'On the road again'

Tue 8th   We headed out of L.A in a hire car on our next adventure.  Stayed at Laughlin, Nevada- Aquarius casino for $35!  We seemed to be the only ones under 55.  Happy to have free wifi at Starbucks and softer water to wash our hair.  (I had been threatening to shave my head- it felt so blah).

Wed 9th   Drove out of Laughlin and along the historic Route 66 to a quaint old ghost town called Oatman.  They do regular 'shoot outs' and have some great Cowboy & Indian memorabilia.  Drove through dry Nevada desert & cactus into snowy Arizona desert & conifers.  Stayed at a beautiful Holiday Inn with free upgrade to 2 bedrooms.  Luxury.  Pizza & movie night- Bug's Life!

The 10th  Grand Canyon- breathe taking (and so was the windy weather at only a few degrees celsius.  Theatre Steakhouse for tea and when we came out there was a snow storm!  Glad we drove the 600metres to the restaurant.

The Grand 'Chilly' Canyon

Aidan entertaining us on our walk

The Grand Canyon (South Rim)

The 'Kids Suite' near the Canyon

Fri 11th    Drove back into Nevada to Hoover Dam.  Family Discussion regarding   spoiling the earth for human gain.  Fresh drinking water, irrigation and averting floods seem to be good reason to 'manage' the land around us.  Then drove on into Las Vegas.

Hoover Dam Bridge

California Dreamin’

Sun 6^th Jan   Eastside Church

What better way to start the year but with a message on ‘Leaving a Legacy’.  A good question to ask ourselves as we seek to be all we can be.

Our answer to that question: “Love God, Love others”.  We can only pray that if we put first things first that the rest will follow.  We hope that you will consider what Legacy you are leaving those around you too.

Mon 7^th Jan  Californian Adventure

As Disneyland is what we remember from our (Neale & Susan) childhood, the Adventure park is what Aidan & Hayley remember from theirs.  We spent the morning at Disneyland finishing off some rides we’d missed then headed over to the Adventure park.

California Soarin' (Remember to click on link to see what the ride is all about)

"Cars" - Route 66

There goes the roller coaster!

“A Bug’s Life”

“Toy Story”

“Hollywood Hotel/Twilight Zone Drop”

And we all loved the Roller Coaster!  California Sceamin'

In the evening there was a Water, Sound & Light show.  I thought it might be a bit of water being sprayed around with a few lights flickering.  It definitely was much more than this.  Screen projections, fire bursts and an amazing water fountain & light display completed the picture. 

Another great day making memories with the fam.

Disneyland- the 2nd happiest place on Earth

Sat 5th & Mon 7th Jan

Disneyland really was fun but will never the be the happiest place on Earth.  The happiest place on Earth is with my family; especially when we stand in long lines waiting to get on rides because this is when crazy boredom silliness sets in and we laugh & laugh & laugh together!

Space Mountain

Caramel Candy Apple, Sticky!

The iconic 'Tea Cup' ride

It's A Small World

Mickey Pretzel & fake cheese dip

'Splash mountain'- Hay at front of ride...

Hayley, drenched, after Splash Mountain

N&S with the Storm Troopers, Star Wars

 “Public transport in L.A” day

Fri 4^th Jan- 

4 buses:  We took a trip out to Venice Beach.  Interesting is the only word to describe it!  (2 buses there, 2 buses back to the hotel to collect our luggage).  This took up most of the day but it was an experience Neale didn’t want us to miss.

Our feet:  A long walk up a big hill to the train station with our all our luggage. 

3 trains:  Our first train from Hollywood to Union station ‘broke down’ and everyone on the whole train had to get off and get on another one.  Once at Union we transferred to the Orange county double decker train.

2 cars:  We were picked up at the station by our friend Rob, whose 2 bedroom unit we would be staying, at with his wife, Natasha and fun boys (primary aged).  Thankfully he has a good-sized car, which fit all our luggage in it.  After hellos we took their old 8-seater van into town for dinner for catch-ups.

A big day!  And we still have yet to get to Disneyland.

Universal Studios 

(Where they make movies!!!)

Universal Studios (For more info on each ride put cursor over ride title and click on to view). Neale's & my favourite was the new Transformers ride.  It goes really fast while you are sitting still.  I closed my eyes for most of the first go so it was good to have time for a 2nd ride so I could look Megatron in the eye while he splashed water on me and it was nice to warm up from the bomb blast in our face!

 The Jurassic Park ride was just like the movie- one minute you are going along through a lovely tropical setting with herbivorous dinosaurs quietly munching their leaves and then chaos comes and those carnivorous dinosaurs come at you from every direction.  Aidan enjoyed it so much that at the end of the day he raced back on for one last ride by himself.

 Water World was a stage/stunt show.  Although the movie, Waterworld, was said to be a bit of a flop, Aidan had enjoyed the movie and so it was great to see how some of the sets were made. 

Studio Tour

 Wisteria Lane. The street set of Desperate Housewives.  Although not a viewer of the show, I really loved driving through a practical set where the scenes can be shot inside & out.  Plus these homes are so cute.  This one was being repainted when we were there.

 This is a scene from War of the Worlds.  The plane cost Universal a fair bit to buy from the plane company.  But it cost even more to bring it down to Universal on the freeway and blow up ready for filming.

 The animal actors put on a great show.  The lab from Marley & Me was the comedian.  The birds were graceful.  The cats were mischievous and the hamsters were too funny.  Made us miss our Biscuit & Lolly back home.

Aidan & Hayley really enjoyed the Mummy Ride and King Kong was part of the Studio tour and well done as a 3D show.

Universal Studios has always been a place I've wanted to visit.  The rides were great but, more so, I enjoyed hearing about how they make films, seeing the sets and being a part of it all.  It was always a selfish dream to want to be in the movies.  But I've had a bigger dream fulfilled- 

Having a loving family who enjoy being together, laughing together and screaming our heads off together on the rides! (Or maybe they enjoyed laughing together about me screaming my head off on the rides.)