Time Flies in California

In a rather last-minute development, my daughter and I decided to accompany my husband on one of his trips to Southern California. So we're here now for what will be two weeks in Orange County and one week in Arizona. My husband has an assignment here in OC so he's working every day, but we're only 15 minutes from my mom's house. This means my daughter also gets to spend some quality grandparent time.

We arrived late Friday night. Our flight was an hour late leaving Copenhagen after an aborted take-off. That was a first for me, but luckily they were able to get the problem fixed quickly. We arrived an hour late in Toronto which made for a very hectic connection. Everyone connecting to the US had to pick up their bags, go through customs, and recheck their bags. This was quite a challenge because there was only half a baggage carousel in a very small room and all the forms were in French. I can't really imagine how they expect Americans to do paperwork in French without perjuring themselves. The personnel at the airport were quite helpful, so we somehow made the connection in time. They then held the flight for half an hour to wait for the other 30 people who were trying to make the same connection.

Saturday was spent with my mom. In the afternoon, the two of us did a little shopping at Target. I think Target is the store that I miss the most. Sunday was spent with my dad. He was only available in the evening, so my husband went junkyarding in the morning. They didn't allow kids under 16 years into the junkyard, so my daughter and I spent the day at the mall. My daughter didn't really need much by the way of clothes, but there were so many bargains that were hard to resist. I think the fantastic sales are a sign of the economy. Even with the deals, the parking lot at the mall was half empty on a Sunday afternoon. We had a nice dinner at the West Buffet in Oceanside, a huge Chinese buffet.

On Monday, I spent two hours at the DMV getting my drivers license renewed. Everyone tells horror stories about the DMV, especially after the budget cuts in California, but I thought it was actually quite impressive, especially considering how many people were also there. I also met with some old friends that I hadn't seen in years. How did we get so old on the outside and yet there still is so much on the inside that I recognize from the dear friends of 20+ years ago.

On Tuesday, I went down to San Diego to visit another dear friend, and we went shopping. I got several of the things I was looking for, and we had a great time catching up.

By Wednesday, I really needed to get some work done, and I did some laundry at my mom's house. In the afternoon, I picked up my brother-in-law who flew in from Denver to visit with us. Unfortunately my husband was working all day and had a business dinner too.

On Thursday, I went to Disneyland with my brother-in-law and daughter. She'd been to Disneyland a couple of years ago with her grandmother, but it was a completely different experience this time. Instead of Small World and Princesses, it was roller coasters. I worried that she might find large indoor (in the dark) roller coasters upsetting, but not at all. We eased into it with Pirates of the Caribbean, and she wasn't scared at all. Next was the Matterhorn. She screamed her head off, but the screams ended in giggles. "That was awesome, can we do it again?" Then we did the Toy Story ride and Autopia. We did a lot of walking to take advantage of the Fast Passes. We also did the Jungle Boats and Big Thunder Mountain, then it was back to Space Mountain. I haven't been to Disneyland in almost 20 years, and Space Mountain is one of the things that has changed. It's much smoother now, but also darker so you can't see the tracks at all. I got rather motion sick, and so did my brother-in-law. No matter how much my daughter begged, we were not inclined to take her on that one again. By lunchtime it was quite hot, so we ate in one of the air conditioned cafeteria style restaurants. It was expensive, but it was a real meal and a welcome break from the heat. After lunch we did Splash Mountain. This was the only time we stood in an hour-long line. By now, it was 98 F (37 C) and relatively humid for California. I was impressed that my daughter managed to keep her mood up. We had a good time and got thoroughly soaked. The Haunted Mansion was the only thing that my daughter found scary. She even liked the Indiana Jones ride (which also made me sick). It was too hot to stand in the sun and watch the parade, so we went for ice cream instead. In all, we were there for 9 hours.

On Friday we took it relatively easy and did a little shopping, then in the afternoon, my husband could finally stop working, so he and his brother took our daughter to Disney's California Adventure. I've never been there, but I figured it was good for him to do something fun. I was also a little apprehensive about doing a bunch of roller coasters. Would I get motion sick again? I used to love roller coasters, and only got sick from spinning rides. It's a bummer that roller coasters don't feel that fun anymore.

Tomorrow: Sea World with more friends from San Diego. Then it's off to Lake Powell (Arizona) via Las Vegas.