|
| Holiday Weekend
"There are those who are preparing to divide us... Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America;there's the United States of America."
-Barak Obama
Happy Independence Day
| | |
| Vacation Log 4: Disney Day 1 - Nemo Submarines, Tinkerbell, and Disappointment at the Mad HatterTuesday morning we drove the car to our service mechanic in Huntington Beach. The “check engine” light had come on before we left home and apparently it means one of the sensors had gone out. We knew we didn’t need the car while we were at the park, so we had arranged for them to drive us to Disneyland and then take the car back to the shop for the next two days. Mike dropped us off at the valet stand at the Disneyland Hotel. We booked our stay as a package with Costco Travel, and it included two days of Park Hopper passes, two nights at the hotel, one character meal, tickets for Mickey’s Toontown Morning Madness, and assorted other stuff like luggage tags, commerative coin, Disney pins, etc. The hotel will let you check in and store your luggage the day you arrive until your room is ready at 3, so we picked up our package with the tickets at the front desk and walked over to the monorail station. I grew up going to Disneyland at least once a year, and then Steve and I both had season passes for a few years before the kids were born, but if you haven’t been to Disneyland in the last 10 years, things have changed a lot. I need to find a map overlaying what used to be there with what is there now, because I KNOW that the monorail used to run right up to the hotel porte-cochere and now the station is 100 yards away in Downtown Disney. Both DD and the California Adventure park were there before we left California, but I have still never been inside CA despite having park hopper passes both this time and on our visit three years ago, and I had never been to DD before our previous visit. Anyway, where you used to go out the front gate and walk through the parking lot, that has now all been turned into the Downtown Disney outside shopping mall, and there are now three hotels adjoining DD (Paradise Pier and the Grand Californian.) We have always stayed at the Disneyland Hotel though, because I like the old-fashioned funky vibe (and also because the Grand Californian starts at like $400 a night. You only see grandparents with grandkids staying there.) It is actually quite a nice walk, but with the kids and their short legs the monorail is faster.  On the ride in I said I wanted to go on the new Nemo submarines first, since I knew it would be a long wait, and also they are right next to the monorail station. The kids were a little disappointed by the long wait, but it actually was the longest wait we had (an hour and 15 minutes.) The ride was fun, but I don’t think they improved much with the Nemo theme; I think they could have just spruced up the old ride. They have lots of underwater video screens as part of the ride which was interesting. After Nemo we walked through the castle to Fantasyland. Another new thing Disney is doing is the Photopass. They have photographers all through the park, and you can ask them to take your picture. The first time they do this they give you a card, and after that you give it to every photographer so all your photos are linked on the card. They will also do special effects. So here we are with Tinkerbell!  We walked through Fantasyland and went on Mr Toad’s Wild Ride. I inadvertently traumatized Carl by telling him he better steer the car carefully and then he was upset when you run into the train and said it was too hard and someone else should do it next time. We went on the Storybookland boats, and Étienne figured out a wonderful new way to embarrass me. The previous week at Bass Lake he had started occasionally pretending to be a dog… he would crawl on all fours on the carpet and bark. Very cute. We have a kid leash, the kind with a chest harness, and we had brought it so we wouldn’t lose him in the park (we actually bought it for Carl for our previous trip.) Étienne does not like it very much because, of course, he can’t run off. But it is extremely embarrassing when we were waiting in line, with him wearing the harness and leash (which already gets you the hairy eyeball from some people) and then he STARTS PRETENDING TO BE A DOG, crawling and barking. Aargh! We walked to New Orleans Square and went on Pirates (they have added Captain Jack Sparrow mannequins throughout, ehhh, but also a really neat mist screen that they project an image of Davy Jones on and then the boat rides through), and the Haunted Mansion. We went over to Tomorrowland to have lunch, went on Buzz Lightyear, and then back to the hotel so Étienne could have a nap. They check-in clerk had told us she was giving us a great room, and she was right. It was on the 7th floor with double sliding-glass doors that open up to give you a great view of Downtown Disney (and the giant WALL*E inflatable they installed there) and the Disneyland park beyond... which means it would have a great view of the fireworks! Two queen beds and a daybed for Étienne to sleep on. Steve, Roni, and Carl went down to swim in the Neverland pool (with two waterslides!) and I got Étienne down for a nap. Then Steve relieved me and I went down to the pool. When Étienne woke up Steve brought him down and let him swim for awhile too, then we went and got dinner. I had thought that the park was awfully crowded for a Tuesday (and it was MUCH less crowded the next day so I’m not sure what was going on) but the restaurants at the resort were also all full, with an hour wait. We went to at least four of them before we finally walked over to the Paradise Pier and their PCH Grill (Lilo and Stitch theme, not sure how that works with California and not Hawaii) and ate there with no wait. Then I really wanted to go back in the park that night and get the kids mouse ears at the Mad Hatter. The first monorail was full so we had to wait for another… which takes about 15 minutes. I really think they had more running in the past. That was one of my only two complaints about our stay, that it took SO LONG to get on the monorail. Then they said that they would stop running from 9-10 for the fireworks. By the time we got to the Mad Hatter it was 8:30. We got the ears, then found out they now use a computer to stitch the names, and they could not do an accent for Étienne. I am sure the hand-stitchers would have been able to do it! If you’re going to go to computer, why not program in the more common accents, umlauts, etc for names? They were kind of crabby about it too which tells me they must get a lot of requests. That was my second complaint. Steve told me to get back to the monorail before it stopped running and he would wait for the ears, since I really wanted to watch the fireworks from our room and not the park. We were back by 8:45 and the monorail had already stopped running! Arrgh! I told the kids we had to walk. We had 40 minutes until the fireworks which was plenty of time, but they walk sooo slow and complain a lot, I was terrified I would lose them in the crowd by myself, and I had to carry Étienne. The kids will tell you that this was the worst part of Disney because I kept telling them, “Come on! Walk!” It was easier once we got out of the park, then Steve caught up with us when we were almost through DD, and we made it back to the room with 10 minutes to spare. Whew! Downtown Disney view at night from our room: They even have a channel on the hotel TV with the fireworks narration and music, so it was really, really nice watching it from the room. And Étienne and Carl both fell asleep in the middle of it so it was nice to have them close to their beds. The rest of us went to bed right after the fireworks because we were getting up early the next morning for Mickey’s Toontown Morning Madness! | | |
| So You Think You Can DanceSo, even before we went on vacation, Roni and my favorites are Katee and Joshua. We haven't seen their second dance for the evening yet, but after the first on, who can disagree with us?!? My previous second favorite were Kherrington and Twitch, but after tonight it may just be Thane and Comfort. AND, obviously I will need to buy West Side Story for Veronica to watch after seeing Thane and Comfort's first routine and Matt and Khortni's "Mambo!" When I was at USC I joined the Universitty Choir and the director had worked with Bernstein. He revered him so much, every example he gave was from one of his works and particularly WSS. LB was actually supposed to attend one of our concerts my senior year but then he was very sick and couldn't come. Finally we turned it on a couple of minutes late tonight and missed Cat on the catwalk. I was saying, "well, all we missed was the opening shot of what she's wearing tonight OH MY GOD!": Steve: "Remember, we're trying not to say that so much so Carl won't say it." Me:: "Have you SEEN what Cat's wearing?!?" So. Really. WSS. Must buy it. Must have Roni watch it. "When you're a Jet, you're a Jet..." "Dum dum dum dum, dumdumdum dum Dum Dum Dumdum Mambo!" Also: Katee and Joshua. Second: Kherrington and Twitch & Thane and Comfort. | | |
| Vacation Log 3: Huntington BeachOur week at Bass Lake went by way too quickly, and Sunday morning we drove south. We went through Paso Robles so that we could visit our favorite two wineries in that area, Meridian and Peachy Canyon. Meridian may be familiar to you as (IMO) one of the better "supermarket" wines - I actually don't see them out here in Kansas but they are ubiquitous in California. Their wines all have a white label with some abstract artwork on them, but at the winery they sell black label winery-only wine that is really good, and they also have a beautiful property and gardens. Peachy Canyon I have a soft spot for because the summer that Steve and I bought our first house together (and we had been married less than 3 years) we attended the Great Western Bike Rally which is held every Memorial Day Weekend at the fairgrounds in Paso Robles. We rode the tandem with some other rally-goers from the fairgrounds to the Peachy Canyon estate, which is on the top of a hill. At the time the tasting room was there as well, although it is at a different location now. It took us two hours to ride up the hill, and then we tasted and bought about 6 bottles of wine. It only took us 15 minutes to ride down the hill, with our saddlebags loaded! I do really like the Paso Robles zinfandels, although these days most of them are too high-alcohol for me. Peachy Canyon does do the high-alcohol styles, but they have around 8 different single-vineyard zins (only one of which I have ever seen in Kansas) and there is usually one I really like. Then we continued south to Huntington Beach, where we would spend Sunday and Monday nights with our friends Bill and Irene. Irene works at the same company that I do and that Steve used to, and when I hired in we were on the same project. That house we bought was on the next street over from them and for several years Irene and I rode our bikes to work together. She especially liked riding past the fire station when the firemen were outside washing their trucks, and riding home on PCH when a cute guy would pass us, say hello, and then we would get the rear view. They have also upgraded to wi-fi in their house and I discovered that in the last three months Google Maps has added Street View to the street we used to live on and you can see our old house. They new owners have left on the fancy door Steve installed right before we moved away, aww! But they took out the avocado tree! 
Carl is a native of Huntington Beach because we had a homebirth. There are no hospitals in HB that have OB facilities, so the only way to have it listed on your birth certificate is a planned homebirth or some kind of emergency unplanned birth! We arrived Sunday evening and discovered that one of our favorite sushi places had closed since our last visit three years previously, so we had dinner in our favorite noodle house instead. Monday morning we hit the beach, near the pier. 
Veronica and Carl have both been there before but this is the first time they were old enough to enjoy swimming in the big waves. 
Étienne preferred digging in the sand. 
Here he is running upto me, with Carl in the background and a little admirerer in the foreground. Seriously, she was totally checking him out. 
Here is a video of the HB pier, and the kids and Steve froliking in the surf! Okay, that word is totally misspelled but it's late and I'm going to bed!
We relaxed the rest of the day at Bill and Irene's house. I visited the new Fresh and Easy store in Huntington Beach. Starting tomorrow, two days at Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel! | | |
| Vacation Log 2 (Very Long): Bass LakeCousin Jane knows the owner of the Bass Lake "cabin" and they let her rent the cabin for a week every summer. We have been there with her once before, in June of 2001 when Veronica was 9 months old. This was our first time back since then. The house has a large deck overlooking the lake, its own boat dock with diving board, and lots of water toys, a kayak, and a canoe. This is the house with the boat dock in front, as seen from the lake. It is directly opposite the little police station island at the middle of the lake. 
Picture of the house taken from the boat dock: 
Looking down from the cabin's deck: 
Looking out across the lake to Goat Mountain: 
We spent every day swimming and playing in the water, deciding what to cook for dinner, cooking dinner, and eating dinner. Here are Carl and I making an apple pie one night: 
We all read several books. Veronica and I had needlework projects. Jane told us all about her business trips to South America. Veronica and Carl loved the swimming and the water toys. Steve, Carl, and Veronica: 
Carl and Veronica on a floating mat: 
Carl resting after a swim: 
Étienne didn't like swimming so much: 
What he did like was playing on the beach, filling his bucket with water, and dumping it out. 
Here's a video of him doing that... if only you could harness that toddler energy for good and not evil!
On Tuesday, Steve and I did a run up to the Napa/Sonoma valleys to pick up some wine. It's about a four hour drive so while it was a long day we were able to do it in one day. We took Étienne with us and left the older two kids with Jane. We had ordered a large-format bottle from BV for Carl's brith year and needed to pick it up, so that was our first stop. When we got there, they were having a case sale on their "Beauzeaux" and "Fideaux" blends. We used to get their Beauzeaux through their wine club. It was hard to find outside the winery, and ran about $25 a bottle. Then last year, Steve found it at our local liquor store in Kansas with a new label, and costing only $10. He tried it and it was horrible. What happened? We asked the tasting room staff, and he gave us an earful. Apparently Marketing decided they liked the name and took it over, putting it on a jug wine with a bright-colored label. (The original Beauzeaux had their white, red and gold Signet label on it.) So the winemaker made the same blend in 2005 and called it "Fideaux" (The Mutt). Well, the newer, cheaper, crappier Beauzeaux was a flop. The tasting room staff got angry calls complaining about it! (The guy telling us this was indignant. "Marketing doesn't get these calls! It's our phone number that is on the label!") So Marketing gave up on the new Beauzeaux. I wasn't quite clear if they would go back to making a 2006 Beauzeaux, or keep calling it Fideaux. Both are good. Just look fo the white label. Not too much exciting happened in Sonoma, but Roshambo sold their old property and have a temporary tasting room at a gallery/wine tasting market. They have a Ms PacMan/Galaga machine in the tasting room that you can play for free, too! So we spent the whole week at the lake. We took the canoe out almost every day. Steve, Étienne, and Veronica in the canoe (you can just see Carl's shoulder in the corner and I'm sitting in the front): 
Jane and Steve in the canoe: 
Steve and Carl in the canoe: 
Étienne waiting on the boat dock: 
Carl became quite good at belly-flopping off the diving board. He would throw his whole self into it, like Eddie the Eagle. (That's Étienne you hear laughing right after Carl jumps in.)
The other activity for the week was spying on the giant house they just built last summer across the cove. Apparently it is owned by a billionaire label maker and it's 10,000 sq ft. We watched the staff get it ready for the first five days, and on Thursday, Dad, his son, and their guests showed up. Giant House: 
They had a super-long boat dock with an island halfway down with a kitchette, table and chairs, lights, misters in the ceiling, and sound system. You can see it behind Steve in the canoe: 
And then it continues down to where they have a party boat, ski boat, teak boat, and three jetskis docked: 
(That's Roni and Carl floating in the foreground.) Saturday night we packed up, and Sunday morning we left the lake house to drive south to Southern California, Huntington Beach (Carl's birthplace), and Disneyland! | | |
|
Lifetime
