Just the 3 of us almost. Nov '09 TR ~ Update 7/10

[*dreamit*doit*]

I'll be here!

(but if you start it this weekend I'll be in WDW!!!! but after that...I'll be here! )

 

[tinkgurl]

I'll still here. Please don't do too many updates while I'm gone! I don't want to miss much!

 

[Dugette]

Yea, a new trip report! I'm here!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I'll be on board, Alison!!
Hurry Back!!

Hi there! Thanks for stopping in.

You know I'll be on board!

How are you doing? Your trip is getting so close now!

I'll be here!

(but if you start it this weekend I'll be in WDW!!!! but after that...I'll be here! )

Lucky girl! Have a wonderful weekend trip. I hope you get just enough Disney magic to hold you over until your next trip!

I'll still here. Please don't do too many updates while I'm gone! I don't want to miss much!

I'm sure that I won't do too many updates while you are gone. It has taken me this long to get started, so unless I get a fire lit under me, there will probably only be 1 or 2 updates. I am so excited for your trip. You are going to have so much fun!

Yea, a new trip report! I'm here!

Thanks for sticking with me!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

My delayed trip report has finally started for our Disneyland trip last November. I’m sorry that it has taken me to so long to get started, but hopefully I will be able to put the effort into it now. Just a warning that there are no pictures from the first day, due to me being sick & not in a “picture taking” mood. I promise that there are a lot of pictures from the rest of the trip.

The story really starts the day BEFORE we left for our trip. The plan was for me to work my normal week and we would get on the road on Friday afternoon. The Wednesday night of that week, I started feeling sick. I went to bed early to try to fight it off, but when I woke up the next morning it was clear that I had a flu of some sort. I called in sick to work & stayed in bed most of the day. I really wanted to use the time to start packing but I could barely move. I was able to do laundry but no packing happened AT ALL. This is the night before we were scheduled to leave! All I could think was that it was so typical of my bad luck for me to get sick right before a major trip. I finally went to bed that night with empty suitcases & feeling really stressed.

I got up the next morning (Friday) and went to work at 7:00 AM for 2 hours. I didn’t want it to look like I was calling in sick but I was really leaving early for my trip. I was so miserable (& looking back, I honestly don’t know how I made it there, at all) but there were a few emergencies that needed to be taken care of. I finally got out the door at 9:00, & when I got home I felt terrible. Todd was still working (he runs his business from home) so I laid down and tried to figure out how to get packed when I could barely stand up.

Todd left to run some errands & Dylan decided it was a good time to be a toddler & test his mommy. Bless his heart, I think he could sense my weakness. We had a few time-outs & a lot of tears before it was over. The whole time I was just trying not to throw up. Todd came home w/ more medication & I told him that I was really frustrated because I wanted to already be in the car on the road. We were still were not packed & were not even close to being ready to leave. I could barely stand up for longer than 5 minutes before I would get dizzy & nauseous so I would need to lie back down. I had written up a To-Do list so Todd started working on it while I got myself packed (in 5 minutes spurts). I told him that I didn’t know if I would be able to drive all the way to Bakersfield that day (a 7 hour drive ).

We just kept pushing forward and the medicine finally kicked in. I felt a little better so I said “Let’s go.” We loaded up the car & left at 1:20, which is about the time I would normally get home from work. We stopped at Sonic on the way out of town to get a big drink for me. I got a large Strawberry Limeade & it tasted SO good. I had barely eaten anything in 2 days so I got a grilled cheese sandwich & I took small bites to test my stomach. I did ok so I ate about ½ of it.

Dylan started watching a movie on his DVD player and he fell asleep at about 2:15. I was happy about that until he woke up ½ hour later. Not good. He never fell back asleep the entire car ride & he did not have a nap before we left.

We just decided that we would stop whenever I needed to & so we pulled off the road quite a bit. Rest stops, gas stations, fast food places, you name it. We let Dylan out of the car a couple of times, but then he didn’t want to get back in so we stopped letting him out. We also had our dogs with us so they wanted to get out too. We drove through Sacramento at 4:00 & surprisingly, we didn’t hit very bad traffic. We were actually a little optimistic until we got to Modesto & our luck ran out. It was stop & go. No reason for it, just rush hour & weekend traffic. I really tried to sleep during the drive because it helped time go faster & I wouldn’t be awake to realize how terrible I felt. I have to say that it was the most silent car ride that Todd & I have ever had, because I was too tired to talk. We usually have great conversations on road trips, so it felt really weird.

The last 2 hours of the drive were awful. I felt so nauseous & Todd wanted to stop but I just wanted to get there so we kept going. We finally pulled into Todd’s parent’s house in Bakersfield at 9:50 pm. It had taken us 8.5 hours to drive there when it usually takes 7. I can’t believe I made it, considering how sick I was. I should get a medal or something.

We had called his parents to let them know I was sick, so I only visited w/ them for a few minutes while Todd brought in our stuff and then I went to bed. I was asleep as soon as I hit the bed, & Dylan stayed up to play with Grandma & Papa. When they came upstairs to go to bed later, they were all so noisy that it woke me up. Dylan & the dogs all jumped on the bed. Todd told Dylan to let me sleep & he had an instant melt down (no nap all day will do that to a kid!). I had him get in bed with me & I read him a book until he calmed down, then I got him to lay down on his little bed. He fell asleep pretty quickly & Todd told me that Dylan kept trying to get upstairs to see me after I had gone to bed. His missed his momma.

Everyone fell asleep quickly….except for me. I was up most of the night being sick. There is nothing worse that being sick at someone else’s house. I was up & down all night & I felt like I was keeping everyone awake. The next morning, they all said they didn’t hear me, so that made me feel better. The last time I was sick was at 6:00 am and then I finally fell asleep. What a miserable day to start the vacation!

Up next, day 2 ~ would we make it to Disneyland, as planned?

 

[tinkgurl]

Aw I hate being sick away from home. I hope your trip starts getting better!

 

[LilAnn]

Awww, you poor thing. It sucks to be sick in the first place, and I always think stomach bugs are the worst. But it's even worse to be sick when you are on vacation. I hope you start to feel better soon and that it was just a short-term virus. I hope that you wake up feeling magically better!

Sonic - we tried that for the first time last month as there is only one "near" us. Probably because it's too cold for them to be out on skates up here. I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoy the drinks there. So does Lily - anything with sprinkles on it!

I think that' so cute that Dylan wanted to keep going upstairs to see you when you were sleeping. I work nights and on the weekends, my DH is always saying that Lily keeps trying to go upstairs to see me. She keeps saying "I'm tired. Sleep with mommy." Aww. They just miss their mommies - either that or they have that knack for knowing when we need rest!

 

[Dugette]

What a rough start to your trip. I hope it gets better quickly. For what it's worth, I completely relate to how you were feeling. (And I'll just leave it at that so I don't completely spoil anything coming up in my TR ) I really hope you were able to kick it quickly and fully enjoy your trip. Can't wait to hear how your next day goes!

 

[Disney owl]

great report & photos

 

[*dreamit*doit*]

Lucky girl! Have a wonderful weekend trip. I hope you get just enough Disney magic to hold you over until your next trip!

Thanks! We did!

However, our trip ended much like yours started - well for Miren anyway. Now both girls are sick.

Can't wait to read more and see all your pictures though!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Aw I hate being sick away from home. I hope your trip starts getting better!

Yeah, it was a real downer to start the trip. I'm just so glad it wasn't before our WDW last summer. Can you imagine flying across the country feeling like that? Yuck!

Awww, you poor thing. It sucks to be sick in the first place, and I always think stomach bugs are the worst. But it's even worse to be sick when you are on vacation. I hope you start to feel better soon and that it was just a short-term virus. I hope that you wake up feeling magically better!

Sonic - we tried that for the first time last month as there is only one "near" us. Probably because it's too cold for them to be out on skates up here. I do have to say that I thoroughly enjoy the drinks there. So does Lily - anything with sprinkles on it!

I think that' so cute that Dylan wanted to keep going upstairs to see you when you were sleeping. I work nights and on the weekends, my DH is always saying that Lily keeps trying to go upstairs to see me. She keeps saying "I'm tired. Sleep with mommy." Aww. They just miss their mommies - either that or they have that knack for knowing when we need rest!

The Sonic is about 20 minutes south of us, so it is on the way when we go out of town anywhere. I'm lucky it's not closer or I would want to go there all the time for their drinks. The food is not bad either, but I really get cravings for those Strawberry Limeades!

I felt so bad for Dylan because I had tried to stay away from him for 2 days, because I didn't want him to get sick. Poor little kid didn't understand why his mommy was neglecting him. I finally gave in that night & read him that book. Thank goodness he didn't get sick!! I definitely felt loved.

What a rough start to your trip. I hope it gets better quickly. For what it's worth, I completely relate to how you were feeling. (And I'll just leave it at that so I don't completely spoil anything coming up in my TR ) I really hope you were able to kick it quickly and fully enjoy your trip. Can't wait to hear how your next day goes!

Oh, I hope that you didn't get too sick on your trip. That is NO fun at all! I kept thinking that I was glad that we have been to DL many times, so if we didn't get to do very many things, it wasn't like it was our first trip ever. I would have felt more upset if we were going to WDW while I was sick!

great report & photos

Welcome! Thank you for reading.

Thanks! We did!

However, our trip ended much like yours started - well for Miren anyway. Now both girls are sick.

Can't wait to read more and see all your pictures though!

Oh no! Isn't that the way it always goes? A good trip can lead to a hard return. I hope the girls are feeling better.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Dylan woke up at 7:30. Todd got up with him and told me to try and sleep. We would just have to play the day by ear, so I fell back asleep until almost 9:00. When I woke up I felt a little better, but not great. I could smell food being made, & it was the first time that anything smelled good for a few days, so I went downstairs. They were all still at the table so I joined them & ate a biscuit with butter & jelly. I did not get sick from it but I needed to lie back down for a while.

Dylan played basketball on a little hoop that Todd’s parents had. He is a coordinated little kid. I can’t wait to see what he is interested in doing as he grows up, because he really enjoys trying all different types of sports already.

I finally took a shower a couple of hours later & slowly got ready. Man, did that shower feel good after being so sick! I finally got all packed up and went to find everyone. Todd had taken Dylan outside to see the ducks. His parents live in a really cute community that has a man-made lake. All of the houses are right on the lake & there are quite a few fish & ducks that are in the water. Dylan loves to feed the ducks. It was cold this morning and Dylan was only wearing a diaper & a t-shirt but the cold doesn’t bother him. We left him outside with Todd’s mom so that we could pack the car. We were leaving our dogs at their house while we were in LA, & they figured out pretty quickly what was going on when the suitcases started going out the door!

We went out to get Dylan and we couldn’t find either one of them. We looked around and I saw Dylan leading Connie around the lake, following a pack of ducks that had come up on the grass. They were about 10 houses away & he was still just in his diaper! I started laughing because I was just picturing all of the neighbors going, “Who would let their kid outside like that?” Um, yeah….that would be us. He was so happy, and the ducks were letting him walk right up to them. Crazy!!

We finally got on the road by 2:00. We stopped to get some food on the way out of town & Dylan was asleep before we hit the freeway. I ate a couple of chicken nuggets and did not get sick again. I was making progress. Yay!

It was extremely cloudy on the drive down. Usually you can see the mountains leading into the Grapevine from a pretty far distance, but the clouds were so low that you could not see much of them at all.

This is right before you hit the slope to go up. You can see how the clouds are cutting the mountains in half!

This drive is a little crazy because you climb almost 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes. It is very steep, but it is so beautiful. I always get nervous when we drive this pass because on a past trip to DL we got stuck overnight on the top of the Grapevine during a snowstorm. They closed the roads and we just sat there for hours until they could get the roads salted. The wind was so bad that it was literally blowing cars into each other because the roads were so icy. We saw a big rig jack-knife in the middle of the road right next to us, and other cars (with stupid drivers) would lose control of their cars and drive right into it. It was one of the worst nights of my life and I always think about it when we drive through this pass now. Do you want to see how drastic the altitude change is? Here is about 10 minutes later than the last picture. We have risen above the clouds to a blue sky!

We got to the exit for the Griffith Observatory about 3:45 and found our way off the freeway and onto the road leading up to it. It was really congested with traffic and it took us a while to get there, but we got to drive through some really pretty neighborhoods with interesting looking homes & apartments. We have never been to this area of LA before so it didn’t bother us to have to drive slow.

As we got closer, we could see a lot of people parking and walking up the very steep hill to the Observatory. There was no way that I could walk up that hill, being that I was still sick, and we would have to push Dylan in his stroller. We almost decided to give up and leave since it was so crowded, but Todd just kept on driving until we reached the small parking lot at the top. It was completely packed & there were people everywhere. We drove around a few times and we got lucky when someone pulled out of their spot right in front of us. Wooo hooo! We pulled in and got out of the car.

What a VIEW!! I am so glad that we did not skip this. The Observatory is at the top of a mountain and on the edge of a cliff, so you can see almost a 360 degree view. You can see the Hollywood sign, all of the buildings in downtown LA and beautiful areas of nature. Not to mention the Observatory itself is so unique looking.

We started taking pictures of the Hollywood sign and we realized that it was really close to sunset. Then we noticed all of the people that had cameras set up on tripods and it all became clear. A lot of people were here to watch the sunset.

Dylan found some telescopes & wanted to use them. So cute!

Walking towards the building.

So beautiful!

Love this picture.

Continued in next post.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

We went inside & it was packed with people. The inside of the building is not that large, but the architecture was amazing. There is a pendulum in the middle of the entryway and it was fun to watch it for a while.

The lobby

The ceiling

You are allowed to go up on the roof of the building, and we wanted to watch the sunset so up we went. It was pretty windy up there so it was cold but the view was worth it. We were probably up there for 30 minutes or so as we waited for the sun to go down.

Most people left right after the sunset so we stuck around for a while to avoid some traffic down the hill to the freeway. Todd was saying how he was so glad that we decided to go there, because it combined a lot of his favorite things…architecture, a great view, historic location, etc. We were there about 1 ½ hours and we could have stayed longer. There was a lot of stuff inside that we didn’t do. I’m sure that we will go back again.

We finally got in the car and headed back towards the freeway…and hit a lot of traffic.

Up next…how long does it take us to drive 30 miles to Disneyland?

 

[sharonW]

I'm enjoying this!! The pics are amazing. Loved seeing the
Hollywood sign, have always wanted to visit Ca. I think I'll
just live some of that dream through you!!
Can't wait for more, more more!

 

[LilAnn]

Wow, that observatory is such a beautiful building. It looks so perfectly situated too! It looks like you got there at the perfect time. Glad to hear that you were starting to feel better.

The picture where Dylan is walking with Todd on the sidewalk - he looks so grown up! Time is flying by. He looks like a little boy there, not just a toddler.

I also love the photo of you and Dylan (it's a view of your backs) looking at the view with the Hollywood sign. But then again, I think I've mentioned before on your other TR how I love those kind of photos and it's always rare to get the mom and child shot since we're always the ones taking the photos!

 

[tinkgurl]

HI I'm home!

Aw..looks like such a nice way to end the day. The views were beautiful way up there!

 

[Dugette]

Nice update! First off, glad to see you seem to be feeling a little better. I hope it keeps up.

That drive looks really pretty (of course, I'm sure it was not on that winter night you mentioned...). I love driving through scenic areas like that.

Good timing on the observatory. You got a great parking spot and a great sunset view! How cool. That looks like a neat place to visit. Glad it worked out for you.

Looking forward to your Disney arrival!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

I'm enjoying this!! The pics are amazing. Loved seeing the
Hollywood sign, have always wanted to visit Ca. I think I'll
just live some of that dream through you!!
Can't wait for more, more more!

You SHOULD visit CA someday. It is a beautiful state and you can see so many things in a short amount of time. I get spoiled living here, but when I do something new like the Observatory, it reminds me how lucky we are to live here.

Wow, that observatory is such a beautiful building. It looks so perfectly situated too! It looks like you got there at the perfect time. Glad to hear that you were starting to feel better.

The picture where Dylan is walking with Todd on the sidewalk - he looks so grown up! Time is flying by. He looks like a little boy there, not just a toddler.

I also love the photo of you and Dylan (it's a view of your backs) looking at the view with the Hollywood sign. But then again, I think I've mentioned before on your other TR how I love those kind of photos and it's always rare to get the mom and child shot since we're always the ones taking the photos!

I'm glad that we got there when we did. We had not planned to see the sunset, but because I was sick we got a much later start than anticipated. Silver lining on the cloud!

Dylan just keeps growing. He was 3' 2" at his 2 year old doctor's appointment, and I'm sure that he has grown at least 2" since then. Everyone asks if he is 4 y.o.! It makes me sad because I want him to stay small, so I can at least pretend he is still a baby for a little longer. I love that photo of us too. We were having a "moment" and Todd caught it with the camera. He was facinated by the blimp that was circling the Hollywood sign.

HI I'm home!

Aw..looks like such a nice way to end the day. The views were beautiful way up there!

Yay! You're back. How was your trip? I'm going over right now to check into your TR.

The view was amazing up there. I wish it was a little less smoggy, but that is LA for you. Rarely is there a nice, perfectly clear day.

Nice update! First off, glad to see you seem to be feeling a little better. I hope it keeps up.

That drive looks really pretty (of course, I'm sure it was not on that winter night you mentioned...). I love driving through scenic areas like that.

Good timing on the observatory. You got a great parking spot and a great sunset view! How cool. That looks like a neat place to visit. Glad it worked out for you.

Looking forward to your Disney arrival!

I was definitely feeling a little better at this point. It got a little better each day of the trip, but I definitely was not feeling like myself for most of it.

The Grapevine drive is really pretty. What was so weird about the night that we got stuck was that it wasn't even snowing. The wind was blowing so hard that it was blowing the snow off the tops of the mountains & down onto the road. It was so scary & I hated it. Even when we drive in the summer now, I check the weather forcast for the driving conditions. LOL.

 

[Dugette]

Ok, I was just looking at your observatory pictures again...is Todd wearing those sunglasses he got at WDW? Sure looks like it! Funny! Just had to comment on that.

Looking forward to more. I've only been to Disneyland twice (1 day each time), so really excited to experience it again through your family!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Ok, I was just looking at your observatory pictures again...is Todd wearing those sunglasses he got at WDW? Sure looks like it! Funny! Just had to comment on that.

Looking forward to more. I've only been to Disneyland twice (1 day each time), so really excited to experience it again through your family!

Yes, those are his lame glasses from WDW. Ha, ha, I hadn't even noticed until you said that. He leaves them in his car for emergencies (b/c he forgets his in the house all the time). Yes, they still haunt us, even now!

Disneyland feels like home to us. We are fortunate to get to go frequently and it is so comfortable. WDW is exciting because we don't get to go very often. DL is much easier to plan for, and I just love it!