That place is really cool. It is so funny though that I have lived in CA basically my entire life and there are still places I have never been. I told mom that for little getaways we need to start exploring more stuff that is close to home that we could do in a day trip or even a weekend. Last year on Labor day we went to Mendocino and stayed over night and did the skunk train which was really fun and beautiful. We have had 3 different trips planned for THIS year including SF, Napa and now she is thinking about Tahoe. I don't know if we will end up going anywhere but it would be neat to explores some of this stuff.
Thanks so much for sharing all this because it gives me some ideas of things to do and love seeing things I have not seen.
Kelly --
Same here! I've lived in California -- specifically, SoCal -- my entire life (I have never lived anywhere else), and there are still a million things I haven't seen around this state or in neighboring states, let alone in other states across the U.S.
That's why I was a big fan of the late Huell Howser's travelogues on KCET -- "Visiting," California's Gold," "Road Trip," etc. He celebrated all of the 'off-the-beaten-track,' inexpensive elements and hidden gems of this state (and sometimes other states, like Alaska). Sometimes his discoveries were a bit lackluster and underwhelming, and sometimes they were incredibly charming and interesting. Whether they were dull or exciting, he showed me many things I never knew existed! There are treasures and fascinating people to be found in every neighborhood, it seems.
I think that Disney packs
such a big punch, entertainment-wise, happiness-wise, magic-wise, memories-wise, etc., and it leaves
such an impression on all of us, that it is hard to venture away from DLR and go elsewhere. I think that we all -- consciously or subconsciously -- are afraid that any other destination will simply not measure up to what Disney provides.
Also, there is an emotional connection with Disney -- millions of people refer to DLR as "their happy place," and we/they simply don't feel right if we/they don't make the annual sojourn to some sort of Disney park or on the Cruise Line or wherever.
And, money is an issue. Disneyland is expensive, to say the least, as we all know,
but, in a way, it is a
familiar expense, if that makes sense. We know exactly what we are dealing with, how much it costs, whether it is worth it to us or not, what we are getting for the price, where our limits are and where we can and
cannot compromise/cut back on our DLR trips, etc.
In the case of a location that we have not traveled to before and with which we are not familiar, the costs involved may be substantially lower but we may (subconsciously) fear that we won't get as much bang for our buck that we get at DLR.
If money is an issue for us (and it is for most of us, to varying degrees), a lot of times we probably just don't even entertain the idea of doing certain things (which may be cheaper) instead of DLR because we don't 'know' exactly what we will be getting and if it will give us as much gratification as a DLR trip gives.
That comes from "Happiness is a Warm Puppy," which was both a Charles Schulz quote and a book too, I think (if I remember correctly).
