Our Trip

We had a great road trip. We left on a Friday and came back on a Saturday. Still not enough time! Today is my last day of vacation and all day I have pondered the entire trip.....wishing I was able to take another 10 or more days. The only bad thing about vacation is you WISH you were on vacation all the time!

The first night we stayed in Grants Pass-Southern Oregon. WOW --I had been to southern Oregon as a kid but totally did not even remember how beautiful it was. Rolling green hills that look manicured!

Absolutely gorgeous!

From Southern Oregon we headed to San Francisco. Heading into Northern California it was just as beautiful as Southern Oregon. The Siskiyou Mountains are also gorgeous...although similar to what you see almost everyday in Washington-but you can still appreciate their beauty. Got a wonderful photo op. of Mt. Shasta...

San Francisco was awesome. I LOVE it there. I can see why people say they leave their heart there! The architecture leaves me in awe!

We stayed in San Fran 2 nights in the beautiful Palace Hotel, built in 1875---just gorgeous!Old world charm with the latest amenities!

We went to Chinatown.. Alcatraz (loved the history part of Alcatraz)...Fisherman's Wharf... watched the sea lions romp, sleep and play in the harbor and rode the heck out of the cable cars--I love the cable cars!

We only wish we had more time there! It reminded me a lot of Seattle (especially all the rain) What a beautiful place it is. WE WILL be back.

Our next venture was off to Anaheim,, yes,, I will ALWAYS love Disneyland (they were celebrating their 50th anniversary) . I can't even count how many times I have been there but always love the experience. I think when you've been there as a kid, and seen Disneyland through a child's eyes.. it never really changes.I still even love to see the farm animals there.. I love animals anyways so it's always a treat to be near them! :) I wanted to take the goat home with me! ((we bonded))

Mable the cow was sweet too but she wouldn't have fit in the car

It was my first time going to the Disney California Adventure park right across from Disneyland. This park is geared more towards the ride aspect, but it was great. My favorite ride was the Twilight Zone Hollywood Tower of Terror,, what a thrill that is! We went on most of the rides there three or more times!

While in CA we met up with my Dad and his wife Martha and her kids Peggy and Anthony (good people!) My cousin Troy drove all the way up from San Diego to have dinner with us one night--which I hadn't seen him since the wedding (so good to see him!) Jeff golfed with my Dad one day, and Martha and I went into LA to the garment district-what fun that was,, I only wish I had about 3 days there,, didn't even make it past the bags and the shoes!

After staying in Anaheim for 3 days we decided at the last minute to make a detour and make our way home via Vegas and Reno... Jeff really wanted to go back to where we were married. We left Anaheim at 5am and made it to Las Vegas at 8:45am,, we made great time and had the entire day in Vegas! We went back to the Paris and to the chapel where we were married for ol' times sake.. only this time I wasn't shakin' in my shoes... We stood near the podium where we said our vows and set the camera on auto timer and took a picture of ourselves...1 year after we were married. (the picture didn't come out all that great)

We had a great day and night in Vegas,, and me winning $1300 didn't hurt either! Needless to say we ate WELL and had fun! We only stayed one night in Vegas (our vacation coming to an end...) we didn't want to make the journey all the way from Vegas home and drive the entire night so we drove as far as Reno and stayed there for the night. (no money won there)..

I think I was 10 years old the last time I was in Reno, and as a kid I played at Circus Circus (in the kiddy section) and thought it was the cats ass!!!!...well... I can say for sure I won't be back, or at least anytime soon....just didn't feel safe there. Quite a few shady characters... We left at 5am the following morning we arrived and had a transient beg for money in our hotel while we were drinking coffee.. (AT 5AM!)..

The last day of driving was the longest. From Reno, home. It was feelin good.. to be nearer and nearer to the dogs, but not good knowing our great vaca was coming to an end. It was almost like a teaser.. we saw a little bit, and now it's given us the bug to see more!!! As a kid that was all we did was drive vacations (Jeff hadn't experienced one).. I have seen several places in this beautiful country of ours, but a lot of them were when I was a kid and probably didn't appreciate them like I would now... SOOOO,, I am ready for another one..

If I won the lotto I would quit my job and get a big OL' motor home so the dogs (well and Jeff) could go too!..

Well,, that's a snippet of our vaca.. there are a lot more stories but can't go into it all.. I'd be writing forever.. (I took over 300 pics too!)

Comments

[natalie hansen]

Hi again! Well you already know how I feel about SFO. Next time you should go to the exploratorium...It's near the Palace of fine arts, all kind of science, hands on stuff...Fun!!! I love Alcatraz too, and had never been there until a couple of years ago! Don't get me started on Disneyland!!(or Disney World, or Disney Cruise) At work, I am know as the Disney Queen! I work at a travel agency though, so I guess it is somewhat appropriate. Tower of Terror is my all time favorite! My girl friend and I took our kids in Oct. (the husbands said they have had enough of the happiest place on earth) We went on it about 7 or 8 times in the 3 days we were there. But our teen boys were on a mission... they went on it 12 times in a row!!!! Plus the other times during the visit. My husband and I were up your way a few weeks ago. We did a cruise on the Columbia river. It was so beautiful there....learned a LOT about Lewis and Clark, which was interesting. We were the youngest on the boat (42) Everyone else was about 85!! But those folks were having a great time! And they were interesting to talk to too! Glad you had such a great time on YOUR trip! Natalie