Day 3 Extreme heat, fires, flash floods, earthquakes. What are we doing here?

Day 3 and we started off with a nice sleep in only to be woken by some very loud kids outside our door. We tried to get back to sleep after yelling at them but it wasn't to be so we went next door for our woefully bad continental breakfast which is really just cereal, juice, cold toast and really really sweet pastries. 7 more days of them to go yet, so thank god we didn't pay extra for the privelege.

 

We wandered out into the scorching heat at 10am as that's when Disney California Adventure opens and we realised the rumours are true; not many people go there. It's not hard to see why after spending no more than 10 minutes there. It just plain sucks. There's a distinct lack of rides and attractions, which in my opinion are kind of an important part of any amusement park. Maybe they should try getting rid of some of the huge number of food places and build more rides instead.

 

Without doubt the best ride has to be the Grizzly River Rapids and being such a hot day we were grateful to get a soaking to cool us down. After that, I managed to drag Sarah onto the little wild mouse rollercoaster and I think she nearly soiled herself. Perhaps luckily for us we completely avoided feeling the 4.7 magnitude earthquake which happened while we were on the coaster.

 

We wandered over to the Screamin coaster, which is the only really big decent ride in the park only to find that it wasn't working. D'oh. But we settled for a spin on the ferris wheel instead. Weeeeee, wasn't that a thrill-a-minute. After an hour in the park we were pretty much tired out from so much excitement so we headed back to the river rapids to cool down again before heading back to the hotel. Unfortunately, with the coaster not working, and the rapids out of action due to the quake, the queue was 50 miles long. It was due to start up again any minute so we hung around in the line. 40 minutes later we got another soaking. Yay.

 

Time for lunch so we headed out to Denny's where Sarah had a chicken salady type thing and I had a spicy queso chicken washed down with the most disgusting bright red fruit punch I've ever tasted. Back to the room for an afternoon nap.......

 

We thought we'd give California Adventure another go at 7pm in the off chance that they'd built some new rides while we'd been snoozing. Alas it wasn't to be. The crowds were still fairly non-existant so there was hardly any waiting time for the river rapids which we went on twice again.

 

The Screamin coaster still wasn't working and at 8.30ish they were just testing it, so with only half an hour till the park closed we thought we might give it a miss until we come back again. Gee I'm so looking forward to getting back there again. What a fun place!

 

We had time for one more ride before leaving so we checked out the Soarin Over California ride which is a hang glide simulator over all different parts of California. We found ourselves pleasantly surprised as it was actually very good.

 

9pm and it's back to Denny's for dinner. I think that's about the 28th time we've eaten there in the last 3 days. (It's only 30 seconds walk from our hotel). There's nothing left on the menu we haven't tried. Except burgers, I'm holding out for as long as I can without having one but it's getting more and more difficult each day. We'll probably head back there about midnight for a banana split.

 

I suppose that should do for today. I wonder what fun we can get up to tomorrow. Surely it can't beat the pure excitement that is California Adventure.

 

Check out the photos from today as well.

1 Sep - Day 2 - Anaheim

Day 2 has been another scorcher.  97 degrees, or for us Australians, 36 degrees and humid!

 

We made our first trip to Disneyland this morning.  First ride was Indiana Jones, our favourite.  The queues were great first thing with only an average waiting time of about 5-10 minutes.  By 11.30, the queues were back to 30 minutes and it was hot.

 

We made an early exit to get some lunch.  It is so much cheaper eating outside the Park and the walk is only about five minutes from the gate to Dennys, your typical American hamburger joint. We ate there last night too and both times were able to avoid the hamburgers.  First night we had steak and shrimp.  Today Alan had a chicken salad and I had a turkey sub.  More Minute Maid Lemonade for me. I love the American free refills and after a very hot morning at Disneyland, I needed it.  Three large glasses in about 35 minutes.  Lovely!

 

A nice five hour afternoon nap was had, waking up in time for dinner.  Tonight was IHOP (International House of Pancakes).  Alan had strawberry pancakes and I opted for the bacon, eggs, sausage and hash brown.  We then stumbled back over the road to Disneyland, now that it had cooled down.  Unfortunately, so had just about everyone else.  The queues were dreadful.  There is a brand new ride, a Nemo submarine ride, and the waiting time was over 90 minutes at 7pm.  The fireworks were brilliant again tonight.  We had the best of both worlds, could watch from a queue for a ride. 

 

Tomorrow we will try out California Adventure ... well, should I say, Alan will try out California Adventure.  From what I can see of the rides, I will more than likely keep my feet on the ground.  This means though there will be photos taken and I'll have something to post tomorrow in the photos section.

 

Send us an email and say hi so we know at least someone is reading this.

 

 

We've Arrived

Hello one and all Yes, we've arrived.

 

Alan's parents took us to the airport, arriving at 10.30am.  We've never seen it so quiet and we were checked in within 5 minutes.  I asked how long it would take to get through immigration and customs and she said an hour.  We had some lunch with Alan's parents and then walked through the door to find no-one!  5 minutes and we were on our way to the gate.  Security was a lot less than I thought it would be.

We couldn't get to our boarding gate until about midday.  Security was tighter there which apparently is what it is like for all US flights.  One person checked our boarding tickets and passports, the next person checked our carry on luggage and the third person ran the wand over us.  They also have special rules on board including no congregating of people.  That makes it difficult when you are in line for the toilet.

Things have sure changed since the last time we flew overseas.  Qantas now has like a Foxtel arrangement where you have your own small screen and you can watch what you want, when you want; movies, tv shows, documentaries etc.  It is great being able to pause whenever you want to have a sleep etc.

One thing about Qantas, they like to feed you.  Started with pretzels and a drink, then there was "lunch" at 3pm, then ice cream, then later hot chocolate, then a snack pack filled with water, chocolate, cookies etc and then breakfast. 

It was a dreadful flight though.  I've never had so much turbulence in my life.  It wasn't really bad, but just constant.  There were only a few lulls in the bumping.  This made sleeping very difficult.

We were on the back row of the plane, with just two seats on the side.  This was nice as we never had to bother anyone else if we wanted to get up.

The trip through immigration was a bit slow at this end, taking about 40 minutes.  However, there was no customs check. After collecting our bag which was already waiting for us, we just walked out.

The shuttle took about an hour to get us here but, thankfully we are here. It is very sunny and very hot.  The Foxtel weather channel has been saying about 25-27.  When I spoke to my friend Ray who lives in LA two weeks ago he said it had been 40 in the Valley.  It was about 35-38 at midday when we got to the hotel.  Even now at 8pm it is still over 30.

The hotel is right where we were hoping it was.  The room is a btg dark but very clean and nice.  I'm sitting here in our room with our free wireless internet, in front of the air conditioning.  It's a toss up what I'll do first ... sleep or shower.  I needed both.  I chose sleep.

 

Dinner we walked to Dennys.  It was close and with the heat, that was about as far as we wanted to go.  We avoided the burgers, having steak and prawns.  I also got my first taste of Minute Maid Lemonade.  I had waited 8 years for that taste and I wasn't disappointed.

 

I have to report I called home to check on the cats.  Disappointing to hear that they aren't being very friendly.  I hope that improves.  I worry about them.

 

Well that's it for a first post.  Sorry, no pictures yet ... maybe after tomorrow's first day at Disneyland.  Let's hope it isn't as hot as it is today.

 

 

 

 

Long Time No Information - Big Information to share too

Ok, lots has happened since I last wrote something.

 

Firstly, I'm getting married ... 3 weeks today to be precise.

 

Alan and I leave for the US in five day and will be married in Las Vegas on 15 September (16 September Sydney time).

 

Keep an eye out, details on where to view the webcam of the ceremony will be blogged soon.  Also, keep an eye out for the holiday pics which will be posted every few days.  

Another 11 weeks gone!

Time really does fly.

 

The girls are now 22 weeks old and have been desexed so no more kittens for us.

 

We finished the bulk of the outdoor enclosure which can be seen in the photos.  The girls love it out there.  Now we just have to get some grass in flat pots and all should be done. 

 

So much is happening too.  Alan and I are off to the US in September and we're getting married in Las Vegas on 15 September.  It will be live on webcam for those who can't make it.  Just let me know if you would like the viewing address.

 

Eleven Weeks - Can It Really Be

I know, I'm slack at keeping this updated but wow, doesn't time fly.

 

The girls will be eleven weeks on Sunday. 

 

Molly was desexed yesterday, finally, and now hopefully the heat cycles will stop soon.  She's still acting like she's in heat today but I think that's just the hormonal imbalance.

 

The kittens are doing well and are all very different. Marshmallow loves to sit and sleep with us at night when we are watching TV.  In fact, she's done it a bit during the day.  I sat down for lunch today and she slept on my hip for half an hour and squealed when I had to move her. 

 

Speckle is a bit of a loner and likes to sleep on her own but as soon as play time is on, she's back with the others.

 

Callie is becoming more likeable and is now purring when we pat her.  However, she chooses not to want to go to the toilet in the right places which is terribly frustrating.

 

I've been volunteering with CatRescue which is an amazing organisation.  I urge you all to go to their site:

 

www.catrescue.com.au and please donate some money.  Your donation will be tax deductible and your contribution will go a long way to helping saving a lot of really nice cats in need, like Molly.  Thanks to CatRescue, Molly's family all have wonderful homes and no longer have to live on the streets.

Giant Balls of Trouble

Aarrghh, I've been slack writing here for ages but the little balls of fluffy have turned into little balls of trouble. 

 

I have been updating the photos so please check them out.

 

The very nice people at CatRescue lent us a cat cage which was helpful for a couple of weeks.  There was enough room for food, litter, a blanket and of course Molly and the kittens.  Although it has a door, Molly freaked out when it was closed so we had some cardboard in the front of the cage keeping the kittens in and Molly could come and go.  They quickly were able to climb over that piece of cardboard so we replaced it with a larger piece but again, they quickly worked out that one.  Now, pretty much, they are just climbing all over the place and today they have decided the rest of the house is fun to explore, much to Molly's protests although it would appear, all her meowing at them does nothing.  I can see we are going to have three rebels on our hands.