During a brief trip home (and too brief it was too!) we turfed the summer singlets and shorts worn in the sunny Whitsundays for the more appropriate thermals and woollen jumpers required for a North American winter.
The 13 hour flight to LA was good although the leg room in Qantas economy is abysmal, it's the first time I recall being really cramped on a plane.
Anaheim was just as I remembered, all hotels and Disneyland as the central point. We forced ourselves to stay awake until at least early evening in an attempt to adjust and limit the effects of jet lag later. We walked through the main plaza of Disneyland and through Downtown Disney to get our bearings and to give Warren his first taste of Disney. Needless to say, despite all that was against us, the cold, the grey and the wind, we both had smiles from ear to ear.
The following morning I had set the alarm for 6:30am, we were going to be out at 7:30 and on our way to the park. The alarm went no problem, I jumped out of bed like a 6 year old, threw the curtains open and then that's when it hit me. The very loud noise that I could hear outside the window was torrential rain. Now I'm not talking about your average rainfall, I'm talking about a Hayman Island wet season downpour where the carpark is flooded and the drains can't cope. I dragged Warren out of bed anyway, I was going to Disneyland today!
When we went to the breakfast tent (the hotel was under major renovation) and half of that was a puddle I began to realise that going to the Park may not be practical, I conceded and we returned to the hotel room. By midday it had cleared and to Disneyland we went! The rest of the day and the following was working our way through the two ranks because the weather was so damp there were next to no lines. Perfect!
The next morning we collected the rental car, time for Andy to show me what he is made of as we tackled the streets and freeways of LA. First stop Mimi's for breakfast to relive old times with Mum and Dad however what was most disappointing was there was no 'short stack' (small stack of pancakes for the un-initiated) on the menu.
Downtown LA was big and confusing, in fact we never made it to real downtown at all - Hollywood with the Kodak Theatre, Graumann's Chinese Theatre (that was all closed off due to the premiere of 'The Spirit'), no handprints to be seen. Of course there was the famous Hollywood sign the came and went between the rain clouds. Yes, it was still raining. The fancy Beverly Centre was next with it's ritzy shops and where a game show was being filmed, which we declined to be a part of (my hair was a mess and I was in a raincoat!). We took ourselves on a tour of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood to see the mansions, or at least the gates in front of the mansions. Andy proceeded to crack it because I'd had him driving in circles for so long and he couldn't see the road markings for the rain. We headed back to Hollywood to catch a movie at Graumann's Theatre complex and a look through the Ripley's Believe it of not museum.
Another day on the road took us to Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier first up. While the street vendors and homeless were out in force the true crazies were not, no muscle men and only a few roller bladers. Santa Monica was a beautiful area, the pedestrian only streets and the famous pier of course. If only we weren't all 'rides' out.
Next port of call was the Queen Mary, the ship that is. Reason for visit: to check out whether we could handle cruise ship work and life or not. She's an amazing ship even after all these years of retirement. The propellers are bigger than you could imagine, the corridors so much longer and while no 'I'm the King of the World' moment could be had, she was still a grand old lady.
As the sun was setting I was getting antsy - the whole reason for coming to South Orange County was to get to Newport Beach for it's Annual Boat Parade. No ordinary boat parade either, this one is a Christmas Light Boat Parade where the aim is to have the most lights and the most amazing display on their boat. It was beautiful and it could have been a very romantic evening had I been sharing it with someone who understood romance rather than Andy who insisted on ridiculing the pure delight I was taking in the twinking lights shaped like Santa Claus.
Our final afternoon was spent none other than at Disney where, because it was friday, Andy got to taste what Disney is really like, people, crowds, lines and strollers. My favourite ride is still Space Mountain (for these unfortunate non-disney goers - a high speed roller coaster through the dark ie like space) and Andy's was Indiana Jones (a rough ride in Jeeps dodging and lurching through potential disasters like a rickety rope bridge or an enormous snake). I think however our most memorable will be the Hollywood Tower of Terror. Happily joining the line without really understanding what it was we were queuing for, it soon became ubundantly clear as a storyline was laid our for us to build the moment. We were ushered into an elevator that was according to the story known for dropping from great heights without warning - bad choice of ride..?? The elevator rose with no difficulty but when the doors at the top suddenly opened and Disney lay out a long way down in front of us we could do nothing about what was about to happen. Sure enough it dropped and then rose, dropped and then rose, over and over again while being lifted from the seat having your stomach in your mouth - fantastic! Well, at least I thought so. Andy, not a huge fan of rollercoasters was helped on by the fact that he didn't know what he was getting on to, however there were no more big rollercoasters during our trip to Disney.
The light show and fireworks and the parade really are something Disney does well and no matter how old you are it is very exciting to see Mickey, Minnie and friends.
That was LA for us, we saw a fair bit but there is always so much more to see - next time we come this way it'll be San Francisco I think. In the meantime our next stop, Vancouver and our VIA Rail trip.
