TR w/4000+ Pics/Disney on Ice w/184 Pics!!

[Belle Ella]

Thanx for the pic Jessica!! I'm glad you joined us....just wish we all could have hung out after the tour & chatted more!!

A little bit of chit chat is better than no chit chat at all! It'll happen someday

Hooray....time for a Trip Report!!

Our trip started the morning of July 24th in Salem, Oregon. We rented a 12 passenger van for the 10 of us. I could tell when it arrived that getting 6 adults, 2 kids (1 booster seat) & 2 toddlers in infant car seats with all our luggage would be a task. Thank goodness I'm good at Tetrus!!

Impressive job getting everyone to fit! Wanna know something funny? We own one of those 12 passenger vans. We've never been a family of more than 4 Someday it will become my dads pet project. He's going to gut it and convert it into something. Just can't tell you what. And I love the photos of Mt. Shasta. It brings back a lot of memories from when I was a (littler) kid.

 

[DizNee Luver]

A little bit of chit chat is better than no chit chat at all! It'll happen someday



Impressive job getting everyone to fit! Wanna know something funny? We own one of those 12 passenger vans. We've never been a family of more than 4 Someday it will become my dads pet project. He's going to gut it and convert it into something. Just can't tell you what. And I love the photos of Mt. Shasta. It brings back a lot of memories from when I was a (littler) kid.

Agreed....not complaining about the time we all spent together....but those types of things always seem short & leave you wanting more.....lol

4 people in the 12 passenger van......how roomy!!
Mt Shasta was beautiful even in the middle of summer.....we usually cross over during March when there's still a ton of snow on it....but she was still pretty with snow!!

 

[kaoden39]

If I was going to put in a place to eat it would be out there. There is a true need for it there.

 

[kelmac284]

Laurie I saw you mentioned this on FB so I thought I would subscribe to see all your pics.

We had a GREAT time yesterday meeting your family and of course Michelle and Jessica!!

Can't wait to see more pics!!

 

[kaoden39]

Laurie I saw you mentioned this on FB so I thought I would subscribe to see all your pics.

We had a GREAT time yesterday meeting your family and of course Michelle and Jessica!!

Can't wait to see more pics!!

It was nice meeting you too Kelly!!

 

[Michelle2]

The Jelly Belly Factory is in Fairfield, which is east of the bay area. We live in Oregon, so it breaks up our trip nicely......but not close to DL if that's the only area you'll be at.

Drats! Oh well, maybe someday I can make it there..

 

[McNic]

Welcome home! Loving the pics and the report! Can't wait for more!

 

[DizNee Luver]

If I was going to put in a place to eat it would be out there. There is a true need for it there.

We were surprised when we rolled up to the hotel that there wasn't a single place to eat on that street!! We had to go in search of at 11pm.

Laurie I saw you mentioned this on FB so I thought I would subscribe to see all your pics.

We had a GREAT time yesterday meeting your family and of course Michelle and Jessica!!

Can't wait to see more pics!!

Sweet! Glad you're joining in!!

It was a lot of fun getting everyone together!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Drats! Oh well, maybe someday I can make it there..

Its a short little tour, but you do get a few samples of Jelly Belly's. We weren't really paying much attention since there was a group of us meeting in person for the first time......lol

Welcome home! Loving the pics and the report! Can't wait for more!

Thank you!! I'll try to put a new day up tomorrow!

 

[srauchbauer]

love the trip report for day one can't wait for day 2. Now the fun part unpacking and laundry.

 

[kaoden39]

We were surprised when we rolled up to the hotel that there wasn't a single place to eat on that street!! We had to go in search of at 11pm.



Sweet! Glad you're joining in!!

It was a lot of fun getting everyone together!

Had I thought of it I could have helped you with that by helping you set up where to go and how to get there. I think when you live somewhere you just don't think of it.

 

[kelmac284]

Yeah Laurie I wish we had had more time to visit!! Mom had to work that day so we unfortunately didn't have a lot of time but it was so great just finally getting to see everyone!!

I hope that you and michelle and Jessica can make it on one of the ladies trips in the future so we all have more time to visit. That is my favorite part of those trips is the times we just sit around and talk. That is what is nice about a lot of the meals that we have and there were times on the other trips that some of us just broke off and went to the cove bar or the bar at the grand cal and just sat around and had a cocktail and just chatted. It was a really nice time to get to know eachother!!

Can't wait to see your next day's pics!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

love the trip report for day one can't wait for day 2. Now the fun part unpacking and laundry.

The laundry has been going since I got up yesterday & it continues today!! (thank goodness I did 4 batches mid-trip....lol)

Had I thought of it I could have helped you with that by helping you set up where to go and how to get there. I think when you live somewhere you just don't think of it.

The guy that checked us in told us how to get to the fast food one exit up....but usually you see restaurants with hotels....was just a bit surprised.

Yeah Laurie I wish we had had more time to visit!! Mom had to work that day so we unfortunately didn't have a lot of time but it was so great just finally getting to see everyone!!

I hope that you and michelle and Jessica can make it on one of the ladies trips in the future so we all have more time to visit. That is my favorite part of those trips is the times we just sit around and talk. That is what is nice about a lot of the meals that we have and there were times on the other trips that some of us just broke off and went to the cove bar or the bar at the grand cal and just sat around and had a cocktail and just chatted. It was a really nice time to get to know eachother!!

Can't wait to see your next day's pics!!

Talking is fun!! I'm hoping to do one of the girl trips....I keep trying to plan to go but it just hasn't worked out yet!!
Because I had a lapse in memory....remind me what your mom's name is again (and give me the girls names so I get the spelling right)....thanx!

 

[kelmac284]

Mom's name is Rosemarie and my girls are Katy (the oldest) and Shelby.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Mom's name is Rosemarie and my girls are Katy (the oldest) and Shelby.

Thanx Kelly!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Day 2.....also a travel day. We woke up at 5:45am.....man that was early!! Everyone headed downstairs for breakfast. The Hampton had a large assortment of breakfast choices including: Sausage Gravy & Biscuits, Country Potatoes, Waffles, Hot & Cold Cereal, Yogurt, Apples, Bananas, Oranges, Juice, Coffee, Tea & a few other things.

We were packed up & on the road again by 7:45am. I decided to take photos along the way....otherwise it doesn't look like we did anything & I was bored....so it gave me something to do. I love looking at all the different fields, orchards & hillsides....so here they are. I even took a picture looking up thru one of the side windows to take a picture of the sky!

The bottom of the Grapevine & Pyramid Lake:

This is when we got to Santa Clarita.....There's Six Flags....we didn't stop even though I know Derek would have loved to (he's been there before & likes all those thrill rides).

Next installment will be our lunch stop in Santa Clarita at the Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor!

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

What a beautiful area! Love that lake & those mountains!

 

[DizNee Luver]

I was very excited to be stopping at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. I remember going to these in the Portland, OR area as a child. They were always a lot of fun & since we were celebrating Betty's birthday & Derek's birthday (the next day)....we thought this would a fun way to celebrate!!

We arrived & realized the restaurant was tied into a Family Fun Center & not it's own building....not good!! It really took away from the charm these restaurants used to have. Here are some pics from the interior:

Here's some pics of the family....the twins sure were happy to be out of the car.....lol:

Addy & Anthony got the Mini Corn Dog Meal & Grilled Cheese Meal:

Derek & Tyler shared the "Works" Pizza (minus the mushrooms):

Nick got the Louisville Slugger Slider Burgers with a side order of Waffle Fries (1 lb....was the side order):

Betty had the Philly Cheesesteak:

Mike had the Mushroom Swiss Burger & I had the All American Burger (I got mine with Sweet Potato Fries):

 

[DizNee Luver]

What a beautiful area! Love that lake & those mountains!

There really are some pretty things to see along the way....but after hours & hours of the same type of landscape....it does get a bit tiring.

 

[DizNee Luver]

For birthdays, they'll bring out a big bass drum & beat it, run a siren & ring a bell to announce it's someone's birthday. Both Derek & Betty had to get up during the announcement & then they got a birthday sundae. (they both would have got one....but lunch wasn't sitting well with anyone...so they opted to share one with the entire family)

Our lunch experience wasn't the best....the food was okay....but the service was horrible. I think we had the worse waitress ever. Betty had specifically requested UN-sweetened ice tea & was brought a highly sugared tea that was inedible. She told the waitress who asked if she wanted a different glass of it & she said not if it would be the same. She asked for a glass of water. She never got it. The manager stopped by our table to see how things were going & we mentioned it & she had it dealt with & personally delivered the water & the right iced tea. She said, the waitress had brought the green tea by mistake.
The wait for the food seemed like forever. But not near as long as it was to get the birthday sundae/announcement & tab so we could leave. I actually had to run down the waitress to remind her of the birthdays after we had waited for 20 mins. After dessert, we started sending people out to the van....hoping this would excite the waitress to bring us our ticket so we could pay & leave.......it didn't work. I finally told Betty to just go to the register & tell them to go hunt it down.

Not a great experience & definitely not what I remembered from my childhood or even early adulthood. I missed the old restaurants with the huge candy section of stick candy, jaw breakers, etc & then walking in & being immersed in nostalgia. It just didn't feel that way with the family fun center being opened to the restaurant. The manager was nice but the waitress was the worse & really took away from our experience. She was sooooo slow in getting us everything & hard to track down when we did need something. (this was not a big place, so this shouldn't have been a task). The food quality was good & everyone seemed pleased with their food choices. I didn't feel up to ice cream (which is their specialty)....so can't really comment on this.....but we left a bit disappointed).

We got back on the road & headed south to Anaheim.
Here are some more pics from the van:

The traffic was pretty good until about Commerce where it thickened up with a few sharp braking incidents. It thinned out again until the Norwalk Area where it was stop-n-go. This still was a major improvement to our normal LA traffic experiences.

We pulled off to go the the Disney Character Warehouse to see if we could find any good buys. We try to go once each trip. Sometimes we find a ton of stuff & other trips we might find one or two things we like. We figured since we had gone to DL last year that if they had shirts from 09, we would buy some. (usually they have shirts from the past year).......They didn't have any this time.....lol Oh, well!! I did find a great buy on a sweatsuit (pants/coat) for the twins. $13.99/ea set!!! I was pleased with this deal!!

We headed back up Harbor Blvd to the Howard Johnson. Next installment will be on the motel with pics!!