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

[Flossbolna]

I have found this on a couple of occasions as well.

It is actually a decent deal. But I am not sure I would use my points for a long stay. But for a few nights, it is an easy solution.

That is good to know. Their parking charges are really steep, too.

Yes, and I was dreading them. So, this was a nice surprise.

I love this hotel. The public area are of course a lot nicer at the Grand Californian, but I actually prefer the rooms at Paradise Pier. The decor in the rooms at Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel are a little dark for my taste.

I can see that. I loved the color palate and the theme. But overall the building just seems so tired and in need of a total redo. Not that it is rundown or so. But it is not up to the Disney standards in my opinion.

I would have loved to see that. Ever since I heard George Scribner speak on our Panama Canal cruise and then had a chance to chat with him at the Outlook Cafe, I have had a bit of an obsession with Shanghai Disneyland.

This was really wonderful. I have never had a great interest in China at all, but seeing the exhibit really got me interested in Shanghai Disneyland as well.

That actually seems fair for something that special.

Yes, 35 minutes was not bad at all.

I am glad that you got your Stage Pass. It must have been annoying to nearly get there the first time round only for it to turn to sold out.

We did not really wait for long the first try. But it was a nice surprise.

That is making my heart beat quicker. Only a little short of 10 months until I get to see this for myself.

I am glad that I could provide the pictures!

This sounds like it will be right up my street. I definitely have to check this out. I am not so patiently waiting for them to release prices for their hotels, but I think they will probably make my eyes water.

There are rumors that there will be preferential pricing for the Chinese. So who knows what the Western prices will be like...

That sounds like an interesting and very unusual combination. I love watermelon and also arancini, but I would never have thought to combine them.

It was great together!

Had you not come across bone marrow before? It kind of feels like I was raised on Markklößchen Suppe and I do actually really like it.

We were more of a Grießnockerl family. But I like Markklößchen. However, it is different than eating the bone marrow directly from the bone.

Now you are talking. How did it compare to the one on the ships?

It was delicious, but quite a bit different. The soufflés on the ship are a bit more "cake-like", this one was definitely more like a sweet omelet, i.e. heavy on the eggs. I thought it felt more luxurious for that. But I like both versions.

What a shame.

Yes, I will never let Michael go for walks on his own at night in a Disney hotel during D23!!

 

[Flossbolna]

What a fabulous hour I have spent looking at all of the wonderful pictures from the D23. So many memories coming back to me when the parks were park of my childhood. Just lovely! So glad you got to have a leisurely, and extremely delicious looking, dinner with Fran and Alison! I'm really looking forward to meeting them both someday! Sorry you missed your the meeting with Tony Baxter. Maybe another time.....

I am glad that you enjoyed the D23 pictures! I had fun documenting it for the trip reports.

I think you will have a blast with Alison and Fran when you meet them!

I had to read about your day in three sittings - so much to look at! The Expos sounds much more interesting than I ever thought. But I guess I never thought very much about it… And no wonder you were really tired after this day! Some of the designs for Shanghai look very tempting, but also very expensive.

Yes, it was a long update. I was surprised as well how interesting D23 turned out to be.

Shanghai really looked very exciting!

 

[Flossbolna]

Michael finds a New Love and We Eat in an Airplane

August 15: Pool time at Pacific Pier, Joe’s Italian Ice and Drive to Tulare

Today we had to say goodbye to Anaheim and we would start to explore other areas of California. However, since the main purpose of the day was to just get close to Sequoia National Park, this was going to be an uneventful day. or so we thought ... We had planned to stay the night in Tulare, which kind of is the last real town before getting into the mountains and Sequoia National Park.

I wouldn't call it the last town. I would call it the last sizeable city when coming from the south on the 99 Freeway.

However, the day before Michael had suggested to ask at the hotel if we could get a late check out in order to enjoy some more pool time before we left and they agreed to let us have the room until 12pm. Perfect!

Yes. They have always been good there about free late check-outs. Most WDW resorts were always great about this in the 80s, 90s and 00s (I haven't stayed at non-DVC Disney resorts more than 2-3 times since 2009, so not sure if this is still the case now) with TWO notable exceptions: Contemporary (where they have been downright nasty to me on two occasions) and DAK Lodge (where they claim they don't ever give them and are always at 100% occupancy, both blatant lies. But I just stay in the room until noon or 1 or 1:30 and they never hassle me or attempt to charge me, so we both play a dumb worthless game of bad customer service ='s bad Guest behaviour! Oh, but we were chatting about the PPH ... back to that ...

We started with our usual routine of me getting up earlier and getting a start at the pool. I got some nice morning pictures of the hotel and the pool:

At some time Michael came down and enjoyed the hot tub. I tried out the slide and it was quite fun!

It actually was so nice and so relaxing with the sun just coming over part of the pool deck. And met a nice couple from New Zealand who had done a coast to coast USA trip and were wrapping it up at DL. No, they did not go to WDW. They started in NYC and did a northern route (or central) across our great country. The No. 1 nation in the world as I am fond of telling M, even as I type this from German soil. More like frozen German tundra as it is 22 here now, not the toasty 67 back home where the family is "freezing". I knew we had a drive, but I really didn't want to leave ... not DL ... the jacuzzi and pool.

At some point I headed up to the room to start getting ready and thought it would be nice to document the view and the pool from above:

And then it was time to try to out all out stuff into the car! That was a scary prospect! I went down first and when I got there someone asked me whether we were arriving or leaving. At first I was confused, but then it turned out that they had a large number of cans with soft drinks left over and they were on their way to the airport to fly home and offered the cans to us. I thought that was very nice and we took them. I think all in all it was over 10 cans. I just recall that I still had a few cans left when you were already back in Germany and I was still in Anaheim. But it was nice. When you care about your fellow man (or woman) you give them cans of Cherry Pepsi and Vanilla Coke!

We still had one thing that we wanted to do in Anaheim, but decided to get a quick meal first. We ended up going to Carl’s Jr. again.

This time I did not get the all natural burger, but got a “Famous Star”:

It was decent, but not as good as the other one that I had the other day.

I do not recall what I had, but am almost certain that I had their Teriyaki Cheeseburger, which reminds me of my childhood eating similar burgers, also with pineapple rings, on the patio of the Adventureland Verandah while Swan Boats glided below me. Yeah, the MK was better in the 70s-90s. We all know that.

After lunch it was time for dessert – and our final “must do” stop in Anaheim. Something that Michael had always wanted to try, but never did: Joe’s Italian Ice.

I had never heard of Italian Ice before and was not really sure what to expect. In case any of my readers is as clueless as me, this is the description from Wikipedia:

Italian ice, also known as water ice (particularly in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley), is a sweetened frozen dessert made with fruit (often from concentrates, juices or purées) or other natural or artificial food flavorings, similar to sorbet. Italian ice is not shaved ice that is flavored; rather, it is made by the same process by which ice cream is made: freezing the ingredients while mixing them. Italian ice is similar to sorbet but differs from American-style sherbet in that it does not contain dairy or egg ingredients, though it may contain egg white. Common flavors include blue raspberry, cherry, lemon, mango, orange, strawberry, and watermelon, with numerous other flavors available.

I was expecting it to be more like what I know as “fruit ice” here in Germany, but it was more gritty in texture.

They had a large menu and lots of flavours. It was really nice that they let you try the different flavours before making a choice. While we waited in the short line, we even got a little taster that an employee started to distribute:

It was a mix of soft serve and orange sherbet (so not Italian ice). I really loved it, so I got a larger portion of this:

Michael decided to go with something they called “Joe Latti”. This was layers of Italian Ice and soft serve. I think he chose cherry as his flavor:

He absolutely loved it!! My trip notes say that we both thought that this place was far superior than any ice cream on Main Street (remember how sad Michael was that he had missed out on that tradition).

It was phenomenal. They had two cherry flavours, one more basic. This was a dark cherry, sweet and sour, and I think it was called like Badahbing cherry or something similar. Even though there are icicles hanging from my ears right now I could still go for one! I should also mention that during this time came Bob Iger's infamous announcement at D23 regarding Star Wars Land (or whatever they will be calling it after they destroy a large part of Walt's park for Iger's ego-driven IP purchase) and later the news about other park projects like Toy Story for the Studios etc. M gamely updated me on what was being announced and how the fan community seemed to be taking it as we lunched, desserted and then deserted Anaheim for the Great American Road.

After we had finished our desserts, it was time to start the drive.

We drove past Downtown LA:

Up the hill and down into the valley:

At kind of the last outskirts of the greater LA area we stopped for coffee at a Starbucks where Michael met some very unfriendly Californians. Otherwise it was a standard Starbucks.

Ah, how the polite German leaves out all the fun details and naughty words. What happened is we pulled into a Starbucks just off the 5 in Stevenson Ranch, which is a tony suburb next to Santa Clarita. We got coffee ... I had their then-new Cold Brewed iced coffee. I also needed to use the restroom as we had been driving for a few hours and we were headed into the wilderness (not quite, but ...)

This is where I encountered one of those Californians that give the people of the state a bad name. First, there was only one single use restroom as is common in SoCal. There were a few kids waiting with a woman and behind her where two men and then myself. One child would leave and then another would magically appear (they were like Tribbles) when they weren't in line at all. The guys in front of me gave up after about 10 minutes and left the unit entirely without even getting coffee. I waited, while M sat. After I thought the parade was over, I went to enter and the woman stopped me and pointed to another 6-7 kids (who were not in line). I said ''You have to be kidding me.'' Without any more comment, she proceeded to call me (I don't know the language rules here so I'll use nicer terms) a freaking butthole who had no compassion for kids and she had just been driving for four hours -- and, apparently, thought a rest area wasn't right for them to stop at. I was so shocked by her outburst that I in return loudly called her a miserable (word that rhymes with witch.) This got M's attention, who I think for a moment feared there would be a physical altercation and wanted to leave. I gave in and muttered some passing thoughts about people like her procreating to begin with and out we went. I know there are people like that all over, but she had that certain entitled upper middle class Californian Mommy thing going and I have never enjoyed that demo.

BTW, isn't my WHOLE story better than M's little quick synopsis? You can say it, It won't hurt her feelings. If it does, she'll just get Bucky to lay down the law!

The we continued and saw Six Flags California Magic Mountain:

They had some impressive looking coasters there!

And then we finally entered the Central Valley:

Not good air quality there! We kind of had seen some reports of wildfires before we left. And it sounded like they would be exactly where we were heading: Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. That did not sound good and this was the first proof that things indeed might not be great for us…

We arrived in Tulare after about 4 hours (including our coffee break) and checked in at our hotel, the Charter Inn and Suites. This was a recommendation from Alison and it turned out a good place to stop. We had been able to get a great rate and the room was spacious and clean.

Yes, it was a very nice place with large rooms that would have been comfortable for more than a night ... but why anyone would spend more than a night in Tulare I am not sure.

The public areas of the hotel were quite nice, too:

After we had checked in, we headed out again in search of food. I had done some research on the internet about food places and had come across a BBQ place that sounded very good – and not expensive, so I made Michael drive there. It was a bit strange as we ended up in a rather residential neighborhood and this is what the restaurant looked like:

They had an ordering window:

A grill:

And a menu:

Michael went for a hot dog:

And I had a tri tip sandwich with a side of potato salad:

The sandwich was absolutely delicious!! I loved it! The potato salad was ok, but I could have done without it.

We ate inside as it was still baking hot outside:

I really thought it was a great experience and I loved my food. And if you are ever in Tulare, I can definitely recommend Richard’s Lunchbox.

I wasn't originally enthused my this suggestion that I think M first mentioned to me 3-4 months before our trip. But it was an excellent hot dog and I loved the tater salad. Her food looked great, but having just had Lucille's a few nights earlier I wasn't in the mood for BBQ.

After dinner we headed over to explore the Tulare Outlet Mall.

When we got there half of the parking lot was filled with RV’s for some kind of show:

I have a standing order from my brother in law to pick up Levi’s jeans when I am in the US. They are very pricey here (over 100$ for a pair of jeans). It was a quick visit to the Levi’s outlet and I had procured two pairs:

And then we did some more fun shopping. We picked up some candy, especially one delicious caramel apple, at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and some nice smelling hand sanitizer at the Bath and Body Works. Last year I had picked up some with “winter scents” that smelled lovely from the bottle. But when your hands smell strongly of vanilla and you then want to eat a burger, it kind of really does not go well at all. The new ones are far less strong and more citrus scents. They don’t bother me as much as the vanilla and ginger from the winter scents.

I've actually been to this outlet mall a few times and was saddened to see that their book store had closed as I had picked up some great books for very little in the past. But who reads books anymore when we're on the Internet 28 hours a day, right?

After the nice shopping trip we returned to the hotel for a dip in the pool. When we got there, there was a largish group of German tourists at the pool. This was the start of the German tourists. We met many many more in the coming days!

I thought M should chat them up a bit, but she suddenly got all shy and quiet. The only complaint about the pool was the lights were not on. It did feel good as temps were as warm as 104 during the day (not including how hot things got at the Starbucks!)

We really enjoyed the pool, it was nice and warm and it was a beautiful night! After pool we snacked on the caramel apple and also ate some of the potato chips we had bought. Sweet Maui Onion! I had learned of that flavor from @CaptainOblivious trip report about Hawaii. And I have to admit that those are very very tasty! Even in the Dollar Store brand!

Actually, they were name brand. We just picked them up at the 99 Cent Only Store!

Up Next: Well, there is rustic and there is rustic…

I can't wait to hear all about it. I'm sure I slept very well and nothing unusual happened at 2 a.m. Thanks all for reading.

 

[Poolrat]

It is really strange, but I find all your pool insider knowledge really fascinating!!

I guess spending the better part of my life in and around pools I am quite familiar with the giant tubs. Having a safe place for people to recreate depends on good pool sanitation and when dealing with the public and the crazy things they try to do can make my job hard. Thanks for being fascinated.

Even with the Hatbox Ghost. He did not impress me.

Yeah I am not totally on board with that one either but I am guessing that is a DLR thing with history.

And if you are ever in Tulare, I can definitely recommend Richard’s Lunchbox.

I will keep that in mind. Often those places are the best but I am still leery.
I will say it look like a lunchbox...


As for your drive out and the Starbucks incident..... sorry it got that ugly. I guess Starbucks need bigger restrooms.

Ready to hear about a 2am wake up. Maybe...

 

[rndmr2]

Nice update!

I am originally from Philadelphia and water ice is very popular there (as it says in the Wikipedia article). There is a small chain of stands in that area called Rita's very similar to the one you went to. They have something similar to the one Michael got but theirs is called a Gelati.

Nice scenery pics as you were on the road, sorry you ran into that "Capital B" at the Starbucks.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I got some nice morning pictures of the hotel and the pool:

Your photos are the closest I ever got to that pool even though I stayed there twice now.

At first I was confused, but then it turned out that they had a large number of cans with soft drinks left over and they were on their way to the airport to fly home and offered the cans to us. I thought that was very nice and we took them. I think all in all it was over 10 cans.

What a nice thing for them to do.

That would have been right up my street and the food looked great, too.

some nice smelling hand sanitizer at the Bath and Body Works.

That is what I have a standing order for whenever I go to the USA. Some of my colleagues go crazy over this stuff.

Sweet Maui Onion!

Yummy.

Corinna

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

That is a smart thing! But then why are you a chicken on ToT???

A chicken would not ride it. I rode it. So there.

When I see that people pay $300+ a night to stay at PPH, I wonder where their sanity is.

Disney's pricing does feel like it's getting out of control.

Therefore the public areas have quite a bit of concept art for DCA on the walls:

Very cool! I love this.

The exhibit started with the story of the Little Man of Disneyland, which was a children’s book about how Disneyland was being built in some former orange groves.

That story sounds familiar for some reason...

I mean, who wouldn’t want to buy a Disneyland hamburger press???

You know I would want one.

This picture made me feel old:

Me too. Also, I'm not happy to see Spielberg wearing a Dallas Cowboys cap.

Ok, you are propably as tired now after all these pictures as we were after going through the exhibit. We spent nearly an hour in there.

It was great for any DL history buff. I could have stayed for hours.

It looks amazing! I would have loved touring through there.

I thought that the founder of ACE was a bit creepy. If this were a movie, I would expect him to turn out to be really evil…

I think it's the eyebrows. Those can't be real.

Someone from Disney Imagineering explained the group what there was in the model and the there were several CMs around answering questions. From what I understood, these were all real imagineers who were working on the project. But they were obviously being told to stay in role and talk about Avatarland (I think the official name will the “Pandora - The World of Avatar”, but that is far too long and PTWOA is a stupid acronym as well) as if it were a real destination, not a land in a theme park.

Just call it Pandora. That is what it will be known as. And that is what it really is.

Yeah, it always defaults to whatever is easiest to say. It would have been fun to talk to Imagineers, though.

I have to say that seeing this has finally made me excited for Avatarland. I hated the idea when it was first announced (and still don’t think it belongs there), but I am now very confident that it will be quite an amazing environment and that it will be done very well. Animal Kingdom will be such a different park once this opens and Rivers of Light, the new nighttime show, is showing!

I look forward to seeing how it turns out. I was not a huge fan of the movie, but I can see how you could make some interesting attractions based on it.

There will be a Tron-motorcycle-coaster:

That looks so cool!

It is kind of a version of the Astro Oribiter. But it looks more “wild”. You are sitting on benches and it seemed to go pretty fast. And she confirmed that the ride would have quite some thrill to it. Sounded great to me!!

Interesting. I don't think I'd seen that before.

Then we get to Treasure Cove, which will be the “piratey” area.

I'm really interested to see how that turns out as well. The idea of an expanded Pirates area is very appealing.

Ah, yes, there was one interesting encounter! I talked to an imagineer who was working on animatronics for the Pirate attraction and the castle boat ride. Michael came over and talked to him as well and then asked how many animatronics there would be in the Pirate ride. The reason for this question was that the rumors say that the Shanghai Pirates will be mainly projection (like the little show they had for some time at DHS, it was actually some type of prototype). The Imagineer kind of closed up with this question and borderline rudely said that there would be at least one and pointed to the video where they showed the making of one animatronic. It was strange. I understand that they have certain things they want to keep secret, but there would have been many nicer ways to not answer Michael's question.

Yeah, just say, "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to answer that." Maybe I should be an Imagineer instead.

And I took pictures of all the posters advertising excursions to Pandora:

I am a sucker for vintage travel posters and these are awesome!

I do not get the concept of waiting in line for hours to BUY things.

Alison had talked so much about it that I really wanted to try it. We had talked before the trip quite a bit about it and somehow the plan came up that the four of us would meet up for a Chef’s Table meal.

Alison and Fran will always hook you up!

My rib-eye steak! This was a wonderful piece of meat and I tried very hard to eat as much of it as I could. But it really was getting difficult!!

That steak looks amazing.

And the thing beside the steaks is bone marrow. We all tried it and none of us fell in love with it. I think I can well do without it in the future…

Yeah, seriously. What's wrong with mashed potatoes?

It was berries and sorbet (think it was mango and or tangerine) for me and your absence was great as we got to sit around and talk about you behind your lovely back!

Ooh, what did you say?

And met a nice couple from New Zealand who had done a coast to coast USA trip and were wrapping it up at DL.

That sounds like a fun trip! If, you know, you're inclined to do that sort of thing.

I do not recall what I had, but am almost certain that I had their Teriyaki Cheeseburger, which reminds me of my childhood eating similar burgers, also with pineapple rings, on the patio of the Adventureland Verandah while Swan Boats glided below me. Yeah, the MK was better in the 70s-90s. We all know that.

MMmmmm...pineapple cheeseburger...

Italian ice, also known as water ice (particularly in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley)

Delaware shout-out!

It was a mix of soft serve and orange sherbet (so not Italian ice). I really loved it, so I got a larger portion of this:

Not-so-hidden secret: I'd rather have ice cream than water ice.

At kind of the last outskirts of the greater LA area we stopped for coffee at a Starbucks where Michael met some very unfriendly Californians. Otherwise it was a standard Starbucks.

So, overpriced burnt coffee?

This is where I encountered one of those Californians that give the people of the state a bad name. First, there was only one single use restroom as is common in SoCal. There were a few kids waiting with a woman and behind her where two men and then myself. One child would leave and then another would magically appear (they were like Tribbles) when they weren't in line at all. The guys in front of me gave up after about 10 minutes and left the unit entirely without even getting coffee. I waited, while M sat. After I thought the parade was over, I went to enter and the woman stopped me and pointed to another 6-7 kids (who were not in line). I said ''You have to be kidding me.'' Without any more comment, she proceeded to call me (I don't know the language rules here so I'll use nicer terms) a freaking butthole who had no compassion for kids and she had just been driving for four hours -- and, apparently, thought a rest area wasn't right for them to stop at. I was so shocked by her outburst that I in return loudly called her a miserable (word that rhymes with witch.) This got M's attention, who I think for a moment feared there would be a physical altercation and wanted to leave. I gave in and muttered some passing thoughts about people like her procreating to begin with and out we went. I know there are people like that all over, but she had that certain entitled upper middle class Californian Mommy thing going and I have never enjoyed that demo.

Wow. It just got real in here.

BTW, isn't my WHOLE story better than M's little quick synopsis?

I have to admit, that was more fun. Sorry, Magdalene.

And then we finally entered the Central Valley:

That looks really, really flat. Like Delaware. With worse air quality.

I had done some research on the internet about food places and had come across a BBQ place that sounded very good – and not expensive, so I made Michael drive there. It was a bit strange as we ended up in a rather residential neighborhood and this is what the restaurant looked like:

A BBQ place in an old airplane fuselage?? You've found my people!! No way I could turn this down.

That looks so fun!

They are very pricey here (over 100$ for a pair of jeans).

Wow. Do they come with a TV in them?

But who reads books anymore when we're on the Internet 28 hours a day, right?

I love reading. Of course, I read e-books now, but still.

Sweet Maui Onion! I had learned of that flavor from @CaptainOblivious trip report about Hawaii. And I have to admit that those are very very tasty! Even in the Dollar Store brand!

Aren't those amazing?? So addictive. I wish we could get them here.

I'm sure I slept very well and nothing unusual happened at 2 a.m.

Foreshadowing...

 

[GoofyFan1515]

We still had one thing that we wanted to do in Anaheim, but decided to get a quick meal first. We ended up going to Carl’s Jr. again.

Come visit Pat and I in the Carolinas sometime.............we'll take you to a much better place called Hardee's.

After lunch it was time for dessert – and our final “must do” stop in Anaheim. Something that Michael had always wanted to try, but never did: Joe’s Italian Ice.

I know a certain someone who will want to add that to our Must Do list the next time we are in Anaheim.......

It was a mix of soft serve and orange sherbet (so not Italian ice). I really loved it, so I got a larger portion of this:

Uh Oh..........you may have just sold me on the idea also!

I really thought it was a great experience and I loved my food. And if you are ever in Tulare, I can definitely recommend Richard’s Lunchbox.

That looks like a really neat place, but who seeks out a BBQ place and doesn't get............BBQ???

 

[Steppesister]

I am glad that you enjoyed the D23 pictures! I had fun documenting it for the trip reports.

I think you will have a blast with Alison and Fran when you meet them!

I'm sure you did. The next best thing to actually being there myself was your photo journalism.

I KNOW I will! They look like very nice people; hopefully one day soon I can mosey down to Anaheim and have a little hangout.

He absolutely loved it!! My trip notes say that we both thought that this place was far superior than any ice cream on Main Street (remember how sad Michael was that he had missed out on that tradition).

Those looked amazing! Ice cream can be rather run-of-the-mill, but that looked very different and VERY yummy!

They had some impressive looking coasters there!

I grew up going there a lot. Very fun coasters for sure! My favorite was the Revolution- have no idea if it's still there, but oh it was SO fun!

My mouth is watering now!

 

[Flossbolna]

I guess spending the better part of my life in and around pools I am quite familiar with the giant tubs. Having a safe place for people to recreate depends on good pool sanitation and when dealing with the public and the crazy things they try to do can make my job hard. Thanks for being fascinated.

I am seeing quite a lot of stupidity (and worse) from the public in my job as well. But I feel that you have a more immediate contact with this, I really don't envy you that part of your job! The conference with the waterpark party, I would always be in for that! We don't have conferences like that!

Yeah I am not totally on board with that one either but I am guessing that is a DLR thing with history.

I do understand the history. But sometimes I get a bit frustrated with Disney being so self-referential with its own history. There were not any history if there had not been generations of people creating new stuff!

I will keep that in mind. Often those places are the best but I am still leery.
I will say it look like a lunchbox...

I have become more confident to pick places relying on online reviews. I find that if you are able to weed out the ones that either are all positive or the ones that are unfairly negative, you can get quite a good feel. And one thing I learned is that often the most delicious food comes from places that don't have to bother with shiny things to attract customers.

As for your drive out and the Starbucks incident..... sorry it got that ugly. I guess Starbucks need bigger restrooms.

I guess people should not use Starbucks as a free restroom when driving with a whole youth group...

Ready to hear about a 2am wake up. Maybe...

Story will come shortly!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Nice update!

Thanks! And thank you very much for still sticking around after being so slow with my updates!!

I am originally from Philadelphia and water ice is very popular there (as it says in the Wikipedia article). There is a small chain of stands in that area called Rita's very similar to the one you went to. They have something similar to the one Michael got but theirs is called a Gelati.

I think the Joe-Latte name is a play on the name of the place itself. I guess Gelati is the correct term for it. Interesting to hear that this is indeed a local speciality for some of you!

Nice scenery pics as you were on the road, sorry you ran into that "Capital B" at the Starbucks.

I wish I had continued to get nice scenery pics from the road, but unfortunately later those did not turn out nearly as well. Luckily I was not inconvenienced by her. Not sure why as I am sure that I must have used the restroom there as well. Maybe I was there later or had used it just when we got there...

 

[Flossbolna]

Your photos are the closest I ever got to that pool even though I stayed there twice now.

That is funny! It is a very nice pool! And you were there in the warm season with September - not cold winter weather!

What a nice thing for them to do.

random acts of kindness from strangers are always wonderful!

That would have been right up my street and the food looked great, too.

If you ever visit Tulare, you know where to go!

That is what I have a standing order for whenever I go to the USA. Some of my colleagues go crazy over this stuff.

Interesting! But I think as hand sanitizers go, they are really nice.

Yummy.

sweet maui onion definitely lives up to the hype!

 

[Flossbolna]

A chicken would not ride it. I rode it. So there.

That is a cheap excuse!!

Disney's pricing does feel like it's getting out of control.

Yes, I just realized how expensive just the ticket for me will be for our next trip!! And I only need to buy ONE ticket - not 6 like you would have to. Unless you manage a trip to WDW before Drew is three... (Btw, sorry for not being on your trip report. I always try to keep the updates until I actually can comment on them and then I don't find the time to do that and then I don't read there... So, maybe you already announced the big summer vacation at WDW is going to be the next Captain Oblivious Family Summer Vacation!)

Very cool! I love this.

I think nearly everyone here on the DIS would have loved the D23 exhibits. They were wonderful!

That story sounds familiar for some reason...

You know I would want one.

Why? And I am serious. I have no clue about hamburger presses and what they do and why a Disneyland one would be more special than a Disneyland spatula.

Me too. Also, I'm not happy to see Spielberg wearing a Dallas Cowboys cap.

I see - I had to ask Michael which sport the Dallas Cowboys play. Now I know that it is the sport that I am currently starting to learn a little bit about because I will have to watch the Super Bowl with Michael (in the middle of the night at that, the game starts at midnight here)! Michael says you are most likely a Philadelphia Eagles fan (and if I just butchered the team name, I am very sorry!).

It looks amazing! I would have loved touring through there.

That's why I tried to take so many pictures, trying to take it along for my DIS-friends who could not be there.

I think it's the eyebrows. Those can't be real.

That is a good observation

Yeah, it always defaults to whatever is easiest to say. It would have been fun to talk to Imagineers, though.

There were plenty around. From other reports I read it seemed that even the big names were doing shifts there, so that would have been truly amazing!

I look forward to seeing how it turns out. I was not a huge fan of the movie, but I can see how you could make some interesting attractions based on it.

I have never seen the movie and have no interest in it. But I loved Splash Mountain before I ever saw Song of the South (I actually own it now on VHS, an old copy from the UK that was sold there in the 80s that I got from eBay because I wanted to see what this movie is about). So, I hope that the enjoyment of Pandora will be possible without knowing anything about the movie.

I'm really interested to see how that turns out as well. The idea of an expanded Pirates area is very appealing.

I kind of like the idea, but am also a bit afraid that it will be too limiting for a whole land. However, the DLP Adventureland is very much piratey as well as it has a large "exploring area" (like Tom Sawyer Island, but without the ferry) that is a pirate rock.

Yeah, just say, "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to answer that." Maybe I should be an Imagineer instead.

I am all in favor of you becoming an Imagineer!!!!!!!!!!

I am a sucker for vintage travel posters and these are awesome!

Oh, I had not made the connection!! I loved those vintage posters they have for the NPs and got quite a few as postcards!

That steak looks amazing.

It was fantastic!! I always stayed away of rib-eyes because I had some that were fatty in a bad way. But I am learning that if it is good quality then it is excellent! @franandaj actually convinced me to go with it.

Yeah, seriously. What's wrong with mashed potatoes?

Oh, I really need to make some soon! I love them and somehow we have not had them for quite a while!

Ooh, what did you say?

He isn't telling you nor me... He says "Entschuldigung, a gentleman never tells". I did not know that he was a gentleman...

That sounds like a fun trip! If, you know, you're inclined to do that sort of thing.

Come on, you would love to spend 6 weeks in a car with your whole family driving from one coast to the other to end up in Disneyland!!

MMmmmm...pineapple cheeseburger...

Delaware shout-out!

Oh, there are plenty more to come!!

Not-so-hidden secret: I'd rather have ice cream than water ice.

I understand. I would also. But Michael just loved that stuff!

So, overpriced burnt coffee?

I recently read that Starbucks introduced a new drink in the US that supposedly confuses customers there - and is one of the staple coffee drinks you can get here: The Latte Macchiato. That amused me.

I have to admit, that was more fun. Sorry, Magdalene.

I think I can forgive you. But then, it was his story to tell and he did it much better than I ever would have been able to.

That looks really, really flat. Like Delaware. With worse air quality.

I am happy to hear that you have better air quality. But if Delaware is flat, then that is something it has in common with Florida. Michael always points out how flat is state is.

A BBQ place in an old airplane fuselage?? You've found my people!! No way I could turn this down.

It was actually your trip reports that made me go out and research possible eateries. I got some nice pointers from Alison also. But you often had really great meals in these local places and I decided that some research could not hurt. And to me it just sounded like the perfect out of the ordinary place!

That looks so fun!

If the air conditioning had been a bit better it would have even been more fun!

Wow. Do they come with a TV in them?

No, they are just considered a premium brand here.

I love reading. Of course, I read e-books now, but still.

Me too. But I find that I am reading less if I hand out on the DIS a lot.

Aren't those amazing?? So addictive. I wish we could get them here.

Yes, another thing I learned from your trip reports!

Foreshadowing...

Soon you will read the story!

 

[Flossbolna]

Come visit Pat and I in the Carolinas sometime.............we'll take you to a much better place called Hardee's.

I have been told that this is the same - well, since Carl's Jr. bought Hardee's some years ago according to my source.

I know a certain someone who will want to add that to our Must Do list the next time we are in Anaheim.......

Oooops! Sorry!!

Uh Oh..........you may have just sold me on the idea also!

What a relief!! And yes, I can recommend the thing I had!!

That looks like a really neat place, but who seeks out a BBQ place and doesn't get............BBQ???

Well, the Californian's consider the trip tip barbecue. You might not. But I am not getting involved in the American BBQ war. I am currently already under enough flak for being a "bread snob"!

 

[Flossbolna]

I'm sure you did. The next best thing to actually being there myself was your photo journalism.

Thanks! I am happy that you enjoyed it!

I KNOW I will! They look like very nice people; hopefully one day soon I can mosey down to Anaheim and have a little hangout.

Once you have the money for the trip to WDW, hopefully all the hard work you are putting in right now will pay off and you can have those little extras! From where you are a short hop to Anaheim should be easy!

Those looked amazing! Ice cream can be rather run-of-the-mill, but that looked very different and VERY yummy!

It was yummy!

I grew up going there a lot. Very fun coasters for sure! My favorite was the Revolution- have no idea if it's still there, but oh it was SO fun!

I have no idea if the Revolution is still around. But some of the coasters looked very scary!!

My mouth is watering now!

The food was really delicious there!

 

[Flossbolna]

Well, there is rustic and there is rustic…

I can't wait to hear all about it. I'm sure I slept very well and nothing unusual happened at 2 a.m. Thanks all for reading.

August 16: Lunch at Marie Callender’s, Drive to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Cabins at Grant Grove

The next morning we originally had planned on an early (for us) start, but did not get moving as quickly as we had planned. So, it was 10:30 a.m. by the time we finally got on the road.

Really? I thought it was early. BTW, I neglected to mention in the last update how I am one of the few folks who actually loves the drive from LA up to the central valley. Even on the 99. With all the trucks. Something life affirming about passing through all of that fertile farmland that feeds so many of us. It also reminds you that despite all the people living in CA. that every place isn't over run. It also sets the tone nicely to completely say goodbye to urban sprawl and enter the wilderness.

A last look at the hotel:

This was parked outside with a sign saying that you should not touch it:

Before our trip Michael had gotten some coupons from a restaurant chain called Marie Callender’s http://www.mariecallenders.com that he used to like when he lived in California, but which is not around in Florida. We had seen that there was one in Visalia, which was on our way from Tulare to Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP. So, we thought that this would make a great stop for a nice breakfast before heading into the park.

Well, with getting out a bit later, we got to the restaurant just before they changed over to serving lunch at 11am.

We both decided to go with their large salad and soup buffet and shared a piece of razzleberry pie, which is one of their specialities.

I really liked the selection and we also got some delicious corn bread:

This is my half of the pie:

They do have a large bakery case outside filled with plenty of good looking pies and such:

Unfortunately the whole meal took longer than I had thought and we did not get back on the road until 12:30 p.m. I have to admit that by then I felt like I was loosing valuable time to explore the National Park! In hindsight because of how things developed, it turned out that we did not miss that much, but at that point I did not know yet.

The meal was terrific. It was a very lazy summer Sunday morning and you could tell that many locals had just come from church. They had a brunch, which I have never seen before, but looked amazing and was very reasonable in price (I want to say about $14 a person for much better grub than you'd get at say ... Chef Mickey's for breakfast.) ..I'll leave out the tale about the spooky old people seated in the booth next to us that had a conversation about how US media hasn't been fair in its reporting on Hitler. I have no idea if they heard that M was German or what, but she missed the exchange while in the restroom and it made me think that not all of small town USA is magical.

I am glad that I missed that! I might have had the strong urge to let these people know that Hitler most certainly does not deserve any "fair" reporting!!!

We drove through the foothills and the landscape became more and more scenic:

Closer to the park we stopped at a little road side shop in Three Rivers and got some drinks. It was a fun place, prices were not too high and they had all kind of souvenirs. I know exactly the same type of shops in the Alps here and it was fun to see the American version of them (selling beef jerky instead of sausages etc.).

Three Rivers is where Michael used to stay during his previous visits to Sequoia NP and he made a big point out that this is the place where they went after big hikes for a steak dinner:

Actually, it was prime rib with loaded baked tater and salad and rolls and cheesecake ... but who's keeping track, right? BTW, for folks who don't mind driving into Sequoia I find Three Rivers a great place to stay. It is tiny, but has a Pizza Factory (smallish west coast chain), great Mexican place and in the last few years got a Subway for desperate diners.

And then we finally got to the park entrance where we paid our entrance fee of 20$.

I had made sure to have cash for paying those entrance fees, but then was surprised to see a sign that they prefer it if you pay for it by credit card and not by cash. I have never experienced a situation here in Germany where they wanted a card at a booth. But then here in Germany you always have to either sign or use your PIN for a credit card purchase, while in the US it seems to be common that they just swipe the card.

Just another reason why we are the greatest nation on Earth.

Ok, obviously making credit card fraud even easier is a proof of quality for a country...

We got the NP park map and newspaper:

I remember those from my first visit to Yosemite with my aunt in the 80s. I was so impressed then. I still think the information we got at Sequoia & Kings Canyon as well as at Yosemite was very good. But somehow I as surprised to see that it looks more or less still the same as what I have in my scrapbook from that trip in the 80s. I guess that shows how amazingly well run the National Park service was in the 80s (this is something I came to ponder about a few more times, especially in Yosemite).

And then we were in Sequoia National Park. Entering from Visalia/Three Rivers, you enter through the very dry foothills and the whole area still looks not nearly as lush as I was expecting it. We had a nice view of a river down in the valley, where some people were swimming. It looked so refreshing on a very hot day (I think this was when the heat wave restarted and it was baking outside!).

It has always looked that way in summer and early fall visits to me. Even when there wasn't a major drought! I do know I wanted to head down to the river and jump in as the temp was in the mid 90s.

Our first stop was the Foothills Visitor Center:

Here we talked to a ranger about the status of the wildfires. We had heard some unsettling news reports that there was a wildfire in Kings Canyon NP and this was where our accommodation for the next two nights was. So before we went any further we needed to find out what was going on. It turned out that the fire was not really close to where we were planning to stay, Grant Grove. But the rest of Kings Canyon was more or less inaccessible. Originally our plan was to tour in Sequoia NP on this day (a Sunday), stay two nights in Grant Grove and use tomorrow, our full day, to explore Kings Canyon NP and drive to Cedar Grove. However, the road to Cedar Grove was closed because of fires being too close to the road. The ranger was really nice and suggested that we just drive on to Grant Grove today (quite a long drive anyway with winding mountain roads) and then come back to Sequoia NP tomorrow to tour the big sights, especially the Giant Forrest as it would be far less crowded there on a Monday than on a Sunday. While not our original plan, it sounded like the best solution to the situation we were in due to the wildfires.

We spent some more time looking through the visitors center which was really well done and explained a lot about the area we were in.

This was also the first time that we encountered the money collection system that tried to draw on people’s pride for their state (or country or continent):

You could put your donation in the correct box where you were from and therefore people would think that people from a certain area were especially generous (or especially adventurous travellers). I took note that @Captain_Oblivious had not been here yet as the Delaware box was totally empty:

What a cheapskate! Figures he is from a state that no one actually is sure exists!

Outside there was a ranger showing off certain things you could find in the forest, especially different cones from trees. We got to guess which one was from the sequoias:

It is the small one. The other one is from a sugar pine.

The drive up into the mountain and forests was quite spectacular and I was happy to have a driver!

Yes, that can be nice!

Continued in Part 2

 

[Flossbolna]

Well, there is rustic and there is rustic - Part 2

And then we were in the forest – and I got excited! There were big trees to be seen! I think this was one of the first one I saw. It is the light brown one just behind the brown sign.

The thing that amazed me immediately was how pretty the bark of the sequoias is. They are this beautiful cinnamon color and are such a contrast to the usual forest colors of greens and greys.

And then there were ones directly next to the road!!

As suggested we just drove past the Giant Forrest and the Giant Forrest Museum:

Some people were so nice to stand in front of one of the trees we drove past to give us some sense of how large these trees are:

I cannot tell you how amazing those trees were for me! And these were not even the really amazing ones. But I totally fell in love with the sequoias! You will have to endure many more tree pictures!!

Our next stop was at the Lodgepole visitor center. This was not really exciting, but we needed a bit of a break. And according to my information this was the best grocery store in the two parks. It also has some decent souvenir shopping there and we got Michael a very nice t-shirt.

I also discovered that they had a lot of really nice post cards, some of them real reprints from old postcards, some were designs in the old style from the 1930s. Between the different NPs we visited, I ended up with quite a few. I am planning to get them all into a frame, but that project is lagging even more behind than this trip report…

Our next stop was the Kings Canyon Overlook. Here you can see towards the canyon of the Kings River (hence the name Kings Canyon), the area that was currently inaccessible.

The view was quite beautiful, but you could see that there was so much haze in the air from the fires:

Zooming in, you could actually see where the fire was burning!!

This is what the view should look like:

And there was some fire information about the Rough Fire – the one that was bothering us:

While the fire never got dangerous for us, it really got very very bad. We kept hearing about it on the news for the rest of our trip. It ended up going very close to the areas we were staying at. It ended up being the 13th largest wildfire in California. While it affected our stay at Sequoia & King Canyon NP (and you will read more about that coming soon!), considering the horrible drought situations I have to say that we were lucky that things were not worse and that we only were affected in some little ways. I really hope that this winter will brings lots of water and snow and will help to start to replenish the water supplies out there!

Some more pretty mountain landscape pictures:

It took us longer than expected to finally get to Grant Grove. We got there at 5 p.m. Perfect time to check into our accommodation.

Researching the trip I had decided that I wanted to stay inside the park for a number of reasons. First, staying in Grant Grove would give us a good place to start the drive to Yosemite from when we left. I also really wanted to do the drive to Cedar Grove through the Kings Canyon (which we then missed out on) and maybe do a hike along this route. Researching the accommodation options inside the park I quickly found out that National Parks seem to follow the Disney Company pricing example: charge as much as you can. So, trying to keep costs down, but still have a decent amount of comfort (i.e. private bathroom), I decided to book us into a cabin at Grant Grove. These are wooden duplex cabins that kind of are like morel rooms. A room, two double beds, a bathroom, a porch and a picnic table in front of the cabin. Those sounded good to me. A bit rustic maybe, but the advantage of staying the night in the mountains seemed to be worth it.

We went to check in at a desk next to the Grant Grove restaurant:

We were given Cabin # 2 and walked over to where the cabins were – along a very nice meadow:

When we got to our cabin the first thing we noticed was that it looked very basic from the outside. And then when we opened the door we noticed how horrible stuffy it was inside. Remember the heat wave I was talking about. It was really hot all the way up in the mountains as well and there was no air conditioning in the cabin! That still was not worrying me too much as I knew that the night temperatures would drop quite a bit and we would be able to get some fresh air once it got cooler.

The main room also tried to look quite nice:

But it did look far more old and tired than the pictures I had seen before I booked it. Especially the carpet appeared to be ancient.

The shock came with the bathroom. It seemed to be the original bathroom they put in there when they had built the cabin in the 1940s or so:

It was not dirty, just very very old and in desperate need of a renovation.

I think when Michael saw the bathroom he lost all his faith in my trip planning abilities.

Pretty much. Although I did have the feeling that the cabin would be a bit ''rustic'', I was surprised that it really needed to be torn down and replaced by a new one. Just way too rough around the edges. I much prefer the Comfort Inn and Suites (used to be Holiday Inn Express) in Three Rivers.

It really is a shame that they are in such a bad shape. The location is absolutely beautiful! And they definitely charge enough that there should be a nice surplus that can be put back into maintaining the accommodation better. With a new carpet and a remodeled bathroom (and maybe some updated furniture), those cabins would be lovely. But in the current state I would not want to stay there again.

We had been told that we had to take everything out of the car, even closed bottles of water and such. I found that really strange. If that stuff attracts a bear and the bear really wants it, wouldn’t the bear be able to come and get it from the cabin where I am sleeping as well? I asked about that and got the answer that the bear can do more damage to the car when it tries to get in than it would to the cabin (i.e. it is easier for the bear to get into the cabin than into the car!!!!) and we would be able to evacuate the cabin fast enough if the bear came in (!!!!). Not sure this was what I wanted to hear. I really would not want to try to have to evacuate my cabin in the middle of the night when the bear came in to drink my bottled water!

I think they go overboard with the bear warnings because of all the stupid people who do stupid things. Realistically, if bears were attracted to smells as much as they say. Simply walking in the car after stopping at a McDonald's along the way (or worse, eating it on drive in) would leave odors that would have bears ripping cars apart. They are never going to go into a car for water. Half a sub? Leftovers from dinner last night? Bags of snacks? Sure. But bottles of water? No way.

With the shopping we had done for supplies, our luggage and the drinks we got from the the nice people at the Paradise Pier Hotel it was quite a hassle to drag everything to our cabin. Luckily we had the one that was closest to the parking area!

We looked around a bit and then decided to check out the Grant Grove restaurant for dinner. When we got there it seemed to be hopping with people and it was also incredibly understaffed. After a while we managed to speak to the totally overworked hostess and she put us on the list and told us that it would be about 30 minutes and we could sit on the little patio outside. We realized that they had free wifi in this area (no mobile coverage, so this was a great way to get in touch with the world!). Since it was half an hour, I went and got us some red wine from our cabin and we sat out there using the internet and enjoying our wine. On my way I got another picture of the beautiful meadow between restaurant and cabins:

It was really nice for about half an hour. And then it started to get chilly and we started to get really hungry. But it ended up to be a 50 minute wait until we finally got a table.

Yes, I was about to say that it was one of the longest 30 minute waits of my life!

Michael ordered the Chicken Marsala:

He said it was tasty, but not very warm.

No, it had been pre-made that evening. But mine should have been stuck in a microwave before serving. The food wasn't bad and our server was nice enough, despite being overrun with people. But there simply isn't enough food offerings here and everyone comes to the restaurant.

I had a burger:

The food was quite good, but the whole chaos to get it was not so pleasant. However, we fully expected to return there again the next evening as it was really the only place in Grant Grove where you could eat. When we were finished at 9 p.m. we talked to the hostess (who was really nice and a bit more relaxed now) about reserving a table the next day and she said that was definitely possible. So we got a table for 7:30 p.m. the next day.

On the way back to the cabins it was pitch dark outside. The tiny lights they had along the path really did not help at all. I appreciate that they want to keep the artificial light down in the National Park, but this was ridiculous and dangerous. At least it gave me the opportunity to use the flashlight function of my IPhone…

Back at the cabin we sat outside on our deck for quite a while chatting and it was exactly what I had hoped for when I booked the cabin. It was peaceful, the forest was beautiful, the sky full of stars, the air clean and crisp and we had a great time. I might have also had some more of the red wine…

And then ... then ... it got exciting!

At some point we retired inside and I caught up on trip notes before it was time to go to sleep. At least for some hours. Because some time after 2 a.m. I woke up. I am not sure what woke me up, but I think it might have been the smell. It was smoky. Very smoky!! And it only took my brain two seconds from registering that I smelled smoke to coming to the conclusion that the cabin was on fire! And – bam – I was wide awake! I sat up and looked around. No fire to be seen. Then I remembered the wildfires and looked outside to see if the fire was already outside the cabin. Nothing there. And by then I had woken up enough to realize that somehow the wind must have turned and it was just the smoke from the fire that was still a safe distance that was now moving over to where we were and that if the fire was in any way dangerous for us, someone would come and wake us up and evacuate us. So, I went back to sleep….

I was in a dead sleep. And suddenly M was awake like ... like the cabin was on fire. It took me, even in that state, all of 10 seconds to smell it and figure out what she thought and why she woke this angry bear up from his hibernating. I was NOT happy. It was just one of those moments ... like the German tourist and the ceiling fan moments, but I am getting ahead of myself. All in all, Kings Canyon was beautiful (what we saw of it), but this definitely wasn't one of our best days by a long shot.

Up Next: Meeting Giants

 

[franandaj]

However, the day before Michael had suggested to ask at the hotel if we could get a late check out in order to enjoy some more pool time before we left and they agreed to let us have the room until 12pm. Perfect!

That's great you had an extra hour until checkout!

We started with our usual routine of me getting up earlier and getting a start at the pool.

Nice to not have to jump on the road first thing in the morning!

At some time Michael came down and enjoyed the hot tub.

Nice of him to join you!

And then it was time to try to out all out stuff into the car! That was a scary prospect! I went down first and when I got there someone asked me whether we were arriving or leaving. At first I was confused, but then it turned out that they had a large number of cans with soft drinks left over and they were on their way to the airport to fly home and offered the cans to us. I thought that was very nice and we took them. I think all in all it was over 10 cans.

It's always nice when you find someone to take your extras. We usually give them to the Bell Services guys in Florida.

After lunch it was time for dessert – and our final “must do” stop in Anaheim. Something that Michael had always wanted to try, but never did: Joe’s Italian Ice.

I have never tried this either!

We drove past Downtown LA:

Ah yes a familiar weekly sight for me, although with Daylight Savings, it's been a while since I have seen it in the light.

At kind of the last outskirts of the greater LA area we stopped for coffee at a Starbucks where Michael met some very unfriendly Californians.

It sounds like you met some "entitled" folks who think that the rules of society do not apply to them. And people wonder why there is a whole generation of young folks who think they are "owed something" from the world, and rules don't apply to them.

BTW, isn't my WHOLE story better than M's little quick synopsis?

It was a tad bit more interesting to read....

They had some impressive looking coasters there!

And not nearly the safety record of Disney.

Not good air quality there! We kind of had seen some reports of wildfires before we left.

Not only that but the south end of the Valley is where all the breezes send that polluted air. The mountains keep it in the south end of the Valley so it's even worse and more concentrated right as you come down the Grapevine.

This was a recommendation from Alison and it turned out a good place to stop. We had been able to get a great rate and the room was spacious and clean.

Whew! I'm glad it worked out as a good recommendation.

Yes, it was a very nice place with large rooms that would have been comfortable for more than a night ... but why anyone would spend more than a night in Tulare I am not sure.

We had several friends who lived in Tulare, one who went back home for Hospice, and then we became friends with his family. We used to have to visit for days at a time to take care of one dear friend, who we finally moved to Long Beach so that we didn't have to keep going up to "rescue" her. Unfortunately she passed away within a week of moving to her own place locally. We tried quite a few different hotels there before finding that nice one.

I really thought it was a great experience and I loved my food. And if you are ever in Tulare, I can definitely recommend Richard’s Lunchbox.

I might go through there on my next trip up north specifically to try that place!

After dinner we headed over to explore the Tulare Outlet Mall.

I have a standing order from my brother in law to pick up Levi’s jeans when I am in the US.

Good! I'm glad that staying in Tulare fit another need as well.

After the nice shopping trip we returned to the hotel for a dip in the pool. When we got there, there was a largish group of German tourists at the pool. This was the start of the German tourists. We met many many more in the coming days!

This seems to be a really popular hotel for German tourists. I have run into them at the hotel before as well.

And I see that you have posted another update that I will need to catch up on once I post this one!

 

[Steppesister]

Look! a mini-WL! LOL!



The drive made me homesick for the scenery. California is definitely a very beautiful state. Outside of the cities.

Glad you enjoyed Marie Calendars! I grew up on their chicken pot pies, which were to die for. Mmmm! Razzleberry pie.

 

[Poolrat]

The conference with the waterpark party, I would always be in for that! We don't have conferences like that!

In Palm Springs the joke was the last time our group was in town the hotel ran out of liquor....... All I can say is most of the group knows how to have fun.

I do understand the history. But sometimes I get a bit frustrated with Disney being so self-referential with its own history.

I think that is it!!

And one thing I learned is that often the most delicious food comes from places that don't have to bother with shiny things to attract customers.

Yeah you just need to get the nerve to walk in because sometimes they look dangerous.

I guess people should not use Starbucks as a free restroom when driving with a whole youth group..

Yup but then where would everyone get their Starbucks Fix?

Now I know that it is the sport that I am currently starting to learn a little bit about because I will have to watch the Super Bowl with Michael (in the middle of the night at that, the game starts at midnight here)!

Go Panthers!!!!!!!

He says "Entschuldigung, a gentleman never tells". I did not know that he was a gentleman...

Gesundheit I mean Bless You !!

I have been told that this is the same - well, since Carl's Jr. bought Hardee's some years ago according to my source.

Yes Hardee's is East Coast Carl's Jr.

But the rest of Kings Canyon was more or less inaccessible.

However, the road to Cedar Grove was closed because of fires being too close to the road.

Well that puts a bit of a kink in the plans, but I see you worked it all out.

I asked about that and got the answer that the bear can do more damage to the car when it tries to get in than it would to the cabin (i.e. it is easier for the bear to get into the cabin than into the car!!!!) and we would be able to evacuate the cabin fast enough if the bear came in (!!!!). Not sure this was what I wanted to hear.

I would not want to hear that either.

Because some time after 2 a.m. I woke up. I am not sure what woke me up, but I think it might have been the smell. It was smoky. Very smoky!!

Smoke would do it. A bear would do it. Smoky the Bear would definitely do it.

And yes I would happy to be awakened if someone smelled smoke and suspected a fire. Glad to find out it wasn't one but happy not to die in my sleep from smoke inhalation.