Monday, May 24, 2010

Disneyland and Catalina Island!

WARNING: long post
My last day of work before vacation was a train wreck, So I needed this

We started out in Long Beach, the good ole LBC. Usually when we drive into California we like to bump Tupac, but we didn't have an Ipod hook up in the rental car so instead we drove by freeway signs and through cities acknowledging the cities and places Tupac had sang about....it makes us feel like were Californians, on that note, I found my new favorite flower/tree thing while waiting for the ferry to Catalina.

Here's long beach from the ferry (its actually a catamaran type boat, not a ferry)



The ride over was fun, salty fresh air, what more could you ask for!


Heres our hotel from the dock, right on the beach front




So this is our hotel room, I took this picture from the very deepest corner in the room! We only stayed one night, and were out being adventurous most the time anyway.






Beautiful plants and trees, it was very tropical, kind of like Mexico! We found all sorts of things on our Sunday morning run through the town. We also found a local community church which we attended later that morning, very fun!



The famous Casino behind us. Catalina Island is a lot like Friday Harbor, but smaller and tropical. The first day we sat on the board walk and picked out people that play the same role as the people we could identify on FH. That was fun. It was so nice to be on the water! If only we had the time and money to fish! I saw the California state fish in the water, hes super cool and neon orange.
Now its off to Dland!!


This our friend Katie Vaughn. She lives in LA and came down to see us for dinner. It was so great to see her. We saw her mom in Reno for a work conference a few days earlier for a fabulous dinner! How Ironic, two Vaughn spottings in one week!


We stayed at the Hyatt thanx to Adam's childhood friend Chuck, who really hooked us up. We had a King suite, with two 55inch flat screen TV's and he had chocolate dipped strawberries and champagne delivered to our room. This picture is only 1/2 the room, the living room and giant bathroom are missing :) We payed less than 1/2 the price for this one than the Catalina one. hahaha. So when we weren't at Dland we enjoyed the two pools, good restaraunts, work out room and just loungin watching the flat screens!


After dinner with Katie we got into the park just in time for the fire works!!! I love fireworks! Then we literally ran from ride to ride- Space Mtn to Indy to Splash Mtn to Pirates of the Caribbean back to Space Mtn, and on and on. The next morning same thing but throw in all the California Adventure rides like Toy Story Mania, Soarin California, California Screamin and Maliboomer.







I really enjoyed the parade: Celebrate You!!!! But Adam thought it was kinda gay.




The weather was mostly so-so. This gave us premium rideability!




I had to do it. I waited in line for this, which made us miss one of our wine tastings in CA Adventure, but it's Minnie! CA had a Food and Wine festival gong on, so once we got past the first day and half of running around like mad people trying to hit all the best we sat down and enjoyed more than just rides. We learned about cheese and wine, chatted with crush, watched a bugs life three D show (twice per Adam's request), found the Tower of Terror- excellent ride, Enjoyed the Tiki Room and browsed downtown Disney.



This is California Screamin taken from the top of Maliboomer


I love Sully!


Our last time on Toy Story Mania, I finally beat Adam!
We had a blast in Dland and are now recovering!

PS: we stayed in budget, which makes a good trip better!
PSS: Best rides to repeat over and over are- California Screamin, Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, California Soarin, Indian Jones, Space Mountain, and Thunder Mountain. Try it once but never repeat- It's a Small World-unless you do hallucinagents.

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