.
I am really looking forward to more!

--Lori


----------



## PrincessInOz

MarbleBob/Matt - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your first posts of the trip.  This is going to be an epic TR!  

Your collages are wonderful.  I always enjoy looking at them and seeing how the kids have grown up.
Looks like you had a nice mix of 3 family together time...and lots of 'me family' time.  And yes, it does keep the tensions to a minimum.
Marceline is just delightful.  Thank you so much for making time to stop and look around.  The 360 pictures are magnificent.
And trains......lots and lots of trains.
Pity about the sofa bed and the Taco shop.  The icecream place definitely makes up for it!

Looking forward to the next edition.


----------



## Mich1218

I read your trip last year, am looking forward to this one!


----------



## momtohms

Love all of the pics from Marceline, especially the 360 ones! That old school playground equipment is awesome, they don't make it like the used too ;-) Probably for the best...ha! What a great way to kick off your road trip, and I loved learning a little bit about where Walt is from. Also, my middle DD and I shared a little treat at Marceline's Confectionary in DTD on our DL trip and I now realize why I thought Marceline sounded familiar when we were there


----------



## MarbleBob

kaoden39 said:


> What a nice way to spend your day! I'd love to see Marceline someday. It all looks fun and entertaining.



Thanks kaoden39!  I hope you get to see Marceline some day too.  It's really great.



melk said:


> Your 360 photos are cool, it really gives such a good perspective of just what it looks like.  And what a great ice cream place you found. It totally fits with just what I would expect to find on a cross country road trip.
> 
> Great start!



Thanks melk!  I'm thinking about that ice cream sundae right now, wishing I had another one.  Mine was butterscotch syrup, pecans, and hard chocolate.  Yum!



jedijill said:


> You are off to a great start!  As a mid-Missouri native, I love the shout out.   I don't like Taco Johns either.  It is not that great.
> 
> Jill in CO



Yahoo for Missouri!  (I'm not a native, but the rest of my family is.)  Down with Taco Johns.  LOL.



justafigment27 said:


> What a wonderful start to a wonderful trip report!



Thanks justafigment27!



annegirl said:


> Great start to the trip.
> The ice cream place looks like fun.
> And this picture-
> 
> 
> 
> is fantastic. I love it!



Thanks annegirl!



wiscbugs said:


> Trip likes it is off to a great start...anxiously awaiting the San Francisco portion!!!



Thanks wiscbugs!  I look forward to sharing the San Francisco portion too.  It was a blast!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

TheMaxRebo said:


> Joining in - can't wait to hear all the details and if you kept to the plan or had any hiccups or happy accidents.  I think it probably worked out for the best that the other families had some different plans and you weren't all together 24/7 ... like you said, just hard to get that many people on the same page for that long of a period of time



Yahoo Phil!  For the most part, we didn't deviate from the plan.  Had to chop a few minor things off the agenda (like visiting the skatepark).  We did have a few happy accidents, stay tuned!




TheMaxRebo said:


> Great picture!  I feel like I am going to take far to many pictures of that statue!



Plan on it!  It's such a great location, just outside of Carthay Circle.  So cool!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Love the collage - captured a lot of the sites you saw!



Thanks!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Thanks for including that ... can totally see Pickles in these pictures of Stephanie



I agree.  She certainly gets her cuteness from Stephanie and not me 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Marceline looks so cool and I can totally see just sitting there watching the trains go by!



Yes indeed, I'm already wondering when we can go back to watch the trains again.  A bit further north (say 45 minutes), they have an enclosed train watching platform which is even a little nicer.



TheMaxRebo said:


> I love the idea of getting the post cards and envelopes stamped - and quite the sizeable stamp too!



And they make super cheap souvenirs!  And even better, they have the date that you visited baked into it too!!!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Great - now I have to read the rest of this Tripe Report ..... which I totally would read anyway.



LOL



TheMaxRebo said:


> Haha, I love this - also the one of the kids on the merry-go-round ... nice to see kids just playing like kids in a small town.



At least we didn't see anyone do this... YIKES!!








TheMaxRebo said:


> Aw, that is so cute!  Always great to see the kids showing love to each other and enjoying being together!



Yes indeed, and a rare occurrence too.  



TheMaxRebo said:


> That's really cool!  Seems like a good idea too - unless they'd want to re-create the tree via Disney fake trees like Swiss Family Robinson Tree House or something



That would be pretty funny!



TheMaxRebo said:


> That's really nice and super cool that you can come back and see that and remember that trip again.
> 
> Bummer that Taco John's didn't live up to the hype (I totally have a bunch of potty jokes in me head) but the ice cream place sounds great!
> 
> So glad you started this TR!



Thanks Phil.  Glad to have you reading along


----------



## MarbleBob

kylie71 said:


> I love your stop in Walts hometown, reminds me of trips to MO, when I was a kid to visit my Dads sister, in Cassville.  Small town USA.
> I am really looking forward to more!
> 
> --Lori



Cool!  I'm not sure that I'd want to live in Small Town USA, but I sure do enjoy visiting them 



PrincessInOz said:


> MarbleBob/Matt - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your first posts of the trip.  This is going to be an epic TR!
> 
> Your collages are wonderful.  I always enjoy looking at them and seeing how the kids have grown up.
> Looks like you had a nice mix of 3 family together time...and lots of 'me family' time.  And yes, it does keep the tensions to a minimum.
> Marceline is just delightful.  Thank you so much for making time to stop and look around.  The 360 pictures are magnificent.
> And trains......lots and lots of trains.
> Pity about the sofa bed and the Taco shop.  The icecream place definitely makes up for it!
> 
> Looking forward to the next edition.



Thanks PrincessInOz.  Stay tuned for more (and lots) of trains 



Mich1218 said:


> I read your trip last year, am looking forward to this one!



Mich1218, that's awesome.  Glad to have you reading along here too!



momtohms said:


> Love all of the pics from Marceline, especially the 360 ones! That old school playground equipment is awesome, they don't make it like the used too ;-) Probably for the best...ha! What a great way to kick off your road trip, and I loved learning a little bit about where Walt is from. Also, my middle DD and I shared a little treat at Marceline's Confectionary in DTD on our DL trip and I now realize why I thought Marceline sounded familiar when we were there



Thanks momtohms!  We stopped at the Confectionary too.  I planned to come back for a candy apple (we've had them a couple times before and they are awesome), but unfortunately we never got back it.  Next time!!!


----------



## Sherry E

I just wanted to say that I'm here as well!  I actually came to the TR forum to look for another specific TR, and I hadn't planned to click on yours but something made me click.  I was instantly drawn in and engrossed in your epic trip!  I love all of the pictures and details you have shared so far, and I can't wait for the next installments.  I may not always have time to comment, but I'm following the thread so hopefully I will get updates.


----------



## EastYorkDisneyFan

MarbleBob said:


> Drove to Cheyenne, WY - With a stop at Bailey Yard (the world’s largest train yard)


um yeah this is something I want to put on my bucket list


----------



## MarbleBob

Sherry E said:


> I just wanted to say that I'm here as well!  I actually came to the TR forum to look for another specific TR, and I hadn't planned to click on yours but something made me click.  I was instantly drawn in and engrossed in your epic trip!  I love all of the pictures and details you have shared so far, and I can't wait for the next installments.  I may not always have time to comment, but I'm following the thread so hopefully I will get updates.



Thanks Sherry E!!!  I'm happy to have you following along 



EastYorkDisneyFan said:


> um yeah this is something I want to put on my bucket list



Cool!!!  Stay tuned, because the next post covers Bailey Yard


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 2 - Saturday, June 13 -  Trains!!!!*

So the game plan for the day was to get on the road around 8:00 AM and head towards Cheyenne, WY…  stopping in North Platte, NE to see the world’s largest train yard.  Otherwise, mostly a day of driving.

We woke up bright and early and packed up the car.  Since the hotel offered a free continental breakfast, we decided to give it a try.  This was probably the worst continental breakfast I’ve ever seen in a hotel.  I tend to be pickier than the rest of the family when it comes to these, but even Pickle and Buddy couldn’t finish their “meals”.  No biggie, Stephanie packed lots of snacks for the car ride, including granola bars and bagels (and a bunch of sweet and salty treats for later too.)

After the crummy breakfast, we hopped in the car and got a move on.  I had anticipated a lot of, “Are we there yet’s” and “How much farther’s”, so I found a map online and printed a copy for each of the kids and one for the front passenger seat.  It would serve two purposes: 1.)  Everyone’s favorite license plate game.  Check off the state the first time you see the corresponding license plate.  2.) I drew out the route showing the places where we’d stop for each night.





This turned out to be a great idea, because anytime someone asked how much further, I’d just point out where we were currently on the map.  And of course, we all had fun looking out for new license plates.  Unfortunately, we never saw all of them.  We came up three states short.  I don’t remember exactly, but they were all from the north east.  Can’t believe we found Hawaii and Alaska, but not Connecticut.  LOL.

Anyway, the morning was fairly uneventful.  The most noteworthy thing was that it had been raining a lot up north and most of the creeks and streams that we passed were overflowing.  Made for some interesting sites.   Before we  knew it, we had crossed into Iowa.  This was the first time any of the kids had been in Iowa (for that matter, they had never been in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma either. Ha!)





And not too much longer, we made it into Nebraska.





Similar to dinner the night before (Taco John’s), I wanted to keep lunch fast and cheap, but also try something different.  I had heard about Runza before, but never talked to anyone who’d ever had it.  Here’s the description of what a runza sandwich is from their website:

_“THE SANDWICH WE LIKE SO MUCH, WE NAMED THE RESTAURANT AFTER IT

Ground beef seasoned with a top-secret blend of spices and mixed with cabbage and onions. All wrapped up in fresh-baked bread. It’s the taste that generations of Midwesterners have grown up loving, and it’s our signature sandwich. Get it topped however you want – because while we make it fresh, you make it your own."_​
Sounded pretty interesting, so we decided to give it a try...

Stephanie and I both had runza sandwiches, the kids had burgers and chicken nuggets.  How was it?  Somewhere between OK and pretty good.  I’d probably try it again the next time we drive through Nebraska, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.









The fries were pretty good.  I love crinkle cut fries and these reminded me of Culver’s, so that’s a plus.





The other MAJOR plus in my book, is that they had self serve icee’s/slushies… which could be interchanged with any fountain drink option for free.  Nice!

Using my best Forest Gump impersonation, “And that’s all I have to say about that…”  Time to get back in the car.

An hour or two later, we made it to North Platte.  Cool!  This pit stop was mostly for Buddy, our big train fan.





We stopped at the Golden Spike Tower, which is adjacent to Bailey Yard.   It has museum exhibits on the first floor and viewing platforms on the top two floors.  I think it was about 7 bucks per person to go inside.  And then a $1 discount per ticket for having AAA.  Not too bad, and certainly worth it for a couple train fans.

So yeah, this is the world’s largest train yard.  And pretty spectacular.  They said that 10,000 train cars are managed there every day.  Trains galore, and heaven for Buddy.  He was super stoked!!





We browsed around the museum exhibits for a little while and then headed up to the viewing platforms.  I took a lot of photos and videos inside and out, but trying to keep it relatively brief here.  Here are a couple of shots from the top.









They had a retired Union Pacific train worker up on the top floor who was there to answer your questions.  I didn’t have any problem showing my ignorance and I asked him a TON of questions about the various operations.   I really learned a lot that day.   Pretty fascinating stuff.

We probably spent 45 minutes watching the trains up from the top of the tower and then decided to come down and explore a little more and then hit the gift shop.

Buddy ended up getting a Union Pacific hat and t-shirt with his souvenir money.





Additionally, they had some amazing G gauge LGB model trains that ran up near the ceiling of the museum exhibit area.  You had to deposit 50 cents into a machine to get them to run.  Of course, we had to give it a try!!!  We watched them run for a while.  Super cool.  If I had a lot of money, I’d build a backyard garden railroad using LGB trains (similar to what they have at the German Pavillon in EPCOT.)





After that, we explored outside for a little while, grabbed a couple more photos and decided to move on...





If you are ever traveling along I-80 in Nebraska, it’s worth a stop.  Even Princess (teenage girl!!) enjoyed it… that’s saying something!

Stayed tuned for the next post as we explore North Platte a little more before we leaven, and run into our first happy accident


----------



## EastYorkDisneyFan

looks pretty cool the museum sounds a bit like one they have in Altoona Pennsylvania http://www.railroadcity.com/


----------



## MarbleBob

EastYorkDisneyFan said:


> looks pretty cool the museum sounds a bit like one they have in Altoona Pennsylvania http://www.railroadcity.com/



Thanks, that museum in PA looks awesome!  I'll be in Philly for a business meeting later this month.  I got my hopes up for a minute, but unfortunately Altoona is a bit out of reach for that trip.  Maybe sometime in the future!!!


----------



## EastYorkDisneyFan

MarbleBob said:


> Thanks, that museum in PA looks awesome!  I'll be in Philly for a business meeting later this month.  I got my hopes up for a minute, but unfortunately Altoona is a bit out of reach for that trip.  Maybe sometime in the future!!!



also with admission to it you get free access to the World famous horseshoe curve link to my pictures on Flickr of the curve, the Museum and some videos on youtube


----------



## PrincessInOz

I have a very good friend that is a train enthusiast.  I'm going to ask him if he's heard of North Platte.  What a cool stop!

Love the "Welcome to [insert state]" signs throughout the US.


----------



## jedijill

Very cool!  I need to let my Dad know...he's a huge train buff although he likes steam trains the best.

I'll be in Philly for business next week!  Holler if your dates line up!

Jill in CO


----------



## wiscbugs

My son would have loved the train yard when he was younger (he was totally into trains and especially Thomas the Train until he was about 6).  It kind of reminds me of the National Train Museum in Green Bay that we visited a few times back in the day!


----------



## momtohms

Boo for the bad breakfast.  My Dad and I did a TN to WA road trip while I was in college and stayed at a place where the free breakfast was a bowl of sketchy looking red apples and a tray that someone had dumped a package of the little white powdered hostess donuts on. Needless to say, we didn't take our chances. 

We are big fans of the license plate game! I've gotten close to seeing them all on a single trip, but I have come up a few short each time. Always lower 48 states, I always find AK (out of AK, of course!) and HI fairly easy it seems. DH and I also like the ABC car game (finding cars alphabetically by make or model).  

That train yard looks awesome. One of the best things about road trips are all the fun things you get a chance to see along the way that you likely would've never seen otherwise.


----------



## annegirl

Looks fun! We stayed in North Platte so many times when we were in Wisconsin and would travel to Utah and back visiting family and I had NO idea that was there!


----------



## jeeperwy

I have been eagerly awaiting your trip report! We had to change up some of our stops so our trip wasn't quite like yours but it was fun! 
Had to laugh on the Taco Johns! Ours is pretty good but the potato ole's are the best!! They also have them with nacho like toppings and sometimes we eat just that!! 
North Platt is a couple hours from us. It really is awesome if you like trains at all. Did you get to see the Big Boy in Cheyenne? 
Can't wait until your next installment which I'm sure will be super exciting driving across I80!!!
Kari


----------



## jeeperwy

Sorry! Auto correct didn't like North Platte!!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> I have a very good friend that is a train enthusiast.  I'm going to ask him if he's heard of North Platte.  What a cool stop!
> 
> Love the "Welcome to [insert state]" signs throughout the US.



My gut is that if he's a train enthusiast, he's probably heard of it.  If not, I hope he has a chance to check it out some day 



jedijill said:


> Very cool!  I need to let my Dad know...he's a huge train buff although he likes steam trains the best.
> 
> I'll be in Philly for business next week!  Holler if your dates line up!
> 
> Jill in CO



I won't arrive in Philly until the 29th, otherwise it might have been fun to have a mini DISMeet 



wiscbugs said:


> My son would have loved the train yard when he was younger (he was totally into trains and especially Thomas the Train until he was about 6).  It kind of reminds me of the National Train Museum in Green Bay that we visited a few times back in the day!



I didn't know about that museum in Green Bay.  My sister moved to Milwaukee last summer, might have to make a side trip to Green Bay next time we visit her.  Thanks for the heads up!



momtohms said:


> Boo for the bad breakfast.  My Dad and I did a TN to WA road trip while I was in college and stayed at a place where the free breakfast was a bowl of sketchy looking red apples and a tray that someone had dumped a package of the little white powdered hostess donuts on. Needless to say, we didn't take our chances.
> 
> We are big fans of the license plate game! I've gotten close to seeing them all on a single trip, but I have come up a few short each time. Always lower 48 states, I always find AK (out of AK, of course!) and HI fairly easy it seems. DH and I also like the ABC car game (finding cars alphabetically by make or model).
> 
> That train yard looks awesome. One of the best things about road trips are all the fun things you get a chance to see along the way that you likely would've never seen otherwise.



I think the breakfast here was a step up from sketchy apples and powdered donuts.  But maybe not by much.   The donuts were in a proper container, but they were stale.  Ha!



annegirl said:


> Looks fun! We stayed in North Platte so many times when we were in Wisconsin and would travel to Utah and back visiting family and I had NO idea that was there!



I think the Golden Spike Tower is relatively new (less than 10 years old.)  The rail yard has been there for a long time, but it might not have been as accessible (and therefore less popular.)  I forgot to mention that they call it the "Golden Spike Tower" because the tower is built in the shape of the golden spike.  Turns out that the site of the actual/real golden spike is in Utah.



jeeperwy said:


> I have been eagerly awaiting your trip report! We had to change up some of our stops so our trip wasn't quite like yours but it was fun!
> Had to laugh on the Taco Johns! Ours is pretty good but the potato ole's are the best!! They also have them with nacho like toppings and sometimes we eat just that!!
> North Platt is a couple hours from us. It really is awesome if you like trains at all. Did you get to see the Big Boy in Cheyenne?
> Can't wait until your next installment which I'm sure will be super exciting driving across I80!!!
> Kari



Cool!  I'm glad to hear that maybe we visited a sub-par Taco John's, and that maybe the food is better at other locations.  

I recalled that you mentioned the Big Boy train in my pre-trip report.  We didn't actually stop and see it, but we did drive right past it and got a glimpse of it from the car!  (I wouldn't have know to keep an eye out for it if you hadn't mentioned it.  Thanks!)


----------



## middlesista

So enjoying your trip report - great photos!  Looking forward to following along!


----------



## MarbleBob

middlesista said:


> So enjoying your trip report - great photos!  Looking forward to following along!



Thanks so much!  We're glad to have you follow along


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 2 - Saturday, June 13 - Part 2*

I had read about there being a cool park with an old time carousel in the center of North Platte.  And apparently, they had an old Union Pacific train that you could check out too.  We had been making good time on our driving, so we decided to drive over to their main park and check it out.





Our first happy accident!  #1.  It turns out that the park is really awesome.  They lots of animals, ball fields, the pool, the Union Pacific train site, and… a miniature amusement park!  #2  A local healthcare provider was having a health fair at the park, and they were sponsoring all the kiddie rides.  Everything was free!  Yahoo!!!





Princess didn’t have any interest in the rides, or getting out of the car for that matter… she was happy to snap chat and instagram away without us.









The rides were pretty lame compared to most theme park standards… and a joke compared to what we would be experiencing at Disneyland.  But that didn’t stop the kids from having fun!  (And laughing quite a bit.)






I'm a bit dizzy just watching the above image.  LOL.

We probably stayed there for 30 minutes or so, and then decided to head over to the train site.





Wait a second, this is a bit cooler than I expected!!!!  They have two large trains, and depot?!?!?  Right on!!!

Buddy loves steam trains, so this was really cool!  You could even go inside the locomotive and then walk through the train cars!









It turns out that the collection of train cars was actually an official museum maintained by Union Pacific.  Nice!

Each car had different exhibits related to Union Pacific history, mail history, women in the industry, etc.









You could even walk through the diesel locomotive too!





We spent a total of 30 or 40 minutes exploring the trains and the depot.  Buddy was happy to put his name in the guest book!





That was our happy surprise #2 for the day.  Very cool!

So, it was time to head back to the highway, but we had one more stop to make…  Fort Cody!!!

I found this place at one of the road trip planning sites.  Apparently this tourist trap has been around for decades and had a great reputation, so I couldn’t resist!!





I’m glad we stopped because it was really awesome!  It's half gift shop and half Buffalo Bill “Wild West” museum.





This is one of the best “touristy” gift shops I’ve ever seen.  LOTS of candy.  Lots of toys.  And lots of general souvenirs and gifts.  We spent a good while looking at things.





Pickle picked up some “wax soda bottle candy” but decided to pass on the pickle bandaids.





And, uh… no comment on the following photo.  (Other than.. no, she didn't buy it.)





In the back section of the shop, they had museum stuff.  All kids of artifacts from the Buffalo Bill Wild West shows, and they even had an animated diorama section that ran every few minutes.  It was full of miniatures re-enacting the shows and parades. The picture below is just a fraction of the entire display area. I wish I had grabbed better photos, but oh well, I guess you’ll have to go see it in person some day...










But wait, there’s more!!!  

If you go out the back door, they have a big western area inside the fort.  It has a bunch of covered wagons and pioneer stuff.  And what fort wouldn’t be complete with a giant Native American statue?!?!?





The kids had fun playing out there for a while, and then it really was time to get back on the road.  One last photo and we piled back into the car.





We drove a bit longer and before we knew it, we had passed into Wyoming.  Awesome!!!





For the most part, the drive across Nebraska and into Cheyenne was fairly boring… baring the occasional meandering stream… and of course the random vat of radioactive material?!?!?





Also, there are a lot of bugs in Nebraska.





We arrived in Cheyenne with a little time to spare, so we stopped at the Sierra Trading Post’s flagship store.  (They are sort of like an outlet version of REI or something like that.)  I forgot to pack flip flops on the trip, so I was stoked to pick up a nice pair of old school Teva’s for $13!

For dinner, the kids voted Chick-fil-A.  We don’t eat there too often and it sounded good to everyone, so… sure... OK. Yum!





At that point, we decided to head over to the hotel.

Thank’s to a tip from jeeperwy, we kept an eye out for Big Boy as we passed by the city park.





Not wanting to overdue it with trains for the day, we decided to just drive by...

We pulled into the Fairfield Inn and Suites just as the sun was setting.  It sure was pretty!





The room was really nice.  Definitely a step up from the Comfort Inn last night.  (Yahoo, for credit card points.)









Buddy and Pickle wanted to swim again, so I went down with them.  The water was actually quite warm and enjoyable.  Salt water pool too.  Nice!





We swam until about 10pm and headed back up to the room.  

We had hoped to catch up with the rest of our family that evening, but they underestimated how much time they needed up at Devil’s Tower and they didn’t get into the hotel until after 11pm.   No worries, we had plenty of time to catch up the next morning!!!


----------



## jedijill

What a fun day!  I've been to Ft Cody and it is a fun stop.  Love you stumbled onto the little free amusement rides.  

Jill in CO


----------



## TheMaxRebo

I love the idea of trying different "quick serve" locations during the trip.  Hopefully you found some you enjoyed more than the first two though.

The train yard looks amazing!  Was it very active with moving trains around while you were there?  There is a restaurant near us that has a similar setup with the model trains that run if you deposit money - actually had Peter's last birthday dinner there.  We usually just give the waiter $5 or something and ask him to keep it running


----------



## TheMaxRebo

That happy accident park looked great - especially the train part, but having some rides was fun too.  Fort Cody looks like something fun to check out once (I think I would have gotten the pickle band aids though)

Glad you are making good time and not having any issues really yet.


----------



## momtohms

The Happy Accident park reminds me of a place we took the girls last summer while visiting family in WA called Remlinger Farms. It has a lot of little rides totally perfect for the younger set


----------



## wiscbugs

Happy Accidents are always great!  I love the mini-amusement park and the store with all the candy...I love candy!!!


----------



## annegirl

MarbleBob said:


> Turns out that the site of the actual/real golden spike is in Utah.



I wondered if it was related to it. I have been to the real one here in Utah a few times. 
Looks like a nice fun day. That park looks like a fun stop. 
And your hotel does look really nice.


----------



## jeeperwy

Sounds like you had a great day!! If we have to stay overnight in Cheyenne we stay at that Fairfield inn too.  It's nice to have the indoor pool in the winter! 
Did your relatives enjoy Devils tower? I think it's really neat but man is it in the middle of nowhere!!! (But I guess most of Wyoming would be the middle of nowhere since we only have 500,000 people in the whole state!!)

Can't wait for the next update!  
Kari


----------



## middlesista

The kiddie rides that were at the Heath Faire at North Platte remind me of the rides that were around many, many years ago.  Actually - I would love to stumble upon some of those "tamer" rides for our grandchildren.  We just had a festival of sorts in our hometown and none of the rides were appropriate for them to go on by themselves and I am not a fan of the "crazy bus" or the "crazy boat" for that matter!!

Your children are going to have some wonderful memories!!  I am so enjoying your photos - thanks so much for taking the time to share.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Cody and Buffalo Bill is a fun stop.  Looks like you got the most out of your visit there.


----------



## MarbleBob

jedijill said:


> What a fun day!  I've been to Ft Cody and it is a fun stop.  Love you stumbled onto the little free amusement rides.
> 
> Jill in CO



Yes, it sure was a fun day indeed!



TheMaxRebo said:


> I love the idea of trying different "quick serve" locations during the trip.  Hopefully you found some you enjoyed more than the first two though.
> 
> The train yard looks amazing!  Was it very active with moving trains around while you were there?  There is a restaurant near us that has a similar setup with the model trains that run if you deposit money - actually had Peter's last birthday dinner there.  We usually just give the waiter $5 or something and ask him to keep it running



We certainly did find some good "quick service" locations on the trip, but they were mostly in California.

I love the idea of asking the waiter to keep the trains running.  That's funny!



TheMaxRebo said:


> That happy accident park looked great - especially the train part, but having some rides was fun too.  Fort Cody looks like something fun to check out once (I think I would have gotten the pickle band aids though)
> 
> Glad you are making good time and not having any issues really yet.



What, and pass on the floating pooh?!?!  LOL.



momtohms said:


> The Happy Accident park reminds me of a place we took the girls last summer while visiting family in WA called Remlinger Farms. It has a lot of little rides totally perfect for the younger set



Yes, this park was certainly geared for the smaller crowd.  Even Pickle was a bit on the big kid side for many of the rides.  But still lots of fun.  A great small town vibe!



wiscbugs said:


> Happy Accidents are always great!  I love the mini-amusement park and the store with all the candy...I love candy!!!



I love candy too!  Stay tuned for our visit to Candy Heaven in Sacramento.  Lots and lots of candy!!!



annegirl said:


> I wondered if it was related to it. I have been to the real one here in Utah a few times.
> Looks like a nice fun day. That park looks like a fun stop.
> And your hotel does look really nice.



I thought it would have been cool to visit the real one in Utah, but it was just a little too far out of the way.  Maybe next time!



jeeperwy said:


> Sounds like you had a great day!! If we have to stay overnight in Cheyenne we stay at that Fairfield inn too.  It's nice to have the indoor pool in the winter!
> Did your relatives enjoy Devils tower? I think it's really neat but man is it in the middle of nowhere!!! (But I guess most of Wyoming would be the middle of nowhere since we only have 500,000 people in the whole state!!)
> 
> Can't wait for the next update!
> Kari



Yes, the did enjoy Devil's Tower.  Sounds like they had an amazing day exploring that part of the state!



middlesista said:


> The kiddie rides that were at the Heath Faire at North Platte remind me of the rides that were around many, many years ago.  Actually - I would love to stumble upon some of those "tamer" rides for our grandchildren.  We just had a festival of sorts in our hometown and none of the rides were appropriate for them to go on by themselves and I am not a fan of the "crazy bus" or the "crazy boat" for that matter!!
> 
> Your children are going to have some wonderful memories!!  I am so enjoying your photos - thanks so much for taking the time to share.



Wonderful memories indeed!  Thanks for following along 



PrincessInOz said:


> Cody and Buffalo Bill is a fun stop.  Looks like you got the most out of your visit there.



Certainly!!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 3 - Sunday, June 14 - A family Reunion*

The plan for today was to meet up with the rest of the family in the hotel lobby at 8am… and then drive to Elko, NV with a couple pit short stops and also a couple slightly longer stops at the Great Salt Lake and Bonneville Salt Flats.

We packed up our stuff and went down to the lobby for the free continental breakfast.  Sure, enough, the rest of the family was down there too.  The kids were excited to see their cousins, Luke and Leia.









As I said about the previous breakfast, I’m not a big fan of these things.  However, this one was MUCH better than the one the day before.  We ate and then spent some time on the patio out front, while the other “team” loaded their car.

And of course, we saw more trains!!  (We assume some of them were on their way to Bailey Yard in North Platte.)





Pickle was goofing off for the camera, so of course, I had to take a turn...





Not too far into the morning drive, we saw our first “real” mountains of the trip.  Snow off in the distance!





And of course, we had to hop off the highway to see Buford, WY.  The nation’s smallest town, with a whopping population of one person!!!  Haha!





Back in the car and a bit longer, we stopped to see the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument.  Seemed sort of interesting, so why not?

I asked Princess to hop up on the pedestal to get an interesting angle for a photo….





And of course, Pickle and Leia had to join in too!





It turns out that the Lincoln monument was at one of the coolest rest stops ever (just outside of Laramie, WY.)  They offered a collectible sticker to everyone.   These are really cool! (And made us want to stop at other rest stops to get more!)









The lady behind the counter was super friendly.  It was fun chatting with her for a few minutes.  They also have a small museum on site, with WY history and stuff.  Really cool!

















We probably spent 30 minutes in the rest stop and then we were on the road again!





OK.  Highway 80 through WY is actually pretty darn cool.   Interesting sites and great scenery!

I can’t remember the name of the town where we stopped for lunch, but it was a couple hours east of Salt Lake City.  We had Wendy’s, which is Grandpa’s favorite chain restaurant.  I’d say about half of the party was excited for it, the rest of us where like, “whatever, sometimes you just eat because you die if you don’t.”  LOL.

Another couple hours, we made it to Salt Lake City.  I had never seen this area before, it was pretty spectacular coming out of the mountains and towards the lake.  We decided for a pit stop at the Great Salt Lake Marina.  Turned out to be a great place to get out, stretch the legs, explore a bit, and see the lake!





It was pretty darn cool!  We checked out this “look out point” for a few minutes, and then realized that you could actually go down to the water.





There were people swimming out there, but it didn’t seem to appealing to me.  It smelled like death and there were nasty little flies everywhere.   Regardless, it was pretty darn cool to be standing on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.  I took tons of photos, but choosing to keep it pretty straight forward here.  Here’s a shot of Nanny and Grandpa!





We probably spent about an hour total here, and then got on the road yet again.

Another hour or so later, we made it to the salt flats!  I had read that there is a rest area about 10 miles east of the Utah/Nevada border, so we pulled off there.

Wow, this is actually a great place to stop.  They had easy access to the salt flats, water to since your feet off afterwards, and restrooms.  Perfect!









Before I had a second look, the kids were all out on the salt.





Too cool!  This was truly bizarre.  It felt like I was on a frozen lake with a layer of snow on top.  I kept on expecting the surface to crack and give way, but it was totally solid.

I looked up again, and they were way out there!





Again, I probably took over a hundred photos (or more), but I’m only sharing a few.  Here’s one of Stephanie and her mom.





The top layer of salt was actually sort of moist, with a consistency of cake frosting.  It stuck all over our feet. Weird!!!





And looking more closely, the salt had all sorts of cool crystals on the surface...





We probably spent about 30 minutes or so on the salt (it was really hot and sunny) and then decided to head towards Wendover, NV for dinner.  (Probably 20 minutes west.)

OK.  We have to stop for photos at the Wendover Will statue!!!!!





Stephanie took a photo of me, and realized that it looked like he was patting my head, so we had to ham it up a bit...





We decided to stop for Burger King for dinner, as it was just down the road from Will.  No pictures or anything, as it wasn’t anything special.  The one interesting thing about it was… They had hot dogs.  I figured, this must be a special regional thing, because I never heard of BK having hot dogs before.  I did’t really want one, but I liked the idea of trying something new so…  I ordered the two dog meal.  Bad choice, they were disgusting.  I couldn’t even finish them. LOL.  Oh well, you can't win them all...

It was another two hours or so to Elko, so we hopped back in the car again.  The evening drive was gorgeous.  Beautiful sunset!









And a little while later, we made it to our hotel.  Another Fairfield Inn.  (Yahoo again for Marriott rewards points!)

Another really nice hotel, similar to the one the previous night.













We headed down to the pool so that all the kids could swim together and burn off some energy.  Around 10pm, we headed back to our rooms.

Interestingly, these rooms were supposed to accommodate 5 people by default.  I guess we should have asked for a cot or something, but I thought they’d have a sofa bed.  No worries, we turned the chairs together and it made a nice little bed for Pickle.  Good night moon!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

I am loving this TR for learning which places to stop at and what to maybe skip (i.e., the hot dogs at Burger King .... never saw that before.  Reminds me of how the NY metro area is the only place McDonalds doesn't put mustard on their hamburgers)

I love the stickers from the rest area and that they have the map for where to get more ... definitely could see the kids being into that and wanting to collect them all



MarbleBob said:


> There were people swimming out there, but it didn’t seem to appealing to me. It smelled like death and there were nasty little flies everywhere.


 ... oh, so how it used to be to swim in the Hudson River   .... I guess maybe they get used to it, but definitely would not motivate me to go swimming

The salt flats look really cool.  Is it just over flat ground or is it on top of water?  Just wondering how it is so flat like that.  Interesting that the top is moist - goo thing you found a spot that had water to wash your shoes off after playing on the salt


----------



## annegirl

Love this update! You're in my state!  Just make sure you NEVER drive that stretch of road in Wyoming during the winter months. It gets crazy. The snow and wind are so bad and we have had quite a few horrible scary experiences there. The last time we drove it when we were moving from Wisconsin back here to Utah I thought for sure we were going to die. Right in that canyon where the Lincoln rest stop is we couldn't see past the end of the hood of our car. And a few semi trucks flew past us only to have us see them upside down off the road a few miles later when visibility was better. 
It was the scariest couple of hours of my life. I have never seen more accidents, cars off of the road, etc as I did on that day. Just google Wyoming freeway winter crashes and you will see a TON of them. So yeah, I swore I would never drive it in from October to April ever again no matter what. 
It's fun to see the Great Salt Lake and Salt Flats through others eyes. They really are cool places. I haven't even been to either place for years and my girls have never been to the Salt Flats! So I think I need to take a drive out there sometime. 
Too bad you didn't have time to explore Salt Lake City and the mountains. You'll have to come back sometime. It's a great city and the mountains are amazing. 
Excited to see what you do next!


----------



## wiscbugs

We went to a wedding in Salt Lake about 15 years ago and we had to drive out to a little island in the lake.  There were so many bugs everywhere...our car was encrusted in bugs after driving out to the island...it was disgusting.  Besides that, Salt Lake City seemed nice.


----------



## kaoden39

I really am enjoying your trip report. I think that next summer we're going on a road trip!


----------



## jedijill

I'm reliving a lot of memories of trips as a kid to the Salt Lake.  I remember a resort that got flooded and the buildings were still in the middle of the water.

Jill in CO


----------



## MarbleBob

TheMaxRebo said:


> I am loving this TR for learning which places to stop at and what to maybe skip (i.e., the hot dogs at Burger King .... never saw that before.  Reminds me of how the NY metro area is the only place McDonalds doesn't put mustard on their hamburgers)
> 
> I love the stickers from the rest area and that they have the map for where to get more ... definitely could see the kids being into that and wanting to collect them all
> 
> ... oh, so how it used to be to swim in the Hudson River   .... I guess maybe they get used to it, but definitely would not motivate me to go swimming
> 
> The salt flats look really cool.  Is it just over flat ground or is it on top of water?  Just wondering how it is so flat like that.  Interesting that the top is moist - goo thing you found a spot that had water to wash your shoes off after playing on the salt



It's really cool to explore the regional differences between food and food chains.  I had no idea that they don't put mustard on hamburgers at McDonalds in NY.

I believe the salt flats are on solid ground, and that the reason they are flat is because all the salty water evaporated away (over and over again over time.)  They felt totally solid, which was really strange.  It really felt like we were on another planet.  Too cool!



annegirl said:


> Love this update! You're in my state!  Just make sure you NEVER drive that stretch of road in Wyoming during the winter months. It gets crazy. The snow and wind are so bad and we have had quite a few horrible scary experiences there. The last time we drove it when we were moving from Wisconsin back here to Utah I thought for sure we were going to die. Right in that canyon where the Lincoln rest stop is we couldn't see past the end of the hood of our car. And a few semi trucks flew past us only to have us see them upside down off the road a few miles later when visibility was better.
> It was the scariest couple of hours of my life. I have never seen more accidents, cars off of the road, etc as I did on that day. Just google Wyoming freeway winter crashes and you will see a TON of them. So yeah, I swore I would never drive it in from October to April ever again no matter what.
> It's fun to see the Great Salt Lake and Salt Flats through others eyes. They really are cool places. I haven't even been to either place for years and my girls have never been to the Salt Flats! So I think I need to take a drive out there sometime.
> Too bad you didn't have time to explore Salt Lake City and the mountains. You'll have to come back sometime. It's a great city and the mountains are amazing.
> Excited to see what you do next!



Wow! Your journey through there in the winter sounds terrifying.  Glad you were OK!  We did notice all the screens/breaks/fences/(whatever they are called) out in the fields along side the highway.  We assumed they were for snow, but now we really know why!

I would love to come back to Utah some day.  The stretch of road just to the east of Salt Lake City was beyond beautiful.  Truly spectacular!  It's a blessing and a curse to live in a country with so many amazing places.  You love it when you can see them, but you are bummed out when you can't experience everything in depth!



wiscbugs said:


> We went to a wedding in Salt Lake about 15 years ago and we had to drive out to a little island in the lake.  There were so many bugs everywhere...our car was encrusted in bugs after driving out to the island...it was disgusting.  Besides that, Salt Lake City seemed nice.



We had about the same experience.  Bugs and lake were sort of gross, but the overall area was lovely.



kaoden39 said:


> I really am enjoying your trip report. I think that next summer we're going on a road trip!



Road trips for the win!!!  We already have plans for Hawaii next summer (to celebrate Nanny and Grandpa's 50th anniversary), otherwise, I'd be pushing for another road trip for our family too!



jedijill said:


> I'm reliving a lot of memories of trips as a kid to the Salt Lake.  I remember a resort that got flooded and the buildings were still in the middle of the water.
> 
> Jill in CO



Sounds interesting.  I'm glad there were no floods on our trip!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 4 - Monday, June 15 - California!!!*

All right, one more day of driving and we’ll be in California!  Just like the other days, we targeted a departure of 8:00 AM.  So we got up early and started packing our stuff.  As usual, I started loading the car while the others started breakfast.

I went out to load the car and it was an absolutely gorgeous morning.  Perfect temperature, slightly chilly but not cold.  And the air seemed like it had a hint of sage to it...fresh mountain air.  And what a view...  I’m in heaven!





I took my time loading to soak it in a little bit.  Here’s a view of the hotel from the outside...





I finished loading the car to find my family finishing up breakfast...





And then we played the waiting game while Dave and Grandpa loaded up their car.  If I had one complaint about traveling with them, it’s that they usually took a lot longer to get moving than we did, which meant a lot of waiting around.  No big deal, the kids had fun playing and it gave us a little bit longer to enjoy the cool mountain morning.





And a bit later, we were on the road.  Yahoo!!!!





Normally, I’d say that the scenery between Elko and Reno was beautiful, but it was relatively boring when compared to what we saw in Wyoming and Utah the day before.  So it was a pretty uneventful 3 or 4 hours until we arrived in Reno.

Our next destination?!?!





The first In-N-Out that you’ll find heading west on I-80.   And it seems like everyone else and their in-laws (too) were stopping here for that very same reason.  The line was _In-N-Out-the-Door..._





My immediate family has had it before (and we loved it), but the rest of the group had not.  Grandpa is a burgers and fries kind of guy, so I had a strong hunch that he’d like it.  (And he did… they ate at the chain two or three more times during the following week.)

If you have no idea what I’m talking about here, I’d say In-In-Out is about the best fast food burger chain there is.  Period.  It’s cheap, simple, fast, and very tasty.  The fries are all cut fresh and fried right before your eyes.  And the burgers are made to order.  So good.  I’m lucky the closest one is over a day’s drive, or else, I’d be obese right now.

If you are still interested, read this blog post from my favorite food blogger (Kenji Lopez at Serious Eats) about their secret menu.  It has a great overview of the chain with lots of photos.

So yeah, it was packed.  We had to park down the block.  But once we were inside, the line moved very quickly.  They were super efficient.  But still… they were so packed, that we had to eat outside.  No problem, except for it was really hot out.  Oh well, ain’t nobody gonna rain on our parade!





We pretty much all had traditional burgers and fries.  We saved the secret menu (including going Animal Style) for later.





Fast food nirvana right here!

As my cousin, who was raised in LA, would say, “In-N-Out… it's what it’s about!”

I think the girls would agree:





OK, enough of me gushing about lunch.  Time to get back on the road.  Next stop is Sacramento!  We headed into the mountains, and then we were back to the breathtaking views again.  Driving I-80 is just too awesome!





Before we knew it, we were in California.  And a couple miles later, we came upon what looked like a toll booth.





Except for instead of collecting money, they were collecting your produce.  LOL.

In hindsight, I should have known about this.  I work for the country’s oldest fruit tree company (Stark Bro’s) and there are all sorts of rules about what we can and can not ship to California.  So we pulled up and the guy asked us if we had any produce… we told him that we had two apples.  He asked to see them, and then he kept them (since they didn’t have labels with their state of origin on them.)  He said if they had labels saying that they came from Washington, he would of let us keep them.  He made a big deal out of it, but I was like… “Two Apples?!?!” who cares - you can have them.  He took down our license plate number and our zip code too.  I half thought I was going to get a ticket or something waiting in my mailbox when I got home.  LOL.  That was really weird.

An hour or two further, we made it to Old Town Sacramento.  We stopped here for one reason, and one reason only….

Candy Heaven!!!





Pretty much the best candy store EVER. (Too bad it was a bit pricey.)





These photos don’t even begin to do it justice.  The photo above only covers about 1/4 of the store.  They had pretty much every kind of candy imaginable.









We all stocked up on our favorites.  My biggest score was half a pound of Tart’n Tiny’s.  These little sugar candies were some of my favorites as a kid.  In the 90’s they started putting a hard sugar coating on them (like Spree’s or something) and they were never the same.  And then about 15 years ago, they were discontinued.  By then, I had quit eating them and had no idea that they were gone... I had just forgot about them.  Turns out that they were re-introduced this past year and they are indeed VERY rare.  And expensive on the internet.  As crazy as it sounds, I wish I had picked up a couple of pounds.  No joke!





After we all checked out with our bags of candy, we explored Old Town Sacramento for a little while and enjoyed some of the mom-n-pop shops.






It reminded me of a combination of Laclede’s Landing and Main Street St. Charles in the St. Louis area.  Very cool.

At that point, we decided to part ways with Stephanie’s family for the rest of the day.  We would be heading to my Aunt and Uncle’s (my mom’s side of the family) in Hayward and we wanted to visit with them for the evening.  And the others wanted to get checked into their hotel and make it to downtown San Francisco for dinner.

If you’ve read my other trip reports (or the pre-trip report), you might remember that I’m into skateboarding.  And my skateboarding shoe of choice is the classic... Vans.   We don’t have dedicated Vans stores in Missouri, and even more rare for us are Vans outlet store.  So we stopped at the outlet in Vacaville.





Buddy and I both ended up getting a pair of shoes, and I got a couple shirts.  I hadn’t had any of the Star Wars Vans yet, so I couldn’t resist a good deal on the Hoth themed ones.  (And Buddy got a pair of checker board slip ons.)





I showed restraint, because I had big plans for the Vans/Disney collaboration shoes when we hit our first regular Vans retail store!!!  In the meantime, I leave you with this:






Oh yeah, I’m totally getting some of those!!!


What next?  Well, it’s getting close to dinner time.  How about we eat?  Stephanie Yelped and there was a Boudin Bakery near by.





So… we’ve heard of Boudin Bakery, because… well, you know… They have a bakery in the Wharf area of California Adventure.  Good sourdough bread?  I’m in!!  We had no idea what the actual restaurant would be like, but it had excellent reviews, so let’s do it!!!

Walking into the store, they had cool bread sculptures (not too far off from they Mickey head ones in California Adventure.)






So what did we order?

Stephanie had an Asian salad with clam chowder in a sourdough bowl.





I had a bowl of clam chowder and a half sandwich of turkey, avocado, and bacon.  Princess had the whole version of the same sandwich.





Buddy had a turkey sandwich...





And Princess had a pizza!





So how was it?

Amazing!!!  One of the best “counter service” meals of the entire trip.  Everything was fresh and tasty.  And you know... I grew up eating at Panera... When it was a local chain, unique to St. Louis.  When it was still called “St. Louis Bread Co.” everywhere.  Being from the area, I take a bit of pride in Panera and I eat it somewhat frequently.  So yeah, I think Panera is pretty good.  But…  Boudin blows it out of the water.  In a major way. It was *that* good!  (Princess kept bring up that sandwich the rest of the trip.  And that’s saying a lot!)

All right, Buddy was a bit jealous of Pickle’s cookie.  I said, "do you want a cookie, or a doughnut from next door?"  Without a hesitation, he hollered "a donut."





Buddy looks disturbed in the previous photo, but I can assure you, he was stoked.  The sun was just in his eyes.  The only Krispy Kreme in our area closed about 5 years ago and they are a rare treat these days.

So yeah, a couple donuts and we were on our way to Uncle Tracy and Aunt Minh’s!  We got to their house around 6:30 PM or so.  We unloaded our car, got situated, and spent the evening catching up.  We hadn’t seen them since they visited St. Louis last summer.  Good times.  They are the best!

(Oh and a funny note…  Pickle kept calling them Uncle Minh and Aunt Tracy.  Seems logical to an 8 year old.  Because Tracy is commonly a girls name, and Minh is pronounced like “Men” - so that should be a boy name, right?  I’m glad that they are good sports, because it never seemed to bother them and and they seemed to think her logic made sense.  )


----------



## kaoden39

I'm sitting here reading and I somehow missed where you said you were in Vacaville. I'm looking at all your pictures and I think, "Wow, that sure looks like the Boudins and Krispy Kreme in Vacaville." Well, duh!  I'm real familiar with the area. I live in Fairfield. In N Out is the best fast food. Yummy.


----------



## MarbleBob

That's funny!  I really enjoyed Vacaville, especially the area surrounding that Boudin's.  Lot's of cool shops and restaurants.  We almost skipped Boudin's as we had wanted to try Fenton's Creamery in Fairfield.  Because of the UP! movie.  But, after having so many burgers and fries types of food on the trip so far, we decided that something a bit lighter would be preferable.  Oh well, Fairfield and Fenton's next time!!!


----------



## kaoden39

You're going to kick yourself. Fenton's is in the Nut Tree shopping center right across the street from Boudins and Krispy Kreme. If Fairfield we have Jelly Belly, Anheiser Busch and Sepay Olive Oil. As well as Travis Air Force Base with an amazing museum.


----------



## kylie71

OK-  You went to the In & Out in Sparks, NV!!!!!!!!!  I live 1 mile from it!   That's MY In & Out!  WoW! Small World.
I am wondering why you did not stop at the Donner Memorial, In Truckee, Ca?   Or have more pictures of the Sierra's?    Did you see Donner Lake?  Its a Beautiful part of the country, with so much history!

Enjoying the report.

--Lori


----------



## kaoden39

Lori, you're right about the Donner Memorial and the lake. Both are gems.


----------



## MarbleBob

kaoden39 said:


> You're going to kick yourself. Fenton's is in the Nut Tree shopping center right across the street from Boudins and Krispy Kreme. If Fairfield we have Jelly Belly, Anheiser Busch and Sepay Olive Oil. As well as Travis Air Force Base with an amazing museum.



Doh!  It turns out that I was thinking about the original Fenton's in Oakland.  Good thing we didn't go to Fairfield looking for it.  LOL!



kylie71 said:


> OK-  You went to the In & Out in Sparks, NV!!!!!!!!!  I live 1 mile from it!   That's MY In & Out!  WoW! Small World.
> I am wondering why you did not stop at the Donner Memorial, In Truckee, Ca?   Or have more pictures of the Sierra's?    Did you see Donner Lake?  Its a Beautiful part of the country, with so much history!
> 
> Enjoying the report.
> 
> --Lori



I learned about the Donner party back in school, but I didn't really pay any attention to it driving through.  I guess we should have stopped!  (We saw the Woodward Tahoe camp off the highway too.  Being a skateboarding family, we really wanted to hop off the highway and see it too!)

Yeah, I have a lot of photos of the Sierra's, but we mostly just cruised through.  Knowing we wanted to stop at Candy Heaven and Vans, we didn't really plan on any other stops.  In hindsight, I would have loved to have spent more time through that stretch of the road.  It sure was pretty!  I keep on thinking, "Next time", but of course it's like we need to make a "next time" visit to a bunch of individual locations and spend a few days at each place!!!!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Loving this couch-side roadtrip.  
The salt lakes are amazing!
Old Town Sacramento....and that candy store.....what a fantastic candy store.

Vacaville?  I only remember the Premium outlets.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

We found that as well in the past when traveling with other people/families that everyone gets ready at different speeds and it results in some extra waiting.  Once you just kinda accept that as fact, things are easier to deal with though



MarbleBob said:


> The line was _In-N-Out-the-Door..._








Never eaten at In-and-Out yet - will have to rectify that at some point.  have a lot of Shake Shack though so that will be the point of comparison for me

wow, didn't realize you were also a fruit smuggler   That is pretty extreme to have the booths like that.  There is a sign near us when we go into Connecticut that says "no out of state firewood permitted" - but all they have is the sign, no checking or anything.

ugh, I think Candy Heaven and Hershey PA are going to have to wrestle in a pool full of chocolate or something over the slogan "Sweetest Place on Earth"





The Disney vans are awesome.  I so don't need them, yet I feel I need them at the same time.  Those Hoth ones are really great though too.  Decisions, decisions

Ok, now I want some Boudin Bakery.  I too am a big fan of Panera (my sister is the catering director for Panera for Long Island so we get it for parties quite often) ... so knowing it was that much better has my mouth watering.

Ah Krispy Kreme - especially when the sign is lit up and they are making them fresh and you get one right off the conveyor belt and it is still warm in the middle ... 

ok, is is lunch time yet?


----------



## annegirl

MarbleBob said:


> We did notice all the screens/breaks/fences/(whatever they are called) out in the fields along side the highway. We assumed they were for snow, but now we really know why!


To my understanding those fence things are to try to keep the snow off the roads. It gets so crazy windy through those areas that even on days when it is not snowing, the snow blows across the road so bad it can make blizzard like conditions. So those keep it off to an extent... as much as they can. 

That candy shop looks like a kid's wildest dream! I totally forgot about tart and tiny's until you showed the picture. I loved those when I was a kid. 
The vans! Those look awesome. I love Vans but I haven't had a pair in forever. So cute!
Boudin looks SO good. This looks like such a fun road trip so far.


----------



## wiscbugs

In N Out is so good....I can't wait until we are out there next month so we can eat there!!!

The candy shop is great....I loved Tart N Tiny's when i was young too!!!!

We will definitely have to check out Boudin Bakery when we are at the wharf...I love brocolli cheddar soup bread bowls...yum!!!


----------



## kaoden39

wiscbugs said:


> In N Out is so good....I can't wait until we are out there next month so we can eat there!!!
> 
> The candy shop is great....I loved Tart N Tiny's when i was young too!!!!
> 
> We will definitely have to check out Boudin Bakery when we are at the wharf...I love brocolli cheddar soup bread bowls...yum!!!



The chili in the bread bowls is really good too!


----------



## jeeperwy

The wind is what keeps Wyoming from being any more populated!! The snow fences do an ok job but when it's blowing 40+mph it doesn't matter!!! We actually have a Starbucks in my town that they built from the old snow fences! now we're trying to make snow fences with trees (I'm sure you saw little rows of trees along the road).  The only problem is the trees are about 6 inches tall and my kids will be old before they grow into anything!!!
I'm glad you came through when you did because we had a lot of rain this spring so everything was green. Usually by this time it's just brown! I think you take things for granted when you see them all the time so next time I drive I80 I'm going to look at it through your eyes!!
Really enjoying the trip report!
Kari
(I think the Wendy's you ate at would be in Rock Springs based on how far out of Salt Lake you said you were. My mom and dad lived there in the late 60's when the streets weren't paved!)


----------



## sasywtch

The candy store, I work right near there.  My daughter works in the building across the river by the pyramid building.  Surprised you didn't do the train museum


----------



## melk

Just catching up...the salt flats look cool! I've never even heard of that area before. Definitely something your kids will always remember visiting.

And that candy store looks awesome, a kid's (and big kid's) paradise!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> Loving this couch-side roadtrip.
> The salt lakes are amazing!
> Old Town Sacramento....and that candy store.....what a fantastic candy store.
> 
> Vacaville?  I only remember the Premium outlets.



Thanks!  The area that we ate at was on the other side of the highway from the outlets.  It looked fairly new, maybe no more than a few years old.



TheMaxRebo said:


> We found that as well in the past when traveling with other people/families that everyone gets ready at different speeds and it results in some extra waiting.  Once you just kinda accept that as fact, things are easier to deal with though
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Never eaten at In-and-Out yet - will have to rectify that at some point.  have a lot of Shake Shack though so that will be the point of comparison for me
> 
> wow, didn't realize you were also a fruit smuggler   That is pretty extreme to have the booths like that.  There is a sign near us when we go into Connecticut that says "no out of state firewood permitted" - but all they have is the sign, no checking or anything.
> 
> ugh, I think Candy Heaven and Hershey PA are going to have to wrestle in a pool full of chocolate or something over the slogan "Sweetest Place on Earth"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Disney vans are awesome.  I so don't need them, yet I feel I need them at the same time.  Those Hoth ones are really great though too.  Decisions, decisions
> 
> Ok, now I want some Boudin Bakery.  I too am a big fan of Panera (my sister is the catering director for Panera for Long Island so we get it for parties quite often) ... so knowing it was that much better has my mouth watering.
> 
> Ah Krispy Kreme - especially when the sign is lit up and they are making them fresh and you get one right off the conveyor belt and it is still warm in the middle ...
> 
> ok, is is lunch time yet?



You should plan on eating at an In-N-Out at least once our your upcoming trip!

The food smuggling was weird.  They didn't look hard.  I guess if I wanted to peddle some Missouri apples on the black market, I could have just told the guy that we didn't have any produce.  

I ended up 3 pair of Disney Vans and the Star Wars ones too.  I gave up on deciding, and just went a little overboard.

Mmm... warm Krispy Kremes.  I really want one of those now! 



annegirl said:


> To my understanding those fence things are to try to keep the snow off the roads. It gets so crazy windy through those areas that even on days when it is not snowing, the snow blows across the road so bad it can make blizzard like conditions. So those keep it off to an extent... as much as they can.
> 
> That candy shop looks like a kid's wildest dream! I totally forgot about tart and tiny's until you showed the picture. I loved those when I was a kid.
> The vans! Those look awesome. I love Vans but I haven't had a pair in forever. So cute!
> Boudin looks SO good. This looks like such a fun road trip so far.



Tart'n Tiny's for the win!!!  I still have a small handful left and I'm rationing them out 



wiscbugs said:


> In N Out is so good....I can't wait until we are out there next month so we can eat there!!!
> 
> The candy shop is great....I loved Tart N Tiny's when i was young too!!!!
> 
> We will definitely have to check out Boudin Bakery when we are at the wharf...I love brocolli cheddar soup bread bowls...yum!!!



Boudin at the wharf!  I hope you like it and would be interested in what you think!



kaoden39 said:


> The chili in the bread bowls is really good too!



Thanks for the tip.  Next time!!!  



jeeperwy said:


> The wind is what keeps Wyoming from being any more populated!! The snow fences do an ok job but when it's blowing 40+mph it doesn't matter!!! We actually have a Starbucks in my town that they built from the old snow fences! now we're trying to make snow fences with trees (I'm sure you saw little rows of trees along the road).  The only problem is the trees are about 6 inches tall and my kids will be old before they grow into anything!!!
> I'm glad you came through when you did because we had a lot of rain this spring so everything was green. Usually by this time it's just brown! I think you take things for granted when you see them all the time so next time I drive I80 I'm going to look at it through your eyes!!
> Really enjoying the trip report!
> Kari
> (I think the Wendy's you ate at would be in Rock Springs based on how far out of Salt Lake you said you were. My mom and dad lived there in the late 60's when the streets weren't paved!)



I googled the Wendy's and that's indeed the one.  You nailed it!!!  Yeah, I didn't have high hopes for Wyoming scenery, but it was really pretty.  Glad for the rain.  Probably relative to other areas in WY, not the prettiest, but a welcome change from the landscape in Nebraska.  (I spent 6 weeks in the Wind River Range, near Lander, after college and also got to see a bit of Wyoming.  Such an amazing state!!! I'm jealous of you  )



sasywtch said:


> The candy store, I work right near there.  My daughter works in the building across the river by the pyramid building.  Surprised you didn't do the train museum



Nice!  It would be fun to work in such a cool area.  We decided to skip the train museum (although Buddy was disappointed) to spare the girls, who aren't nearly as interested in trains.  Another one for next time.  I think we could do this same drive several times over and still have plenty of different places to stop on each iteration.   



melk said:


> Just catching up...the salt flats look cool! I've never even heard of that area before. Definitely something your kids will always remember visiting.
> 
> And that candy store looks awesome, a kid's (and big kid's) paradise!



I hadn't known much about the salt flats either, other than the occasional references to land speed records being made out there.  But I didn't really know what they were.  Glad I did the research, because they were an amazing!!!  And yes, that candy store was definitely worth the slight detour!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 5 - Tuesday, June 16 - Japantown*

It’s been a busy week since the last update, but I’m back and ready to share the next chapter in our California Adventure 

We planned to start our day in Japantown with Tracy and Minh.  Unfortunately, their hot water heater went out (immediately after we arrived.) Tracy wanted to stay back and either try and fix it himself or have a repairman come out.  As bummed as we were about going without them, the desire to avoid additional cold showers over the next few days quickly put things in perspective 

So yeah, Japantown is the largest enclave of Japanese culture in the United States.  Tracy and Minh took me there once before, while I was in town for a business trip.  The rest of my family had not been there, but I knew they would love it.  It’s within a couple of miles of downtown SF, so we planned to start the day there and then explore more of the city in the afternoon.

Since most of the shops wouldn’t open until after 10:00 AM, we took our time getting up and heading out.  We had a quick breakfast and then wished Tracy good luck on his repairs.  (Minh had left for work fairly early.)

We headed north and crossed the bay bridge.  Boy traffic was nuts!!!  It took forever to get through the toll booth and then navigating traffic downtown was a challenge.  But no issues, we arrived without incident.

The shops still had about 20 minutes before they opened, so we walked around and explored the surrounding areas a bit.





They had some self-guided walking tours, and a lot of informational plaques.  Some really interesting stuff scattered around the blocks.













Once it got to be around 10:00 AM, we headed into the shopping center.

Princess was stoked and ready to shop!!!





Heading inside...





Lots of cool gardens and sculptures all over the place.





We started out in one of the smaller “dollar” stores walking up and down the aisles looking at all kinds of interesting stuff.  We then headed to the anchor store for that part of the mall, Daiso, which is a giant dollar style store.  Most everything is $1.50.  The kids bought all kinds of candy and toys, and I got some cool kitchen supplies.  We probably spent over 45 minutes browsing in there.  Good stuff!

We window shopped for a little bit longer, hitting a few different stores.  The kids especially liked the DVD/Anime store.  They had all kids of plush animals, posters, action figures, and who knows what.  They excited to see the giant Totoro doll!!





By then it was getting close to lunch time and we were all getting hungry.  We decided to stop at one of the restaurants that were scattered throughout the mall.





The kids thought Mifune looked interesting, so we decided to give it a try.

It was more of a traditional Japanese restaurant than a sushi place, but that was fine.  We eat a fair amount of sushi at home, so it was fun to go for something more traditional.





It was fairly dim inside and my photos didn’t come out too well, so pardon the blurry photos.

They had an interesting lunch menu and we all decided to try different variations of their specials.

Pickle went with the Niku (beef) udon noodles and rice bowl with Ikaru (salmon caviar.)





I was skeptical that she’d actually like the caviar, but Pickle's a very adventurous eater.  She probably expected the "little balls" to be sweet.  She didn’t find it gross, but she didn’t really eat much of it.  She loved the noodles, beef, and broth though!!!

Princess went with with green tea soba noodles, unagi (eel) over rice, and miso soup.  She likes unagi and was happy with her choice.  But she LOVES green tea flavored things, and was eager to try the noodles.  Score!!  They were tasty.  She shared a few bites and we all agreed that she made a good choice.





Buddy, Stephanie, and I also had the beef udon noodles, but we chose different sides.

Steph went with a California roll.  (Despite being in Japantown, we are in California, aren’t we?)





We’ve had a LOT of California rolls in our lives.  These were good, but nothing to write home about.   We all really loved the noodles though.

Budd had niku don (beef over rice) with his noodles.





And I had tekka (raw tuna) over rice.





All in all, it was a delicious meal and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  I imagine there are much better Japanese restaurants in the area, but compared to most places we’ve visited in the midwest, it was excellent.





After lunch, we went through a series of all kinds of shops.  Toy stores.  Clothes.  House goods.  Collectibles.  Etc.

The girls picked up a couple cute alpaca dolls.  Weird, but cool!





And who doesn’t love a giant Pikachu?!?!?




https://flic.kr/p/wjR8JT




They have a giant two story book store too.  Like a Barnes and Noble or Borders, but full of Japanese stuff.  Princess spent a LONG time looking at the manga books and princess even found some cool magazines geared for little girls.

After the book store, were ready for another break.  Ice cream crepes?  Oh yeah!!!





Princess picked out one with kiwi, ice cream, and whipped cream.  Legit!





I went with strawberries, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.





I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing these things were.  Best snack/treat in a LONG time. I’m still dreaming about those right now.  So good!!!  Possibly worth a trip to Japantown just for those, if  you are already in the area.

It was now about 2pm, and we were ready to move on and see some more of San Francisco.

Before we move on to the next part of the report, here's a photo of Princess's spoils for the day.  YIKES!!!! (Worth noting, that some of these things were gifts for her friends back home.)


----------



## Avery's mom

Absolutely loving your report! Too many adorable details to mention specifically, but I nudged my DH and asked him when we could do a trip like this! 

Our youngest is 19 months, so it will be a while, but you've given us a lot to look forward to in the meantime! 

Can't wait to see/read more about your trip !


----------



## PrincessInOz

Japantown!  What a great day you had there so far.  I was amused to read that Daiso price their US stuff at $1.50.  They are about $2.80 in Australia.  The noodles look yummy...and you can tell Princess that I love unagi too.  
Love those crepes.  

I hope the hot water system got fixed.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Looks like Japan time was a good time - and looks like it lived up to what Princess was hoping for ... she certainly got a sufficient amount of stuff I would say - definitely looks like a lot of stuff that would be hard to get back home.

The lunch looks pretty darn good - especially the noodle bowls.  I love places like that but always get anxious that I don't know which places are the good ones/which bad ... but seems like you did ok.

Those crepes look great!  What a good idea to make like "cones" out of the crepe!

Sorry to hear that Tracy couldn't come though - hope they got the water heater fixed


----------



## wiscbugs

I have been waiting for the San Fran portion of the report.  We aren't planning on going to Japantown....my son loved Pokemon so much for probably about 5 years but hasn't been much into it in the past year.  The Japan store at Epcot was his favorite....but when we went in April he didn't seem too interested.


----------



## annegirl

Japan Town looks like a lot of fun. My girls would go crazy in those stores- all those cute things! They would want to bring that giant Pikachu home.  Princess loaded up! Looks like a great haul.


----------



## jedijill

What a fun stop!  Love that the store had everything at $1.50.  Lunch looked delicious too! (except the eel!)

Jill in CO


----------



## VandVsmama

Following along!

You know, as a kid, I lived an hour from San Francisco and for all the times we went to San Francisco, we NEVER explored Japantown!  Now I wish that we HAD!


----------



## MarbleBob

Avery's mom said:


> Absolutely loving your report! Too many adorable details to mention specifically, but I nudged my DH and asked him when we could do a trip like this!
> 
> Our youngest is 19 months, so it will be a while, but you've given us a lot to look forward to in the meantime!
> 
> Can't wait to see/read more about your trip !



Thanks for joining in!!!  Yeah, I agree, 19 months might be a bit much for a trip like this, but you should totally plan on doing a road trip in the future!!!



PrincessInOz said:


> Japantown!  What a great day you had there so far.  I was amused to read that Daiso price their US stuff at $1.50.  They are about $2.80 in Australia.  The noodles look yummy...and you can tell Princess that I love unagi too.
> Love those crepes.
> 
> I hope the hot water system got fixed.



Hurray, Princess has another unagi fan to relate to.  Stephanie doesn't dislike it, but the rest of us aren't really fans at all.  And yes, Uncle Tracy was indeed able to fix it while we were out having fun 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Looks like Japan time was a good time - and looks like it lived up to what Princess was hoping for ... she certainly got a sufficient amount of stuff I would say - definitely looks like a lot of stuff that would be hard to get back home.
> 
> The lunch looks pretty darn good - especially the noodle bowls.  I love places like that but always get anxious that I don't know which places are the good ones/which bad ... but seems like you did ok.
> 
> Those crepes look great!  What a good idea to make like "cones" out of the crepe!
> 
> Sorry to hear that Tracy couldn't come though - hope they got the water heater fixed



Yeah, we did verify the restaurant on Yelp before we went inside, and it had as good of reviews as most of its surrounding competition. I cold go for some of those udon noodles right now!  No wait, hold on and skip that, I want one of those ice cream crepe cones!!!



wiscbugs said:


> I have been waiting for the San Fran portion of the report.  We aren't planning on going to Japantown....my son loved Pokemon so much for probably about 5 years but hasn't been much into it in the past year.  The Japan store at Epcot was his favorite....but when we went in April he didn't seem too interested.



Yahoo!!  I think Japantown is awesome, but there are so many amazing places in the area, that I'd skip it if you guys aren't already fans.  We skipped Chinatown this time around (ran out of town) and it's just as cool (if not cooler.)  And of course, the list goes on.  There are just too many things to do in San Francisco!!!!



annegirl said:


> Japan Town looks like a lot of fun. My girls would go crazy in those stores- all those cute things! They would want to bring that giant Pikachu home.  Princess loaded up! Looks like a great haul.



Yeah, there are TONS of cute things.  I'm a 40 year old dude, and I was even caught up in some of the cute stuff.  Those little alpaca dolls are adorable.  The girls got plain ones, but the dolls were in a bunch of the stores throughout the mall -- in all sorts of sizes, and lots of them came in costumes.  Sort of reminded me of Duffy Bear and all his cool Disney costumes 



jedijill said:


> What a fun stop!  Love that the store had everything at $1.50.  Lunch looked delicious too! (except the eel!)
> 
> Jill in CO



Yahoo!!! 



VandVsmama said:


> Following along!
> 
> You know, as a kid, I lived an hour from San Francisco and for all the times we went to San Francisco, we NEVER explored Japantown!  Now I wish that we HAD!



That's funny.  Seems like everyone has something in their town that they take for granted.  But it seems like it would be even easier in San Francisco because there is just too much cool stuff in the city and the surrounding areas!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 5 - Tuesday, June 16 - Golden Gate Bridge*

So after all the planning I had done for this trip, we didn’t have solid plans for the rest of the day.  We wanted to be back to Tracy and Minh’s house around 6 for dinner.  So we had a couple hours, but not a ton of time.  We decided to drive down the infamous Lombard Street before deciding our next steps...





We drove down this road once before, when Princess was an infant.  Must have been a different time of day or year, because there weren’t nearly as many tourists checking it out last time.  More of an observation than anything, as was more fun seeing so many people excited about it.

Stephanie grabbed a video with her phone.  Speaking of video, I took several hours of video over the course of the trip.  I’ll probably make a several minute highlight video for the end of the trip report.  So stay tuned, if you are interested in that sort of thing.  In the meantime, he’s a quick drive down Lombard Street with my family 






“Where do you want to go?"

We decided to head over to Fisherman’s Wharf.

It was beyond crowded.  No open parking spots on the road, and the local pay lot was like $9 per 1/2 half hour.  (Or something like that.)  We drove around the block a couple times and then decided to head over to the Golden Gate bridge.





We arrived at the main parking lot, and it was PACKED.  A line of cars waiting to find a spot.  We followed signs to additional parking, but that lot was closed.  So we kept heading up the hill. Which was another happy accident.  We ended up at the site of an old fort battery (Battery Godfrey.)  Looks like it used to have large cannons back in the day.  We headed up to the battery area before trekking over to the bridge.





If you look to the left of Pickle in the above photo, you’ll see some of the battery.

Anyway, hiking up to the spot where the canons once were, you have a GREAT view of the Pacific Ocean, the bridge, and the bay.  Too cool!









After we explored a few minutes, we started heading towards the bridge.  Had to ask another family to get a photo of us on the way 





The walk to the bridge was mostly downhill and it probably took 10 minutes or so.  We spent a few minutes in the gift shop, getting our National Parks Passports stamped and stuff.  And then outside, they have a cross section of one of the giant cables.  Which is actually made up of lots of smaller cables.  Petty cool!





OK.  Time for another photo of the bridge….





And then we started walking.




That bridge is a LOT longer than you’d think.  It took a good 10 to 15 minutes just to walk to the first tower.

And boy, those towers are a lot taller than they look.





There was a nice wide platform around the tower, so we hung out there for a while.  Such great views!!!

Alcatraz!!!





And looking back towards the city.





Such breathtaking views.  We watched a couple large cargo ships pass under the bridge too.  After a while, we headed back to the visitor center area and took one more family photo.





At that point, the kids were sick of walking.  I decided to walk back up to the car and come back for them.  Which was probably for the best.  It was a long/tiring walk and I’m sure they would’ve complained the whole way.  For me, it was a way to have some alone time and just soak in the beauty surrounding the area.

I drove down to the main lot and picked up the others without incident.  Just like we knew what we were doing!!!  

Except for getting back on the highway, it became very clear that we didn’t know what we were doing at all... as we misread the confusing signs and missed our turn off for the more direct route back to the bay bridge.  

No worries, we were 10 minutes from Kawaii Corner (another Japanese toy store), which Princess HAD to visit at least once during our week.  So we just decided to knock it off the "must do" list before heading home.  Princess and Pickle picked up a bunch more toys and collectibles, and then we were on our way… to a traffic jam.  Maps routed us through the heart of downtown San Francisco... where they were having MAJOR construction.  It probably took 30 or 40 minutes to make it through a 3 mile stretch.  Nuts!!!!

We did see a Disneyland Diamond Celebration ad.  Which made us smile.  Hi Olof, we’ll see you next week!!!!





Eventually, we made it through the city and onto the bridge, and an hour later after that, we were back at Tracy and Minh's.

Great news!!! Tracy was able to fix the hot water heater himself.  (Tracy is an engineer by trade and super smart.  He figured out which piece was preventing the pilot light from staying lit, took it up to the plumbing shop, found a replacement, and installed it himself.)  Yahoo, warm showers for everyone!!!

Minh made fajitas for us and we enjoyed our one and only home cooked dinner during the whole 17 day trip.  Yum!!!

We ended up chatting into the evening and finally went to sleep around 10pm.  We had wanted to get up relatively early, as we planned to meet up with Stephanie's family before heading to Santa Cruz early the next morning.    And we'll pick up with that in the next post


----------



## PrincessInOz

Super cool video going down Lombard.
Shame you didn't get a parking at Fisherman's Wharf; but I think you did much better heading to the Bridge.  Such wonderful views from there and what great shots you have.

YAY for a fixed hot water heater.


----------



## jedijill

What a fun day!  SF is such a cool city.  The Bridge is awesome.  The Royal Gorge Bridge here in Colorado was built as a test of the design before they built the Golden Gate. Both engineering marvels!

Jill in CO


----------



## wiscbugs

Love the Golden Gate bridge pics....we are definitely going to check it out on our way up to Muir Woods.  I wish we were doing SF and then Disneyland but the plane fares worked out better going to LA first and then out of SF so we're doing it that way!


----------



## annegirl

Looks very cool. I have been to the bridge but never walked across it. Duh. Don't know why I haven't done that. 
Lombardi street is so cool and so crazy. I would not want to live on it!


----------



## annie170

Hey Matt!  I enjoyed your trip report from last year and glad I stumbled across this one.  It's so nice that you are able to vacation with extended family.

What an awesome road trip you're having and I love reading about the points of interest along the way.  You certainly did your homework preparing for this!

The Lombard Street video was really cool and your photos are great as usual.

Looking forward to reading more!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> Super cool video going down Lombard.
> Shame you didn't get a parking at Fisherman's Wharf; but I think you did much better heading to the Bridge.  Such wonderful views from there and what great shots you have.
> 
> YAY for a fixed hot water heater.



Thanks!  I agree about doing better by heading to the bridge.



jedijill said:


> What a fun day!  SF is such a cool city.  The Bridge is awesome.  The Royal Gorge Bridge here in Colorado was built as a test of the design before they built the Golden Gate. Both engineering marvels!
> 
> Jill in CO



I didn't know that about the Royal Gorge Bridge.  Pretty interesting.  I haven't actually been to that bridge, but I've seen it from a distance.  We visited that old cowboy town (Buckskin Joe's) a few years ago, and then road the little train out to the edge of the gorge.  Sorry to hear that Buckskin Joe's is closed.  I don't know if that little train is still running, if so, it was probably the coolest "mini train" that I've ever been on!!















wiscbugs said:


> Love the Golden Gate bridge pics....we are definitely going to check it out on our way up to Muir Woods.  I wish we were doing SF and then Disneyland but the plane fares worked out better going to LA first and then out of SF so we're doing it that way!



We skipped Muir Woods on this trip, but when Princess was a baby, we did that same exact thing.  Crossed the bridge on the way up.  Muir Woods was awesome, but I think Muir Beach (just down the road) made more of a lasting impression on us.  




annegirl said:


> Looks very cool. I have been to the bridge but never walked across it. Duh. Don't know why I haven't done that.
> Lombardi street is so cool and so crazy. I would not want to live on it!



Yeah, I wouldn't want to live on that street either!!! Haha!



annie170 said:


> Hey Matt!  I enjoyed your trip report from last year and glad I stumbled across this one.  It's so nice that you are able to vacation with extended family.
> 
> What an awesome road trip you're having and I love reading about the points of interest along the way.  You certainly did your homework preparing for this!
> 
> The Lombard Street video was really cool and your photos are great as usual.
> 
> Looking forward to reading more!



Hi Annie!  Glad to have you reading along!!!!!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

So, I've been out of town most of the last week... which is why I haven't updated in a while... But I have the next day or two's worth of photos uploaded to Flickr and ready to go.  So, I'll get started with our next full day in San Francisco this evening.  In the meantime, there is exciting news coming out of Marceline, MO.

The *Walt Disney Hometown Museum* just started a Kickstarter program to bring back *Midget Autopia*.  I know that this has been in the works for a few years, and I'm super excited to see that they are actually moving forward with it again.  They'll have a booth at the upcoming D23 Expo... I sure hope they get a lot of momentum going!

If you are even remotely interested, please consider contributing to the campaign too 

http://www.bringbackautopia.com


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 6 - Wednesday June, 17 - Santa Cruz!*

For our second full day in the Bay Area, we decided to head about an hour south to Santa Cruz.  The goal was to visit Wilder Ranch State Park, the Boardwalk/beach, and ride the train at Roaring Camp Railroad.

_(Note from the PTR -  We had to scrap the NHS Skateboard Museum visit.   They let me know a couple days earlier that they were closing the museum for a week or two.  I was incredible bummed out about that, but felt better when I learned that they temporarily closed to the public as they were installing an array of solar panels onsite.  We did this at Stark Bro’s last year and that’s good stuff!!!)_​
So… Tracy and Minh had decided to join us on this day.  They’ve both lived in the area for years and years, but had never visited their boardwalk and they were unfamiliar with the Roaring Camp Railroad…  So we all piled into our minivan and heading over to the Best Western to hook up with Stephanie’s family.  A few minutes later, we were on our way!!!

It was a bit over an hour drive.  Lot’s of traffic as we made our way through San Jose and Silicon Valley.  It was fun having Tracy point different things out.  We drove by the Tesla (electric car) factory, which was cool.  And then the kids had a blast pointing out all the Tesla’s on the road for the remainder of our trip.  At around $70,000 per car, I couldn’t believe just how many of them were on the roads throughout the bay area.  Interestingly, they are allowed to drive in the carpool lane with a single driver (as an incentive to get people to buy electric cars).  Tracy said that a lot of the rich Silicon Valley folks buy them for that very reason.  Wow!!!

Anyway, before we knew it, we were in Santa Cruz.  We headed over to Wilder Ranch State Park, which is supposed to be on the beach with cool trails, an old farm, and stuff.  However, when we arrived, they had a self-service station where they wanted you to pay $9 per car for parking.  We weren’t sure exactly what we were getting ourselves into (you couldn’t really see anything and they didn’t have a good explanation of what the park offered and there was nobody there to speak to.)  We didn’t really want to waste money on parking… So we ultimately decided to pass.  The kids were very happy to not stay, as they didn't want to waste any time getting to the beach.

And a few minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot for the boardwalk!





So yeah, this is pretty much a traditional "old school" beach boardwalk.  I guess similar to what Coney Island would have been like.  A nice beach area and then a bit back from it, a large sidewalk with lots of restaurant stands and carnival style rides.

A few people had to use the restroom before we headed out to the sandy beach, so we entered the main “hall” first.





This was a big open area with all sorts of attractions inside (food, video games, pool, mini golf, etc.)  Pretty cool.

We decided to hit the beach first and then explore the boardwalk when it was closer to lunch time.

Looking back to the boardwalk as we scouted a spot on the sand...





And we found a cool spot to camp out!





It was cool to see that they had a working “skyway”.  Too bad that they were removed from Walt Disney World and Disneyland years ago!





Oh, and I’d like to introduce my Uncle Tracy and Aunt Minh to you.  I’m not sure why I waited this long to get a photo of them 





It was cloudy/hazy when we arrived, but after an hour or so, the sun started burning it off and it was beginning to become a beautiful day.





And warm enough to get into the water without freezing to death...





Snapped a shot of Stephanie’s brother, Dave:





The kids all played in the water, built castles, buried themselves in the sand, etc.  for a couple hours and then we were all getting hungry.





So we decided to go up and explore the boardwalk for a little while...





There was some sort of food stand every 20 feet or so.  Mmm… Pineapple Dole Whips.  Tempting, but I think I’ll wait for the “legit" stuff at the Enchanted Tiki Room!!!





We walked down the boardwalk looking at all the food options, checking out the roller coasters (didn’t ride anything), seeing the traditional carnival rides like the Tilt a Whirl and carousel.  It was hard to want to spend money on these rides knowing that we’d be in Disneyland in just a few days.  Luckily, the kids were OK with it.

OK… Time to eat.  We split up as we all wanted different things.  It was pretty chaotic trying to keep up with everyone, so I don’t really remember what everyone had.  Pickle and I wanted corn dogs, so we headed that way. I think Steph,  Buddy, and Princess, all had hamburgers (or something forgettable like that.)





So yeah, Pickle and I got a couple corn dogs, fried mushrooms, and french fries.  (I think Dave and Angie's gang all had personal pan pizza's from the Pizza Hut stand.)





It was a decent corn dog.  Better than average, but not as good as the ones at Disneyland’s Little Red Wagon or California Adventure’s Corn Dog Castle (both of which are amazing.)  The mushrooms were just OK.  I normally love them, but these were a little over fried.  The fries weren’t good at all.  Reminded me of the crummy fries that they served in my high school cafeteria.   Probably a bad idea for me to have a completely fried meal anyway.  Oh well.  We’re on vacation, and it didn’t make me feel sick, so who cares, I guess….

We all scattered around and ate at our own paces.  I just asked Stephanie what they had, and she couldn’t remember.  I know that Buddy had a burger and onion rings...





Pickle sure had a lot of fun hanging out with Uncle Tracy and Aunt Minh. 





Our next stop was the Roaring Camp Railroad.  The train was to depart at around 2pm. So we decided to get a move on at around 12:45 PM.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 6 - Wednesday June, 17 - Roaring Camp*

Roaring Camp Railroad was highly recommended by a several people on the PTR (and a couple other threads that I followed too), otherwise we would have missed out on this gem!



So yeah, Roaring Camp Railroad is sort of an “old time town” up in the redwoods with a steam train that takes you through the forest.  Pretty amazing place, actually.

http://www.roaringcamp.com

We arrived with about 40 minutes to spare, so we all explored for a while.

You enter the property through a covered bridge!





Which way do we go, George?





I don’t know, but let’s go get tickets and check out the general store...





There were lots of other people exploring the property too.





A little while later, and we all hopped on the train.  I love that the cars are all open air.





All aboard!









And after a few more minutes, we were chugging along!





And headed into the forest





I don’t recall exactly how long the ride was, but probably about 30 or 40 minutes to our destination.  It was a truly relaxing and enjoyable ride.  Such beautiful views!













As we approached the destination, the conductor punched our tickets.





For most of the ride up, he had a microphone and explained a lot of the history of the area and pointed out interesting items.  He was really talented at his job!

And we finally made it to our stop, “Bear Mountain”.  They let everyone get off the train and explore for a while, maybe about 30 minutes total.

Buddy wanted to get a closer look at the locomotive.





Most everyone else explored the area for a while and then found places to relax in the shade.









The kids found a giant log to play on...









Of course, I had to get in on the climbing action!  (on a different, smaller log)





A few minutes later, and we were headed back.  The train turned around, but followed the same track back into camp.  It was cool to see a lot of the sites/trees from the opposite direction.

And as we neared our destination, the engine needed to release extra steam.   Whoa!





When we got back to camp, we explored the gift shop, got some ice cold water, and relaxed for a little while.

So what did we think?  This was a highlight of the trip for most of us.  Spectacular views and everything was top notch. The giant redwoods were amazing. The people who run this place know how to do it right!!!  I’d come back here in a heart beat!!!

The train conductor suggested that if we have time to spare, that we should walk next door to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.  He stated that it has his favorite sequoia in all of California.  Wow, that’s quite a statement...

Sounds good to me!!!  Let’s go check it out!!!


----------



## PrincessInOz

I love this part of the bay area.  DH works for one of those IT companies based in Silicon Valley and I've been lucky enough to head there at least once every 18 months over the last 15 years or so.  
Glad to see that Roaring Camp was a hit with your family!


----------



## jedijill

The Boardwalk looks like a lot of fun!  The train looks really cool too.  Love the scenery.  I will have a Tesla someday!  I just need the Model 3 to come out so I can afford one.   Lots of them here in Denver....make me jealous every time I see one!

Back to the Royal Gorge area.  The park burned a couple of years ago in a really bad wildfire.  They just got it reopened last fall with a few attractions and they are working on rebuilding more so I'm not sure if the little train made it or not.

Jill in CO


----------



## TheMaxRebo

First off, that Buckskin Joe miniature train looks really cool!  From what I could find via google search it has shut down as people bout that plus Buckskin Joe's and moving things to their private estate (saw mention of it being the Koch brothers that bought it)

The beach and boardwalk look pretty fun - such a fun setting and cool that you saw the skyway!  I recall riding that at WDW when I was younger but obviously will never get on the Disneyland version - seemed cool that it went through the Matterhorn!

Roaring Camp looks really cool!  Very scenic and relaxing .... I am sure my kids would have really enjoyed that ride - at least Peter given that at least 5 times a day he asks me "Some day, can we ride a train?!?!?!?"


----------



## annegirl

This looks like such a fun day!


----------



## PrncessA

I am horrible at finding TR's when they first start, but I just found your new TR and am all caught up! Your trip sounds like so much fun, really sums up the phrase "it's about the journey, not the destination"! We are headed to San Diego and Anaheim starting Saturday and now I know we have to go to In & Out Burger!

Your kids are such adventurous eaters, I am so impressed with their willingness to try new foods!!!

From your last TR I have been telling my husband that we have to make a trip over to Marceline. We are thinking of a road trip from here in Chicago, including stops in Springfield, St. Louis, Hannibal, and Marceline. A much smaller road trip in comparison to yours!! It will probably be next summer since our last weekend of this summer is a trip to Indy for the DisMeet. Very exciting about the Autotopia possibly being restored!


----------



## melk

Wow, that train trip through the redwoods looks awesome!  Was that in Santa Cruz? If we ever make that west coast trip I'm going to add that to the list of places to visit.


----------



## Flower1

So glad you found Roaring Camp fun!  We go to a family camp every year up in Santa Cruz and one day during the week, the train from Roaring Camp goes up to Mt. Herman and picks all of us up and takes us all the way down to the boardwalk to spend the day and brings us back to the camp in the evening. Such a beautiful way to get to the beach!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> I love this part of the bay area.  DH works for one of those IT companies based in Silicon Valley and I've been lucky enough to head there at least once every 18 months over the last 15 years or so.
> Glad to see that Roaring Camp was a hit with your family!



That's really awesome about you being able to tag along with your DH on all those San Francisco trips through the years!



jedijill said:


> The Boardwalk looks like a lot of fun!  The train looks really cool too.  Love the scenery.  I will have a Tesla someday!  I just need the Model 3 to come out so I can afford one.   Lots of them here in Denver....make me jealous every time I see one!
> 
> Back to the Royal Gorge area.  The park burned a couple of years ago in a really bad wildfire.  They just got it reopened last fall with a few attractions and they are working on rebuilding more so I'm not sure if the little train made it or not.
> 
> Jill in CO



Yeah, those Teslas are really cool.  We saw LOTS of Mini Coopers out in San Francisco too.  Which was fun, because I've already decided that I'll be purchasing a Mini Cooper later this year.  Princess turns 16 in January... and she'll inherit my current car, and I'll finally have an excuse to buy a smaller car just for me 



TheMaxRebo said:


> First off, that Buckskin Joe miniature train looks really cool!  From what I could find via google search it has shut down as people bout that plus Buckskin Joe's and moving things to their private estate (saw mention of it being the Koch brothers that bought it)
> 
> The beach and boardwalk look pretty fun - such a fun setting and cool that you saw the skyway!  I recall riding that at WDW when I was younger but obviously will never get on the Disneyland version - seemed cool that it went through the Matterhorn!
> 
> Roaring Camp looks really cool!  Very scenic and relaxing .... I am sure my kids would have really enjoyed that ride - at least Peter given that at least 5 times a day he asks me "Some day, can we ride a train?!?!?!?"



That's a shame about Buckskin Joe's shutting down.  The train was really awesome, and the fact that it stopped right at the edge of Royal Gorge put it over the top.  

Yeah, that train ride was fun. We've done a lot of scenic railroads through the years, and this one of the best!  At least Peter will be on the Disneyland Railroad soon!



annegirl said:


> This looks like such a fun day!



It was indeed!



PrncessA said:


> I am horrible at finding TR's when they first start, but I just found your new TR and am all caught up! Your trip sounds like so much fun, really sums up the phrase "it's about the journey, not the destination"! We are headed to San Diego and Anaheim starting Saturday and now I know we have to go to In & Out Burger!
> 
> Your kids are such adventurous eaters, I am so impressed with their willingness to try new foods!!!
> 
> From your last TR I have been telling my husband that we have to make a trip over to Marceline. We are thinking of a road trip from here in Chicago, including stops in Springfield, St. Louis, Hannibal, and Marceline. A much smaller road trip in comparison to yours!! It will probably be next summer since our last weekend of this summer is a trip to Indy for the DisMeet. Very exciting about the Autotopia possibly being restored!



Glad you made it over to our TR!!!  Yes, you should definitely do In-N-Out!!!  I hope you have a lot of fun on your trip!!!

That sounds like a fun drive from Chicago to Marceline!  It would be awesome if they get their funding for the new Midget Autopia ride and that it's open when you visit!



melk said:


> Wow, that train trip through the redwoods looks awesome!  Was that in Santa Cruz? If we ever make that west coast trip I'm going to add that to the list of places to visit.



The train is about 20 minutes north of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, in Felton, CA.  Such a beautiful and underrated area 



Flower1 said:


> So glad you found Roaring Camp fun!  We go to a family camp every year up in Santa Cruz and one day during the week, the train from Roaring Camp goes up to Mt. Herman and picks all of us up and takes us all the way down to the boardwalk to spend the day and brings us back to the camp in the evening. Such a beautiful way to get to the beach!



A family camp in Santa Cruz sounds like fun, and taking the train to the beach sound even better.  That's just too cool!!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 6 - Wednesday June, 17 - Giant Trees!*

OK.  So we decided to take the train conductor’s advice and walk over to Henry Cowell State Park.  It was literally a few steps across the railroad tracks.





I’m sure glad that we did take his advice.  This place was amazing!  We’ve been to Muir Woods before, and we visited the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite later this trip, but Henry Cowell State Park seemed to have more giant Sequoia’s per square foot (or whatever appropriate measurement) than those.  It didn’t have the tallest Sequoias, just LOTS of them.  I felt like a bunch of Ewoks would be jumping out to capture us at any moment!!!






Anyway, they had a giant slice of a tree trunk at the entrance, noting signifiant historical events along the tree rings.  It’s crazy to think that this tree was alive at the same time as Jesus!









I took tons of photos, but I’ll spare you most of them.

I forget what this tree was called, but it was the tallest one in the grove.  You can barely make out my kids in front of the trunk.





And then we tried to do the panorama thing vertically with the phone… Wowsers, that’s a long way up!





So we explored in the forest for a while looking at all the trees and watching the kids run around and goof off.  After about an hour, we headed back to our cars through Roaring Camp.  It was mostly empty by this time, but still fun to explore.





It was getting to be time for dinner. We decided to head back into Santa Cruz, to find a cool restaurant.

I had found it… a Hawaiian Tiki Bar and restaurant.  The menu looked good, the atmosphere looked good, the Yelp reviews were great.  This was it!  Except for when we arrived, they were having a wedding party, and it was going to be like two hours before they could seat us.  No time for that!  So we walked down the block and found a cool pizza joint, “Pizza My Heart."





You could order by the slice and they had some good beer on tap.  Not quite the tiki bar experience, but we all had fun eating on a giant surf board table.  And this place was hopping!!!  Lots of activity and good energy.  The pizza was tasty.  I’d certainly eat there again!

After that, we were ready to head back to Tracy and Minh’s place and to call it a day.  The others were in no hurry, as their rooms at the Best Western were apparently dumpy and the pool wasn’t heated.  They were in no rush to get back to their crummy rooms, so we said our goodbyes and agreed to meet up early on Friday morning for the next leg of our trip.  (We were going solo again tomorrow/Thursday.)

Two last things!

#1.  Tracy saw a remote control mini drone on sale at Fry’s, and Buddy wanted to get some electronic pieces for his Arduino set.  And Princess wanted to find a disco ball for a project that she’s working on in the basement. So we stopped at Fry’s.  It was a lot of fun exploring the giant electronics store.  Way better than the Best Buy stores that we have in St. Louis.  Apparently, all the Fry’s in the Bay Area have different themes.  This one was decorated like an Egyptian Pyramid.  Strange but cool.

#2.  I HAD to visit a regular Vans store to see the Vans/Disney collaboration items on this trip.  We drove right past a big shopping mall on the way back, so we decided to stop.

Some of the men’s shoes on display:





And some of the women’s shoes:





They had all sorts of Disney shoes, shirts, backpacks, hats, socks, etc.  Sorry I didn’t get any photos of those.





So the question is… did we get anything?  You bet!!!!

My favorite is the pair of Donald Duck shoes.





Buddy and I each got a pair of those Donald shoes.  Princess got a pair of Winnie the Pooh shoes.  And then I got two pairs of the Mickey Mouse slip on shoes.  (I wear Vans slip ons nearly every day to work, and they usually only last about a year before I wear them out.  I knew that these are limited edition, and that after I wore out a pair, I’d be kicking myself for not getting an extra pair.  So I did!!!!!)

Oh, and those Star Wars shoes from the outlet store are in the following photo too!





I also got a Mickey Mouse shirt and we got some Donald Duck socks for Grandpa.  We had quite the haul leaving the store.  Hahaha, it's vacation after all.  These can count as souvenirs, right?!?!?!

After that, it was getting late and we were all fairly tired and were ready to head back home, relax for a few minutes, and get to sleep.  We were headed to the Walt Disney Family Museum in the morning and wanted to be sure that we were well rested!!!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Wow, that forest looks really cool.  Love the cross section showing the key periods in history - definitely can make you feel a bit small (both literally and figuratively) 

Bummer about not getting into the tiki bar, but the pizza place seemed like a good alternative.  I mean, pizza, beer, eating on a surf board, beer, .... what else do you need?  

Major score at the vans shop - and definitely a bit jealous that you can wear shoes like that to work.  Love the Donald ones (though the Star Wars ones still might be my favorite just because it has like secondary/tertiary characters on in)


----------



## jedijill

I got the Minnie Mouse and the Mickey Vans and the exclusive Star Wars ones from Journeys. 

Jill in CO


----------



## annegirl

The forest is beautiful. We were just looking at those shoes the other day in our local Vans. So cute.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Looks like you had fun with the redwoods.

I'm having fun looking at the Disney Van's.  So cute!  I need to find me some!!!.


----------



## EastYorkDisneyFan

MarbleBob said:


>



I'm thinking I may have to see if I can find a pair of those in my size.


----------



## annie170

Roaring Camp Railroad looks great, as well as the Henry Cowell Redwoods.  Did the song "This Land is Your Land" go through your head while walking through the redwood forest?

Those Vans are awesome!  I'm also jealous that you can wear those to work.  I would have bought a backup pair, too.  I like to keep backups on things I use often.


----------



## nemo2017

I've just found your TR - what an amazing journey! I hadn't heard about the Salt Flats before so that's something else on the wishlist!  We'll be doing a California road trip in 2017.  Could I just ask at what point your family gets fed up with packing and unpacking for a different stopover each night? (if they do!) I'm still trying to convince myself to include more stopovers in our itinerary. Looking forward to reading more - your photos are great!


----------



## MarbleBob

TheMaxRebo said:


> Bummer about not getting into the tiki bar, but the pizza place seemed like a good alternative.  I mean, pizza, beer, eating on a surf board, beer, .... what else do you need?



Umm... more beer?!?!? 





jedijill said:


> I got the Minnie Mouse and the Mickey Vans and the exclusive Star Wars ones from Journeys.
> 
> Jill in CO



Cool!  I hoped that one of my girls would have wanted the Minnie Mouse Vans, but they left me hanging 



annegirl said:


> The forest is beautiful. We were just looking at those shoes the other day in our local Vans. So cute.







PrincessInOz said:


> Looks like you had fun with the redwoods.
> 
> I'm having fun looking at the Disney Van's.  So cute!  I need to find me some!!!.



Disney Vans for Disney fans!!!



EastYorkDisneyFan said:


> I'm thinking I may have to see if I can find a pair of those in my size.



Cool! I hope you have good luck!



annie170 said:


> Roaring Camp Railroad looks great, as well as the Henry Cowell Redwoods.  Did the song "This Land is Your Land" go through your head while walking through the redwood forest?
> 
> Those Vans are awesome!  I'm also jealous that you can wear those to work.  I would have bought a backup pair, too.  I like to keep backups on things I use often.



That's funny, that song never crossed my mind when we were in the forest, but now I can't get it out of my head. LOL 



nemo2017 said:


> I've just found your TR - what an amazing journey! I hadn't heard about the Salt Flats before so that's something else on the wishlist!  We'll be doing a California road trip in 2017.  Could I just ask at what point your family gets fed up with packing and unpacking for a different stopover each night? (if they do!) I'm still trying to convince myself to include more stopovers in our itinerary. Looking forward to reading more - your photos are great!



Welcome!!!  And happy to have you following along.  You are gong to have a blast on your 2017 trip.

We never really got sick of dealing with luggage.  Mostly because we never had more than three consecutive nights where we switched hotels.  Having 4 nights in San Francisco, two nights Yosemite, and 5 nights Anaheim sort of eased the burden.  Also, we have a pretty good system in place, where everyone has their own suitcase.  And then we have a few shared bags for toiletries and stuff.  We've had our mini van for about 5 years now, and I have a pretty good system for getting everything loaded just right (arranged like giant Legos.)  We have a routine for how I load the van each morning while they are eating breakfast, so it just sort of works.  

Not sure if that helps or not, but I'm guessing that if we had to swap hotels every single night, that we'd probably get fed up with it after 5 or 6 nights?


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 7 - Thursday June, 18 - Walt Disney Family Museum*

All right, up next is one of the things that we had most looked forward to on this trip… A visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum.





I’m sure everyone knows by now that we are not only Disneyland and Walt Disney World fans, but we are big fans of Walt Disney himself too.  I loved the idea of starting this trip in Marceline with a visit to the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, then visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, then visiting Walt’s Barn in LA, and then finally Disneyland.  Needless to say that this was one on the top of our “Must See” list for San Francisco and we were amped that this day finally arrived!!!

Turns out that we were the only die hard Disney fans in our group, because no one else was interested in joining us.  No worries, we had planned to meet up with Tracy and Minh for dinner and we would be spending the rest of vacation with everyone else.  We decided to sleep in a little to avoid some of the morning traffic.  I think we arrived around 10:30 AM or so.

The museum is located in the Presidio, which is a former military base that was converted to parks and office space.  It’s really, really beautiful and most of the businesses and residential areas are in old historical buildings.  

It was fun winding through the roads as we made out way to museum.  There was a parking lot across the street.  Super convenient!





It was still fairly hazy/foggy in the morning, but you can see the bay off in the background.  Such a beautiful location!





We’ve arrived!!!!





Right when you walk in the front door, you are greeted by a cut out of Walt.





We purchased our tickets, and the girls decided to take a bathroom break before we got started.  I have no idea what the men’s room looked like, but I guess the ladies room made an impression on Stephanie as I found this photo on her phone.  Love the hidden Mickey and the supporting splashes of red!





A few notes… I forgot to swap out memory cards in the morning and I was running out of room on my main camera, so I started to use it sparingly.  Most of the pictures from the museum are from my iPhone… which doesn’t take half bad photos... but not always the best.  I took hundreds of photos.  In hindsight, I wish I had taken them in a more organized manner because I can’t really tell a good story with the ones that I have (at least in the sense of giving a good idea of how the place is laid out and the path you take from the museum.)  

Oh well...

You start off in a sort of open area with a lot of photos and awards. (I was too busy looking at everything to remember to grab a photo showing what the room looked like.)  You browse around this entry room for a while before you pass the admission area where they take your ticket.  I’m not going to share everything, but a few highlights from here and there.

I thought these portraits of Sharon and Diane Disney were cool.  They were done by Norman Rockwell around 1942!









In the middle of the room, they had some original furnishings from Walt’s apartment in Disneyland.  Cool!









Lots of cases full of awards and trophies...





So yeah, we looked around in that area for a while, and then headed into paid part of the museum.  It sort of follows Walt’s life starting from his birth in Chicago, through growing up, the army, time in KC, and then on his way to LA, his career, and his accomplishments… all the way to his passing.

You first start in a darkish room with a lot of old family photos.  Some background on Walt’s parents and grandparents… where they came from.  How they met. Etc...









There was some information about Walt’s early years in Chicago, and then a fair amount of back story and info on Marceline.  (yahoo!)

Love this old photo of main street.  Hard to believe that we stood in practically that same spot less than a week ago!





They had some audio recordings going of Walt being interviewed about Marceline in his later years.  It was fun hearing him tell his stories about the barn, exploring the farm, and the family apple orchard.

And his stories about working on the Santa Fe railroad too!





Next they had an area about his time spent back in Chicago and KC.  With more audio and stuff.

They had a lot of his early drawings on display too...









And then a cool section of stuff from the time he spent in France during WWI. 













Here are some of the small treasures that he collected during his time overseas.  Cool!





Next up, you enter a small room that focused on his early Laugh-O-Gram animations and film experimentations while he was still in Kansas City.









Then you follow him on his journey to Hollywood.  Via a Santa Fe train of course.  (Actually, the elevator downstairs.)





Stepping out of the elevator...





Looking down the hall, they had a lot of information about the original Alice films.









OK….. I’m running out of time for the evening and need to take care of some chores.  So I’ll have to leave you here.  I’m guessing that I’ll need at least three or four more of these posts before we leave the museum.  Stay tuned because Oswald and Mickey are next  

(Things are settling down at home after a super busy couple of weeks, so hopefully, I'll be able to keep this trip report rolling with more frequent updates.)


----------



## EastYorkDisneyFan

MarbleBob said:


> Cool! I hope you have good luck!


 
I've seen them in one of the Vans stores her in Toronto and am at the point of wondering one do they have my size, two what they coast, and is it OK for a non skater to buy a pair of vans?


----------



## PrincessInOz

Isn't that the coolest museum?  There's just so much to look at there!


----------



## jedijill

EastYorkDisneyFan said:


> I've seen them in one of the Vans stores her in Toronto and am at the point of wondering one do they have my size, two what they coast, and is it OK for a non skater to buy a pair of vans?



they are $60, they have almost every size (if not they will order) and yes!  I bought 3 pairs and I've been a skateboard once. 

Jill in CO


----------



## jedijill

Can't wait to visit the museum.  It looks so cool.  

Jill in CO


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Wow the museum looks great already.

Must be nice to be able to have Norman Rockwell do you kids' portraits. (On a side note, I now feel justified in having some Rockwell prints up in my office that otherwise has Disney related items)

The old Alice stuff is cool - though that "hunting in Africa" one isn't so PC at the moment


----------



## annegirl

Cool! I didn't know that the museum was on the Presidio. That's where I lived as a baby. (My dad was in the Navy) I don't remember it of course. I think I was almost 2 when we moved. 
We have visited the area though and it is so pretty. 
I wish we had gone to the museum!
That looks really cool so far. I am definitely putting it on my bucket list for any future trip to California!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> Isn't that the coolest museum?  There's just so much to look at there!



I couldn't agree more.  This IS the coolest museum!!!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Wow the museum looks great already.
> 
> Must be nice to be able to have Norman Rockwell do you kids' portraits. (On a side note, I now feel justified in having some Rockwell prints up in my office that otherwise has Disney related items)
> 
> The old Alice stuff is cool - though that "hunting in Africa" one isn't so PC at the moment



Yeah, it's strange how times change.  The hunting in Africa one is totally not PC at the moment.  There were quite a few things in the museum that weren't PC then or now...



annegirl said:


> Cool! I didn't know that the museum was on the Presidio. That's where I lived as a baby. (My dad was in the Navy) I don't remember it of course. I think I was almost 2 when we moved.
> We have visited the area though and it is so pretty.
> I wish we had gone to the museum!
> That looks really cool so far. I am definitely putting it on my bucket list for any future trip to California!



This museum is totally worth adding to your bucket list.  It really has a LOT going for it, and location, location, location!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 7 - Thursday June, 18 - Walt Disney Family Museum - Part 2*

Next, we moved into a room that has some exhibits related to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse.





Get ready for this….

The oldest known drawing of Mickey Mouse!!!!





Pretty darn cool!!!!

And here’s one of the drawings for Steamboat Willie









I LOVE toys, and I had a blast drooling over all these vintage Mickey items!!!





The next room had a bunch of stuff related to the Silly Symphonies.













We got a copy of the Walt Disney Treasures Silly Symphonies DVD when princes was a toddler.  She loved the Three Little Pigs shorts and watched them all the time.  It was pretty darn cool to see some of the original artwork and props!













Oh, and original paints too!





The next room started to transition into feature films with artifacts related to Snow White, Pinocchio, etc.









It was beyond amazing to think that Walt actually interacted with so many of these things!!!

Holy cow, a two story multilane camera!!!!!





Next, we moved into an area that showed how the strikes and then WWII affected the studio.  The war area had some pretty interesting stuff.









Again, I’m sharing just a tiny fraction of all the photos that I took.  There is just too much cool stuff in this museum!!  

Anyway, along those lines, there were so many interesting stories and things to read.  One thing that really stood out, was a pin-up pamphlet that they created during WWII.  It wasn’t overly risqué, but still strange to see Walt Disney staff produce drawings of naked women for service men!! 

OK… The next room had some more cool movie related items.  I’ve always been a huge fan of Mr. Toad.  He’s just too cool!!!  So I was stoked to see some of the original artwork for it.









The next room had all sorts of miniatures that Walt had collected.  I guess he was really into this stuff, because the room was filled with it.  So cool!  Here’s a photo of just one of the displays...





Now, we started to head downstairs again, down a slow incline.  We are now at the back of the museum with a big glass wall, looking out into the bay!









It was cool to get another glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge!





OK… so now the museum starts to transition into the story of Disneyland and the theme parks!!

There was a bench at the end of the hallway.  It was from the carousel at Griffith Park in LA.  If you are a big Disneyland history person, you’ll recall that Walt used to take his girls to that carousel when they were little.  He’d sit on the bench and wish that there was a place where the adults and kids could both have fun together.









It was pretty wild to sit on that bench…  knowing that Walt probably sat on it too!

Next up was my absolute favorite section of the entire museum… The Carolwood Pacific Railroad and Disneyland exhibits!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 7 - Thursday June, 18 - Walt Disney Family Museum - Part 3*

OK… so if you followed along with us this far, you know that we are pretty interested in trains.  Not the biggest train nerds ever, but big enough to become super excited when we saw the train cars from Walt’s Carolwood Pacific Railroad!!!





So yeah, he built this train to go around his home. (You can see a model of it in the photo above.)  They say that this was the birthplace of Disney Imagineering.  He kept the train running for a few years until it became a liability… and then he moved on to the idea of making a bigger train… and that idea eventually evolved into Disneyland.  Pretty neat stuff.  (I was going to say "cool stuff", but I know that I've used that word a gazillion times with respect to this museum.  But... it really is cool!!!  )





“I have always loved trains” - Walt

I think Buddy could say the exact same thing!!





The infamous Lilly Belle.  Oh what I wouldn’t give to go back in time and see it in action!!! 

Check out this Youtube clip to see Walt playing with his trains!






I made a panorama of the entire train with my phone.  It didn’t turn out perfect, but it gives you a good idea of how the room is laid out.





Looking back the other direction, you’ll see the Disneyland exhibits.  Dude, this place is just too cool.  (Yeah, I know, I said it again.)





The giant Disneyland layout was beyond amazing.  (I really meant to say cool.)





They said that the model didn’t represent a single time period, but instead was sort of a mash up of all time periods.













One of Bob Gurr’s original Autopia cars.  Heck yeah!!!





I’ve always had a soft spot for Fess Parker and Davey Crockett!!!





Loved the interactive Jose (from the Tiki Room) exhibit.





You could actually control him via a joystick (barely visible in Pickle's hands below.)





The kids played with that for quite a while.

Oh and a few drawings and items related to “It’s a Small World"





And then some exhibits about the "Orlando Project” too.  Can you imagine what EPCOT would have been like if Walt had been around a few more years?





(One of the reasons that I’d say that the “People Mover”  (TTA) at WDW is one of my favorite rides, is because I love seeing the model of Walt’s original vision of EPCOT.)

One of the last exhibits showcased a few of Walt’s personal items/treasures from before he died.  The drawing was from his grandson.





Next, we moved into a room full of media items related to Walt’s death.  Lots of newspaper articles and the like. It was really moving.





And then finally, a room that sort of summarized everything with video and projections.





Wow, that was an incredible museum tour.  I look forward to visiting it again some day.  Seems like we just scratched the surface.  We probably spent two or three hours, but I could have slowed down and spent the better part of a full day. (We had to strike a balance with the kids.  They stayed interested, but they didn't like to stay in one area for too long at a time.)

The museum also has movies and special exhibits/events from time to time.  It would be amazing to be close enough to visit on a more regular basis!

OK.  We couldn’t move on without spending some time in the gift shop, right?!?!?





I *REALLY* struggled to show restraint here.  I’m saving up for a new car and I’m pinching my pennies right now.  So we only picked up a couple small items, but we had a lot of fun browsing around.  There is some amazing stuff in here!









We pretty much always get pins from every major attraction that we visit on vacation.  (One for each kid, and then Stephanie and I always share.)  So, we couldn’t hold back here.  And I found a cool paint brush pencil that I couldn’t resist.





We were pretty hungry at this point, but their cafe didn’t really appeal to the kids, so we decided to move on.  The plan was to head back down to the Wharf area for lunch, but we had to make a pit stop at the Lucasfilm office before we left the Presidio!


----------



## melk

Wow, that really looks like an interesting museum.

That picture of Mickey Mouse crying is so sad


----------



## PrincessInOz

You are so lucky to be able to take pictures in there!  I have to do a re-visit some time.  When I was there in 2012, they wouldn't let anyone take pictures inside the museum.  

Thanks for sharing.  I've loved looking at everything!


----------



## lovegrumpy

We loved the museum when we went back in 2012.


----------



## MarbleBob

melk said:


> Wow, that really looks like an interesting museum.
> 
> That picture of Mickey Mouse crying is so sad



I hear you.  That whole room was sad.  You sort of knew to expect it, as the museum basically followed his life.  But it was incredibly moving, all these years later.



PrincessInOz said:


> You are so lucky to be able to take pictures in there!  I have to do a re-visit some time.  When I was there in 2012, they wouldn't let anyone take pictures inside the museum.
> 
> Thanks for sharing.  I've loved looking at everything!



Definitely!  (I think they changed the policy within the last couple years.)  They still don't allow video, but photos are OK.



lovegrumpy said:


> We loved the museum when we went back in 2012.



That's awesome.  I highly recommend it too!


----------



## wiscbugs

Love all the pics from the Walt Disney Museum.  We drove by last week but didn't stop because I figured the kids would be bored...there was definitely plenty to do in SF!!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Love everything in that Museum.  I can see your point about having to strike the balance with the kids ... maybe we need to schedule an "adults only" trip to really spend some time there 



MarbleBob said:


> “I have always loved trains” - Walt


 I love this because so many of Walt's quote are moving and philosophical but then this one is just kinda like "dude, trains are cool!"

Actually, one of my favorite Walt quotes is the one on the wall behind Stephanie in that pictures:  "You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality." ... I've actually used that with my team at work and kinda describes my work style.  You obviously need to come up with great ideas, but you can't just spend all day "blue skying it" ... at some point you actually have to get down and do some work!  And how hands on he was is one of the things I loved about Walt.


----------



## MarbleBob

wiscbugs said:


> Love all the pics from the Walt Disney Museum.  We drove by last week but didn't stop because I figured the kids would be bored...there was definitely plenty to do in SF!!!



No doubt, there is practically too much to do in SF!!!  It would take years of visits before you could see it all 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Love everything in that Museum.  I can see your point about having to strike the balance with the kids ... maybe we need to schedule an "adults only" trip to really spend some time there
> 
> I love this because so many of Walt's quote are moving and philosophical but then this one is just kinda like "dude, trains are cool!"
> 
> Actually, one of my favorite Walt quotes is the one on the wall behind Stephanie in that pictures:  "You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality." ... I've actually used that with my team at work and kinda describes my work style.  You obviously need to come up with great ideas, but you can't just spend all day "blue skying it" ... at some point you actually have to get down and do some work!  And how hands on he was is one of the things I loved about Walt.



Yeah, and adults only visit to the museum would be great!  I love that story about using that quote with you team at work.  We have similar philosophies where I work too.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 7 - Thursday June, 18 - Lucasfilm and Fisherman's Wharf*

So our next big task for the day was to find some lunch, but we couldn’t leave the Presidio without a quick stop to the Lucasfilm office!!!!

Obviously, this isn’t the main Lucasfilm office, but apparently they actually do quite a bit at this site.  Leaving the Walt Disney Family Museum, we drove through the windy Presidio roads for a couple minutes and we pulled up to the office area.  There was an attendant at the parking lot entrance, and he teased us a quite a bit after he found out that we were tourists here to see Yoda.  But it was all and good fun and he was a nice guy.  I guess it’s gets boring standing there all day and it’s fun to mess with the tourists...

Anyway, we drove up, parked the car, and walked over to see the life size Yoda statue and fountain.  I’ve been a Star Wars geek since I was a little boy (just barely old enough to have seen the original movie in the theater) and I collected a lot of the toys through my childhood and into my college years.  Anyway, given all that, I was stoked to be there!





The kids thought it was pretty cool too!





The following GIF didn’t turn out too well, but inside the lobby, the front desk is on the right and then they have some statues, books, and memorabilia off to the left...






It was weird because this is an actual work environment and people were coming too and from, so we kept it quiet.  Sort of like in a library.   And fairly quick too.  But not too quick for a few photos!!!!!

















OK. That was pretty darn cool, but time to eat.  Let’s go!!!!

We took the 10 or 15 minute drive down to Fisherman’s Wharf.  Hey look, a cable car!!!





We Yelped around for some good food... and found The Godmother Fish & Chips.  It had an incredible amount of 5 star reviews, so we decided to give it a try.  It turned out to be a food truck.  That works!





Oh…. My…. Goodness!!!!  This stuff is the stuff that dreams are made of.  Not that the fish at Epcot and/or Raglan Road at DTD Orlando are the best ever, but this was way better than either of those.  Heck yeah!!!

I went for the fish & shrimp combo.  Oh yeah, I’m dreaming about that right now.





Everyone else had just the fish and chips.  I’ll spare the extra photos as they all looked basically the same.

And then, Stephanie got the garlic fries with whatever special sauce they had.  Oh dude, this is more of the stuff that dreams are made of.  Delicious!!!!





So after we stuffed ourselves to the gills, we walked around just checked things out.  It was pretty cool looking at all the seafood stands and just general “action” as there was a lot of street activity.  People performing and stuff like that...





We decided to stop in and explore the Musée Mécanique, a museum full of antique coin operated arcade games. Too cool!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musée_Mécanique





































We probably spent 45 minutes playing various games, exploring, and watching other people play games.  It was a real hoot!

A bit later, we decided to go outside and watch the boats coming and going for a while.  Such great views!





Later that afternoon, we decided it was time to be heading back to Tracy and Minhs for the evening.  The plan was to head back to their house, pick them up, and go out for dinner.  It was another LONG drive back as the traffic downtown was off the charts again.  Traffic in downtown SF is NUTZ!!!!

They decided to take us to one of their favorite “hot pot” places.  We had never been to such a restaurant and it sounded fun, so we were fairly excited.  Essentially, every person gets their own a pot of soup broth.  You control the temperature of the broth at your table.  Then you pick a meat or seafood and they bring it all out raw, and then you cook it in the broth at your own pace.  Interesting!





Everyone gets a plate of veggies and tofu, and a shrimp too!





Most of us picked beef for our protein... it was sliced thinly.





Minh went with seafood.





Then you pick rice or noodles to go with it.





I went with udon noodles, because they are one of my favorites!





Then each person picks up to two dipping sauces.  We just ordered a bunch so we’d each have the opportunity to try them all.





Dude, that’s a lot of food!!!





We had a blast sharing one last dinner with Tracy and Minh.  They are as cool as they come.  We are blessed to have such a great family!





So what did we think?  Well, unfortunately, the kids weren’t too impressed.  And Stephanie and I both liked it well enough, but I wouldn’t say it was my favorite Asian food.  I went with the “Flavorful Broth” and I have no idea what it was made from, but it had a slight funk to it that was hard to ignore.  Maybe a little too flavorful?   It was a lot of fun though!!!!

After dinner, the kids were up for something sweet, so we hit a local Asian grocery store and picked up some mochi ice cream.  They had a few interesting flavors, so we bought several boxes and pigged out.  Yum!

The sun was setting when we arrived back at the house.





And a bit later, it was full on dark.

They live up on a hill and it’s fun too look west towards the city and the bay.





We visited for a couple hours before calling it a night.  Wow, I can’t believe that the San Francisco portion of our trip was coming to an end.  I love that city and I can’t wait to visit again soon!!!!  (And happy that we’’ll get to see Tracy and Minh again at my cousin’s wedding in Vail, CO this October!)

Next up, we get up early and head to Yosemite!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Awww.  Judge not Lucasfilm by just Yoda statue, hrmmmm?
What a great way to round off your San Francisco portion.  I love Shabu Shabu.  But I can see how it wouldn't be everyone's bowl of soup noodles.  

Looking forward to Yosemite.


----------



## annie170

Those museum photos are really cool (see what I did there)!  Thanks for sharing with us!

San Francisco is such a beautiful city.  I have a niece living out there right now and would love to plan a visit soon.


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> Awww.  Judge not Lucasfilm by just Yoda statue, hrmmmm?



Yes!!!  



annie170 said:


> Those museum photos are really cool (see what I did there)!



Haha! I'm literally laughing out loud.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 8 - Friday June, 19 - Yosemite Bound!*

Time to start the next leg of our trip, and head to Yosemite!  Our plan was to meet up with Stephanie’s family at the Best Western around 7:45 AM and get on the road by 8:00 AM.  We got up early to pack our stuff and load the car.

I had a system in place by now, knowing where pretty much every last item goes.  Ha!





Everyone else visited with Tracy and Minh for a little bit longer while I loaded the car.  Minh had made a wonderful breakfast treat for us.  She called them birds nests.  They were baked in a muffin pan, with the base layer being potatoes (coming out like hash browns) and then inside the “nest” she had mixed in eggs, peppers, onions, etc.  And then topped with cheese.  I had never heard of such a thing, but let me tell you, they were delicious!!!!  So we finished breakfast, said our goodbyes, and headed down to the hill to Hayward.  

We met up with the rest of the gang and then headed south east towards Yosemite.  And lucky for us, we were going the opposite direction from traffic, so the drive was easy going.

We decided to eat before heading into the Park, so we stopped in Oakhurst for lunch.  There weren’t many options and we wanted something fast, so some of us ate at Burger King and the other’s chose Jack in the Box.  (My family mostly hates Jack in the Box, so we went with Burger King.  But, no crazy BK hot dogs this time!)

So yeah, an uneventful lunch.  There was a Vons grocery store next door, so we decided to pick up items for a picnic lunch in the Valley tomorrow, as well as a few other snacks and goodies.  We ended up roaming around the grocery store and waiting around in the parking lot for what seemed like a ridiculous amount of time, but oh well, that’s what happens when you travel with two other families.






The bright side is that they had "It’s-It” ice cream sandwiches.  These are local to San Francisco, and Tracy introduced them to Stephanie and me when we last visited in 2000.  We really wanted to find them while we were in SF, but the cards were never in our favor...  So we were super stoked to see them at Vons.






An ice cream cookie sandwich dipped in chocolate? Heck yeah!!!






A bit later, we were on the road again, moving towards Yosemite.  Yahoo!!!






The plan was to enter Yosemite in the south entrance, hit the Mariposa grove for a couple hours, then drive up to Glacier Point for a while, and then make our way to Curry Village in the valley before sunset.

We arrived at the Mariposa grove at about 1:30 PM.  Wow, what a parking lot!!!






We knew that we didn’t have it in us to see all the giant trees, but it was only a mile or two to see a couple of the big famous ones, so we got a move on.

One of the first sites you see on the trail is the trunk of a giant toppled tree.  Wow, those roots are huge!






Even the small trees can be interesting in Yosemite!






Another cross section.  Wow!











“Bachelor" was the first really big tree that we came across.  I grabbed another vertical panorama with my phone.  It’s a little wavy, but it helps give some perspective!






Next up was the Grizzly Giant.
















Hey Princess, what do you think?!?!?






A little bit further was “California Tunnel Tree”.  Whoa!














We spent a while goofing around the tunnel tree, and then started making our way back to the parking lot.  We stopped for a few more pictures though...













The walk back to our cars was pretty much all downhill and a much easier walk.  It sure was a neat place and I’m glad we had the opportunity to visit it.  They closed the grove a week or two after our visit, and it’ll stay closed for a couple years while they do a restoration project. I felt lucky that we just made it before the closure!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 8 - Friday June, 19 - Yosemite - Glacier Point*

So next up was a drive up to Glacier Point, which is up on the top of a mountain overlooking Yosemite Valley.  I don’t recall how long the drive was, probably about an hour.  It was a pretty drive, but the last 10 or 15 minutes were spectacular as you made your way towards the valley view.  I don’t recall the name of the first major lookout point before you get to Glacier Point, but holy cow what a view!!!





It was unreal looking out in the distance and seeing the waterfalls running.  It seemed like you should be seeing a static vista, but the flowing water made the view really dynamic.  Amazing!













After picking our jaws up off the ground and exploring for a few more minutes, we piled back into the cars and drove the remaining bit to Glacier Point.  A similar view, but at a different angle, with a more direct view of Half Dome's face.









The kids had a blast climbing on all the rocks.









Hey Ladies!!!

















I didn’t upload a photo, but peering over the edge, you could see our resort down on the Valley floor.  We spent a good hour or two up there, and then decided to head down and get settled in for the night.

We headed back down the winding road and made our way towards the valley.  The "tunnel view” was spectacular!









After riding Disney’s Soarin’ Over California countless times, I was super excited to finally be entering Yosemite Valley in person!!!!

The rest of the drive into the valley was spectacular.  I’ll share more photos of the valley from the next day’s explorations, but in the meantime, we’ll skip to Camp Curry.





We arrived at the front office to find a line out the door.  They were booked solid with no vacancy.  That was no surprise to us, as we had booked our rooms exactly one year in advance!





A half our later, it was our turn to check in!





They really don’t have parking next to the tents/cabins, but there is one road that you can take to drop your stuff off.  (Vs. hauling it all by hand from the main parking lot, which isn’t really all that close.)





The lady said that if there were any open spots along the road, you could park there, as long as you don’t block it.

Hit the brakes, someone is pulling out!!!!!!  Wow, what luck!  We were able to get a spot about 20 feet from our cabin.  This was totally unexpected.





Unfortunately, Grandpa didn’t have the same luck, so he had to park back in the lot.

So yeah, if you recall from the PTR, Stephanie got up early and called Yosemite a year before our planned arrival date, as this was the earliest you could book.  We actually wanted traditional hotel rooms over by the visitor center, but those sold out within minutes.  By the time Stephanie got through, we were able to get two hard walled cabins (without bathrooms) and one tent cabin.  Dave and Angie stayed in the cabin.  They weren’t too thrilled about it, but as tag alongs, they were happy to at least have a place to sleep... 

Our cabin was next door to Nanny and Grandpa, and we were all very close to the bathrooms.  How convenient!  Dave and Angie’s tent was across the service road and down a ways, but not too far.  Maybe a minute’s walk.

Once we were all settled in, it was late, dark, and we were starving.  Most of the restaurants had closed already, but the pizza place was still open…  so pizza it was.

We sat out in the dark, so I didn’t really have any good photos of the outdoor eating area, but the pizza wasn’t terrible.  Actually, not bad at all.  Not great, but better than expected!









It wouldn’t have mattered, we were too hungry to care.  And having a couple beers on an empty stomach made me care even less.  Ha!  

We planned to get up early and explore the valley the next morning, so we headed back to get some sleep.  

Wow, this place is amazingly beautiful.  I couldn’t believe we were actually going to sleep in Yosemite Valley!!!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Yum!  That ice cream sandwich looks heavenly.
Big Trees!  Just wonderful.  Love your pictures in Mariposa Grove.
And the view at Glacier Point.  Deee-vine and to die for.  Wish I had a trip back there planned.  Your pictures make me want to go back.


----------



## wiscbugs

Beautiful pics from Yosemite....I would have loved to be able to stop there.  Maybe a reason for another San Fran visit?  By the way, we did visit Muir Woods but only stayed for about 3 hours...the trees were cool but there wasn't much else.


----------



## PrncessA

The Disney Family Museum looks amazing! I am sure I could spend an entire day there!


 We just got back from our DL and Cali trip Saturday night and we loved it. We were to the south though, San Diego. I am writing a TR if you are interested http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-one-where-the-elephant-farts.3440368/


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## TheMaxRebo

First off, loving the gifs! 

That arcade looks pretty cool!

I feel like the Lucasfilm offices needs to decide if it wants to really accept guests and if so expand the guest area.  Don't get me wrong, still super cool to bust but feels like it makes for a kind of odd visit.

Those ice cream sandwiches look really good!

Random question:  the trees with the tunnels, were the tunnels started by nature or totally man made?

Wow, the views of the valley are amazing!  Good point about the waterfalls making it seem like more of an active vista/less like a backdrop

Wow, reservations there are harder to get than an ADR at Be Our Guest - at least you got something though.  What an experience!


----------



## annegirl

Some really great updates. Your pictures of Yosemite are breathtaking. Such a beautiful place!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> Yum!  That ice cream sandwich looks heavenly.
> Big Trees!  Just wonderful.  Love your pictures in Mariposa Grove.
> And the view at Glacier Point.  Deee-vine and to die for.  Wish I had a trip back there planned.  Your pictures make me want to go back.



Those pictures make me want to go back too!!!   We only scratched the surface of Yosemite.  I can't wait to do a dedicated trip there!



wiscbugs said:


> Beautiful pics from Yosemite....I would have loved to be able to stop there.  Maybe a reason for another San Fran visit?  By the way, we did visit Muir Woods but only stayed for about 3 hours...the trees were cool but there wasn't much else.



Yes, totally a reason for another SF visit!!!  We've visited Muir woods before too.  I recall it being pretty amazing, but as memorable as the Mariposa grove and Henry Cowell.  I did find Muir Beach to be incredibly amazing too.  That one really stands out in my memory 



PrncessA said:


> The Disney Family Museum looks amazing! I am sure I could spend an entire day there!
> 
> 
> We just got back from our DL and Cali trip Saturday night and we loved it. We were to the south though, San Diego. I am writing a TR if you are interested http://www.disboards.com/threads/the-one-where-the-elephant-farts.3440368/



I could spend an entire day there too!!!  Thanks for the heads up on your TR.  The title definitely got my attention!  



TheMaxRebo said:


> First off, loving the gifs!
> 
> That arcade looks pretty cool!
> 
> I feel like the Lucasfilm offices needs to decide if it wants to really accept guests and if so expand the guest area.  Don't get me wrong, still super cool to bust but feels like it makes for a kind of odd visit.
> 
> Those ice cream sandwiches look really good!
> 
> Random question:  the trees with the tunnels, were the tunnels started by nature or totally man made?
> 
> Wow, the views of the valley are amazing!  Good point about the waterfalls making it seem like more of an active vista/less like a backdrop
> 
> Wow, reservations there are harder to get than an ADR at Be Our Guest - at least you got something though.  What an experience!



It would certainly be cool if they expanded the guest area, as I would have loved to seen more artifacts or watched a presentation about what a "day in the life" might be like working at that office.  But it also made me feel sort of special.  That we found something that not everyone knows about.  And that we were sort of sneaking into a private area, but without the risk of trespassing.  LOL  



annegirl said:


> Some really great updates. Your pictures of Yosemite are breathtaking. Such a beautiful place!



Thanks!!!  Stay tuned for more Yosemite photos!


----------



## MarbleBob

This a bit off topic, but I'm beyond excited right now...



We just made the first official step of our next vacation and put a deposit for three nights at Aulani next summer.  We are renting DVC points and will be staying in a 1-bedroom Villa.  Yahoo!!!!!  We've been reading up on Aulani and it sounds like a ton of fun!!!

The background is that Stephanie's parents are celebrating their 50th Anniversary by taking their kids and grandkids to Hawaii for a big family vacation.  They are paying for flights and most of the lodging and some of the mails.  Yikes!!!  I can't believe how generous they are!!!!  We'll be staying in Maui for 6 nights and then 6 nights in Oahu at the Ko Olina resort next door to Aulani.  As none of them are really Disney fans like us, they'll all head home after Ko Olina, but we plan to splurge a little and spend the last couple of days at Aulani.  How could we not tack on a visit when we'll already be next door?!?!?!?  Seemed logical to us 

OK.. back to regular programming.  Next, up I'll be sharing our day in Yosemite Valley


----------



## annie170

Congrats on your Hawaii trip next year!  That sounds like it will be a fabulous time!  

Those pictures from Yosemite are just incredible!  What an awesome experience I'm sure your kids will never forget!

So how fast do you have to be to get reservations at the lodge?!  That's pretty crazy.

I want one of those ice cream sandwiches!  The boring old midwest doesn't sell anything like that.


----------



## melk

Wow, that Hawaii trip will be awsome, congratulations!

Between this trip and your adventure next year I definitely have vacation envy.

You might want to check out the DVC boards to find out all about Aulani but I'm sure you probably already knew that


----------



## PrincessInOz

YAY for Hawaii!  A-lo-ha!


----------



## jedijill

Love the pics of Muir Woods and Yosemite. Both absolutely amazing places.  Those tents are cool!  Glad you got them booked!

Side story abut Lucasfilm.  One of my employee's MIL lives in the same neighborhood as George Lucas.  The HOA meetings are held at Skywalker Ranch.  The MIL had no idea who George Lucas was but her nerdy SiL filled her in. He was able to get some Lucasfilm/Skywalker Ranch swag.  I'm super jealous. 

Congrats on the Hawaii trip!  Your inlaws are super generous!

Jill in CO


----------



## MarbleBob

annie170 said:


> Congrats on your Hawaii trip next year!  That sounds like it will be a fabulous time!
> 
> Those pictures from Yosemite are just incredible!  What an awesome experience I'm sure your kids will never forget!
> 
> So how fast do you have to be to get reservations at the lodge?!  That's pretty crazy.
> 
> I want one of those ice cream sandwiches!  The boring old midwest doesn't sell anything like that.



Thanks!!!  To get reservations for Yosemite in the busy season, you need to get up as soon as they open and take reservations a year in advance.  Stephanie used the phone vs. web because she wanted to try and get our rooms close together.  That extra couple minutes of service probably cost us rooms at the lodge. Yikes!!!  This was harder that getting reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table or Be Our Guest in WDW.



melk said:


> Wow, that Hawaii trip will be awsome, congratulations!
> 
> Between this trip and your adventure next year I definitely have vacation envy.
> 
> You might want to check out the DVC boards to find out all about Aulani but I'm sure you probably already knew that



Thanks!!!  And yes, we've already spent a ton of time on the DVC boards about Aulani.  It really looks like a fun place!



PrincessInOz said:


> YAY for Hawaii!  A-lo-ha!



Yahoo!!!  This will be our first visit to Hawaii.  So excited!



jedijill said:


> Love the pics of Muir Woods and Yosemite. Both absolutely amazing places.  Those tents are cool!  Glad you got them booked!
> 
> Side story abut Lucasfilm.  One of my employee's MIL lives in the same neighborhood as George Lucas.  The HOA meetings are held at Skywalker Ranch.  The MIL had no idea who George Lucas was but her nerdy SiL filled her in. He was able to get some Lucasfilm/Skywalker Ranch swag.  I'm super jealous.
> 
> Congrats on the Hawaii trip!  Your inlaws are super generous!
> 
> Jill in CO



That's a cool story about your employee's MIL and George Lucas.  You should mention to them that bribes featuring Lucasfilm swag are welcome!  (Just kidding of course)


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 9 - Saturday June, 20 - Yosemite Valley!*

The goal for today was to explore Yosemite Valley.  We planned to start early, before the people driving in from outside the park arrived.  We also planned to take advantage of the shuttle service so that we could avoid all the traffic and parking headaches that we’d read about.

We got up early and rounded up the kids while we waited for a couple slow pokes in the party.





And then we headed towards main the parking lot to catch a shuttle.





Whoa, Yosemite Falls!!!!!!  Just like in Soarin’!!!





Due to a combination of some "slow pokiness” and a mixup with the bus stops, we ended up waiting for about an hour before the rest of our party arrived.  If you can imagine wasting your first hour of early entry at Disneyland due to things that were out of your control, you might understand how I felt during that hour.  Oh well, that was the most frustrating part of the entire 17 days of traveling with two other families.  Not too bad in the grand scheme of things!

Anyway, we caught the bus at the main parking lot.  And boy, if you had to sit around for an hour, it sure was a pretty place to sit!!!  (Steph giving me one of those, it's OK.  "Be patient" smiles.)





So yeah, we eventually found the others, and we hopped on the shuttle, and then stopped at the main visitor center first.  We wanted to get a lay of the land, get our National Parks Passports stamped, and stuff like that.

Stepping off the shuttle, we were even closer to Yosemite Falls.  Happy to see that the water was still flowing fairly well too!





We decided to meet back at the shuttle in 20 minutes!!!  (No dilly dallying this time around, people!!!)

They had a cool 3D map of the valley in the main lobby.





And a cool museum area too!





Anyway, we looked around inside for a while.  And then waited for everyone to finish up.





After looking at the maps, we decided to take the shuttle to Bridal Veil Falls first... Do the hike there, and then hop on the shuttle over to Sentinel Beach for a picnic lunch.

I can’t remember the names of everything, but the bus driver was more like a tour guide.  He kept on pulling over at different spots and pointing out various features.  Letting us get out for photos and stuff.  Pretty cool!

















Again, I’m only sharing a small fraction of all the photos that I took!

A while later, we arrived at the drop off for Bridal Veil Falls.  The kids had fun climbing on the rocks as they periodically waited for Nanny and Grandpa to catch up...









Bridal Veil Falls was very popular.  People seem to love it, but unfortunately, it was fairly dry when we were there.  And the sun was directly behind the top of it!!  So it was hard to see.  But still fun to watch.  Most of the water blew away before it hit the bottom of the falls.  It was fun to see how changes in the wind affected the pattern of the falling water.





We probably spent 15 to 20 minutes at the top of the trail and then decided to head back.

We had to wait 20 or 30 minutes of the shuttle to pick us up again, but who cares when you have El Capitain staring right at you!!!













And then looking back behind us, you could still see Bridal Veil Falls back in the distance.


----------



## jedijill

MarbleBob said:


> That's a cool story about your employee's MIL and George Lucas.  You should mention to them that bribes featuring Lucasfilm swag are welcome!  (Just kidding of course)




Trust me...I've put in my request. 

Jill in CO


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 9 - Saturday June, 20 - Yosemite Valley - Part 2*

OK… So we eventually hopped back on the shuttle and headed over to the Sentinel Beach stop.  It was a bit of a hike over to the Merced River, but well worth it!!!





Holy cow, this is amazing.  What a place for a picnic!!!!!

We explored for a little while first, and then ate, and then explored a bit more.





You could rent rafts from Curry Village and float down to this spot.  I’m totally doing that next time we visit!!!





Wow!! Yosemite Falls in the background (photo below.)  Looks smaller in the photo, but was so cool to have it grab your attention every now and then!





I was taking photos and this duck decided to swim by.  Quack, quack!!





And the girls had a lot of fun goofing off!









After a while, it was time to move on.  Our goal was to hike over to the swinging bridge, across the Merced River, through the meadow, and over to Yosemite Falls.

Another great photo opp on the way.  Hey look, the swinging bridge doesn’t swing…  Must have been a swinging bridge originally or something...





Lots of cool places for the kids to explore!





And then crossing the bridge, what a view!!!  After riding the Soarin’ ride at Epcot and California Adventure countless times, it was fun to finally see this particular view in person!  (Cross that off the bucket list!)









And then crossing through the meadow





Once we made it across the meadow, we were close to the shuttle line again.  The original plan was to hike up to Yosemite Falls, but it was really hot and dry.  Grandpa voiced concern that he was going to suffer from heat exhaustion if he didn’t call it quits for a while.  And then the kids really wanted to go back to the pool.  (They were jealous of all the people swimming in the water and floating around the Swinging Bridge.)

So we decided to split up.  Everyone else went back to Curry Village to swim, and then Stephanie and I decided to keep hiking.

A little while later, we made it to the entrance area to the falls.









It’s not a long hike up to the lower falls at all.  But I was getting hot/tired too, so we decided to sit and relax on the side of the trail for 5 or 10 minutes.  It was interesting because a TON of people passed us by.  But I don’t think any of them were Americans!  There was a large group of French speaking people who came up in small packs for a while.  And lots of Asian people.  Some Germans.  Some sort of Eastern European's that I couldn’t make out their language.  Some people speaking Spanish.  Etc.  It was weird to feel like we were the strangers, but very cool!!!!  (Maybe they should add a Yosemite Falls attraction to the American Pavilion in EPCOT's World Showcase 

Turns out that we stopped just short of the lower falls and a minute later we were there.





Wow, what a sight!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 9 - Saturday June, 20 - Yosemite Valley - Part 3*

We walked back from the falls and past the visitor center again to fill up our water bottles.





I was sort of reluctant to fill up with the water, most water from parks that I have previously visited tastes a bit funky.  It turns out that this water, is pumped out from deep below the valley.  That it’s filtered naturally by all the glacial rock deposits.  And boy, was it pure and fresh tasting.  I filled up all our bottles before we left the next morning, and I coveted that water for the next couple days.  LOL.

We also explored the Ansel Adams gallery.  Some amazing stuff in there!!! And then, we hit the main gift shop.  It was more like a small Wal-Mart or something.  This place was huge.  I ended up getting a couple cool Yosemite T-shirts.

Eventually, we hopped on the shuttle and headed over to the Ahwahnee.  This is the main lodge in Yosemite.  I’m a sucker for this type of architecture.  Probably why the Wilderness Lodge is my favorite place to stay in WDW and why I love exploring the Grand Californian (although we’ve never stayed there.)

I took thousands of photos on this vacation, and why didn’t I take any of the lodge outside?!?!?  It was spectacular.  Anyway, I did get a few photos of the inside so, here we go.

You enter through a long corridor, which now makes the main entrance to the Grand Californian seem a little less strange to me.





I expected to see a big open lobby, but the main lobby was somewhat underwhelming.





Hey look, a little snack/gift shop.  Let’s see if they have any ice cream!





They did! We split and ice cream cookie sandwich and then headed outside to enjoy it.

The lawn area on the back patio was amazing.





OK.  There’s clearly more than meets the eye here, let’s go back in and explore!

We stumbled upon the main social area.  This is more like what I expected to see when we first entered!





Amazing details from floor to ceilling.









Next up, we found the main restaurant.





Too bad we didn’t have reservations!!! And I’m sure the kids would have been disappointed for us to leave them hanging for dinner too!!!  With that in mind, we decided to wrap it up and head back to Curry Village.









We guessed that the rest of the family would still be at the pool, and luckily we caught them just as they were drying off.





And then we all headed back to the cabins.





While the kids were all getting changed, I headed back to the center of camp to scout out our dinner options.

Turns out that there were three main options.

#1.  A window-based joint that focused on burgers and sandwiches.





#2.  The pizza place.

#3.  The main dining cafeteria.





The main dining cafeteria actually looked pretty good.  But the kids thought the food was too much for grown ups.  (They were probably right. But still…)


Anyway, I did a little more exploring before I headed back to sharing my findings.  They had an outdoor stage/pavilion for shows and events.





And then a common room with games and stuff.  Oh, and the only wifi in the area.  Which is HUGE because we had no cell coverage.   (The lack of cell coverage was torture for Princess.  Oh my gosh, 1.5 days off the grid?!?!?!)





Lots of rocking chairs on the porch.





OK. Time to head back to the cabins.

Passing the parking lot again.  What a view!





Passing more of those tents...





So happy that we didn’t have to stay in one of those.  They are so close to each other, and if you were unlucky enough to be next to a loud/obnoxious group, you would be out of luck!!

And then I found Buddy chilling by the giant rock across from our cabin.





After sharing the findings from my recon, we agreed that the "window grill”  (I forget what it was called) was the best fit for everyone.  (Except for Dave, Angie, and their kids decided to head over to see what options were available over by the Yosemite Hotel and visitors center.)

You ordered from the window, and then grabbed a table.





So what did we think?  Well, it was decent.  Considering the location and all that.  Not amazing, but not terrible either.

Buddy is pretty much always chicken and fries, when he can have them.  (Strangely at home, he’s the healthiest eater of all three of our kids.)





Princess went for a grilled chicken sandwich on ciabatta.  She liked it well enough.





Stephanie went for the salmon burger.  Which she didn’t really like at all.  (And she loves salmon.)





I went for this bacon and onion hot dog thingy.  I lucked out, because despite how it looked, it was incredibly tasty!!





Oh, and their gift shop/grocery was next door.  I went in and grabbed a couple cold beers!!!

I had never heard of this stuff before, but boy was it tasty after a long day in the Valley!





So after dinner, Princess really wanted to go spend some time on the wifi, but didn’t want to go alone.  So I took my beers with me and we rocked in the rocking chairs for a long, long time.  It was really nice.  And I caught up on Facebook and a few work related emails too.   Eventually, it got dark and we decided to head back for the night.

In the meantime, Stephanie and the younger kids went back to take showers and get organized.  Our goal was to leave at 5am the next morning… As we had a date with Walt’s Barn and hoped to meet Bob Gurr.  Didn’t want to take any chances of traffic or an accident making us late!!!

What a spectacular day.  And good night moon!

Oh and one last thing, I mentioned that we usually get pins for the kids at major destinations.  Here are the Yosemite pins that we picked up.






Stay tuned, because we arrive in Anaheim tomorrow!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

jedijill said:


> Trust me...I've put in my request.
> 
> Jill in CO



Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## jedijill

Another great day!  The scenery is absolutely stunning.  I love the old historic lodges.  No wifi is torture!

Jill in CO


----------



## Princess Clayre

We're planning a similar trip to this next year so I've been loving your report so far. Wonderful photo's of Yosemite. It's making me excited to visit as we've just managed to secure accommodation in the park ready for the trip. Looking forward to the rest.


----------



## PrincessInOz

WOW!  What an amazing set of memories at Yosemite Valley.  Beautiful!  
I definitely have to go back there someday.  Thanks for sharing.


----------



## annegirl

Another awesome day! Beautiful pictures and it looks like so much fun.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

First, that is awesome news about your Hawaii trip ... and agree that it would be weird/hard to go all the way to Hawaii and not stop at Aulani 

Meeting up and/or getting ready in the morning was one of the parts I found most challenging with traveling with other families.  At times it felt like time was being wasted by having to wait at various meetup points/times.  Sounds like all in all wasn't too bad for you with the whole trip was considered though

That's pretty cool that the shuttle bus was also a bit of a tour and stopped for pictures as well

Wow!  That is such a cool spot for a picnic!



MarbleBob said:


> And then crossing through the meadow



cool picture - almost looks like you could be in the Swiss Alps or something, with hills alive with the sound of music and what not

Oh, per the Yosemite Hikes website:  "The Swinging Bridge, so called because it goes to both sides of the river,"   but I don't really understand that as doesn't any bridge, but definition, go to both sides of something?    Also, apparently the Wawona Swinging Bridge is one in Yosemite that actually swings.



MarbleBob said:


> It was interesting because a TON of people passed us by. But I don’t think any of them were Americans!


  It's interesting how people from other countries come to explore so much of the U.S. yet so many of us never do.  I work for a Swiss Company so have a lot of people from Europe who come to the U.S. at times and they always allot time to see so many more sites in my own country that I have never seen.  Guess it is like how people who live in NYC never go to the top of the Empire State Building or to the Statue of Liberty - unless people from out of town come and want to see it.



MarbleBob said:


> Lots of rocking chairs on the porch.


 ... full of people on their phones enjoying the wifi 

ah, a nice good beer that is very cold after a long hot day is pretty much paradise to me ... sounds like a nice evening after a great day


----------



## annie170

Your pictures from Yosemite are breathtakingly beautiful and spectacular!  Thank you for sharing them.

Waiting for others to get ready is maddening.  We had an eye opening experience years ago as to just how rude our friends could be.


----------



## melk

Awesome update, your pictures are great.  I especially enjoyed it because after some discussion the past few nights at dinner, I got up this morning and reserved two nights at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls (yes, for one year from today!).

Time to start planning


----------



## MarbleBob

Princess Clayre said:


> We're planning a similar trip to this next year so I've been loving your report so far. Wonderful photo's of Yosemite. It's making me excited to visit as we've just managed to secure accommodation in the park ready for the trip. Looking forward to the rest.



That's awesome.  I hope you have as much fun as we did!  



PrincessInOz said:


> WOW!  What an amazing set of memories at Yosemite Valley.  Beautiful!
> I definitely have to go back there someday.  Thanks for sharing.



I have to go back there someday too!!!!!!  



annegirl said:


> Another awesome day! Beautiful pictures and it looks like so much fun.



Thanks!  Lots and lots of fun 



TheMaxRebo said:


> First, that is awesome news about your Hawaii trip ... and agree that it would be weird/hard to go all the way to Hawaii and not stop at Aulani
> 
> Meeting up and/or getting ready in the morning was one of the parts I found most challenging with traveling with other families.  At times it felt like time was being wasted by having to wait at various meetup points/times.  Sounds like all in all wasn't too bad for you with the whole trip was considered though



I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is challenged by non-punctual people.  I guess it's different priorities and stuff, some people just aren't time conscious and don't realize the impact it has on others who put in the extra effort to be on time. Of course we are all late for something every now and then, but I try to make it the rare exception 



TheMaxRebo said:


> That's pretty cool that the shuttle bus was also a bit of a tour and stopped for pictures as well
> 
> Wow!  That is such a cool spot for a picnic!
> 
> cool picture - almost looks like you could be in the Swiss Alps or something, with hills alive with the sound of music and what not



Almost!!!  I've been to the French Alps a couple times (near Chamonix and Mt. Blanc) and this was every bit as beautiful.  And in many ways, more beautiful!!!  Lucky for the rest of our group, I never broke out in song.  (I can't carry a tune.)



TheMaxRebo said:


> Oh, per the Yosemite Hikes website:  "The Swinging Bridge, so called because it goes to both sides of the river,"   but I don't really understand that as doesn't any bridge, but definition, go to both sides of something?    Also, apparently the Wawona Swinging Bridge is one in Yosemite that actually swings.



Hahaha!!  



TheMaxRebo said:


> It's interesting how people from other countries come to explore so much of the U.S. yet so many of us never do.  I work for a Swiss Company so have a lot of people from Europe who come to the U.S. at times and they always allot time to see so many more sites in my own country that I have never seen.  Guess it is like how people who live in NYC never go to the top of the Empire State Building or to the Statue of Liberty - unless people from out of town come and want to see it.
> 
> 
> ... full of people on their phones enjoying the wifi
> 
> ah, a nice good beer that is very cold after a long hot day is pretty much paradise to me ... sounds like a nice evening after a great day



Paradise indeed!  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




   (I had to go out of my way to find a cheers smiley.  Ha!)



annie170 said:


> Your pictures from Yosemite are breathtakingly beautiful and spectacular!  Thank you for sharing them.
> 
> Waiting for others to get ready is maddening.  We had an eye opening experience years ago as to just how rude our friends could be.



Thanks!  



melk said:


> Awesome update, your pictures are great.  I especially enjoyed it because after some discussion the past few nights at dinner, I got up this morning and reserved two nights at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls (yes, for one year from today!).
> 
> Time to start planning



That is so cool!!!!     We really wanted to stay at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls too, but they were booked within minutes on the day we called.  Great job!!!!  You're going to have a blast!


----------



## PrncessA

Wow, what a day! I spent a lot of time "camping" like that, with my grandparents, growing up. What wonderful memories for everyone!!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrncessA said:


> Wow, what a day! I spent a lot of time "camping" like that, with my grandparents, growing up. What wonderful memories for everyone!!



That's really cool.  I'm glad my kids will have similar memories with their grandparents too!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - L.A. Live Steamers and Bob Gurr!!!*

It was a bummer to only have 1.5 days in Yosemite, but no worries as we were heading for one my most anticipated anticipated activities of the whole trip…  Seeing Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park, riding the trains, and meeting Bob Gurr!

As I mentioned earlier, we’re the only die hard Disney fan’s on Stephanie’s side of the family, so the idea of getting up super early to see more Walt stuff didn’t appeal to the rest of the family.  So we bid them all farewell the night before and agreed to meet up at the Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim later in the day.

Our goal was to get on the road at 5:00 AM.  (We wanted to arrive in LA around 1:00 or 2:00 and didn’t want to risk being late due to traffic or any accidents.)  So that meant we had to get up around 4:15 AM to load the car and get on the road.  Wow, you could really see the stars!!!!

As we approached our departure, I grabbed a couple photos of the dark sky.  And then sure enough, we were off right at 5am.





It was surreal driving on the winding roads through the Valley when it was still somewhat dark and lonesome.  Such a contrast to the super crowded traffic the day before.  

A little while later, we had made it to tunnel view.  I’ve never tried HDR photography before, but since it was fairly dark still (the sun was just below the horizon), I decided to give it a try. The following photo was a combination of 6 or 7 individual photos with some under exposed and some overexposed.  In the end, the photo looks like it was taken in the daylight, but it was still sort of dark.  Not the the quality that I had hoped for, but it still turned out pretty well, I think.





Overall, the drive to LA was fairly uneventful and boring.  Which was a welcome change after the last few busy days!!!  As we approached LA, we needed gas and figured that we might as well stop for lunch.  We Yelped a bit and saw that an In-N-Out was just off the highway, so we pulled off.  Except for, no dice, it was closed for refurbishment.  Bummer!  We went ahead and got gas across the street and while I was doing that, Stephanie Yelped for other options that were nearby.  There was a place called “Teriyaki Madness” down the road that had great reviews.  Why not?!?!?  Everyone was game, so we headed that way.  It was in some sort of funky shopping complex with a fake trolley outside.  Cool, I guess...





It was just before 11am, and they had recently opened.  I think we were the first customers and they were happy to greet us.  Oh, and I forgot, it was Fathers Day.  They offered us 20% off our meal to help celebrate.  Cool!  We mostly all ordered versions of teriyaki chicken.

I had spicy teriyaki chicken and yakisoba. It was yummy!!!





Stephanie and Princess both had regular teriyaki and rice.





Buddy went with just the chicken and rice





And Pickle went with brown rice and shrimp tempura.





All in all, it was a delicious meal.  Especially for being counter service.  Maybe a little better than a Sansai and definitely much better than anything you’d get in the mall like Sarku. 

We relaxed in the shade for a while and then headed to Griffith Park.  

Another hour or so, and we had arrived!!!





We decided to ride a train with the L.A. Live Steamers first.  (And you know, Walt Disney, was a founding member of this club.)  I think it was about $3 per person, not bad.  This was probably my favorite small scale train ride ever.  We have a good one here in St. Louis, and I mentioned the awesome one that we rode out to Royal Gorge in Colorado.  This was cooler than those because it had a lot of turns, tunnels, straights, trestles, etc. with lots of cool scenery too.

It took about 20 minutes to get through the line.  This place is popular!





And a few minutes later, it was our turn to get on.





The whole ride was about 10 to 15 minutes long.  It sure was a lot of fun!  Here’s a video with a couple minutes of the highlights.






Next up, was to head over to Walt’s Barn.  So, yeah, the barn is only open once a month, we timed this Sunday over a year in advance.  LOL!!!  But we didn’t know then, that they’d be having the opening event for their new “Trains of Disneyland” exhibit.  Or that Bob Gurr would be there for a meet and greet.  We found that out a couple months earlier before we left.  I really got excited then.  I mean Bob Gurr?!?!?  Mr. Monorail himself?!?!?  The guy who designed the Autopia cars, and the Matterhorn Bobsleds?!?!?  And the Haunted Mansion Doom Buggies?!?!?  And countless other Disneyland ride vehicles.  Wow, what an opportunity!

Anyway, we headed over to the barn area and it was PACKED!  They had quite the turnout for the opening of the new trains exhibit.  But we made good time driving from Yosemite, and it was a lovely day, and we had plenty of time, so we didn’t care.  

Even though it was packed, it was full of kindred spirits.  Pretty much everyone there were true Walt Disney fans.  (Not just people taking their kids to a theme park.)  Our kind of people!!!  There was plenty of good energy and positive vibes all around!!!

Only a couple people were lined up to meet Bob, so we headed over there first.  (Most were in line to tour the barn.)  

Remember the pin and post card that we picked up in Marceline?





We were excited to share them with Bob and he graciously accepted.  He said that he didn’t have anything from Marceline and thought they were pretty cool.  He even let Pickle apply the pin to his shirt.





He ended up having an L.A. barn pin on his right shirt collar and a Marceline barn pin on his left shirt collar.  He wore the pin the rest of the day, so that was pretty cool!

I made a quick video of the interaction...






We also asked him to sign the stamps that the kids had cancelled at Walt Disney Post Office in Marceline.





And then Buddy asked him to sign some monorail track from his play set.  As Buddy walked up with them, Bob said, “Hey, I know what those are!”





We had him sign two.  One for Eli, and one for a fellow monorail fan!   

I didn’t ask for anything to be signed, I preferred a photo with the Disney Legend himself!





We chatted with Bob for several minutes. He was super friendly, warm and open.  Such a right on guy!  

Here’s a better photo of our autographs.  You can't buy vacation souvenirs this cool!!!! (At least that's what I hope the kids say when they look at these when they are all grown up.)





Next up, we decided to get in line to go inside Walt's Barn and tour the train exhibit...


----------



## jedijill

How fun to time your trip and catch meeting Bob Gurr!  He is adorable!  I met him at Kurt Russell's wine dinner last year and he is a hoot!  Everytime I see the gravedigger in the HM, I'm reminded of him. 

We used to have a Teriyaki Madness but it closed...I really liked it!

Jill in CO


----------



## justafigment27

Beautiful Yosemite pictures and how neat that you were able to meet Bob Gurr and get the toy monorail signed - what a unique momento!  I am really enjoying your report!

Your Hawaii trip sounds great!  Three days at Aulani will be a perfect cap to your vacation ... you will probably be all toured out by then and ready to just sit back and enjoy the resort!


----------



## PrincessInOz

OMG!  Bob Gurr!  And he sounds sooo coool!  Awesome that he's so nice. 
That's a great travel souvenir that money cannot buy.  Your kids are going to treasure that in future years.

And thanks for putting the videos together.  I'm really enjoying it all.


----------



## Dopey7dwarfs

Since you like Vans and going to the Aulani,  there a store call Journeys that has an exclusive Aloha Mickey Vans skate shoes.

Great trip report.


----------



## MarbleBob

jedijill said:


> How fun to time your trip and catch meeting Bob Gurr!  He is adorable!  I met him at Kurt Russell's wine dinner last year and he is a hoot!  Everytime I see the gravedigger in the HM, I'm reminded of him.
> 
> We used to have a Teriyaki Madness but it closed...I really liked it!
> 
> Jill in CO



That's cool that you were able to meet him too.  Such a neat guy!  I wondered if Teriyaki Madness was a chain.  Too bad yours closed!



justafigment27 said:


> Beautiful Yosemite pictures and how neat that you were able to meet Bob Gurr and get the toy monorail signed - what a unique momento!  I am really enjoying your report!
> 
> Your Hawaii trip sounds great!  Three days at Aulani will be a perfect cap to your vacation ... you will probably be all toured out by then and ready to just sit back and enjoy the resort!



Thanks!  Yeah, I'm sure we'll be toured out by the time we reach Aulani. But you are right, it'll be nice to just go down to the pools and relax!!!



PrincessInOz said:


> OMG!  Bob Gurr!  And he sounds sooo coool!  Awesome that he's so nice.
> That's a great travel souvenir that money cannot buy.  Your kids are going to treasure that in future years.
> 
> And thanks for putting the videos together.  I'm really enjoying it all.



Thanks, I'm glad you are enjoying it.  We've found that writing a trip report is a great way to remember our vacations.  (So I love the show and tell aspect, but the self-serving aspect is great too!)  Stephanie and I sometimes go back and read through our previous trip reports and it's amazing how soon you forget things, and it's cool to be reminded of them 



Dopey7dwarfs said:


> Since you like Vans and going to the Aulani,  there a store call Journeys that has an exclusive Aloha Mickey Vans skate shoes.
> 
> Great trip report.



Thanks!  I hadn't blew all my "fun money", I'd totally have a pair of those Aloha Vans too!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - Walt’s Barn in Griffith Park*

So yeah, this was opening day for their new “Trains of Disneyland” exhibit.    Normally, the exhibits inside the barn focus on Walt’s Carolwood Pacific Railroad (the one that ran at his home, where this barn was relocated from), but for the next several months, they have this new exhibit set up.  We love Walt, we love trains, and we love Disneyland.  Sounds great, let’s go get in line!

It was pretty crowded.   The line to enter the barn wrapped all the way round behind it.  But again no worries, we were surrounded by lots of true Disney fans and there was good energy abound.





It took about 45 minutes to get through the line, but there were always things to look at, and it didn't seem like it took that long at all.  

As we made our way around from the back of the barn to the side, we saw Ollie Johnston’s station.





If that name doesn’t ring a bell, Ollie was one of Walt’s “Nine Old Men.”  He pretty much played a part in animating all of the Disney classic movies that you can think of (Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, etc.)  And he was a train fan too, I think even before Walt took up the hobby. 

Anyway, Ollie had a full size steam engine running on his property, and this was his strain station!  (Another cool note, is that when Ollie was too old to operate the train, he sold it around 2002.  Guess who he sold it to?  John Lasseter!!!!!  John has a full size track running around his property up in Sonoma with Ollie’s train.  Pretty cool stuff!

Oh, and if you haven't see the Frank & Ollie movie, run, don't walk to wherever you rent/purchase DVD's and get it!!!  (You can rent/stream it from Amazon.)  It's truly a warm and touching movie.

http://movies.disney.com/frank-and-ollie

A little bit further around the barn, we came across the Retlaw 1 combine.   This was modeled off an old train car that carried both passengers and freight.  (Apparently, this was the type of car that Walt worked out of when he worked on the Santa Fe selling stuff to passengers as a kid.)  Anyway, this car ran on the original Disneyland railroad, but was apparently removed from service because it did’t offer the easy views of the park that the train cars have today.  Oh, and read 'Retlaw' backwards!  





Next up in the line, we came across some sort of strange steam plant.  I guess the purpose was to demonstrate how steam engines work, but we didn’t really have much time to check it out.  It had a long rope to a steam whistle that hung over the fence.  The kids had  blast blowing the whistle!









It was almost our turn to enter the barn.  While we were waiting, we were serenaded by a guy with a guitar singing old railroad and Disney songs.  He was a hoot.  (See the video clip below.)





A few minutes later, we were inside.  Although it’s been relocated, it was pretty darn cool to be inside of Walt’s happy place.  Thinking about all the time he must have spent tinkering around in here!  And cool to think that we were at the site of his boyhood barn just a week earlier!





Anyway, the barn is full of permanent and temporary artifacts.  They had a few staff members on hand to answer questions and sort of guide you through the exhibit.  I’m not going to share everything, but just a few photos...

























(Kevin and Jody rule, by the way.)





Hey TheMaxRebo, this one’s for you!





We probably spent about 30 minutes looking at all the artifacts.  This was cool stuff.  Right up our alley!!!  If you are ever near Griffith Park (about 45 minutes north of Disneyland) on that third Sunday of the month, you should definitely go visit Walt’s Barn!!!

Here’s a short video with a few highlights:










After visiting the barn, we decided to visit the souvenir stand.  They had some cool posters on discount, so Buddy and I each purchased one.  (Ignore the pins for now, we picked those up in Disneyland.  I just needed something to keep the poster flat.)





It was now about 2pm and we had to decide whether or not to head to Anaheim and check-in to the hotel, or to hit a couple other Walt related sites in the area.  The kids decided that they’d rather go swim in the pool.  So off to the Candy Cane Inn it was!


----------



## annie170

I've enjoyed so many aspects of this trip report, San Francisco, Yosemite, now meeting Bob Gurr!  I'm officially jealous!


----------



## MarbleBob

It really was a once in a lifetime trip... and lots of more fun stuff to share


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - Candy Cane Inn & Downtown Disney*

About an hour later, we pulled into the Candy Cane Inn.  Wow, after 10 days of traveling, it felt good to arrive in Anaheim, knowing that we’d be staying put for the next five nights!





The rest of the family were still a couple hours away, so we headed into the office to check in for everyone.  Guess what they had inside the office?





A little background on our hotel choice... we had decided that staying on property was out of our budget this time around.  And again, with the rest of the family only being fair weathered Disney fans, they wouldn’t have wanted to pay the premium anyway.

Stephanie spent a few hours a while back exploring all the hotel options and reading feedback on the DisBoards.  Ultimately, we narrowed it down to HOJO and Candy Cane Inn.  Stephanie and I stayed at the HOJO back in 2010 and we really enjoyed it, especially since we had a balcony that looked straight at the Matterhorn (great for fireworks.)  Back in 2010 HOJO was a no brainer, because it was much cheaper than a lot of its competition.  Seems that they’ve raised prices this time around, because was no longer the obvious choice.

While both options are about the same walking distance and similar quality, the Candy Cane Inn had a couple things going for it over HOJO for our group.  #1.  Free shuttle.  (This wasn’t huge for us, but Stephanie’s parents are in their early 70’s, and while they are in pretty good health, this was a nice option for them.)  #2.  Free continental breakfast. (That’s not terrible.)  HOJO wins for the pools and views, but the concensus, from the group was that the shuttle and breakfast was more important on this trip.  So that’s where we ended up.

Anyway, we checked in and I was able to take a few photos before the rooms became trashed with luggage and souvenirs.

















The rooms were actually quite nice.  No strange smells or anything either!

We got unpacked and settled in.  Steph, Princess, and Buddy all relaxed in the room for a while, and then Pickle and I headed over to the pool.  Which turned out to be just across from our room.  How convenient!

And while we were wrapping up in the pool, the rest of the family arrived. 

While they were unpacking and unwinding, our group was fairly rested up, so we decided to get a head start on the evening, and head over to Downtown Disney for dinner.  We went ahead and took the shuttle over, as it was about to depart as we walked past it anyway.  Score!

Within a couple minutes, we were walking across the esplanade.  We’re here!  Let the magic begin!!!!





We decided to go ahead and pick up our park tickets before going any further.  We purchased our tickets back in February from ARes travel before the price went up.  You end up with a voucher that you print off and bring to one of the ticket booths.  We traded in the voucher for our 3-day park hopper passes and we were ready to go.  Bonus was that it a couple minutes, as there was no line!!!

So, yeah, we decided to make our way through DTD for dinner.





Stephanie and Princess really wanted to eat at Earl of Sandwich (for the turkey holiday sandwich), but Buddy and Pickle weren’t feeling it.  We decided to split up at that point.  Since Earl of Sandwich is next door to the Disneyland hotel, I took Buddy and Pickle over to Tangaroa Terrace and then Stephanie and Princess would meet us there.

Disneyland hotel is the bomb.  We stayed there in 2013 and it’s one of our favorite Disney hotels.  Such an amazing place.  Anyway, walking to Tangaroa Terrace, you pass through the Sorcerer Mickey hat… and it had a cool Diamond celebration emblem on it.





Heads up!





I have to admit, that I was really wishing that we had decided to stay here.





We took the shortcut to the back entrance, passing the Adventure tower.





We went inside the back entrance to the restaurant, ordered our food, and then found an outdoor seat out front.





And yeah, I’m a sucker for anything Tiki related!!!





We waited for our food to come out, and then Stephanie and Princess found us.

What did we get?

I got the shrimp tacos.  Pretty darn tasty!





Buddy got a bacon cheeseburger.  Without cheese.  And the bacon on the side.  LOL.





My kids LOVE Disney bacon.  Somehow, they convinced Stephanie to go inside and order more bacon for each of them.  Ha!





Oh and getting my story straight.  Turns out Pickle got a grilled cheese sandwich from Earl of Sandwich, but we ordered her some fries from here.









Princess got a wrap





And Stephanie was stoked to have her holiday turkey sandwich (with stuffing and cranberry sauce).





Yummy!!!

Such a great place to relax and enjoy the atmosphere.

OK, so we are next to to Trader Sam’s.  We can’t NOT get drinks, right?!?!  It was pretty crowded, so I decided to get a couple drinks to bring back out to the patio.  They asked if I wanted them to go, but they misunderstood and thought that I meant that we were leaving the premises, so they gave them to us in plastic cups.  Not as fun as drinking out of tiki glasses, but no big deal.

Stephanie fell in love with the Piranha Pool on our last visit, and dreamed of having another one ever since.  (It’s some sort of frozen concoction made with vodka instead of rum.  Delicious!)





And I went with the Krakatoa Punch!!!  (With comes with special effects inside the bar when you order one!)  It’s not a Mai Tai, but it’s a rum drink in that vein.  Very tasty!!!





And I ordered mine with the souvenir mug, to go.  They just wrapped it up for me, which made it convenient to carry around the rest of the evening.

Here are a couple photos of the mug.









And here it is next to a few Tiki souvenirs from previous Disney trips.  I guess, I’m starting a Tiki mug collection now.





After we finished our drinks, we decided to explore the resort for a little while before moving on.  The pool area is truly spectacular!









Brings back great memories.  If you ever have the chance to stay here, I highly recommend it.  This is Disney at its finest!  (Feel free to go back to our older trip report, if you are interested in reading about our previous experiences at the Disneyland Hotel.)

Anyway, after walking around the hotel grounds for a while, we decided to head back into Downtown Disney as the others would be heading that way and joining us soon.


----------



## Happyinwonerland

I don't usually take the time to read through trip reports, but yours caught my eye. My husband and I have been dreaming of taking our DD, 3, on this exact trip, possibly next August. We would be leaving from Lexington, KY, a few hours east of you. Our plan is to see my brother and niece in San Francisco, and then go south to Anaheim area. It has been so neat to see the stops you picked, as we have no idea where to begin planning! 

I love all the Walt history you took in. I'm a sucker for history and museums, although with a young one it is tougher to fit in! Which one of the walt stops was your favorite? 

Your photos from the  stop in Yosemite are positively breathtaking!  I am 1000% jealous of every stop on your trip! Was the hiking at Yosemite rough? 

I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip! It sounds amazing!


----------



## MarbleBob

Happyinwonerland said:


> I don't usually take the time to read through trip reports, but yours caught my eye. My husband and I have been dreaming of taking our DD, 3, on this exact trip, possibly next August. We would be leaving from Lexington, KY, a few hours east of you. Our plan is to see my brother and niece in San Francisco, and then go south to Anaheim area. It has been so neat to see the stops you picked, as we have no idea where to begin planning!
> 
> I love all the Walt history you took in. I'm a sucker for history and museums, although with a young one it is tougher to fit in! Which one of the walt stops was your favorite?
> 
> Your photos from the  stop in Yosemite are positively breathtaking!  I am 1000% jealous of every stop on your trip! Was the hiking at Yosemite rough?
> 
> I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip! It sounds amazing!



That's really awesome.  I hope it works out and that you'll be able to do a similar trip.  It was amazing and I highly recommend it!

Which stop was my favorite?  That's a tough call!!!!  I'd say that my favorite was Walt's Barn in Griffith Park, because of the opening of the train exhibit and because we were able to meet Bob Gurr.  If I was to take those two items out of the equation, then I'd say the Walt Disney Family Museum in SF was my favorite.  The museum was outstanding!  Marceline is always a lot of fun, but I've been there several times before.

None of the hiking we did in Yosemite was rough at all, not even close to the amount of walking we did at Disneyland!!!!  The youngest in the group was a 6 year old and she never complained once.  A cool thing about Yosemite, is that many of the sites are easy to get to.  You could even push a kid in in a stroller, as a lot of the sites are  handicap accessible.  If you are into serious hiking, then they have you covered too.  But having only a day and a half, we chose the "scratch the surface" hikes.


----------



## jedijill

The train barn looks awesome!  I have to plan a trip around the day it is open...it looks so cool!

Yay for arriving at DL!  I love Trader Sams.  Such a fun place.

Jill in CO


----------



## melk

Excited to be getting to the Disneyland portion of the trip, although I have really enjoyed seeing the places you visited...you really did your Disney research!!

The Candy Cane Inn looks very nice.  Just wondering, as a family of five (we are too), did you find it hard to find rooms that fit all of you while on your trip?  Or did you just all fit yourselves into a standard room (no judgements, we have on occasion brought an air mattress to accommodate our youngest)?


----------



## PrincessInOz

Love the train barn.  Looks like you got there with a ton of people!  And that poster is fantastic!

YAY for CCI.  I like that property.  Free continental breakfast and shuttle is always good.
And I'm looking forward to your Disneyland portion as well.  Great start with the food porn and tiki collection!!


----------



## annegirl

Wow! The barn looks so interesting. And what a cool thing to be able to meet Bob Gurr. The interaction looked really great. 
Candy Cane inn looks nice. I have been curious about that hotel. When we have contemplated trips to Disneyland we have looked at that as an option.


----------



## EastYorkDisneyFan

MarbleBob said:


> Oh, and read 'Retlaw' backwards!



That was also the name of the company he owned all the trains at Disneyland under. He also owned the tiki room too. Once he passed away the Disney family sold them back to Disneyland.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

I think your HDR pictures came out pretty cool - has a neat look to it!

Thank you for posting the videos of the steamer trip!  I watched them several times with my son and he so wants to go on them now!

Whoever that other monorail enthusiast is, I bet he/she was super appreciative that you though of him/her 

What a cool idea to have him sign the postcards from Marceline!  

Not sure if I am just think or what but until I saw that banner on the barn I didn't realize this was at Griffith Park - at least I assume it is the same Griffith Park where Walt got the idea of Disneyland

So John Lasseter has his own winery, his own collection of like 500 Hawaiian shirts AND his own full size train layout in his backyard (one that was owned by Ollie Johnson)?  Not a bad life he has going.



MarbleBob said:


>


 ... does the little like parade train really move on the track?  That is so cool!



MarbleBob said:


> Hey TheMaxRebo, this one’s for you!



Someday, someday.  Actually, I think I've decided my dream job would be to open and manage a craft beer bar at the American Pavillion in EPCOT that would also host beer pairing dinners.  This way I get to work for Disney and talk beer all day 



MarbleBob said:


> The rooms were actually quite nice. No strange smells or anything either!


 ... sounds like a good start!  Glad you were happy with the room.

I am afraid that when we go to tour the Disneyland Hotel we will really have wished we stayed there - just the cost difference is so much and I think the 5 of us would feel tight in a regular room.  Next time!

Sounds like a good plan to split up for food and meet up at the terrace.   I am afraid that the tiki mugs will be for me what the vans were for you and that is where I blow my souvenir budget


----------



## MarbleBob

jedijill said:


> The train barn looks awesome!  I have to plan a trip around the day it is open...it looks so cool!
> 
> Yay for arriving at DL!  I love Trader Sams.  Such a fun place.
> 
> Jill in CO



Yahoo for DL!  And yes, you should plan a visit to Walt's Barn 



melk said:


> Excited to be getting to the Disneyland portion of the trip, although I have really enjoyed seeing the places you visited...you really did your Disney research!!
> 
> The Candy Cane Inn looks very nice.  Just wondering, as a family of five (we are too), did you find it hard to find rooms that fit all of you while on your trip?  Or did you just all fit yourselves into a standard room (no judgements, we have on occasion brought an air mattress to accommodate our youngest)?



Normally, as a family of five, we stay in Marriott's Fairfield Inns or Hyatt Places as they usually have a fold out sofa for the fifth person.  On this trip, it didn't really matter most of the time, because Nanny and Grandpa usually had two beds but only used one of them.  So we'd take turns having one of our kids sleep in their room.  For example, Buddy stayed with them in Yosemite and Princess stayed with them at the Candy Cane Inn.



PrincessInOz said:


> Love the train barn.  Looks like you got there with a ton of people!  And that poster is fantastic!
> 
> YAY for CCI.  I like that property.  Free continental breakfast and shuttle is always good.
> And I'm looking forward to your Disneyland portion as well.  Great start with the food porn and tiki collection!!



Thanks!!!



annegirl said:


> Wow! The barn looks so interesting. And what a cool thing to be able to meet Bob Gurr. The interaction looked really great.
> Candy Cane inn looks nice. I have been curious about that hotel. When we have contemplated trips to Disneyland we have looked at that as an option.



I'd say that Cane Inn is certainly a contender.  We had a great stay and I liked that the pool was so close to our room!



EastYorkDisneyFan said:


> That was also the name of the company he owned all the trains at Disneyland under. He also owned the tiki room too. Once he passed away the Disney family sold them back to Disneyland.



That's really cool. Thanks for sharing!!!



TheMaxRebo said:


> I think your HDR pictures came out pretty cool - has a neat look to it!
> 
> Thank you for posting the videos of the steamer trip!  I watched them several times with my son and he so wants to go on them now!



That's awesome.  The train ride is pretty spectacular for a boy Peter's age.  Actually, spectacular for a boy of any age, even uh... a 40 year old one!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Whoever that other monorail enthusiast is, I bet he/she was super appreciative that you though of him/her







TheMaxRebo said:


> What a cool idea to have him sign the postcards from Marceline!
> 
> Not sure if I am just think or what but until I saw that banner on the barn I didn't realize this was at Griffith Park - at least I assume it is the same Griffith Park where Walt got the idea of Disneyland



Yes, that's correct.  The Barn area is located just a couple miles from where Walt would take his girls to ride the carousel.  We wanted to stop there too, but the kids insisted that they were ready to head to Anaheim.  (At least we got to sit on one of the original benches in the Walt Disney Family Museum.)



TheMaxRebo said:


> So John Lasseter has his own winery, his own collection of like 500 Hawaiian shirts AND his own full size train layout in his backyard (one that was owned by Ollie Johnson)?  Not a bad life he has going.



No doubt!!!!  I saw a video a couple years ago, where they spent a day following him through his daily routine.  His home is amazing.  It even has small trains running inside.  I totally want to visit his winery on our next visit to the Bay area.



TheMaxRebo said:


> Someday, someday.  Actually, I think I've decided my dream job would be to open and manage a craft beer bar at the American Pavillion in EPCOT that would also host beer pairing dinners.  This way I get to work for Disney and talk beer all day



That's awesome.  Stephanie and I are pretty serious that we want to retire in Orlando when the day comes.  And then work in the parks doing basic jobs, like working at a pin trading booth, or serving ice cream or something.  Anything where we could interact with people and help share the magic. 

Once, when Princess was little, we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge over her birthday. I can't remember if she turned 3 or 4 there, but on her birthday, the pin trading booth attendant made a big deal out of it for her.  And asked her to come down to the gift shop that evening.  They had a balloon, some chocolate, and a couple trading pins waiting for her.  It was pretty magical.  And when we returned to the Wilderness Lodge every couple years, we'd stop and see her, and she'd always remember who we were.  One time we stayed at a different hotel, and stopped to see her.  The American Idol cast was staying at the WL lodge that week, and she went out of her way to get a couple autographs for Princess.  She's now retired, but we still receive Christmas cards from her every year. 

I would love to work in a similar position after I retire from my career, and the be able to share that kind of magic with other people. (I've been reading the "Creating Magic" book by Lee Cockerell, and it's pretty cool to see how cast members are encouraged to do stuff like that. They call them "Take 5s".)

I'm sure similarly, if you managed a craft beer bar some day, you'd be creating a lot of magic too!!! I'd stop by to raise a glass with you on every vacation! 



TheMaxRebo said:


> ... sounds like a good start!  Glad you were happy with the room.
> 
> I am afraid that when we go to tour the Disneyland Hotel we will really have wished we stayed there - just the cost difference is so much and I think the 5 of us would feel tight in a regular room.  Next time!
> 
> Sounds like a good plan to split up for food and meet up at the terrace.   I am afraid that the tiki mugs will be for me what the vans were for you and that is where I blow my souvenir budget



We actually all stayed in a regular DLH room last time and it was quite spacious.  I was recovering from foot surgery and was even able to maneuver an electric scooter in there.  No problems at all.  But yeah, the cost difference is the real factor for us.

Yeah, I could still do some damage to my wallet with Tiki mugs, while wearing my Vans.  Next time we go to Trader Sam's in WDW, I know it'll take a huge hit!!!  I want that nautilus mug.


----------



## PrncessA

OH MY GOSH! I am totally jealous of your LA portion, the train, the barn, Bob! How awesome!

After seeing Stephanie's sandwich, I am craving a turkey sandwich now.


----------



## sager1969

Soooo many thoughts!!!!   I may get the order wrong, but....  Here I go anyway!

1.  What an epic gift to your family!  The trip sounds so amazing and you saw so much!   You and your wife must have really planned this out!   These memories are amazing for your kids and you guys!

2.  Tart and Tiny's!!!!!   I would have spent so much on those.   I love those.  I am excited to know they are out there in Candy Heaven!   I would love to find sweet and sour charm pops....

3.  Your pictures are quite beautiful!   I hope to visit Yosemite some day, but will have to find that other apace where you saw the bigger sequoias.

4.  What is it with 15 year olds and Japan?  My son wants to move there.  Japan pavilion is his favorite thing at Epcot.   I am quite a fan of their candy as well.  He would flip put at Japantoe


----------



## sager1969

Soooo many thoughts!!!!   I may get the order wrong, but....  Here I go anyway!

1.  What an epic gift to your family!  The trip sounds so amazing and you saw so much!   You and your wife must have really planned this out!   These memories are amazing for your kids and you guys!

2.  Tart and Tiny's!!!!!   I would have spent so much on those.   I love those.  I am excited to know they are out there in Candy Heaven!   I would love to find sweet and sour charm pops....

3.  Your pictures are quite beautiful!   I hope to visit Yosemite some day, but will have to find that other apace where you saw the bigger sequoias.

4.  What is it with 15 year olds and Japan?  My son wants to move there.  Japan pavilion is his favorite thing at Epcot.   I am quite a fan of their candy as well.  He would flip out at Japantown.

5. disney Vans?  I have three pairs myself.  My 80's teen is quite happy at that!  Journeys has special luau ones that are quite adorable.

6.  Loved the train stuff!   My hubby would really enjoy that.

7.  WALT's everything!   That tree would have wrecked me.   The barn was pretty cool.  I have been to theGriffith Park barn.  It is so amazing!  You can really feel him here.   My dream is to make it the Walt Disney Family museum. It looks too cool!  I could probably spend the day.  I am sure you and your wife could have, too.   Kids.....

8.  Bob  Gurr - how amazing. He looked so lovely and kind to your family.   What great souvenirs!

9.  We are staying at DLH at the end of this month.  We stayed at Grand Californian in 2014.  I was not a big fan.  We are huge fans of AKL.  I am very excited!

10.  You will love Aulani!  That is our DVC home so we will go back every few years.  The Marriott is nice, too.  We saw whales from the beach burger place there on our first trip.  It was neat!   You can swim in any of the lagoons there.  There is a sea turtle that lives on the right side of the lagoon as you face the water.  You have to go early as he runs away when the beach picks up.  You will have a great time.  Oahu is so awesome and feels like our second home.

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrncessA said:


> OH MY GOSH! I am totally jealous of your LA portion, the train, the barn, Bob! How awesome!
> 
> After seeing Stephanie's sandwich, I am craving a turkey sandwich now.



And now I'm craving one too!  



sager1969 said:


> Soooo many thoughts!!!!   I may get the order wrong, but....  Here I go anyway!
> 
> 1.  What an epic gift to your family!  The trip sounds so amazing and you saw so much!   You and your wife must have really planned this out!   These memories are amazing for your kids and you guys!



Yes, we did indeed spend a lot of time planning.  I do a lot of planning during my day job (as an IT Manager), so I come by it naturally.  I actually find the research and planning phase of a big vacation to a significant part of the fun!  



sager1969 said:


> 2.  Tart and Tiny's!!!!!   I would have spent so much on those.   I love those.  I am excited to know they are out there in Candy Heaven!   I would love to find sweet and sour charm pops....



I truly regret not stocking up on those things.  I've looked for them online, and they are quite expensive to order.  I'm down to a very small handful (maybe two table spoons) and I'm really rationing them now.  

sweet and sour charm pops sound great too!



sager1969 said:


> 3.  Your pictures are quite beautiful!   I hope to visit Yosemite some day, but will have to find that other apace where you saw the bigger sequoias.



Thanks! Sequoias for the win!!!




sager1969 said:


> 4.  What is it with 15 year olds and Japan?  My son wants to move there.  Japan pavilion is his favorite thing at Epcot.   I am quite a fan of their candy as well.  He would flip out at Japantown.



That's funny.  My daughter wants to move to Japan too! And she loves the Japan Pavillon at Epcot too.  You wouldn't believe how many Pokemon dolls she's picked up there through the years!  



sager1969 said:


> 5. disney Vans?  I have three pairs myself.  My 80's teen is quite happy at that!  Journeys has special luau ones that are quite adorable.



That's totally rad! (Using my 80's skater lingo.)  Disney Vans for Disney fans 



sager1969 said:


> 6.  Loved the train stuff!   My hubby would really enjoy that.
> 
> 7.  WALT's everything!   That tree would have wrecked me.   The barn was pretty cool.  I have been to theGriffith Park barn.  It is so amazing!  You can really feel him here.   My dream is to make it the Walt Disney Family museum. It looks too cool!  I could probably spend the day.  I am sure you and your wife could have, too.   Kids.....



The tree had a big impact on Pickle too.  When we were at Disneyland, she'd occasionally come across a cast member who would engage with her, and several times, she shared about what had happened to Walt's Dreaming Tree, and how sad it made her.  It made quite the impression.

Kids... indeed 



sager1969 said:


> 8.  Bob  Gurr - how amazing. He looked so lovely and kind to your family.   What great souvenirs!
> 
> 9.  We are staying at DLH at the end of this month.  We stayed at Grand Californian in 2014.  I was not a big fan.  We are huge fans of AKL.  I am very excited!



That's great.  You are going to LOVE DLH!  We've never stayed at the Grand Californian, but Princess and my parents have stayed at both places and they all agreed that they liked DLH much better.

I've never stayed at AKL, but we love Boma's and have visited it a bunch through the years.



sager1969 said:


> 10.  You will love Aulani!  That is our DVC home so we will go back every few years.  The Marriott is nice, too.  We saw whales from the beach burger place there on our first trip.  It was neat!   You can swim in any of the lagoons there.  There is a sea turtle that lives on the right side of the lagoon as you face the water.  You have to go early as he runs away when the beach picks up.  You will have a great time.  Oahu is so awesome and feels like our second home.



That's great!  I'm glad to hear the feedback about the Marriott.  Thanks for the tips on the lagoons and the sea turtle.  We are totally going to have to keep an eye out for him!!!!



sager1969 said:


> Thanks for sharing!



Thanks for reading along.  I had fun reading through your thoughtful comments


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 10 - Sunday June, 21 - Downtown Disney*

After exploring the Disneyland Hotel, Buddy and Pickle wanted to visit the Lego store.  We’ve stopped at a lot of Lego stores on various vacations through the years.  This is by far my favorite.









Buddy and Pickle both decided that they wanted to use some of their souvenir money on the “Pick a Brick” wall.  They’ve done this countless times at other Lego stores, to the point where it’s just redundant and wasteful, but how can you argue with a kid and their own vacation money?  (I guess, you just tell them no… but we tend to let them have fun with a limited amount of vacation money and let them spend it as foolishly or wisely as they see fit.  Usually they do OK.)









After we explored for a while longer, they decided to join in the fun outside and build some race cars.





And a few minutes later, the rest of our crew showed up.  Buddy and Pickle had a lot of fun racing cars with Luke and Leia.






After they built and raced various iterations of their cars for a while, we split up again. The others still needed to have dinner. We decided to explore and shop for a while longer.  Eventually, we split up as Princess and Stephanie spent quite a while in Sephora and a few other shops.  I stayed back with Buddy and Pickle as they wanted to do Legos some more.

We’ve had the Marceline candy apples on previous trips, they are to die for.  But for some reason, we never got around to getting one on this trip.  Still fun to watch them being made!









We explored a little longer while Steph and Princess continued looking a clothes and makeup and stuff like that.  

Hey, let’s go walk around the Grand Californian for a while!













I love the architecture here.  That’s probably why the Wilderness Lodge is my favorite hotel “back home” at WDW.  Love the Arts and Crafts vibe.

Eventually, we caught up with the girls and had a few snacks.  And then Stephanie’s family indicated that they wanted to visit Build a Bear.  So we met them there.  Pickle had only done this once before, and she was eager to do it again, so why not?

They looked at a lot of options, but ultimately picked matching Elsa bears.  LOL.





It took them forever to look at all the options, go through the “building” process, name them, pick out their accessories and stuff.  

The rest of us were at our limit.  It was getting late and we were tired from being up since 4am.  Buddy was desperately pleading for us to get out of there...





Luckily for him, a few minutes later, the girls had their dolls ready.  

They were in heaven!  (And everyone else was happy to get a move on.)





At that point, my family was pretty tired, so we decided to part ways again and head back to the hotel.  It was a little after 10pm.  It had been a LONG day.  We ended up walking straight to the hotel and skipping the shuttle.  We were all pretty much DONE by the time we got back, and we headed straight to bed.

So, day one in Anaheim is in the books!

Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait another day for the rest of our Disneyland story, because we knew we'd be exhausted and thought that the kids would enjoy sleeping in and taking it easy a bit.  (We wanted them rested up for the next three busy days in the parks.)  So, stay tuned for our beach day where we visit Newport and Laguna Beaches.


----------



## PrincessInOz

What a fun night at DTD.  It's always good as a starting point for a Disney vacay.  Those Elsa bears are to die for!

Hope you all slept well!


----------



## kelmac284

Just found your trip report and wanted to say I am loving it.  We are from Nor Cal around Sacramento and we go to DL all the time.  At least once a year and are HUGE Disney fans.  Have also been to DW 4 times with our next trip next summer of 16.  But we also LOVE road trips.  We did one starting in St. Louis 2 years ago but went East.  We drove through Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, W Virginia and then down all the way to South Carolina with Charleston being our final stop.  We had a GREAT time.  My mom is from St. Louis and I had to comment that while you were talking about the ice cream you got one of the best things we had on that trip was custard from Ted Drewes.  Someone mentioned it thank goodness or I wouldn't have even known about it.  Best thing I have ever had and wish they had it around here!!  My mom was born and raised in St. Louis and hadn't been back since she moved at 11 and she is now 70 so it was fun to find where she used to live and go to school etc.  My grandpa is buried there and we visited his grave etc.  I only wish that Marceline would have been close but it sounds like it is the opposite direction.  I also enjoyed your other stops along the way and my girls and I are hoping to do a road trip on a bus that goes to Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone etc.  We also want to do one to the Grand Canyon as well.  So I am loving reading what you have done.  Did you see Little America in Wyoming?  My dad's family is from Marshall Missouri and we drove back twice as a kid and stopped there on the way.  It probably is nothing now but I remember as a kid how exciting I thought it was.  We are from Sac and have a house in Truckee so it was fun to see your pics there.  I was surprised you didn't go to the railroad museum.  It is a great museum!!  Def you should go if you go that way in the future.  I have not read all the comments or finished the report (I am at work and have to go) but loving it so far!!  Great job!!


----------



## kelmac284

Just finished the rest of the report.  Really am enjoying it and I think it is so weird how much a lot of your report parallels things we have done in the last few trips.  We took a trip last November and were able to tour the Disney Studios.  While down there we also went to Griffith park to see/ride the famous carousel that Walt took his girls on.  We wanted to visit his grave site but were unable to do it.  We also did a side trip to Universal and some other local sites.  Then this past June we were there I think just a few weeks before you all.  We also did a CA road trip and went to San Diego and visited family and went to the Wild Animal park and then back to Disney for a few days and then drove home via the coast and did things like the Getty Villa, Hearst Castle and Monterey.  We also went to Yosemite this past Easter and so lots of deja vu!  So fun and can't wait for your next installment


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> What a fun night at DTD.  It's always good as a starting point for a Disney vacay.  Those Elsa bears are to die for!
> 
> Hope you all slept well!



Thanks!  We all slept like rocks.  (And pickle was cute cuddled up to her Elsa bear.)



kelmac284 said:


> Just found your trip report and wanted to say I am loving it.  We are from Nor Cal around Sacramento and we go to DL all the time.  At least once a year and are HUGE Disney fans.  Have also been to DW 4 times with our next trip next summer of 16.



That's awesome.  We enjoyed our brief time in Sacramento, I'd love to have more time in NorCal during our next trip!



kelmac284 said:


> But we also LOVE road trips.  We did one starting in St. Louis 2 years ago but went East.  We drove through Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, W Virginia and then down all the way to South Carolina with Charleston being our final stop.  We had a GREAT time.



That's cool!  I've done that journey numerous times.  My dad's family is from St. Louis but we moved to Richmond, VA for a couple years when I was a teenager, and we'd drive back and forth from St. Louis to Virginia a couple times a year.  And then my mom's family settled in Charleston, so we've made the journey from St. Louis to Charleston a lot, and also back and forth from Richmond to Charleston.  Great memories!



kelmac284 said:


> My mom is from St. Louis and I had to comment that while you were talking about the ice cream you got one of the best things we had on that trip was custard from Ted Drewes.  Someone mentioned it thank goodness or I wouldn't have even known about it.  Best thing I have ever had and wish they had it around here!!



Yes, Ted Drewe's is still THE BEST!!!!  You really can't beat it, if you like frozen custard.  (Which I do!)



kelmac284 said:


> My mom was born and raised in St. Louis and hadn't been back since she moved at 11 and she is now 70 so it was fun to find where she used to live and go to school etc.  My grandpa is buried there and we visited his grave etc.  I only wish that Marceline would have been close but it sounds like it is the opposite direction.  I also enjoyed your other stops along the way and my girls and I are hoping to do a road trip on a bus that goes to Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone etc.  We also want to do one to the Grand Canyon as well.  So I am loving reading what you have done.


That's really cool!



kelmac284 said:


> Did you see Little America in Wyoming?  My dad's family is from Marshall Missouri and we drove back twice as a kid and stopped there on the way.  It probably is nothing now but I remember as a kid how exciting I thought it was.



We missed that one 



kelmac284 said:


> We are from Sac and have a house in Truckee so it was fun to see your pics there.  I was surprised you didn't go to the railroad museum.  It is a great museum!!  Def you should go if you go that way in the future.  I have not read all the comments or finished the report (I am at work and have to go) but loving it so far!!  Great job!!



Buddy and I wanted to see that museum, but the girls knew that we'd be seeing more railroad stuff on the trip and they put up a fight against it and stood their ground.  Maybe next time!



kelmac284 said:


> Just finished the rest of the report.  Really am enjoying it and I think it is so weird how much a lot of your report parallels things we have done in the last few trips.  We took a trip last November and were able to tour the Disney Studios.  While down there we also went to Griffith park to see/ride the famous carousel that Walt took his girls on.  We wanted to visit his grave site but were unable to do it.



I bet that Disney Studios tour was awesome! We wanted to see the carousel and also visit Walt's Grave, but the kids were ready to get to Anaheim.  Maybe next time!



kelmac284 said:


> We also did a side trip to Universal and some other local sites.  Then this past June we were there I think just a few weeks before you all.  We also did a CA road trip and went to San Diego and visited family and went to the Wild Animal park and then back to Disney for a few days and then drove home via the coast and did things like the Getty Villa, Hearst Castle and Monterey.  We also went to Yosemite this past Easter and so lots of deja vu!  So fun and can't wait for your next installment



Sounds like you all like to get around.  It's great that that you have so many awesome sites within relatively easy driving distance.  California is a pretty awesome state!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 11 - Monday, June 22 - A day at the Beach*

After several busy/early days, we decided that that our upcoming DL/CA days would go better if we took a day to rest and relax beforehand.  So the goal for today was to sleep in a little and then head to the beach for the better part of the day.

So yeah, we slept in a bit and headed over to the continental breakfast around 9:30 AM.  In hindsight, I wish I had taken a few photos of the breakfast options, because they were actually pretty good and might have been helpful for anyone who may be considering the Candy Cane Inn for a future visit.  Oh well…  

Anyway, they had a fair amount of items to choose from and they kept everything well stocked.  They had a fair amount of fruit.  A good selection of fresh donuts from a real donut bakery.  A few different types of fresh bagels and nice bread.  (And a couple toasters)  A cheese platter.  Hard boiled eggs. Etc.  (There was no waffle machine, but I usually skip those anyway.)  And also a cart full of different types of cereals.   And then of course, they had coffee, milk, juice, tea, etc.  I guess, it wasn’t a huge breakfast (no hot items), but the stuff that they did have was high quality, which is better in my book.

Anyway, we grabbed some food and then ate on the patio by the pool.









What a pleasant place to have a meal!

After we finished eating, the girls wanted to swim for a while, I kept an eye on them while most everyone else took it easy in their rooms.





Around 11:30 AM or so, we piled into our Vans and headed for the Balboa area of Newport Beach.

When we arrived, the boys pretty much made a bee line for the water.





Only to say, “Yikes, that’s pretty cold!"  





We paused for a few photos...





Hi Grandpa!





Personally, I hate getting sand all over myself.  But ever since Pickle was a baby, she pretty much always enjoyed covering herself in it.





A bit later, they all started getting the courage to get in the cold water.









And then more sand time





And while the kids played in the water and worked on their sand castles, Stephanie and I just relaxed and soaked it all in.  Ahh, the good life.





The little kids were content to play in the sand and water.  Stephanie and Princess were content to just lay on their towels and soak in the sun.  I started to get restless, so I headed down to explore Balboa Pier.

What a view!









After a while, I headed back and we all enjoyed the beach a bit longer.  So much fun.  A beautiful, sunny day, with lots of people having fun in their various groups.  We were lucky too, because a family settled in behind us with a fairly loud radio, and their playlist was awesome.  It just made for a fun/festive atmosphere.

I guess we stayed on the beach for 2 to 2.5 hours and decided we were read for lunch.  We dropped our towels and stuff off at the cars and then headed back up to the pier to use their restroom and to rinse the sand off.





We explored the pier and enjoyed the views for a few minutes before deciding on lunch.

There were a bunch of dudes out with surf boards, but the waves were weak, so I’m not sure what they were doing.





Hi Princess!!!





See anything cool?!?!









Stephanie and I had visited this beach by ourselves back in 2010, and we stumbled upon an excellent Mexican restaurant.  We wanted to eat their again, but most everyone else didn’t want Mexican.  So Steph, Princess, Pickle, Nanny, and I headed over to the main strip for Mexican, and the rest headed down Ruby’s (at the end of the pier) for burgers/fries.

It was about a 5 minute walk from the pier to the restaurant on the main street.  It was called “Great Mex”.





We had fish tacos last time, and they were the stuff that dreams were made of.  We couldn’t resit ordering them again, even though they had a ton of other options on the menu.





It’s a small joint and it was packed, even around 2:45 PM.  Luckily, a group of people were leaving just after we placed our order at the counter.  Score!!!





We started with chips and salsa.





Pickle had fun deciding which salsa(s) she wanted to try.





And a few minutes later, our food came out.

Pickle had a cheese quesadilla, which I’m sure was tasty because she ate it all.





And the rest of us all had fish tacos.  I’m not going to share all the plates, because they basically looked the same.  Personally, I had two with grilled fish and with fried fried fish.  I think the others had one of each.





Heaven on earth!!! Interestingly, I think I preferred the fried fish version and Stephane preferred the grilled version. (I liked the extra crunch that the fried version offered.)

I guess instead of coming up with a clever name for the restaurant, they just called it "Great Mex", because, well, you know, it's great!  

After we finished eating, we checked in with the others at Ruby's and they weren’t quite ready yet, so we browsed through a couple of the gift/surf shops as we headed back to meet them at the pier.  They enjoyed their burgers/fries/shakes, and all in all, everyone was happy with their lunches!

Next up, we decided to head over to Laguna beach.  But instead of backtracking, we decided to take the ferry across to Balboa Island.  We were lucky with the timing, because when it was our turn to board, we ended up in the front.  Cool!





It was pretty awesome.  Going across the channel, without leaving your car!  We saw a seal (or maybe an otter?) swimming across next to us.   The kids got excited about that.  And then we passed the other ferry making its return to the other side.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 11 - Monday, June 22 - A day at the Beach (continued)*

Maybe 30 minutes or so later, we arrived in Laguna.  We drove around for a while looking for a pair of decent parking spaces (it was fairly busy.)  Ultimately, we found a spot that was maybe a five minute walk over to the beach.  Not great, but not terrible either.

So Newport Beach is a fairly traditional sandy beach, which is great.  But I LOVE Laguna Beach, because it has more of a cove shape with tide pools off to one end.





We walked down the boardwalk, and ultimately decided to stake a claim towards the cliffs near the tide pools.





The kids didn’t waste any time getting in the water this time around!









Nanny and Grandpa decided to stay back with the little girls, and the rest of us headed over to explore the tide pools.

















He blends in with the rocks, but there’s a crab in the middle of the following photo





There were some minnows and little shrimp (or something) in this photo





It was fun going from pool to pool seeing different creatures...

And boy, what great photo ops!









The tide was starting to rise, so you had to time it if you didn't want to get soaked...









Looking up to the north





And then back to the main beach area





This place is too cool.





We came back to the sandy area to find Nanny and Grandpa still having fun with the girls.









The kids were having fun digging for little mollusks in the sand









We stayed on the beach until 6:30 or 7pm, and the sun was getting low.  Boy, it doesn't get much better than this!





I had wanted to watch the sunset on the beach, but we hadn’t had dinner yet, and everyone was pretty much ready to head back and eat.  Everyone couldn’t agree on a restaurant (again), so we decided it would be easier to just split up.  No worries.

In the end, we decided to just hit and In-N-Out on the way back to the hotel, and eat it at the pool patio.

We pulled up a website with their secret menu on the drive over and had fun reading about the various secret and not so secret menu items.  Princess decided to order a Neapolitan shake (layers of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate.)  I wasn’t sure that was a true secret item or not, so I asked, “could we get a shake with a mixture of each flavor?).  She said, “no problem, one Neapolitan shake”.  And then she tapped a corresponding button on her tablet.  I went for a burger Animal Style.  No problem, another single tap on her order taking iPad.  I don’t remember what everyone else got but it was fun going off the beaten path a little bit.





It was around 8:15 when we arrived back at the Candy Cane Inn.  We enjoyed our mea on patio, and then swam in the pool for a little bit longer.  And then we called it a night relatively early, as we’d be getting up early for California Adventure tomorrow morning.

All in all, we had a fantastic day at the beach.  Lots of sun, and lot’s of fun!!!!


----------



## kelmac284

Nice update.  I stink at quoting but back to my post, yes you DEF have to go the Railroad Museum in Old Sac next time you come through.  It is really a good one and although I personally am not a huge train fan from the folks I know of that are they say it is one of the better ones.  We also took a train trip through the forest in Mendocino similar to what you did in Santa Cruz.  It is really beautiful and fun!  You are right even though I was born and raised here I don't always appreciate it for various reasons esp the town we live in but I WILL admit this state has just about everything and even though we live here we try and see the sites as much as possible.  You don't realize just how much cool stuff there is until you start exploring!!  Loved your beach day and while I love the ocean and the beach I am not a big swimmer and get bored just sitting on the beach.  My girls are both swimmers and love it but I just can't get into it.  LOVE to look at it though and enjoy the beauty of it.  Glad you guys had a fun day!!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Cool pictures of the pool/breakfast area at CCI.  Glad the breakfast options worked out for you and the family.

What a great beach day.  I've always driven past Newport Beach but never stopped.  Looks like it is my loss!  What a great beach to hang out.
Love Laguna.  The tide pools are fun to look at.   

You got some wonderful shots with the family.  And I would have sooo voted to eat with you.  Great Mex and In N Out.  What else could be better?


----------



## jedijill

What a great beach day!  

CCI is sounding  like a great option for a future trip.  Can't go wrong with In-N-Out!

Jill in CO


----------



## whoever

Wow.... GREAT TR!!!! I'm going to read your previous one now.  LOVE The narration.  Writing these is a great way to remember your vacations.. we regularly go back and re-read our's and it's like we are right there again.  Keep it up!!!  I really want to hit the WD museum in SF, the train barn, and Yosemite


----------



## MarbleBob

kelmac284 said:


> Nice update.  I stink at quoting but back to my post, yes you DEF have to go the Railroad Museum in Old Sac next time you come through.  It is really a good one and although I personally am not a huge train fan from the folks I know of that are they say it is one of the better ones.  We also took a train trip through the forest in Mendocino similar to what you did in Santa Cruz.  It is really beautiful and fun!  You are right even though I was born and raised here I don't always appreciate it for various reasons esp the town we live in but I WILL admit this state has just about everything and even though we live here we try and see the sites as much as possible.  You don't realize just how much cool stuff there is until you start exploring!!  Loved your beach day and while I love the ocean and the beach I am not a big swimmer and get bored just sitting on the beach.  My girls are both swimmers and love it but I just can't get into it.  LOVE to look at it though and enjoy the beauty of it.  Glad you guys had a fun day!!



OK.  We'll definitely do the Railroad Museum in Sacramento next time!  



PrincessInOz said:


> Cool pictures of the pool/breakfast area at CCI.  Glad the breakfast options worked out for you and the family.
> 
> What a great beach day.  I've always driven past Newport Beach but never stopped.  Looks like it is my loss!  What a great beach to hang out.
> Love Laguna.  The tide pools are fun to look at.
> 
> You got some wonderful shots with the family.  And I would have sooo voted to eat with you.  Great Mex and In N Out.  What else could be better?



Yeah, Newport is pretty cool.  We did one of those "beach bus" tours back in 2010.  Where they picked us up at the HOJO and they took us to Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach (as well as a few other sites.)  We had such a great time at Newport Beach, that we knew the kids would love it.  They have a ferris wheel and arcade games over on the Balboa side, we thought the kids would enjoy that too, but we just didn't have enough time.

Oh yeah, you're a kindred spirit, we would have loved to have you join us for the Great Mex and In-in-Out 



jedijill said:


> What a great beach day!
> 
> CCI is sounding  like a great option for a future trip.  Can't go wrong with In-N-Out!
> 
> Jill in CO



Yes, I would totally go back to CCI again and recommend it to anyone looking to stay off property, but within walking distance.



whoever said:


> Wow.... GREAT TR!!!! I'm going to read your previous one now.  LOVE The narration.  Writing these is a great way to remember your vacations.. we regularly go back and re-read our's and it's like we are right there again.  Keep it up!!!  I really want to hit the WD museum in SF, the train barn, and Yosemite



Thanks so much!  I'm glad you are enjoying the TR so far.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 1*

Yahoo, we finally made to our first day in the parks!!!  I have a LOT of photos to share, so I’ll probably be breaking up the next few days into multiple posts each.

The plan for the day was to visit California Adventure with Nanny and Grandpa.  Dave and Angie had decided that they only wanted to visit the parks on one day, as they aren’t the biggest Disney fans and this was their first visit to LA. So they went off on their own to tour Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica Pier, etc.  Sounds like they had a great day.

We chose to start with CA today, because today was early entry for DL, and we didn’t want to start the day with a disadvantage.  Then tomorrow (Wednesday) we planned to hit Disneyland with the entire group (since CA had early entry.)  And then on Thursday, my immediate family planned to start at Disneyland using our early entry day then.

So with that out of the way, let’s get started!

The park opened at 8am, so we wanted to arrive at the gates around 7:15 at the latest.  Our goal was to follow the  old “wide right” strategy and hit Radiator Springs Racers first.

We got up early and had breakfast at about 6:30am.  Boy, the Candy Cane Inn sure is pleasant!

"Mmmm... donuts" (using my best Homer Simpson impersonation voice.)













It turns out that the hotel shuttle was scheduled start running at 7:00am, so that was perfect!









It’s like a three minute ride to the drop off point, short and sweet!

As a part of the Diamond Celebration, they have a sweepstakes every day where you text them the “Word of the Day".  They text you back later in the day if you won.  The prizes were things like a night in the dream suite (or whatever it’s called at DL, special parade/fireworks tickets, etc.)  We never won, but we played along anyway.  Today’s message was “Viewliner"





For some reason, I didn’t take any photos of the line, but we were able to get within 2 or 3 people of the turnstiles. Close enough that they pre-scanned our tickets before they started letting people in.  We usually try to get to the parks early, and that’s always nice to get a pre-scan!

Once they opened the turnstiles, everyone headed into the park ("walk, people!") and they they had rope drops waiting up by Carthay Circle.  Stephanie decided to grab all of our park tickets and get FastPasses for World of Color while we bee lined it for Radiator Springs Racers.  (We knew that we’d ride the Cars ride a couple times today, and she’s ridden a few times before, so she didn’t mind missing out this time around.)

So Stephanie headed for through the Grizzly Peak area for World of Color FP’s...





While the rest of us lined up for the Cars Land rope drop.





We lost the great position that we started with because Nanny and Grandpa aren’t the fastest walkers, but we were still pretty close to the front.

And a couple minutes later, we were there!!!!





Grandpa isn't much of a thrill ride enthusiast, so we had to convince him that this was a fairly tame ride.  He was skeptical, but went along with us anyway.

Nanny is a good sport and was excited to give it a try!





I bet there were only 20 or 30 people already in front of us, so it only took a couple minutes before it was our turn. That sure made the early start worth it!





OK Grandpa, let’s do this!!!!





This really is one of the coolest rides ever.  The kids and I have all previously ridden it a few times, but this was a first for Nanny and Grandpa.  Nanny loved it.  Grandpa said that we “deceived him” and sort of gave us a hard time about it being more intense than we had lead him to believe.  (But I know he secretly liked it, because he rode it again later that morning without hesitation!)  










Despite having a good spot in line, we didn’t actually exit the ride until about 8:30.  It’s amazing how quickly the first 30 minutes can go by!  The plan was to meet Stephanie over at Mater’s Junk Yard Jamboree.

In the meantime, Stephane secured our WoC FP’s.  We had pre-ordered a PhotoPass Plus, so she went and picked up the lanyard for that too.  And snuck in our first Photopass photo 





So yeah, we headed over to Tow Mater's













The theming in Cars Land is beyond amazing.  This is as good as it gets!  (Harry Potter land is pretty amazing, but I have a soft spot for all the Route 66 nostalgia.)

Stephanie was basically waiting for us when we made it over to the Junkyard Jamboree.





As it was still early, the line was pretty non-existent.  We waited two or three minutes and it was our turn.









This is a fun ride too.  Love the music!!

Oh yeah, I forgot, Stephanie had also grabbed FastPasses for the Anna and Elsa meet and greet.  The return time was for around 9:30am, so we had about 45 minutes to burn before then.  We decided to hit a couple rides in the It’s a Bug’s Life area on the way over to the Animation Building.

But first, we stopped for another PhotoPass opportunity.





We got a normal photo first, and then the photographer asked us to do a few silly poses...

I have no idea what this purpose of this pose was for





He didn’t have us say, “Ka-chow”, but at least I understood the relevance of this one!





Oh and one of just my family





After the photos, we stopped at Heimlich’s Chew Chew train.  Such at stupid and awesome ride a the same time.  LOL.  

I love the bug lights in the queue









And here we go!










So what did you think?





I guess they liked it well enough.

Next up was Francis’ Ladybug Ride













I LOVE this ride.  It’s just too cute!!!






Next up, we head over to meet Anna and Elsa.


----------



## annegirl

The beach day looks great. I love the ocean so much. You are definitely making me want to take a trip to California!
The last time I was at Disneyland there was not a CArs land yet. It looks like so much fun.


----------



## annie170

I've fallen a bit behind, but all caught up now.

I take it Downtown Disney at DL is smaller than at WDW?  Are there a lot of the same stores?

Is it just me, or does that "Elsa Bear" at Build-a-Bear look like Marie?  I feel your pain at that store.  I don't know what it is that seems to take forever and you're just over it.

A friend stayed at the Grand Californian a few years ago and I just drooled over her photos.  The Candy Cane Inn appears to be a good choice.  I love places that have a continental breakfast, too.

I wish Magic Kingdom would get a Cars Land.  The theming and rides just look so awesome.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Great start to your DCA day!
Looks like you really enjoyed CCI. 

Poor Grandpa! LOL.
I've only been on Mater's Jamboree once.  Everyone keeps talking about the music.  I really can't say that I remember the music at all!  I was too busy giggling on that ride.
I know that most thrill rides avoid Bugs Life but some of those rides are kinda cool....in a low stress kinda way.

Love the PP pictures as well.  Great shots of the family.


----------



## justafigment27

Heimlech's Chew Chew train!!! Our one & only trip to DLR was in 2011 ... we must have rode that thing 5-6 times in a row b/c our youngest was such a fan.  Cracks me up just thinking about it! 

I am really enjoying all of your sunny, palm tree infused CA pictures!!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

to say that is your favorite Lego store that is saying something so we will be sure to check it out.  Mostly still into the Duplo trains but still the kids get a kick out of building the race cars and looking at the models (I might as well  )

I'm with Buddy - there is only so much bear building a boy can take!!!!

Looks like fun at the beach ... though definitely glad to hear you approved of the loud music behind you!   That is quite the view from the pier!

Gotta love a good salsa bar!

Laguna beach looks really cool - I like that it has a sandy beach area along with the more cove like area so kinda best of both worlds.

So how was the animal style burger?

Your morning spot for breakfast does sound nice



MarbleBob said:


> "Mmmm... donuts" (using my best Homer Simpson impersonation voice.)



Though, Buddy's pose makes me thing "My precious!" may have been a more apt quote 

Glad that even with Granpa and Nana being a little slow you still got to RSR in good time and on relatively quick.

Man, I am going to have to research which FP are link and which ones aren't if Stephanie was able to get WOC and A&E ... are either of those link to RSR as well?

Those are some great family pictures by the Cars Land sign!  

I love your description of the Chew Chew Train - stupid and amazing!


----------



## MarbleBob

annegirl said:


> The beach day looks great. I love the ocean so much. You are definitely making me want to take a trip to California!
> The last time I was at Disneyland there was not a CArs land yet. It looks like so much fun.



Lots of fun indeed!!!



annie170 said:


> I've fallen a bit behind, but all caught up now.
> 
> I take it Downtown Disney at DL is smaller than at WDW?  Are there a lot of the same stores?
> 
> Is it just me, or does that "Elsa Bear" at Build-a-Bear look like Marie?  I feel your pain at that store.  I don't know what it is that seems to take forever and you're just over it.
> 
> A friend stayed at the Grand Californian a few years ago and I just drooled over her photos.  The Candy Cane Inn appears to be a good choice.  I love places that have a continental breakfast, too.
> 
> I wish Magic Kingdom would get a Cars Land.  The theming and rides just look so awesome.



It's hard to compare the two Downtown Disney's, but I'd say the DL one is indeed a bit smaller.  It's more of a long strip, where the WDW is more sprawling.  Although we've been to the WDW version countless times, we almost always visit the Marketplace side and ignore the West side.  I don't recall the stores on the West Side, but I'd say that the stores are more different than alike.  They both have their "World of Disney" and "Lego" stores, but many of the other shops are different.  The restaurants are very different too.  Off the top of my head, the only one that they share is Earl of Sandwich.  At the end of the day, if I want to actually shop and/or eat, I think I prefer the WDW version.  If I just want to go for a snack, window-shop, and enjoy the ambiance, the Disneyland version winds by a long shot in my book.  It just feels more alive and festive!

It's funny, because the only other time we did a build a bear was at that same location nearly two years ago. Pickle made a white cat and called her Marie.  (She was going to buy an "off the shelf" Marie from the World of Disney Store down the way, but she ultimately decided that she'd rather make one herself.)  That being said, the Elsa doll sure does look like Marie 



PrincessInOz said:


> Great start to your DCA day!
> Looks like you really enjoyed CCI.
> 
> Poor Grandpa! LOL.
> I've only been on Mater's Jamboree once.  Everyone keeps talking about the music.  I really can't say that I remember the music at all!  I was too busy giggling on that ride.
> I know that most thrill rides avoid Bugs Life but some of those rides are kinda cool....in a low stress kinda way.
> 
> Love the PP pictures as well.  Great shots of the family.



Yes, CCI was a hit!  The Jamobree music sort of sounds like a country hoe down.  Sort of a play off that one that says something about swinging you partner round and round.



justafigment27 said:


> Heimlech's Chew Chew train!!! Our one & only trip to DLR was in 2011 ... we must have rode that thing 5-6 times in a row b/c our youngest was such a fan.  Cracks me up just thinking about it!
> 
> I am really enjoying all of your sunny, palm tree infused CA pictures!!!



Although I'm fairly bald, I think I would have have pulled any remaining hair out of my head if I had to ride it 5-6 times.  You win parent of the year for 2011 for humoring your youngest on that one.   



TheMaxRebo said:


> to say that is your favorite Lego store that is saying something so we will be sure to check it out.  Mostly still into the Duplo trains but still the kids get a kick out of building the race cars and looking at the models (I might as well  )
> 
> I'm with Buddy - there is only so much bear building a boy can take!!!!
> 
> Looks like fun at the beach ... though definitely glad to hear you approved of the loud music behind you!   That is quite the view from the pier!
> 
> Gotta love a good salsa bar!
> 
> Laguna beach looks really cool - I like that it has a sandy beach area along with the more cove like area so kinda best of both worlds.
> 
> So how was the animal style burger?
> 
> Your morning spot for breakfast does sound nice
> 
> 
> 
> Though, Buddy's pose makes me thing "My precious!" may have been a more apt quote
> 
> Glad that even with Granpa and Nana being a little slow you still got to RSR in good time and on relatively quick.
> 
> Man, I am going to have to research which FP are link and which ones aren't if Stephanie was able to get WOC and A&E ... are either of those link to RSR as well?
> 
> Those are some great family pictures by the Cars Land sign!
> 
> I love your description of the Chew Chew Train - stupid and amazing!



We went through the Duplo train phase too.  I think Buddy had every Thomas the Tank Engine train that they made back when he was little.  I loved seeing the GoPro video that you made with Peter an his train.  Watch out for that toe!

Animal style burger was terrific!  It turns out that I'm going to take Princess and Buddy to Palm Springs in December to watch a skateboarding contest.  We'll be flying into LAX and getting another Animal style burger is a must do!!!!

I'm 99% certain that Steph got A&E, WoC, and Radiator Racers all in one go, so A&E and WoC must both be disconnected from regular FP links.  That being said, I'm 100% certain that WoC is disconnected from other FP's.


----------



## MarbleBob

Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 2

I apologize for the slowdown in this TR.  School is in full swing and we’ve been pretty busy lately.  And of course, the weather has been amazing, so I’ve been spending less time in front of the computer too.  

Anyway, I’m back for the next installment of our first day at California Adventure.

After visiting Bugs Land for a while, we were ready to head over to meet Anna and Elsa.  I’m really not sure what to say about this…  You can only see A&E with a FP.  But the FP just gets you in a normal line.  We still had to wait at least 30 minutes (maybe longer).





But you waited in a big room with a 360 degree projection on the walls.  Every square inch of the walls had some sort of animation going, working together for a cohesive theme.  They would basically play a song from a major animated movie, and then have video and photos going along with the music. Possibly one of the coolest queuing areas we’ve experienced.  Despite waiting for such a long time, it was actually fun.  Princess had a blast singing along with various songs.

Anyway, we eventually made our way back and it was our turn.  Unfortunately, Anna and Olaf were absent, so we sort of missed out.  But Pickle didn’t seem to mind.  We didn’t mention it to her and she never said a word.  She was stoked to meet Elsa anyway….














A family photo?  Sure why not.





OK.  Maybe I have a soft spot for Elsa too...





We had a while before we could redeem our Radiator Racers FP’s so we decided to make our way over to Grizzly River Rapids next.

Hey look, some scouts from Up!





We stopped by Carthay Circle for a few more Photopass photos.









Then we passed through the new Grizzly Peak area.  They did a fantastic job with the recent re-theming.  With our Yosemite visit fresh in our minds, they nailed the feeling and ambiance of a CA National Park.  It was spot on.  Great job Imagineers!!!









Nanny, the kids, and I all decided to ride the Grizzly River Rapids.  Grandpa chillaxed outside the ride.  And Stephanie went to explore.









The line went fairly quickly and we all had a great time.  Unfortunately, Nanny lost the “Russian Roulette” game and came out soaked to the bone, while the rest of us were only moderately wet.  Sorry Nanny!!!

So yeah, in them meantime, Steph explored the area a bit and took some more photos...





Even the trash cans are cool!





















We found grandpa relaxing on a bench in front of the gift shop.  Stephanie had grabbed a couple churros for the kids, anticipating that they’d be hungry and wanting a treat.  Smart thinking Steph!!!  There was a dude playing a guitar right there too.  Which added to the ambiance and fun.  He was pretty talented too!






So we relaxed for a little while, and decided to start making our way back to Cars Land.





And cool!!!! We stumbled upon our first photo spot celebrating the 60th.  (there were several of these sprinkled around the parks.)  Too much fun!

They had us do a bunch of different poses, but here are a couple...





Nanny!?!?!?!?





After we goofed around for a little while, we decided to get a move on...


----------



## PrincessInOz

Nice update!  I always lose the Russian Roulette of water.  It doesn't matter what ride....water loves me!


----------



## kelmac284

Nice update.  I have to say we LOVE the animation bldg esp in the summer.  Since we go to DL so often we have seen a lot of the stuff in places like the Animation bldg and Innoventions so now if we go in it is to escape the weather and relax.  We love to go to the Grand every trip and take a load off and enjoy the ambiance, either the fire in the winter or the lobby in the summer.  This is the same.  We love all the clips and the music and if you are lucky enough to get a spot on one of the couches it is a great place for a little power nap LOL.  Not sure if you explored the rest of the bldg but there is some cool stuff like the Animation Academy  (learn how to draw a character) or Crush etc.  Love the photo ops too.  I guess they added some more and I wish they had had the Haunted Mansion one when we were there but we were there the beginning of June right after it started.  But again nice update!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Sounds like an interesting set up for the meet & greet with A&E (or in your case, just the big E) ... at least the queue was interesting, but maybe they should call it "moderate pass" for that one 

the Grizzly Peak area does look cool and neat to know they did do a good job of capturing the feeling of the real thing.  Definitely want to get on the rapids ride at least once as Olivia loved Kali River Rapids and I've heard this one is better.

That is a coll PP spot with it looking like you all were in the bear mouth!


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> Nice update!  I always lose the Russian Roulette of water.  It doesn't matter what ride....water loves me!



Thanks!  I guess having water love you can both be good and bad, depending on how hot it is outside 



kelmac284 said:


> Nice update.  I have to say we LOVE the animation bldg esp in the summer.  Since we go to DL so often we have seen a lot of the stuff in places like the Animation bldg and Innoventions so now if we go in it is to escape the weather and relax.  We love to go to the Grand every trip and take a load off and enjoy the ambiance, either the fire in the winter or the lobby in the summer.  This is the same.  We love all the clips and the music and if you are lucky enough to get a spot on one of the couches it is a great place for a little power nap LOL.  Not sure if you explored the rest of the bldg but there is some cool stuff like the Animation Academy  (learn how to draw a character) or Crush etc.  Love the photo ops too.  I guess they added some more and I wish they had had the Haunted Mansion one when we were there but we were there the beginning of June right after it started.  But again nice update!!



We didn't explore the rest of the building this time around, but we've done it (and the animation academy) before.  You are totally right about it being a nice/fun place to relax for a while!



TheMaxRebo said:


> Sounds like an interesting set up for the meet & greet with A&E (or in your case, just the big E) ... at least the queue was interesting, but maybe they should call it "moderate pass" for that one
> 
> the Grizzly Peak area does look cool and neat to know they did do a good job of capturing the feeling of the real thing.  Definitely want to get on the rapids ride at least once as Olivia loved Kali River Rapids and I've heard this one is better.
> 
> That is a coll PP spot with it looking like you all were in the bear mouth!



"moderate pass"  I love it!!!!  Yeah, we like this better than Kali River too


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 3*

So yeah, after a few wilderness adventures, it was time to head back over to Radiator Springs Racers for our next FP's.  We headed out towards the boardwalk area and hung a left.





And then a little later, another right and we were back in Carsland.





Cool, another Photopass photographer.  Let’s grab a few!













You might notice that Pickle wasn’t in any of these pictures.  For some reason, she was “over it” for the time being and refused to join in.  No worries, we’re on vacation!  We'll go with the flow...

Since Stephanie’s parents aren’t quite as much into it as we are, we didn’t really explore the area too thoroughly. (Like checking out the Cozy Cone’s and Flo’s.)  And no worries, because this was our third visit in the last five years, and we’ve explored pretty much every nook and cranny of this area in the past.  So yeah, we got our photos and pretty much walked straight to the ride...









Pretty awesome, none the less.





And we’re back!!





Yup!





The theming in this area is beyond amazing!!!






Hey, it’s Radiator Spring!









So yeah, even with FP, the line took a little while.  But relatively speaking, it was still pretty fast compared to that 70 minute wait for stand by!





Since Stephanie stayed back for FP’s earlier that morning, it made sense for me to stay back and ride by myself.  No worries, I was able to grab a couple photos as they departed.






Another successful ride!!!  I think Grandpa actually liked it this time around!  Princess clearly did!





And of course, I had fun too!





Next up was FP’s for Soarin’.  Love the new theming of this area.  So good!













So yeah, the ride was exactly the same as before.  But the screen was indeed clean, crisp, and fresh. Nice!  (Oh, and it's always awesome to be in the top/middle row.  No feet dangling above you!!!)





This is one of my all time favorite Disney rides, either here or at EPCOT.  So cool!  And it was fun to think that we had seen most of the spots on the video during our own California Adventure.  Except for the Palm Springs golf course… 

But wait, we’re going to have an addendum to our adventure… 

I’m taking Buddy and Princess to a skateboard contest in Palm Springs this December.  So we’ll be able to check that one of the list soon too!!!!

After riding Soarin’ the group was getting hungry, so we decided to head over to the Wharf area.  Stephanie, Princess, and Grandpa had sandwiches and salads from the Boudin bakery, and then Nanny, Buddy, Pickle and me had the Chinese food.  We’ve eaten at the bakery and the Mexican restaurants here a couple times before, but this was a first for the Chinese restaurant.  I was pretty excited to try something new!













The menu!





And the food!





I had the Teriyaki beef.  It was actually *darn* good!





Buddy had the Teriyaki chicken (on the right)





And Pickle got the kids chicken and rice (with mandarin oranges)





We all thouroughly enjoyed our meals!

And then from the bakery, Princess had a turkey sandwich





And Stephanie had a chicken salad in a bread bowl.





Steph said it was good. Not as good as the Boudine’s back in Vacaville, but she still enjoyed it.  And to be honest, I have no idea what Nanny and Grandpa had.  He probably had a turkey sandwich too, and I think maybe Nanny had the teriyaki chicken.

All in all, it was a pleasant lunch and it was good to relax in the shade for a little while.


----------



## kelmac284

Love the pics of you all on Cars.  Esp your youngest and the lady sitting next to you LOL.  They didn't look like they were enjoying it LOL.  The food looks great and I have to say I have not eaten at the chinese place but that looks pretty tasty.  Think I will have to try that next time.  We love the area with the pizza/greek food so usually eat there and last time tried the new and improved taste pilots.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Loving the animated gifs and also the still of Princess enjoying the ride!

That is pretty cool knowing you've seen most of the scenes in Soarin' in real life. (And smelled in real life too)

Food looks good - that looks like a lot of chicken salad!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Shame that Pickles was taking some 'time out' that morning.  I hope she bounced back quick!
Great gif!
Your Chinese meals look delicious.  Glad everyone enjoyed themselves.


----------



## annie170

I've never given DL serious consideration with how often I've been to DW.  Your trip report has me totally rethinking this.  The theming there is amazing! 

Those are some really cute photo pass pictures.  I remember those times when one kid was just "over it."  Not much you can do, but she'll probably regret not being in the photos when she's older.

Which ending did you get in Radiator Springs Racers.  I know there are two different ones and my daughter and son-in-law kept getting the same one after four rides.

Soarin' is my favorite ride in all of DW.  Front row?!  Score!  Very cool that you've been to most of the locations.

That Chinese food looked very tasty.


----------



## annegirl

That theming is fantastic. I really love the photo op with you guys in the grizzly mouth. Looks really cool.


----------



## Kiotzu

just got caught up, very excited to be following along.  

Sounds like you have had a great time so far!

Makes me even more excited for our upcoming trip to Disneyland, driving down from Vancouver, Canada


----------



## MarbleBob

kelmac284 said:


> Love the pics of you all on Cars.  Esp your youngest and the lady sitting next to you LOL.  They didn't look like they were enjoying it LOL.
> 
> The food looks great and I have to say I have not eaten at the chinese place but that looks pretty tasty.  Think I will have to try that next time.  We love the area with the pizza/greek food so usually eat there and last time tried the new and improved taste pilots.



That's funny about the other people not looking like they were enjoying it.  We love the area with the pizza/greek food too.  Probably my favorite counter service in all of Disneyland.  Stay tuned, because that's where we ate for dinner 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Loving the animated gifs and also the still of Princess enjoying the ride!
> 
> That is pretty cool knowing you've seen most of the scenes in Soarin' in real life. (And smelled in real life too)
> 
> Food looks good - that looks like a lot of chicken salad!



Yeah, loads of chicken salad. I don't think she finished. Ha!



PrincessInOz said:


> Shame that Pickles was taking some 'time out' that morning.  I hope she bounced back quick!
> Great gif!
> Your Chinese meals look delicious.  Glad everyone enjoyed themselves.



Good news, she bounced back within like 5 minutes!



annie170 said:


> I've never given DL serious consideration with how often I've been to DW.  Your trip report has me totally rethinking this.  The theming there is amazing!
> 
> Those are some really cute photo pass pictures.  I remember those times when one kid was just "over it."  Not much you can do, but she'll probably regret not being in the photos when she's older.
> 
> Which ending did you get in Radiator Springs Racers.  I know there are two different ones and my daughter and son-in-law kept getting the same one after four rides.
> 
> Soarin' is my favorite ride in all of DW.  Front row?!  Score!  Very cool that you've been to most of the locations.
> 
> That Chinese food looked very tasty.



I hear you about WDW vs. DL.  I still LOVE WDW and we consider it our "home resort" (even though it's pretty far away), but I think DL is my favorite.  You really ought to consider a DL trip!!!

With respect to Radiator Springs Racers, I may be missing something, but I don't think you get different ends.  Other than riding on the right or left side of the track.  The experience is basically the same.  Right before you head out on the track, each side has a different experience, one side gets new hub caps and the other side gets a fresh coat of paint.  (Reminded me of going through the old Test Track at EPCOT.)

Yeah, I think Soarin' is my favorite ride in all of WDW too.  It just never gets old to me.  And in some ways, it inspired this particular trip, as I always got excited during the Yosemite sequence with the hang gliders.  Now I can say that I've seen it in person!



annegirl said:


> That theming is fantastic. I really love the photo op with you guys in the grizzly mouth. Looks really cool.



Yeah, those photo op spots are really awesome.



Kiotzu said:


> just got caught up, very excited to be following along.
> 
> Sounds like you have had a great time so far!
> 
> Makes me even more excited for our upcoming trip to Disneyland, driving down from Vancouver, Canada



Thanks Kiotzu.  You are going to have a great time at DL and driving down from Vancouver sounds like a lot of fun!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 4*

So as we were finishing up our meals at wharf area, Princess and Buddy were both chomping at the bit to ditch the group and head over to California Screamin’.  That’s pretty much my favorite roller coaster these days, so I didn’t waste any time volunteering to join them.  

(I LOVED roller coasters as a kid, but the older I get, the less fun I have being jolted and jerked around… especially on wooden roller coasters.  But California Screamin' is a different story, you get all the thrills of a traditional roller coaster, but the ride is absolutely smooth.  So nice!!!!!)

So yeah, the three of us rode it together first. Luckily, it was only about a 5 minute wait. They wanted to ride again, but I wasn’t sure when the others would be arriving, so I stayed back.

(Here they are in the second car.)




Then they road it again.  

And after 3 or 4 consecutive rides, we decided to pro-actively go look for the others...

Wouldn’t you know it?  They were waiting in line to meet Donald Duck.   Grandpa has been a huge fan of Donald since he was a kid, so he “had” to stop for a meet and greet.





We got some group photos too.  (Gotta love that Photopass… It’s so worth it!!!)









After that, we explored the gift shop across from Ariel’s Grotto.  We had fun looking at all the Diamond Celebration merchandise.













We had fun browsing, but decided to hold off on any significant purchases until later in the trip...

Next up, we decided to walk over and ride Ariel’s Undersea Adventure.













This is one of our favorites too.  We rode it several times on our last visit, and we also road the new version at WDW last summer too.  The ride is similar between the two parks, but I gotta say that the WDW version at the new Fantasyland blows this one out of the water (pun intended.)

Even so, we all still enjoyed this ride a lot!

















It was now almost 2pm and we decided it was snack time.  Who want’s a Mickey Bar?!?!?





Buddy didn’t waste any time asking for one.  Yum!!!

Next up, we walked over to the Carthay Circle area and hopped on the Red Car Trolley.  We rode it down and back, and we had a nice time relaxing for a while.





A weird thing... is that someone on the street reached out to let their hand drag on the side of the trolley as we drove by.  The driver saw it coming and used her microphone to ask them not to, but they did it anyway.  I guess as a policy, they must stop when anything even close to hitting someone happens.  So she stopped the trolley, and the other cast member had to go out and circle around it and give the all clear before we could keep moving.  The “culprit” looked confused and embarrassed, but they kept walking…  I have no idea why I just shared that.  Probably TMI, but oh well… there you have it  

OK, after we came back, we realized that the Pixar parade was about to start.  We decided to stay put and watch it.  Personally, I’m not a huge fan of parades in general, but this was actually pretty good.






















It was about 3pm after the parade finished.  We figured it was time to go back to the Candy Cane Inn and have a rest for a couple hours.

We got into the habit of taking afternoon breaks back when the kids were little.  We’d head back to the resort for an afternoon nap and a quick swim in the pool.  We found that hitting the parks early when the crowds are smaller, taking a break in the afternoon when the crowds are larger, and then returning in the early evening really worked well for our young kids.  They don’t need their naps anymore, but we’ve continued that tradition anyway, as we still find that some time at the pool and/or lounging in bed with the TV/iPad really does wonders for a long day in the parks.  (Funny… Stephanie and I will still take a power nap sometimes even if the kids don’t.)

So yeah, after the parade, we headed back to the hotel for a break!


----------



## kelmac284

Nice update.  Glad you like the greek/pizza too.  I LOVE the greek food and my older daughter and I always get that while my mom and younger get the flat breads or pasta.  They are all really good as are the salads.  Interesting to hear that the ariel ride in DW is good.  We haven't been to DW in 6 years and are planning to go next June but as we all know things happen and we were supposed to go last November and then to NY this past summer and both trips had to be cancelled.  I will be making our ADRS in Dec so it will seem more real then but honestly until we actually get there I won't be able to get excited LOL.  I am super excited though to see all the new things since we have been.  None of the new Fantasyland was open when we were there last nor Disney springs or quite a bit of other stuff so we are super excited to check it all out.  As for Screamin like you I LOVE roller coasters and my girls and I go on it every trip.  We love TOT too and I love thrill rides but like you can't deal with the rickety ones.  Not sure if you have been to Knotts but Ghost Rider which is their old wooden one is AWFUL.  It is SO bumpy and you literally feel like you have whiplash when you get off it.  I can't take spinning rides anymore either.  Make me sick.  Ah the joys of getting old LOL.  The mind wants to do it but the body says NO!    And I have seen that pixar parade many times.  I only watch if we happen to be eating or sitting somewhere and it is convenient.  But the new Paint the Night was AMAZING.  What I could see of it that is.  We had 2 bad experiences trying to see it with crowds but what I did see and the fireworks was so awesome.  We were supposed to go back in 2 weeks but had to cancel yet again so I don't think we will make it back before it ends sadly but I really enjoyed it!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

California Screaming looks really fun and glad to see you didn't have big waits 

definitely found that since we've had kids we watch a lot more parades and (at least for most of them) they make me wish we had watched more over the years as we've enjoyed them ... generally Disney does a good job with them

We are big fans of mid afternoon breaks too - especially when a late(ish) night at the park is planned.  Though have also had some times where if 1 (or more) kids fall asleep in the stroller we just count that as the break


----------



## Robinjay

I really have enjoyed your trip report!  I live very close to Disneyland, and love to see how others visit the park.  One of my true loves is Yosemite and we go camping for a week there every summer (the reservation Gods smile on us).  I can't imagine only being there for one night, but you sure made of the most of it!  It still makes me cry every time I see it again.  I have never been to San Francisco, even though I have lived in Orange County my whole life.  I now want to go just to visit Walt's museum and might as well take in the cool sites as well.  I have spent hours over different days (and weeks) truly enjoying your perspective.  Thank you!


----------



## PrincessInOz

I love most rollercoaster rides but the one thing I don't like is ones that go upside down.  So....I have to admit that I have never been on Screaming!  *hangs head in shame*

Yes, the WDW version of Little Mermaid is pretty spectacular.  The queue theme is amazing but aside from that, the rides are pretty similar.
Great pictures of the Pixar Parade...and I could so go for a Mickey ice cream right now!!


----------



## MarbleBob

kelmac284 said:


> Nice update.  Glad you like the greek/pizza too.  I LOVE the greek food and my older daughter and I always get that while my mom and younger get the flat breads or pasta.  They are all really good as are the salads.  Interesting to hear that the ariel ride in DW is good.  We haven't been to DW in 6 years and are planning to go next June but as we all know things happen and we were supposed to go last November and then to NY this past summer and both trips had to be cancelled.  I will be making our ADRS in Dec so it will seem more real then but honestly until we actually get there I won't be able to get excited LOL.  I am super excited though to see all the new things since we have been.  None of the new Fantasyland was open when we were there last nor Disney springs or quite a bit of other stuff so we are super excited to check it all out.  As for Screamin like you I LOVE roller coasters and my girls and I go on it every trip.  We love TOT too and I love thrill rides but like you can't deal with the rickety ones.  Not sure if you have been to Knotts but Ghost Rider which is their old wooden one is AWFUL.  It is SO bumpy and you literally feel like you have whiplash when you get off it.  I can't take spinning rides anymore either.  Make me sick.  Ah the joys of getting old LOL.  The mind wants to do it but the body says NO!    And I have seen that pixar parade many times.  I only watch if we happen to be eating or sitting somewhere and it is convenient.  But the new Paint the Night was AMAZING.  What I could see of it that is.  We had 2 bad experiences trying to see it with crowds but what I did see and the fireworks was so awesome.  We were supposed to go back in 2 weeks but had to cancel yet again so I don't think we will make it back before it ends sadly but I really enjoyed it!



Wow, if you haven't been to WDW in 6 years, you are going to be in for a real treat!!!  The new Fantasyland is amazing, and all the other new stuff too!

I haven't been to Knotts, but I've been to a few other theme parks with bumpy roller coasters.  Last year, I rode some crazy coaster at Holiday World in Indiana.  It was so long and intense that my neck muscles were sore from keeping my head upright the whole time.  






Yikes!!! After riding a jerky ride that that, California Screamin' is smooth and relaxing.  Haha!

That's a bummer that you had to cancel yet again 



Robinjay said:


> I really have enjoyed your trip report!  I live very close to Disneyland, and love to see how others visit the park.  One of my true loves is Yosemite and we go camping for a week there every summer (the reservation Gods smile on us).  I can't imagine only being there for one night, but you sure made of the most of it!  It still makes me cry every time I see it again.  I have never been to San Francisco, even though I have lived in Orange County my whole life.  I now want to go just to visit Walt's museum and might as well take in the cool sites as well.  I have spent hours over different days (and weeks) truly enjoying your perspective.  Thank you!



Thanks Robinjay!  Wow, camping for a week in Yosemite every year must be amazing.  Lucky you!!!! 

If you could pull it off, I'd say a visit to Walt Disney Family museum would be worth a long weekend trip up to SF.  I'm sure you'd enjoy it!




PrincessInOz said:


> I love most rollercoaster rides but the one thing I don't like is ones that go upside down.  So....I have to admit that I have never been on Screaming!  *hangs head in shame*
> 
> Yes, the WDW version of Little Mermaid is pretty spectacular.  The queue theme is amazing but aside from that, the rides are pretty similar.
> Great pictures of the Pixar Parade...and I could so go for a Mickey ice cream right now!!



That's a bummer about not wanting to go upside down.  If you ever can muster up the courage, I think you'd like it more than you think.  Such a smooth ride, you might not even notice that you are upside down 

Yeah, a Mickey ice cream sounds terrific right now.  If only we were at a Disney park!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

Oh, I just wanted to chime in that I haven't forgotten about this trip report.  Just been super busy lately.  Stephanie and I flew out to Colorado last week to attend a wedding in Vail.  That was my first time seeing the aspen trees showing their fall colors.  AMAZING beauty!!!





Anyway, I hope to get the next installment written soon.  Thanks again to everyone for following along


----------



## jedijill

Wow, you hit the perfect weekend to see the fall colors!

Jill in CO


----------



## kelmac284

Wow gorgeous trees.  I have some pics of those in Tahoe and you are right they are really gorgeous when they turn!!  That is so funny you mentioned Holiday World.  When we drove from St. Louis to the East Coast we went through Indiana and stopped in North Pole Indiana which I believe is the town Holiday World is in.  We saw the park but didn't go but we had to stop in North Pole cuz it was so cute.  Small world.  Hope you had fun in Colorado and look forward to your next installment.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Fantastic colour in Colorado!


----------



## jeeperwy

Beautiful pictures of Colorado. My son goes to school in Golden and he said they've had great weather. 
Can't wait to hear more about your wonderful trip!
Kari
PS-great win for the Cards tonight!!!


----------



## gluestickgirl

Jumping in to follow along! We made our first trip our to CA this summer, and our party of 9 took over half of Great Mex for lunch one day. We all agree with you - it was awesome!


----------



## acox17

Loving your TR so far!!!  Being from Central IL, I'm hoping to take the same trail as you in the next year and see the sights on the way out to our first visit to DL!!!  Also planning staying at Candy Cane Inn, so it's been really fun til this point following along can't wait to see the rest of your trip!


----------



## MarbleBob

jedijill said:


> Wow, you hit the perfect weekend to see the fall colors!
> 
> Jill in CO



Yes indeed!



kelmac284 said:


> Wow gorgeous trees.  I have some pics of those in Tahoe and you are right they are really gorgeous when they turn!!  That is so funny you mentioned Holiday World.  When we drove from St. Louis to the East Coast we went through Indiana and stopped in North Pole Indiana which I believe is the town Holiday World is in.  We saw the park but didn't go but we had to stop in North Pole cuz it was so cute.  Small world.  Hope you had fun in Colorado and look forward to your next installment.



It's actually Santa Claus, Indiana. Ha!  A strange, but fun little town 



PrincessInOz said:


> Fantastic colour in Colorado!



You can say that again.



jeeperwy said:


> Beautiful pictures of Colorado. My son goes to school in Golden and he said they've had great weather.
> Can't wait to hear more about your wonderful trip!
> Kari
> PS-great win for the Cards tonight!!!



Wow, I bet your son loves living in Golden!  Shucks for the Cards.  Next year!



gluestickgirl said:


> Jumping in to follow along! We made our first trip our to CA this summer, and our party of 9 took over half of Great Mex for lunch one day. We all agree with you - it was awesome!



Cool, thanks for following along!  Wow, a part of 9 in there.  I can see you you took half of it over, as that place was pretty small.  Glad you liked it too!



acox17 said:


> Loving your TR so far!!!  Being from Central IL, I'm hoping to take the same trail as you in the next year and see the sights on the way out to our first visit to DL!!!  Also planning staying at Candy Cane Inn, so it's been really fun til this point following along can't wait to see the rest of your trip!



That's awesome.  You are going to have an amazing time.  That drive is one for the record books. Amazing site after amazing site!


----------



## MarbleBob

A quick update...  Sorry for the pause in the TR over the last couple weeks.  Life's been crazy ever since we returned from Colorado.  I ended up ordering a new car, which took a bunch of my time.  And then Stephanie got sick, and then I got sick.  And also Stephanie's laptop died and she commandeered mine.  Ha!  Still feeling a bit run down and lethargic, but I plan to get moving on the TR again within the next night or two.

Oh and in the meantime, we purchased our Star Wars 7 tickets on Monday night.  Maybe a little trigger happy, but I'm really looking forward to this one!!!


----------



## kelmac284

Lol Santa Clause that's right.  Oh well North Pole Santa Clause same thing LOL.  But you are right it is strange and I can't imagine living there but fun to see as a tourist.  I miss road trips so bad.  We are hopefully doing DW this next June but then in 17 we are doing the east coast.  Flying in to NYC and staying there for 4 days either taking the train or driving up to Boston and eventually up through Maine, Vermont, NH etc and making a loop back around going through upstate NY.  I can't wait!!!  Sorry you were sick and I get the craziness.  We are moving our offices and my mom is about to have both knees replaced and both my kids have sports so I get ya there.  Look forward to your installment when you get the time. No worries.


----------



## PrincessInOz

MarbleBob said:


> we purchased our Star Wars 7 tickets on Monday night. Maybe a little trigger happy, but I'm really looking forward to this one!!!



Congratulations!

I'm looking forward to seeing it too.


----------



## MarbleBob

kelmac284 said:


> Lol Santa Clause that's right.  Oh well North Pole Santa Clause same thing LOL.  But you are right it is strange and I can't imagine living there but fun to see as a tourist.  I miss road trips so bad.  We are hopefully doing DW this next June but then in 17 we are doing the east coast.  Flying in to NYC and staying there for 4 days either taking the train or driving up to Boston and eventually up through Maine, Vermont, NH etc and making a loop back around going through upstate NY.  I can't wait!!!  Sorry you were sick and I get the craziness.  We are moving our offices and my mom is about to have both knees replaced and both my kids have sports so I get ya there.  Look forward to your installment when you get the time. No worries.



Sounds like you have some amazing trips lined up for the next couple years.  Awesome!!!

And prayers for you mom!  (My mom had her knees done about 5 or 6 years ago, but not at the same time.  It wasn't fun for her, but she's so much better off now!!!)



PrincessInOz said:


> Congratulations!
> 
> I'm looking forward to seeing it too.



Yahoo!!!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 12 - Tuesday, June 23 - California Adventure - Part 5*

After the Pixar parade, we headed back to the Candy Cane Inn to relax for a couple hours.  I spent most of the time with Pickle in the pool, and the others rested in our rooms.  Steph took a power nap, and then Buddy and Princess watched TV and goofed off online.  As much as I would have preferred to get a nap too, it was quite nice swimming with Pickle.  Terrific temperatures and and some shade from the trees.  And soaking in the hot tub while she made friends with the other kids was nice too!

So around 5:30 or so, we regrouped and decided to head back to California Adventure.  Grandpa decided that he was a bit worn out, so he stayed back in the room while the rest of us made our way back to the park. Took the shuttle again, and it sure was convenient!

As we entered the park, we realized that Oswald was out, so we had to stop for photos.  Princess loves him and couldn't resist.









Cool!

The game plan for the evening was to eat, ride a few rides over by the boardwalk area, get in line early for World of Color, and then see Radiator Springs at night before heading home.  It was now about 6pm and we were all pretty hungry, so we headed over to the Paradise Garden Grill area.  Pickle and Buddy wanted corn dogs for dinner, so we pit stopped at Corn Dog Castle on the way over.









(Oh, and Buddy brought his "Glow with the Show" ears from our 2013 trip.  Nice thinking Buddy!)

The rest of us ordered from Paradise Garden Grill.





This is pretty much my favorite counter service restaurant in all of Disneyland.  So good!!!!!

Stephanie and I got the Mediterranean skewers.  She got the steak and I got the lemon oregano chicken.  (Or vice versa, I can't remember because we ultimately split them so we could each have half and half.)  And then one of us got the tzatziki sauce and the other got the chimichurri sauce.













*I can't even begin to explain how incredible these meals are.*  (It's just about lunch time and I'm seriously jonesing for a chicken skewer right now.)  Soooo good!

Princess went with the beef gyro platter.  She enjoyed hers too!





Oh, and it's a goofy photo, but here's one of the corn dogs.  Hahaha!





If you've never had a Disneyland corn dog, then you should, because these things are super yummy!

While we were eating, they had a bluegrass band playing.  They were actually pretty darn good!





'sup dude





After we ate, we decided to head over to Mickey's Fun Wheel.  Buddy is somewhat afraid of heights and didn't want to ride with us, so Stephanie took him to ride California Screamin' again.   Strange that he's not the least bit afraid of a roller coaster.  I guess it's the fact that you are up in the air for so long that the ferris wheel bugs him.  Whatever...  

Peace out Buddy!





So yeah, Nanny, Princess, Pickle and I did Mickey's Fun Wheel.  I wasn't exactly excited to ride in a swinging car, but Princess and Pickle insisted.  I'm glad we did it, because it was a bit more exciting than riding in one of the stationary cars.  We really got swinging fast at one point and it was pretty intense!














Hang on!






After the fun wheel, we decided to head over to the Silly Symphony swings.  This is one of my favorites!!!!





Yahoo!






After the swings, we rode the Golden Zephyr.  For some reason, I didn't get any photos, but this was a lot of fun too!

After we got off, it was around 8pm and dusk was arriving.   People were starting to line up for World of Color, so we figured that we might as well join them.





While we were waiting, Pickle had to get her cotton candy.  What's a trip to Disneyland without it?!?!?

Love the Diamond Anniversary branding on the bag.





It was interesting to see them put a screen up over Mickey on the fun wheel.  I remember reading that they projected onto it for the new WoC, but I had forgot...





And a few minutes later, they projected Mickey back onto it until the show started.





So yeah, we were able to get a pretty darn good spot directly in front of a rail.  This meant that the kids didn't have to worry about tall people in their way.  And they welcomed a few other kids from behind us to come up to the rail too.

It was fun to see Buddy's ears synchronize with everyone else in the audience as we waited for the show to start.





And a little while later, it started...






So what did we think?  It was pretty awesome.  I had seen the regular version three times before, and I would have passed this time around if it wasn't for the special edition.  (It sure takes a lot of time to get in line early, wait in line, and then grab a viewing spot, and then wait some more.)  I'm glad we didn't skip it, because it was indeed pretty cool.  Didn't really find Neil Patrick Harris to be as annoying as some had found him to be.  (Not annoying because of his personality, but how he sort of pop's in and out of the show and kind of disrupts the flow.)  And the Star Wars sequence was AWESOME too!!!

After World of Color, we headed over to Radiator Springs to see all the neon and enjoy the ambiance.

We ended up with quite a few photos, and glad to report that Pickle was happy to participate this time around!  













We didn't get any Cozy Cone snacks this time around, but that area is just plain awesome!





Same with Flo's!









Great timing!  Lightning McQueen came out just as we were walking by!

*Ka-Chow!*





What's that booming sound behind us?!?!

Hey, look it's the Disneyland Fireworks!!!!





And finishing the evening with a couple photos of one of the coolest night time spots in all of Disneyland.





So cool!





At that point, it was about 10pm, and we decided to head back to the room, as we planned to be up in time for the rope drop at Disneyland tomorrow morning.

What a great first day in the parks!!!


----------



## wiscbugs

I agree...the new World of Color is definitely worth the wait!


----------



## kelmac284

Nice update.  I think I mentioned it before but we love the greek food as well and I had to laugh because my daughter and I always do the same thing.  We get a chicken and a steak and both sauces and share.  My mom and other daughter always end up getting the pizza or pasta and they have good stuff as well!!  I laughed about the Fun Wheel as well because I belong to a group of gals that go on a ladies trip every year to DL and we all call it the wheel of death.  No one likes it LOL.  I LOVE roller coasters, Tower etc but something about that thing I hate.  Maybe cuz you are not strapped in, maybe because of the way it drops but I just don't like it.  I love the swings as well and did the zephyr for the first time on our trip as well.  They are nice peaceful rides.  I agree about WOC as well.  Have seen it a few times and wouldn't necessarily deal with all the hassles but we did the trattoria so we got the tickets and because my mom is handicapped she got to sit in the handicapped section.  I tore my ankle really bad and was able to sit in a bench which made it SO much more pleasant.  I can't sit on the ground for hours anymore but it was worth it.  The show was great!  I agree too about the neon in Carsland.  Very cool.


----------



## annie170

That Mediterranean food looked great.  A nice break from the usual counter service options.  Were your meals served on real dishes?  If so, nice touch.

Radiator Springs at night is awesome!  Love those photos!

Why does Neil Patrick Harris pop up in World of Color?  Is he talking throughout the show?


----------



## TheMaxRebo

sounds like a really fun evening.  The Paradise Pier area is really fun and a lot to do - and good food.  Funny that it felt like we got a lot done in that area but definitely didn't get to some things you did.

One thing I will fully agree with you with is that the Star Wars part of the new WoC was awesome!  Worth the wait just for that I think!  (though will give my full review when I got to doing my TR)

Cars Land at night is really cool ... love when the Cars cars come out - we saw Mater leave and also DJ come out.  Just a cool concept and one of those things where I would love to see all the technology behind them


----------



## PrincessInOz

What a jam-packed first day!  

Well done to Buddy on bringing his Glow Hat!
I love eating at Paradise Garden Grill as well.  Those skewers are delicious and the sauces are really tasty.  

Looks like you had a great night and you got a great set of family pictures at Carsland!


----------



## annegirl

Everything looked great! 
The food looks so good. 
Great pictures!


----------



## jedijill

Great first day!  I actually like Mickey's Fun Wheel of Death (c).  I rode in a swinging car with a 3 yo that just cackled she was having so much fun!

Jill in CO


----------



## Benbuck6

actually planning our own 12 Day Cross Country Adventure to Disneyland this Summer June/July of 2016.  Seeing this has been awesome.  Cant wait to see the rest.


----------



## MarbleBob

wiscbugs said:


> I agree...the new World of Color is definitely worth the wait!







kelmac284 said:


> Nice update.  I think I mentioned it before but we love the greek food as well and I had to laugh because my daughter and I always do the same thing.  We get a chicken and a steak and both sauces and share.  My mom and other daughter always end up getting the pizza or pasta and they have good stuff as well!!  I laughed about the Fun Wheel as well because I belong to a group of gals that go on a ladies trip every year to DL and we all call it the wheel of death.  No one likes it LOL.  I LOVE roller coasters, Tower etc but something about that thing I hate.  Maybe cuz you are not strapped in, maybe because of the way it drops but I just don't like it.  I love the swings as well and did the zephyr for the first time on our trip as well.  They are nice peaceful rides.  I agree about WOC as well.  Have seen it a few times and wouldn't necessarily deal with all the hassles but we did the trattoria so we got the tickets and because my mom is handicapped she got to sit in the handicapped section.  I tore my ankle really bad and was able to sit in a bench which made it SO much more pleasant.  I can't sit on the ground for hours anymore but it was worth it.  The show was great!  I agree too about the neon in Carsland.  Very cool.



The wheel of death.  LOL.  And enjoying the show on a bench must have been great!  Last time we visited, I had a broken foot, and they let me drive my scooter right in, and I sat on that.  Super comfy!  (But I surely would have preferred a non-broken foot.)



annie170 said:


> That Mediterranean food looked great.  A nice break from the usual counter service options.  Were your meals served on real dishes?  If so, nice touch.
> 
> Radiator Springs at night is awesome!  Love those photos!
> 
> Why does Neil Patrick Harris pop up in World of Color?  Is he talking throughout the show?



Yeah, real dishes.  How cool is that!  Neil Patrick Harris, sort of pops up here and there throughout the show.  Some are narrations and some are gags.



TheMaxRebo said:


> sounds like a really fun evening.  The Paradise Pier area is really fun and a lot to do - and good food.  Funny that it felt like we got a lot done in that area but definitely didn't get to some things you did.
> 
> One thing I will fully agree with you with is that the Star Wars part of the new WoC was awesome!  Worth the wait just for that I think!  (though will give my full review when I got to doing my TR)
> 
> Cars Land at night is really cool ... love when the Cars cars come out - we saw Mater leave and also DJ come out.  Just a cool concept and one of those things where I would love to see all the technology behind them



Star Wars WoC for the win!! I agree seeing those cars drive themselves and interact with people is too cool!



PrincessInOz said:


> What a jam-packed first day!
> 
> Well done to Buddy on bringing his Glow Hat!
> I love eating at Paradise Garden Grill as well.  Those skewers are delicious and the sauces are really tasty.
> 
> Looks like you had a great night and you got a great set of family pictures at Carsland!



Seems like everyone loves Paradise Garden Grill.  I guess, how could you not!!!  



annegirl said:


> Everything looked great!
> The food looks so good.
> Great pictures!







jedijill said:


> Great first day!  I actually like Mickey's Fun Wheel of Death (c).  I rode in a swinging car with a 3 yo that just cackled she was having so much fun!
> 
> Jill in CO



That's great.  I bet riding it with a 3 year old who was cracking up would be a blast.  Certainly better than riding it with a terrified one. haha  



Benbuck6 said:


> actually planning our own 12 Day Cross Country Adventure to Disneyland this Summer June/July of 2016.  Seeing this has been awesome.  Cant wait to see the rest.



That's awesome.  You are going to have an amazing time!!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 1*

The plan for today was to tour Disneyland with the entire group.  Rope drop was at 8am and we made it through the bag check lines around 7:15 AM.  Not bad, all things considered!!!

The lines had already started to form, but we were still able to secure a decent position.





We waited in line for about 30 minutes before they started letting people through the gates for rope drop.  We met a nice Australian family while we waited.  This was their first visit to Disneyland and they had done no research.  Had no idea about fast passes or anything.   So we got out our maps and gave them a 30 minute crash course on the layout of the park, how to best use fast passes, what to ride first before it gets crowded, giving tips about what rides their kids might prefer based on what they liked, etc.  It was a lot of fun and a great way to make the wait go more quickly.

At around 7:45 or so, they started people through the turnstiles.  Yahoo!!





As much as I love California Adventure, Disneyland is where it's at for me.  How exciting to see the 60th anniversary decorations!!!





I love the blue diamond inside the "D" above the plaque.





OK, gang, let's go!  And everyone keep up the pace!!!!   





They don't call it the "Happiest Place on Earth" for nothing!





Everyone made their way to the hub and began forming lines the area that they wanted to start in.  (For our group, it was Fantasyland!!!)





And a chance to get a few photos of the castle and partners statue without people! 





With all the walking that had been doing on this trip, and with knowing that we'd have another big day ahead of us, we decided to rent a stroller for Pickle.  She didn't use it all the time, but it was nice when we needed it.  And yeah, the girls had to have their matching Elsa dresses today.  LOL.





A few minutes later, we were in!!!

We wanted to start with the Matterhorn since it doesn't have FastPasses, but unfortunately, it wasn't running yet.

Drats!

OK, plan B.   (Also, Peter Pan wasn't quite ready from its refurbishment, so that wasn't an option either.)  I think we started with Snow White & Pinocchio instead.  Not that it's any of our favorites, but since we don't have Snow White at WDW anymore, it's now a classic.  Just like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.  Which is what we did next!!!!!

Also, in the meantime, Stephanie grabbed everyone's park tickets and skirted over to Space Mountain for FastPasses.

I love Mr. Toad, such a cool character!





The girls all road together.  How fun!





Of course the ride is a bit dated and not too exciting, but for nostalgia's sake alone, it's one of my favorites!

Then we decided to head over to the Story Book Canal boats.  This line can get pretty long later in the day, so we decided to take advantage of the non-existent line now.





On the way over... Hey look!!!  It's Captain Hook.  Let's get a photo!





Hi Elsa and Elsa 





I love seeing the Matterhorn in the background.  So cool!





So yeah, this is also one of my favorite rides at Disneyland.  I love the detail of all the miniatures.  Just too cool, and truly unique to DL.

Time for a Matterhorn check... Nope, still not running yet   All right, let's go over and hit Star Tours before our Space Mountain window opens!





My team has ridden this one at both DL and WDW multiple times (both the old and new versions), but this was the first time the rest of the group rode it at DL.  Anyway, it's a favorite of the group, so we were all excited.  Especially the boys!









Ready for departure!!!





Yahoo!!!  Since the line was still basically non-existent, we decided to ride it again.  The Force was with us today!

We had a couple minutes before our 9:00 AM Fastpass return time, so we chilled out for a couple minutes.





Happy faces in happy places!





All right, it's time, it's time!!!





Nanny and Grandpa didn't want to ride with us, but everyone else did!





Love the queuing area inside!





Here we go!!!









Space Mountain is also one of my all time favorite rides.  Ultimately, I think I prefer the WDW version because I like the in-line seating better.  But I love how the DL version has the speakers in the vehicle with the cool music!

Next up, we decided to check and see if the Matterhorn was running yet...


----------



## TheMaxRebo

always fun to educate a family that does not research ... hope your advice helped them some!

Definitely cool all the dark rides they have so close to each other there - I remember riding Mr. Toad when I was a kid at WDW so it was fun to take my kids on it at DLR

Canal boats are fun - easy to take a ton of pictures on that!

Space Mountain is one of my favorites. I recently read that the max speed on it is 28 mph - but certainly feels faster when you are on it!


----------



## PrincessInOz

YAY!  Full day and RD at DL. 
Love the pictures of the D60 decorations.
Elsa and Elsa look adorable!

And congrats on the flying start with the rides!!!






MarbleBob said:


> nice Australian family while we waited. This was their first visit to Disneyland and they had done no research.



That's a very kind deed you did in helping them out.  I know we Dis-sers can be accused of overplanning....but really....who goes to Disney without any research these days???


----------



## MarbleBob

TheMaxRebo said:


> always fun to educate a family that does not research ... hope your advice helped them some!
> 
> Definitely cool all the dark rides they have so close to each other there - I remember riding Mr. Toad when I was a kid at WDW so it was fun to take my kids on it at DLR
> 
> Canal boats are fun - easy to take a ton of pictures on that!
> 
> Space Mountain is one of my favorites. I recently read that the max speed on it is 28 mph - but certainly feels faster when you are on it!



Hi five for Space Mountain!  28 mph?!?!?  You are right, sure feels a lot faster!!!



PrincessInOz said:


> YAY!  Full day and RD at DL.
> Love the pictures of the D60 decorations.
> Elsa and Elsa look adorable!
> 
> And congrats on the flying start with the rides!!!
> 
> That's a very kind deed you did in helping them out.  I know we Dis-sers can be accused of overplanning....but really....who goes to Disney without any research these days???



Yeah, was sort of amusing that they had done no research at all.  They were even more grateful for our help after I saw that they were at the wrong rope drop location for Space Mountain (which they said they wanted to hit first.)  Since we had a big enough group securing our place in line, I grabbed them and walked them over to the proper location (they were originally over as if they were heading to the Teacups.)  Never saw them again the rest of the day.  They were a fun family, I'm sure they had a great day despite being a little clueless


----------



## kelmac284

Nice update although I have to say I prefer the DL space because the one at DW always seems so rough to me.  I do like the stuff on the inside though and that whole tomorrowland to me reminds me of the older version of DL since it still has the TTA and such.

We LOVE DL because it is our home park and as you said it has a lot that DW doesn't have like Toad, Alice, the Fairytale boats etc.  Eventhough my kids are teens we love those because of the nostalgia if nothing else.  I was bummed we missed the new Peter Pan but looking forward to seeing it whenever we make it back.  

I find that the update to Matterhorn really knocks you around as well.  I have always loved the ride but maybe I am just getting too old LOL.

And I agree with you as much as I enjoy CA DL is the best!!  And I think most people agree that is why it is always so crowded.


----------



## annie170

Did you ever notice that Space Mountain is single file riding in WDW, but two across in DL.  On the other hand, Splash Mountain is two across in WDW and single file in DL.  I don't know why, but I've always been intrigued by that.

I think I would love Story Book Canal Boats.  That miniature village is awesome.


----------



## MarbleBob

kelmac284 said:


> Nice update although I have to say I prefer the DL space because the one at DW always seems so rough to me.  I do like the stuff on the inside though and that whole tomorrowland to me reminds me of the older version of DL since it still has the TTA and such.
> 
> We LOVE DL because it is our home park and as you said it has a lot that DW doesn't have like Toad, Alice, the Fairytale boats etc.  Eventhough my kids are teens we love those because of the nostalgia if nothing else.  I was bummed we missed the new Peter Pan but looking forward to seeing it whenever we make it back.
> 
> I find that the update to Matterhorn really knocks you around as well.  I have always loved the ride but maybe I am just getting too old LOL.
> 
> And I agree with you as much as I enjoy CA DL is the best!!  And I think most people agree that is why it is always so crowded.



Good points all around!  I think WDW will always be our hope park, because we can drive there in 1.5 days (vs. 3 VERY long days to DL), but DL is totally my favorite!!!!  (for many of the reasons you stated above.)



annie170 said:


> Did you ever notice that Space Mountain is single file riding in WDW, but two across in DL.  On the other hand, Splash Mountain is two across in WDW and single file in DL.  I don't know why, but I've always been intrigued by that.
> 
> I think I would love Story Book Canal Boats.  That miniature village is awesome.



Yeah, we've wondered about that too.   I never bothered to find out why, but I think it's cool that so many of the rides are the same, but different!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 2*

So after riding Space Mountain, we headed over towards Fantasyland again... hoping that the Matterhorn would be running by now.    

Sure enough, it was!!!!!  And there was already a line wrapped around the side of the mountain.  Oh well, the line will only get longer, so let's do it!





Luckily, the line was moving quickly and only took about 20 minutes.  Not bad, all things considered!

The kids were stoked 





So yeah, this is one of my top 5 rides in all of Disney (DL and WDW.)  Not because the coaster aspect is all that great (I'll take California Screamin' or Space Mountain over this bumpy ride)... instead, I love it because of the theme and how well it's executed.  

It's just so darn cool!  

I've never seen the real Matterhorn in person, but I've been to the Alps a couple times before and I just love the area....  (I watched Third Man on the Mountain this summer and they really capture the spirit of that movie here.)

Anyway, after our successful Matterhorn expedition, we decided to knock off a couple other Fantasyland essentials.  I didn't grab photos, but but we rode Alice in Wonderland first.  It was now 10am.  The park had been open for two hours and the crowds were growing.  I'm not sure how long the Alice line was, but it took a good long while.

Next up, we hit the tea cups!!!!  Luckily, there was still practically no line for this one!





The Disneyland version is vastly superior to the WDW version, especially at night!!!  I love the lanterns hanging above the tea cups too!













Grandpa and Dave decided to take a pass on this one.  That's crazy talk, I say!!!

The kids had a blast trying to make me sick....









Not going to happen.  We rode this like 5 or 6 times in a row at WDW one time when Buddy was little (at his request of course.)  I'm getting old for jerky roller coasters, but I can still handle spinning 

After we exited the ride, the girls noticed Alice and the Mad Hatter!





OK... Stephanie had snuck away a little earlier and grabbed FastPasses to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for us, and the window was closing, so we headed that way next.





Walking out of Fantasyland... Hey look, it's another one of those 60th Anniversary Photo Ops!!!





These things are cheesy, but just too cool to pass up!!!









Grandpa wasn't interested in riding the real Thunder Mountain Railroad, but he was willing to get in on the fun here.  Haha!





Coming around the bend, we see the ride.  Oh yeah!!!





Stephanie and I rode this in 2010, but it was down for refurbishment when we came in 2013, so this was a must do for the family.  Especially for Buddy!





And away we go!





To be honest, I don't really remember the differences between the 2010 version and the new one.  But it was still lots of fun.  And also cool to be similar to the WDW version but very different too!

It was about 11:15 AM and we were all hungry and ready for lunch.  We decided to head over to the French Market Restaurant next.

Passing the Rivers of America on the way over, we saw one of the canoes go by.  Unfortunately, we never got around to riding in one.  Next time, right?!?!?!





So, yeah, none of us had eaten here before and we were all excited to try something new!







Psyche!!!!


Buddy didn't want to have anything to do with the place.  I made him smile for the above picture, but this was how he actually felt.  LOL.





Come on Buddy, you're at the Happiest Place on Earth!  If you aren't interested in anything here, there's always ice cream, popcorn, pickles, and stuff later...

I ended up getting the "Market French Dip".  It was pretty darn tasty.  And dipping the chips in the au jus really hit the spot!





Pickle had the "Chicken Breast with Rice" kids meal.  It was good enough, but nothing special.





Princess had the "French Quarter Chicken".  She liked it well enough, but didn't rave over it.





Stephanie had the "Seasoned Shrimp Po Boy".  I think she was pretty happy with hers.





And then the girls shared a piece of cake!





I took a bite and it was delicious!

So all in all, I'd say that the French Market Restaurant was just OK for us.  Not bad in any way at all, but not very memorable either.  

And Buddy decided to just wait and have a snack later.  LOL.


----------



## annegirl

You are making me want to go to Disneyland so bad!! My husband loves Mr. Toad so we definitely need to go ride that. It has been too long since I have been there. Looks like such a fun day so far.


----------



## jedijill

I cannot wait to get to DL and see the 60th stuff next month!  You got a lot done that morning!

Jill in CO


----------



## kelmac284

Although I am bummed that the Matterhorn is now so jerky I do agree I LOVE the theming of it and we always try to go at least once.  I used to go several times but I just can't take it anymore LOL.  But they have improved the Yeti scenes on the inside and that part is really cool.  It used to be too that they opened both sides and each side is different but I think now they just have the one line.  It stinks because you used to always be able to get into the shorter line and it would go quicker LOL.  I have been to Switzerland/Zermat once as a teen many years ago and we got all the way there but you couldn't see the Matterhorn because of the weather.  When you are lucky enough to be there on a sunny day I hear it is amazing but sadly I missed it.  Would have loved to have seen it in real life.  Maybe some day.  

We loved those photo ops too and took pics with all that were there and I am bummed we missed the haunted mansion one.  I guess they didn't put that up till after we had left.  They are cheesy but lots of fun!

I agree about French Market.  It is OK but not spectacular.  Honestly there are only a few restaurants in both parks that I think are AMAZING, one being Carthay and the other the Napa Rose.  There are def plenty of GOOD places but those are the only ones I think are amazing.  Even Blue Bayou is more about the ambiance then the food.  I would LOVE to eat at Club 33 someday but don't know if that will ever happen.

Nice update!!  Look forward to more.


----------



## PrincessInOz

You're really ticking off a number of rides this morning.

Glad that the Matterhorn opened up for you and your family all got on it.  Are you planning a trip to the Swiss Alps to go see it someday?
And I totally agree.  The teacups at DLR has so much more charm than the teacups at WDW because of the backdrop.  Still a cool attraction in any park, though. 
I like the French Market.  Shame that it was just only okay for you.


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Love the Matterhorn for the the ring and water parts and also the history of it being the first steel tubular roller coaster - also the fact the skyway went through it always fascinated me.

We didn't get to do the BTMRR cutout picture spot but did get to some others - I though ghtvtheybwere really cool. Blocked the effects in the last lift hill or the ride!


----------



## MarbleBob

annegirl said:


> You are making me want to go to Disneyland so bad!! My husband loves Mr. Toad so we definitely need to go ride that. It has been too long since I have been there. Looks like such a fun day so far.



I'm making me want to go to Disneyland too.  Haha!



jedijill said:


> I cannot wait to get to DL and see the 60th stuff next month!  You got a lot done that morning!
> 
> Jill in CO



You are going to LOVE it!!!



kelmac284 said:


> Although I am bummed that the Matterhorn is now so jerky I do agree I LOVE the theming of it and we always try to go at least once.  I used to go several times but I just can't take it anymore LOL.  But they have improved the Yeti scenes on the inside and that part is really cool.  It used to be too that they opened both sides and each side is different but I think now they just have the one line.  It stinks because you used to always be able to get into the shorter line and it would go quicker LOL.  I have been to Switzerland/Zermat once as a teen many years ago and we got all the way there but you couldn't see the Matterhorn because of the weather.  When you are lucky enough to be there on a sunny day I hear it is amazing but sadly I missed it.  Would have loved to have seen it in real life.  Maybe some day.
> 
> We loved those photo ops too and took pics with all that were there and I am bummed we missed the haunted mansion one.  I guess they didn't put that up till after we had left.  They are cheesy but lots of fun!
> 
> I agree about French Market.  It is OK but not spectacular.  Honestly there are only a few restaurants in both parks that I think are AMAZING, one being Carthay and the other the Napa Rose.  There are def plenty of GOOD places but those are the only ones I think are amazing.  Even Blue Bayou is more about the ambiance then the food.  I would LOVE to eat at Club 33 someday but don't know if that will ever happen.
> 
> Nice update!!  Look forward to more.



Another Matterhorn fan.  Yahoo!!!

Yeah, we missed the haunted mansion photo opp one too.  Bummer!

We haven't been to Carthay or Napa Rose, but I agree that most places aren't amazing at Disneyland. But I had higher hopes for French Market to be one of the "Good" ones.   No worries though, because at Disneyland, "It's all good."  (even when it's not)  Haha.



PrincessInOz said:


> You're really ticking off a number of rides this morning.
> 
> Glad that the Matterhorn opened up for you and your family all got on it.  Are you planning a trip to the Swiss Alps to go see it someday?
> And I totally agree.  The teacups at DLR has so much more charm than the teacups at WDW because of the backdrop.  Still a cool attraction in any park, though.
> I like the French Market.  Shame that it was just only okay for you.



No real plans to visit the Swiss Alps to see it someday.  I visited Chamonix, France a couple times in the past, and I'd probably rather see Mt. Blanc again first, but if the opportunity to go back ever comes up, it would be fun to visit both mountains 



TheMaxRebo said:


> Love the Matterhorn for the the ring and water parts and also the history of it being the first steel tubular roller coaster - also the fact the skyway went through it always fascinated me.
> 
> We didn't get to do the BTMRR cutout picture spot but did get to some others - I though ghtvtheybwere really cool. Blocked the effects in the last lift hill or the ride!



The skyway part fascinates me too.  Pretty cool stuff.

Looking forward to seeing your cutout pictures soon on your TR too!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 3*

It was now a little bit after noon, and after a nice break, we were all ready to get moving again.  Since Pirates of the Caribbean is so close, we decided to hit it next.  Pickle was dragging behind a bit, so Stephanie decided to give her a lift 





I love this part of DL.  It's just too darn cool!





So yeah, rounding the corner and entering the line...





Unfortunately, the line was a bit slow and as it split into two, we ended up in the longer line.    It took about 35 minutes to get inside, and then a few more to get on our boat.





This is one of my all time favorite rides too.  And here's another example where the DL version truly outshines the WDW version.  It's substantially longer and I LOVE going through the Blue Bayou.  (Stephanie and I ate there on a solo trip in 2010 and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Not the most amazing meal ever, but it was close enough to be worthwhile.)

After it was all said and done, we spent about an hour getting Pirates knocked off our list.  Definitely worth it, but the long line really makes you appreciate those FastPasses.  Speaking of which, we were up for Splash Mountain next!!!





This is probably Stephanie's favorite ride at WDW.  And contrary to some of the other attractions at DL, we like the WDW one better.  Regardless, this is still lots of fun.  Once you get those songs in your head, they are stuck there for the rest of the day.  No worries, because they are fun to hum along.  













"Time to be moving along..."

Buddy was still a bit hungry from his non-existent lunch, so he got a giant pickle.  Pickle passed on a pickle this time around (she usually gets one with him) because she wanted cotton candy.













It was now a little bit after 2pm and we decided that it was time to head back to the room for a break.  So we headed back to swim and relax for a couple hours.

Since this was going to be Angie and Dave's only day at the parks, they decided to push on with Nanny and Grandpa.  I'm not sure what all they did while we took a break, but they added their PhotoPass cards to our account, so I have a few pictures that they had made.













After we had a nice break at the hotel, we arrived back at DL around 5:15pm.  And we stopped for a few PhotoPass photos too.  (Pre-purchasing the CD option is such a great deal!!)













Pickle and Buddy wanted to ride Autopia, so we headed that way first.  Princess wasn't feeling it, and need a few minutes to chill, so Stephanie stayed back with her while I took the other two.  Unfortunately, they were having issues and the line took forever.  Great for Princess's chill time, but no fun for us.  Oh well, we still enjoyed ourselves and would have done it again if we had to.





So yeah, Buddy drove himself, and then Pickle and I rode together.









None of us are big fans of this ride at WDW, but the Autopia version has such a pretty drive.  Really top notch landscaping and theming over here!!!

We head FastPasses for Indiana Jone's, so we decided to start heading that way next.





But we had to stop for the Enchanted TIKI Room on the way!





The Dole Whip line was too long, so we decided to come back for those later!





One of my favorites!!!









The TIKI Room is dated and corny, but I truly LOVE it!!!  (I'm glad they never ruined this one with that stupid parrot from Aladdin likey the did in WDW.)

Time for Indy!













Another awesome ride!!!  A bit jerky, but super fun.  I love that this one is truly unique to DL.  Makes it extra special.


----------



## kelmac284

Nice update.  I meant to say last time that the Thunder mountain is different in that it is now much smoother and they added the exploding dynamite in the tunnel whereas before it was the earthquake scene.  I love this ride and just found out it will be down the entire time we are at DW next June.   

I totally agree about pirates and splash.  Our pirates is WAY better and when I went to DW the firs time I was like WHAT half of it is missing LOL.  And I agree DW's splash is better and seems to be longer and tells the story better.  I also love Tikki room and it is funny because as a kid we only went to DL once every 5 or so years so in my entire childhood I only went maybe 4 or 5 times.  Once I had kids though we went almost yearly and I have done so much more that I NEVER did as a kid.  I didn't step foot into the tikki room until I had kids but now we love it and it is a must do every trip. Esp in the summer when it is hot  and I agree they ruined it at DW.  :/

Indy is one of our faves and I miss it when we go to DW but we are "hopefully" going to Europe in 17 and I am hoping to do DLP and looking forward to their version.  Looks pretty cool!!


----------



## annegirl

The Indiana Jones ride is right up there with Peter Pan for my favorite ride at Disneyland. I love it! 
It has been so long since I have been there that I didn't even remember that the Pirates is different at Disneyland. I really need to go.....


----------



## TheMaxRebo

You all are definitely making good use of the Fast Passes!

I knew going in that the general consensus is Pirates is better at DLR but I was surprised how much more I liked it.  The beginning part in the caves is just so cool .... definitely shows that they did the WDW Pirates on the cheap/quickly to get it done ... or rather, shows how much better a Disney ride can be when they have the time and space (and money) to go all out

One thing I did like better about the DL version of Splash is it felt they really crammed the animatronics in on the inside portions - some you even had to look backwards to see!

Autopia is so much better than the raceway at WDW.  Love all the details, especially the mouse crossing part!

Indy is a very cool ride ... someways I wish it was a little less jerky as I think it if was smoother it would feel more like a complete experience than as series of rooms, but still, very cool!  Also one of the better queues!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Another great set of pictures and rides; even if you did have some down time during the middle of the day.  

I'm in agreement with you.  Love the PoTC and Autopia versions better at WDW.  The Tiki Room is pretty special at DLR as well.  And whilst it's the same ride technology, Indy is far and away a much more awesome ride than the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom.  Funny how much theming and a great back-story can make a ride, isn't it?


So....enquiring minds wanna know.  Angie and Dave.  Did they wish they had more than 1 day at DL?


----------



## TwoLittlePrincesses

Just read your whole trip report over the past few days and am really enjoying it!! Can't wait to read more! We're doing a similar trip next July--starting in San Francisco, doing Yosemite, driving down the coast to Santa Barbara, then doing DL (first time!) for a few days and San Diego. Your report is so helpful!


----------



## MarbleBob

kelmac284 said:


> Nice update.  I meant to say last time that the Thunder mountain is different in that it is now much smoother and they added the exploding dynamite in the tunnel whereas before it was the earthquake scene.  I love this ride and just found out it will be down the entire time we are at DW next June.
> 
> I totally agree about pirates and splash.  Our pirates is WAY better and when I went to DW the firs time I was like WHAT half of it is missing LOL.  And I agree DW's splash is better and seems to be longer and tells the story better.  I also love Tikki room and it is funny because as a kid we only went to DL once every 5 or so years so in my entire childhood I only went maybe 4 or 5 times.  Once I had kids though we went almost yearly and I have done so much more that I NEVER did as a kid.  I didn't step foot into the tikki room until I had kids but now we love it and it is a must do every trip. Esp in the summer when it is hot  and I agree they ruined it at DW.  :/
> 
> Indy is one of our faves and I miss it when we go to DW but we are "hopefully" going to Europe in 17 and I am hoping to do DLP and looking forward to their version.  Looks pretty cool!!



Disneyland Paris would be awesome!  I never even considered that they would have a third version.  How cool is that!!!



annegirl said:


> The Indiana Jones ride is right up there with Peter Pan for my favorite ride at Disneyland. I love it!
> It has been so long since I have been there that I didn't even remember that the Pirates is different at Disneyland. I really need to go.....



Time to refresh your memory!!! 



TheMaxRebo said:


> You all are definitely making good use of the Fast Passes!
> 
> I knew going in that the general consensus is Pirates is better at DLR but I was surprised how much more I liked it.  The beginning part in the caves is just so cool .... definitely shows that they did the WDW Pirates on the cheap/quickly to get it done ... or rather, shows how much better a Disney ride can be when they have the time and space (and money) to go all out
> 
> One thing I did like better about the DL version of Splash is it felt they really crammed the animatronics in on the inside portions - some you even had to look backwards to see!
> 
> Autopia is so much better than the raceway at WDW.  Love all the details, especially the mouse crossing part!
> 
> Indy is a very cool ride ... someways I wish it was a little less jerky as I think it if was smoother it would feel more like a complete experience than as series of rooms, but still, very cool!  Also one of the better queues!



I heard you about Indy being jerky.  But in my mind, the ride itself sort of reminds me of the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom wish is way beyond my threshold for what I'll put up with for an entertaining ride.  Sort of makes Indy seem a bit smooth in comparison. 



PrincessInOz said:


> Another great set of pictures and rides; even if you did have some down time during the middle of the day.
> 
> I'm in agreement with you.  Love the PoTC and Autopia versions better at WDW.  The Tiki Room is pretty special at DLR as well.  And whilst it's the same ride technology, Indy is far and away a much more awesome ride than the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom.  Funny how much theming and a great back-story can make a ride, isn't it?
> 
> 
> So....enquiring minds wanna know.  Angie and Dave.  Did they wish they had more than 1 day at DL?



Funny you should ask about Angie and Dave.  Yes, they did wish they had more than one day at DL!!  They hadn't really considered doing California Adventure, but they cancelled their previous LA touring plans for the next day and bought CA tickets!!!  



TwoLittlePrincesses said:


> Just read your whole trip report over the past few days and am really enjoying it!! Can't wait to read more! We're doing a similar trip next July--starting in San Francisco, doing Yosemite, driving down the coast to Santa Barbara, then doing DL (first time!) for a few days and San Diego. Your report is so helpful!



That's awesome.  Thanks for reading along.  If you end up doing a similar "California Adventure" trip, you'll love it!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 13 - Wednesday, June 24 - Disneyland - Part 4*

I apologize for the slowness of updates.  Things have been been really busy lately, but I think I've turned a corner and should be able to crank out the last few days of the trip here over the next week or so.  Anyway, let's get back to the TR.

After riding Indiana Jones, we decided to grab a bite to eat and then stake our claim for the Paint the Night Parade and Fireworks.  We headed over to the central hub area, and even at around 7:30 it was starting to fill up.  (Parade started at 9pm.)  So we picked a spot and then made trips for food.  I ended up grabbing food from Tomorrowland and bringing it back to the family.  It was pretty hectic and challenging to get the food and then wade my way back to the family, so the food itself was forgettable.  I think we had some chicken fingers, fries, and stuff.

We ended up with a decent spot to watch the parade.  We were near the Astro Orbiter, which was fun to watch spin through the night....









So after we ate, we still had about an hour before the parade started.  We were packed like sardines, but the energy in the crowd was high and we all had a great time just hanging out and enjoying the atmosphere.  Well, everyone except for Grandpa.  I think he shot us an evil eye a couple times... he's not a crowd person and it was pretty clear that he was thinking, "what in the world have you gotten me into?"  





And finally the parade started.  I didn't really take any photos with my camera, but I did get a fair amount on my camcorder.  So here are a couple gifs.

First, looking back at the orbiter.  So cool at night!






And then a couple from the parade:
















So yeah, I'm not usually too much into parades and shows.  The rest of my gang likes them and I usually just go with the flow, but this one was certainly worth going out of your way to see.  Truly spectacular!!

We thought we had a great spot for both the parade and fireworks, but it turned out that they cleared the sidewalk after the parade, so we had to rush out into the street with everyone for the fireworks.  Which meant we were too close to the tree in front of the castle and it sort of blocked our view a bit.  Oh well, not the end of the world, but a mistake we won't make next time!


















The fireworks were pretty cool too.  Not quite as cool as the parade, but still awesome.  The tree blocked our view of the projections on the castle quite a bit, but we could see the projections on the Matterhorn really well.  And when we looked back, we could see the ones on Main Street fairly well too.  All in all, not a great spot for the fireworks, but not terrible either.

After the fireworks finished it was almost 10pm, Pickle decided that she was pretty much done and wanted to go back to the room.  Buddy and Princess wanted to ride Haunted Mansion still, so we all parted ways.  (I know Steph and Pickle headed back to Candy Cane Inn by themselves, but I have no idea what Nanny, Grandpa, and the others ended up doing.)  Anyway, On the way over to HM, I took advantage of the castle still being roped off to snap a pretty cool photo





It took us about 45 minutes to get over to HM and through the line.  We've ridden this a bunch before, but we wanted to see the new hat box ghost.





He was awesome, but to be honest, it was sort of anticlimactic as in, "Hey look, it's the original hat box ghost.  Oh cool. Moving on..."

It's funny... when comparing WDW to DL versions of rides, I usually have a clear favorite.  But I think both Haunted Mansions are tied in my book.  They are equally awesome!  But I do like that it's more of a journey to board your doom buggy on the DL version.  (That being said, the new queuing area in WDW is cool too.)

It was now about 11pm.  Buddy and Princess were pretty tired at this point too, so we decided to make the long journey back to our room.  Especially knowing that tomorrow was going to be our early entry day back at DL. 

Our second day in the parks was in the books and it was an awesome one.  It was fun touring as a big group and sharing some of our favorite spots and attractions with Dave and Angie's family.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Nice gifs!
I actually like the DLR HM version better WHEN the Holiday overlay is present.  Otherwise, both versions are really hard to choose from.

And did Grandpa stop giving you the evil eye when the parade started?


----------



## MarbleBob

PrincessInOz said:


> Nice gifs!
> I actually like the DLR HM version better WHEN the Holiday overlay is present.  Otherwise, both versions are really hard to choose from.
> 
> And did Grandpa stop giving you the evil eye when the parade started?



We saw the DLR HM version with the Holiday overlay in 2013.  It was pretty cool, but I think I prefer the vanilla version 

Haha! Yeah, once the parade started Grandpa was cool.  I think he thoroughly enjoyed the parade and fireworks


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 14 - Thursday, June 25 - Disneyland - Part 1*

Wow, our last full day in California.  Hard to believe that the adventure was almost finished!  Our goal for the day was to use our early entry option for Disneyland, which opened at 7:00am.  This was also our first solo day in the parks, so we didn't waste any time getting there early.

What did the others do?  Well, Dave and Angie had originally planned to only visit DL park just the one day, and tour LA the other days... But they enjoyed their DL day so much, that they decided to visit California Adventure on this last day.  (We didn't know it at the time.)  Nanny and Grandpa continued with their original plans to do some LA site seeing (I don't remember exactly where they went.)

So yeah, since we were slow poke free, we decided to walk from the Candy Cane Inn and arrive about an hour before the gates opened.





Interesting... we made it to bag check before the attendants did.  Hahaha!  We ended up waiting here for about 15 or 20 minutes.  The bag checkers were pretty cheeky and had fun pestering people in line and picking on each other.  Made the wait interesting...





So yeah, Buddy was determined to be first in line for DL.  Not only first in line for his turnstile, but first for the entire park!!!






We did it!  We made it before any one else.  We sort of headed over to the right side, since it would be closer to the tunnel going under the tracks.  In hindsight, I wish we had went to the very middle, because I wonder if they would have picked us as the family to "open the park".  No worries, we were happy with our accomplishment anyway 






Within 10 or 15 minutes, that vast empty space looked like this:





Yikes!!!






Maybe 5 or 10 minutes before they started letting people in, they opened the outer gates.  Buddy still happy!






OK.  So they open the park, and everyone is doing the "walk don't run"... but still walk as fast as you can rigamarole.  We wanted to start off with a bang and head to Space Mountain, so we booked it!!!!

Funny, about a third of the way down Mains Street, a large man (who looked like Santa) flew past me in his scooter...  I was like, "Wow, He's making good time....  I wonder what ride he's cruising for?"

And then I had a good laugh....






The gif above turned out terrible, but he zipped past and took a hard right... to be first in line for.... (drumroll, please)..... Starbucks!





Yeah, getting up early.  Waiting in line.  Weaving in and out past people like a race car driver... just to be first in line for Starbucks.  LOL. Hahahah!!! Go Santa!

Anyway, we kept up our pace and made it to Space Mountain ahead of the main pack....  Only to find it was closed.  Maybe Santa had the last laugh after all....  Ho ho ho!

The kids wanted to ride the Astro Orbiter, so we did that next.










We ended up riding it twice in a row, as there was no line and the kids were having fun.  After the second time, it was about 7:25 and Space Mountain was up and running.  Let's go!!!














Funny! I blinked for the flash.  Dork!





All, right next up, let's go hit some of the Fantasyland rides that we missed yesterday.  Pickle really wanted to ride Dumbo, but Princess and Buddy didn't.  So they just waited for us.





Pickle and her magic feather!





Yahoo!  I'll never get tired of Dumbo!!!  As much as the "Twin Dumbos" at WDW is cool, I love that this one is now old school!











Next up? How about Casey Jr. Circus Train?!?!!  Everyone was up for it, as it's a fun ride around the Storybook Land area with lots of cool stuff to look at.









We ended up in the Monkeys car.  When the cast member came to lock our gate, she looked at Pickle and Buddy and said something along they lines of, "Hey, you Monkeys... No flinging poo in there!".  Hahaha!!!  We gave her a few good "ooh-ooh...aagh-aagh's" after that!

















It was now about 8:30.  Still making pretty good time.  Next up was Pinocchio.









At that point, the kids were getting hungry as we left too early for the continental breakfast at the hotel.  We decided to split up.  The bigger kids and I headed back to Tomorrowland to order food for everyone, while Pickle and Stephanie squeezed in a quick ride around the carousel.





And of course, an attempt at retrieving Excalibur!





By the time our food was ready at the Galactic Grill (Tomorrowland Terrace), Stephanie and Pickle had caught up to us.

We all had pretty much the same thing.... Eggs, bacon, and potatoes.  And of course, some extra bacon for the kids. For some reason, they are infatuated with Disney bacon.  Doesn't matter the location, they just love Disney bacon....









The breakfast didn't really look all that appetizing, but it was actually very tasty.  I'd be happy to eat there again in the future.

After eating and relaxing for a few minutes, we decided to head over and ride It's a Small World After All.  Stay tuned...


----------



## melk

Have been loving your trip report. Need to go back and start taking notes now on your park strategy. We officially booked a villa at the Grand Californian for late June! So excited. But we had a change of dates and as a result lost our room at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. I had to book a tent cabin at Curry Village  I remember what you had said about them so I am checking every day for availability anywhere else.


----------



## jedijill

I'm leaving for DL in the morning and so excited to see another update!  I love Buddy's motivation to be the first in the park!  Go Santa!

Jill in CO


----------



## TheMaxRebo

It's amazing how early people line up for parades/fireworks at Disneyland.  Read that with it being more of a local crowd who can come more often, getting "everything" done isn't as key to them, so they can afford to wait for the best views.  Glad you got a good view for the parade - definitely a can't miss.  And definitely get what you say about excitement/buzz in the crowd for it!  Too bad about having to move for the fireworks and that dang tree - but still not too bad!

I also totally get what you are saying about the Hatbox Ghost ... it is super cool they brought him back and a great event - but he is just kinda "there" with not much warning or anything 

How cool that you (well, Buddy) was first in line that day for Disneyland!  And whoa, that crowd built up fast!

Haha, funny story about Santa Claus and Starbucks .... though if that is how fast he goes before being caffeinated, I'd stay out of his way after he is fueled up!

Bummer Space Mountain wasn't open - little frustrating to go through all the efforts to be there so early, and then first thing messes up the plans - but seems like you rebounded and things worked out

BTW - absolutely loving all of your gifs, though the one riding the Astro Orbiter might be my favorite as it flows/cycles around pretty seamlessly!  

eep!  Makes me wonder what happened in the past that the CM felt the need to instruct you not to fling your poo!  

Seems like a decent breakfast for just grabbing something.


----------



## MarbleBob

melk said:


> Have been loving your trip report. Need to go back and start taking notes now on your park strategy. We officially booked a villa at the Grand Californian for late June! So excited. But we had a change of dates and as a result lost our room at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. I had to book a tent cabin at Curry Village  I remember what you had said about them so I am checking every day for availability anywhere else.



A villa at the Grand Californian?!?!  How cool is that!!!  Too bad about the Yosemite Lodge.  Even if you are stuck in a tent cabin, you'll still have an amazing time.  Curry Village is pretty darn awesome, and if you are like us, you'll want to spend as much time enjoying the park outside anyway.  But yeah, be prepared for cramped quarters and lots of people.  Some people love it and return to the tent cabins every year, so it can't be that bad 



jedijill said:


> I'm leaving for DL in the morning and so excited to see another update!  I love Buddy's motivation to be the first in the park!  Go Santa!
> 
> Jill in CO



Awesome!!!!!  I hope you have a blast!  

(Funny.... Princess, Buddy, and I will be in Anaheim this Thursday night.  Staying just down the street from DL, but we won't have the chance to visit the park, or even DTD.  We arrive late (around 10pm) and are heading to a couple skateparks in the morning before heading to Palm Springs on Friday afternoon.  Would have been fun to try and say hello for a quick DisMeet if we were staying longer 



TheMaxRebo said:


> It's amazing how early people line up for parades/fireworks at Disneyland.  Read that with it being more of a local crowd who can come more often, getting "everything" done isn't as key to them, so they can afford to wait for the best views.  Glad you got a good view for the parade - definitely a can't miss.  And definitely get what you say about excitement/buzz in the crowd for it!  Too bad about having to move for the fireworks and that dang tree - but still not too bad!
> 
> I also totally get what you are saying about the Hatbox Ghost ... it is super cool they brought him back and a great event - but he is just kinda "there" with not much warning or anything
> 
> How cool that you (well, Buddy) was first in line that day for Disneyland!  And whoa, that crowd built up fast!
> 
> Haha, funny story about Santa Claus and Starbucks .... though if that is how fast he goes before being caffeinated, I'd stay out of his way after he is fueled up!
> 
> Bummer Space Mountain wasn't open - little frustrating to go through all the efforts to be there so early, and then first thing messes up the plans - but seems like you rebounded and things worked out
> 
> BTW - absolutely loving all of your gifs, though the one riding the Astro Orbiter might be my favorite as it flows/cycles around pretty seamlessly!
> 
> eep!  Makes me wonder what happened in the past that the CM felt the need to instruct you not to fling your poo!
> 
> Seems like a decent breakfast for just grabbing something.



You hit the nail on the head with your comment about locals coming just for parades and fireworks.  Man, I wish I was a DL local!!!

Watch out for the caffeinated Santa!!  Hahahh!

Yeah, that's funny that the cast member's instructions about the poo.  As I mentioned in your TR, I've visited the primate house at the St. Louis Zoo a lot through the years, and interestingly the chimps to tend to fling their poo around.  Gross, but funny to watch... LOL.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 14 - Thursday, June 25 - Disneyland - Part 2*

So after our break for breakfast, we started making our way over to It’s a Small World.  Riding the Nemo submarines wasn't a priority for anyone on this trip, so we decided to just pass it by.  Sure is pretty though!













As we turned the corner past the Matterhorn, we stumbled upon another one of the Diamond Celebration photo spots.  They all are awesome, but I really loved this one!





It was about 9:15am when we finally made it over to Small World.  Pretty short line, which is always nice!









After It's a Small World, we decided to head over to the Haunted Mansion, as Stephanie and Pickle didn't ride it with us last night.  

Unfortunately, it was closed... Bummer!!!!  Oh well, let's just ride Pirates again and then maybe it'll be open when we get off...

We went to park the stroller.... and noticed that Pickle had checked out.





Stephanie decided to stay back with her, and I took the older two on Pirates by ourselves.













As we exited the ride, Stephanie had some Mickey beignets waiting for us!!!  Yummy!!!





Pickle was awake from her power nap and excited to get a "ballon" popcorn bucket.  (We ended up getting two more of these by the end of the day.)





It was now about 11am.... HM was still closed.  Double bummer!  We decided to go explore Tarzan's tree house.  Swiss Family Robinson has been one of my favorites since the first time I visited WDW at the age of 6.  I still can't believe that this one is still themed as Tarzan.  Lame!!!  But still lot's of fun because of all the fantastic views of the park!













Our next FP was Indy at Noon, so we let the kids goof around for a while and then we grabbed a couple dole whips.  Yum!  I went ahead and picked up one of the souvenir bowls.  How could I resist!?!?!





I can't remember if Pickle was too short, or if she'd be too scared, but she wasn't going to ride it with us, so we parted ways again....

Princess, Buddy, and I went ahead and rode the ride by ourselves.  Stephanie and Pickle did have FP's but didn't use them, so we had fun picking out a couple to give them too.  It's always fun when you can share extra FP's with unsuspecting guests.  (Something that you can no longer do at WDW with the magic bands.)

So while were on our Adventure, Pickle and Stephanie went through the Sleeping Beauty walk through in the castle and then they went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

















We met up in front of the castle, and took the opportunity to grab a couple more photo pass photos...













I hate photos with sunglasses on, but it was so darn bright and the sun was right behind the photographer, that we didn't have much of a choice.  Oh well...

And here's a funny one.  They forgot to add Tinker Bell !!!





It was now about 12:30 and everyone was pretty hungry.  We decided to head back over to Tomorrowland and hop on the monorail to find some food in Downtown Disney.  Here are a few photos from the walk...





























And we made it!!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

As you were walking by that area it reminds me of how it feels like so much stuff is overlayed on top of each other between the monorail, the submarines, autopia, right be Matterhorn, etc.

Always love the submarine ride (be it Nemo or when it was 20k leagues) just because of how proud Walt was of his, "the eighth-largest submarine fleet in the world." 

Bummer about HM being down but Pirates is a good consolation prize. ... and the Mickey beignet to soften the blow too!

I think a mandatory picture like this, of at least one member of your traveling party next to the Mr. Toad statue is one of those unwritten rules of visiting Disneyland


MarbleBob said:


>


----------



## kelmac284

Loved the update.  Looks like you hit a lot of the good ones.  Bummer about HM.  I have to add that I am so excited yet nervous because our 180 days is coming up this Sunday and we haven't been to DW in 6 years so before the magic bands and FP+.  I am sure it won't be a big deal but I really don't know what to expect and am hoping that I get the restaurants we want and eventually FP's.  Going to have to get up every day for a week to book each days restaurants since we are staying in our timeshare and also can't do FP till 30 days out so again hoping we get everything but we are early risers like you and I have a plan to go to the "big" attractions first thing to try and ride them before the lines get awful.  It has been so fun seeing your report and remembering our trip as well.  Look forward to your next update!


----------



## MarbleBob

TheMaxRebo said:


> As you were walking by that area it reminds me of how it feels like so much stuff is overlayed on top of each other between the monorail, the submarines, autopia, right be Matterhorn, etc.
> 
> Always love the submarine ride (be it Nemo or when it was 20k leagues) just because of how proud Walt was of his, "the eighth-largest submarine fleet in the world."
> 
> Bummer about HM being down but Pirates is a good consolation prize. ... and the Mickey beignet to soften the blow too!
> 
> I think a mandatory picture like this, of at least one member of your traveling party next to the Mr. Toad statue is one of those unwritten rules of visiting Disneyland



I agree about the submarine ride.  Like so many others, I got to ride the 20K leagues under the sea ride at WDW when I was a kid, and it had a lasting effect on me.  So yeah, riding Nemo now gets extra points for complimenting great childhood memories.  (Just like Mr. Toad and Swiss Family Treehouse do for me too.)

Yes! Mr. Toad is too cool, not to get a photo with.  I would love to have a lifesize Toad statue at home!



kelmac284 said:


> Loved the update.  Looks like you hit a lot of the good ones.  Bummer about HM.  I have to add that I am so excited yet nervous because our 180 days is coming up this Sunday and we haven't been to DW in 6 years so before the magic bands and FP+.  I am sure it won't be a big deal but I really don't know what to expect and am hoping that I get the restaurants we want and eventually FP's.  Going to have to get up every day for a week to book each days restaurants since we are staying in our timeshare and also can't do FP till 30 days out so again hoping we get everything but we are early risers like you and I have a plan to go to the "big" attractions first thing to try and ride them before the lines get awful.  It has been so fun seeing your report and remembering our trip as well.  Look forward to your next update!



Thanks Kelly.  We did the Magic Bands and FP+ for the first time last summer.  I like that you can be more dynamic/fluid with traditional paper Fast Passes, but the FP+ system had its perks too.  It was actually pretty cool, and we didn't really find it to be a hassle at all.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 14 - Thursday, June 25 - Return to California Adventure*

So yeah, we hopped on the monorail and got off at the Downtown Disney platform.  We had been thinking that we wanted to have a break and be waited on in the air conditioning, and we weren't "feeling" any of the Disneyland options, so we decided to head over to DTD for lunch.  Buddy ate at "Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria" when he visited DL with my parents a couple years ago, and he's went on and on about it ever since.  On our last visit, we tried the counter service version next door at Napolini.  The pizza was pretty good, but not amazing.  I chalked it up to the counter service version probably not being as good (and that we walked it back to our room at the DL Hotel before we ate it.)  So I was willing to give Naples a try.  Surely it would be better.  And we really wanted to sit down and relax in the AC.

So yeah, I'm a big fan of Neapolitan pizza and have done a lot of research about it through the years.  You know, using 00 Caputo flour, authentic San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, cold fermented dough, etc.  This place has a great reputation, so I was more than happy to accommodate Buddy's request...

We arrived at about 1:15pm, which I would have thought would have been after the big lunch rush.  They gave us the option to wait 45 minutes for an inside table, or we could be seated outside on the patio instantly.  Nobody really wanted to wait, so we agreed to be seated outside.

In the meantime, I spent a couple minutes watching them stretch the dough and finagle the pies in the oven...






That's where the fun ended...  They put us in a sunny spot outside.   At a table that was more like a picnic table.  Bench seats with no back rests.  After a few minutes, it started to get really hot and uncomfortable.  Little shade and not much of a breeze.  We so should have waited for an inside table, or went somewhere else for that AC.

That was strike one.  

Strike two, is that our waiter was overly friendly and excited.  You would think that it would be good to have an enthusiastic waiter, but when you are hot, hungry, and uncomfortable, we just weren't feeling it.  And he wasn't picking up on our body language at all.  If you can imagine being served by Tina, the Alamo tour guide from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, after drinking four bottles of 5 Hour Energy and a couple Jolt Cola's.  You might get the idea.





Strike three, is that the pizza was slow to arrive, and it was just OK.  Probably not as good as the one we had last time from Napolini.  I think I'm pretty much not going to give this place a try again, not with so many other good restaurants within easy walking distance.  Oh well, who would have guessed?  (Noting that I left them a pretty dismal review on Yelp and they replied with an apology, but I didn't feel like it was very sincere.)

OK.  A couple photos of the food, and then back to a positive spirit again!

Well, the fresh baked bread was actually pretty darn good...





Who doesn't like olive oil and fresh cracked pepper for their bread?





And here's the pizza.  It's certainly not bad.  Not in the least.  But is it worth $30 or $40, plus tax and tip? Heck no!!!!  Stick to the counter service option...





OK, on our way.... Hey look, it's Marceline's Confectionery again.  Hard to believe we were in Marceline, MO two weeks ago.  Wow, this trip is flying by!!!





Pickle was ready for some more cotton candy.  I have no idea how many times she had it on this trip, but it was a lot!





It was getting to be mid-afternoon and we still wanted to head back to the hotel for a swim.  We figured that we'd spend the second half of the day visiting California Adventure, and that we probably wouldn't be back in Disneyland park again on this trip.  So, I made everyone come with me for a couple final photos.  I wanted a photo of us on Main Street Disneyland to compare to our photo on Main Street Marceline and this was my last chance!

But first, I wanted a photo with Tilly from Marceline while I was wearing my Marceline t-shirt...  to post on the Walt Disney Hometown Museum's Facebook page 









I love that even Tilly has a commemorative Diamond Celebration name badge.  Cool!

So yeah, the Main Street photos...

First the one from Marceline:





And second, the one from Disneyland





We did it.  Cool!  I know that the Marceline Main Street wasn't the true model for the DL version, but it's clear that Walt wanted to recreate the "vibe" from his hometown, and it's pretty cool to compar the two photos. (I'm fully aware that this is a nerd/geek thing, and I'm cool with that!) 

So after a couple quick photos, we started making our way back to the hotel again.





"Thank You for Visiting?"  You're welcome!  But don't worry, we'll be back in a couple hours 

Another ten minutes or so, and we had made it back... And Pickle was just about finished with her cotton candy.





And yet a few more minutes later, we were enjoying the pool for lone last time.





We probably spent a good three hours relaxing at the pool, and back in the room.  And a little bit of time getting organized for the trip back home tomorrow morning.  

Around 5:00 PM or so, we were heading back to California Adventure!!!!

We started off with a bit of souvenir shopping on Buena Vista Street, as this was going to be our last chance.  We ended up with a few goodies....  Some trading pins,  a paper weight (for me - as my fathers day gift), and a "big pin" for my parents.





After shopping and browsing for a while, we decided to head over to the Red Car Trolley.  We rode it all the way over to the Tower of Terror and the got off.  We wanted to ride ToT, but it was closed.  Darn!  Oh well, we've all ridden it before and countless times at WDW... no worries.

Over at the Bugs Life Movie Theater (I don't recall what it's really called - tough to be a bug or something), they had a 4D preview of the Ant-Man movie.  Princess had expressed interest in this the other day and we didn't have time for it then, so we made it a priority this time around.









To be honest, I'm so out of the loop, that I hadn't even heard of this movie yet.  The preview was actually pretty good and the special effects like rumbling seats, puffs of air, and water squirts, were all well played.  I guess the movie came out a few weeks later.  Princess and Buddy both saw it in the theaters and really liked it, but Stephanie and I decided to wait until it comes out on DVD.  I really look forward to seeing it!

After the preview, we headed over to California Screamin' again.  Stand by was about 40 minutes, so we decided to just take a pass on it.





It was a little after 7pm and we were all ready for food, so we kept moving.

Buddy and I went for Corn Dog Castle again, and the girls went for Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta.





Yum!!!!





Pickle had the kids pizza. I think she liked it well enough, but she wasn't overly excited or anything.





Princess had meatballs and plain noodles.  Again, she didn't go on and on about it, but she ate it all!





Stephanie had the Chicken Sun-dried Tomato Pesto pasta.  I think she liked it well enough too, but also sort of a forgettable dish.





So yeah, just a so-so meal.  Certainly enjoyable, but not memorable like the Paradise Garden Grill.

It was now almost 8:00 PM and the sun was starting to set.  Such a nice time to be around the boardwalk area!   The Golden Zephry didn't have a line, so we hopped on that next!









Such a cool ride!






We had grabbed FP's to ride Soarin' again, so we started heading that way next.





There wasn't much of a line at all for the Little Mermaid ride as we passed by it, so took the opportunity to ride it again too.

It was about 8:45 or so after we got off Soarin'.  We checked ToT and it was still down.  We knew the "Mat T Party" was about to start, so we headed that way next... But we took the opportunity to grab a few more photo pass shots on the way over.





I have no idea why the photographer asked us to hold this newspaper and point at it, but we just went along with it.  LOL.





I wasn't all that excited about the Mad T Party myself, but the kids wanted to ride Monsters Inc. before we left, so yeah, whatever....

Except for it was actually really awesome!!

The "White Rabbit DJ" was playing some pretty good tunes and the energy in the place was high and contagious.














And impromptu "dance off" started right next to us, with a group of 10 to 15 kids in their teens in twenties taking turns "shuffling" (or whatever they call it) and dancing off.  Each trying to outdo the other.  Some of them were REALLY talented and it was a blast to watch.  Princess was captivated and having a lot of fun, so I stayed with her while Stephanie, Pickle, and Buddy went to ride Monsters.









I've been on that ride a couple times before, and while it's fine, it's not really one of my favorites, so I didn't mind missing out.  They all had fun and then rejoined us for the remainder of the dance party.  Another 10 or 15 minutes later, the DJ left and they switched up the party with a live band playing 80's cover songs.  None of us were really feeling it, and we were all pretty tired after a long day, so we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel.  (We were getting up pretty early the next morning for our drive to the Grand Canyon, and we still needed to pack a few things tonight.  CA Adventure was closing in another 25 minutes anyway.)

So yeah, we joined the mass exedous and headed back to the Candy Cane Inn.





Good bye Disneyland, we sure had fun visiting.  Of course, we'll be back again!!!!!


----------



## TheMaxRebo

bummer - seems like the food that day wasn't all the greatest ... well, except for Pickle's cotton candy that is 

So glad you were able to recreate the Marceline/Disneyland shot.  Obviously time has passed since Walt was there but can definitely get the sense that Disneyland is the idealized version of small town, not a pure recreation of it

dance party sounds fun!  Always cool when those unexpected things turn out to be some of the best/most memorable.

Overall, seems like a pretty great time at Disneyland!


----------



## melk

I love the Marceline/Main St comparison photos! How many people can say they've done that?!?


----------



## kelmac284

Thanks for the encouragement about DW.  I am hoping you are right.  The combination of something new and summer crowds is making me nervous but just really hoping that it works out.  We are also going to Universal and staying onsite for the first time. The other 3 times we only ever went for 1 day so I am really excited about that!  That is funny about Naples.  I had never really wanted to try it because I had heard bad reviews but then I heard some good so we tried it on our first night but we too were seated outside and the food was just meh.  Doubt I will go again.  Our favorite is Catal.  My birthday was during the trip and we had planned to go but it was closed for a special event.  I think we ended up going at the end of the trip but it is REALLY good if you go again!  Looks like other than the food you had a good last day.  I agree about the T Party.  I was at the first summer bash and then Tron and now this and none of this thrill me.  The kids think it is fun but I was bummed I missed the Olaf thing.  I know that is so over done but I would have liked to have seen it.  We did get to take pics with him at least.  Excited for your next part with Grand Canyon.  I have never been and hoping to take my girls in the next few years!


----------



## annie170

That's funny that you were the first people at the gate that morning.  If that doesn't get you picked for family of the day, I don't know what will!

I wish WDW had an Indiana Jones ride instead of the show.  It appears that there are more rides at DL and CA than at all of WDW combined.

I can't get over the fact that your food is served on real dishes at counter service restaurants.  That's such a nice touch. 

I'm interested to read about your visit to the Grand Canyon.  It's another place on my bucket list.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Catching up!

What a great comparison between the two Main Streets.  Love it!

Another great day at DL.  I love that you got through all the iconic Walt Disney attractions.  That's what I love most about Disneyland.  
Shame about the food....but it did look good from here.


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## annegirl

Those are some cool pins.


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 15 - Friday, June 26 - Drive to Grand Canyon*

I'm sorry to leave everyone hanging for so long...  It's been very busy December and January -- both at work and at home.  But I'm back to finish up with the last couple days of the trip. 

So yeah, we left off with our final night at Disneyland.  It was a pretty jam packed three days in the parks.  Lots of fun, and we were sad to see it all coming to an end.  The good thing about long vacations is that towards the end, you start to feel a little homesick/tired and the "last day blues" really aren't as bad.  Plus, we had never driven through the Southwest before, so we still had a lot of cool stuff to look forward to.

Anyway, the plan for today was to make it over to the Grand Canyon before the sunset.  Spend a quick couple hours at the rim, and then call it a day.  So we packed up our stuff and left the Candy Cane Inn around 7:30am. I don't really have much to share about the first leg of the trip.  Heading east from LA was relatively boring when compared to so much of the scenery that we'd seen.









But... Buddy was happy to start seeing some trains again!













So yeah, a pretty relaxing drive through the desert.  Not a bad thing considering how much walking we had done over the last couple weeks.  Nice just to sit and stare out the window for a while.

We decided to stop for lunch around Noon.  We fired up Yelp and there were a few choices in Needles, CA (which sits just a couple miles west of the Arizona state line.) Needles is another old Route 66 town.





There was a Mexican restaurant called Munchy's that had fantastic reviews, so we decided to give it a try.





It was located directly across the street from a BNSF train station, so Buddy was stoked about that too.









So we get inside and uh, there were just a few tables in the whole joint... our family pretty much doubled the amount of people in the place.  Truly a hole in the wall, but based on the reviews, we decided to give it a go anyway.





... And I'm glad we did, because I had the best carne asada ever.  I'm still dreaming about it.





Stephanie had some enchiladas.  She said they were fantastic too.





The older kids had tacos and were happy.  I think they devoured them before I got a chance for a photo.

And then Pickle had quesadillas.





The chips, salsa, and guacamole were all very tasty too!!









Everyone was very happy with their food, and it possibly the cheapest meal on the entire trip.  Something like $27 bucks for a family of 5... with some seriously good food!!!!!  Great service too.  If we had a place like that at home, I might eat lunch there every day.  (Apparently a lot of the BNSF train workers from across the street do just that!)

Anyway, since we wanted to get as much time at the Grand Canyon as possible, we pretty much ate and hopped back in the cars.  Let's go! 

Cruising through Arizona was fun.  Lot's of beautiful terrain to look at.  You can really see where the Cars movie got a lot of its inspiration.









Oh and *HOT*, 107 degrees as we flew down the highway.  (Stephanie was driving when I took the photo.)


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 15 - Friday, June 26 - Drive to Grand Canyon - Part 2*

A couple stops for gas and whatnot... and before we knew it, we had arrived at Grand Canyon National Park around 5pm.





We stopped for a few photos by the entrance, headed over to get our room keys at the Yavapai Lodge, and then straight to the rim.





When we arrived at the main visitors center area, it had just closed, so we started walking towards the rim.

Strange to see an elk licking the rock, on the hike over.  I guess he was licking for salt or something?





A few minutes later and we were here!!





So, I've flown over the Grand Canyon numerous times, but I had never seen it from the ground.  Pictures just can't do it it justice.  It's just huge!!!









I love this one of the little critter enjoying his dinner as he enjoys the view.

















A cool lookout area...













Such amazing views!!! But after about 45 minutes, Stephanie was pretty much done.  A slight fear of heights, a bit of hunger, maybe a little dehydration, and just being "spent" from 2 weeks of non-stop traveling had all taken their toll.... and she was ready to call it a day.  

I'd probably have rather stayed at the rim to explore a bitmore and watch the sunset.  But I have to admit, the idea of getting dinner, having a couple beers, and chilling in the air conditioning while watching a movie sounded fantastic!  And the kids were excited to head back to the room to watch the premier of Teen Beach Movie 2 on the Disney Channel.  (We don't have the Disney Channel at home.)

So we gave our farewells to the rest of the family and parted ways for the night... and the rest of the trip.  They all ended up staying out late, and we had plans to get on the road fairly early the next morning.  This was it for us, but would be heading to visit Carlsbad Caverns for a couple days before heading back to Missouri. 

We decided to head over to the main shopping area which was like a grocery store and giant gift shop all in one.  We picked up a few trinkets, soda, and beers.  Mmm... beers.





And then we ordered sandwiches from their deli area.  Dinner wasn't memorable.  Just average sandwiches.  I didn't take any photos or anything.  I guess I was finally checking out too...

Anyway, we brought back our soda's, snacks, and beers back to the room and relaxed for a couple hours before calling it a night.





Teen Beach Movie 2 was pretty lame, by the way.  I actually like dumb movies if they are entertaining.  The original movie was very dumb, but lots of fun.  This one didn't really have any redeeming qualities for me.  Not so sure the kids liked it either.  Oh well, it was nice to escape the heat and relax in the air conditioning anyway.

After the movie was over, everyone was ready to turn out the lights and call it a day.  Another one in the books!


----------



## melk

Wonderful update!!  Your Grand Canyon pictures look beautiful, although I have heard that you really can't experience it with pictures. It is something to see to be believed. I may have missed it but what kind of camera do you have?  Mine just died and I'm in the market for one before our CA trip.

I had to laugh when you mentioned the railroad workers coming over to have lunch at the Mexican place you stopped at.  My husband's rule of thumb is that if the local workers eat there, it must be good (and reasonable). It hasn't steered us wrong yet!


----------



## MarbleBob

Your husband is a smart man!

My camera is an Olympus EP-3.  It's about 4.5 years old now.  I think the current comparable model is the EP-6.  

http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/digitalcameras/pen.html?icn=topnav&ici=camerasnav_olympus-pen

In summary, it's a Micro 4/3 camera.  If you have no idea what that is, then it's sort of a cross between a point and shoot and a DSLR.  It's mirrorless, so it's able to be smaller than a DSLR, but it still allows you to have interchangeable lenses (I have 4 different lenses.)  Sort of the best of both worlds.  They've come a long way in the last 5 years, and I'm sure a new cheaper Micro 4/3 is way better than my older model.  Honestly, I'm considering upgrading to the E-PL7 soon (or maybe stepping up to an OM-D E-M1 in another year or two.)


----------



## annegirl

Great photos of the Grand Canyon! Those are fantastic!


----------



## melk

MarbleBob said:


> Your husband is a smart man!
> 
> My camera is an Olympus EP-3.  It's about 4.5 years old now.  I think the current comparable model is the EP-6.
> 
> http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/digitalcameras/pen.html?icn=topnav&ici=camerasnav_olympus-pen
> 
> In summary, it's a Micro 4/3 camera.  If you have no idea what that is, then it's sort of a cross between a point and shoot and a DSLR.  It's mirrorless, so it's able to be smaller than a DSLR, but it still allows you to have interchangeable lenses (I have 4 different lenses.)  Sort of the best of both worlds.  They've come a long way in the last 5 years, and I'm sure a new cheaper Micro 4/3 is way better than my older model.  Honestly, I'm considering upgrading to the E-PL7 soon (or maybe stepping up to an OM-D E-M1 in another year or two.)



Thank you, I'll check that out. I bought my last camera based on the great pictures I had seen in someone's WDW trip report. Of course a lot depends on the photographer but I like seeing actual pictures a camera has taken.


----------



## kelmac284

Nice update.  The Grand Canyon is on my bucket list.  I hope to do a couple bus trips in the next few years with the kids.  There is one that goes to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore that I want to do and also one that goes to the dessert spots.  It is 7 days and goes to Monument Valley, Zion, Grand Canyon etc.  I would say the desert is prob my least fave destination but it is on my list.  Have loved your report.  Is this it or are you going to do the Cavern?


----------



## MarbleBob

melk said:


> Thank you, I'll check that out. I bought my last camera based on the great pictures I had seen in someone's WDW trip report. Of course a lot depends on the photographer but I like seeing actual pictures a camera has taken.



Cool.  I'd be interested to find out which camera you end up choosing 



kelmac284 said:


> Nice update.  The Grand Canyon is on my bucket list.  I hope to do a couple bus trips in the next few years with the kids.  There is one that goes to Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore that I want to do and also one that goes to the dessert spots.  It is 7 days and goes to Monument Valley, Zion, Grand Canyon etc.  I would say the desert is prob my least fave destination but it is on my list.  Have loved your report.  Is this it or are you going to do the Cavern?



We didn't go along with them to the caverns, so the Grand Canyon was the last major event of the trip, but we stopped a a few more interesting sites on the last two days of driving, so I still have a couple more posts before the TR is finished 

Your planned bus trips sound fun.  Yellowstone is on our bucket list too


----------



## TheMaxRebo

Great Update!

I remember driving out to the Grand Canyon as a kid - though it was from the other direction as we started visiting family in New Mexico.  It is an interesting drive with lots of the same vistas - and ability to see way off into the distance.

Seems like a great stop in Needles and that food looks awesome!

I enjoyed seeing the Grand Canyon - it is impressive ... though I think I was like Stephanie (at least when i was a kid) in that, ok, it's cool, but 45 mins or so is probably enough

Great pictures:

I do love this one as well - great perspective!


MarbleBob said:


>




Just contemplating Life, the Universe, and Everything!


MarbleBob said:


>




This is a great picture too!


MarbleBob said:


>





Side note: we are planning our summer vacation (down to Walt Disney World) and at least partly inspired by this Trip Report we are going to Road Trip it!  So taking several days down and several days back.  We were working on the plan yesterday and I think I have it worked out that we will stop at a minimum of 5 breweries during the trip


----------



## kelmac284

Glad to hear there are a few more.  I always love following along on people's reports and yours has been so entertaining with all the different spots!  As I mentioned before we LOVE road trips because of all the cool out of the way things you can see and experience along the way.  We are headed to DW this summer but hopefully if all works out next summer is Europe which of course we will be driving and then the following summer is hopefully the East Coast also a road trip so I am looking forward to all the fun places we may encounter.  I have thoroughly enjoyed your report and hope you do another in the future.


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## PrincessInOz

Love the Grand Canyon pictures.  And that meal at Needles looks amazing!  

Shame about not staying for sunset.  But given the drive, totally understandable that you all wanted a chill night at Yavapai.


----------



## MarbleBob

annegirl said:


> Great photos of the Grand Canyon! Those are fantastic!



Thanks!!!  



TheMaxRebo said:


> Great Update!
> 
> I remember driving out to the Grand Canyon as a kid - though it was from the other direction as we started visiting family in New Mexico.  It is an interesting drive with lots of the same vistas - and ability to see way off into the distance.
> 
> Seems like a great stop in Needles and that food looks awesome!
> 
> I enjoyed seeing the Grand Canyon - it is impressive ... though I think I was like Stephanie (at least when i was a kid) in that, ok, it's cool, but 45 mins or so is probably enough



Very cool!  Yeah, for most kids 45 mins is probably indeed enough...  Unless you are going on an actual hike to the bottom or something more adventurous.



TheMaxRebo said:


> Side note: we are planning our summer vacation (down to Walt Disney World) and at least partly inspired by this Trip Report we are going to Road Trip it!  So taking several days down and several days back.  We were working on the plan yesterday and I think I have it worked out that we will stop at a minimum of 5 breweries during the trip



Cool! I'm sure a road trip down the east coast will be awesome!!!  So much cool stuff to see, can't wait to see how it plays out!  



kelmac284 said:


> Glad to hear there are a few more.  I always love following along on people's reports and yours has been so entertaining with all the different spots!  As I mentioned before we LOVE road trips because of all the cool out of the way things you can see and experience along the way.  We are headed to DW this summer but hopefully if all works out next summer is Europe which of course we will be driving and then the following summer is hopefully the East Coast also a road trip so I am looking forward to all the fun places we may encounter.  I have thoroughly enjoyed your report and hope you do another in the future.



Thanks!  Looks like you have some pretty awesome adventures planned for the next couple summers. Sounds amazing!!!!  



PrincessInOz said:


> Love the Grand Canyon pictures.  And that meal at Needles looks amazing!
> 
> Shame about not staying for sunset.  But given the drive, totally understandable that you all wanted a chill night at Yavapai.



Totally!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 16 - Saturday, June 27 - Driving through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas*

The goal for the day was to drive to Amarillo, Texas... about 700 miles.  Not a terribly long drive, but a full day of driving without a lot of time for site seeing.  So we got up around 6am, packed up the car, and were on the road by 7am.

I grabbed a few photos of the room/hotel before we drove off.













The Yavapai Lodge was actually pretty nice.  Looks like it had been remodeled recently.  If we come back to the Grand Canyon, I'd rather find a place closer to the rim (you couldn't really walk to anything from our room... at least not casually).  But the room and setting were great.

Sort of funny to go so much out of our way to snap a few photos of the rim and watch Teen Beach Movie, but I don't regret it in the least.  At least the kids can say they've seen the Grand Canyon, and it wet my appetite for a future trip!

Moving on...  We passed the Bedrock City tourist trap on the way up to the Grand Canyon yesterday.  We didn't really have time to stop and visit the "attraction", but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to stop for a few photos.

Here's more info on the place http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11289









I had this one as my Facebook profile photo for a while.  LOL.





Before hopping back onto I-40, we drove thorough the downtown section of Williams, AZ to fill up with gas.





I didn't grab any photos in town (it was my turn to drive), but they had a lot cool Rte 66 nostalgia throughout.  It might have made for some fun window shopping on their main drag.

A couple hours later, we stopped in Holbrook, AZ.  Another town full of old Rte 66 nostalgia.  We couldn't drive through without stopping at the famous Wigwam Motel.

















Obviously, it's one of the inspirations for the Cozy Cone Motel from Cars.









Anyway, the wigwams were pretty cool... It would be fun to actually stay in one, but probably best on a parents only trip, as they are pretty small.

We were about to drive past Petrified Forest National Park, but we didn't really have time to stop for it, so we did the next best thing...  

Let's go see petrified wood at one of the local rock shops in town... Jim Gray's.  It was just a couple miles from the Wigwam Motel.





OK. this place was cool!!!  We spent more time than we should have here, but the kids were having so much fun looking at all the minerals and fossils.

























Fun stuff.  And then.... back on the road again, more driving and more trains....













Around 1:30 or so, we were more than ready for lunch.  We stopped at Westend Donut & Deli in Gallup, NM.  Another Yelp find...





Add another great mom-n-pop shop to the list.  Excellent customer service and the food was terrific.









Very good sandwiches, but the donuts stole the show!!!









*Mmm.... Donuts!*






The rest of the drive to Amarillo was fairly uneventful… but that was perfectly fine with us!


----------



## jedijill

Your drive just shows that the Imagineers got Carsland right!  Some cool relics of Route 66 and great looking food!

Jill in CO


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## kelmac284

Nice update.  This part of the trip really reminds me of a trip we took in my childhood.  My dad's parents used to live in Marshall MO and we took two trips there when I was a kid.  One in 74 and one in 76.  The first was a summer trip and we took prob I 80 which we went through Salt Lake City and I know parts of Wyoming and Nebraska.  I remember the highlight being Little America which I am sure is just a glorified gas stop LOL but then on the winter trip we took the southern route and saw a lot of reservations and such and we too got close to the petrified forest but didn't stop.  The southwest is def my least fave but I love all the Route 66 stuff.  Very cool!


----------



## PrincessInOz

Mmm Donuts!

And real life Carsland!  I love that part of the world. 
That Wigwam motel looks cute.  Maybe someday we'll stop there.


----------



## MarbleBob

jedijill said:


> Your drive just shows that the Imagineers got Carsland right!



I totally agree!



kelmac284 said:


> Nice update.  This part of the trip really reminds me of a trip we took in my childhood.  My dad's parents used to live in Marshall MO and we took two trips there when I was a kid.  One in 74 and one in 76.  The first was a summer trip and we took prob I 80 which we went through Salt Lake City and I know parts of Wyoming and Nebraska.  I remember the highlight being Little America which I am sure is just a glorified gas stop LOL but then on the winter trip we took the southern route and saw a lot of reservations and such and we too got close to the petrified forest but didn't stop.  The southwest is def my least fave but I love all the Route 66 stuff.  Very cool!



Those trips sound really cool.  Hopefully, my kids will look back with the same fondness about this trip as you do with the ones that you took 



PrincessInOz said:


> Mmm Donuts!
> 
> And real life Carsland!  I love that part of the world.
> That Wigwam motel looks cute.  Maybe someday we'll stop there.



Right on PrincessInOz!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Day 17 - Sunday, June 28 - And... were' home!*

So here we are, the last day of the trip...  One final day of driving!  

This one was also going to be a very long drive, so we had even less time for site seeing.   However, there was one last major site that I "had" to stop at, and that was the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, TX.

This is one of the classic and most famous gas stations and cafe's along the old Route 66.  It was restored in the last couple of years, and we had to stop for it.  Here's a summary of it, that's better than I could write up:

https://roadtrippers.com/stories/u-drop-inn?lat=40.80972&amp;lng=-96.67528&amp;z=5


Anyway, we had to stop here for two reasons.  #1.  This is one of the great sites along Route 66.  Some good history here.  #2.  Ramone's Body Shop from the Cars movie (and corresponding attraction in California Adventure) are totally inspired by this.










So yeah, we couldn't _not _stop, right?





We arrived around 7:15AM and it was deserted.  They have a little tourist/info shop, but it was closed on Sundays... and we were there too early anyway.  No worries, we didn't have a lot of time to spare.









We walked around and explored for maybe 15 to 20 minutes and then we were back on the road.  I'm glad we stopped, because this place was really cool!  I love the green paint/tiles too!

















And then we were  back on the road.  Pretty boring drive back to Missouri (relative to the rest of the trip.)  

I don't really have many more photos or stories to tell about the day.  I guess, after U-Drop Inn, the highlight was Oklahoma City.  We stopped there for lunch.

We'd always heard about the Whataburger chain.  It's supposed to be a TX and Oklahoma competitor to Inn-n-Out.





People seem to really love this place!  Except for we found it to be fairly disappointing.  Whataburger?  Whatadissapointment.  Except for I had a root beer milkshake.  That was fantastic.









The burgers and fries were "meh" at best.  I expected to like this place more... especially because the colors and retro themeing are so *awesome*. Oh well, they can't all be as good as In-n-Out!

We noticed an outlet mall across the way as we drove in.  We spotted signs for another Vans outlet and a Disney Store Outlet.  We _*had* _run over there before we get back on the road, right?!?!  Because, you can never have too much Disney on a vacation, right?!?!

So, Vans was mostly a bust.  Not unexpected, as we had already purchased 5 or 6 pairs total on this trip and I was only going to get anything that was truly an exceptional deal.  That being said, we did pick up a couple pair of Star Wars shoes for cousin Luke, as he was pretty envious of the pair that I got towards the beginning of the trip 

The Disney Store had some pretty good deals going, something like 50% off the already sale priced "Theme Parks" items.  Needless to say, we walked out with a decent sized shopping bag.









So yeah, a couple more hours, we were in good ole Missouri.









And then after a few more hours, we had made it home.





I don't recall the exact time we arrived, but it was probably around 8 or 9 pm.  Just enough time to unload the car, check around the house, and hit the hay!


----------



## MarbleBob

*Closing Thoughts*

This really was a trip of a lifetime.  One of my all time favorite vacations.  And I'm sure the kids will remember this the rest of their lives too!





I think that I've mentioned before, one of my all time favorite rides is Soarin'.  It's fun to think about all the places you visit while on the attraction, and to think that we actually got to see so many of them in person...  including the Golden Gate Bridge, Redwood forests, drove past Nappa Valley, the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, LA, Disneyland, etc.  I'm sure the ride will take on new meaning when I ride it for now on.  (Assuming that the video stays in rotation, as I heard rumors that they may switch up the videos in the future.)

In addition to the over 6,000 photos that I captured, I came back with three or four hours of video.  LOL.  If you are interested, here's a 17 day vacation summarized in a 16 minute video.  It's basically short clip after short clip.  Feel free to take a look, but you certainly don't have to!






*So what's next for us?*

This June we are going to Hawaii for two weeks to celebrate Stephanie's parents 50th Anniversary.  Including everyone from this California trip, plus Stephanie's sister and her family.  We'll have 15 people on this one.  We've never been to Hawaii before, so this is going to be awesome.  We'll spend 6 nights in Maui, and then 6 nights in Oahu with everyone.  And then wen they all leave, we're taking on another three nights at Aulani!  I'm stoked on that!  _(Can't go a whole year without getting at least a small Disney fix!)_

Then in summer 2017, we're going on a cruise with my side of the family.  My parents have taken us on two Disney cruises before, but this time we'll be going with Royal Caribbean.  So no Disney next summer, but we'll be trying to see how we can squeeze in a day or two in Orlando.  Wanting to see the latest Harry Potter world at Universal.. or maybe a day at the Magic Kingdom.

So I guess that's it for now.  Thanks to everyone for following along.  It's awesome that so many of you shared your personal experiences, tips/tricks, and fun comments.  It's been a blast!!!


----------



## jedijill

What a fantastic road trip!   I have fond memories of Whataburger but I wouldn't have put it on the same level as In-N-Out.  Sorry you had a disappointing meal.   I do recognize the rest stop where the statue of the cowboy is. 

Hawaii sounds amazing!  

Thanks for writing this TR....I know how much effort goes into them.


----------



## melk

What an epic trip! I have thoroughly enjoyed following along with you and your family. It's given me inspiration for our upcoming trip and I have taken note of several things you did that I hope to include in our trip.

I watched the video and you really captured all the highlights of your trip...great job!

Thanks again, I have really enjoyed it and sorry to see it come to an end. It's like when you finish a good book that you want to keep going. But I'll be looking forward to reading about your Hawaiian adventure!!


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## TheMaxRebo

"almost as smooth as your head!"   haha, kids are great!  

Love the video!  Puts some of the scenes into perspective - like how big the Great Salt Lake and salt flats were - Glacier Point looks beautiful in the video! Yeah for Bob Gurr! Also getting to see those classic road side eateries again was great.  Also nice to hear everyone's voices so now I attach a voice to the comments

Great video on Radiator Springs Racers!  I'm still chuckling at Scooter Santa at Starbuck!

Thanks again for writing this TR - you did such a great job!  As mentioned, it's at least part of the inspiration for us doing our own road trip this summer!

Hawaii sounds great - and Happy Anniversary to Stephanie's parents!    

Something tells me you will squeeze in a little Disney that summer of 2017 

Thanks again!


----------



## kelmac284

Loved the update and your entire report.  I really love when people do such detailed reports with lots of pictures.  Such a joy to read and re-live my own memories as well as hear about things I have yet to do.  Your trip to Hawaii sounds amazing.  I have only been once to Oahu many years ago and my kids have never been.  Ironically we tried to trade into the Aulani with our timeshare but even trying 3 years in advance we never got in so last year we switched to DW.  I am bummed we didn't make it to Aulani and it is still on my list for someday as well as just Hawaii in general but I am super excited about our DW trip.  This will be our 5th but i has been 6 years which is an eternity and so much is new since we were there last.  I also want to do a cruise.  My mom has done RC one and loved it so another bucket list item.  I am a bit bummed you aren't doing any more disney for a bit as I so enjoyed your report. And LOVED the video.  Everything I watched really sparked a lot of memories and I felt like I was there.  Have a wonderful trip this summer and hope to see another report someday!!


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## jeeperwy

I have so thoroughly enjoyed your trip report. It seems like you were just getting started in our little state of Wyoming.  
I also recognize the statue! We drove from Wyoming to Joplin this summer and we actually ate at that rest stop! Subway was horrible but the view over the interstate was pretty neat! 
Thank you for taking the time to write this. It was quite a journey!
Kari


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## disney ny

Amazing trip report- I enjoyed it so much. I would love to do a road trip like this with my family. It seems like you have a great family and you were able to fit so much in. Thanks for sharing it all!


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## annie170

I love your photos of the Grand Canyon.  Just breathtakingly beautiful!  I also like that Conoco station and the Wigwam Motel.  The imagineers did a fantastic job with Cars.

107 degrees!  Yikes!  Isn't that when the locals say it's a "dry heat."

Overall, great trip report! Your kids must be good travelers spending that much time in the car.  

If you don't mind me asking, with a 17 day trip, did you do laundry along the way or pack enough to last all 17 days?

Sounds like you have two great trips coming up.  Aulani is on my bucket list.


----------



## DaeHyFoog

annie170 said:


> I love your photos of the Grand Canyon.  Just breathtakingly beautiful!  I also like that Conoco station and the Wigwam Motel.  The imagineers did a fantastic job with Cars.
> 
> 107 degrees!  Yikes!  Isn't that when the locals say it's a "dry heat."
> 
> Overall, great trip report! Your kids must be good travelers spending that much time in the car.
> 
> If you don't mind me asking, with a 17 day trip, did you do laundry along the way or pack enough to last all 17 days?
> 
> Sounds like you have two great trips coming up.  Aulani is on my bucket list.



Hi annie1170!  I'm Matt's wife, and since I'm the one who took care of the laundry, I thought I'd respond.    When I planned for packing, I made sure everyone had enough laundry to last a little more than a week.  When we stayed with Matt's aunt and uncle outside of San Francisco, I did a lot of laundry the last day or so before we left their house.  This was a little less than halfway through the trip.  I then ran one load at the Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim, which held us over until we made it home.

Matt, thanks for taking the time to put this report together!  You're the best, and you did a great job.


----------



## PrincessInOz

Thanks for sharing this super awesome road trip!  Loved every moment of it.

Here's to Hawaii.  Hope you'll ping me if you do a PTR/TR.


----------



## MarbleBob

jedijill said:


> What a fantastic road trip!   I have fond memories of Whataburger but I wouldn't have put it on the same level as In-N-Out.  Sorry you had a disappointing meal.   I do recognize the rest stop where the statue of the cowboy is.
> 
> Hawaii sounds amazing!
> 
> Thanks for writing this TR....I know how much effort goes into them.



Yeah, that's a bummer about Whataburger.  They probably are never as good as In-n-Out, but maybe we hit this one on a bad day or something.  I'd be willing to give it another try some day.  

Thanks for following along the TR



melk said:


> What an epic trip! I have thoroughly enjoyed following along with you and your family. It's given me inspiration for our upcoming trip and I have taken note of several things you did that I hope to include in our trip.
> 
> I watched the video and you really captured all the highlights of your trip...great job!
> 
> Thanks again, I have really enjoyed it and sorry to see it come to an end. It's like when you finish a good book that you want to keep going. But I'll be looking forward to reading about your Hawaiian adventure!!



I'm glad that you found the trip report helpful for your upcoming trip.  I hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did ours!!!



TheMaxRebo said:


> "almost as smooth as your head!"   haha, kids are great!
> 
> Love the video!  Puts some of the scenes into perspective - like how big the Great Salt Lake and salt flats were - Glacier Point looks beautiful in the video! Yeah for Bob Gurr! Also getting to see those classic road side eateries again was great.  Also nice to hear everyone's voices so now I attach a voice to the comments
> 
> Great video on Radiator Springs Racers!  I'm still chuckling at Scooter Santa at Starbuck!
> 
> Thanks again for writing this TR - you did such a great job!  As mentioned, it's at least part of the inspiration for us doing our own road trip this summer!
> 
> Hawaii sounds great - and Happy Anniversary to Stephanie's parents!
> 
> Something tells me you will squeeze in a little Disney that summer of 2017
> 
> Thanks again!



Thanks Phil.  I love that you picked up on the smooth head jab from Princess.  Funny!

You are probably right about summer of 2017.  In the meantime, I'm trying to work out approval for attending a Disney Institute leadership training class in May at the Boardwalk Resort in WDW. https://disneyinstitute.com/courses/leadership-excellence/ It's a bit pricey, but I had initial approval back in December.  But, we're having some budget cuts and this one is on the chopping block.  Probably 50% chance now.  But if it pans out, then Stephanie will come along too.  She loves the idea of spending a week at WDW and maybe not even getting a park admission. Instead just exploring all the resorts and relaxing at her own pace.  Sounds fun to me!



kelmac284 said:


> Loved the update and your entire report.  I really love when people do such detailed reports with lots of pictures.  Such a joy to read and re-live my own memories as well as hear about things I have yet to do.  Your trip to Hawaii sounds amazing.  I have only been once to Oahu many years ago and my kids have never been.  Ironically we tried to trade into the Aulani with our timeshare but even trying 3 years in advance we never got in so last year we switched to DW.  I am bummed we didn't make it to Aulani and it is still on my list for someday as well as just Hawaii in general but I am super excited about our DW trip.  This will be our 5th but i has been 6 years which is an eternity and so much is new since we were there last.  I also want to do a cruise.  My mom has done RC one and loved it so another bucket list item.  I am a bit bummed you aren't doing any more disney for a bit as I so enjoyed your report. And LOVED the video.  Everything I watched really sparked a lot of memories and I felt like I was there.  Have a wonderful trip this summer and hope to see another report someday!!



Thanks so much for the feedback!  I hope you a blast on your upcoming WDW trip.  And yeah, a lot has changed in the last 6 years, so it'll be cool for you to experience all sorts of new things at once!!!

I'll probably do a mini report of the Aulani experience this summer 



jeeperwy said:


> I have so thoroughly enjoyed your trip report. It seems like you were just getting started in our little state of Wyoming.
> I also recognize the statue! We drove from Wyoming to Joplin this summer and we actually ate at that rest stop! Subway was horrible but the view over the interstate was pretty neat!
> Thank you for taking the time to write this. It was quite a journey!
> Kari



Cool!  Thanks for following along.  I hope to come back to Wyoming some day soon.  I think I mentioned before, but I spent 6 weeks near Lander in a geology field camp after I graduated college. Got to explore a bit of the state during that time, and then Stephanie came up afterwards and we spent another week goofing around and backpacking in the Tetons.  Such an awesome state!!!!



disney ny said:


> Amazing trip report- I enjoyed it so much. I would love to do a road trip like this with my family. It seems like you have a great family and you were able to fit so much in. Thanks for sharing it all!



Thank you so much for the feedback.  I'm glad you enjoyed the TR and I hope you have the opportunity to do an epic road trip with your family too some day 



annie170 said:


> I love your photos of the Grand Canyon.  Just breathtakingly beautiful!  I also like that Conoco station and the Wigwam Motel.  The imagineers did a fantastic job with Cars.
> 
> 107 degrees!  Yikes!  Isn't that when the locals say it's a "dry heat."
> 
> Overall, great trip report! Your kids must be good travelers spending that much time in the car.
> 
> If you don't mind me asking, with a 17 day trip, did you do laundry along the way or pack enough to last all 17 days?
> 
> Sounds like you have two great trips coming up.  Aulani is on my bucket list.



I agree, the Imagineers did indeed do a great job replicating those iconic Route 66 destinations.  I guess you are right about the dry heat.  I had to pump gas in that heat, and while it was indeed blistering, it wasn't quite as oppressive as a 100 degree day in St. Louis with 100% humidity.  LOL.



DaeHyFoog said:


> Hi annie1170!  I'm Matt's wife, and since I'm the one who took care of the laundry, I thought I'd respond.    When I planned for packing, I made sure everyone had enough laundry to last a little more than a week.  When we stayed with Matt's aunt and uncle outside of San Francisco, I did a lot of laundry the last day or so before we left their house.  This was a little less than halfway through the trip.  I then ran one load at the Candy Cane Inn in Anaheim, which held us over until we made it home.
> 
> Matt, thanks for taking the time to put this report together!  You're the best, and you did a great job.



Thanks Stephanie!  Can't wait to do it again some day 



PrincessInOz said:


> Thanks for sharing this super awesome road trip!  Loved every moment of it.
> 
> Here's to Hawaii.  Hope you'll ping me if you do a PTR/TR.



Thanks again for following along and for all the feedback and tips throughout the PTR and TR.  I'm sure that I'll at least do a small TR for Aulani this summer, and I'll be happy to ping you when I get started.  Thanks!


----------



## Positively Bashful

What a fabulous trip!  My dad was a big fan of the National Parks and we did some great journeys back in the 70s & 80s to visit some of them.  Your report reminded me of how wonderful it is to see the country by car instead of flying over it.  I need to call my sister and tell her that our long delayed Route 66 vacation is back on the agenda.


----------



## Gracefulskinny

Just found your TR and loved all of it! I think my DH is on the jealous side. LOL. He has always wanted to drive across the country however with  both DD and I prone to car sickness I doubt it would be that fun of a trip. LOL.


----------



## MarbleBob

Gracefulskinny said:


> Just found your TR and loved all of it! I think my DH is on the jealous side. LOL. He has always wanted to drive across the country however with  both DD and I prone to car sickness I doubt it would be that fun of a trip. LOL.



Thanks for reading along!  Yeah, I can imagine with two of you being prone to car sickness, that it might be a little less enjoyable


----------



## MarbleBob

OK...  I know that this trip report is technically finished, but I have to share my excitement with somebody!

Last summer, I read Lee Cockerell's book, "Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney."  If you aren't familiar with Lee, he was Executive Vice President of Operations at WDW throughout the 90's and into the mid-2000's.  Pretty much in charge of all 4 parks, all 20 resorts, waterparks, shopping, etc.  He built a tremendous reputation within the company and is responsible for so many of the programs that we as guests love today.  The book is pretty much about what you'd expect from the title.  But it's awesome.  Seriously awesome, and worth a read even if you aren't currently in a position of influence where you work.  I've since drank the kool-aid and also read his time management book and listen to his weekly podcast too.  Really.  Good. Stuff!!!





Anyway, while he was at Disney, he had a huge influence on the "Disney Institute", which aims to teach Disney's leadership strategies to people like you and me... 




https://disneyinstitute.com/ 

They have courses that teach many of the same principles (as well as others) in classroom environments.

After reading the book, I thought, how cool would it be to actually attend onsite leadership training?!?!?  I shared the book with my boss last year, and he loved it too.  We've since shared it with a few others at our office... and they liked it too.  Anyway, I floated the idea of attending the leadership course last fall, and we penciled it into the budget. (Just me as the guinea pig this year.) I recently found out that our training budget was approved and I have the green light to move forward!!!!

So while not a traditional WDW trip, looks like Stephanie and I will be hitting Orlando this year after all (May 23-27 or so).  For me, I'm stoked to experience these leadership lessons first hand, and then share what I've learned with the rest of my team.  But also, it's at the Boardwalk Resort, which I've never stayed at (just an evening stroll on the Boardwalk itself), and as part of the training, they apparently take you behind the scenes (and into the parks) to interact with actual cast members.  Cool!!

Stephanie is going to tag along too.  (Leaving the kids our parents for the week.)  We are saving our "fun money" for our Hawaii trip in June, so she probably won't buy park tickets.  Instead, while I'm in training, she plans to spend the three or four days just exploring the various resorts, having good meals, chilling at the pool, etc.  (It's likely that we'll barely see each other.)  I think that could make an awesome trip report in itself!

Not sure how it'll play out, but this might make for a really fun combined trip report.  So stay tuned!  Send me a PM if you'd like for me to keep you in the loop, if/when we get a report thread going 

Happy Friday!


----------



## melk

How awesome for you! And what a unique experience you'll have. Even though what you're going to be doing sounds so interesting, I kind of have to admit I'm a little jealous of the trip Stephanie is going to have.


----------



## MarbleBob

Yeah, I think what Stephanie plans to do will be a lot of fun too!  On our WDW trips, we usually eat a meal at least one or two other resorts, and also spend a little time exploring that resort before/after dinner.  But we usually don't take more than 45 minutes or so to just walk around and check things out.  The idea of spending a couple hours at each resort sounds pretty cool to me.  Especially if she goes and explores Fort Wilderness.  I think she mentioned that she might try horseback riding over there. It'll be interesting to find out what interesting things she learns/sees.  I don't know if she'll be willing to do a full trip report, but I can imagine it would make for an interesting one, because it would be off the beaten path a little bit


----------



## melk

Tell her Fort Wilderness is a must do! We used to stay there before we bought DVC. She can explore the stables, rent a bike, even take a Segway tour. You truly feel a million miles away from the action there. Trails End has a pretty good buffet, also.


----------



## KathyM2

I just found and read your TR...what an amazing trip. I'd love to do that one day...though from Toronto we'd probably add another 12 hours or so of driving onto that...but someday!!!


----------



## MarbleBob

Cool!  I'm glad that you enjoyed the TR.  Thanks for checking it out.  
Yeah, as epic as our trip was, driving from Toronto would be even more epic, with even more opportunities to see cool stuff!!!!!


----------



## Gracefulskinny

MarbleBob said:


> For me, I'm stoked to experience these leadership lessons first hand, and then share what I've learned with the rest of my team. But also, it's at the Boardwalk Resort, which I've never stayed at (just an evening stroll on the Boardwalk itself), and as part of the training, they apparently take you behind the scenes (and into the parks) to interact with actual cast members. Cool!!


 Sounds fascinating! 



MarbleBob said:


> Stephanie is going to tag along too. (Leaving the kids our parents for the week.) We are saving our "fun money" for our Hawaii trip in June, so she probably won't buy park tickets. Instead, while I'm in training, she plans to spend the three or four days just exploring the various resorts, having good meals, chilling at the pool, etc. (It's likely that we'll barely see each other.) I think that could make an awesome trip report in itself!


 Yeah we leave soon for Orlando for a wedding and will only be getting 1 day of park time but will be doing something similar. (Resort exploring and non park stuff.)


----------



## TexasErin

So, yeah, I'm a little late to the party, bit I just stumbled upon your trip report when reading Phil's TR. I just read Day 1 and can't wait to read the rest! Great start so far!


----------



## MarbleBob

TexasErin said:


> So, yeah, I'm a little late to the party, bit I just stumbled upon your trip report when reading Phil's TR. I just read Day 1 and can't wait to read the rest! Great start so far!



Awesome!!!!   I'm glad that you found this TR. It's hard to believe that is was over a year ago now!!!  I hope you enjoy reading through it!


----------



## scrappydew

I absolutely loved your report!  Thanks to you we visited Henry Cowell State Park so my family could see redwoods on our recent trip.  Thanks for sharing!


----------



## MarbleBob

scrappydew said:


> I absolutely loved your report!  Thanks to you we visited Henry Cowell State Park so my family could see redwoods on our recent trip.  Thanks for sharing!



How cool!!!!  Henry Cowell State Park was awesome!!!

I saw your TR link in your signature.  We were in Hawaii for a couple weeks in June too.  (Maui and Oahu.)  I look forward to reading through your TR and comparing notes!  (From a quick skim, it looks like we visited a lot of the same sites.  Looking forward to seeing it from your perspective.)  I'm currently finishing up a TR for our WDW trip this past May and then I plan to do our Hawaii one next.


----------



## S. Lopez

Super late to the party but I loved this TR...I've been on a tear reading various TRs and your report is by far my favorite.  

I love Henry Cowell, don't live far from it and we love camping nearby and then walking over to the view the train.  Happy you enjoyed the beautiful state of CA - it's a truly amazing state (except the traffic and some of the people, they're not so amazing).


----------



## MarbleBob

S. Lopez said:


> Super late to the party but I loved this TR...I've been on a tear reading various TRs and your report is by far my favorite.
> 
> I love Henry Cowell, don't live far from it and we love camping nearby and then walking over to the view the train.  Happy you enjoyed the beautiful state of CA - it's a truly amazing state (except the traffic and some of the people, they're not so amazing).



Cool!  I'm glad you found this TR and that you enjoyed reading it!!!

That's awesome that you live close to Henry Cowell.  And camping in that area, how cool is that!!!!  Yes, we truly enjoyed our visit to CA and can't wait to make a return visit!!!!!


----------



## bethbuchall

We are just back from a similar, but yet very different, trip out West.  I wish I had seen this trip report before we went!  I'm only on Day 1, but I can't wait to be able to read the whole thing.

I wish that I had taken more photos and notes along the way so that I could put together a trip report.  But maybe I'll try anyway.  Once I live vicariously through your report, I know that I'm going to want to relive mine again and again.  (It's still a little difficult being back home...)

Thanks for sharing!


----------



## bethbuchall

I don't know if you're still checking this thread...  If you ever go to the Grand Canyon again, I think Buddy (and the rest of you) would love taking The Train (thetrain.com) from Williams, AZ up and back.  We stayed one night at the Railway Hotel, took the train up, had a night at Maswik lodge, and then took the train back down.  You can make different packages, though.  It's not inexpensive, but it was such a wonderful experience.


----------



## MAGICFOR2

Just found your TR last week some time.  I really enjoyed it.  We used to take road trips through some of that country as a kid.  Made me nostalgic. Of course DLR was our "home" resort being from Oregon, so I love seeing that part of your trip!


----------



## MarbleBob

It's really cool to see that people are still benefiting from this TR!



bethbuchall said:


> We are just back from a similar, but yet very different, trip out West.  I wish I had seen this trip report before we went!  I'm only on Day 1, but I can't wait to be able to read the whole thing.
> 
> I wish that I had taken more photos and notes along the way so that I could put together a trip report.  But maybe I'll try anyway.  Once I live vicariously through your report, I know that I'm going to want to relive mine again and again.  (It's still a little difficult being back home...)
> 
> Thanks for sharing!



How cool!  If you decide to put a trip report together, let me know, I'd be interested in seeing how your trip out West went 



bethbuchall said:


> I don't know if you're still checking this thread...  If you ever go to the Grand Canyon again, I think Buddy (and the rest of you) would love taking The Train (thetrain.com) from Williams, AZ up and back.  We stayed one night at the Railway Hotel, took the train up, had a night at Maswik lodge, and then took the train back down.  You can make different packages, though.  It's not inexpensive, but it was such a wonderful experience.



We actually looked at that train as an option, but unfortunately, we really didn't have enough time to squeeze it in on the drive back home.  What you did with the Railway HOtel and the Maswik lodge sounds amazing!  Maybe next time for us!



MAGICFOR2 said:


> Just found your TR last week some time.  I really enjoyed it.  We used to take road trips through some of that country as a kid.  Made me nostalgic. Of course DLR was our "home" resort being from Oregon, so I love seeing that part of your trip!



Thanks for reading the TR.  I'm glad you enjoyed it!!!   I've never been to Oregon, but I want to visit it someday.  Maybe we can squeeze it into a future Northwest road trip.


----------



## MAGICFOR2

MarbleBob said:


> It's really cool to see that people are still benefiting from this TR!
> 
> 
> 
> How cool!  If you decide to put a trip report together, let me know, I'd be interested in seeing how your trip out West went
> 
> 
> 
> We actually looked at that train as an option, but unfortunately, we really didn't have enough time to squeeze it in on the drive back home.  What you did with the Railway HOtel and the Maswik lodge sounds amazing!  Maybe next time for us!
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for reading the TR.  I'm glad you enjoyed it!!!   I've never been to Oregon, but I want to visit it someday.  Maybe we can squeeze it into a future Northwest road trip.



Oh, you must visit someday!  We just returned to Texas from the Oregon Coast.  So much beauty and the power of the ocean on the rocks is amazing and reminds you how small we are.  Of course there is the "Keep Oregon WIERD" crowd


----------



## TexasErin

I just wanted to say thanks again for taking the time to write this TR. You have a lovely family and are an excellent writer. We are planning a beach day on our May/June trip, so I am saving the info on your beach day. Even though I love the beach scene in Soarin' (old version), a beach day wasn't really on my radar until your report. I'm thinking maybe Crescent Bay at Laguna....but Great Mex at Huntington Beach looks really good! And us Texans miss Mexican food when we are away from home, lol.


----------



## jcc0621

I just read your entire TR today!  I loved ready about all of the Disney stuff, but all the non-Disney stuff was awesome too.  Thanks for sharing.


----------



## my2disneyboys

Thank you for sharing.  My family and I are HUGE Disney fans!  We try to go every year.  Like you this year we decided the kids needed to see more than Florida!  We are planning a trip of a lifetime.  Boston to California Road Trip - with most of our journey on Route 66.  Our ultimate Destination is Disneyland!!!  It will be our first visit.  We really enjoyed reading your trip report and looking at your pictures!!  We have a little over 100 more days to go until we start our adventure.


----------



## Khokhonutt

I have to say thanks to the last couple of folks to reply to this. It brought this thread back to the top, where I saw it and read it. I love road trips and your report gave me a couple more bucket list items (like I need more  ). We're into Disney history as well, although you know much more than we do. I ordered the Frank & Ollie movie you recommended. Have you seen, "The boys?" It's about the Sherman Brothers (the guys who wrote many of the Disney classics, including the songs from Small World & the Tiki Room, the music from Mary Poppins). They're the ones featured in Saving Mr. Banks. It's amazing how much music we know that they had a hand in writing. I'm guessing you may have seen it, but if not, I think it's a must for folks wanting to know Disney history.

We're driving out to DLR this summer from North Carolina. It will be our first trip to DLR, that I can remember (I was there in the 60s as a baby) and I'm looking forward to the original Walt references. I'm sad the train likely won't be running for our trip. It's a reason I'll go back. I think every boy likes trains to some level and I know how important they were to Walt, so was looking forward to riding "his" trains.

Speaking of trains, if you ever make your way out to North Carolina, you'll have to check out the NC Transportation Museum (www.nctrans.org). It's very "train-centric" being located on the site of what was once Southern Railway Company's largest steam locomotive servicing facility. They offer train rides and often bring in special trains you can check out and ride. To me the highlight is that they have what they say is the largest remaining roundhouse in North America. They have trains and train cars you can tour in the round house and they also actively work to restoring old trains and train cars in the roundhouse. They also do a tour of the roundhouse and they will take you "out for a spin" on the giant turn table that rotates the trains to be parked in the roundhouse. It's all very cool stuff.


----------



## melk

Khokhonutt said:


> I have to say thanks to the last couple of folks to reply to this. It brought this thread back to the top, where I saw it and read it. I love road trips and your report gave me a couple more bucket list items (like I need more  ). We're into Disney history as well, although you know much more than we do. I ordered the Frank & Ollie movie you recommended. Have you seen, "The boys?" It's about the Sherman Brothers (the guys who wrote many of the Disney classics, including the songs from Small World & the Tiki Room, the music from Mary Poppins). They're the ones featured in Saving Mr. Banks. It's amazing how much music we know that they had a hand in writing. I'm guessing you may have seen it, but if not, I think it's a must for folks wanting to know Disney history.
> 
> We're driving out to DLR this summer from North Carolina. It will be our first trip to DLR, that I can remember (I was there in the 60s as a baby) and I'm looking forward to the original Walt references. I'm sad the train likely won't be running for our trip. It's a reason I'll go back. I think every boy likes trains to some level and I know how important they were to Walt, so was looking forward to riding "his" trains.
> 
> Speaking of trains, if you ever make your way out to North Carolina, you'll have to check out the NC Transportation Museum (www.nctrans.org). It's very "train-centric" being located on the site of what was once Southern Railway Company's largest steam locomotive servicing facility. They offer train rides and often bring in special trains you can check out and ride. To me the highlight is that they have what they say is the largest remaining roundhouse in North America. They have trains and train cars you can tour in the round house and they also actively work to restoring old trains and train cars in the roundhouse. They also do a tour of the roundhouse and they will take you "out for a spin" on the giant turn table that rotates the trains to be parked in the roundhouse. It's all very cool stuff.



I second watching "The Boys." I thought it was a fascinating documentary.


----------



## maleficent55

Thank you MarbleBob for this adventure you "took" me on! 
It was great finding it years later and being able to read it all at once and not have to wait for installments to post! It also kept me quite entertained on these last two slow night shifts here at work.

I can't even begin to comment on all I want to, there was so much of it!

Highlights: mareceline Mo. wow! I want to go now!

Santa Claus on his way to Starbucks! I laughed out loud reading about him!

Your family is amazingly adorable! Sweet sweet kids it seems and a happy couple, so very nice to see.

I need to find your Hawaii trip report and read it! I've been to Hawaii many many times and one of these days, for the sake of my kid (who am I kidding...me!) we will have to check out Aulani. Since Buddy loves trains so much on your next trip to Hawaii (there WILL be one because once you go you'll never get it out of your system), you should go to Kauai. There's a fun train to ride at the Kilohana plantation. It's a very quaint fun gorgeous train ride through many tropical gardens. At the end you can feed some pigs!

http://www.kilohanakauai.com/


We live about a 5 hour drive up from San Francisco, in the redwoods on the coast. We visit San Francisco very often and I've never been to the Walt Family Museum but it's been on my list. After your TR, I realize I HAVE to get there soon! It's looks so "cool".
And we are at Union square, Fisherman's Wharf and china town more than anything. Now I realize I need to spend some time in Japan town as well.

So thank you! It was quite entertaining. I've never visiting the TR forum, always just sticking to the DL forum. This is the first TR that caught my eye and I read it. So glad I did!


----------



## MarbleBob

Hello everyone!  For some reason, I haven't been receiving Disboards alerts for a while... and I didn't realize that there were new comments in the past few months.  Hard to believe this trip was over two years ago now!!!!



TexasErin said:


> I just wanted to say thanks again for taking the time to write this TR. You have a lovely family and are an excellent writer. We are planning a beach day on our May/June trip, so I am saving the info on your beach day. Even though I love the beach scene in Soarin' (old version), a beach day wasn't really on my radar until your report. I'm thinking maybe Crescent Bay at Laguna....but Great Mex at Huntington Beach looks really good! And us Texans miss Mexican food when we are away from home, lol.



Thanks for the nice comments.  Hope you had a great May/June trip.  Did you end up having a beach day?



jcc0621 said:


> I just read your entire TR today!  I loved ready about all of the Disney stuff, but all the non-Disney stuff was awesome too.  Thanks for sharing.



Wow, the entire report in one day?!?! How cool!  Thanks for reading along.



my2disneyboys said:


> Thank you for sharing.  My family and I are HUGE Disney fans!  We try to go every year.  Like you this year we decided the kids needed to see more than Florida!  We are planning a trip of a lifetime.  Boston to California Road Trip - with most of our journey on Route 66.  Our ultimate Destination is Disneyland!!!  It will be our first visit.  We really enjoyed reading your trip report and looking at your pictures!!  We have a little over 100 more days to go until we start our adventure.



Wow!!!!  That's a road trip of a lifetime!  I assume you've returned from the trip by now?  How was it?



Khokhonutt said:


> I have to say thanks to the last couple of folks to reply to this. It brought this thread back to the top, where I saw it and read it. I love road trips and your report gave me a couple more bucket list items (like I need more  ). We're into Disney history as well, although you know much more than we do. I ordered the Frank & Ollie movie you recommended. Have you seen, "The boys?" It's about the Sherman Brothers (the guys who wrote many of the Disney classics, including the songs from Small World & the Tiki Room, the music from Mary Poppins). They're the ones featured in Saving Mr. Banks. It's amazing how much music we know that they had a hand in writing. I'm guessing you may have seen it, but if not, I think it's a must for folks wanting to know Disney history.
> 
> We're driving out to DLR this summer from North Carolina. It will be our first trip to DLR, that I can remember (I was there in the 60s as a baby) and I'm looking forward to the original Walt references. I'm sad the train likely won't be running for our trip. It's a reason I'll go back. I think every boy likes trains to some level and I know how important they were to Walt, so was looking forward to riding "his" trains.
> 
> Speaking of trains, if you ever make your way out to North Carolina, you'll have to check out the NC Transportation Museum (www.nctrans.org). It's very "train-centric" being located on the site of what was once Southern Railway Company's largest steam locomotive servicing facility. They offer train rides and often bring in special trains you can check out and ride. To me the highlight is that they have what they say is the largest remaining roundhouse in North America. They have trains and train cars you can tour in the round house and they also actively work to restoring old trains and train cars in the roundhouse. They also do a tour of the roundhouse and they will take you "out for a spin" on the giant turn table that rotates the trains to be parked in the roundhouse. It's all very cool stuff.



I hope you enjoyed the Frank & Ollie movie.  Yes, we've seen "The Boys", and we loved it too!  DLR from NC is a long drive.  Not sure if you've completed the trip, but I hope it was awesome!  Thanks for the tip on the NC Transportation Museum.  I haven't been to NC in many, many years, but this sounds like a must do if we are ever in the area!



maleficent55 said:


> Thank you MarbleBob for this adventure you "took" me on!
> It was great finding it years later and being able to read it all at once and not have to wait for installments to post! It also kept me quite entertained on these last two slow night shifts here at work.
> 
> I can't even begin to comment on all I want to, there was so much of it!
> 
> Highlights: mareceline Mo. wow! I want to go now!
> 
> Santa Claus on his way to Starbucks! I laughed out loud reading about him!
> 
> Your family is amazingly adorable! Sweet sweet kids it seems and a happy couple, so very nice to see.
> 
> I need to find your Hawaii trip report and read it! I've been to Hawaii many many times and one of these days, for the sake of my kid (who am I kidding...me!) we will have to check out Aulani. Since Buddy loves trains so much on your next trip to Hawaii (there WILL be one because once you go you'll never get it out of your system), you should go to Kauai. There's a fun train to ride at the Kilohana plantation. It's a very quaint fun gorgeous train ride through many tropical gardens. At the end you can feed some pigs!
> 
> http://www.kilohanakauai.com/
> 
> 
> We live about a 5 hour drive up from San Francisco, in the redwoods on the coast. We visit San Francisco very often and I've never been to the Walt Family Museum but it's been on my list. After your TR, I realize I HAVE to get there soon! It's looks so "cool".
> And we are at Union square, Fisherman's Wharf and china town more than anything. Now I realize I need to spend some time in Japan town as well.
> 
> So thank you! It was quite entertaining. I've never visiting the TR forum, always just sticking to the DL forum. This is the first TR that caught my eye and I read it. So glad I did!



Thanks so much for reading the TR.  I'm glad you got a chuckle about Santa on his way to Starbucks.  It still makes me smile to think about it.

Thanks for the tip about the train ride at the Kilohana plantation.  You're right, it's not a question of if, but when we'll make it back to Hawaii!!

Wow, sounds like you live in an amazing location.


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## Khokhonutt

MarbleBob said:


> Hello everyone!  For some reason, I haven't been receiving Disboards alerts for a while... and I didn't realize that there were new comments in the past few months.  Hard to believe this trip was over two years ago now!!!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the Frank & Ollie movie.  Yes, we've seen "The Boys", and we loved it too!  DLR from NC is a long drive.  Not sure if you've completed the trip, but I hope it was awesome!  Thanks for the tip on the NC Transportation Museum.  I haven't been to NC in many, many years, but this sounds like a must do if we are ever in the area!



We did enjoy the movie. The talent and the stories are amazing.

We also did complete our trip and it was wonderful. My pre-trip report and trip report links should be in my signature. If not you should be able to find it, here: June 2017 Trip Report – WDW vets reflect on their first DLR trip. We made a couple of Route 66 related stops, that related to Cars Land. The rest of the trip was pretty much making time, this time.


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## aussiejen

Im really loving your TR and im only on page 6, i just wanted to say i need a pair of those Disney Vans...
The pics are great, especially of the Walt Museum, i myself have ever been there but hoping one day i will get a chance to visit.....


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## kelmac284

I don't know if you have done any more reports. I just loved your writing style and following along with your family on the last ones.  I don't come on the dis a whole lot anymore but am always up for a new report if you have one in the works


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## MarbleBob

Weird... I'm still not getting alerts to replies so I didn't notice these until now...



Khokhonutt said:


> We did enjoy the movie. The talent and the stories are amazing.
> 
> We also did complete our trip and it was wonderful. My pre-trip report and trip report links should be in my signature. If not you should be able to find it, here: June 2017 Trip Report – WDW vets reflect on their first DLR trip. We made a couple of Route 66 related stops, that related to Cars Land. The rest of the trip was pretty much making time, this time.



How cool!  Thanks for sharing.  I'll be checking our your TR!  



aussiejen said:


> Im really loving your TR and im only on page 6, i just wanted to say i need a pair of those Disney Vans...
> The pics are great, especially of the Walt Museum, i myself have ever been there but hoping one day i will get a chance to visit.....



Glad you made it to the TR.  And yeah, those Disney Vans are super cool.  They have held up well.  I still wear the Mickey Mouse ones almost every day...



kelmac284 said:


> I don't know if you have done any more reports. I just loved your writing style and following along with your family on the last ones.  I don't come on the dis a whole lot anymore but am always up for a new report if you have one in the works



Hi Kelley!  Since this one, I did one for our trip to WDW in May 2016 and then to Aulani in June 2016.  Stephanie and I went back to WDW (without the kids) in May, but I didn't write a TR for it.  For our 20th wedding anniversary, we're going on a Disney Cruise out of San Diego in early October, and then heading up to DL for a couple days before coming home.  I plan to do a TR for that one, for sure!!!


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## kelmac284

Cool.  I did read the one where you all went to DW last year but I must have missed the one about Aulani.  I think I saw a few pics but can't remember.  Will def be interested in your cruise report. Have fun!!


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## AuntieKels

I have to say that I love this trip report! You have inspired my family to took into a road trip and visits to national parks. Thank you so much for sharing!


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## MarbleBob

AuntieKels said:


> I have to say that I love this trip report! You have inspired my family to took into a road trip and visits to national parks. Thank you so much for sharing!



Thanks for the feedback!  Hope you are able to make a road trip of your own happen.  They are so much fun!!!


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## MarbleBob

For anyone who's interested, Stephanie and I just got back from our 20th Anniversary, parents only, Disney Baja Cruise with a visit to Disneyland.  Here's the link, if you'd like to join the TR that I just started.  https://www.disboards.com/threads/2...se-and-disneyland-visit-october-2017.3640123/


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## cptmemo

Just read this and really enjoyed.  Now I want to go on a roadtrip! 1/2 the time we drive to DLR, but it's only from Oregon down.  And we always just fly to St. Louis (family there, plus now we're going every other year for racquetball).  But this is making me want to plan a road trip across the country, maybe we could drive to WDW? hmmm.

Looking forward to reading your other trip reports as well.


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## MarbleBob

cptmemo said:


> Just read this and really enjoyed.  Now I want to go on a roadtrip! 1/2 the time we drive to DLR, but it's only from Oregon down.  And we always just fly to St. Louis (family there, plus now we're going every other year for racquetball).  But this is making me want to plan a road trip across the country, maybe we could drive to WDW? hmmm.
> 
> Looking forward to reading your other trip reports as well.



How cool!  I'm glad that you enjoyed it.  Wow, a road trip from Oregon to WDW would be quite the adventure!!!!


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## Goldys4

Found your TR a few days ago and really enjoyed reading it! We are going to take a road trip from Indy area to Kansas City and back through St Louis next year. We plan on stopping in Marceline so that's why I found your TR. Now I want to road trip all the way to CA! Don't know if that will happen, but thanks for the inspiration to do more road tripping.


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## MarbleBob

How fun!  Your are going to love Marceline!  We've been visiting them a couple times a year since I wrote this TR and they've made MAJOR improvements to museum in recent years.  Unfortunately, the city removed the old Midget Autopia track, so you can't play on it anymore.   But the good news is.... They are recreating the attraction just outside the museum.  I think phase one (the track) will be completed this year.  (They are still working to refurbish the little cars.)  Our little Pickle was featured in their go fund me campaign, riding her trike when she was younger.  How fun!






Also, something else fun...  I've gotten to know the folks who run the museum a bit (they are an awesome group of people) and had the chance to initiate the return a bunch of Walt's favorite apple trees back to the Disney Family Farm this past year.  Even better, this was done during D23's Return to Marceline Visit.  It was awesome!  Here are a couple write ups that you might find interesting before your trip:

https://d23.com/d23-returns-marceline-truly-magnificent-day/
https://www.starkbros.com/growing-guide/article/wolf-river-walt-disney

Best wishes!


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