Day 1 – Friday, June 8^th

Today was day one of driving to California.  Mom arrived at 8:00 and we immediately headed out.  We got to Aspen when Joshua unexpectedly threw up in the car.  We spent 45 minutes cleaning up the mess.  We had to stop and buy Fabreeze and continue to use it every hour for the rest of the day.  The day was pretty uneventful after that 10:00 am delay.  We stopped for lunch in Glenwood Springs (just Burger King).  We let Joshua play on the play ground there for a half an hour.  We continued on our drive.  We had dinner at JB’s restaurant in Green River, Utah.  The restaurant was a little Denny’s type of a place.  We hit the road for a few more hours.  Joshua started to get really grumpy around 6:30 (when the sun started beating down on his face!)  We ended up stopping in Saint George, Utah at 8:30 pm.  We stayed at the Howard Johnson on Main Street.  The staff was very friendly and helpful.  It was a really nice hotel.  The room was fairly large.  The beds were very soft.  My only complaint was that it took forever for the room to cool down.  They had a pool which the kids enjoyed until 9:30 pm.  They also had laundry facilities for me to finish cleaning up the leftover Aspen mess!  We ended up in bed at 11:00 pm. 

Day 2 – Saturday, June 9^th

Rise and Shine at 6:15 am.  We had continental breakfast at the HoJo (bagels, cereal, fruit, the usual hotel breakfast).  We hit the road at 8:00.  No more unexpected delays!  We had fun continuing our License Plate Bingo (Alaska has been our most unexpected find!).  The laceName>ArizonalaceName> laceType>MountainslaceType> were very scenic.  We had to listen to the Cars soundtrack (of course) when it looked the most like Radiator Springs.  We stopped for lunch in Barstow.  We finally hit traffic when we arrived in the outskirts of L.A.  The longest stretch of the drive was that hour it took us to cross the last 20 mile stretch!  We arrived at our hotel at 1:00.  Check-in time was 3:00 but they were able to get us into our room early!  My first opinions of the hotel:  The staff is friendly.  There was a pushy man selling time shares or something in the lobby.  I didn’t like that.  There is a post office in the lobby so it’ll be convenient to mail postcards!  The hotel looks nice, but older.   Our room is a typical hotel room.  The room smells kind of weird.  Not bad, just of carpet shampoo and the smell of swamp cooled air.  The beds are on the smaller side, but just fine for us!  And they are nice and firm (great for me but Guy is complaining already!).  The bathroom is pretty small (only a corner shower) but clean.  The hotel needs to be renovated and updated, but all in all it’s just fine!  My fears were put to rest!  We decided to spend a little time in the pool.  The pool is nice.  It’s refreshing and big and clean.  We spent an hour there before heading back to the room to get dressed and head to Downtown Disney.  It only took us 5-10 minutes to stroll to the park entrance.  We meandered down the entryway for Disneyland and California Adventure, eventually arriving at Downtown Disney.  Our first stop was World of Disney (a GIANT Disney Store).  Joshua instantly found what he wanted to spend most of his money on.  We talked him into waiting till we actually get into Disneyland to pick something!  We found lots of stuff in there that we all wanted!  If we don’t find what we’re looking for in the park, we can surely find something to make us happy it in there!  We walked the whole stretch of Downtown Disney and ended up eating at House of Blues.  Expensive!  Then we stopped at Hagen Daas for Joshua’s promised ice cream cone.  Also expensive!!  I ate half of my ice cream when Brittany dropped hers so she finished off mine.  Then we headed back to the hotel.  All in all we were kind of disappointed in Downtown Disney.  We were expecting more Disney fanfare.  But it’s been a long two days and we were all tired.  Back at the hotel we watched Shrek on TV and Joshua and I colored.  Then to bed early for our early start in the morning.  All in all, the drive took us 17 hours over the past two days.

For the next 2 days, click this link: 

http://www.disneymouselinks.com/Forums/Topic73503-4-1.aspx

How old are Joshua and Brittany?  I can't remember.  As you know, we are considering driving, so would love to know the ages of those two kids.

So sorry about the mess in Aspen.  Poor Joshua.  Glad you were able to pretty much clean it up.  Isn't Febreeze wonderful!

Like you, I love the World of Disney store.  So what did Joshua find to spend his money on there?

Thanks for getting your trip up so quickly.

And glad to hear the motel wasn't so bad.

Leanne

May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic!  And your nights full of Disney Dreams!

Can you do me a favor?  I got your answers for Joshua - can you ask Brittany the same questions I have for the older kids please and pm those to me?  That way we have answers from an older child.

Leanne

May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic!  And your nights full of Disney Dreams!

Leanne

May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic!  And your nights full of Disney Dreams!