Discovering Another Mad Dash (Oct 14): Heading Home and Finally finishing this TR #1523 (05/03)

[ACDSNY]

Santa Monica pier looks like a fun stroll, but Mickey and Minnie sure look like imposters. The Zoltar reminds me of the movie "Big".

The church and band pics are beautiful, that was great you were able to attend.

 

[franandaj]

Thus, the Main Street of America....Route 66....represented that Great American dream in the 30's and 40's. It was a means of escaping the dust bowl and farming heartbreak. The exodus west was to continue after World War II; all in search of a better life. An escape from the Dust Bowl and Rust Belt to the Sun Belt.

Nice little history lesson. At one of the car museums that we visited last year, they had a bit about route 66 which really put it all into perspective about how America developed post war and why the automobile was such an integral part of that development.

It really was the perfect beach day. Temperatures were in the high 80's by this stage.

Looks like a lovely day at the beach

Afterall, it really isn't Disney! It just pretends to be.

Wow! I can't believe Mickey and Minnie wanna be's were hanging out there!

So, I had to improvise with the smart phone.

Great Shot!

So I'll just limit them to a couple of Fran...

Nice pictures of Fran!

...and Alison.

And there's that expression again....

Alison had mentioned that the second half of the program (The Divine Comedy symphony, based on the Dante epic, by Robert Smith) was a little heavy. The first half was the light and popular music, in keeping with a Halloween theme.
DH and I both thought the second half was by far the more interesting program. Alison had a couple of solo spots during the symphony and I truly appreciated how great her chops are during these spots. You're really talented, Alison.

If anyone is interested you can find them here.

The solo was in the second movement, Purgatorio. Our last concert is up there as well, it was all movie music.

Thanks for the invite, Alison. We both thought this afternoon was one of the highlights of this trip and we're so glad to have had the opportunity to listen to you, Fran and the band play. It was definitely a performance to remember. If our trips ever do coincide with a live performance, we're definitely going to gatecrash and come listen to you play again.

Thank you for coming. Since all my friends are either in the band or on the DIS, the only people I can invite are DIS friends! Anyone who will be here around November 1st is welcome to come to our next concert, it's all Broadway show tunes.

The Zoltar reminds me of the movie "Big".

Thanks Angela, I could not for the life of me, remember what movie this was from!

 

[mvf-m11c]

The Santa Monica Pier looks amazing to go to. There are a lot of places in SoCal that I have never done that you have done during your trip.

That was neat at that you were able to see Alison and Fran played at the Shatto Chapel.

When you saw them played in Los Angeles, I was able to see them perform at DCA. I will have to consider seeing them play again when I am down in SoCal.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Looks like Santa Monica Pier makes a perfect last day destination. We did this in 2011 when we came from our Panama Canal cruise and flew home the same day. I had been to Santa Monica once previously and did not really rate it, but I really enjoyed it in 2011. I am surprised that the Mickey and Minnie are still there. We saw them in 2011. I did not dare take a photo as I was worried that they were then trying to get money off me. I am really surprised that they have been able to get away with this for so long in Disney's backyard especially considering how big a deal character integrity is for Disney.

That chapel is beautiful and how wonderful that you managed to go to the concert. I am hoping that I get a chance to attend one of Alison's and Fran's concerts at some point in the future.

Corinna

 

[LegoMom3]

THEY HAVE A ZOLTAR!!! Be careful what you wish for.....


Gorgeous pics. I must get to CA one of these days.

.

 

[scottny]

Nice pics around the pier.

Mickeys ears looked a little off. LOL.

That bird looks awfully close.

Great you got to see Alison and Fran play live.

 

[jedijill]

Caught back up! Hate the new Dis notifications. At least I'm learning to use the Watched Thread feature.

That brunch looked awesome and I love the pier. Zoltar from Big! That is so cool you got to see Alison and Fran's concert! How fun!

Jill in CO

 

[PrincessInOz]

So, first of all I had NO idea that Allison and Fran were in a band. That is so super cool as I am really into stuff like that. It looks like a great performance. The church is also lovely.

Alison posted that video clip. I hope you got to enjoy some of the performance on that day. It really was super cool for us and we are also into musical performances as well.

And the Santa Monica Pier - wow - talk about some great and nostalgic pictures. I just love that whole retro beach theme. I mean - come one - Zoltar in the box (or whatever his name is). That is so awesome. That is one of the reason I love the Boardwalk so much. It's just chocked full of nostalgic stuff from the Jersey shore.

One of the things I love about visiting America is seeing all that retro beach stuff. We do have Zoltar at some of the games arcades in Melbourne but it always gives me a real thrill to see them along one of those Americana Boardwalks. I'd love to make it out to the Jersey shore one of these days.

You are so right - who doesn't love a California beach? This mountains in the background just make everything so picturesque.

I like the beaches of Huntingdale, Seal etc of LA. But the ones that I love even more are the ones where there are mountains in the background; or with a few cliffs. I really liked Laguna Beach for that reason and was really pleased to have made the effort on day 1 of this trip to spend some time there. The beaches from Malibu upwards are also really picturesque as well. And I think Solana beach and the one near Scripps Institute are also very pretty.

Santa Monica pier looks like a fun stroll, but Mickey and Minnie sure look like imposters. The Zoltar reminds me of the movie "Big".

The church and band pics are beautiful, that was great you were able to attend.

It was amusing to see Mickey and Minnie but they really looked so 'wrong'. I did figure out what was 'wrong'. It was the ears. You would never see Mickey in floppy ears!
Hmm. It's been a while since I've seen 'Big'. But you're right!

I was really so happy that my dates coincided with a band performance!

The Santa Monica Pier looks amazing to go to. There are a lot of places in SoCal that I have never done that you have done during your trip.

Hopefully, you'll add it to one of your trips! There are a lot of cool places in SoCal.

That was neat at that you were able to see Alison and Fran played at the Shatto Chapel.

When you saw them played in Los Angeles, I was able to see them perform at DCA. I will have to consider seeing them play again when I am down in SoCal.

I'm sure that one of your trips will coincide with a band performance.

Looks like Santa Monica Pier makes a perfect last day destination. We did this in 2011 when we came from our Panama Canal cruise and flew home the same day. I had been to Santa Monica once previously and did not really rate it, but I really enjoyed it in 2011. I am surprised that the Mickey and Minnie are still there. We saw them in 2011. I did not dare take a photo as I was worried that they were then trying to get money off me. I am really surprised that they have been able to get away with this for so long in Disney's backyard especially considering how big a deal character integrity is for Disney.

That chapel is beautiful and how wonderful that you managed to go to the concert. I am hoping that I get a chance to attend one of Alison's and Fran's concerts at some point in the future.

Corinna

I think the Santa Monica Pier is much better to visit on a weekend than on a weekday.
I was surprised to see NOT Mickey and Minnie in a location so close to Disneyland. I guess it is something that is hard to police 100% of the time.

Hope that you get to attend a concert as well!

THEY HAVE A ZOLTAR!!! Be careful what you wish for.....


Gorgeous pics. I must get to CA one of these days.

.

I hope you get to CA as well. Maybe the moons will align and we can DisMeet there! Wouldn't that be cool??

Nice pics around the pier.

Mickeys ears looked a little off. LOL.

That bird looks awfully close.

Great you got to see Alison and Fran play live.

I was probably about 3 meters away from the bird. It was perching on the railing.

Caught back up! Hate the new Dis notifications. At least I'm learning to use the Watched Thread feature.

That brunch looked awesome and I love the pier. Zoltar from Big! That is so cool you got to see Alison and Fran's concert! How fun!

Jill in CO

There are some things that take a little getting used to on the new Dis. Glad you're all caught up again!

It was a great day with the brunch, the pier and the highlight was definitely the concert.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Nice little history lesson. At one of the car museums that we visited last year, they had a bit about route 66 which really put it all into perspective about how America developed post war and why the automobile was such an integral part of that development.

One of these days, I'm going to start in Chicago and drive all the way down Route 66. I watched Billy Connolly bike down the entire length on TV and it just looked like such a fun thing to do. So much history to learn!

Looks like a lovely day at the beach

It was a great day. Hot! But perfect beach weather.

If anyone is interested you can find them here.

The solo was in the second movement, Purgatorio. Our last concert is up there as well, it was all movie music.

Thanks for sharing! I really liked that piece.

Thank you for coming. Since all my friends are either in the band or on the DIS, the only people I can invite are DIS friends! Anyone who will be here around November 1st is welcome to come to our next concert, it's all Broadway show tunes.

November 1st? I'll try and keep that in mind.

 

[Leshaface]

It's so hard for me to pass up French Toast. Ugh, this looks delicious.

Actually this looks delicious too!

As expected, the breakfast....er....brunch here was better than the buffet food we had. But it really was delicious! We don't reach out to this branch of the family often. They have exceedingly busy lives and it isn't often that they are free to catch up. So, we were doubly blessed this morning. It was great catching up on family news.

That is great that you were able to catch up with family.

Cute picture!

I do love Cali beaches.

I just never understand why folks would want to take pictures with these 'characters'. The costumes are just awful!

Very pretty!

Such good shots of them!

 

[PrincessInOz]

It's so hard for me to pass up French Toast. Ugh, this looks delicious.

Actually this looks delicious too!
That is great that you were able to catch up with family.
Cute picture!
I do love Cali beaches.
I just never understand why folks would want to take pictures with these 'characters'. The costumes are just awful!
Very pretty!
Such good shots of them!

Thanks Lesha.

The french toast was delicious. I can't vouch for the avo dish. I didn't eat that one.
We have beaches on the other side of the Pacific ocean; and they are good too...but there is nothing quite like a Cali beach.
I liked my pictures of Fran, Alison and the band. I came with with well over 200 on that day and culled it down to 60 - 80. Needless to say, there was no point in sharing those on the Dis.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Heading Home


Discovery #87. Parting is such sweet sorrow.



Sadly, there really isn't much more to share of this TR.


After saying our final goodbyes to Alison and Fran, we made our way back to the hotel so that we could grab a final shower and change into our travel clothes.






I had completed most of our packing last night and there were just only the last minute toiletries and our daywear to pack.






There was one final piece of pixie dust surprise waiting for us when we checked out. I had originally booked us in for a two night stay so that we could leave our bags somewhere safe and have a final shower. We weren't staying the second night and when we went to check out (it was about 6 pm by this stage), the staff of the hotel only charged us for the one night. That was a complete bonus as far as I was concerned! Thank you Hyatt Place.






And then it was time to head off.






We needed to get to the airport to drop off the car.






DH and I contemplated where to eat dinner and in the end we ate at the airport. I was dubious about airport food but given that LAX had been refurbed, DH thought it was worth giving it a go. Besides, it was only going to be a light meal as we would be fed 'dinner' on the plane.


My fears turned out unfounded. There were quite a few choices at the airport.






DS ended up having a pizza.






I think DH grabbed an un-pornworthy salad. I grabbed an Umami burger. I think this was one of those West Coast burger chains that has popped up since the last time I visited and I had been keen to give it a taste test.






It was tasty enough but pricey as US burgers go. It is also a lot smaller in portion size than the standard US burger.






I also got us half a dozen of the little Vanilla Cupcakes that DS and I love so much. Good to the last crumb.






Saying goodbye is such sweet sorrow. I took the opportunity to text and call a few people to say goodbye.






It always seems like you wait a long time at the airport. But the call to board the plane seems to come quicker than you think.






We had an uneventful flight back to Sydney airport. As we left on a Sunday, our flight wasn't as full as a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night flight. We ended up having 5 seats between the 3 of us. With that amount of extra space, all 3 of us got sleep. I'm pretty sure that I lost track of a good 5 hours or so somewhere during that flight which is an absolute record for me.



And when we got back to Sydney airport, DS reminded me of something we didn't indulge in whilst in the US.






The irony of it! Krispy Kreme mocking me in Sydney Airport in Halloween/Fall colours.








And from Sydney back to Melbourne and home. The sorrow of another vacation being over was replaced with the sweetness of being home.






(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


A trip down Memory Lane


Discovery #88. When all else fails, I will have my memories, pictures and souvenirs of the trip to remind me of what a great trip this was.




What a Mad Dash this trip turned out to be!



Family and friends. What happy memories I have of these 10 days.

It had started as a trip to mark a happy occasion with my cousin in San Diego and I am so thankful that we made the effort to do so. Life passes too quickly and I firmly believe that we need to spend as much time as possible with our family and friends. And that's what we did on this trip.

The San Diego branch of my family is one that I feel particularly close to. It was to be a very happy 4 days that we spent with them.


And then the time I spent with Bret and his DAF. I really appreciated Bret making a special trip down to spend time with me and my family. I hope we get to do that again in the future.

It was also pretty special to be able to stay with Alison and Fran and deepen the friendship that has developed and grown over the years. I am truly humbled by their generosity in opening up their home to me and my family. I hope that I get the opportunity to reciprocate in kind when they decide to come to Australia.




And my souvenirs?

These are some of the 'snacks' I came home with.






For the record, I do not thank Bret for introducing me to those Californian wine wafers. Along with the Milano cookies, the Choke Cherry Tree Pear Honey and my aunt's peanut brittle, I now have yet another addiction to feed and salivate over in between my Mad Dashes. For those of you that have not yet tried these wafers, I liked them very much and if you have the opportunity to do so, it is a very hard pick between the mocha coffee and the lemon vanilla that Bret gave us.


My clothes shopping stash kinda looks like this. By any standards, it was a modest haul this time round. But I really didn't have that many gaps or replacement items to get in my wardrobe.






My daily reminder of this trip was this D&B. This is my current handbag and I smile every time I pick it up.






My indulgence from this trip. I really didn't need it....but I'm so glad I bought it. It truly is a great reminder of my time at Disney this trip.






My other Disney treasures.






Some of these are on my fridge and the others are on my printer's tray.





Which reminds me.....now that it's getting to winter here, I better go find this sweatshirt and wear it!






My present from myself to myself. These Pandora earring blanks are now suitably decorated with some charms from the Pandora Disney collection.






What a Mad Dash trip this turned out to be. For as long as we have the opportunity to do these kind of dashes across the Pacific Ocean, I suspect that DH and I will do so. Afterall, we do have quite a few family and friends to catch up with now.

We had highlights on every day of this trip that it would take me too long to recount them all if I had to. But it boils down to family, friends, pictures and souvenirs. All of which are larger and/or smaller parts of the fabric of my life that I look forward to and treasure the moments when I can.


In the midst of all the travelling, I have discovered things about SoCal, things about my family and friends and things about myself that are both good and bad. I think that's why I love the travelling so much. It keeps me thinking and learning and growing. May we live in interesting times....always.


Thank you for letting me share this trip with you. I hope to have the opportunity to do so again in the future.

 

[dolphingirl47]

That was an nice surprise that they only charged you for one night. I am quite impressed with that food court at LAX. This is one of my least favourite airports as there is so little there. Which terminal is this?

You did bring back a lot of different treasures. The Dooney and Bourke bag made me smile. I love my Dooneys, but mine are all Disney.

I have just recently come to realize just how precious those kinds of memories are. Thanks for sharing yours. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading along.

Corinna

 

[wiscbugs]

What a great 10 day trip..thanks for sharing with us!

 

[MEK]

What a lovely, sentimental ending to your TR. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I got in on the tail end.

What a nice perk to not have a room charge for that last day. Major score.

I'm so glad you had an uneventful flight home. Years ago I flew from LAX to New Zealand. It was a full flight and very difficult to get any kind of sleep. Score on having multiple seats to share. That is so awesome. My return flight was like that and I was thrilled.

Love all your souvies. I especially love the wine stopper. How cool is that? And I'm so glad you have enjoyed it so much.

Any future plans?

 

[mvf-m11c]

That was neat that the Hyatt Hotel only charged you for only one night.

You brought back a lot of great souvenirs during your trip. I will remember to bring you California wine wafers to you when we meet up again. Just like you, I do enjoy eating these wafers which I do wonder why I can't stop eating these cookies. We got the wafers at the Blue Diamond Growers in Sacramento.

It was a pleasure to go down and hang out with you, DH and DS for a few days and to hang out with Alison and Fran. Definitely well worth the trip. Thank you for a great time. I enjoyed reading your trip reports and can't wait for you to be back here in the U.S.

 

[franandaj]

I read this update on my phone on Sunday morning when I woke up. We had to check out of the Grand Californian that day after the Birthday weekend filled with all kinds of fun and good friends. It brought a tear to my eye remembering that same feeling when you left my house. It was such fun having you stay, Bret and his DAF to come over for lunch.

We've made so many wonderful friends here on the DIS and it is such fun to get together and spend time with each other! You also got quite the haul there, some very wonderful treats, and cute souvenirs as well as practical and shiny things! I look forward to your next mad dash and here's to hoping we find somewhere to meet up in there again!

 

[EJ4Disney]

Thanks so much for taking us with you on your wonderful journey. I really enjoyed it!!

 

[jedijill]

I'm so sad that this Mad Dash is over! Keep us posted on the next one...I would love to meet up! I've also closed on my new house and am settling in....that means Australia 2016 planning is getting ready to start!

Jill in CO