God, how hard is it to get back to work after a week of vacation?
Pictures,
pictures,
pictures,
pictures,
pictures and
pictures.
So my trip was awesome! My sister and I had such a blast and it was SO wonderful to be able to just get away from everything and everyone for a week. I really needed this holiday and being with my sister is always tons of fun. When I came back, everyone either said, “You look more relaxed” (not having to deal with work for a week = relaxation), or “You’re so tanned!” (Yes, I did get quite brown), or “Did you have a good time?” (Hell yeah I did!).
We arrived on Tuesday around noon and it was far too hot to really do anything – we tried to stay out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day – so we hung out in our air conditioned room. My sister napped as she hadn’t gotten any the night before having spent it with her mates, and I finished the book I had started on the plane. We grabbed a quick dinner and meandered down to Long Beach. It was really pretty but as it was about 8 or 9pm so most everything but the restaurants were closed and we just walked along the water.
The next day we headed straight for Six Flags Magic Mountain and spent all day there. I LOVE roller coasters. I’m always a little nervous about the first coaster of the day but once I get on it, I’m good to go. And we sure picked a doozy of a coaster for our first ride that day! It’s called Tatsu and it’s a floorless, feet-dangling kind. Oh, but that’s not all! It’s also the longest, tallest, and fastest flyer coaster in the world, and furthermore, once you’re strapped in, the seats rotate 90 degrees and you go from an upright position to a face-down position. Talk about whoa! Who the hell comes up with these things?! Ohmygod, going up that first hill was a little nerve wracking since you’re facing the ground as you climb God knows how many feet, instead of just looking at the seat in front of you. I was psyching myself out but once we started flying, it was AWESOME! I actually lost my voice for a hot minute; the ride went into a sudden inversion and the G-force pulled the plug on my voicebox.
Thursday was spent at Disney’s California Adventure, which was new for both of us. We headed straight for the new Toy Story Mania ride. It was SO CUTE! You sit in a little 4-seater car, back-to-back with the other 2 people, wear 3D glasses and shoot rings, darts, water, etc, at targets to try and get the highest score. It was so much fun and there were so many little extra special effects that are so quintessentially Disney. When you popped water balloons, you get splashed with a bit of water; when you hit hives for 1000 points, you can feel little bursts of air as bees fly towards and "past you”. Afterward, we went on the California Screamin’ roller coaster and yes, I screamed. Instead of the traditional chug-chug-chug climb to the top of the first hill, it goes from 0 to 55 in 4 seconds, and that was just the first scream.
Soarin’ Over California was another awesome ride. I’ve been on the Disney World one so I knew what to expect already, but it was my sister’s first time so I told her to remember “oranges”.
The highlight, though, was when we went on the Sun Wheel. Half of the gondolas were stationary but we opted for the swinging and sliding kind. These were attached to a flattish, oval track so that when the big wheel went around, the individual gondolas would slide along the track and swing up at the ‘ends’ where the track circles up. We sat with a couple and their little boy, and the first time around wasn’t too bad so all of us were lulled into thinking this was a very leisurely ride. The second time around however, and I don’t know how they did it, was anything BUT leisurely! We started sliding one way and swinging up, and we CONTINUED to swing up! I swear we were almost horizontal! All 4 of us grown-ups kind of realized it at the same time and grabbed onto the sides for dear life. So we’re sitting up there, screaming “OHMYGOD” and holding on with death grips, and this kid is shrieking with laughter, like “THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!” It was all VERY hilarious, with a tinge of hysteria, and the little boy was the bravest of all. When asked if he wanted to go again, he nodded furiously. The parents were, like, “Um, no, let’s go on the carousel.” Haha. Going on that ride reminded me of when I was going up the Eiffel Tower, and in the middle of the glass elevator ride I realized I had a very slight fear of heights, but that’s another funny story for another time.
We spent 4th of July at Disneyland, at the suggestion of many people. It didn’t feel any more crowded than the other times I’d been (that’s not to say it wasn’t crowded; I don’t think Disneyland is ever uncrowded). We went on all the major rides (Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Finding Nemo Submarine Ride, Matterhorn Bobsleds), but Splash Mountain was the most memorable. It’s one of my favorites and Lil Sis was leery of the big drop and splash at the end, but I convinced her that it was awesome and not scary (compared to Tatsu at Magic Mountain) and we wouldn’t get too wet. Geez, was I wrong on the last count! We ended up sitting in front – her fault completely as she had volunteered us when the crew member asked for a party of 2 – and of course, I had to sit in front of her since I had promised to do so in the event we sat in the very front. There were several dips and drops in the mountain and we got splashed a couple of times, then we got really wet on one particular dip. Then the big splash loomed in front and I got DRENCHED to the skin. I swear I don't remember getting very wet on that ride, let alone completely soaked! Good thing I was wearing a light, cotton dress so I dried very quickly.
The 4th of July fireworks at Disneyland were pretty nice. Unfortunately, due to high winds they couldn’t have a longer show, but it was lovely nonetheless. Then again, I don’t think we could’ve lasted much longer anyway; we’d been there for 14 hours already and our feet were KILLING us. This was our 3rd day in the row walking all day at a theme park. Luckily I had the foresight to bring some foot massage cream and we spent every night massaging our feet and calves, not that that relieved a whole lot but every little bit helps.
On our last day, we hit up Santa Monica (the Pier, beach and downtown), did a quick drive by of Venice Beach (where I ogled the very yummy, topless beach boys), Old Pasadena (for more shopping since the Huntingdon Botanical Gardens – where they shot Memoirs of a Geisha – closed before we got there), and a quick drive through of Downtown LA (nothing terribly exciting there, really). Then we came home on the 6th day. Next time it'll probably be Orlando, Florida, since Lil Sis wants to go to the new Harry Potter theme park that's scheduled to open next summer, and while we're there, might as well hit up Disney World and the Six Flags there, too. And possibly Sea World, too. Woo!!
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