And Fourthermore...

I finally recovered from my cold that I’ve caught while we were in Southern California over the 4th of July weekend. The mornings and evenings were unusually cold for this time of year. And getting completely soaked while riding Splash Mountain in Disneyland didn’t help matters much either. It was helluva fun though.


Here are the last of the photos that we took in Disneyland on Independence Day. Makes me want to go back there again and relive one great day. I would even take that cold again.


Yup, it was that much fun...



The waiting queue for the Indiana Jones ride is winding its way through a lush jungle area before entering the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. In true Disney fashion there‘s always a little back story for every ride and what else would make a better story than one of Indiana Jones’ adventures. The ride is still one of the best around. I suggest to sit in the very outer seats of the very last row of every vehicle. Then hold on to dear life...


George sitting in one of the boats of “It’s a Small World.” It’s Disney’s way of introducing different cultures from around the world. In a cheesy and cutesy way it does work for the most part. Walt Disney himself was already way ahead of its time when it came to bridge nations, educate about different cultures and innovative technology. Now if only the rest of America would finally make an effort to catch up...


Michael Jackson’s musical space adventure in 3-D, “Captain EO,” was reintroduced to the Disney Parks for a limited run this year. It’s such a 1980s flick. The music, the dance moves, the special effects...it’s really hokey in so many ways. But it’s still lots of fun nevertheless. I can’t believe I still remember the dialogue and dance routines by heart. I even spotted few of the bloopers again. Do you think I’ve seen this movie one too many times?


Space Mountain reflections


Waiting in line for Space Mountain...again.


Space Mountain! Still my absolute favorite ride in Disneyland. Always has been and probably always will be. And dang...was it spacey cold in there.


The boarding area inside Space Mountain. What is it with Disneyland rides and mountains? There’s Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain...


Can you spot the toad? A perfect cast shadow of Mr. Toad above the “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride”...well...ride.


Gadget’s Go-Coaster in Toontown. This “squirrel-made” coaster consists of over sized everyday items such as paper clips, pencils or bottle caps.


Inside the waiting line area of “Star Tours,” where C3PO and R2-D2 are repairing a star speeder for another tour to the moon of Endor. It’ll go on its final mission by the end of this month when the ride will close for about a year for a total refurbishment. When it reopens it will be completely redesigned and use the latest in motion simulator technology and 3-D imagery. Supposedly passengers will determine the outcome of each riding experience.


One of our favorite details in Disneyland are the chasing neon Space Mickeys, which are floating above the Star Traders store. It’s been there forever.


The spinning Tea Cups.


It’s 12:30 a.m. on Main Street, U.S.A. Do you know where your children are? Another fun day is slowly coming to a close in Disneyland.

More on the Fourth

It looks like I’m coming down with a cold. I suppose it was a nice little souvenir I brought back from California. While the weather was absolutely beautiful during the day, the morning and evening hours were rather chilly. Of course, we didn’t bring any sweaters or jackets. We really should have known better by now. Even the locals were surprised how unusually cool it was for this time of year.



In any case, below are more photos from out trip to Los Angeles. We actually stayed at a hotel in Anaheim, right behind the whole hoopla called the Disneyland Resort. Except for Saturday where we needed the car to drive to the beach and into the city, we didn’t need the car at all for the remainder of our stay. Everything was easily accessible with Downtown Disney merely ten minutes away by foot. Besides, parking alone costs $15 nowadays and despite Disney being efficiently organized traffic can still be quite a hassle.



I was worried that the crowds would be out-of-control on Sunday. It is high season after all. And it was a long holiday weekend and special Independence Day celebrations were in full swing. Surprisingly, the crowds were quite manageable and the waiting time for most of the bigger attractions and rides lasted not more than 20 minutes on average. Even Space Mountain didn’t have a huge line. There were times where we just walked right in. That’s unheard of on a big holiday weekend. I suppose the bad economy is still showing its lingering signs.



Here now is the first set of pictures of our day in Disneyland. More to follow soon...



The plaza between the Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure theme parks. Seen here is the main entrance to DCA. The colors on the permanent letters promote this park’s new spectacle, “World of Color,” a new nightly show using water, lights, fire, lasers and pyrotechnics in the middle of their lagoon.


George in Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A.



Disneyland’s City Hall and Fire Station.


Along Main Street.


Sleeping Beauty’s castle, seen from Fantasyland.


Riding the sometimes funky “Alice in Wonderland” ride. We think that both the animators of the feature-length animated movie and the designers of this ride were high on something...


The boarding area to the “wildest ride in the wilderness,” Big Thunder Mountain.


After being soaked at Splash Mountain we decided it’s time for lunch. We were also hoping that our wet clothes might also dry while we were eating. We briefly left the park and walked over to Downtown Disney were we had the most scrumptious pizzas at Naples Ristorante e Napolini. The weather was absolutely perfect and we were sitting outside in their lovely patio, where I took this shot above. We finished with a wonderfully prepared Tiramisu and cappuccinos.


Waiting for pizza and my clothes to dry at Naples Ristorante e Napolini in Downtown Disney.


This enormous sculpture hangs above one of many entrances to one of the largest Disney Stores around. The largest store in the world is currently at the Disneyland Resort in Paris, France.


The beautiful and huge atrium of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Resort. The whole resort was built in the American Craftsman architectural style of the early 1900s


Parts of Fantasyland with the Matterhorn peaking out from behind. Built in the late 1950s, the Matterhorn ride inside the mountain was the first tubular steel track roller coaster in the world. Today’s super coasters are still based on this concept.


Another angle of view of the centerpiece of the park, Sleeping Beauty’s castle.


I just loved this little guy. It's one of many Heffalumps, who appear in a Winnie the Pooh movie in which the ‘silly old bear’ sees them in his nightmares. This little critter above sits on the back of every Hunny Pot car that visitors take to go on the dark ride called “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.”


Yes, I love little cute and corny Disney things. More pictures coming soon...

Happy Birthday, George

Today one year ago we spent George's birthday at one of our favorite places on this planet. What a fun day it was.


Unfortunately, I developed a terrible cold and that kind of puts a damper into our celebration plans for George's birthday today. We'll have his mom and sister over for a nice dinner and we were planning to meet some friends later this evening. I hope I'm up for it. I feel terrible to be sick today of all days.


Nevertheless, Happy Birthday, George. I'm wishing you all the best in the world. And I love you lots.

Another California Adventure

George and I spent another wonderful long weekend in Southern California. Everything was perfect, the weather (even though it could have been a little less hot), the food (we tried not to overstuff ourselves even though it was more than tempting) and of course Disneyland Resort (the very definition of perfect!).

Friday was my birthday and we spent the whole day at Disney’s California Adventure, the smaller sister theme park adjacent to the Magic Kingdom itself. We haven’t been to California Adventure in a long while and it was great to be back. Even though this park doesn’t seem to be very popular for whatever reason, George and I love it. We also wanted to see it one more time before Disney is completely tearing up the whole place to re-theme it to give it the look of the 1930’s era Los Angeles, when Walt Disney himself first came to California. Some areas of the park were already big construction sites but most of the rides and shows are up and running. Sometime in 2012, California Adventure will have completed its transformation with individual new or updated attractions opening between now and then. It’ll start with a spectacular aquatic light show next spring and topping it off with a brand new land based on the Disney-Pixar movie “Cars.” We know it will be amazing.

Most of Saturday was spent at the Corona del Mar State Beach, just on the other side of Newport Bay surrounding the Balboa peninsula in Newport Beach. It’s a peculiar little place with whimsical architecture with a hint of a Mediterranean feel. This beach was filled with people, the busiest we’ve ever seen a beach to be in the greater Los Angeles area.

Far in the distance, however, one could see the gigantic plumes of smoke coming from the La Cañada Flintridge wildfires, which now seem to burn out of control and ravaging in all directions. It’s right next to where our friends Rover and Cal live and they too had to evacuate. Luckily, they’re fine and were able to return to their home in the meantime. It’s weird to see people having fun in the ocean waves while just tens of miles away thousands of people are fleeing a destructive blaze consuming hundreds of homes. Tragicly, two firefighters have already lost their lives battling the flames.

Yet life goes on. Despite the constant threats of wildfires during the summer months, mudslides in winter and occasional earthquakes, we understand why people would never leave California. It’s one of the most amazing places on this planet. We would live there if we could.

Later that Saturday we celebrated both George’s brother’s and my birthday with an absolutely scrumptious dinner at the Blue Agave, a Mexican restaurant in Yorba Linda not too far away from the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. This restaurant looks fairly unassuming from the outside but has an inviting and festive atmosphere inside and their food is extraordinary. We ended the evening at Downtown Disney where we strolled around and enjoyed window shopping, people watching and got a glimpse of the nightly firework show at Disneyland.

On Sunday we made our way back home to Las Vegas. The strong winds carried the smoky air from the wildfires over the Mojave Desert and it started to settle in the Las Vegas valley. We can’t even imagine what it’s like being right smack in the middle of this fiery hell. We stopped at the recently opened M Resort & Casino which we’ve never visited before. A very cool and trendy place. We had an early but delectable dinner at the Red Cup Café coffee shop and also ran into some acquaintances. Las Vegas can be such a small town sometimes.

And with that another weekend in the Los Angeles area came to a close. Below are some pictures taken at the California Adventure theme park, Newport Beach, the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda and the M Resort in Las Vegas.



Birthday boy

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, CA

The Army One Helicopter at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Richard Nixon's birthplace

Corona del Mar Beach in Newport Beach, California

The gigantic clouds of smoke from the wildfires in the distance

George and our host's cat Isis

The new M Resort & Casino at the outskirts of Las Vegas

The pool area of the new M Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, NV