#52 Stories-Story #43

Do you have one special vacation spot that you return to again and again? How did you find it? What draws you back? What do you love about it?

My favorite place to visit--at least one that I have visited more than once--is Disneyland in Anaheim, CA.  Genius Golfer and I visited it first together on newlyweds on our honeymoon. It is a place that holds my idea of fun, cleanliness, family, and magic.

For our twentieth anniversary, GG surprised me with a pair of annual passes.  We repeated that year long celebration for our 25th.  This past year we were able to visit 5 or 6 times in the celebration of our anniversary annual passes.

When The Boy asked me not long ago what it was that made me like visiting Disneyland so much as an adult. Trying to help him understand, I told him it's a place where optimism rules the land; where streets, attractions, and outward appearances are clean & tidy; and where "family" is catered to and celebrated no matter what it looks like. It's an imagined alternate reality that purposely reflects a simpler time. I still feel all those things when I visit. All of those reasons make me feel the "magic" of this place each time I get to visit. And, really, can you ever really outgrow that kind of magic??!! I hope I never do.

 

The Year Of The Ears

Last April, Genius Golfer bought us annual passes to Disneyland for our 20th anniversary.  Our passes expire today, and for that, I'm sad.  But in that year of Disney we made some wonderful memories.

We went in April last year to celebrate 20 years since we spent our honeymoon there. Disneyland is a completely different experience as grown-ups without the kids.  We had a great time!

We headed back in July (during a family trip to San Diego), with kids in tow, with GG's sister Kathy--who hadn't been back to DLand since she was a kid.

GG and I went back in September for a quick trip--a long weekend.

Then we celebrated GG's birthday there too in February.

GG took the boy and a buddy back to use the pass one more time for Spring Break.  The Girl had college classes so the girls stayed home while the boys hit Disneyland.

I gotta give GG credit!  The annual passes were a great idea and actually quite romantic!  We spent our honeymoon there, and now 20 year later, he thought to plan a way to celebrate all year there too.  I'm only bummed the year has come to a close to fast!  Maybe in another 9 years we can do it again for our 30th!

That's Right...I'm RANKED!

One of Genius Golfer's favorite rides at Disneyland is the Astro Balsters.  It is a game/ride.  And he is a gamer at heart.  So this is a natural fit.  I, on the other hand am not a gamer.  I play games with the kids usually so I am the loser and they don't get bent out of shape if they lose.  I figure it is my place as the mom.  It rates right up there with eating the least warm food for dinner, as they all seem to think of "just one more thing" as I'm trying to sit down and eat with them. But that is another blog post.

Amazingly enough, and after several rides, I had a lifetime personal best on Astro Blasters.  You can see the incredibly concentration I had, based on the photo.  You might also notice that GG isn't in the car with me.  Nope.  He wanted to ride separately because I was cramping his "spin style".  You can control your own car's ability to spin in parts of the ride, and he wanted his control all on his own.

On this very same turn, GG saw his score reach nearly 500,000 and he ended up ranked 64th!  He was thrilled.  I imagine it is like what he must have been like when he'd get high score on Space Invaders back in the day and he'd get to put his initials on the scoreboard.

Who says Disneyland is just for kids?!?

If I Ruled The World

I had several moments this past week where I thought "If I ran the world, _________ would not be allowed."  Now most of these are directly applied to visitors at Disneyland, but see if these aren't just what the world needs.

If I Ran the World...at least at Disneyland....

1) No one would stop right in the walkway to do anything.  Pull over to the side of the walkway if you need to talk with your friend, change the baby's diaper. find your phone, eat your lunch, or find a bathroom on the map.

2) Having only half/part of your party actually wait in the line and then at the last moment have everyone join you would get you thrown out of the park.  Yes, the line wait sign says "45 minutes".  That is the gauge for those in the line, right now.  Not the dozens of extras you are smuggling in on the last turn before boarding.

3) If your baby/child/teen/spouse is crying--it is time to go home.  Take a time out.  The park isn't going anywhere.  You can get your hand stamped and come back later--after a nap.

4) You would understand that the park's food, while convenient, is expensive. Please don't try to haggle about it and PLEASE don't complain to the wait staff/food service employee about the prices.  It wasn't their decision.  You choose to get in the line, so order already and remember where you are!

5) If you travel with a family reunion group, and are probably from Utah, make sure you know who had your kids.  It isn't fair to the kids when you yell at them because they were standing in line, waiting patiently--and very calmly--with Uncle Fred and you just didn't see the hand-off.

6) Just because the fabric of the clothing you thing makes you look so good is stretchy doesn't mean it actually fits you.  Pouring yourself into a stretchy lace undershirt and topping it with a halter bikini top doesn't keep all your bits out of sight...if anything it makes them MORE obvious and glaring.  Yikes.  Just put some clothes on.

And, perhaps most importantly, 7) I don't care if you are celebrating your 50th anniversary, your weekend wedding, or your coming out to your parents as a junior high lesbian couple, the PDA has got to stop.  I don't want to see it from ANYONE.  This is an amusement park, not some kind of cheap motel lobby!  Enough, I say.


From these basics, you can see why no one has asked me to be the General Manager of the World.

Unexpected Permission

It is Friday and the first week of fall and we are getting back to normal again after a quick get away this week.  But still, this is one of my favorite memories:

It is the sign that you walk under as you enter Disneyland's Main Street from the ticket stiles.  It gives me permission to leave my cares behind and just enjoy life.  That is good thing, in my book and one I should remember to do more often than just on vacation.

Running Away

With my PTA life, and our callings, and the regular family needs, Genius Golfer and I ran way from home this week for a few days. We are lucky to have Grandmama close enough and flexible enough to come stay with the kids--at least at night--that we can take off once in a while.

We headed south to use our annual Disneyland passes once more.  And a little R & R is just what the doctor ordered, in my case, at least.  Getting PTA stuff off the ground at the beginning of the year is a draining process.  But a necessary one.  Now that I have my events, processes and activities in place and so far, moving smoothly, I felt like I could take off and nothing would fail without me.  And sometimes it is healthy to leave it to others once I did my part. Genius Golfer has interviews with a nearby university and was told that the second interview would take place next Friday--so to burn off a little steam, we ran away.

It is nice to have something far enough away that we can make plans and get out of town, but close enough we can go mid week and still be around for the weekend assignments we have with our callings and our family.  And what better place to run away to than the Happiest Place on Earth?  Especially since we have a pass that gets us in until April next year again and again as often as we want (and can manage) to get away?!

Getting Back to Normal, Whatever THAT Is

We are home from Girls' Camp, and the family trip to San Diego.  Laundry, for the moment, is done. The car has been vacuumed, and will soon be getting a bath and getting smogged to renew the registration...but that bit might wait until tomorrow.  We were back at the pool this morning for the beginning of the last week of summer swim team. And the Olympics begins on Friday...in case you'd forgotten while I was away.

I'd like to share one portion of our trip with you today...probably one part of many to come. But we were at Disneyland on July 17th--Disneyland's birthday, #57, by the way--but we were most excited to see the new CARSLAND!

Here's is what we saw...and thanks to The Girl who lugged the camera around the whole day and shot everything in sight.  She was a little exited.

 This little shot was just so cute.  I loved it.

 Flo's is the place to have lunch...but not when the other 60,000 people visiting are trying to eat there too.

 This one looks like a painting, but it was real...life size and just like the movie.  In fact, on the way home through the Virgin River Gorge, I thought about Cars again and smiled to myself.

 Doing what Disney does best...the details.  See you can't look at this board of "city clubs" a little closer.  They are terrific!

 Who can resist the Cozy Cone?

 Tail light flowers.  So cute.

 Lightning McQueen welcoming the guests

 Luigi sells tires, or course, but did you know you could get his white-walled Fettucini Alfredos?

 Radiator Springs...the reason for the name.

 The canyon bridge...just like in the movie.

I loved Carsland...but if you go, be sure to go first thing in the morning, ride the Radiator Springs Racers as single riders and  then come back later in the day to check out the rest whent he crowds subside a little bit...and, the other plus for later is the neon lights go on about 8 PM....you'll know it's coming because they pay the same song from the show as they flip on the lights.  So cute.

Video Sunday

Can't WAIT to see CARSLAND!  Coming this summer....to Disney's California Adventure.

And Finally...

This is the middle of nowhere.  Actually, I guess, this is really Downtown Nowhere.  It is where we ended up last Thursday afternoon, out of gas.

Nine miles outside of Mesquite, over the Arizona line, and just before we headed into the Virgin River Gorge, Genius Golfer's Baby Camaro ran out of gas.

This problem for me was compounded with the need I had to pee.  Having to seemingly always need to pee, I was making good on my promise to only pee when we stopped for gas--which, sadly, wasn't soon enough.

Cell phone coverage? You may ask. None.  Downtown Nowhere has no coverage for our cells.

So the choices were, nine miles with a full bladder and flip flops on my feet, or flag someone down and hope they will be kind and merciful.

Genius Golfer opted for the later.  He flagged a guy down--possibly the Mayor of Nowhere--not exactly merciful, but helpful in the end.  And for the king's ransom of $20 cash, he brought us 2 gallons of gas.  Enough to get back to Mesquite, where we should have stopped in the first place.

The sad thing is I had felt like I should ask GG to stop at the Las Vegas Speedway off ramp to pee there, and get gas, as we use that spot for a pit stop often when we take the Durango.  But I tried to tough it out and held my tongue and my bladder.

I mentioned having to pee again as we came close to Mesquite and  GG assured me we'd stop in St. George.  "Could you hold it until then?" he asked.  At the risk of breaking my word to only pee at regular stops, I agreed.  I guess I should have been more adamant.

After the world's most condescending and expensive roadside assistance by the Questionably-Honorable Mayor of Nowhere, the car started and GG asked if we should try to make it to St George or go back to Mesquite.  "Oh." I told him, "We are headed back to Mesquite.  There will be no debate on that point."

Luckily, I think, he was pulling my leg.  But, really, you should never try to pull the leg of a woman with a full bladder and head full of "I told you so's" that she is momentarily holding in.

I'm still not sure what the problem was with the math, as far as the mileage he thought we should make with his Camaro.  But we were listening to Harry Potter on tape, and perhaps (wishfully, for me) the story had transported him and he just didn't think about it as he was enthralled with the magical story of the boy who lived.  Nah.  Probably not.

But, this was the end of our anniversary adventures.  Until another 20 years, or so, I guess.

Well, It's Certainly Not the Tulip Festival

Due to  the crazy weather this spring (which went from winter cool to summer heat in less than a week) and a wildly unusual schedule, I still haven't made it out to see and photograph the Tulip festival.  Usually this is one of my favorite things to do with my camera. I have gone every year, but this one.  I take hundreds of pictures and make almost a couple hundred note cards with the photos.  It is a relaxing way to spend the day, and I love the outcome.

Instead I have odd little photos like these:

Maybe this year's spring note cards will all have a Disney theme. You never know.

Poised For Fun

Genius Golfer couldn't remember which character this was.  I had to tell him, Goofy is the dog that is really a guy. and Pluto is Mickey's dog.  GG still seemed confused.  But here he is, alongside Pluto.

Pulling the sword form the stone?  Yeah.  Right.  He didn't even take his other hand out of his pocket.

On our last day in the park we rode the Indiana Jones adventure ride three times in a row--without waiting in line (there wasn't one)!  I think it is my favorite one of the park.

Since it was our anniversary trip, this is more than appropriate.  Thanks to Taffy for giving me a great photo-op hint!