WOO HOO! Get to go on our trip after all!

[Rhonna]

Over the years I usually just use the disboards for getting and giving info. We've been to WDW and DL. I'm not too big on sharing private info. But I'm just so excited! We thought we would have to cancel our trip to DL for the beginning of May. Just sold our house yesterday so now we have the money to go! Things were going really badly with the real estate situation and then it turned around and we got an offer and closed in ONE WEEK. The realtor supervisor who handled it said it was the fastest transaction she'd known of in her 19 years!

My sister and I haven't been able to travel (even out of town for a fun day) for over 4 1/2 years. She works and also helped me as I was full time caregiving for our dad, along with being stressed and ill myself. Our father passed in August and we had to sell the family home and find a rental. It's been so stressful for so long. He was a 100% disabled veteran of the Korean war and developed other serious health issues as he aged. I'm so glad we were able to take care of him at home. It's what he wanted and we had a bad experience with the local nursing home when he fell and had to be there for a little while, I can't imagine how miserable it would have been if he had to be there long term.

My sister and I wanted to take an old fashioned road trip like our family did when we were kids (always through CA to AZ and stopping for a day at DL) but things have been so stressful we decided to fly down, drive the central CA coast and then go to DL. I'm actually thinking for the first time today that this is going to really happen.

We are deciding to splurge and do a few nicer things like spa treatments to relax and the Cirque show in Hollywood and the F! dessert seating. (now if we could only get into Club 33...)

Anyhow, there is a lot to do since we both put off dental and vision appts. and need to shop a little for travel clothes, etc. and we only have 5 weeks! So, if the regulars are reading this far, please be patient with all my questions that I will have over the next several weeks. Our last trip 4 years ago was to DL and I had to be treated for a sinus infection our first day there. I am used to having months (or for WDW) a year to plan and now I have to pull this off in 5 weeks!

I don't know how to make the happy dance icon. So...

 

[RweTHEREyet]

I hope you and your sister have a wonderful, wonderful time that is loaded with lots of pixie dust.

 

[Rhonna]

I hope you and your sister have a wonderful, wonderful time that is loaded with lots of pixie dust.

Thank you thank you thank you! I finally slept last night after weeks of stress. It's like a huge load is lifted off our shoulders.

 

[azdisneylover]

(((big hugs))) Sorry for the loss of your father. Losing a parent is never easy. Glad the house sold so quickly. I hope you and your sister have a wonderful, stress free trip full of great weather and wonderful memories.

You can plan this trip in 5 weeks!

 

[Rhonna]

(((big hugs))) Sorry for the loss of your father. Losing a parent is never easy. Glad the house sold so quickly. I hope you and your sister have a wonderful, stress free trip full of great weather and wonderful memories.

You can plan this trip in 5 weeks!

Thank you! Our mom died 16 years ago and so we've been responsible for dad as he had a brain injury from the war. Despite his health issues he made it to 81 so he had a good life.

We really are hoping this trip will be really a way to de-compress. We're going to take things slow and I talked my sister (a workalholic) into taking 3 weeks off her job. She has so much vacation time built up that she hasn't been able to use.

I would love for the weather to be sunny. It's been dark, rain rain rain, storms and some flooding here for the whole winter. I NEED the sun!

We're planning Monterey Bay Aquarium, Hearst Castle, Morro Bay, Santa Barbara and DL.

And thanks for the encouragement about the planning. I have been a type-A obsessive planner but I can't handle that anymore so I'm trying to just schedule the most important things. We don't have smartphones so we will be using the old methods of park touring since we won't have apps for lines, etc. But I tried for a slower time of year so hopefully it will be easy to navigate the parks.

 

[Butterfly123]

We are going to be going down the coast this year on our way to Disneyland... Morro Bay, Santa Barbara, etc. I would think in five weeks the weather would be lovely. Don't forget to stop in Solvang for some pastries on the way down! Have a great trip!

 

[Escape2Disney]

Since you're going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, you might want to consider staying in Marina. There are a couple of hotels right on the beach that are cheaper than inland a bit in Monterey. The two cities are only 6 miles apart, so very doable.

I have two restaurant suggestions for you while you're on the central coast:

- For dinner, try the Fish Wife if you like seafood. It's a local favorite.
- For breakfast or lunch, try The Breakfast Club. It's a little restaurant in a strip mall in Seaside. Good food, fast service, and nice people.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[Rhonna]

We are going to be going down the coast this year on our way to Disneyland... Morro Bay, Santa Barbara, etc. I would think in five weeks the weather would be lovely. Don't forget to stop in Solvang for some pastries on the way down! Have a great trip!

We've been through a LOT of CA including Solvang when I was really little and Hearst Castle when I was old enough to remember it clearly, but we have never been to Morro Bay, San Luis Obsipo or Santa Barbara.

If you are going before us (we are end of April/beginning of May) do a little post on here about how it went.

 

[Rhonna]

I have two restaurant suggestions for you while you're on the central coast:

- For dinner, try the Fish Wife if you like seafood. It's a local favorite.
- For breakfast or lunch, try The Breakfast Club. It's a little restaurant in a strip mall in Seaside. Good food, fast service, and nice people.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check these out.