Day 8 - Our last day at Disney

Longest wait time during three days at Disneyland - 45 minutes, Finding Nemo
Shortest wait time - 0 minutes, Pirates of the Caribbean
James' favorite ride - Space Mountain
Jennifer's favorite ride - Pirates of the Caribbean
Dawson's favorite ride - Toy Story
Braden's favorite ride - Matterhorn
Tate's favorite ride - Winnie the Pooh
Abby's favorite ride - the stroller, where she spent the majority of her time
Total hours spent in Disneyland or California Adventure Park over three day period - 31 hours



Our last day at Disney was fantastic. We have really enjoyed this trip. Even with all the crowds, it really is a lot of fun here. The park is so nice you feel like you're in another world. The people are extremely friendly. We even considered extending our trip by one day and going back to Disney again tomorrow. But, we decided to press on and make another trip in the future. To top it all off, the weather has been fantastic. Hardly a cloud in the sky and very moderate temperatures (people not from Houston would say it was hot, but it was very moderate to us).


The crowds today were much smaller in comparison to Friday. Most of the really long lines were still significantly shorter than they had been. It was really nice because we could move around and get on pretty much any ride we wanted to.

We all picked favorite rides and got most of them done. The only one we did not repeat was Space Mountain because the day got on and we just could not fit it all in.

One thing we did today in lieu of some rides was catch a couple of shows. These really are put on very well and extremely entertaining. We'll make note to see more of these next time.

We'll sleep in tomorrow and then head out for Vegas.

The obligatory picture at the entrance to Disneyland.

Tate wearing his "First Visit to Disneyland" pin.

Jennifer and Abby after lunch (both of them ate).

The kids & I in front of the Plaza Inn after lunch. My mom worked at this restaurant in the 1960s. She recalls seeing Walt Disney a couple of times. Jennifer, Tate, & the boys on Tate's favorite ride, Winnie the Pooh. He rode twice.The boys and I on the Matterhorn. The boys rode this three times today. Tate did not want to get on, then got really scared of the Abominal Snowman during the ride. Yet, as soon as we got off, he kept saying he wanted to ride again. For the record, I like the right side route best. It's faster and less "jerky".One of the highlights of today was "Jedi Training Camp". The hold this about 4 times a day. You stake out a seat in an open air plaza near the Finding Nemo ride. Once the show starts, the "Jedi Master" picks several "Padwans" from the crowd to train in the Jedi way. Both Dawson & Braden got picked. He goes through a routine teaching the young Jedis several light saber moves and then Darth Vader shows up. He is attempting to convert the young Jedis to the dark side and each of them gets a turn to fight either him or Darth Maul. Some of the comments Vader makes while he is fighting the Jedis were really funny. When Braden fought him he said "your smile is throwing me off" & then he said "your an aggressive young Jedi".

Jennifer's brother Thomas comes to the house often and one of the games he plays with the kids is "Hide & Seek Jedi". He hides somewhere in the house and once the kids find him they engage in a light saber battle. Uncle Thomas would be proud of Braden as he fought extremely well against Vader and resisted the urge to join the dark side.

Here's Dawson fighting Darth Maul.

Days 6 & 7 - Happy 4th from Disneyland

This post will be for two days.

We spent the 4th of July at Disneyland. We got up around 6AM to catch breakfast right at 7 and head to the park when it opened at 8AM. Funny story: we're driving into the parking structure at 7:45 and Dawson asks "Dad, we're here early, what are we going to do to kill time until the park opens?". He did not understand we still had to walk 1/2 mile to catch the tram, stand in line for the tram, stand in line for the bag check, and stand in line for ticket taking, etc, etc, etc.........What can we say, Disneyland on the 4th of July = lots of people and lots of waiting. Needless to say we did not have "time to kill".

On the advice of some websites we sprinted right to Space Mountain and got on within 15 minutes. We used the Kid Switch pass (a feature Disney offers for parents of kids who can't ride some rides where one parent gets a pass and waits while the other rides then goes to the front of the line to get on right afterwards) so mom & dad could both ride and one of the kids get to ride twice. This ride was closed the last time we were here and the last time I remember riding it was when I was here as a young kid. It's still just as thrilling and I think my favorite in the park. Afterwards we spent most of the morning hopping around to various rides and fighting the crowds. Another funny story, I was researching for good places to eat in Disneyland on my Blackberry while Jennifer fed Abby. Several people said to eat the gumbo in the Orleans sections of Disneyland. At just that instant, a previously un-noticed door right behind me opened up and revealed a window for selling said gumbo. We decided to go ahead and eat it for lunch. The reviews were right on.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon we rode several more rides and then left the park around 3 for some relaxing and nap time. We ate dinner at Bucca di Beppo and went back to the park around 7PM. We managed to catch the Fantasmic light show on the water around Tom Sawyer's island and then waited for the big fireworks show at 9:30. Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes, they stopped the show because of high-level winds. Afterward some ice-cream sundaes we decided to try the Finding Nemo ride one more time (the line had been 1.5 hours all day long and we had opted not to wait). The line was still 40 minutes long at 11PM but we decided to wait anyway as we were told it would not be any better during any other time of the day. The ride was cool because you're in a semi-submersed submarine and get to see scenes from Finding Nemo miracously displayed in the water around the sub (still not sure how they do that??), but don't know if I'll wait in line for that one again. We finally made it back to the hotel around 1AM; a late night for all.

Today, we slept in a bit and made it over to the park around noon. We decided to go to California Adventure Park today since we have never been there (it's adjacent to Disneyland and our Park Hopper pass works for this as well).

It was a little hotter today (still mild compared to Houston) so I think some of the crowds stayed away. The longest line was 30 minutes for the Toy Story ride which just opened 2 weeks ago. We stood in line and got about 1/2 way through the ride when it shut down for some sort of technical problem. After waiting what seemed like forever for somebody to get us off, they finally came to get the boys and I and escorted us out. Thankfully, they gave us passes to go to the front of the line when it re-opened. The ride is pretty cool - you go around in a little car with a gun mounted on the steering wheel and wear 3-D glasses. You get to different screens and pull a string on the gun to shoot at different types of targets. A computer keeps score of your hits and you can total up a the end. I scored 159,500, which was more than the total of Jennifer, Dawson, Braden, & both times Tate rode. I'm so good.......

Since the lines were so short we got to ride most of the rides in California Adventure Park. They were generally pretty good. But, on the way home tonight we asked the kids their favorite rides so far so we could ride them again tomorrow (Tate, please don't say Nemo, I don't want to wait in that line again.....) and unanimously, we all picked rides from Disneyland. I guess you just can't replace the oldies.......

We'll spend tomorrow in Disneyland and then stop by Downtown Disney for the obligatory souvenir shopping. The kids all have their eyes on something but we've told them to hold off until the last day.

Abby's first ride on the Pirates of the Carribbean. I don't think she was actually scared, just a little hungry. Tate on the other hand, could do without all the pirates and cannons.Happy 4th of July from Disneyland!!

That's one way for my girls to stay in the shade!!

ennifer and the boys riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Jennifer, like her dad and brothers, is a big thrill seeker. This girl loves roller-coasters. Notice the smile on her face!!

Jenn & Tate watching the Fantasmic show. Notice how he is kind of hunkered down holding his blanket. He did not care for all the loud bangs and bright lights.....

On board the Finding Nemo ride. It's about midnight and we're still going. Dawson & Braden look thrilled don't they??

Jennifer, the boys, and Elastigirl (from the movie "The Incredibles". Tate was supposed to be in this but wigged out at the last second and ran to my leg crying.

Jenn & Tate on the carousel. You can't see Abby in the car seat at Jennifer's feet.

Tate & I about to ride the Toy Story ride.

Did I mention Jennifer is a thrill seeker. Again, notice the smile on her face. I did not ride this. After the California Screamin roller coaster and a couple of those rides that drop you suddenly from about 10,000 feet, I decided to stay on the ground for a bit.

Jenn, Abby, & Tate negotiating a rope walk-way in one of the kid-friendly sections of California Adventure Park.

Day 5 - A day at sea

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been having internet connection problems at our hotel in Anaheim. I'll give it a try.
We really didn't go out to sea today but spent the day aboard several vessels.
In the morning, we finally got Tate on West Coast time and so we all slept in until around 9AM. Man, that was nice.
Once we got packed, we picked up some food and ate dinner down by the bay on Shelter Island. The kids thought it was fun to feed french fries to the seagulls while Jennifer fretted about them getting too close.
After lunch, we found a place downtown to parallel park our car and trailer (man, were we lucky) and made way for the USS Midway (CVA 41). The Midway is a late WWII era aircraft carrier that has been converted to a museum in downtown San Diego.
This ship is named after, obviously, the battle at Midway Island during WWII that was the turning point in the battle of the Pacific with the Japanese. If you don't already know, I am a big military history buff. I just finished reading a book titled "Miracle at Midway" by Gordon Prange. It was an excellent narative of the battle in which the US Sortied 3 carriers (one of which was already crippled from the battle of the Coral Sea) and sunk four Japanese carriers: the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, & Hiryu, while only losing one: the Yorktown. While this did not come close to equalizing naval forces in the Pacific, it showed the Japanese they could no longer expand and conquer at will. Their 6-month push (starting with the Pearl Harbor bombing) to expand their sphere of influence was over and during the remainder of the war they were on the defensive; all because of this battle. I could go on and on........
The Midway was only recently (4 years ago) turned into a museum so it is in excellent shape. They also had numerous aircraft ranging in age from vintage WWII to present day. Unfortunately, we were one day early visiting the ship as the Declaration of Independence was going to be on board for the 4th of July. Guess we'll have to see that in Washington DC!
Next, we ventured back down the wharf to where there are some historic ships parked together in a "Maritime Museum". We visited 3 of the 5 ships.
The first was the "Star of India". It has been parked along the bay for as long as I can remember. It's the oldest steel hulled ship of war in the world and has logged over 1,000,000 miles. It still sails out for special occasions. I remember seeing it sailing a time or two during past trips to San Diego. I don't think I have ever been on it.
The second ship was a schooner called the "Suprise". I'm not quite sure of the history on this ship but it was refitted and used as the main ship for the movie "Master and Commander" starring Russell Crowe. They had a pirate exhibit on board so the kids enjoyed this quite a bit; they just finished watching Pirates of the Carribbean so pirates were on the mind.
The third ship was a Soviet "Foxtrot" class submarine. The sub was purchased from the Soviet Union at the end of the cold war by some San Francisco businessmen and then ultimately transported to San Diego for use as a museum. It was a diesel-electric powered but capable of carrying nuclear armed torpedoes. It was really neat to climb all the way through the sub.
After our tour of the various ships we departed San Diego for the drive to Anaheim.

Me and the kids by the bay after lunch.The USS Midway

The kids and I on the bow of the Midway. In the background you can see two more present-day carriers in port: The USS George Washington (CVN 73) & the USS Nimitz (CVN 68 - shrouded in plastic for re-painting of the island structure).

Dawson piloting an A-7 Corsair II Attack Aircraft. He has told us he wants to be a fighter pilot when he grows up.

Jennifer and the kids practicing for an ejection. Me and the kids in the galley of the "Star of India"

The B-39 - a Soviet "Foxtrot" class attack submarine

The kids and I on the B-39Jennifer climbing through one of the water-tight doors on the B-39. There were four of these we had to negotiate during the tour. I can't imagine serving on board one of the vessels for an extended period of time.Abby & I in the galley of the "Surprise" With gas prices continuing to go up, we've decided that on our next road trip we'll pack into one of these. We figure some creative seating and a package of bungee cords and we're good to go. I wonder if this will tow the trailer???

Day 4 - Sun, Fun, & Family

Finally, a day that didn't start with trying to figure out how many miles we need to drive before stopping for lunch! We tried to sleep in but Tate had a different agenda. He was up a little after 6 asking for eggs (this kid eats more eggs than a chicken-hawk). Usually, when he gets up, he doesn't want anybody else to miss out on the fun and excitement so he makes sure we're all awake. No worries, I didn't need that fifth hour of sleep anyway.

The good thing about Embassy Suites is their complimentary breakfast. We all visited the buffet and enjoyed a nice large meal. After breakfast I talked to my uncle John, in town from Seattle, and grandma and got plans squared away for the morning. We decided to venture towards Point Loma (about 20 minutes away) and meet them to visit and have some lunch. En route, we decided it was best to try and extract some energy from the boys before heading to my grandma's house. So, we went to a little park on Shelter Island and let the kids swing and slide for a bit. Shelter Island is where a bunch of the sailboat equipment, repair, and sales businesses are. It's also where the San Diego Yacht Club is and where the Americas Cup lived for a while when the US had ownership of it. My grandma's house is right up the hill from Shelter Island. When we got to grandma's house we spent a while talking, taking pictures, looking around and then decided to head out for lunch. There is a Willson family (my mom's family name) tradition whenever visitors are in town. We always go to a Mexican restaurant in Ocean Beach called Nati's. It's a local place that has been open in the same spot since 1960, the same year my grandparents, my mom, and her siblings (she's the middle child of five) moved here from Los Angeles. As always, the food was excellent. We had a room all to ourselves and were thus able to visit for quite a while. I spent some time quizzing grandma about my grandfather, James David Willson, who died five years before I was born and who I am named after. I never really knew much about him. I discovered he was very soft-spoken, funny, and enjoyed working with his hands. He built lots of wood-working crafts and especially enjoyed making boats. He was also very involved in Boy Scouts with his boys, Dave, Tom, & John, and loved being in the outdoors, particularly fishing. I hope to spend more time learning about him tomorrow or on a future trip. After lunch we ventured back to La Jolla, donned our bathing suits and headed for La Jolla Shores beach. It was pretty crowded but we managed to find a spot we could mark as our own. As an interesting aside, I stopped by a surfboard shop to rent an umbrella. The "kid" helping me out was a typical southern California "surfer-dude". He couldn't really figure out how much to charge so he said "Ah man, just give me five bucks". I think he didn't want to fill out any paperwork because then he said "you look trustworthy, just try to have it back by 6:30". I could have so kept that $13 umbrella, but I decided to be honest about it.......:)

The beach was fun and the kids really burned a lot of energy. After we got back to our hotel and got cleaned up, we grabbed a quick bite down the street and topped off by a visit to Baskin-Robbins. I think the kids were asleep within five minutes of being back in the room; they were wiped.

Tomorrow, I hope to make a visit to the USS Midway, an Aircraft Carrier turned museum docked in downtown San Diego. It's supposed to be really neat. We'll have to compare it to the USS Lexington, a carrier in Corpus Christi where Dawson, Braden, & I did an overnight camp-out in February with the Cub Scouts. Afterwards, we'll pack up and make way for Anaheim.

Enjoy the pics.

Jennifer & Tate. I think they look like twins in this picture. The bay is about 30 feet to the left of them.My grandmother holding her great-granddaughter, Abby.
L-R: Uncle John, Grandma, Dawson, Braden, Abby, me, Tate. Abby was infatuated with uncle John. She kept looking at him and smiling, which she is doing in this picture.The view from my grandma's house. The first strip of land across the picture is Shelter Island. Further in the distance is Coronado Island. The closest feature on Coronado Island is the Naval Air Station; this is also where the Navy SEALS train. My dad used to sit in the living room at grandma's house and look out the window for hours. I used to watch the Navy ships go by and try to identify them in a reference book that was always kept nearby. Grandma will tell you she has the best view in all of San Diego. You can see from her house, sweeping from left to right, the airport, downtown San Diego, the Coronado Island bridge and Coronado Island, San Diego Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and on a clear day, Tijuana, Mexico. It's hard to argue with her on this point.
Anybody who has been to Nati's recognizes this waitress. She has worked here since the restaurant opened. Uncle John also shared with me that he had a crush on her when he was a teenager. You'll notice his smile is a little brighter in this picture.

Uncle John: This is payback for pulling out the 24" x 36" picture of me wearing a leotard and makeup (while dancing on stage at our family reunion in Guadalupe when I was 16) at my wedding reception. Uncle Tom, Uncle Dave, & Aunt Suzie, you're day will come.

Aunt Kim: Don't worry, I think this phase of his life is long over with.

One more meal down at Nati's. Still fantastic!

A girl's day at the beach.

That's Dawson & Braden in the surf. They had a blast swimming.

Tate liked the water so long as it didn't get in his mouth. Once that happened, he was done swimming and opted for "sandbox time".

The boys!

I think Braden will have sand in his hair for 6 or 7 weeks now.

Day 3 - Whoa, that was a lot of driving!

Miles driven today = 691
Highest elevation reached = 4,191 ft

Today was the longest day, mileage wise, we'll have on the entire trip. It took us almost 12 hours to get to San Diego. Even after that, it didn't seem too bad. We had a great road day. No rain (I forgot to mention that most of yesterday we were driving in overcast skies and it rained quite a bit in the afternoon; a rarity in West Texas) and plenty of open roads. I keep getting this feeling the traffic jam is coming but we've been blessed so far to have clean sailing.
Jenn, as always, was prepared for another road day. She has more tricks up her sleeve than Pa has stories to tell the grand kids. First, we had another drawing contest. We took the opportunity to educate the kids about the state flowers, birds, and plants of New Mexico and Arizona. They had to draw a picture with the Yucca & whoever depicted it the best won a prize. We have some competitive kids and they went all out. I think they spent about 30 minutes working on their drawings. It was hard to pick a winner so we had to go with a split and each judge (mom & dad) picked a winner then two grand prizes were awarded.
Jennifer then pulled out a bunch of pipe cleaners and the kids made tigers out of them. I have no idea how she figured that one out (see picture below).
We arrived into San Diego and made our way to La Jolla to find our hotel. Somehow, I managed to talk the lady at the front desk into giving us free parking (savings of $17/day) and upgrade us to an Executive Suite. I really wasn't bargaining too hard but I had Tate with me and I think she thought he was cute or something (he really is). Anyway, Jenn gave me a big smile and a thumbs up when she saw the room, which is a lot coming from her. A bad hotel room can make or break the trip for her. So far, I'm doing pretty good in that area. We'll venture around La Jolla tomorrow morning, perhaps to the beach. I think we'll go see my grandma in Point Loma in the afternoon. As a bonus, I found out my uncle John from Seattle is in town so we'll get to see him too. We are really enjoying the comments so keep them coming.

The Yucca - State flower of New Mexico. The dead looking thing at the top is supposed to be the bloom. I think we missed peak season.

Now how do you pick a winner in this contest?? I believe Tate had some assistance.

One more state down. Not much to see in southern New Mexico.

It actually got up to 116 degrees. Dry heat or not, I was worried about the rubber on my tires melting!

Finally, the Golden State.

Bet you didn't think California looked like this! Eastern California is very barren and dry. Occasionally, you'll see a farm or an orchard.

Another Border Patrol checkpoint. I think we passed through 4 or 5 of these today. Again, thankfully none of the lines were long. But, we did have to go into the whole Illegal Alien explanation for the kids. To polish it off, about 10 miles past this checkpoint, there was a Border Patrol truck that had pulled over a car and a apprehended a "suspect". We weren't fast enough with the camera or he would have made the blog!

More pictures of Eastern California. It's starting to get prettier.

After about 40 miles of mountain driving you come into San Diego. Our hotel is pictured here. We sure were glad to get in. Isn't this the cutest group of kids you've ever seen? No, they are not for rent.