A Very Important Date

After we were sufficiently heated up from the warm temperatures at the Grand Canyon, we gassed up and had a quick bite to eat before we headed back on the road.  Our next big trek was to be this one, Arizona to California.   The only place we had a specific date we had to be there was our hotel reservations for Disneyland.

During our long hauls, the kids were really very good.  Hayden figured out if he slept, it made the time go by faster, consequently he took a few good naps.  When he wasn’t sleeping, he’d be playing games on his Ipod touch or Hang Man with anyone who would play.

Specifically for this trip I put together an activity box for each of the kids.  I included their gaming systems, puzzle books, snacks, paper and markers.  I also included a new travel journal for each of them and brought adhesive so that they could put postcards from each place they visited into their scrapbook.  This was a fun project for us to work on also, while we were traveling.  Both kids did a great job on them and just have a few finishing touches to add now that we are home.  The idea is for them to add to it whenever we travel.

We got into Anaheim pretty late that night.  Lemme just tell you, “it ain’t no fun, driving a big RV down the California highways!”   SERIOUSLY   I was terrified and I felt for my poor dad.  These crazy people would get so impatient that we were going the speed limit that they would speed past us ON THE SHOULDER!!!  I was so happy when we found a place to call home for that night.  We found a lovely RV park not too far from Disney and as we parked in our spot, we were greeted with the amazing firework show that Disney shoots off every night.   I cannot tell you or begin to explain the magic and awe of that moment.  The kids, my mom and sister and I just sat and watched, it was a very memorable moment.   What a great way to end the long trip of that day and stir up the excitement for the next day’s event.

With the wonder of Disney dancing in H & G’s head, I was surprised that they could actually fall asleep once we got our beds made.   It was a blessing that we could all fall asleep so easily that night.  The next day, we showered, had breakfast and drove to our hotel.  We were not able to check in right away, but our biggest concern was finding a place to park the house on wheels.  We were going to have to find 6-9 free spaces to the back of the property to park the rig in.  We circled the property two to three times, with no luck.  We all began to hedge our guess as to how many times we would have to circle before we found a spot.  Hayden, the optimist guessed the closest.   It was truly a God thing, we saw an area that would work but there was ONE car parked right in the middle of several empty spots, “If only that car would leave soon, or we knew who owned that car” Our third time driving around and out of several hundred guests, we spot the owner of the car. My dad got out and chatted with the guy and asked if he would be willing to move to another spot,  and God Bless that man, he did.

We were able to pick up our Disney packages and plan out our first day at the park.   Dad spoiled us and reserved a nice Penthouse room for all of us as part of our package.  The grounds were so pretty, I love the plants and foliage in California.

In the Lobby

Dad & Mom

One very excited little girl

A beautiful flower at our hotel