Sunday Hotel Change and Exit Jeanne

I woke with it already late after we must have slept through our alarms or something. I got up and dressed, only to discover it was now 5:30, which was a bit early for an 8:45 breakfast. Oops. I misread the clock and panicked.

Deborah rose too early, too, as I had started us too early. I made coffee for us, and we went slow, packed, and did all the things we usually rush. We were ready, and Jeanne joined us at 8:30 for an earlier breakfast.  The hotel credited us $80 to use on-site when our TV was not working properly, and we spent it on breakfast for three. It was a buffet, but still rather basic, with no omelet station. We miss breakfast in Iceland (Hotel Reykjavík Centrum), and I miss the ones in Europe (like Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Center) and Morocco (Casa Blanca, Mövenpick Hotel). Still, it was nice to sit down and have some eggs and pastries.

With that done, I arranged for a cart and staff to get the bags and haul them down to the entrance. There, after the bellman replaced a torn bag for us with a paper Nike bag, we stacked the bags, food, and luggage into Air VW the Gray, leaving plenty of room for Deborah and Jeanne’s stuff. Deborah checked us out of the hotel.

Soon, we were following the navigation to John Wayne Airport after getting the last few bags in the cargo hold. I missed a few turns, and we were on an odyssey through the less interesting areas of container processing, even though Long Beach is the largest US Port by volume. We found our way onto the highways and, about 30 minutes later, we were at John Wayne Airport, saying goodbye to Jeanne. Her flight was delayed by a few minutes (Due to Thunderstorms in Detroit), but she got home safely, only a few minutes late.

Deborah and I found we were headed to the wrong Hyatt, corrected that, and soon were at the Orange County one. This is the hotel with a nothing-is-free-in-OC bus to Disneyland. Deborah was offered a suite upgrade and a room now, it was not even noon! We reversed the process, and Debroah took the bags and food to our room (with a new bag full of water that Hyatt kept giving us. Jeanne reminded me previously that free water always tastes better.

With Deborah resting in the room, I followed the EV’s supplied Nav to a 350kW charging station and soon topped off my 40% to 80%. There was a note on the charging terminal that 85% maxium was enforced due to congestion issues. Hmmm. I followed the law and stopped at 80%. Twenty minutes later and $24 and I was headed back with 80% (79%) by the time I returned to the hotel.

Deborah thought Downtown Disney would be great for lunch. We did wait about five minutes to clear security. They are ensuring everyone is safe. There is a dog sniffing too.

We went to the same Italian place as last time, Naples Ristorante e Bar. It seems cooler when in the shade with a light breeze and the atmosphere is pleasant, even friendly. Dakota, our waiter, was ever helpful, and we had entrees as we were hungry. Deborah, the usual salmon was perfectly prepared, and we had some thin-sliced eggplant done parmigiana, but not fried, but cooked in sauce. The spaghetti on the side was painted in sauce and perfectly al dente, to my surprise. While not cheap, it was an excellent meal, and I have a new way to think about making eggplant.

We were hungry and ate our lunch. Dakota offered to-go iced coffee for Deborah (made by pouring the coffee over the ice, as iced coffee is not on the menu) and me iced tea. We then went shopping while sipping our cold drinks. It was getting hot, and the place was beginning to fill up.

I got some postcards and some sour candy. At the candy store, you had to get a number to check out and wait for your number to be called. Wow, that was weird. We walked out of Downtown Disney and into the Disneyland hotels to see if we could land a character meal, after enjoying “Breakfast with Goofy” last time. We learned that “Story Time meal”  is good too.

We then walked back into the now-hot parking lot and returned to the hotel after paying $10 for parking (with validation at the restaurant). We found the safe parking for our hotel, then returned to our room. I had to go back to the car and get my red gym bag with my laptop, as I had spaced that I took it with me while charging.

A nap and rest followed. Deborah likes Outback Steakhouse, and we enjoyed a dinner there. The food was good, but the usual for the chain. With dinner in us, we returned to our room and spent the evening together.

Deborah went to bed early while I wrote this.

Thanks for reading!