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| From Vacation 09 – Breakfast in Vegas |
So I gave up on live-blogging the trip because the whole process of photo-sharing and such was going to be a nightmare. So you can get it all in post-trip installments. Click the link above to check out the photo album from Day 1 of our trip.
On the way home from church Sunday, I called a very serious Family Meeting™. It was in this meeting that I sent the kids all over the house finding clues, which ultimately led them to a stack of Disney Admission passes. They were having a hard time getting the clue – until I finally broke and yelled “We’re going to Disneyland, and we’re leaving today!” Zoe actually did not believe me. Her exact words were, “That’s so not true, Daddy”. I was dismayed that my words were so easily brushed off as lies, but pleased that the surprise had been pulled off so well. I showed them the hotel reservation, the tickets, and then ushered them up to their room to pack their bags. At this point, they finally began to believe and much squealing ensued.
We got the car packed up, and headed up the mountains to have dinner with our friends in Gypsum. It was wonderful to see them again, and to spend some time chatting. As it got dark, we figured we should get going, and then proceeded down the western slope of the Rockies and into the desert. This is where having 3 drivers came in handy. I drove to Grand Junction, then Priscilla picked up there and drove to somewhere in Utah, then Nick took over and drove the rest of the way into Vegas. We were crossing the Nevada stateline at Mesquite about sunrise.
With the sun to light our way, we pushed through some Monday morning traffic and drove down the Vegas strip at 7am on Monday morning. The Strip is a quiet place that time of day. We found a place to park (illegally, I think, but suffered no consequences) and went into the Paris hotel where we ate at a little creperie. Nick and I ventured to the sportsbook and considered putting a couple dollars down on the Mariners to win the AL pennant, but we weren’t thrilled with the odds, so we escaped Vegas without gambling so much as a penny. We walked up and down the strip for a while to get the wiggles out, gawked at the casinos, and then hopped back in the car where I picked up driving duties again.
We crossed the Mojave desert, and as we approached Riverside (east LA), traffic started to pick up. It took me a few minutes to get my LA driving skills back in tune, but once I did it was bobbing and weaving at 85mph for the last hour of the trip. We pulled off the freeway to discover it was 105 degrees in Anaheim that day – not what we expected! But just as traffic was getting bad, we found our exit and pulled into the parking lot at the Disneyland Hotel.
Stay tuned for the next photo album and recap – checking in at Disneyland Hotel and exploring Downtown Disney.
