Do Not Die Today: Southern California, 2022 (COMPLETE 2/23)

[Captain_Oblivious]

Chapter 14: You Don’t Need A Boat To See The Ocean

San Diego is expensive, so it was time for us to move on. But first, we wanted to make sure we saw the Pacific Ocean one more time, and not from a boat this time. The Channel Islands trip had scarred us from sailing for…well, it’s been over a year and I still don’t want to do it again.

We took a drive out to the coast around the northern edge of the city to Cabrillo National Monument.

This is a historical park, named in honor of Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to set foot on the west coast of the United States. He came ashore in 1542 near the are that would eventually become San Diego. The monument is situated at the south end of the Point Loma peninsula.

It’s not a large park, and can easily be explored in an hour or two depending on your appetite for historic films in the visitor center and hiking. Julie has a prodigious appetite for National Park Visitor Center films, so we were forced happy to indulge her by watching a short movie about the Cabrillo expedition. Basically, he came, he landed, he met Native Americans, he moved on. If you’re expecting me to remember any more than that over a year later, well, you get what you pay for.

Outside, the weather was nice but the sea breezes were very strong. Hold onto your hats here. We stood on a bluff near the visitor center and had a nice view of the smog city and the Pacific.

We weren’t in a rush, so we took a trail that descended the bluff down near the edge of the bay. It was about a mile or so, not a long hike. But what goes down must come back up, so beware this one if you don’t like climbing hills. We were content to enjoy the weather and the views.

We had no startling revelations or surprises along this hike, so I’m going to bail on further descriptions and move along to the next part of the day.

The Point Loma lighthouse stands guard over the peninsula.

On the road out of the park, we took a side turn and parked in a lot that placed us down near the Pacific Ocean. There were some cool little coves and small cliff edges that had been eroded away by the waters here that were fun to explore.

We drove north several miles, following the coast, and pulled into a parking lot at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. This is a park consisting of a few miles of coastline north of San Diego featuring steep, spectacular cliffs and a species of pine tree (shockingly, the Torrey Pine) that is the rarest in the nation—it only grows here and on Santa Rosa Island off the coast.

It’s also the location of a famous golf course on top of the cliffs that hosts a PGA tournament every year, but I promise that is NOT why we stopped. I did, however, try and catch a glimpse of the course as I drove past.

The parking lot is down at the bottom of the cliffs near the water, and we were able to take a short walk along the beach here while we enjoyed our gourmet picnic lunch of PB&J sandwiches.

Note, there is also a parking area on top of the cliffs at the southern end of the park. You can hike down to the beach from there (called Black’s Beach at that point), but I had read that this was a famous nude beach and Julie wouldn’t let me explore we decided not to test that bit of information.

The beach was very nice, though.

We took a short drive up the cliffs to a small visitor center for the state park. There wasn’t much to see up there, but we got a view of the coastline from the top of the bluffs.

From there, we left the ocean and drove a couple hours into the desert, because what better place to visit in the summer than the desert?

Unfortunately, there’s no real easy way to drive to Palm Springs from Torrey Pines, so we had to take some windy two-lane roads over the mountains. The combination of a winding road, lots of turns and elevation changes, bright sun beating down on us in the desert, and the back seat of a minivan finally proved able to do what the Channel Islands boat couldn’t:

Andrew got out of the van and barfed on the side of the road.

“I do NOT like Route 74,” he said.

But look at the view of the Coachella Valley!

Yeah, Drew didn’t really give a crap. And it was hot. One hundred degrees F in the shade. And there was no shade.

We headed straight for the hotel and its mediocre air-conditioning.

We were able to walk from the hotel to a strip mall next door for dinner, where we tried out Tony’s Burgers in Cathedral City.

You’ll never believe this, but they specialized in many different types of burger combinations. It was fairly impressive—they listed 34 different combinations on the menu. I went with the Texas BBQ burger, and combined with fries and a beer it hit the spot quite beautifully.

We ended the evening by waiting for the nuclear-hot sun to go down and then swam by starlight in the pool. It might have been cooler than our actual room, where the A/C was losing the battle. Good thing we were only staying one night.

Coming Up Next: Unfinished Business.

 

[Flossbolna]

Sorry about the homefront issues! I hope things will improve there!

I thought all those ocean pictures were quite lovely. All in all it sounded like a nice day. And I am not sure why anyone would not be thrilled to watch NP visitor center films! Michael and I watched a documentary of about one hour at the Alcatraz visitor center about the Indian occupation. It was fascinating!!

 

[happy wanderer]

Well, life has gotten in the way and I have been mostly absent from the DISboards for the past couple of months. There's been a lot of stuff going on here on the homefront, and so updating the TR and participating in everyone else's has been put on the back burner. I do miss interacting with my DIS friends very much. Don't you hate it when life forces changes on you?

Anyway, I have a few moments of free time so let's try and get another update in. I'm mostly finishing out of obligation at this point, but I hate leaving a job undone.

I’m so sorry to hear about any challenges at home, and hope everyone is well. It is good to see you here…I have been reading your reports since your older three were little!

Take care.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Sorry about the homefront issues! I hope things will improve there!

I think they will! We just need to get through it. But I am optimistic.

I thought all those ocean pictures were quite lovely. All in all it sounded like a nice day. And I am not sure why anyone would not be thrilled to watch NP visitor center films! Michael and I watched a documentary of about one hour at the Alcatraz visitor center about the Indian occupation. It was fascinating!!

Julie LOVES those visitor center films. She makes us watch every one. I find some to be informative and others to be...a good place for a nap.

I’m so sorry to hear about any challenges at home, and hope everyone is well. It is good to see you here…I have been reading your reports since your older three were little!

Take care.

Thank you, and thanks for sticking with me! We are dealing with some health issues at the moment, but we're very optimistic that it's temporary and we'll be back to normal relatively soon.

I don't know how much I'll be around in the future. The TR's are fun but my kids are moving out of the house now and our opportunities to travel together are going to diminish. I also have another writing project I want to spend time on. So we'll see how it goes. Never say never, right?

 

[pkondz]

Well, life has gotten in the way and I have been mostly absent from the DISboards for the past couple of months. There's been a lot of stuff going on here on the homefront, and so updating the TR and participating in everyone else's has been put on the back burner

Totally understand. Just glad you're updating at all. I think I'm following at least three TRs where the writers are having busy lives and updating as they can.

Don't you hate it when life forces changes on you?

Anyway, I have a few moments of free time so let's try and get another update in. I'm mostly finishing out of obligation at this point, but I hate leaving a job undone.

I'll take any reason, obligation or not.

The Channel Islands trip had scarred us from sailing for…well, it’s been over a year and I still don’t want to do it again.

We took a drive out to the coast around the northern edge of the city to Cabrillo National Monument.

Stopping at a National Monument? You never do this!

This is a historical park, named in honor of Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to set foot on the west coast of the United States. He came ashore in 1542

Huh. I'm actually very surprised it was that early. What I can't find (after a not overly thorough Google search) is how he got from the East coast of Mexico to the West.

Julie has a prodigious appetite for National Park Visitor Center films, so we were forced happy to indulge her by watching a short movie about the Cabrillo expedition

I'm sure it was the highlight of the trip.

Basically, he came, he landed, he met Native Americans, he moved on.

We stood on a bluff near the visitor center and had a nice view of the smog city and the Pacific.

I thought "Smog? Nah. Probably exaggerating"....

...and then I saw this photo.

Those rocks/cliffs are interesting. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that.

Hey, I've met those people.
They were smart enough to avoid me after that.

a species of pine tree (shockingly, the Torrey Pine) that is the rarest in the nation—it only grows here and on Santa Rosa Island off the coast.

Huh. Wouldn't have thought 1. there'd be pines and 2. They'd be the rarest in the whole nation!

we enjoyed our gourmet picnic lunch of PB&J sandwiches.

There they are!

She didn't take off her shoes and dip her toes????

I had read that this was a famous nude beach and Julie wouldn’t let me explore we decided not to test that bit of information.

Highly unfortunate.

we got a view of the coastline from the top of the bluffs.

Nice view.

what better place to visit in the summer than the desert?

Oh sure. I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen?

The combination of a winding road, lots of turns and elevation changes, bright sun beating down on us in the desert, and the back seat of a minivan finally proved able to do what the Channel Islands boat couldn’t:

Andrew got out of the van and barfed on the side of the road.

Oh dear.

Actually surprised that doesn't happen more often, given the amount of driving you do.

“I do NOT like Route 74,” he said.

Awww... poor kid.

But look at the view of the Coachella Valley!

Actually... I kinda like that view.

We were able to walk from the hotel to a strip mall next door for dinner,

Did you melt on the way?

You’ll never believe this, but they specialized in many different types of burger combinations.

Huh. Just assumed it was a pizza joint.

Whoa. That looks pretty god. Actually, the one in the background looks even better.

 

[piglet1979]

Well, life has gotten in the way and I have been mostly absent from the DISboards for the past couple of months. There's been a lot of stuff going on here on the homefront, and so updating the TR and participating in everyone else's has been put on the back burner. I do miss interacting with my DIS friends very much. Don't you hate it when life forces changes on you?

Anyway, I have a few moments of free time so let's try and get another update in. I'm mostly finishing out of obligation at this point, but I hate leaving a job undone.

I am so sorry it has been so busy for you. It has been here too. I hope everything slows down soon for you.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Totally understand. Just glad you're updating at all. I think I'm following at least three TRs where the writers are having busy lives and updating as they can.

I was trying to follow some of the same TR's and I've fallen way behind on all of them!

I'll take any reason, obligation or not.

Well, thanks. Every time I think I can squeeze some time in on finishing this, something else pops up.

Wow, how did you get footage of our voyage?

Stopping at a National Monument? You never do this!

I know, right?? So out of character.

Huh. I'm actually very surprised it was that early. What I can't find (after a not overly thorough Google search) is how he got from the East coast of Mexico to the West.

It's been over a year since I saw the film now, so I can't say I remember all the details. I think they just started with him setting out from the west coast of Mexico.

I'm sure it was the highlight of the trip.

Clearly, since I remember so much.

Looks about right.

I thought "Smog? Nah. Probably exaggerating"....

...and then I saw this photo.

Kind of sad, isn't it?

Those rocks/cliffs are interesting. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that.

The Pacific coast is definitely much rockier than the Atlantic. At least it is in our country.

Hey, I've met those people.
They were smart enough to avoid me after that.

They try and do the same with me! We have that in common.

Huh. Wouldn't have thought 1. there'd be pines and 2. They'd be the rarest in the whole nation!

There they are!

And there was much rejoicing.

She didn't take off her shoes and dip her toes????

Her sandals are waterproof. She just walked right in.

Highly unfortunate.

Maybe next time.

Oh sure. I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen?

We could melt like the Wicked Witch of the West.

Oh dear.

Actually surprised that doesn't happen more often, given the amount of driving you do.

I feel bad, but there's not much we can do once we start the journey.

Awww... poor kid.

Yeah...it happens.

Actually... I kinda like that view.

I thought it was photo-worthy.

Did you melt on the way?

It was close! Blazing hot out that day.

Huh. Just assumed it was a pizza joint.

Ha! Fooled another one.

Whoa. That looks pretty god. Actually, the one in the background looks even better.

Very tasty. I couldn't remember what kind the others had ordered.

I am so sorry it has been so busy for you. It has been here too. I hope everything slows down soon for you.

Thank you! We'll get there someday.

 

[pkondz]

Well, thanks. Every time I think I can squeeze some time in on finishing this, something else pops up.

Oh I totally get that.

Wow, how did you get footage of our voyage?

Internet camera feed on the shore.

It's been over a year since I saw the film now, so I can't say I remember all the details. I think they just started with him setting out from the west coast of Mexico.

Yes… but how did he get from the East coast to the West coast??

Kind of sad, isn't it?

Yes

They try and do the same with me! We have that in common.

And there was much rejoicing.

Her sandals are waterproof. She just walked right in.

Ohhhh

We could melt like the Wicked Witch of the West.

 

[franandaj]

I think they will! We just need to get through it. But I am optimistic.

I am crossing my fingers for you and your family as well! I am an optimist too!

The Channel Islands trip had scarred us from sailing for…well, it’s been over a year and I still don’t want to do it again.

Wow! That's a long time to still be living it!

If you’re expecting me to remember any more than that over a year later, well, you get what you pay for.

See that's why I'm lost without my Google docs (which I update at every free moment during the TR, I understand that is particularly difficult for you being the driver.)

had a nice view of the smog

That is a pretty smoggy day.

what better place to visit in the summer than the desert?

Oh, I get it....I was in Palm Springs back in August and it was hotter than the surface of the sun!

Andrew got out of the van and barfed on the side of the road.

“I do NOT like Route 74,” he said.

I've been on Route 74, it's not for the faint of heart!

I went with the Texas BBQ burger, and combined with fries and a beer it hit the spot quite beautifully.

Oh, that bacon looks so heavenly. What I would give for a slice of bacon right now!

We ended the evening by waiting for the nuclear-hot sun to go down and then swam by starlight in the pool. It might have been cooler than our actual room, where the A/C was losing the battle.

Yup totally get it. Important to have a hotel with good AC when staying in the Coachella Valley!

 

[alohamom]

We decided on a local place with the exotic name of “The Taco Stand”, which has a few locations around the city. We went to the one on Upas Street northeast of downtown

Thank you for awarding The Taco Stand with the prestigious "Drooling Scotty".

My daughter and I were in search of a quick authentic Mexican meal while we were in San Diego and I remembered this pic of your son. This was hands down the best meal of our trip. So much so that we ended up hitting up the La Jolla location a couple of days later.

I want to go back to SoCal just for this food.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Praying. Sorry Mark. Pass on to Julie for m thinking of her.

Thank you for awarding The Taco Stand with the prestigious "Drooling Scotty".

My daughter and I were in search of a quick authentic Mexican meal while we were in San Diego and I remembered this pic of your son. This was hands down the best meal of our trip. So much so that we ended up hitting up the La Jolla location a couple of days later.

I want to go back to SoCal just for this food.

Oh, that’s great! I’m glad you enjoyed it so much!

That’s part of the reason I write these things and share the links. If we find something we like, we want to spread the word and hope it enhances your travels.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Chapter 15: Gluttons for Punishment

Let’s put this Trip Report out of its misery, shall we? It’s been well over a year, year and a half since I started it and I haven’t updated it since October. Kind of a lot’s happened since then.

So: first off, the excuses. For years, I have primarily accessed the DISBoards during weekdays. Break times, lunch, slow days at the office. I don’t get online much during nights or weekends because I’m usually trying to spend that time with my family or taking care of house projects. And for years, that worked out just fine. I could update trip reports, shoot the breeze with the DIS Dads, and keep up with the various trip reports of the friends I’ve made here.

I got promoted to a new position at work a little over 6 years ago, and for a while I made it work. That position came with more responsibility and more people to manage. So, that meant I had less time to putz around here. But over the past year or two, it’s really become a drain. We’ve lost several staff members to turnover and retirement, and haven’t been able to replace them—we suffer from the same shortage of workers as everyone else. What does that mean for me? Far, far less downtime. I’m now at the point where days might go by before I can check back in here. It’s a bummer for me, because there are now quite a few friends I’ve made here who I’ve also met in real life and whose company/conversation I enjoy very much. And I haven’t been able to spend much time with them, and that makes me sad. It’s just the way things have gone lately.

The other big event, which I alluded to in my previous post, is that in August of last year, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’ll start with the good news: modern medicine is absolutely amazing. Thankfully it was caught early. She was diagnosed in August and cured by Christmas. No chemo necessary. So we are certainly aware of how blessed we were, grateful for the wonderful care we received, and thankful for not having to suffer through long bouts of treatment.

But you can see where going through that would kind of make me less likely to be hanging around on a Disney message board.

Anyway, I’m writing this chapter now in order to finish off the report, because I hate starting something and not seeing it through to completion. I might procrastinate, I might take way longer to finish than anyone has a right to…but I WILL finish.

When we last left off, we were cooling off with a nighttime swim near Palm Springs, California. The plan for the day was to head out first thing in the morning to Joshua Tree National Park, which has the distinction of being one of our least favorite national parks we’ve visited. On the plus side, we’d be visiting in late June and the temperatures were expected to get up above 100 degrees that day.

Why do this to ourselves?

Well, in our more honest moments, we’d felt like Joshua Tree hadn’t really gotten a fair shake on our first visit. Way back in 2014, we’d brought the kids on an excursion to explore the American Southwest. On one of the last legs of the journey, we’d visited Phoenix, Arizona. And while we were there, we surprised them by telling them our last stop on the trip would be at Disneyland in California. Parents of the Year, right? (The correct answer is: yes.)

Well, as we drove from Phoenix to Anaheim, we decided to break up the drive by visiting Joshua Tree along the way. You need those stops in order to keep the road trips from becoming too monotonous. We entered the park via the southeast entrance near Cottonwood Springs.

We learned that day that this was a big mistake for several reasons. For one thing, the entire park road was under construction for at least 20 miles from that entrance. We had to crawl along a one-lane bumpy dirt road at approximately 17 miles per hour from the moment we entered the park. Secondly, we also learned later that this portion of the park is the “flat desert” portion. There were no Joshua trees to be found, no interesting scenery, just…desert.

Not to mention the fact that we’d told our young kids we were on the way to Disneyland. There wasn’t a single person in the van at that point who wouldn’t rather have been in a Disney park at that moment.

So, halfway through the park, we bailed, got back on the highway, and drove to a much happier place. All’s well that ended well. We also saw more Joshua Trees along the interstate than we’d seen inside the park.

Over the following years, we’d heard from various friends and acquaintances who loved Joshua Tree. One of their favorite places, they said. To which we’d give each other weird looks behind their backs. We talking about the same place?

Eventually as we planned this trip, we decided to give it another chance.

Plus, we needed something to fill the day, since we had an evening flight from LAX back home.

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel and a nasty surprise—a message from American Airlines saying our flight home had been canceled. We’d been re-booked on a flight the next day. If I had any questions, I had to contact customer service through the American Airlines app.

Well, yes, I had questions. Like, where am I supposed to spend the night? Who do I call to extend my rental car? I tried asking about reimbursement for a hotel and a couple of hours later got a non-answer response that sounded suspiciously A.I.-ish. Maybe it would be better if I called and spoke to a human being.

Sadly, that was impossible. I searched high and low and could not find a single phone number for customer service with the airline. They were forcing me to go through the chatbot.

Sigh. I don’t know how it is in other countries, but I remain convinced that in the U.S., there is an ongoing competition between health insurance companies and airlines to see who can hate their customers more.

Anyway, I made a hotel reservation back near Anaheim for the night, extended the rental, and we left and headed to Joshua Tree National Park. This time, we entered through the northwest entrance, in the creatively-named town of Joshua Tree.

When I say we were greeted warmly at the visitor center, I mean that in the literal sense. See here:

In case you’ve been wondering for over 1.5 years where the trip report title came from, you can finally put that mystery to bed.

Anyway, we made sure we were well hydrated and the van’s air conditioner was working, and set off to explore the western side of the national park. It took a little less than an hour to reach the end at Keys View. Along the way, we got to see plenty of Joshua trees this time around, as well as some cool rock formations.

Joshua trees are technically yucca plants. They’re native to the American Southwest, mostly to the Mojave Desert. As legend goes, they were given their name by Mormon settlers who thought the shapes generally resembled the prophet Joshua standing with his arms outstretched toward the heavens.

Which, sure.

The end of the road, Keys View, leads travelers to an overlook where you can look out to the west/southwest and see the Coachella Valley. Supposedly it’s spectacular at sunset. I have no idea, because we were there around 10:30 a.m. But it was nice.

Making our way back down, we took a couple of short trails to see more trees and rock formations.

Anyone ever watch Galaxy Quest? Remember the rock monsters? Just me? Ok, then.

With that, it was approaching lunchtime and we’d successfully seen the more scenic part of the national park. Is it now one of our favorites? No. Is it one we’d go out of our way to get back to? Probably not. But I think it did move up a couple slots in our family rankings.

For lunch, we stopped in Moreno Valley at a place Alison had recommended called Polly’s Pies, which is a local chain with a few locations around SoCal. Clearly Alison knew what she was doing (and that I have the palate of a 4th-grader) because this place served both breakfast all day AND pies for dessert. So basically it’s heaven.

Never mind the boarded-up door.

It’s especially wonderful if you order french toast made from cinnamon rolls (with a side of diabetes).

Could we pass up pie for dessert? No, dear reader, we could not. I have no willpower when it comes to pie. I went with key lime, and Julie with chcolate cream.

Remember, one of my food rules is Presentation Is Overrated. The important thing here is they tasted very good. In fact, I’m feeling generous today, so why don’t we just go ahead and award Polly’s Pies a Drooling Homer Award.

Now we had a dilemma. We had an extra night in the LA area, courtesy of American Airlines’ Commitment To Crappy Customer Service. We checked into our hotel and then we needed something to do for the evening. Whatever is there to do in Anaheim?

Well, I guess we could wander around Disney property.

We decided, based solely on the thought that we hadn’t seen it yet, to go check out the Disneyland Hotel.

The building itself isn’t much to look at—just a regular concrete and glass box—but it’s full of all sorts of nostalgic references to the earliest days of Disneyland. I was charmed. Found this on one wall:

And this was the wallpaper in the bathroom.

This display featured all sorts of old souvenirs from back in the day:

And apparently they had a mini-golf course at one time. I would have enjoyed seeing that.

For dinner, we walked back to Downtown Disney and ended up getting some pizzas at Napolini Pizzeria. And they were pretty good! We were all satisfied.

There may or may not have been ice cream involved for dessert, but I don’t have any photos, so according to the Pictures Or It Didn’t Happen rule, it didn’t happen. But we did take our time, wandered through the shops, enjoyed the background music, and just generally let ourselves relax with an extra night on Disney property. Sometimes it’s fun to just soak in the atmosphere. Especially if you have to fly back to all of your responsibilities the next day.

And thus, the Official Oblivious Family Vacation of 2022 came to pass. Thank you all so much for bearing with me as I took way too long to complete this trip report.



I also want to thank those of you who have read these for years, and become my friends in that time. I’m grateful for all of you and my relationship with you. I’ve really loved meeting so many people from the community here, and I do consider you good friends. I’m honored that you have given some of your precious time to get to know me and my family or read my pointless drivel.

I’m not sure what the future holds for my participation here. Like I said, I just don’t have nearly the time I used to. Maybe as the kids continue to go away to college that will change, but we’ll have to see how it goes.

We took a vacation in summer 2023, traveling with good friends from our church to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, as well as Colorado and Utah. We had a blast with them and it was great to re-visit some of our favorite places. Drew had been a toddler the last time we were there, and these were places we wanted him to have some memories of, so it was important to us to go back. And our friends were there for the first time, so it was fun to be the tour guides for them. I won’t be writing about it, though, as it’s already not as fresh in my mind and I’m not going to post stuff about my friends’ family without their permission.

As always, we have a lot to be thankful for as a family and a lot to look forward to. This summer, my daughter will be graduating from college (you are not alone if you thought that went by way too quickly) and this might be our last chance to do a big trip all as one family before my kids are all adults and doing their own thing. So, we’re blowing out the budget and going overseas for the first time. We’ll be testing the waters of international travel by heading to the United Kingdom. I. Can’t. Wait.

I also have no idea what I’m doing. So that’ll be fun.

Will I end up writing about it? No idea. It’ll depend on if I get inspired, and if I have the free time to do it. I also have another writing project I started working on, completely independent from these boards. It’s long-term and scary and probably will amount to nothing and will be read by 3 people but also exciting and I want to see if I can pull it off. So, as with everything in life, we’ll have to see what happens.

If this is the end, then I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with me. My goal in writing these was to entertain you, make you laugh, and hopefully inspire you to travel with your family. I tried to give as many tips as I could on how to pull it off, even with a single income for many years. It’s been a true adventure, and I love to tell people that traveling with my family has been by far the best money I’ve ever spent. I hope you all get to experience that same kind of joy. Until then, be kind to each other, give generously, and serve others.

And you have my permission not to eat your vegetables.

 

[pkondz]

It’s been well over a year, year and a half since I started it and I haven’t updated it since October. Kind of a lot’s happened since then.

No excuse!!

We’ve lost several staff members to turnover and retirement,

Oh, man... yes. Yes, I can relate to this.

Still no excuse, though.

there are now quite a few friends I’ve made here who I’ve also met in real life and whose company/conversation I enjoy very much.

And me. You've met me, too.

Don't just talk about the people you've enjoyed meeting. Gotta come clean on the bad as well as the good. For verisimilitude's sake.

The other big event, which I alluded to in my previous post, is that in August of last year, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’ll start with the good news: modern medicine is absolutely amazing. Thankfully it was caught early. She was diagnosed in August and cured by Christmas. No chemo necessary. So we are certainly aware of how blessed we were, grateful for the wonderful care we received, and thankful for not having to suffer through long bouts of treatment.

And I think we all were very, very happy and breathed a huge sigh of relief when Julie came through all this with flying colours.


Still... no excuse.

But you can see where going through that would kind of make me less likely to be hanging around on a Disney message board.

Okay, seriously. Yes, I think we can certainly understand how it'd be difficult to find time to get on here.
I feel the same from time to time... though not nearly as much as you.

On the plus side, we’d be visiting in late June and the temperatures were expected to get up above 100 degrees that day.

Great! You can supplement the PB&J with fried eggs on the dashboard.

And while we were there, we surprised them by telling them our last stop on the trip would be at Disneyland in California. Parents of the Year, right? (The correct answer is: yes.)

We learned that day that this was a big mistake for several reasons. For one thing, the entire park road was under construction for at least 20 miles from that entrance. We had to crawl along a one-lane bumpy dirt road at approximately 17 miles per hour from the moment we entered the park.

We also saw more Joshua Trees along the interstate than we’d seen inside the park.

Maybe they need to redraw the park boundaries.

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel and a nasty surprise—a message from American Airlines saying our flight home had been canceled. We’d been re-booked on a flight the next day. If I had any questions, I had to contact customer service through the American Airlines app.

I really don't get how an airline can just... do that, without compensating people.

I tried asking about reimbursement for a hotel and a couple of hours later got a non-answer response that sounded suspiciously A.I.-ish. Maybe it would be better if I called and spoke to a human being.

Then again...
Just a few days ago, an Air Canada AI chatbot told someone they could book flights immediately and then get a refund for bereavement later. Only to find out they couldn't. Air Canada was ordered to pay the flier, despite the AI bot being completely wrong.

Sadly, that was impossible. I searched high and low and could not find a single phone number for customer service with the airline.

Not even a little bit surprised by that.

Sigh. I don’t know how it is in other countries, but I remain convinced that in the U.S., there is an ongoing competition between health insurance companies and airlines to see who can hate their customers more.

Is there an award for this? I'm thinking there should be. And should look something like this:

This time, we entered through the northwest entrance, in the creatively-named town of Joshua Tree.

I put in for Tree-McTree-Place... but that was before the current craze, so was rejected.

When I say we were greeted warmly at the visitor center, I mean that in the literal sense. See here:

"Whelp. Guess we'll skip the park. T'ain't safe."

In case you’ve been wondering for over 1.5 years where the trip report title came from, you can finally put that mystery to bed.

I've been unable to sleep all this time because of this.

As legend goes, they were given their name by Mormon settlers who thought the shapes generally resembled the prophet Joshua standing with his arms outstretched toward the heavens.

Huh. Interesting, actually.

Like this shot with the tree arcing over. If it's supposed to be Joshua, I guess he's bowing?

Anyone ever watch Galaxy Quest? Remember the rock monsters? Just me? Ok, then.

Nope. Only seen little bits and pieces of it. Must remedy that.

we’d successfully seen the more scenic part of the national park. Is it now one of our favorites? No. Is it one we’d go out of our way to get back to? Probably not. But I think it did move up a couple slots in our family rankings.

Stunning endorsement!

this place served both breakfast all day AND pies for dessert. So basically it’s heaven.

pie?

Did someone say pie??

Never mind the boarded-up door.

People are breaking down the door to get pie?!?!?!?!?


<puts at top of places to go>

It’s especially wonderful if you order french toast made from cinnamon rolls (with a side of diabetes).

I didn't know that was even an option.

Could we pass up pie for dessert? No, dear reader, we could not

With a place that has "pie" in the name... it'd be criminal not to.

I have no willpower when it comes to pie.

Who does?

American Airlines’ Commitment To Crappy Customer Service.

Poor acronym. AACTCCS? What is that?

Then again... poor service/poor acronym... adds up.

Whatever is there to do in Anaheim?

Watch TV in the hotel room of course.

The building itself isn’t much to look at—just a regular concrete and glass box—but it’s full of all sorts of nostalgic references to the earliest days of Disneyland. I was charmed.

I have seen it from the outside... and was not overly impressed... except I knew the time frame it came from.

And apparently they had a mini-golf course at one time. I would have enjoyed seeing that.

Of course.



See what I did there?

But we did take our time, wandered through the shops, enjoyed the background music, and just generally let ourselves relax with an extra night on Disney property.

Sounds like a pretty good evening to me.

Sometimes it’s fun to just soak in the atmosphere. Especially if you have to fly back to all of your responsibilities the next day.

And try not to think of the responsibilities.

I also want to thank those of you who have read these for years, and become my friends in that time. I’m grateful for all of you and my relationship with you.

Drew had been a toddler the last time we were there, and these were places we wanted him to have some memories of, so it was important to us to go back

Good enough reason.

This summer, my daughter will be graduating from college (you are not alone if you thought that went by way too quickly

Um... what?

No.


That's not possible.

We’ll be testing the waters of international travel by heading to the United Kingdom. I. Can’t. Wait.

No way!! That's great!!

I also have no idea what I’m doing. So that’ll be fun.

Would make for an interesting TR, I'm sure.

<hint><hint>

Will I end up writing about it? No idea.

Please?
Pretty please? With sugar on top? (And a side of diabetes)

I also have another writing project I started working on, completely independent from these boards. It’s long-term and scary and probably will amount to nothing and will be read by 3 people but also exciting and I want to see if I can pull it off. So, as with everything in life, we’ll have to see what happens.

I'm interested/curious to see what this is. Care to share? (Although I have a suspicion.)

And you have my permission not to eat your vegetables.

Thanks for another great Oblivious TR! Worth the wait.

 

[Flossbolna]

Ah, sounds like true end of an era. But I totally get you!

At least on the trip reports. But how can you come to Europe and not see us here in Germany!!!

Still: have an amazing trip! I am happy that I know someone very well, who likes to insult you regularly and therefore is great at staying in touch!

 

[happy wanderer]

Chapter 15: Gluttons for Punishment

Let’s put this Trip Report out of its misery, shall we? It’s been well over a year, year and a half since I started it and I haven’t updated it since October. Kind of a lot’s happened since then.

So: first off, the excuses. For years, I have primarily accessed the DISBoards during weekdays. Break times, lunch, slow days at the office. I don’t get online much during nights or weekends because I’m usually trying to spend that time with my family or taking care of house projects. And for years, that worked out just fine. I could update trip reports, shoot the breeze with the DIS Dads, and keep up with the various trip reports of the friends I’ve made here.

I got promoted to a new position at work a little over 6 years ago, and for a while I made it work. That position came with more responsibility and more people to manage. So, that meant I had less time to putz around here. But over the past year or two, it’s really become a drain. We’ve lost several staff members to turnover and retirement, and haven’t been able to replace them—we suffer from the same shortage of workers as everyone else. What does that mean for me? Far, far less downtime. I’m now at the point where days might go by before I can check back in here. It’s a bummer for me, because there are now quite a few friends I’ve made here who I’ve also met in real life and whose company/conversation I enjoy very much. And I haven’t been able to spend much time with them, and that makes me sad. It’s just the way things have gone lately.

The other big event, which I alluded to in my previous post, is that in August of last year, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. I’ll start with the good news: modern medicine is absolutely amazing. Thankfully it was caught early. She was diagnosed in August and cured by Christmas. No chemo necessary. So we are certainly aware of how blessed we were, grateful for the wonderful care we received, and thankful for not having to suffer through long bouts of treatment.

But you can see where going through that would kind of make me less likely to be hanging around on a Disney message board.

Anyway, I’m writing this chapter now in order to finish off the report, because I hate starting something and not seeing it through to completion. I might procrastinate, I might take way longer to finish than anyone has a right to…but I WILL finish.

When we last left off, we were cooling off with a nighttime swim near Palm Springs, California. The plan for the day was to head out first thing in the morning to Joshua Tree National Park, which has the distinction of being one of our least favorite national parks we’ve visited. On the plus side, we’d be visiting in late June and the temperatures were expected to get up above 100 degrees that day.

Why do this to ourselves?

Well, in our more honest moments, we’d felt like Joshua Tree hadn’t really gotten a fair shake on our first visit. Way back in 2014, we’d brought the kids on an excursion to explore the American Southwest. On one of the last legs of the journey, we’d visited Phoenix, Arizona. And while we were there, we surprised them by telling them our last stop on the trip would be at Disneyland in California. Parents of the Year, right? (The correct answer is: yes.)

Well, as we drove from Phoenix to Anaheim, we decided to break up the drive by visiting Joshua Tree along the way. You need those stops in order to keep the road trips from becoming too monotonous. We entered the park via the southeast entrance near Cottonwood Springs.

We learned that day that this was a big mistake for several reasons. For one thing, the entire park road was under construction for at least 20 miles from that entrance. We had to crawl along a one-lane bumpy dirt road at approximately 17 miles per hour from the moment we entered the park. Secondly, we also learned later that this portion of the park is the “flat desert” portion. There were no Joshua trees to be found, no interesting scenery, just…desert.

Not to mention the fact that we’d told our young kids we were on the way to Disneyland. There wasn’t a single person in the van at that point who wouldn’t rather have been in a Disney park at that moment.

So, halfway through the park, we bailed, got back on the highway, and drove to a much happier place. All’s well that ended well. We also saw more Joshua Trees along the interstate than we’d seen inside the park.

Over the following years, we’d heard from various friends and acquaintances who loved Joshua Tree. One of their favorite places, they said. To which we’d give each other weird looks behind their backs. We talking about the same place?

Eventually as we planned this trip, we decided to give it another chance.

Plus, we needed something to fill the day, since we had an evening flight from LAX back home.

We started the day with breakfast at the hotel and a nasty surprise—a message from American Airlines saying our flight home had been canceled. We’d been re-booked on a flight the next day. If I had any questions, I had to contact customer service through the American Airlines app.

Well, yes, I had questions. Like, where am I supposed to spend the night? Who do I call to extend my rental car? I tried asking about reimbursement for a hotel and a couple of hours later got a non-answer response that sounded suspiciously A.I.-ish. Maybe it would be better if I called and spoke to a human being.

Sadly, that was impossible. I searched high and low and could not find a single phone number for customer service with the airline. They were forcing me to go through the chatbot.

Sigh. I don’t know how it is in other countries, but I remain convinced that in the U.S., there is an ongoing competition between health insurance companies and airlines to see who can hate their customers more.

Anyway, I made a hotel reservation back near Anaheim for the night, extended the rental, and we left and headed to Joshua Tree National Park. This time, we entered through the northwest entrance, in the creatively-named town of Joshua Tree.

When I say we were greeted warmly at the visitor center, I mean that in the literal sense. See here:

In case you’ve been wondering for over 1.5 years where the trip report title came from, you can finally put that mystery to bed.

Anyway, we made sure we were well hydrated and the van’s air conditioner was working, and set off to explore the western side of the national park. It took a little less than an hour to reach the end at Keys View. Along the way, we got to see plenty of Joshua trees this time around, as well as some cool rock formations.

Joshua trees are technically yucca plants. They’re native to the American Southwest, mostly to the Mojave Desert. As legend goes, they were given their name by Mormon settlers who thought the shapes generally resembled the prophet Joshua standing with his arms outstretched toward the heavens.

Which, sure.

The end of the road, Keys View, leads travelers to an overlook where you can look out to the west/southwest and see the Coachella Valley. Supposedly it’s spectacular at sunset. I have no idea, because we were there around 10:30 a.m. But it was nice.

Making our way back down, we took a couple of short trails to see more trees and rock formations.

Anyone ever watch Galaxy Quest? Remember the rock monsters? Just me? Ok, then.

With that, it was approaching lunchtime and we’d successfully seen the more scenic part of the national park. Is it now one of our favorites? No. Is it one we’d go out of our way to get back to? Probably not. But I think it did move up a couple slots in our family rankings.

For lunch, we stopped in Moreno Valley at a place Alison had recommended called Polly’s Pies, which is a local chain with a few locations around SoCal. Clearly Alison knew what she was doing (and that I have the palate of a 4th-grader) because this place served both breakfast all day AND pies for dessert. So basically it’s heaven.

Never mind the boarded-up door.

It’s especially wonderful if you order french toast made from cinnamon rolls (with a side of diabetes).

Could we pass up pie for dessert? No, dear reader, we could not. I have no willpower when it comes to pie. I went with key lime, and Julie with chcolate cream.

Remember, one of my food rules is Presentation Is Overrated. The important thing here is they tasted very good. In fact, I’m feeling generous today, so why don’t we just go ahead and award Polly’s Pies a Drooling Homer Award.

Now we had a dilemma. We had an extra night in the LA area, courtesy of American Airlines’ Commitment To Crappy Customer Service. We checked into our hotel and then we needed something to do for the evening. Whatever is there to do in Anaheim?

Well, I guess we could wander around Disney property.

We decided, based solely on the thought that we hadn’t seen it yet, to go check out the Disneyland Hotel.

The building itself isn’t much to look at—just a regular concrete and glass box—but it’s full of all sorts of nostalgic references to the earliest days of Disneyland. I was charmed. Found this on one wall:

And this was the wallpaper in the bathroom.

This display featured all sorts of old souvenirs from back in the day:

And apparently they had a mini-golf course at one time. I would have enjoyed seeing that.

For dinner, we walked back to Downtown Disney and ended up getting some pizzas at Napolini Pizzeria. And they were pretty good! We were all satisfied.

There may or may not have been ice cream involved for dessert, but I don’t have any photos, so according to the Pictures Or It Didn’t Happen rule, it didn’t happen. But we did take our time, wandered through the shops, enjoyed the background music, and just generally let ourselves relax with an extra night on Disney property. Sometimes it’s fun to just soak in the atmosphere. Especially if you have to fly back to all of your responsibilities the next day.

And thus, the Official Oblivious Family Vacation of 2022 came to pass. Thank you all so much for bearing with me as I took way too long to complete this trip report.



I also want to thank those of you who have read these for years, and become my friends in that time. I’m grateful for all of you and my relationship with you. I’ve really loved meeting so many people from the community here, and I do consider you good friends. I’m honored that you have given some of your precious time to get to know me and my family or read my pointless drivel.

I’m not sure what the future holds for my participation here. Like I said, I just don’t have nearly the time I used to. Maybe as the kids continue to go away to college that will change, but we’ll have to see how it goes.

We took a vacation in summer 2023, traveling with good friends from our church to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, as well as Colorado and Utah. We had a blast with them and it was great to re-visit some of our favorite places. Drew had been a toddler the last time we were there, and these were places we wanted him to have some memories of, so it was important to us to go back. And our friends were there for the first time, so it was fun to be the tour guides for them. I won’t be writing about it, though, as it’s already not as fresh in my mind and I’m not going to post stuff about my friends’ family without their permission.

As always, we have a lot to be thankful for as a family and a lot to look forward to. This summer, my daughter will be graduating from college (you are not alone if you thought that went by way too quickly) and this might be our last chance to do a big trip all as one family before my kids are all adults and doing their own thing. So, we’re blowing out the budget and going overseas for the first time. We’ll be testing the waters of international travel by heading to the United Kingdom. I. Can’t. Wait.

I also have no idea what I’m doing. So that’ll be fun.

Will I end up writing about it? No idea. It’ll depend on if I get inspired, and if I have the free time to do it. I also have another writing project I started working on, completely independent from these boards. It’s long-term and scary and probably will amount to nothing and will be read by 3 people but also exciting and I want to see if I can pull it off. So, as with everything in life, we’ll have to see what happens.

If this is the end, then I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with me. My goal in writing these was to entertain you, make you laugh, and hopefully inspire you to travel with your family. I tried to give as many tips as I could on how to pull it off, even with a single income for many years. It’s been a true adventure, and I love to tell people that traveling with my family has been by far the best money I’ve ever spent. I hope you all get to experience that same kind of joy. Until then, be kind to each other, give generously, and serve others.

And you have my permission not to eat your vegetables.

It has been such fun following along with you and yours all these years. Best wishes for continued good health, safe travels, and happy writing.

Take care!

 

[juniorbugman]

As always, we have a lot to be thankful for as a family and a lot to look forward to. This summer, my daughter will be graduating from college (you are not alone if you thought that went by way too quickly) and this might be our last chance to do a big trip all as one family before my kids are all adults and doing their own thing. So, we’re blowing out the budget and going overseas for the first time. We’ll be testing the waters of international travel by heading to the United Kingdom. I. Can’t. Wait.

Wow how can your kids be that old already?
I have been reading your reports for a while and enjoy your writing style.
If you decide to write a report on your future trip I will be one of your loyal readers.
I don't comment much but I take it all in and I have learned that you hate , nope you detest raisins.
Glad to hear Julie is fine now after her health scare.

The building itself isn’t much to look at—just a regular concrete and glass box—but it’s full of all sorts of nostalgic references to the earliest days of Disneyland. I was charmed

When I went to Disneyland in 2017 there was a guided tour you could take through the hotel and they talked about its history.

 

[erinch]

Thanks for finishing!
I’m one of your family too, now. You just don’t know it.

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

Thanks Mark!

 

[melk]

Thank you so much for your wonderful trip reports through the years. I know they must have been a lot of work but they were funny, interesting and informative. I think I’ve posted it before but your posts played a small part in me traveling to the national parks with our kids. My best to your wife, happy to hear she’s healthy. So if this is truly it for your trip reports, thank you. But if you decide to continue with the “Oblivious’ European Vacation“ please know you’d have many eager readers!

Have a wonderful time!

 

[franandaj]

Let’s put this Trip Report out of its misery, shall we?

I'm sad now.

So: first off, the excuses. For years, I have primarily accessed the DISBoards during weekdays. Break times, lunch, slow days at the office. I don’t get online much during nights or weekends because I’m usually trying to spend that time with my family or taking care of house projects. And for years, that worked out just fine. I could update trip reports, shoot the breeze with the DIS Dads, and keep up with the various trip reports of the friends I’ve made here.

I noticed you had been mighty scarce round here.....

I got promoted to a new position at work a little over 6 years ago, and for a while I made it work. That position came with more responsibility and more people to manage. So, that meant I had less time to putz around here. But over the past year or two, it’s really become a drain. We’ve lost several staff members to turnover and retirement, and haven’t been able to replace them—we suffer from the same shortage of workers as everyone else. What does that mean for me? Far, far less downtime. I’m now at the point where days might go by before I can check back in here.

Yeah responsibility sucks.....but I take time to blow it off and keep coming back here!

She was diagnosed in August and cured by Christmas. No chemo necessary.

And I'm so glad she came through everything so well!

Anyway, I’m writing this chapter now in order to finish off the report, because I hate starting something and not seeing it through to completion. I might procrastinate, I might take way longer to finish than anyone has a right to…but I WILL finish.

One of the reasons that I love reading your TRs, you always seem to finish them, and I admire that in a TR writer!

Eventually as we planned this trip, we decided to give it another chance.

I can see that. I have a lot of friends who like to camp there.

Sadly, that was impossible. I searched high and low and could not find a single phone number for customer service with the airline. They were forcing me to go through the chatbot.

I guess I'm lucky. Back when I started flying American again, I got locked out of my online account and I couldn't figure out how to sign in as me (and not Fran). I was able to actually talk to a human being and get it sorted. Of course then she sold me a credit card, but because I needed to start establishing credit (and miles) in my own name, it was the perfect opportunity.

In case you’ve been wondering for over 1.5 years where the trip report title came from, you can finally put that mystery to bed.

Well thank goodness! I have been fretting over that one for a while.

For lunch, we stopped in Moreno Valley at a place Alison had recommended called Polly’s Pies, which is a local chain with a few locations around SoCal. Clearly Alison knew what she was doing (and that I have the palate of a 4th-grader) because this place served both breakfast all day AND pies for dessert. So basically it’s heaven.

I'm glad you approved of my choice!

It’s especially wonderful if you order french toast made from cinnamon rolls (with a side of diabetes).

That French Toast is super decadent!!!!

Could we pass up pie for dessert? No, dear reader, we could not. I have no willpower when it comes to pie.

You have a bigger stomach than me!

I’m feeling generous today, so why don’t we just go ahead and award Polly’s Pies a Drooling Homer Award.

Yay!

We checked into our hotel and then we needed something to do for the evening. Whatever is there to do in Anaheim?

Well, I guess we could wander around Disney property.

Yeah, what to do in Anaheim?????

This picture is crazy! I know you're barely striking the surface of my Egypt TR, but I'm also writing a TR about my exploits at Disneyland, and in an update or two on that TR, I'm staying in that building that's only half completed in your picture!!!!!

For dinner, we walked back to Downtown Disney and ended up getting some pizzas at Napolini Pizzeria. And they were pretty good! We were all satisfied.

That's always a good solid choice. Pizza hits the spot.

wandered through the shops, enjoyed the background music, and just generally let ourselves relax with an extra night on Disney property. Sometimes it’s fun to just soak in the atmosphere.

Yup, I can say that I've done that on a number of occasions.

I also want to thank those of you who have read these for years, and become my friends in that time. I’m grateful for all of you and my relationship with you. I’ve really loved meeting so many people from the community here, and I do consider you good friends. I’m honored that you have given some of your precious time to get to know me and my family or read my pointless drivel.

The feeling is mutual. I have had great joy reading about the exploits of your family and all the adventures.

We took a vacation in summer 2023, traveling with good friends from our church to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, as well as Colorado and Utah. We had a blast with them and it was great to re-visit some of our favorite places.

I was kind of wondering about that. I didn't see much even on the other sites where you might have shared pictures.

So, we’re blowing out the budget and going overseas for the first time. We’ll be testing the waters of international travel by heading to the United Kingdom. I. Can’t. Wait.

Wow! That's awesome! Jill and I are going to London for a few days in the Fall before we get on a ship to take us home to the USA. I'd offer you some of our tips, but somehow I'm not sure that our destinations would overlap with a lot of yours....except I KNOW you're visiting the sets of Harry Potter. Sarah would kill you if you didn't do that!

Will I end up writing about it? No idea. It’ll depend on if I get inspired, and if I have the free time to do it.

Well I sure hope that you do! Isn't Drew about to hit his teenage years when parents aren't cool to hang out with anymore? Surely you'll be able to find time in the evenings then????? And does Julie want you by her side every night of the week????? Just kidding, but I do hope you find time to write about it. I love hearing your perspective.

I also have another writing project I started working on, completely independent from these boards. It’s long-term and scary and probably will amount to nothing and will be read by 3 people but also exciting and I want to see if I can pull it off.

Please tell me you are writing that novel that we all have encouraged you to give a shot over these years of following you! I think you'd write a great quirky book about some character who is deeply flawed in strange ways, but has a giant heart and somehow always seems to save the day.

If this is the end, then I hope you’ve enjoyed your time with me. My goal in writing these was to entertain you, make you laugh,

I have definitely enjoyed my time reading all about your adventures. You have definitely entertained me and made me laugh!

And you have my permission not to eat your vegetables.

Yes sir!