Monday 14 December 2015

Anaheim, California

The final leg of our road trip was an uneventful drive from San Diego to Los Angeles, CA. The first thing we did upon our arrival was to find the La Brea Tar Pits. I wanted to visit these ever since I found out about them as a teenager. They are in downtown LA, which kind of surprised us. Apparently, its a a great spot to find fossils, but all we found were these giant ground sloth statues.

After a brief look at some nearby art, we headed to our hotel, which was very close to Disneyland. I returned the car that afternoon and we enjoyed dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

The next day, we explored Downtown Disney, which is basically another way to give Disney more money. It was fun though.

The following day we attempted to take the bus to Medieval Times, but our bus never came, which was annoying. So Amy and Micah took a taxi, while Reuben and I went to find some sunglasses. That's what we intended to do, but we never made it to the sunglasses shop. As we were walking there, we came across a young woman sitting on the foot path crying. Apparently, she had been on holiday with her boyfriend, but he had taken off with all her stuff, including her phone. So, being very careful that we weren't being conned, we took her back to our hotel room to use the internet and phone and sort things out. I'm glad our bus never came! Meanwhile, Amy and Micah enjoyed the spectacle of Medieval times.

The next day, we finally made it to Disneyland! I don't need to tell you that this place is awesome. Fake, but awesome nonetheless. My biggest complaint is the lines. We stood in line for over 30 min just to see Micky! But I still had a lot of fun, and so did everyone else. I went on the Indiana Jones Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Disneyland Railroad, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Splash Mountain, Star Tours and Tarzan's Treehouse. That's actually quite a lot. I didn't realise until I just typed it then! We took the boys back to the hotel briefly in the afternoon and then had dinner at Denny's before heading back to the Park for Fantasmic, a nighttime parade and light show, followed by some of the best fireworks I have ever seen. It. Was. Awesome! However, most people chose to enjoy it through the 5-10 inch screens of their phones and tablets. I've never understood people who take fireworks videos.

We didn't do much on our last day in LA. Our flight wasn't until late in the evening, so we just wandered Downtown Disney some more, took the boys to an indoor play place called Billy Beez (which they loved) and, after dinner, took the SuperShuttle to the airport. LAX has a small play area for young kids, where we met another Australian family heading home. And so, with our eyes held open by matchsticks, our heads full Disneyland magic and our carry-ons full of snacks for the kids, we left the USA.

Monday 7 December 2015

San Diego, California

The drive to San Diego, CA was hectic, as we were hit by another monsoon. Also, the freeways around LA and San Diego were very crowded and confusing. Seven lanes each way at some points! The first thing we noticed in California is that it has eucalypts, which makes driving through San Diego feel a lot like Melbourne.

We had one goal in San Diego: to go to the zoo. 
 It was a great zoo. Not much more I can say about that.