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Day 8: Disneyland May 16, 2008

I don’t care what you say about Hotel rooms, I’ve yet to spend the night in a hotel that I would consider comfortable.  The beds are always too hard, the rooms as nearly always muggy and hot.  The sheets are nearly always scratchy.  The Disneyland Hotel is no exception.  This is particularly true when you’re sharing two queen beds and a day bed between four grown men.  As a result, I awoke on Thursday having enjoyed about five hours of restless sleep.  Fortunately, I have had a sleeping disorder my entire adult life, so it wasn’t significantly less sleep than I usually get.

Today was my first day in the Disneyland–and from everything I have heard, I picked the perfect day in the year.  Apparently, the middle of the May is time to come here.  It’s a week before school lets out, so all the kids are in school, not here.  Because we stayed in a Disney hotel, we were able to get into the park an hour early for Fantasyland and Tommorowland.  The lines were non-existent.  We had gone on seven major rides in two and a half hours.  We never waited in line more than five minutes for any ride until after lunch.  By one o’clock, we had ridden everything in the park we wanted to. 

Disneyland is a fascinating place.  The rides are pretty…well…for lack of a better word, tame.  There’s nothing particularly thrilling or exhilarating (except maybe Space Mountain).  What astonished me was the sheer brilliance of engineering and the fantastic attention to detail that goes into make these rides exceptional.  Even the waits in line were entertaining (not that we spent much time waiting in line.)  I can understand why people come here over and over again…it’s not the rides themselves that are the major draw–especially for people over the age of 12.  It’s the whole feeling of the place.  You have to "surrender" to the spirit of Disneyland to really enjoy it.

It’s also astonishing how they’ve managed to create an environment that is so clean and bright.  Obviously, they work very hard to maintain the park and assure that the visuals are flawless.  But they’ve even managed to create an atmosphere that encourages park visitors to participate.  The people in the park were so nice.  Nobody was rude.  Even those toothless white trash people who are usually screaming at their kids at an amusement park were behaving themselves.  It was a nice change of pace.

In all, I really enjoyed my first trip to Disneyland.  As a 30-year-old male without children, I’m not sure I would come here again for a long time, because by 3:00 yesterday, we were out of things to do in the park.  Fortunately, we got park-hopper tickets, so the group of us went across to California Adventure.  This is a really neat park too, but in a very different way.

The main reason I wanted to go to Disneyland at all could be found in California Adventure: The Muppet 3-D experience.

I am a major Muppet Fan.  I own all the Muppet movies.  I had seen all of them but one: Muppet 3D Vision.  I scheduled this trip with the sole purpose of coming to see this attraction.  Yesterday afternoon, my dream finally came true.  And I LOVED it!  This was one of the last things Jim Henson did before he passed away.  It was so exciting to see a new Muppet movie with the Jim Henson Kermit. 

After a few more rides at California Adventure, we went back to the hotel, changed, and went to a very expensive restaurant in Downtown Disney.  I had a Chorizo skewer with Garlic Potatoes and a saffron sauce, a crispy duck breast with a ragu of morel mushrooms fava beans, and a reduction of balsamic vinegar, and a berry shortcake with the most amazing berry sorbet I’ve ever eaten.  After tip, it cost me $65 for just me, but hey, I’m on vacation.  I’m going to indulge. 

After that, I went swimming.  Then, I crashed hard. By 9:30, I was struggling to keep my eyes open.  By 10:30, I was dead to the world. 

Today, we’ll be going back to California Adventure to ride the rest of the rides, then we’ll hit the road.  I image that, by 3:00 or so, we’ll be on our way to San Simeon.

Day 7 - On the Road Again May 15, 2008

After not-particularly-restful night (worrying…it’s my happy little friend), Stephen and I hopped in the car at about 9:30 and hit the road.  We had to stop by the Verizon store for Stephen to pick up a new phone, then we hit the road toward California.

The first segment of the trip was largely uneventful.  We made it all the way from Provo to St. George without stopping.  For lunch we gobbled down some KFC/A&W (They’ve got one of those combined restaurants) for lunch, then I drove us out to my old performance home, Tuacahn.  I mostly wanted to see if I still knew anyone working there.  I ran into a few old friends, was reminded of how grateful I am that I no longer work in the performing arts, bought a bag of crack these sweetened puffed corn nuggets covered in toffee, then got back on the road.

Let me just say that the trip from St. George until I-15 breaks splits just before San Bernadino is one of the ugliest stretches of land I’ve ever had the misfortune of driving through.  In particular, Baker, CA was just hideous.  I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would ever want to live there.  Blech.

We ended up getting to LA about an hour before Tom and Beren’s flight arrived from Seattle.  We parked and went inside only to discover that we had parked in the terminal for Virgin Atlantic, not Virgin America.  After driving the wrong way down a one-way street, parking illegally, and generally pissing and moaning about how much I hate L.A., we finally got Tom and Beren and made our way to the happiest place on earth.

It was nearly 11:00 PM when we arrived finally, and I must say this:  The happiest place on Earth needs happier parking.  There was some big event going on, so it was nigh unto impossible for us to find a decent place to park.  We got checked in, I did a touch of homework, and went to bed.  Sleeping in a hot hotel room with three other adult men is not what I would call a recipe for restful sleep.

We get early admission to the park since we’re staying at a Disney hotel, so we’ll be taking off in a few minutes for the park.  I’m looking forward to it.  My first time in Disneyland.

Day 6 May 14, 2008

One of the fallouts of having such a wonderful, peaceful, relaxed time with my parents is that, when the time comes to leave, I really don’t want to.  Travel for me is a rather tense affair.  I worry about getting lost, getting robbed, crashing my car, leaving my dog at home, not getting along with my traveling companions, falling behind at work, missing my bed, and generally wishing I was back home.  I am a creature of habit, and I find a great deal of comfort in my regular schedule.  Traveling throws that out of whack.

So, when I travel, I cherish the times of peace and relaxation I am able to find amidst that whirlwind of worry, paranoia, and guilt.  To find it, then purposely leave it again is difficult.  Such was the case when I drove away from my parent’s house to begin the next segment of my trip.  I drove down I-15 to my old stomping grounds, Provo.

Being away from Provo, and finding a place I love, I was able to look at Provo and I came to a realization:  I hate that hole.  Provo is a city stuck in perpetual adolescence.   It’s a bi-polar city that can’t decide what it wants to be, is erratic and moody, and treats everyone who lives there like garbage.  And it’s UGLY.  I can’t believe that I lived there for nearly 10 years, and I can’t believe that I actually liked it, and was sad to leave.  Moving to the Puget Sound was one of the best decisions I have made in my entire life.

In any case, I spent the afternoon with my sister, niece, and brother-in-law.  We ate at the restaurant that I have been craving more than any other since I moved from Utah: Cafe Rio.  Immitators abound in Seattle, but none can measure up…and I still haven’t found a place that makes Tres Leches anywhere near as good as CR.  It did give me horrible diarreah, but it was worth it.

I spend the night at the new apartment of my old roommate, Stephen, after we went to see the movie Iron Man.  The movie was pretty good.  Not great, not awful, but I’m not in the mood to analyze it.  Then we went to bed and I slept on a very small twin bed for the first time since I was on a mission.  Blech.  I hate twin beds.

Also, I feel like Christopher Columbus: I discovered something that millions of people already knew about.  I was listening to my music on shuffle, and the 2nd Movement to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor and realized that the Eric Carmen/Celine Dion song "All By Myself" borrows quite heavily from this.  I was sure I was one of the only people who realized this.  Wikipedia (is there anything it doesn’t know) corrected me of this notion very quickly.

Day 5

The new week began on a slow note–which is just how I wanted it.  I did a lot of homework, watched several episodes of Ugly Betty (on of my new favorite shows), went on a walk with my mom and dad, got some Samurai Sam’s for dinner, and helped my dad set up his GPS unit for hiking. 

The neighborhood in which my parents live is putting in a very large park featuring a man-made lake.  Being so close to the Great Salt Lake as they are, and being right in the path of migratory water birds, this small lake has become home to several species of water foul: ducks, grebe, coot, heron, pelicans, and others whose names I can’t remember right now.  We go down to the lake usually once a day and just walk around it, enjoying the nature (and eating swarms of gnats…blech.)  There are swallows darting around eating the bugs, yellow-headed and red-winged black birds with their shrill, piercing cries, and for some inexplicable reason, usually about 30 Mexicans fishing in the middle of the day.

My parents are also avid bird-feeders.  My mother’s request for a Mother’s Day gift?  A couple of accessories for her bird feeders, and a bag of thistle.  She actually turned down nice jewelry to get this instead.  (There really is something to be said for low maintenance.)  Because of their bird feeders, though, I did get to see some beautiful birds, including Orioles and Grossbeaks.  I even convinced my mom to start putting out shelled peanuts to attract scrub jays.  (Apparently, they love peanuts in the shell…who knew?)  We always had bird feeders growing up in Michigan, and got beautiful birds visiting us there.  There are few birds as beautiful as a cardinal in the middle of winter.  But it’s been interesting to see how different the variety of birds is 1800 miles away.  When I finally get a home of my own, with a yard, I’d like to have bird feeders as well.  There really is something quite calming about sitting out in the waning light of a warm spring evening and watching these colorful, skittish birds flitting around the bird feeders.

During the course of these last several days, I’ve come to realize how lucky I am in some ways.  I have my struggles and my issues.  I complain a lot about being alone or about my life not turning out the way I had hoped that it would.  But when it comes to the family department, I am the luckiest man alive.  I truly have the best family ever. 

It’s rare that a 30-year-old man can honestly say that he considers his parents to be counted among his best friends.  It doesn’t matter where they are living, but I walk into their home, and instantly I am at peace.  I am more relaxed at their home than I am at my own.  Simply knowing that I have such unconditional support in my life means more to me than I could possible describe.

So, mom and dad, thank you for being the best parents in the world!

Days 3 & 4: Mother’s Day May 11, 2008

Ah, relaxation.  The last two days have been quite slow and relaxed.  Saturday, my folks and I went to the nursery to buy a couple of flowering pear trees for the yard.  Then my sister, her husband, and my little niece (who was being a bit of a pill) came to visit.  Despite her lack of sleep and resulting crankiness, she’s still the cutest little thing in the history of ever.

See.  I told you.

We visited, went to visit my cousin and her new little baby, then ate a yummy dinner.  It was a nice, relaxing day.  I usually run at such a speed that to be able to just spend time with family was greatly appreciated.

I love living in the Pacific Northwest.  Really, the only thing I wish were different is my proximity to my family.  Getting to see them only once or maybe twice a year is really difficult for me.  I get along with my family so well–especially my parents.  I know…it’s weird that I get along with my family so well.  Ah well.  It is what it is.

This morning, I made a very nice breakfast for my mommy.  We had Puffy Oven Pancakes with peach compote, baked french toast with blueberry syrup, and bacon.  Then I took a nap.  Then I did some homework, and took another nap.  (I love naps).  Then I did some more homework. 

I love my mother, but let’s be honest: she has some strange taste when it comes to food.  So what did we have for Mother’s Day Dinner?  Brats, Chi Chi’s Brand Sweet Corn Cake, and Brussel Sprouts.  Seriously.  Of all the food options she had at her disposal, that’s what she picked.  Oh well, I suppose I can’t except much from the woman who introduced me to the peanut butter and pickle sandwich or who wraps pickles with bologna. 

After dinner, we went down to the little man-made lake just down the street from my parent’s home to feed the ducks seagulls.  It was a beautiful night, despite the cloud cover being pretty dense.  The Wasatch mountains in the background still have quite a bit of snow on them, and will through June or part of July.  It’s a very pretty area, but all the same I’m glad I’m living up in the Seattle area now.

In any case, there’s not a lot to talk about from the last few days because honestly, all I’ve done is eat, lounge, watch Ugly Betty, do homework, and spend time with the parentals.  And relaxing.  Goodness am I so relaxed right now. 

Tomorrow will be more of the same, with a couple of errands thrown into the mix.  Can’t wait.

Day 2 - The Road Less Travelled May 9, 2008

I suppose it doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but the continental breakfast at the Super 8 motel was pretty  pathetic.  Stale donuts, bread, and bagels, Malt-O-Meal cereals, and a pitcher of orange juice.  Meh.  Also, the toilet in my room won’t flush unless I take the lid off and flush it manually.  On the other hand, I experienced an exceptionally peaceful night’s sleep.  Of course, that probably has more to do with the fact that I was mentally and physically exhausted.  And also because motels utilize those fantastic light-blocking curtains.  The sun generally takes up residence outside my bedroom window at about 4AM (or so it seems) every morning, and I wake up whether or not I want to.  All in all, I’m thinking I should have saved myself the $20 and just spent the night at the Motel 6 across the road.  They did, in fact, keep the light on for me, and I was rude and ignored it.

Today was all about the drive.  I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing the sights–particularly as the drive between eastern Washington and Utah is ugly.  Actually, that’s not entirely fair.  It is kind of cool in that ground zero, total desolation sort of way.  But that’s only interesting for the first 30 minutes of an 9 hour drive.

For lunch, I was hankering for pie.  So, I found a place I thought I would have pie, and ended up at Sheri’s.  I’ve never been to one of these, but apparently they’re a chain.  They’re not quite as nice as a Marie Callendar’s, but a step above Village Inn.  However, their pie is poop.  I had a slice of the Strawberry pie.  It came with four strawberries, a slimy crust, and whipped cream that I have to believe was more plastic than dairy.  I don’t think I’ll be heading back that way.

This particular Shari’s was located in Meridian, Idaho.  For some reason, Meridian seems to be located in this ideal location simply to annoy me.  I’ve driven the route between Washington and Utah four times, and three of those times have necessitated a stop in Meridian.  And EVERY time I’ve stopped, I’ve been disappointed with the results.  Meridian is the home of the JB’s with the pathetic salad bar and redneck clientele, the Courtyard Inn with the really high prices and really uncomfortable beds, and now the Shari’s with the crappy Strawberry pie.  I just need to not stop in Meridian, Idaho ever again.

Now comes the point in my blog where I share really disturbing fact about myself.  I love rest stops.  I always have.  Especially the ones that have vending machines (which I also love.)  One of the only things I really like about driving on the freeway system in the US is being able to stop every 50 miles at a rest stop.  The bathrooms always smell like pee, feces, and cigarette smoke.  There is never soap, or sometimes running water.  The dollar bill acceptor on the vending machines is always broken.  And I’m sure late at night, they’re a haven for illicit sexual activity.  But for some reason, I have always been fascinated by them.

When I was a kid, I’d always want to pick up all the tourist brochures and those manky "travel coupon" magazines that they had in the little boxes outside.  I’d beg my mom to let me buy a bag of fruit snacks from the vending machines.  Many times, if the weather was nice and there were picnic tables, we’d have our pack-it-yourself lunches at a rest stop.  Rest stops were always about getting out of the car, stretching, and eating. 

Now, whenever I see a rest stop on the freeway, I have a little debate in my mind about whether or not I should stop.  Even when I’m only traveling a short distance or if I just barely got back on the freeway.  When I’m by myself, I tend to stop far more often just because I want to.

In any case, I finally arrived in Utah at 6:20 PM.  My folks and I went to Famous Dave’s Barbeque tonight–mostly because there aren’t any good BBQ restaurants in my neck of the woods in Washington. And let’s face it, Famous Dave’s isn’t exactly fantastic either, but it’s better than the places up in Redmond.

Day 1: Harry Potter, Dairy Queen, and Super 8 May 8, 2008

At last!  Today I embarked on the first real vacation that I’ve had in fourteen years.  I left work at 4PM, went home, signed my new lease (rent went up $250 a month…), packed up the car, and put Luke in the front seat.  We went back to the office where I transferred him over to the care of one of my co-workers.  Then I hit the road.

Sending Luke to stay with "Aunt Amy" was really hard for me.  Much harder than I expected.  I don’t have children, and the nurturer in me has anthropomorphized my dog into a sort of perma-toddler.  This is the first time he will have been away from "home" and staying with a complete stranger.  Moreover, he’s staying with someone who has a much older (and therefore crankier) golden retriever, which is something he’s never had to deal with before.  I’ve been feeling the guilt of leaving him behind because guilt is what I do. 

Anyway, once I gave him a goodbye scratch behind the ears I hopped in my car and started down the road.  In preparation for this trip I bought a new GPS unit for my car.  It has an MP3 player built in, so I put several Harry Potter books in memory.  I spent the first four and a half hours of the trip listening to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

When I got to Ellensburg, WA, I figured it was time for me to pull off the road and eat at Dairy Queen.

Growing up, my dad used to make the same lame joke every time we drove past a DQ.  Dairy Queens across the country have on their sign the word Brazier.  These DQs usually are more like restaurants than they are ice cream stands.  They usually have a "grill" or some sorts to sell Burgers.  In any case, every time we’d pass by a DQ, my dad would say in a bad radio announcer voice, "Ah!  Daiquiri Queen.  Home of the famous Braziere."  It’s one of those psuedo-jokes that are so stupid you can’t help but repeat them over and over again until they become ingrained as a family tradition.  So, tonight, in homage to my father’s love of bad jokes, I visited the DQ.  I just got a burger and fries.  I really wanted ice cream, but with as violent as my stomach has been lately, my lactose intolerance, and the looooong stretches of nothing between rest areas on my road trip, I decided to refrain.  Also: I’m getting a beer belly, which is impressive considering I don’t drink.  So maybe it’s an ice cream belly.

After my DQ, I hopped back in Sam (my car) and she and I drove another few hours until I wound up in Pendleton, Oregon–which is where I found my hotel for the night.  In general, I can divide my hotel-staying experiences into two categories: poor childhood and middle class teenhood.  When I was very young, we were exceptionally poor, so when we stayed at hotels on road trips, it was almost always in a Super 8 Motel because they were generally decent and fairly inexpensive.  When I was a teenager, we had slightly more money, so we’d stay in slightly nicer hotels: Fairfield Inn, Hampton Inn, or if we were really lucky, a Holiday Inn. 

I was looking for a Hampton or Fairfield tonight, but apparently in this part of Washington/Oregon, my choices aren’t that high end.  Pendleton has several hotels, so I started by going to the Holiday Inn express.  It was more than I wanted to spend for 9 hours of sleep and a Wi-Fi connection.  So, I bit the bullet and went across the street to the Super 8 Motel.  Now here’s the thing:  The room smells a little musty and the decorator who picked these bedspreads should be shot, but it’s clean, it’s cheap, and I have Wi-Fi.  What more do I really need?  Plus, since the theme for today is nostalgia for road trips with my family as a child, I think it’s only fitting that I eat at Daiquiri Queen and Stay at a Super 8.  Now I just need to get my ice bucket filled up and chew on the ice chips while I jump from bed to bed playing "The Floor is Made of Lava."

Tomorrow: Going Home.

Microsoft Minute: Windows Live Writer

Since I’m blogging at work, I figured I ought to use the time to do a little technology evangalism for my employer.  Being in the beast’s belly allows me an opportunity to find/try a lot of new software and products that are being developed by the company for release to the public.  Some of these products I could do without.  Others I find intriguing.  Every so often, however, I find a product that I really love and being using often.  Live Writer is one of these.

Live writer is a small word-processor type application that you can use to write blog posts.  It works like a normal desktop application.  You can enter text, save posts in your My Documents folders, drag in images, add borders or drop shadows, embed flash video–all the normal things.

What’s nice is that Live Writer handles all the interaction with your blog software.  It supports most major blog providers (like Blogger) and, if you run your own blog software (like Wordpress), it will interface nicely with that as well.  You simply enter in your blog address, your blog username, and password one time, and it will handle everything for you automatically.  Live Writer will even download a list of categories from your blog for tagging purposes. 

Microsoft, in an uncharacteristic mood, released an API to Live Writer as well, giving developers an opportunity to write plug-ins for the software.  I’ve not found a need to use any plug-ins, so I can’t comment as to their usefulness, but all the same, the capability exists.

I originally began using Live Writer because my blog software and the WYSIWYG editor that was attached to it made inserting video from YouTube exceptionally difficult.  Often times the video would display in the wrong place on the screen or wouldn’t show up at all.  Adding pictures was also exceptionally tedious.  You’d have to upload them one at a time.

With Live Writer, now I simply drag photos from my hard drive (or in my case, Picasa) into the work screen.  I resize the images, move them around as I desire, and hit the publish button at the top of the page.  Writer uploads the pictures or video (ALWAYS displayed correctly), adds the post to my blog, and opens a new browser window so I can see my handiwork. 

It also saves a copy of my post on my local hard drive, which is nice in case my blog ever goes down.  I can edit or update blogs as often as I need to, then simply republish to update the copy on the blog server.

If you’re a regular blogger, this is a much better tool for writing blog posts than the editor that comes with your blog software.  And it’s free. 

You can find it here.

OMG! Vacay!

So, it’s nearly upon me.  My long-awaited vacation.  I’m sitting at work right now, desperately wishing I was anywhere but here, waiting for 4:00 to roll around so I can go home, pick up my dog, pass him off to my co-worker, feel guilty for leaving him behind, then hit the road for 10 whole days of me time. 

Today has been an exceptionally slow day, so I haven’t had much to do to keep me busy.  Woot.com is having another "Woot-Off" today, so I’ve been hitting F5 like a banshee hoping to catch a great deal on another piece of electronic crap that I don’t really need. 

You see, this is the problem with being as productive as I am.  Realizing that I was going to be gone for nearly two weeks, I took exceptional measures to make sure that I got ahead on my work so those who rely on me while I’m gone would be able to do their jobs.  But now I’m so far ahead I have nothing to do now. 

Anyway, I’m going to make an effort to blog my whole trip.  So, for the four of you who read this blog regularly, I’ll be posting pictures and stories from the road (hopefully) every night.  I may have a time or two where I can’t get internet access, but it just depends on where we spend the night each night.  So, keep an eye peeled for updates on a regular basis.

Say "AAA" May 4, 2008

When I was a kid, and we would go on vacations, the first questions my mother would ask any time that we would try to find a hotel to say in was, "Do you have a AAA discount?"  This magical card always got us discounts on hotels and eating when we’d go on road trips.  When I got my drivers license, my parents gave me a AAA card, but never really bothered explaining what it was for.  The very first time I used my AAA card, I was driving home from Dayton, Ohio the day after having hair transplant surgery, and the tire of the vehicle I was driving exploded on the freeway in Detroit.  I had a 75 pound suitcase in the trunk, and I wasn’t allowed to do any heavy lifting on the off chance that I might start spurting blood out of my scalp like some bitter, sarcastic fountain.

So, I called my mom, who told me to call AAA.  Fourty-five minutes later, a very nice man came and changed my tire while I sat in the car feeling like one of those helpless girls who never learned to change a flat (girls, if you’re one of those people, LEARN TO CHANGE A FLAT!  Or get a AAA membership). 

I’m going to be going on a road trip in less that five days (SQUEEE!) and I figure that now I’m actually making enough money I don’t need AAA, it was about time to get a membership.  I figured I could get discounts on hotels while we’re on the road, and in the off chance that something happens to me, like I run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, I won’t have to send Stephen off to find gas while buzzards circle overhead.  (I’m not walking.  Please.  I have an in-grown toe nail.) 

Apparently, however, AAA is far more than I remember it being.  I walked into the office to purchase a membership, and was surprised to find luggage, car accessories, posters for classes, and a full-blown travel agency.  I got a Plus membership, which cost me $89.  With the card, I get the usual emergency stuff–towing, winching if I get stuck, tire changing, gas if I run out, and so forth.  I will also get between 10-30% off on hotels and some restaurants while I’m on the road.  What I was not expecting were all the travel services that come along with the membership.  I walked in, got the membership, and casually mentioned I was going on a trip.  The woman asked where I was going, and I related the itinerary.  Instantly, she turned her back on me and walked into a back room.  She came back about 10 minutes later with TWO GROCERY BAGS full of maps an tour books for every state that I will be passing through on the entire trip, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and California.  There was a national map.  There was a map of the Western US.  There was a map of the Pacific northwest.  There were magazines about different sight seeing places in each area.  They must have killed at least one giant redwood to make the paper that all these books were printed on.

GPS?  We don’t need no steekeen’ GPS.  (I did buy a GPS for the car, though.  You know me and gadgets.)

So, now I am a proud member of AAA.  I won’t be putting the stickers on my car (I don’t do stickers on Sam.  She deserves better than that).  But, I will probably turn into my mother and stay only at AAA approved hotels–not so much because they can’t be just as skeezy as any other hotel, but more because I can get my 10% discount.

(As a side note, does anyone else find humor in the fact that I will, in the same day, spend $350 on a GPS unit and $90 on a AAA membership simply so I can save 10% on hotel rates for four days?  Yeah.  Me neither).

This is the first full-fledged vacation that I have taken since I was 16 years old and my family drove from Michigan to Nauvoo, Illinois.  That makes it nearly 14 years.  It’s about time.  I’m going to try and blog from the road at least every couple of days if not daily.  This will pretty much be my last time to vacation with my friends as a single guy.  From here on out, I fear it will be mostly me seeing the country and the world by myself.  I’d like to document this trip for myself as much as for anyone else. 

I’ll be starting on Thursday after work.  I’m going to drop Luke off with a co-worker, then hit the road about 6PM.  I’ll drive five or six hours and find a little motel to spend the night.  Then I’ll drive the rest of the way to Syracuse, UT the following day.  I should reach my parent’s house about 3-4PM.  I’ll be spending time with them, and celebrating Mother’s Day with my mom for the first time in years.  Then on Tuesday, I’ll drive down to Provo and visit my sister, her husband, and my little niece, Aubrey.

Wednesday morning, I’ll be picking up my friend Stephen and he and I will be driving from Provo to LAX to pick up Tom and Beren from the airport.  Then we’ll be driving to Anaheim to spend a couple of days at Disneyland.  We are going to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel for two nights.  I am most excited about the Muppet 3-D adventure at California adventure.

After Disneyland, we’ll be hopping on Route 1 and driving up the coast back to Seattle.  Along the way, we’re going to stop in some little towns and just enjoy a road trip experience.  We’re also going to stopping in San Simeon to see the Hearst Castle. 

But now it’s late, and I have to go to work tomorrow (pbbbbbth!).