Author: alohawild

We again had no plans that required an early start, and I managed to drag out the start of our day, making coffee, until just around 7. It was another bright day in California, with the clouds burning off quickly, and the temperature reached a hot 86°F (30°C). We decided to have breakfast at the hotel’s buffet, as it was convenient, and the omelet service was excellent. I had a bit of everything: some smoked salmon, some yogurt, a poached egg on ham with Hollandaise sauce, and pastries. Expensive, but still good, and some options are better than the usual industrial breakfast I get for free at some places.

We planned only one item for the day, and that was an Über trip to the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. There resided the famous helicopter that was used by the presidents in the late 1960s and early 70s, with the image of Nixon at the end of his time as President at the helicopter still in my memory (though the TV was black and white–I remember it in color from all the later photos and newsreels). I was also hoping to get some postcards and small Nixon tchotchkes (yes, I have to look up how to spell that every time).

The ride was complex, as two or more Uber drivers rejected our trip because it was headed to a less touristy and business-oriented area, Yorba Linda. We finally got a driver and took the thirty-minute trip to the library. We passed by the A’s baseball stadium on the way. The traffic was heavy but fast-moving (and a bit crazy). I missed driving the Air VW the Gray in LA traffic (despite the craziness that is LA driving), but the cost and extra time were prohibitive.

Aside: For those EV enthusiasts, four hotel nights and a $40-per-day hotel charge are required to pick up and keep the car here. Charging when not using the Free CalTrans stops is about a $37 charge. I only drive eight hours, and it is 20+ to get home to Beaverton. Meaning two extra days on the start and end of the trip. However, it is still an incredible drive.

The Nixon Presidential Library was neat and organized (not quite my image of his Presidency). The Pat Nixon Rose Garden reminded me of the White House and Mrs. Nixon, who seemed to be everywhere at once during their stay. Both the late president and Pat are buried there, and we were surprised to find that the house where Nixon was born is still standing and has been incorporated into the library and museum. The parking lot and house are the original Nixon farm, and the house was built by his father from a kit.

The helicopter was showing signs of needing some care, and I learned that it would soon be shipped back to an Air Force facility for protection and refurbishment. The sitting out in the sun here had caused it to age quickly. I was told that the Presidential library is trying to fund the building of an indoor place for the helicopter and a cafeteria. I mentioned that the Chicago museums had to do the same with U-505, which had aged poorly in the open elements and is now protected underground, looking quite impressive and fully restored. We took some photos of ourselves by the helicopter.

Next, we were going backwards, which startled the docents (we had planned to go outside first, as the day promised to be hot), to the house. I was initially unimpressed, as it appeared to be the same as many historical homes I have visited, and populated with items just to fill up the space. However, we learned that 90% of the items were retrieved from storage, and we were able to see the actual items the family used. Wow! The musical instruments were the ones that the family (including Richard Nixon) used. The house had been partially rebuilt, but the lines were still there (the most you can hope for from this period). The docent shared that one of the president’s brothers explained to her that it was not Richard’s violin but the one he borrowed from his brother.

After that, we took the more typical tour of a politician’s life, except that the items were mostly real. We also noticed that Nixon’s bad moments were less of a focus (such as his poor showing in the first televised Presidential debates). We learned that during World War II, Nixon was a scrounger (his own words) and created Nick’s Snack Shop to provide burgers and beers for the troops in transition while he was involved in transportation for the Pacific War. Later, we were told, folks wondered what happened to Nick.

The rise of Nixon was a mix of successes and failures, reaching unprecedented heights, and then making terrible choices in Vietnam and on the world stage. Watergate is covered, as is the 18 1/2-minute gap in the famous tapes. Apparently, the tape still exists, and advanced recovery efforts have yet to locate the lost words, but there is hope, according to the library, that someday technology will enable recovery. I can see a new Kaggle contest starting for this someday, when a careful scan of the tape is released to the public.

Deborah sat in the Oval Office behind the recreated Wilson Desk while I got her the phone. We saw photos later that matched the reconstruction. Always a treat, I understand, at Presidential Libraries.

The displays were well done and worth multiple trips, I thought. We were tired from walking and skipped the additional shows on Ancient Egypt and another one on Women’s Rights. There is also music on the weekends.

All the Docents were dressed in suits or dresses that would be suitable for a White House reception. The gift store had a range of gifts, but the huge, nearly $40 bobble-head Nixon was not coming home with me. I picked up some small items and a pile of postcards. I buy strangely themed mints, and a pack of Nixon Now! mints seemed to fit my memory of the place.

An Über soon had us back, but it was nearly 2 and we had no food (yes, they need a cafeteria at the Nixon Library). I had a nap after we picked up Starbucks for sandwiches (with my grilled cheese upgraded to ham and cheese as they were out of just cheese). We spent the afternoon relaxing.

Buca di Beppo was a place I had always wanted to try, but the food portions were family-sized and not suitable for two people. We decided we could reheat some later. It was just a block walk, and the heat at 6:30 was down to the low 80s. We were happy to get the kitchen table and watch the food preparation as well as to talk to the staff while they worked. They seemed pleased to have an audience.

I was shocked by the size of the servings. I do not have that many bowls of that size at my house! I wish we had one in our area, as the leftovers would be great for a week!

We ordered some wine, the smaller salad (we took half back with us), enough garlic bread to feed three tables, and three full-sized stuffed chicken breasts. All the food was flavorful and well-made. We had no pasta items, but the baked items were tasty.

Stuffed we returned, managed to reorgaznie the frig and contain our wealth of leftovers, and soon were sleeping early. Just two full days remaining of our trip. And while we have loved the time together, home is calling us both back. But we will be in Iceland and the Detroit area in July.

Thanks for reading.

We did not get up early on Monday, and we did not rush off to Disney. We spent a relaxing morning together and did not head to Downtown Disney until 10ish. We did rise again around 6:30 with coffee made in our room. This is our compromise wake-up time between East and West Coast times. The coffee, this is a Hyatt in Orange County, is a liberal and a rainforest-supporting brand pod with a little green stamp on it. Love the taste of liberal in the morning!

We pre-ordered our items at Starbucks, and I dressed and picked them up. We enjoyed them, cleaned up, enjoyed some time together, and then headed out. We were going to use the Orange County bus system, but the shuttle had a 15-minute wait, and somehow we still had passes for it. We took the mid-morning bus with folks who had started later to Disney and were buried under a load of kids, strollers, and various water and food items. Deborah smiled and remembered those days with the kids in Florida.

We got off the bus and walked towards Downtown Disney for lunch and some shopping. We also took pictures of folks in front of the various signs and displays. We were relaxed and not in a hurry. We soon found the huge Disney store, which had everything except for the 70th anniversary Starbucks cups and the bottle openers we had seen in the park. Deborah found some gifts, and we both had a cold chicken salad and Diet Coke, which came to over $70. Yes, we were still in Anaheim!

Deborah found something at the Star Wars shop and resisted the Legos. It was 84°F (29°C), and our feet and legs reminded us that the rest we purported to be having on Monday was not quite restful. Yesterday was our easiest day, with my iPhone recording just under 12,000 steps. We headed to the shuttle and, after a short wait, caught the shuttle back. The loading and unloading of families differed, as the children were either sleeping or sleepy. The driver said, “Enjoy your nap,” as we unloaded.

We napped and rested a while. I acquired more postcards at the hotel store as they are the most varied and cheapest ones I have found so far in the Orange County area. However, I finally saw Disney postcards, but they were small copies of art and cost $15 each! I did not acquire any.

We were ready to try the bus, but the shuttle was available, so we took it instead. We then walked out of Disney and headed to the Garden Walk Anaheim outdoor mall. There, we learned that the House of Blues is open Thursday to Sunday — it was closed. There is also an AMC movie theater, and we chose the Cheesecake Factory, as Deborah had not eaten there before. I startled Deborah by picking seats at the bar, my usual, and we then ordered Happy Hour drinks and potstickers as Deborah’s meal. I opted for the “skinny” menu’s beef medallions. We also tried the Key Lime Cheesecake. Deborah was surprised by the vast array of cheesecake options for the first time.

We bought tickets for the 7:15 showing at AMC for the new John Wick movie (going backwards in the story and landing between films three and four in the series), Ballerina. While we liked it, Deborah thought that the movie lost its momentum towards the end, with repetitive fight scenes that did not advance the plot. I agreed with Deborah, there was seemingly endless playing with flame throwers to impress the audience, but after a few uses, some story elements could have been added. But a fun movie, and it was nice to see the World of John Wick brought back.

We found the mall nearly empty, and with it, the complex ups and downs seemed like they would erupt at any moment, with John Wick of the Ballerina appearing. But we made it out safe. We found an OC Bus and managed to make the tickets work. The bus driver was unhelpful and even unfriendly.

We were home and in bed, our latest at 11ish. Sleep came fast.

Thanks for reading. Sorry, I forgot to take any helpful pictures on Monday.

 

When we bought two days at the parks in California, we got the third day for free as a bonus. Today was our bonus day at Disneyland. We were still up early and caught the first shuttle to the park, arriving soon to be in line for the rope drop. The lines were interesting, as the ones closest to the security were the most crowded. We walked to the shorter lines in the center. It seems to me the lines were ordered by most FOMO.

We waited twenty minutes for the ropes to be dropped. We were headed to the uninteresting Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland rides, as we had never seen a ride wait shorter than thirty minutes on Friday. There was a sign that read, “Made it to the Rope Drop,” which you could hold and take a picture.

We headed out with the crowd, which ran to the Castle, and some jumped around us. And then they stopped in the castle. It was the line for Peter Pan! Why it was a thing, I don’t know. We then headed to Alice in Wonderland, but it broke down before we could get on. Dumbo also failed. Smugglers Run was still up, and we caught that. We were the gunners with a family that took pilot and engineer slots — I think this is my favorite ride. We were surprised that the Star Wars area was nearly empty, but we did draw the attention of the Storm Troopers and were harassed. We had meant to return to the area later, but my back started to hurt in the afternoon, and we left the park in mid-afternoon. We had seen everything, and it was hot, and two days of endless walking were taking a toll.

We did the famous Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance as the wait was less, and we finished it even faster. Deborah had started to time things as we were wondering about the times. It seemed that Star Wars rides were shorter than reported, but the more basic rides were often underestimated in length.

Storm Trooper: “If there is one Jedi left, IT IS NOT YOU!”

BTW: The same colors as Air VW, the Gray. I suspect that is CarPlay on the screen.

We headed to Space Mountain to find it broken down. We decided on the Astro Grill for an early lunch and enjoyed some decent food. We both googled older pictures of Tomorrowland to see what was still here and what it initially looked like while we enjoyed the interestingly priced chow.

Space Mountain returned to function, and I could hear Deborah laughing the whole ride. It is still one of the best rides in Disneyland. We got a good picture this time.

While it said it was only 82°F (28°C), the cement and the reflections seemed to increase the temperature. We started to flag. We did finally find the Poah ride and did that one. Today was our bonus day, and we didn’t have a careful plan. The crowds were larger, and breakdowns were non-stop at the park today.

Here is a little music while we tried to find a comfortable place to sit (they were all taken).

Somewhere in the ride, we got to do another chance at Buzz Lightyear, and somehow my 100K+ score was zeroed in the picture. The ride kept stopping, and I just kept shooting.

We did some shopping, but Deborah was unable to find the Star Wars-themed bottle opener she was looking for. I found a New Order red colored umbrella that I now needed to carry all the time and even carry through security at the airport (at first I went to return it as it would not be welcome on a plane and then realized I cannot be the first to be at the airport with one of these!). I still got it.

We tried the Nemo ride, and it’s not for those who wonder what could happen when many people are crammed into a small boat/sub and the hatch is closed. However, it was fun and featured a little Nemo story, which was much longer than most of the themed rides.

We got a pass for the Haunted House as our last ride. When we got in the Doom Buggy. The umbrella was nearly lost as it slid to one side and began to protrude from the car. I just managed to save it with my feet (my arms were locked in by the bar at this time). Once that was done, I enjoyed our last ride at Disneyland.

The walkout is long and hot. We shopped a few times, but Disney Downtown sells all the stuff, and hopefully, the desired bottle opener will be located and acquired. Monday, we promised ourselves would be a restful and quiet day with minimal walking! Deborah has a late breakfast with characters planned for Wednesday. One of the things we did not get done was taking pictures with the characters. We missed getting back to the meeting with Darth Vader — I am sure that would have gone well (see Empire HR Discussion on this here).

We rested the rest of the day and had industrial pizza and Deborah’s good salmon nearby for dinner. We then went to bed, sore and tired, and slept soundly through the night.

My dreams included walking through fields of plants on a personal tour at Disney, where I would learn about the sources of their lovely plantings, while getting increasingly sunburned.

Thanks for reading!

This park, California Adventure, across from the Original Disneyland in Anaheim, is a more easy-going park and has a fun vibe. We rose at 5:45ish (with Deborah awake earlier as she is still running partially on East Coast time), and managed to get to Starbucks to get a small item before heading out at 7:15 on the first bus. I had made coffee in the room for us. The shuttle got us to Disney, and we headed into the park.

We headed to Soar’n, but it was out of order. We then turned around and headed to the Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission Breakout! Formerly the Hotel of Terror drop ride. We enjoyed the multiple drops and loss of gravity. However, while we waited for our pass, we enjoyed WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure. We got to shoot webs, and Deborah outscored me. Deborah’s secret was to stop trying to aim but to shoot often. But before all of that, we did Luigi’s Rollickin Roasters, which was a kick. It was an exciting morning.

We finally got Soar’n.

We decided on an early lunch, ordered, and realized it was a twenty-minute wait. We canceled and picked a place in the San Francisco-like area, Lucky Fortune Cookery. This was an excellent lunch, some of the best food we had in California. We took the Bakery Tour, which features an authentic, mechanized bakery located in the middle of the park, Boudin Sourdough! I asked if I could get a hat, but it is not available (I found that I could get an apron on Bourdin Sourdough’s website — but no hats). I got a piece of bread, well, two. It was excellent.

Aside: Although this is not typically something that sounds appealing, the sourness of the dough dates back to the 1800s. It is the same bread that has been around since the Gold Rush.

 

We tried the Incredicoaster and the giant Ferris Wheel with the sliding baskets, waiting for another pass to reach time, but the ride broke, and we instead headed for more Guardians of the Galaxy and did another drop. It was great to get two in!

The car ride at Radiator Springs Racing was always a long wait, and we were not paying $22 each for a pass. We never made it to it; it also shut down multiple times. We accomplished a lot today and did not feel we missed anything, except for the long line. Next time (if it is not too expensive for a pass).

We tried Ariel’s Adventure just because it had a five-minute line. It was a new version of the other rides with better technology. We think it is three minutes long.

We decided to take a break, get some rest, and spend a few hours away from the park. We took the shuttle back. At 5, we were cleaned up and ready for a brief night at the park. We walked around for a bit until it was time for dinner at Wine Country Trattoria, which was recommended by our Mousekeplanner (yes, we have one). Then, we waited about thirty minutes for a table. Our waiter and staff were excellent, and we had great drinks (I tried a flight of California wine and Deborah a Passion Fruit Mule; both were excellent). Deborah had, in her words, the best Sea Bass she has ever had. I had fantastic short ribs and homemade pasta. The pull-apart bread for the apiztzer was great. Dessert, Tiramisu Bread Pudding, was also near perfect. Dinner was the best I have had in California. Wow!

After dinner, we managed to do the roller coaster again. It was still excellent and more fun in dusk light.

The park was setting up for the night show, but we decided to head out. We did more shopping. Earlier in the day, I bought a cookbook-like notebook and a Ratatouille T-shirt. I was surprised that this IP is still being supported. We saw lots of rats on hats and shoulders for younger folks.

It was a good night. I then wrote this blog while Deborah rested. I did 21,700+ steps or 7.6 miles of walking today (Deborah’s watch and phone had a lower number–still, it was a lot).

Thanks for reading!

We did follow the assassination, Trump’s wet parade, and No King protests. It seemed a crazy day.

 

 

 

 

 

We rose at 5:45 and were downstairs in time to grab a snack from the in-hotel Starbucks and catch the first shuttle bus to the park, which departed at approximately 7:15. The driver started us off with the first song from The Lion King. The one done at sunrise. He even held up a little stuffed lion at the correct time. It was a great way to start our early day.

Soon, we were headed to Tomorrowland and soon learned that the Star Wars attractions were located on the other side of the park. Oops. However, we enjoyed our first rides, including Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, and Space Mountain, and we thought that was a good start.

We found the Haunted House and had a pass for it, so we did not wait more than a few minutes in line. It is a favorite and looks good with a few technical updates.

 

We then walked over to the Star Wars area and rode the two main attractions, and suddenly found that we had checked off all the main items on our lists by 10! We caught the Jungle Cruise and had lunch at The Red Rose. We got some coffee down in Main Street USA and then enjoyed the Indian Jones Ride, which was great. We were mixing Lightning Passes, and it was just a matter of good luck. Deborah was keeping track of the short wait.

We went back to Smuggler’s Run, and this time we were the pilots, scoring poorly, but it was great fun. We were the Engineers last time. We will try to get a few more runs in on Sunday as we enjoy the mix of story and controlling the ship.

Somewhere, we did ‘It’s A Small World,’ and I enjoyed the automated show. It now slides in a few Disney characters. Not terrible at all, but you do start singing the song.

 

We had a reservation for the Star Wars bar and had a few drinks and a snack there. It was a disappointment as there was nothing to do but drink a few drinks and have a snack. No dinner and not show. Hmmm.

We got some older rides done. Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride was a fun ride. Snow White was too short. We enjoyed the Teacup ride, but Alice in Wonderland was always at a thirty-minute wait, and we never got to experience it. We have a few things left on the list for Sunday.

Our last ride for the night, besides the shuttle back to the hotel, was The Pirates of the Caribbean.

We overdid it and were tired, a bit sunburned, and sore. We will try to keep it a little easier for the California Adventure we are doing on Saturday.

I am too tired to comment except to say Smuggler’s Run, Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain were high on our list. Buzz Lightyear was fun. We are liking some interaction or a fast-moving ride, I think.

Thanks for reading!