We're Home From the Road!! 17 Days of Travel with Tons of Pics~COMPLETE!!

[DizNee Luver]

Yea we were really surprised that the Grove was so small. On tv I thought it was bigger. Plus those stores are way above our price limit so we didn't spend a whole lot of time there either. We glanced at the farmers market and we had time but we didn't see all that much but I am sure when we go in November the girls will want to check it out a bit more.

That's a bummer about the zoo but you are right it takes ALL day to see that place. Did you guys do the bus tour first to get your bearings? Plus it has a LOT of hills and it is a lot of walking but it is so neat and we love it.

I hope you enjoy Sea World!

We didn't even walk over to the Grove.....to me that was just an upscale mall and it's not really "us".

We did do the bus tour first and still only ended up seeing a few things but it gives us a reason to go back!! Good to know we can take advantage of the w/c shuttle to help us with all those hills.

Getting ready to go out the door to dine with Shamu this morning.

 

[Sherry E]

We didn't even walk over to the Grove.....to me that was just an upscale mall and it's not really "us".....

Laurie --

I'm not surprised that Universal was not a big success -- it seemed to be the place you were least looking forward to visiting, and I had a feeling it would not be a big hit!

The Grove is an upscale mall, but it's enjoyable. I don't think that anyone thinks "upscale mall type of person" when they look at me, and yet I enjoy The Grove. I don't shop there, but I like the fish swimming around. I like the fountain. I like the little statues. I like the little bridge and stream. I love their giant tree and Santa's cottage during the holidays (gorgeous at night), and their Santa/reindeer display. The movie theater is nice. It's a nice place overall. Plus, I like to look for celebrities! (I am headed to The Grove today, to get my free birthday cupcake at Sprinkles!)

Most of the Farmers Market (with the exception of some of the stalls inside the historical section) is new now, and not original -- meaning that there are many new restaurants and shops inside of the historical segment of the Market, as well as on the outside perimeters. All of the new things were added in to fit in with The Grove. Johnny Rockets doesn't belong in the Farmers Market at all, nor does Starbucks, nor does Coffee Bean, nor does Pinkberry, but there they are.

I don't like that The Grove took business away from the vendors in Farmers Market, and forced some of them to retire or go out of business (such as the place that served the best meatball sandwiches ever!) -- but I grew up with Farmers Market, so I know what I am missing. Anyone brand new to the whole area and shopping center usually sees The Grove as a nice extension of Farmers Market or the Farmers Market as an extension of The Grove. Sometimes they don't even realize that they are two separate places because FM and The Grove blend into each other. The Farmers Market -- in its current version, because the old version (which was larger) will never return -- is a nice complement to The Grove, and vice versa. At first The Grove was problematic for the Farmers Market, but now that it has been open for 12 years I think that it has ultimately brought more business to Farmers Market, just from foot traffic flow alone.

As I mentioned previously, one of these days when you can get to Farmers Market without leaving only a tiny window of time to look around, I will lead you right to the other places that have been there the longest and/or have the best food, or best people working at them. I'm glad to read that the food at Du-Par's is still good!

Catalina Island is actually experiencing a similar transformation to what Farmers Market experienced in the wake of The Grove moving in -- people who have loved the Island for decades and beyond know that its quirky, small, mom & pop restaurants and/or shops were what gave Avalon some character and personality. A lot of "shiny and new" places are moving into Avalon and taking up space next to what's left of those older places. People who are brand new to Avalon just see a place with a lot of great restaurants and shops. They don't know what it was -- and maybe they wouldn't even like what it was!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Wow!! I hope you guys enjoyed Sea World. Sherry, how cool!! I loved the Petersen and it was way cooler when it came to where my school has had prom.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Laurie --

I'm not surprised that Universal was not a big success -- it seemed to be the place you were least looking forward to visiting, and I had a feeling it would not be a big hit!

The Grove is an upscale mall, but it's enjoyable. I don't think that anyone thinks "upscale mall type of person" when they look at me, and yet I enjoy The Grove. I don't shop there, but I like the fish swimming around. I like the fountain. I like the little statues. I like the little bridge and stream. I love their giant tree and Santa's cottage during the holidays (gorgeous at night), and their Santa/reindeer display. The movie theater is nice. It's a nice place overall. Plus, I like to look for celebrities! (I am headed to The Grove today, to get my free birthday cupcake at Sprinkles!)

Most of the Farmers Market (with the exception of some of the stalls inside the historical section) is new now, and not original -- meaning that there are many new restaurants and shops inside of the historical segment of the Market, as well as on the outside perimeters. All of the new things were added in to fit in with The Grove. Johnny Rockets doesn't belong in the Farmers Market at all, nor does Starbucks, nor does Coffee Bean, nor does Pinkberry, but there they are.

I don't like that The Grove took business away from the vendors in Farmers Market, and forced some of them to retire or go out of business (such as the place that served the best meatball sandwiches ever!) -- but I grew up with Farmers Market, so I know what I am missing. Anyone brand new to the whole area and shopping center usually sees The Grove as a nice extension of Farmers Market or the Farmers Market as an extension of The Grove. Sometimes they don't even realize that they are two separate places because FM and The Grove blend into each other. The Farmers Market -- in its current version, because the old version (which was larger) will never return -- is a nice complement to The Grove, and vice versa. At first The Grove was problematic for the Farmers Market, but now that it has been open for 12 years I think that it has ultimately brought more business to Farmers Market, just from foot traffic flow alone.

As I mentioned previously, one of these days when you can get to Farmers Market without leaving only a tiny window of time to look around, I will lead you right to the other places that have been there the longest and/or have the best food, or best people working at them. I'm glad to read that the food at Du-Par's is still good!

Catalina Island is actually experiencing a similar transformation to what Farmers Market experienced in the wake of The Grove moving in -- people who have loved the Island for decades and beyond know that its quirky, small, mom & pop restaurants and/or shops were what gave Avalon some character and personality. A lot of "shiny and new" places are moving into Avalon and taking up space next to what's left of those older places. People who are brand new to Avalon just see a place with a lot of great restaurants and shops. They don't know what it was -- and maybe they wouldn't even like what it was!

I was definitely apprehensive about Universal and what we would do with the twins. I wish it hadn't been a weekend day but it was just how the timing went. I know we went at a very busy time but Universal has issues with crowd control.

We didn't wander over to the Grove.....if we had more time, we probably would have. Mike found that some of the shops at the Farmer's Market didn't like you taking pictures of their stuff.....kinda weird! Still found it charming and wish we would have had more time to go into all the different shops to look around.

Wow!! I hope you guys enjoyed Sea World. Sherry, how cool!! I loved the Petersen and it was way cooler when it came to where my school has had prom.

We had a great time at Sea World!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

We really enjoyed our day at SeaWorld and will definitely be planning a return trip to San Diego.



Tomorrow is a long travel day as we go from San Diego to Sacramento. Not sure I'll post tomorrow evening or not. Not really making any exciting stops.....and I might be tired enough that I won't get on here when we arrive. See ya soon!

 

[Sherry E]

We really enjoyed our day at SeaWorld and will definitely be planning a return trip to San Diego.



Tomorrow is a long travel day as we go from San Diego to Sacramento. Not sure I'll post tomorrow evening or not. Not really making any exciting stops.....and I might be tired enough that I won't get on here when we arrive. See ya soon!

^^^ I love that Sea World picture! That's a great picture.

San Diego to Sacramento is a really long drive!

It's good that Universal was kind of sandwiched in between other things -- and that Sea World came later. It would have been a shame to go into the home stretch of your trip with a lackluster visit to a place that you all didn't love. At least you finished up the "theme parks aspect" of your journey with Sea World, which seems to have been a big hit!

It's funny that you mentioned Mike encountering some Farmers Market merchants frowning on photos in their shops. That was not always the case, and it seems like it must be a fairly recent development in the Market's history. Certainly there have been many camera-toting people passing through the shops for decades, and I'm sure that some of them have taken photos!

I wonder if what Mike encountered in the FM shops is similar to what Bret/mvf-m11c encountered at DLR (maybe on Buena Vista Street?) a couple of years ago. He was taking photos in a shop of some kind back in 2012, and a CM told him he couldn't take photos.

I take tons of photos of merchandise in the DLR shops, and no one has ever told me not to. Then again, I'm just using a point & shoot -- and I have a feeling that makes a big difference. I am inclined to think that anyone with a more professional-looking camera (especially any kind of DSLR) might be stopped from taking photos of merchandise, or in the stores. Maybe the merchants see the expensive cameras and think that the photographers are going to sell the photos. I'm not exactly sure what the reason is, but I strongly suspect that the type of camera that's being used has something to do with the 'No Photo' rules.

Coincidentally, I encountered a "No Photos" sign in a Catalina shop 2 days ago. I had already been taking photos -- only 2 or 3 -- in the shop before I saw the sign. After I saw the sign I took 2 or 3 more photos. No one stopped me or said anything. I had the camera in my hand the whole time. So, again, I am inclined to think that it's mainly the people with the more professional cameras that the merchants are worried about, for whatever reason.

I went to Sprinkles yesterday and used my free birthday cupcake coupon -- that was my very first Sprinkles cupcake, ever. (And the line was super-short! I couldn't believe it!) I tried the orange cupcake, with orange-vanilla frosting, because they didn't have any lemon cupcakes ready and I wanted something citrusy. I know that you have not yet had a Sprinkles cupcake, so I will say this much: the Sprinkles cupcake was fine. It was good enough -- and it was even better because it was free! The frosting was good. The cupcake was pretty fresh and moist. However, the actual cake part of the cupcake was not the best I've tasted. It was okay, but I've tasted better cake flavor in other (less expensive) cupcakes before.

So I would say that a free Sprinkles cupcake would be great (and they give out a lot of freebies through their crazy 'secret words' announced on Facebook every week), but I don't think I would pay whatever they charge for another cupcake, or for a whole box of cupcakes. Then again, I say that having only tried one flavor. Maybe the other flavors are better. It wasn't a bad cupcake by any means, but it wasn't the best-tasting cupcake I've had.

I think that Sprinkles is so popular because they have a fun, colorful store design and logo, and because customers think that if they pay more money for a cupcake, the taste must be better. Sometimes paying more money for something will guarantee better quality and taste, but not always...

 

[DizNee Luver]

^^^ I love that Sea World picture! That's a great picture.

San Diego to Sacramento is a really long drive!

It's good that Universal was kind of sandwiched in between other things -- and that Sea World came later. It would have been a shame to go into the home stretch of your trip with a lackluster visit to a place that you all didn't love. At least you finished up the "theme parks aspect" of your journey with Sea World, which seems to have been a big hit!

It's funny that you mentioned Mike encountering some Farmers Market merchants frowning on photos in their shops. That was not always the case, and it seems like it must be a fairly recent development in the Market's history. Certainly there have been many camera-toting people passing through the shops for decades, and I'm sure that some of them have taken photos!

I wonder if what Mike encountered in the FM shops is similar to what Bret/mvf-m11c encountered at DLR (maybe on Buena Vista Street?) a couple of years ago. He was taking photos in a shop of some kind back in 2012, and a CM told him he couldn't take photos.

I take tons of photos of merchandise in the DLR shops, and no one has ever told me not to. Then again, I'm just using a point & shoot -- and I have a feeling that makes a big difference. I am inclined to think that anyone with a more professional-looking camera (especially any kind of DSLR) might be stopped from taking photos of merchandise, or in the stores. Maybe the merchants see the expensive cameras and think that the photographers are going to sell the photos. I'm not exactly sure what the reason is, but I strongly suspect that the type of camera that's being used has something to do with the 'No Photo' rules.

Coincidentally, I encountered a "No Photos" sign in a Catalina shop 2 days ago. I had already been taking photos -- only 2 or 3 -- in the shop before I saw the sign. After I saw the sign I took 2 or 3 more photos. No one stopped me or said anything. I had the camera in my hand the whole time. So, again, I am inclined to think that it's mainly the people with the more professional cameras that the merchants are worried about, for whatever reason.

I went to Sprinkles yesterday and used my free birthday cupcake coupon -- that was my very first Sprinkles cupcake, ever. (And the line was super-short! I couldn't believe it!) I tried the orange cupcake, with orange-vanilla frosting, because they didn't have any lemon cupcakes ready and I wanted something citrusy. I know that you have not yet had a Sprinkles cupcake, so I will say this much: the Sprinkles cupcake was fine. It was good enough -- and it was even better because it was free! The frosting was good. The cupcake was pretty fresh and moist. However, the actual cake part of the cupcake was not the best I've tasted. It was okay, but I've tasted better cake flavor in other (less expensive) cupcakes before.

So I would say that a free Sprinkles cupcake would be great (and they give out a lot of freebies through their crazy 'secret words' announced on Facebook every week), but I don't think I would pay whatever they charge for another cupcake, or for a whole box of cupcakes. Then again, I say that having only tried one flavor. Maybe the other flavors are better. It wasn't a bad cupcake by any means, but it wasn't the best-tasting cupcake I've had.

I think that Sprinkles is so popular because they have a fun, colorful store design and logo, and because customers think that if they pay more money for a cupcake, the taste must be better. Sometimes paying more money for something will guarantee better quality and taste, but not always...

It was a long day but we arrived in Sacramento around 7:30pm.

The kids really loved SeaWorld as did I!!

There was a meat shop & the shop with all the different hot sauces were 2 I can remember not wanting any pictures taken at the Farmer's Market. You could be right on the nicer camera's -vs- the point & shoot ones.....but still kinda a silly rule.

I would have liked to try a Sprinkle's cupcake....just to say I've had one, but it wasn't worth it to me to go in search of that morning. I figured at this point that it is more the novelty of it instead of how awesome they are. Sprinkle's popularity was hitting the market big and offering a somewhat new concept. The owner is no dummy..... and knew how to get it out there & run with it.

 

[DizNee Luver]

In the car at 10am and at our destination just after 7:30pm......... So thankful to be out of that van!!! lol

Tomorrow we're meeting up with a couple Dis Diva's and their kids at the California State Railroad Museum before driving about 5 hrs to Medford.

 

[luulu1999]

In the car at 10am and at our destination just after 7:30pm......... So thankful to be out of that van!!! lol

Tomorrow we're meeting up with a couple Dis Diva's and their kids at the California State Railroad Museum before driving about 5 hrs to Medford.

AHHH I am so excited to try in and out!!!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

How cool!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

AHHH I am so excited to try in and out!!!

It's pretty good......the fries are delicious and the potatoes are cut fresh and dropped in the oil!!

How cool!!

The museum was pretty cool!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Made it back to Oregon and are staying in Medford for the next 2 nights. Have 4 of our kids off in different places: Addy & Anthony are at our friends home and Ty & Derek went to a friend of theirs......so just the twins with Mike & I and Betty. Our oldest and his wife (Nick & Marie) are here with us tonight since they are down for Marie's brother's wedding (which is why we're here too) tomorrow night.

This is from the California State Railroad Museum:

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Congrats to them!! Hope you enjoy the wedding

 

[DizNee Luver]

Congrats to them!! Hope you enjoy the wedding

It was a beautiful wedding!!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Great day...got to meet the twins sister this morning & ended the day with a wedding. Tomorrow we're heading home with a stop at Wildlife Safari on the way.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We are HOME!! Our trip was a blast but there's something about seeing your own stuff and sleeping on your own bed that make's coming home ok!! We made a stop at Wildlife Safari on our way home.



Tomorrow I'm doing a TON of laundry but if I get a chance, I will get started on the report!!

 

[kelmac284]

Glad you made it home safe and it was so great seeing you guys esp since we won't be going to the next ladies trip and maybe not in 16 either Mom and I were talking and this year she is hopefully having her knee surgery in Dec which means no trip in Feb as she probably won't be able to. Then in 16 they have their mexcio place in Feb that year and if she goes there (which they probably will cuz that is a prime month to go) she most likely won't be able to go AGAIN for almost a week in the same month and then we just figured out that if we do take our DW trip in Jan of 17 I don't know if we will have the money for the diva trip the next month either. I am so sad because I have no idea WHEN we will ever get back.

At least hopefully we can see you on your way through town on your trips. I know you will have another one eventually

I bet it feels great to be home. Just relax and enjoy your time and we will all be here patiently waiting whenever you are ready.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Awww how cute, I'm going to a wedding next weekend

 

[DizNee Luver]

Glad you made it home safe and it was so great seeing you guys esp since we won't be going to the next ladies trip and maybe not in 16 either Mom and I were talking and this year she is hopefully having her knee surgery in Dec which means no trip in Feb as she probably won't be able to. Then in 16 they have their mexcio place in Feb that year and if she goes there (which they probably will cuz that is a prime month to go) she most likely won't be able to go AGAIN for almost a week in the same month and then we just figured out that if we do take our DW trip in Jan of 17 I don't know if we will have the money for the diva trip the next month either. I am so sad because I have no idea WHEN we will ever get back.

At least hopefully we can see you on your way through town on your trips. I know you will have another one eventually

I bet it feels great to be home. Just relax and enjoy your time and we will all be here patiently waiting whenever you are ready.

That's a bummer that the Diva trips are not on the horizon for a few years but sometimes things just don't work out. At least you have some trips to look forward to. I enjoy the Diva trip but really enjoy my time on the family trips more. We will definitely let you know if we come your way again!!

Still finishing laundry tonight.....so hopefully I can get started on this report tomorrow (after my mother-in-law heads home).

Awww how cute, I'm going to a wedding next weekend

Fun.....for a friend or a relative??

 

[kelmac284]

I know what you mean. I think for me the reason I am sad about the diva trips is I miss getting to see my friends like yourself, Sara, Trudi etc and it is nice to have a time with just gals to have fun and I so love the meet and greet, the scavy hunt etc and I don't feel like I have REALLY been on the ladies trip since 2010. That was the last time I went and was able to really do everything. I don't even really count when we went in 13 because all I was able to do was the meet and greet and scavy hunt. I didn't go to any of the meals and only made the 1 photo. You would think it would get easier since the girls will be in HS but it is actually harder because it is getting tougher to plan any trips as they now HAVE to be in the summer and Katy doesn't like to miss swim plus it is just a problem with the way everything is landing the next few years. My parents get their condo 2 months a year and the 2 months are 6 months apart so for example this year they got it in June and again in December. Then because the year roles over they get it for 15 in January and July. Well the bad times to go are June through Sept so they don't even bother going at those times although we did go in June this year because of the girls but when it falls like that they usually only get 1 good month and the prime months are Jan through March and possibly april. So when they have those months they really try to go. They can't go in Dec this year and were hoping to go with a big group in Jan but since mom is hopefully having her surgery I don't think she will be able to go but knowing her she will try anyway and either way there is no way we could do the diva trip.

And then as I said if she has her condo in Feb next year I am sure they are going to want to go because they can't go in July and if they don't go next february it would be another year as they would have it in August. I know it prob sounds complicated LOL but I just know that we can't afford too many trips in a year anymore and usually 1 or 2 is it. If we take one as a family and they do one on their own that is pretty much it.

At this point the only thing we have on the horizon is New York next summer but honestly I am not even getting my hopes up. I told mom until she has her surgery and until I know she is back up and around there is no point in even thinking about it.

Sucks when stuff always goes wrong as I know you know because of course money is always a factor with us as well.

Good luck with the laundry (don't envy you on that LOL as I know I do a ton with just the 3 of us so I can only imagine how much you have) and again no worries on the report. Just relax and enjoy being home!