We Have Returned

We're back...

The drive: - good--we made record time, with the help of my six pack of Starbucks, chilled, Mocha Lite Frappos...  It's amazing how smooth traffic is at after the midnight hour.  I didn't yawn once, and my sister-in-law, Becky kept me awake with a lot of conversation.  I did have to use the bathroom at a nasty looking toilet at a gas station.  They had a unisex bathroom--I hate those--especially when you wait there for someone to get out, and there walking out the door was a very large, beer bellied man, with a weird look on his face.  He smiled and held the door for me.  It was a little freaky, and it was nasty inside, and I tried not to think of that guy's butt sitting on the toilet seat.  Eeek..  But, when you got to go, you got to go.  Thank God for toilet seat covers.  When we left the station, I saw the beer belly guy again, he was outside of his car, smiling at me.  Eeek... 

The Greyhound - not so good-- We got to the bus depot about a hour before the trip, but the station ticket station was closed.  Having never taken a Greyhound, we were unaware that our e-ticket (the one we got online when we purchased them) had to be verified with a teller a hour before.  Only thing was, the station closed at 11 pm, their bus left at 12:40, and according to the ticket it had to be verified a hour before the trip.  Well, they were there, but the ticket people weren't..  Anyway, after much some convincing, and a call from hubby to the bus driver, the driver decided NOT to abandon, Liz, her friend Julia, and another younger girl at the station at midnight.  They got on the bus, but, since the bus was packed already, they had to sit away from each other, near some strange looking, smelly people.  Oh well.  I got the call on the road that Liz and her friend was on the bus.  Thank God. It was very HARD leaving them on the depot.  The people waiting there were a little sketchy.  It's a good thing I wasn't around when her bus driver said he wasn't going to honor her ticket.  There would be some major drama at my part--I'm afraid I would have caused a scene.  I didn't leave until I spoke to another driver who reassured me that they would be on the bus--all they had to do is show their ID with their e-tickets.  Thankfully, they arrived in Hollywood with no problems. 

 

Venice Beach:  Beautiful & expensive place to live, with hootie tooty restaurants, and a lot of older people in exercise clothes, running around.  The sand was warm, the water was cool, and the sky was blue.  Saw muscle beach, but saw more flab than muscles, and unfortunately a lot of men (men that shouldn't) wearing speedos.  There was a guy sunning himself about 10 feet away with a pair of what must have been "stuffed" apricot colored speedos.  Oh, and lets not forget the dark guy in the tight leopard ones...  All and all Venice Beach/Santa Monica was beautiful.  We had the best hosts--my sister-in-law Janet, and her girlfriend, Ellen.  What a beautiful home, pool, and doggies...  Saw a few celebrities in Santa Monica, and saw the original Golds Gym where our governor Arnold used to work out.  Loved the canals....  SIGH

 (We saw the grey haired guy walking down a street in Santa Monica talking on his cell phone..)

Disneyland/California Adventure:  Nicholas is exactly 42 inches tall, which means he was able to go on all the rides!!  YAY!  Fun, fun, fun...  Thunder Mountain Rollercoaster, is the BEST.  Went on the Pooh ride 4 times, got on a lot of the rides, but of course we had that earthquake, 6.5 that shook the place for awhile.  It happened when we got off the Pinocchio ride.  It was a little scary, but didn't phase Nicholas a bit.  Lots of out of state people were a little frazzled, and I must admit I was a little freaked thinking about the possibility of another aftershock while being lifted up to a giant screen when riding Flying Over California with Nicholas...  Imagine Disneyland, on a summer day, with no rides open for 1 hour, and people just walking around aimlessly.  Of course, I was with Nick and my sister-in-law and all the kids were in various places.  The cell phones weren't working--lines too busy.  Called my mom and hubby to make sure we were all okay.  Unfortunately, my favorite ride (Raiders) remained closed for the entire day.  I didn't get to go on that one, and it bummed me out, but, with all considered,  Disneyland was good-all the kids got along, and they got on a lot of rides.  I got a few water blisters on my feet, and my baby toe, but the Venice beach sand, and salty ocean water, cured all of that. 

Drive Home:  We were ready to go home---traffic wasn't as bad as expected-even though we left well after 3 pm.  We got Liz and Julia early at the Greyhound, and they had time to walk down Hollywood Blvd and see the stars on the sidewalks.  Unfortunately, they didn't recognize the names of most of them though.  I got my sister-in-law back home and it was still daylight, and it was only a few more hours until I got to the Greyhound to meet the girls.  The bus trip for them was better than the trip over.  They met a guy from England who was leaving Hollywood from an audition, and heading for Oakland for another interview for a film.  The bus stopped at a Burger King, and Liz and Julia shared their onion rings with him.  Julia wrote her phone number with eyeliner on the onion ring bag.  We don't know if he has called yet.  Romantic, huh? 

Pictures coming later--I haven't downloaded them yet.. 

Thanks to Lisa Jo for all those fantastic tags you sent me while I was gone!