Day Five - Disneyland

It happened.  I went to the most magical place on earth.  Spirits are high and feet are only a tad sore.  I don't know how I can write anything about how special today was to me but I'll try.

We did Disneyland, the main park.  And we did it all.  From Frontierland to Fantasyland to infinity and beyond (yes that was a reference to a Disney movie more specifically Toy Story).  We did rides, we did shopping,  we did dole whip (I finally get it!! How fabulous it is!!) and we had so much fun doing all of it. 

Disneyland was everything I hoped it would be and more.  And I'll never forget this trip for the rest of my life. 

Thank you Kelsey.

Day Five done.  Up next Disney Adventurepark

Day Four - Vegas Shopping and Oceanside

Malls in Vegas don't open till nine so we slept in for once!  Like really slept in lol.  Was really needed tho.  Between the heat and the cacophony things invading the senses the head wasn't very happy.

Headed to Vegas's outlet mall (which is an outdoor mall) and it was mostly name brand items. However both of us got new sandals, kels got a nice cooling shirt to wear in the parks and I got a Rapunzel mug in the Disney outlet store.  It starts mwahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

Then we headed back to the strip and to Caesars Place for the Bacanal Buffet.  Ended up getting there at noon and had a bit of a line up about 45mins but it moved pretty fast.  while kels was in line I explored a bit and discovered they have a replica of the David statue!   The pools was also fantastic but i was going to get a pic after lunch but we were too full.  Buffet was a tad pricey but TOTALLY worth the price. The food was amazing.  My favorite was the mac and cheese and the cherry cheesecake on a stick OH and the creme Brule (it blew mine out of the water D!). Kels's favorite was mashed potatoes and gravy and he also loved the mac and cheese and there was a Mexican braised beef.  Seriously that mac and cheese.....I could probably just go back for that.  Must find a recipe for it when I get home....

With overloaded bellies we hopped on the highway outta Vegas and headed down to Oceanside.   Got here about 7:30, checked in and made ourselves at home.  Well this will be our home for the next week.

Next up: Disneyland!!!!!!!

Signing off....

Day Three - Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and Ka

Little bit of a rough night, woke up at 3 with splitting headache but crashed until 6:30.  Got up and got ready.  Breakfast on the road on our way to the Grand Canyon.  We were going to get there in enough time to watch the sunrise but that would have meant getting up at 3:30 and seriously we are on vacation.  Plus the forecast called for it to be cloudy.

We made it to the Grand Canyon at 8:30, strapped on our hiking boots and set off to see this amazing landmark.  I will never forget the sight of it ,for the rest of my life.  All those words I used to describe Zion yesterday, yeah the Grand Canyon is just so much more.  We walked along the south rim for a bit, stopping and taking pictures or climbing down for better views.  Some nice German lad helped take our picture off one ledge and then pulled me up when we were climbing back up.  Don't worry we didn't take any uneccessary risks!!  We saw the cutest bunny and lots of little cliff squirrels.  Kels got some great pictures.  We finished up there about 11. 

On the highway heading to Vegas we hit a traffic jam.  Guy in the car in front of us talked to a semi driver and turns out there was another semi in a police chase, cops put out the nail strip (he was heading in the Grand Canyon direction) but he was going so fast he flipped onto our side of the road (30ft of empty space).  Apparently it turned into a crime scene so we were holed up for an hour.  Poor schmucks on the other side of the road weren't so lucky.  They waved us through and the traffic on the other side stretched to the next town! 

We continued on to Las Vegas but made a pit stop at Hoover Dam.  Very impressive, VERY hot and very crowded with people.  Kels got some great pics while I just sweated it out under my little umbrella waiting to get back to blessed AC.  But I am very glad we went down and walked it.  Onto Vegas!

Arrived at our hotel 5ish (ahead of schedule forgot about gaining an hour with the border - score!), freshened up and headed out on the town.  First stop was to see Cirque Du Soliels's Ka.  And what a show!  They had a stage that shifted, moved and even went vertical!  It was a spectacular show.  There were speakers in the seats.  After we walked down the strip.  Vegas is an assult on the senses in every way.  We came back here and crawled into bed.  Another day done.

Up tomorrow: Vegas shopping, Bacanal Buffet and Oceanside.

Signing off....

Day Two - Travel Day & Zion National Park

Another early start.  Checked out of the hotel at 6am and reached Salt Lake City about 9am and our tumblies were rumbling. 

We hit our first DDD (Diners, Drive-in & Dives - reference to Footnetwork show) place.  Haha haha yeah it was most definately a dive and it was like hipster/hippy kids ran the joint.  They all looked like they just rolled outta bed.  But the food was pretty good.  I had a classic eggs Benny and kels had a meaty breakfast platter.  As with all things in the states portions are huge (right mina!?!?!?!).  So with full bellies we headed to Zion National Park.

Awe-inspiring, bereath-taking, gorgeous - these words only partially describe Zion.  Such a contrast in beauty.  Couldn't have asked for better weather either.  28 degrees and barely a cloud in sky.  There is so much life in the desert and my opinion has changed drastically. There was a 1.1 mile tunnel we had to go through to get to the other side of the park and it was one way traffic only.  We didn't hike in Zion but there were lots of pullouts and we stopped frequently to take it all in and take pictures.

After Zion we made our way to Flagstaff but along the way we stopped at Glen Canyon.  It was just a fortaste of what we are going to see tomorrow at the Grand Canyon. But it was amazing nonetheless and we saw Condors soaring above the canyon. It was crazy windy! 

We ended up pulling into Flagstaff just after 8 and decided to try the local pizza.  Pretty cool joint and we ended up getting it to go.  Wow they had the most amazing pesto cheesy bread (note to self try making this at home!!).  It was unbelievably good.  Stayed at the Motel 6 and was disappointed.  They charged for wifi!  And they was no amenities in the room.  Ya never staying at a Motel 6 again.  And seriously what is with the showers!?!?!?! They were NOT made for people taller that 5'5. 

Day two done.  Signing off...

Day One - Travel Day & Old Faithful

Thought today would just be a travel day and uneventful but it wasent!

Left at scheduled time of 5am.  Kicked Calgary's dust off our feet and hit Carston in time to see the sun rise (which was gorgeous!).  Then the temperature started dropping. Before we knew it it was -10 and there was a good 6-8inches of snow along side the road.  Um we are heading south isn't it supposed to be getting warming!?!?!?  We did not pack for a ski trip lol.  Hit the US border and got through without a hitch.  And guess which boarder crossing?  Haha the same one when we did our Whitefish ski trip a few years ago.  Remember that trip D?  We went through Browning again and that pizza place is still there!!!!!!

The further into Montana we got the less and less the snow got.  Our route was the most direct possible so we weren't always on a main freeway or highway which suited us just fine.  Hit some construction off the main drags but nothing too delaying. 

Ended up stopping in Helena for lunch at 11:30ish.  Cute little country cafe type place called Steve's Cafe.  Apparently they have the best breakfasts in Helena.  (On a side note Helena is the capital of Montana.)  Back on the road with full bellies, full tank of gas (its cheaper here - only $30 to fill er up) and excitement levels still high.  We ended up in Yellowstone around 3:30/4 (earlier than we expected)  and made our way down to Old Faithful.   The park was a beautiful drive and rounding a corner we  saw a wild bison.  He was HUGE and so close so we pulled over and I got some beauts.  We were so excited to see him.  Rounding the next few corners we came across A WHOLE HERD!!!!  With babies and adults!  It was so amazing.  We also saw quite a few bull elk.  None with horns but they were amazing nonetheless.  And a herd of big horn sheep.  Haha right on the road.

We went into Yellowstone via the west entrance which is closest to Old Faithful. There's a few little pullins with boardwalks and bubbling geysers, hot springs, fumaroles and mudpots.  We bypassed most of em due to tour buses and large amounts of people but we stopped at one just before Old Faithful - Black Sand Basin.  The colors in some of the pools were spectacular, sunset colors with teals and oranges it was enough to spark the imagination to paint them.  It didn't smell as bad as I thought it would until the steam started blowing in your direction and then it smelt terrible.  But not for long.

 

Back in the car we headed up for the main event.  There's quite a bit there!  An lodge you can stay at and a visitors center and a large general store and various other buildings.  We headed directly for the old girl tho in hopes we hadn't missed her big show.  Sure enough she was set to blow within 15 minutes of us getting there.  We couldn't believe how fortunate we were.  So we set up camp and waited.  She teased a bit with big steam spouts and a few energetic water spouts but just as she's named she faithful blew within 15mins.  Kels got some great pictures and I video'd the whole thing on my small camera.  Within 3 min it was done and what we witnessed was very majestic  indeed.  Going to the gift shop after seems very anticlimactic lol. 

Back on the road we decided to head down the rest of Yellowstone and exit out the south entrance.  We saw more bison and bull elk (one bison decided he liked being in the middle of the road show off!) and a beautiful waterfall along the route. It was a long way out of the park but we crossed over Teton National Park.  Made it to Idaho Falls for our first sleep away from home.

All in all we had a great first day and are looking forward to tomorrow.

Tomorrow: Zion National Park hike and then onto Flagstaff to spend the night.

Signing off..

T-minus 6 hours and counting....

Aw our bags are packed and we're ready to go,
We're lying here too crazy excited to sleep or come up with better lyrics that match the song!!!!

Seriously though, we are packed, planning is done and now we are just waiting to go.  We were both very excited to finish our last hours at work (seriously Lucy thank you so much!), kels dropped off his computer, I dropped off the last 4 library books in my possession so I'd have no late fees and we planned out and packed what we are wearing. 

Now to... sleep?!?!  How can I possibly sleep at a time like this??

First up tomorrow:

Old Faithful and spending the night in Idaho Falls.

Adventure road awaits!!

The wait is trying our patience....

Everything is booked,
everything is paid for,
everything is bought for the trip,
nothing is left to do but pack.


The itch has begun...