California Dazzling: A Roadtrip Vacation Spectacular - Last Update and Final Thoughts 11/8

Flying Home

August 30: Flight to Germany

This is really just to bring the trip report to an end. There is not much to say. My trip notes say that I had the free breakfast at the Embassy Suites. It was quite good, but I think by now I was more sad about the vacation ending than interested in breakfast. And it did not compare well with yesterday’s breakfast at the Copper Café.

Afterwards I packed for quite some time. I tried to get rid of stuff that I did not need (plastic bags, brochures and such) to avoid being over the weight limit. And then we drove to the airport. I insisted that we had a last lunch at In-N-Out Burger. The restaurant was very crowded and somehow this was one visit to many. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and this was definitely one case of it.
Yup. I let her decide and we went to the one in Hawthorne, right off the 405 -- and very close to where I stayed for part of my trip last month. It was VERY crowded and neither one of us were feeling the vibe that we made a good choice, although the food was fine -- as it always is.

Michael dropped me off at the airport without any problem and we said goodbye when it was time for me to go through security. After having such a horrible time there in 2014, now they have rebuilt the security check for the international terminal in LAX and it was a breeze. I spent some time checking out the very pretty international terminal:

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I picked up a box of See’s peanut brittle for my parents (my father loved it, so good choice!) and at some point it was time to board the plane. I had a window seat and was enjoying the view when I realized on the flight map that was displayed on the entertainment system that our flight pass was kind of going over Anaheim and I was wondering if I would be able to see Disneyland

And yes, there it was:

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Or zoomed in for better recognition:

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The flight was uneventful and long and I got home the next day, felt lousy and hated the jet lag that kept bothering me for the next week…

I was sad, of course, that M was leaving but I wasn't about to not enjoy my remaining time! So I made a beeline back to Anaheim ... or Garden Grove and went right to Joe's for some more world-class Italian ice. Naturally, there were more people and cars than parking, so I parked illegally -- what one will do for something worthwhile -- and got a great ice. Actually, it was their Cherry -- but the variety that has actual cherries in it -- mixed with vanilla soft serve ice cream. Because of the parking situation I decided to enjoy it while walking around DD, so I drove over, parked and did just that. After that, I did something that M wouldn't allow when she was there. I had dinner at the KFC on Ball Rd. behind DL. Chicken tenders, taters and gravy, cole slaw, a biscuit and a chocolate chip cookie. I don't know why, but after a month of largely eating very well, it really tasted good. I am glad that he waited until he got KFC for me to have departed. Not a fan.

I went back to the hotel and spent 90 minutes in the indoor pool and jacuzzi. I met a nice family down from the Bay Area for one son's 13th birthday and we chatted for a bit. Then, it was upstairs to the realization that I only had one day left myself. But I made it count with a visit to Knott's Berry Farm (comped thanks to friends in high places) with a dear friend and dinner with another friend and his lovely wife at DD. Knott's was blissfully empty on a Monday after most SoCal school had gone back. There were places where you couldn't see another visitor and I loved that. I really want to get M to this SoCal treasure. After a brief visit back to the hotel for a shower, I met D&S for a lovely dinner at Ralph Brennan's at DD. If I recall, sorry but have no pics, I wound up ordering very lightly. Think I had soup and salad. The meal was great as was the company. After a near nervous breakdown the next day over packing -- I have come to rely on M to do this for me -- and making the flight, I returned car No. 3, got a 10% rebate (should have been more, but you can't fight everyone all the time) for having to go through three cars and made my flight. All I recall was it was my first trip to Houston's Hobby Airport and I was one of eight people who were staying onboard for FLL. They gave us passes and let us off into the terminal where I (fittingly?) ended the trip as I had started it a month ago in New Orleans: with a meal from Subway. And that is the end of the adventure. Our final thoughts to come.


Up Next: Final Thoughts
 
Final Thoughts

I have been wondering on what kind of format I should choose for this and now decided to just go with stream of conscience, so you just get what for me are the most important conclusions of the trip.

You had a great time. And you wouldn't have picked anyone else, even Bucky, to spend an insane month hopscotching around the Golden State with. You also learned about important things like deep dish pizza, smoke detectors not existing in wilderness cabins, and ceiling fans are deathtraps.

Ok, not sure I think that those are the most important conclusions... Talking about smoke detectors, just three minutes ago got new ones installed in my place here in Germany...

First, the trip was an amazing adventure. It will definitely be up there in those “big vacations” category with the Panama Canal cruise and my safari trip to Namibia.

It was a great trip, but I love California (even Artesiia). I can spend time there just chillin' and be happy. Likely the way the dude from Delaware feels at the local Wawa. I don't know where I would rate the trip. It was basically midway through my father's battle with cancer and American healthcare, the latter finally killing him in the spring. I felt reasonably comfortable that he was stable when we left or I wouldn't have taken the trip. One of our last quality times we had together was in March looking at some of M's pics in this report on our days in Sequoia and King's Canyon, places he had never made it to and never will.

I truly loved my first 'real' trip with M in 2013 -- her first cruise ever, 11 days at DAK Lodge. It was pure relaxation. And our Panama Canal/week at DL 2014 trip was pretty spectacular too. ... I do think that while I loved individual days of our trip, I wasn't totally there for all of it. Something I have had to apologize to my amazing other half for a lot over the last two years.


Before the trip I wondered if we had allocated too much time to Disneyland. And in a way I would have loved more time in certain areas. But I am happy we had so much time in Anaheim at the start as we used it to see other things, too. Also, not having been to Disneyland a lot I truly enjoyed having so much time to explore there. I think on future vacations I will be fine with three days in the parks (unless there is going to be another 10 years gap between visits).

You are forgetting you/we were there for parts of five days in May of 2014. I am sure there is a trip report somewhere! (No I am not, I tried to be vague about "not having bee there a lot", I guess I was too vague...)

Of all the places we visited besides Disneyland the ones that stood out the most to me were Sequoia and Kings Canyon as well as the Madonna Inn. Both were places that I put on the itinerary because I felt they belonged there for a grand tour of California. Both exceeded my expectations and I would love to return.

I would love to return to King's Canyon because we never really saw it. Or most of it. Fires can do that. But I wouldn't stay in one of those cabins again. Truly not acceptable even taking into account location. And I loved, loved, loved the Madonna Inn.

Actually the only area where I feel no need to return to is the coast line. I have been there twice and it is a beautiful coast. But it is not that outstanding and spectacular. Europe has lots of amazing coast lines, too. I am especially partial to South West England and its amazing coast (I have hiked along nearly all 1000km of it). I also feel that this area of California is far too overrun and hence expensive for what it offers. I think I would have been equally happy if the trip had ended in San Francisco. But this was something Michael really wanted to do since he had not been there. Now he has seen it, so we are all set.

I don't know that I'd say that. I wouldn't mind more time on the coast. Driving through it isn't the same as staying for a bit. But it isn't something I feel we have to do in the near future.

The other overrun place we visited was Yosemite, but there I felt it was justified. I truly loved our time there and wish we had been there longer and been able to do some more hiking. And while it was busy, it was never bothersome. Staying in the valley was certainly a big factor for that and I would try to stay there again on future visits, even if it is pricey. I know it is not always an option as availability is so limited. But here early planning certainly paid off.

Yosemite is heaven. Truly. I don't care about the people. The place is so awe-inspiring even with them. It is my personal paradise. Heck, I even hear that sometimes people get married there.

I very much think a future trip to California will focus more on the northern part of the state. Some areas we only skimmed, like the Gold Country and the Wine Country. Also, since my aunt does not get any younger, I hope to return there soon to see her and she is based in that area. So, that is something on my mid-term travel plans (together with about 5000 other ideas and not to be confused with the 5 million long-term travel ideas…).

Yup. Love the area. And the aunt is pretty terrific too.

I was wondering if there is anything in this trip which I regret – either that we spent time and money to see/do something or that we did not spend the time or money to see/do something. And I think the only regret I have is one that no time or money could have changed: the wildfires in Kings Canyon. (Oh, and yes, I sometimes wish my boyfriend were a little more of a morning person… ;-) )

And I only regret that we didn't slow down enough. When we did, we had some of our most magical times of the trip. I think that starting out with DL puts you in a go, go, go frame of mind. But I am not complaining. I sometimes wish my girlfriend was a little less of a morning person ... :-)

And finally thinking about what were the highlights of the trip: Definitely getting to know some new friends, meeting up with old friends and spending quality time with my aunt were personal highlights for me. On a more general travel level the highlights were

Club 33

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and Paint the Night at Disneyland,

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Sequoia trees,

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my hike

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and swimming in the river in Yosemite,

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the Lassetter Winery,

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the Walt Disney Family Museum

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and the Madonna Inn.

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And with that you have the trip in a nutshell.

I hope you enjoyed this trip report! Thanks for sticking around!

Yes. Thanks to all our loyal readers. I do feel like I should say something like "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!??! GET A LIFE!!!! But since I love each and every one of you, I'll simply thank you again and look forward to seeing you in our new trip report, which will start at a date TBA, that covers our January adventures at Europa Park, Disneyland Paris and the city of Paris. Until then ... an early Happy Holidays to all!
 
Loved this whole trip report so much and look forward to the next one! To pass the time I have been going back and reading your past reports though!
 
An amazing end to and amazing TR! Magdalene, you're one of the bestest TR writers for sure! You're always very detailed and informative and have some of the more unique experiences! Love that! I will always have my wine Charms from the Lassiter winery as a memory of this TR too. Every time I have a glass of wine now, I think of you and your amazing CA adventure. :)
 


BTW, I was reading Polly's thread and realized it was your birthday the day before Andrew's wedding. Now I have an easy way to remember! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Magdalene!
 
Great end to the TR! Glad we get to look forward to the next one!

Yosemite really is one of my favorite places, too. Dh and I found a tiny trail that led to a river on our trip, and kept saying that would be an awesome place for a tiny elopement ceremony. But, we got talked into doing the big family ceremony. (Not sure if we could've found that spot again, anyhow!)
 
Loved this whole trip report so much and look forward to the next one! To pass the time I have been going back and reading your past reports though!

Thanks for reading! And I am impressed that you went back to past ones. I think the best one was the Panama Canal cruise, but if you enjoy Michael's insights, the 2014 Fantasy one is where he first started to jump in.
 


An amazing end to and amazing TR! Magdalene, you're one of the bestest TR writers for sure! You're always very detailed and informative and have some of the more unique experiences! Love that! I will always have my wine Charms from the Lassiter winery as a memory of this TR too. Every time I have a glass of wine now, I think of you and your amazing CA adventure. :)

How nice that you ended up with a souvenir from my trip report! I am wondering if that is a first. And I am happy that you get good use out of the wine charms. I so rarely open a bottle here at home that I really have only used them a couple of times or so. But they are still one of my favorite souvenirs from the trip!

And thanks for the big compliment! I do try to write the kind of trip report that I would enjoy reading, so I would say that if you like them, you have very good taste! :rotfl2:

BTW, I was reading Polly's thread and realized it was your birthday the day before Andrew's wedding. Now I have an easy way to remember! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Magdalene!

Thank you!! But I think my birthday is the day after Andrew's wedding (November 6). Guy Fawkes is the day before my birthday, so the fireworks were the start to my birthday celebrations...
 
Great end to the TR! Glad we get to look forward to the next one!

Yosemite really is one of my favorite places, too. Dh and I found a tiny trail that led to a river on our trip, and kept saying that would be an awesome place for a tiny elopement ceremony. But, we got talked into doing the big family ceremony. (Not sure if we could've found that spot again, anyhow!)

To be honest, I am a bit overwhelmed with trip reports at the moment as I have three possible candidates for it: Finishing the trip report my sister Katharina started for our Norway cruise in 2015 (yes, long time ago, but such a fantastic trip), Michael's and my trip to DLP in January including a visit to another European theme park, possibly extended with our summer trips to Prague and another theme park here in Germany... And then the next trip with Michael is around the corner... I might end up with parallel reports! I really want to do them all! Michael said the other day that he thinks the trip reports are like scrapbooks, wonderful memories of our adventures. And this is exactly why I do them. I am happy that you enjoyed this one!
 
How nice that you ended up with a souvenir from my trip report! I am wondering if that is a first. And I am happy that you get good use out of the wine charms. I so rarely open a bottle here at home that I really have only used them a couple of times or so. But they are still one of my favorite souvenirs from the trip!

And thanks for the big compliment! I do try to write the kind of trip report that I would enjoy reading, so I would say that if you like them, you have very good taste! :rotfl2:



Thank you!! But I think my birthday is the day after Andrew's wedding (November 6). Guy Fawkes is the day before my birthday, so the fireworks were the start to my birthday celebrations...

You're very welcome! Aw Geez, I read that backwards. Either way, now I know it's the day AFTER Guy Fawkes and can easily remember. ;) LOL! I'd love to have fireworks start off my BD!
 
Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed reading all about this amazing trip. I agree that trip reports are like scrapbooks. This is why I have persisted with writing mine even if time has been an extremely rare commodity.

Corinna
 
Great ending to a great TR! Glad you had a better experience at Catal than you did last time.

I'm in for whatever TR you decide to do, even if you combined all 3. I find even if there is one that was a long time ago and maybe some details are forgotten, I have seen other TR writers just post groupings of the pictures and that is enough sometimes.

Happy Belated Birthday! :bday: :cake:
 
Loved reading you and M's journey through California. I am glad you got home safe. So many great moments from Yosemite to have a bite in and out burger. Knotts berry farm and ghost town charm , Disneyland by land and air and pixie dust everywhere!

Thank you for sharing.
 
I absolutely loved reading this trip report. I look forward Paris. Will one of you please post the link here when it's started?
 
Well here is one TR where I can now say I am caught up!

I do have a question about the Madonna Inn. I would imagine that you reserved the room in advance and did so on a credit card, correct?
The only reason I ask is that when I stayed there years and years ago, early 1990s, I wanted a specific room. I had to actually mail them a check to reserve that room. For that day and age I thought it was really odd.

I fond it interesting that you stopped in Orcutt rather than Santa Maria, but whatever. I like that cut through 154, it's a nice little break from the main highway.

You guys made good time to Anaheim if you left SLO at noon and got to the Embassy Suites by Happy Hour. I'm very sad to hear that they are removing the uniqueness of the atrium of these hotels. I've stayed in so beautiful ones and the trees and other decorations have always added to the charm of the place.

Nice that Catal redeemed itself for you, the dinner looked very nice. You don't like KFC? Really? While it's not my choice for a gourmet meal, every so often I get a craving for it. Although I do have to say that Mrs. Knott's chicken is by far the best!

Nice wrap up of the vacation. Something tells me that I may be doing more exploring of this fine state for the next few years. If you've spoken to Michael much lately, he and I share some of the same feelings. There are plenty of beautiful and interesting places to visit and I hope you get back here to see them. And especially your aunt as well.

Looking forward to hearing about all those trips as well since I will likely be living vicariously through other people's trip reports.
 
My trip notes say that I had the free breakfast at the Embassy Suites. It was quite good, but I think by now I was more sad about the vacation ending than interested in breakfast.

I always like staying at Embassy Suites. I usually can't afford it, though!

I insisted that we had a last lunch at In-N-Out Burger. The restaurant was very crowded and somehow this was one visit to many. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing and this was definitely one case of it.

:eek:

Sounds like how we feel about PB&J after several days.

I had a window seat and was enjoying the view when I realized on the flight map that was displayed on the entertainment system that our flight pass was kind of going over Anaheim and I was wondering if I would be able to see Disneyland…

Good eyes! I had trouble finding it in the first photo.

I am glad that he waited until he got KFC for me to have departed. Not a fan.

Interesting. I don't mind KFC. Chick Fil-A is better, though.

You also learned about important things like deep dish pizza, smoke detectors not existing in wilderness cabins, and ceiling fans are deathtraps.

Important life lessons.

I can spend time there just chillin' and be happy. Likely the way the dude from Delaware feels at the local Wawa.

Ah...Wawa...:cloud9:

Yosemite is heaven. Truly. I don't care about the people. The place is so awe-inspiring even with them. It is my personal paradise.

I hope I get to see it someday.

(Oh, and yes, I sometimes wish my boyfriend were a little more of a morning person… ;-) )

:rotfl2::rotfl2:

Yes. Thanks to all our loyal readers. I do feel like I should say something like "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!??! GET A LIFE!!!!

Says the guy who won't get out of bed! Besides, reading the TR beats doing work.

But since I love each and every one of you, I'll simply thank you again and look forward to seeing you in our new trip report, which will start at a date TBA, that covers our January adventures at Europa Park, Disneyland Paris and the city of Paris.

I can't wait! Sounds wonderful. Thanks for such a great TR! And happy belated birthday, Magdalene!
 
Hope you had a smooth and uneventful flight and made it back home safely! It was great getting to see you and Michael and spend time with you again! :goodvibes
 
Just a brief note for those of you who know that my sister, @nodnol, lives in Berlin. There appears to have happened an incident (still unclear if accident or not) at a Christmas market in Berlin, but she was nowhere close to it and is safely at home working on the Christmas present for our father.

(And I really hate it how common it has become to write, read or look for these "everyone is safe" notes on the internet... It feels like I did this far too often this year. Makes me yearn for a Christmas miracle and the good wishes in the Illuminations holiday tag: "peace on earth" to come true.)
 
I am glad that your sister is safe.

(And I really hate it how common it has become to write, read or look for these "everyone is safe" notes on the internet... It feels like I did this far too often this year. Makes me yearn for a Christmas miracle and the good wishes in the Illuminations holiday tag: "peace on earth" to come true.)

I feel exactly the same.

Corinna
 
Just a brief note for those of you who know that my sister, @nodnol, lives in Berlin. There appears to have happened an incident (still unclear if accident or not) at a Christmas market in Berlin, but she was nowhere close to it and is safely at home working on the Christmas present for our father.

I'm very, very glad to hear that Katherina is safe. Prayers for those families who lost loved ones. I hope you all have a quiet, peaceful Christmas.
 

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