Veronica's Travels

Vancouver/Victoria BC 2011

2011-08-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

Monday-Waterfront and Seaplane Tour

Canada Place and the Pan Pacific Fairmount Hotel
The building with the sails holds various restaurants and shops. This is the main departure/arrival point for all cruise ships that leave to Alaska. The hotel is part of Canada Place and extremely pricey.

Downtown Vancouver at the Waterfront
Walking along the waterfront between Canada Place and the Vancouver Convention Center.

Olympic Torches from the 2010 Games. It now resides beside the Vancouver Convention Center.

Harbor Sea Plane Tour-45 minute Panoramic flight around Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park.
Stanley Park with Downtown in the distance.

Stanley Park

Aeriel view of Downtown Vancouver

Lion's Gate Bridge that connects Vancouver to Northern Vancouver

Islands north of Vancouver

The little seaplane that took us up.

Tuesday-Museum of Anthropology and the Botanical Gardens (apologize upfront for the lack of pictures). These attractions resided on the campus of the University of British Columbia which was in the western part of Vancouver.

Botanical Gardens-some plants and flowers but mostly wooded areas.

Wednesday-Stanley Park. The park is over 1000 acres and 10% larger than New York's central park. Besides a few attractions inside the park, it also has a seawall that surrounds the entire park with a walking and biking path. It would take 4 hours to walk around the entire park.

Vancouver Aquarium (which is located inside the park)

Sea Otters
This guy was l-a-z-y. He was just floating around looking at everyone.

Beluga Whales
Dolphins
Klahowya Village-an Aboriginal attraction that included music, dancing and native crafts.
The performer is dressed as a bear and growls and moves around like one to the timing of the music.

Totem Poles

Lions Gate Bridge-view from Stanley Park

Thursday-Ferry to Victoria

Parliament Building

Parliament Building's Grounds facing out towards the Empress Hotel

Legislative Assembly

One of many stained glass windows in the building

One of our tour guides-the young Queen Victoria

Views of Inner Harbour from our hotel room balcony

View of the Parliament Building from other side of Inner Harbour

The Empress Hotel-a historic landmark in Victoria

Friday-Butchart Gardens-55 acres of beautiful gardens that used to be a limestone quarry.

Entrance into the Sunken Garden

The Sunken Garden

The Italian Garden

The Rose Garden

Random pictures I took of the flowers

Saturday-Left for Home

Downtown Vancouver was a bustling city with towering glass buildings and a large mix of people with various backgrounds. The weather was perfect at a high of 70-75 degrees each day with clouds in the morning but sunny by the afternoon. The seafood tasted wonderful and we had Sablefish for the first time. Yum.

Victoria was beautifully sunny each day we were there. Unlike Vancouver, Victoria was more touristy with lots of tour buses, vendors along the harbour and souvenir shops. The garden was the highlight during our stay.

Happy Travels!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

2011-04-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! Many of you know that my mom, DeMarco and I went to Florida last week. Because I've already done a report on WDW two years ago, I decided to just write a quick post about our visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Islands of Adventure in Universal Studios Orlando. Please note that since it was incredibly busy, random people are going to be in my pictures. Sorry.

We arrived early on a warm Friday morning so we could get on the ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey without having to wait too long. After walking through most of the park we finally encountered this...

Despite being one of the first groups through the gate, a posted wait time for Forbidden Journey was already at 60 minutes.

The main entrance into Hogwarts which leads to the ride inside. Although it was a lengthy wait (which came to about 45 minutes) the line was always moving and there was lots to see.

There were many rooms and hallways with portraits and some the portraits were talking and having conversations with each other. In a few of these pictures, you can tell which ones were actual screens and others just an ordinary photograph.

Here in Dumbledore's office, you can barely make him out on the balcony area. It's an actual screen and he's talking to us. It is very realistic. Not pictured is another area where Harry, Ron and Hermione also appear on a screen.

You are greeted by the sorting hat (which talks to you) right before you enter the area to get on the ride.

Forbidden Journey was the most high-tech, interactive ride I had ever been on. It takes you through several locations and situations from the books and still held lots of surprises. It was worth the wait and the tour through the castle is just as good.

Now onto Hogsmeade!

The village was very detailed and true to the books. It was also pretty tight quarters. I read that when the park was being built JK Rowling wanted to keep the charm of the village and therefore didn't want anything mega-sized to accommodate the crowds which eventually led to crowded streets and lines just to get into the stores.

One of many Butterbeer carts around Hogsmeade.

Lunch at the Three Broomsticks! We decided to have an early lunch at the well-known restaurant. They had offerings of meat pies, roasted chicken and fish and chips. We all three had the fish and chips and it was very good with big pieces of fish and chips that were more like wedges than fries. DeMarco and I also had a butterbeer. It came two ways, DeMarco had it "cold" which was just like soda and I had mine "frozen" like an Icee. The cool thing about DeMarco's cold version was that it stayed frothy at the top just like beer and didn't fizzle out. The taste (to me) was much like cream soda but sweeter but not sickly sweet so that it overpowers the drink. Very tasty!

The Owlery. Here this was an open air seating area where many could just sit on wooden benches to rest or get cooled off from the heat. But once you look up into the rafters you can see that you're not alone!

My mom and DeMarco at the entrance of Hogsmeade.

DeMarco with the Hogwarts Express conductor.

Some random notes:
There were two other rides in the WW that consisted of the Flight of the Hippogriff which was a small (kid-friendly) roller coaster and Dragon Challenge, a steel roller coaster that had many loops and corkscrews. Because of limited time we skipped these rides because of the long lines.
DeMarco attended a wand presentation at Olivander's Wand Shop. He waited up to 30 minutes to see a 5 minute presentation. You can ask him what he thought of it if you would like to know more.

Overall we had a great time in Florida and the Wizarding World was the highlight of our trip.

I will leave you now with this picture of DeMarco and his two favorite Disney characters.

Happy Travels!

West Coast Camping Trip

2010-08-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

July 9th-18th
Hey Everyone! I just wanted to update my travel blog with the camping trip I took last month. All involved were me, my Mom and Dad, DeMarco, Grandma, Cristina and Cody. We had a great time. Hope you enjoy!

Monterey, CA
We had a lot of fun walking down Cannery Row and going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Unfortunately, this is my only picture there of Cristina telling me she bought TWO cookies at the Toll House Bakery.
On our way out of Monterey we stopped at this interesting store that sold everything made with garlic...cookies, popcorn, chips, ice-cream and chocolate added to the usual mix of spreads, salts and oils.

17 Mile Drive-a route along the coast from Monterey to Carmel with some great viewing spots.

Lone Cypress-another viewing area along 17 Mile Drive.

A scenic area on the way to our next camping spot.

McKerricher State Park, CA
This wooded campground was only a 5 minute walk to the beach. Here the boys, my Mom and Cristina went on a kayaking trip. Sorry no pics. :(

What's with the face?
Half our crew putting together foil dinners loaded with chicken, carrots, potatoes and lots of buttah!

Yum!
DeMarco keeping an eye on our food.

I think Cody is pretending he is a Flying Nun.

Another scenic area on the way to our next camping spot.

Oregon Baby!

Harris Beach State Park, OR
Another beautiful wooded campground with a walk to the beach in 10 minutes!

Hey Cody!!!

The boys playing around.

I have no idea what this kid is doing.

The Redwoods!
Ok, so we visited this place called Trees of Mystery. A nature attraction with trails within the Redwoods along with information about the trees. Gondola rides to the top were included and very fun.
Paul Bunyan and Babe greeted visitors at the entrance. He talks too!

My camera doesn't give these trees justice. They're GINARMOUS!

Pretty rest area we stopped at on our way back into California. Most days had been overcast and somewhat foggy but that morning the fog was very thick.

Anthony Cabot Regional Park, CA
This campground (no pics, sorry) is outside of Oakland. It was an ideal location to get to/from San Francisco. This was also our last stop before heading home. :(

This picture I took of the city from Oakland Bridge.

Famous Pier 39...Alcatraz looming in the background from the pier.

So creepy. I love it!
On our way to Alcatraz Island!

Cell blocks at the top of island.

DeMarco standing in front of the solitary confinement cells.

I found out later that they offer night tours. I'm putting that on my bucket list!

Overall, had a fabulous time with the fam and loved visiting the beaches and San Francisco. Hope to do it again sometime!

Happy Travels!

Spring Break-March 19-21st

2009-04-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

Happy travels!

Walt Disney World! January 24th-31st

2009-02-13T08:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, so most of you know that my Mom and I had just spent a week in Florida staying at the Walt Disney World. I have gone before about 9 years ago with Lisandra and DeMarco but we only went to 2 out of the 4 parks and I really don't remember a whole lot of it. My Mom has never been so it was going to be an exciting trip!

So, on Saturday morning we boarded a Southwest flight to take us to Orlando. After a quick layover in Albuquerque, we arrived! Disney has their own shuttle service that will pick you up at the airport and transport you directly to your hotel. The best part of this....it's FREE! We actually boarded a bus that was designated for Disney Cruise passengers so the windows were circular like portholes. They showed a small video during the 30 minute ride to get you excited about being there. Then we finally arrived at our hotel.

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. WDW has lots of different hotels to stay at and nearly all are themed in some way. The AKL was created to look like an African hunting lodge on the savanna. It was an incredible place. Not only was it beautifully themed but the hotel was surrounded by an actual savanna with native African animals roaming around. Here are some pics of the lobby.

Here's my mom in front of some African art. They had lots of African crafts and etc around the lobby and in the hallways of the hotel. Pretty cool.

There are different kind of views one can get at this hotel and we decided to pay a little extra for the savanna view room. It did not disappoint! These are pics from our private balcony.

There were five of these guys running around as well as Ankole Cattle, Blesbok (antelope), Impala (deer), Kudu (another kind of antelope) , Ruppels Griffen Vultures and other birds.

After settling in for about five minutes, we headed to the hotel's food court area where we scarfed down some dinner and headed to the Magic Kingdom. I was in a hurry to get us there before 7:00 as they have a popular parade and it only plays a couple times a week. It is called the Spectromagic Parade and similar to the Electrical Parade at Disneyland. Very cool music and fun to watch. Here are some lovely pics for your viewing pleasure.

Mickey led the parade. He's so cool.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and cruised around the gift shop to get some ideas for souveniers. My mom saw this and wanted me to represent one of my favorite characters.

After cruising around for a few more minutes, we headed up to bed to rest for an early morning.

Sunday-Animal Kingdom
We boarded a shuttle and was there in no time since AK is the closest park to our hotel. This park is different from other theme parks as it not only has rides and shows but also animals like a zoo. The landscaping was beautiful and lush and very exotic.

First order of business? Expedition Everest! The premise of this roller coaster ride is that you are taking a train up Mt. Everest where you eventually meet the dreaded Yeti. This ride was amazing! So many turns and dips and lots of surprises (I'm not going to spoil it) and my mom and I loved it! So much that we went on two more times during the day. Can you tell?

Yes, that's us in the front holding on to dear life.

We went on a couple more rides in the Dinosaur area (yes, Dinosaurs are animals too) and then meandered to the "Africa" area where they have a Safari Ride. Really this is a tram taking you through a zoo-like area where we saw elephants, rhino's, giraffe's and etc. Then we headed to the Lion King show. A major production with singing, dancing, acrobatics, fire twirlers and floats. It was pretty impressive. Then we saw the Nemo Musical. I was not to sure what to expect with show but it was pretty cool. Like the Lion King Broadway show, the actors/singers manuever large puppets to tell the story. The songs were cute and the scenery and costumes were bright and colorful. A definite hit with young children. After one more ride on Expedition Everest, my mom and I went back to our hotel to get ready for dinner.

Now, there are lots and lots of restaurants on WDW property and about a dozen of these are considered upscale. Because this was a total splurge vacation, I made reservations at three of these restaurants throughout the week. The first was this night at our own hotel called Jiko. Most of the food offered were of African cuisine or had spices native to Africa. We dressed up and went downstairs and the ambiance was really relaxing. I am not going to mention what I ate everywhere but some of the places we went to were just too good NOT to mention. My mom and I ordered the "Taste of Africa" basket which were four different kinds of breads and various dips. The bread was good and the dips were okay. One was a curry, another a hummus with a strong olive taste and a garlicky thing. I stuck with the hummus. My mom had ordered the Sturgeon which she said was good and I had the filet mignon with macaroni & cheese. SO GOOD! I ordered my steak medium and a little scared about it because I usually order it well done but I ate that thing right up. The macaroni was firm and the cheese a strong flavor which I like. I don't have steak too often so this was a real treat. Dessert? Yes, as full as we were we did not pass up. I had pistachio creme brulee. This was my first time having creme brulee and it was good but just not a fan of the consistency. My mom had some citrus sorbet. After we rolled ourselves back to our room, we got ready for another early morning at Epcot.

Monday-Epcot
Now with this park, I really didn't know what to expect. There are two parts to the park. One is called Future World where they focus on space, the ocean, the Earth and overall technology. The other part is World Showcase where some dozen countries have shops/attractions/restaurants representing their culture. This day we were only focusing on Future World.

The only thing that was familiar in this park is the Soarin' ride which is the exact same ride at California Adventure. We rode on Soarin' first because I read that this is the most popular ride out of all 4 parks and the line gets loooooooong. Next we headed to Test Track. As we approached the attraction, I noticed a very loud thundering sound and realized it was the cars speeding around a banked track circling the building. Nice. Okay so here's the premise of this ride. You are a crash test dummy. You sit in a car and go through various road tests (except collision) then at the end, you speed around on a banked course going REALLY fast. My mom loved it! I think mostly because she just likes to drive fast. After they dump you in the gift shop, they have a showroom. General Motors is the sponsor of Test Track so they had several vehicles out so you can check them out.

Here is my mom trying to look cool in a Hummer...and trying to see anything over the steering wheel.

Next we went on this ride called Mission Space. This ended up being one of my favorites. The premise is that you are an astronaut training to fly a spaceship to Mars. It is a simulator ride and very cool. I had lots of fun.

In the photo to the right is a huge golf-ball like sstructure at Epcot's entrance which actually has a ride inside of it called Spaceship Earth which takes you through a series of scenes which talk about the history of technology. The ride was okay but at the end they incorporate some fun stuff that make it worth it.

After going on a few more educational rides about taking care of our Earth and new developments in growing fruits and vegetables and finding Nemo, we took a shuttle to Hollywood Studios. Here is where they had Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. I was not going to go on TofT so we went to go see about RNR. Because of the late arrival, the wait was long and decided to try some other time. We rode this ride called the Great Movie Ride which to me was like a tram ride through a wax museum. Boring! I think my Mom liked it though. Then we went on Star Tours and watched the Muppets 3D show. Very cute. We passed a little time window shopping before going to our dinner reservaton at the Hollywood Brown Derby. A replica of a famous restaurant in Hollywood where the walls are covered in framed sketches of actors. I am really only familiar with this restaurant from a classic I Love Lucy episode where she makes a fool of herself in front of actor William Holden. I know you know which one I'm talking about! Anyway, since I was wanting to try new things, I ordered the tuna steak for the first time. It was wonderful. It had this wasabi/soy sauce on it and tasted very good and spicy. I think my mom had the NY strip steak and was not disappointed either. After shopping around we headed to the Fantasmic show. I liked it better here than at Disneyland because they had their own theater for it instead of trying to find a space along the water. The show had a lot of firewords and special effects and pretty impressive. We then headed back to our hotel.

Tuesday-Downtown Disney
I planned an off day for us to sleep-in, walk around our hotel and shop instead of going to another theme park. There is a buffet restaurant at our hotel so we had a breakfast buffet there with all the traditional breakfast food along with African foods. We spent some time walking around taking pictures and then took a shuttle to Downtown Disney. A long stretch of shops and restaurants along a waterway. We had lunch at a new restaurant there called T-Rex. It is owned by the same company as Rainforest Cafe and all about dinosaurs. The food was mediocre but the atmosphere was fun and very LOUD! They had animatronic dinosaurs around you and every fifteen minutes a "meteor shower" would hit and lights would flash and the dino's would go nuts. Again...very LOUD! Here are some pics. In a couple of them, you can see the tables to give you an idea of how big the rooms were.

We shopped some more and ran into this guy built out of l egos as nearby sat a huge Lego store.

Yes, and then we did more shopping and finally back to the hotel to rest up for an early day tomorrow.

Wednesday-Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom is almost like Disneyland. It has nearly all the same rides and "lands" except for a few differences. The major difference is that the castle if HUGE! And that they don't have a New Orleans Square. Instead they have a Liberty Square. Pirates of the Caribbean is actually located in Adventure Land and not New Orleans and same with the Haunted Mansion which resides in Liberty Square. But anyway, it was still cool. We got there before it opened and saw this cute show where some people come out and sing and welcome everyone and then the train pulls up with a bunch of characters on it.

Only in Magic Kingdom will you find Mary Poppins hanging out with Stitch.

After heading inside, we went straight to Space Mountain. Okay, here is where there is another MAJOR difference with these two rides. The SM ride at Disneyland is WAY much better. The one at WDW is like Matterhorn in the dark but more jerkier and a narrower sled. I could barely fit my fat bu** in the narrow seat. It had no music and you can see the track half the time. It's pretty rundown. Disneyland puts this ride to shame! But I heard from an employee that in a couple months they are shutting it down until the end of the year for a major overhaul. Good! It needs it! After doing Buzz Lightyear (which my Mom liked a lot) we headed to Fantasyland and went on a few rides. Disneyland has about six more rides in their Fantasyland so we were out of there pretty quick. Haunted Mansion up next and it was similar with just a couple of changes. Then onto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mtn. Okay, I will confess...I am not a fan of Splash at all. It's not because of getting wet, its because of that drop. I hate drops!!! But we went on it anyway and I wished I hadn't. My mom and I got soaked! I felt like I had just taken a shower in my clothes when I got off that ride. After lunch, we did Pirates of the Caribbean (very short ride) and then Jungle Cruise. We headed back to Tomorrowland to do a few more rides and by 3:00, we were pretty much done. We stayed for their afternoon parade then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

So, tonight's dinner I was really excited for. The California Grill restaurant sits on the top floor of the Contemporary Resort which is the closest hotel to the Magic Kingdom. They have a private balcony only for diners to go outside and view the nightly fireworks from the park. I reserved a time specifically so we can see the fireworks. The restaurant was nice but loud...almost all were. We were brought bread and then the server explained that he wasn't going to put in our entrees until after the fireworks so our food wouldn't get cold. We headed outside and they piped in the music so we could hear the actual show. It was very nice. Now, because I wanted to try new things, I ordered sushi. I'm not a big seafood eater but was willing. The sushi was very good and it had a spicy sauce to it which I liked but I couldn't finish my meal...just too much seafood. My mom had cod...yeah she's adventurous! After yummy desserts, we left back to the hotel.

Thursday-Epcot
This morning I had planned for us to wake up a little late, have breakfast at another resort and then tour World Showcase at Epcot until late. Well, instead we decided to grab some quick breakfast and have fun in Future World before going through the World Showcase. So, we went on Test Track and Mission Space again. Fabulous. The countries were cool and some had rides and some had films to watch about the country. Here are some random photo's of various countries.

From top to bottom: China, America, Germany, Italy and Norway. Not pictured is Morocco, Japan, France, England and Canada. I also wanted to mention that a drum and fife corp were performing in America. It sounded great and they wore cool powdered wigs.

Okay, so while in Japan, it began to rain....A LOT! We had brought ponchos with us as the weather did say it was going to rain the afternoon but my feet were soaked! I was not a happy camper! I think we meandered around France and England for a little while and completely passed by Canada because at this point, I was DONE! We headed back to Future World and looked around a bit there before our dinner reservations at Garden Grill. This restaurant is circular and actually slowly rotates around while you eat. All the vegetables are grown there in the greenhouses and it's also a character dinner! We got to meet Chip and Dale, Pluto and Farmer Mickey. Chip was hilarious! Of course they don't talk but communicate really well.

We went back to the hotel to get ready for our last full day at the parks.

Friday-Animal Kingdom/Hollywood Studios/Magic Kingdom
The original plan was to do AK in the morning, head to MK in the afternoon and from there go to our dinner reservation at one of the nearby resorts. Well, since we didn't have enough time to do a couple things at the Hollywood Studios, we decided to put that in our schedule. We woke up early and it was COLD and cloudy. It drizzled a little but not too bad. We went to AK and rode Expedition Everest one more time! Yes, we only went to this park for that one ride, then boarded a shuttle to Hollywood Studios. First thing on the list was the Rock and Roller Coaster. Okay, I was really nervous about this one.....I mean REALLY nervous. One of the main reasons why I like Disneyland so much is that nearly all the rides are pretty tame. I don't like loops or corkscrews. I think I did California Screamin' at California Adventure once and that was it. RNR Coaster has a loop and a corkscrew AND it shoots you off right in the beginning. I know most of you are thinking that's baby stuff but I'm a scaredy cat. Well, we went on it and I LOVED it. My mom did too. We got right back in line and did it again. The premise of the ride is that you are being whisked away to an Aerosmith concert in a limo on the LA freeways. It's an inside attraction so there were lots of glow-in-the-dark stuff. During the ride, you are listening to Aerosmith music. Very cool. I have to add this one thing...while waiting in line, the song "Don't want to miss a thing" came on and I swear every girl in that line was busting out in song! It reminded me of the Barba girls!

After the 2nd ride, my Mom wanted to go on Tower of Terror. Thanks...but no thanks. I don't like drops! I know... big baby. So, instead we went to a fairly new ride called Toy Story Mania. We wanted to get a fastpass for this since I heard the lines get long but at 2pm, the fastpasses were gone for the rest of the day. That's how popular it was. So we got in line and this was actually the longest wait we ever had during our trip. It was a whopping...45 minutes. The line area is really neat though so we weren't bored while waiting. This ride is kind of like Buzz Lightyear ride in the sense that it's interactive. You have a type of "cannon" mounted before you and you are rotated around to different carnivalal games and shoot at things where a different Toy Story character is at It's all in 3-D and at the end they display your score and accuracy and which stuffed animal you won. It's so much fun. If we had more time, we probably would have gone on it again.

Then we went to an Indiana Jones stunt show. After choosing random people from the audience to play the "extras", they announced that there were technical difficulties and the show had to be canceled. Bummer!! So, we boarded a shuttle and headed to Magic Kingdom. Our reservations were close but we had enough time to do some shopping on Main Street and ride the train that circles the park. Then we boarded a small boat to take us across the lake to the Grand Floridian hotel to a restaurant called 1900 Park Fare. This is also buffet where the characters of Cinderella were. We didn't get to meet Cinderella or Prince Charming (they rotate around while you eat) but we did get to meet the more interesting ones.

Here is Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella. They were so perfect at their parts, just like in the movie. Anastasia had this really loud voice...kind of reminded me of Solana (love you girl!).

After dinner, we went back to the hotel to pack up for our trip back home.

Saturday- HOME
Nothing exciting to say about this day. We packed up our gear and stuffed the souvenirs in a duffel we bought and rode the Disney shuttle back to the airport.

We had an amazing time. I'm looking forward to going back and taking my Dad and DeMarco.

Have a Magical Day!

California! April 9th-13th

2008-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Because Jacqueline and Mike wanted to take Ryan on a special trip before the baby was born, it was decided that I would join her family to visit Lisandra and go to Disneyland. DeMarco was on spring break that week also, so it worked out perfectly that he would be joining us during our time in Anaheim. We arrived late Wednesday night and chatted for a little while before going to bed.We woke up late and Jacq and I did some grocery shopping for snacks and lunch stuff since we would bringing our own cooler to the park. We were also able to purchase our park tickets at the store. Nice.
Later on, Mike, Jacq, Ryan and DeMarco went to the strawberry fields nearby to pick some healthy snacks for us.

My nephews hard at work.

Little did the helpless strawberries know that a giant was lurking in the shadows waiting for the right moment to gobble them up!

After strawberry picking, we drove to Anaheim to check into our hotel where we stayed during our Disney adventures. I had booked a hotel near the park that had a shuttle that left every 30 minutes so we could come back and forth if we needed to instead of driving. I was a little nervous about the hotel as I did not know what to expect but Ryan quickly gave me his approval.

"Hey Ryan, can you see Mickey from there?"

After settling in, we decided to head over to Downtown Disney and check it out. DeMarco had some money to burn at the Lego store. We took the short shuttle ride to the parks and it was a nice night to walk around. DeMarco got a few Lego toys and we stopped by the Haagen-Dazs to see if Owen was working. He was! After chatting for a while, we headed back to the shuttle with milkshakes in hand that Owen had made special for us.

I took a quick snap of DeMarco in front of California Adventure. I don't know why we chose the "R" but I think it was the only letter that no one was standing around.

After getting to the hotel, we got things ready for the next day because we were getting up EARLY for Disneyland.

The next morning we made it to the first shuttle of the day in record time! After packing our lunch in a locker, we headed into the park and straight to Fantasyland.
Ryan's first ride was Dumbo and as you could see he either isn't quite fully awake yet or is asking himself why he's circling around in a plastic elephant. The next ride was the carousal...well at least Mike seemed to be enjoying himself.

Hey! Look at the circus monkeys!

After a few more crazy Fantasy rides, we headed over to Adventureland. Mike, DeMarco and I rode Indiana Jones while Jacq and Ryan walked around. She had some warm, yummy churros waiting for us when we got back. Thanks Jacq! After a quick ride on Pirates (love that Jack Sparrow), we decided it was time for lunch. The picnic area was nearly empty and we had a nice quiet lunch. Back into the park, we rode some more and walked around but it was getting crowded and hot. We headed back to the hotel and chilled out and took a small nap. We ate some dinner there and boarded the shuttle back to the park for fireworks. Jacq and Ryan were nice enough to save us a spot on Main street for the fireworks while the rest of us took a turn on Star Tours. We returned just in time. Ryan loved the fireworks and kept pointing at them.
We did a few more rides after that and then to the hotel by 11:30. What a day!

Saturday was our California Adventure day. Because CA didn't open up as early as Disneyland, we slept in and lazily gathered our things together. We checked out and met up with Lisandra at the hotel before driving over to the park. First order of business? Fastpasses to Soarin' Over California. We took in some shows and had lunch before using those passes. Ryan got to meet Mickey and Pluto. After watching the afternoon parade, we decided to split up. Ryan was going to tackle the Bug's Life playground while DeMarco was going to venture on the Big River Wild Raft Ride. Because the day was so hot, the line to this ride was over an hour and half but we found out that they had a single rider line that was only a 10 minute wait. Since Lisandra and I weren't too keen on getting wet, we sent off the little one. Good luck DeMarco!

Not lucky enough to avoid the geyser!!

Are you still hot?

After another ride on Soarin', we saved ourselves a spot for the Mioni sisters favorite part of the day...The Electrical Parade! Everyone enjoyed the parade despite DeMarco not knowing who some of the characters were (Pete's Dragon). Poor child. After a fun-filled day, we drove ourselves back to Carlsbad.

The next morning, we got up late and took our time in getting ready to leave but we made a quick stop to the flower fields which were in bloom.

Can you believe this is only a 5 minute drive from Lisandra's house? Lucky.

It was a great trip with my favorite people.

Verde Canyon Railroad-March 15th

2008-04-23T10:11:00.001-07:00

After an interesting night at the hotel, we headed into Clarkdale. The town is at the bottom of the mountain and a quick 20 minute drive. The train station was already very busy as I found out that this was peak season. The ride would last 4 hours. The train would travel 2 hours through the canyon to Perkinsville and then the engines would be moved to the caboose of the train and then take everyone back through the canyon to the station. In between each car was an open-air observation car where you could go outside and take pictures while on the train. Each car also had a snack bar where you could buy candy, chips, soda and cookies. The person that sold the goodies also pointed out various bits of history and wildlife info.
In the beginning, my mom and I went outside and took some pictures of the area as well as some of the train.
You can't really tell in this picture but the water is green.

As warm and toasty it looks, it was not! We only could stay outside for a little while as it was getting too cold for us. But we were able to spot a Bald Eagle! Sorry no picture of that. :(

Various music was played during the ride that was soothing and soft. When we arrived in Perkinsville, we had to wait about 15 minutes for them to switch the engine over. In the meantime, they sold ice cream bars. Yum! So, for the next 2 hours, we settled in our seats and maybe a couple of us took a little nap. :)
It was decided when we returned to the station that instead of coming back down the I-17, we would go through Payson. It was such a beautiful ride! There was still snow in some parts of the mountains and hardly any traffic. We stopped in Payson and had some Mexican food for dinner before ending our trip. Despite how short the trip was, we were able to experience things we never had before right here in our own backyard.

Jerome-March 14th

2008-04-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Ever since I found out that a hotel in Jerome is "haunted", I've wanted to stay there. And because of spring break, I had the opportunity. My mom and I picked my dad up on Friday from work and we drove up from there. We arrived into Jerome around 5:00 but still had some trouble getting around the steep, narrow roads. The hotel rested on the side of a mountain that overlooked the small town and so it was an adventure in itself just to get up there!
The Jerome Grand Hotel was originally a hospital that opened up in 1930 and at the time was the most modern and well equipped hospital in Arizona. It ended up closing in 1950 when the mines stopped operating. It was refurbished and opened up again 45 years later as a hotel.
It also has an elevator that is the oldest in Arizona. It had a sliding door you had to close yourself and we had to use a key to get it moving. We only used this when we had our luggage and opted for the stairs all the other times.
The hotel also had their own restaurant called The Asylum. Reservations were made for us at check in. Despite the name, the restaurant was very classy. I splurged and ordered the filet mignon and it was wonderful.
Our room was very different. I had reserved two rooms but had a connecting bath between the two. There was also a walk-in style type closet that also was shared between the rooms. The windows were narrow and our view was of the mountain side. Pipes ran up from the floor to ceiling and unfortunately made quite a bit of noise during the night.
After a long day, we got ready for bed and went to sleep only to be woken up around 12:45 am to a fire alarm. I called the front desk and asked if we had to evacuate but she said we didn't. It was turned off a few minutes later. My dad says that the ghosts like to play tricks.

A random pictures I took of the 2nd floor hallway where the restaurant resided.
Can you see the ghost?

This other picture is of my mom right outside our room. You can see the pipes that line the ceiling.

The next morning, we checked out and took some pictures of Jerome from the hotel and went into the town for breakfast and did some window shopping. Then we got back in the car and drove the short distance to Clarkdale where we would be taking a ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad.

Outside of the hotel, above Jerome.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum-March 13th

2008-04-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

So, because I had 2 days off for spring break, I wanted to go somewhere instead of being at home the entire time. With a quick chat with the parents, we decided to go to BT Arboretum on Thursday and then head up North to Jerome on Friday and stay the night. Good plan.
Thursday morning, my mom packed a light lunch (egg & chorizo burritos), harnessed the doggies and waited on Grandma to finish getting ready. But soon we were on our way!
BT Arboretum is about an hour's drive right outside of Superior. Because of construction on the road, it took us a little longer than expected but we made it there by lunchtime and after paying admission, we had our quick lunch and then headed inside the arboretum. It was a warm day but still nice weather. We had a very good time walking around and the dogs enjoyed the long walk.

Nice and peaceful.

Grandma hanging out in the herb garden. She likes it here. Really.

My mom doing a quick pose on the suspension bridge over Queen Creek.

Another cool shot of the bridge.

It was a good day and driving back was even better after stopping in Superior for some Blizzards at the local DQ.