Day #32- I'm on My Way, Just Set Me Free, Homes Sweet Home!

I thought the old Motley Crue song was perfect for today.  I think we saved the longest leg of the journey for the end.  It is hard to drive the speed limit when your own bed is in your sights.  That said, the entire trip was made with no tickets. 

We drove 8+ hours from El Paso today.  To fill our time we listened to pod casts from Ricky Gervais, Steve Merchant, and Karl Pilkington.  Those blokes kept us laughing and the time just melted away. 

As soon as we got to Fredericksburg, we basically felt home.  Turning onto Skipton was just the best feeling!  The house was just fine after a month of being on its own.  The only problem discovered was a dead squirrel on the driveway.  No idea how that happened or how long he had been there.

Who knows if the blog will continue for daily wonderings or will be suspended until further wanderings.   I guess you will just have to stay tuned!

Day #31- The Yellow Rose of Texas, I'm Going There to See...

We are back in Texas!!  Well, just barely.  We are in El Paso.  We planned to go further, but the clouds got scary dark and the rains started.  Even though we have a long drive ahead of us to get home tomorrow, we decided it was safer to stop.

Today was Wild West fun in Tombstone.  We visited the OK Corrall, shot old cowboy guns, had lunch at the famous Big Nose Kate's Saloon, and went to Boothill Cemetry.  

Apparently in the 1800's, headstones contained funny epithets and listed how the person died.  Also, the west seemed very racist towards the Chinese.  One headstone said only "Two Chinese".  Another said, "Here lies so and so, shot by a Chinaman."  The majority of the headstones read "shot" or "murdered".  Times were tough in those days!

The cool weather from the monsoons had yet to come today, so the sun was blazing as we strolled around both Tombstone and Boothill.  We got back in Stan and headed for Texas.  Tomorrow will just be a travel day, but with us, who knows what will happen.  So, stay tuned!

Day #30- I'm a Cowboy, On a Steel Horse I Ride

Wanted...Dead or Alive! 

Today we drove to Tombstone.  One of Loren's favorite movies is Tombstone and our ghost shows have all investigated there, so of course we were excited to explore this preserved city of the old west.

I was not feeling well today.  I had a pounding headache, upset stomach, and just felt exhausted.  We were afraid it would be scorching hot in Arizona, but apparently it is their monsoon season and the heavy clouds brought cooler temps.  We checked into a random hotel, which after some research turned out to be haunted.  It was supposedly once the home of Wyatt Earp's livery stables and then a boarding house.  We took advantage of the cool weather and walked across the street to roam around Tombstone.  Most shops were already closed, but we were able to go into the famous Birdcage Theater.  That place had the creepiest vibe!  I had goosebumps the entire time in there.  Bullet holes can be seen in the walls and the whole place just felt dark.  

We went to the Crystal Palace for dinner.  They had the most delicious soda called 'Doc Holiday'.  The waitress said it was like DP, but I thought it tasted like DP with grenadine mixed in.  Our plan was to wait til dark then go back to walk the streets, but I was feeling so rotten that I fell asleep at the hotel very early.  We plan to properly tour the town tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Day #29- When the Sun Comes Up Over Santa Monica Blvd.

Our plan for today was to see Mann's Chinese theater, look at some stars on the Walk of Fame, see the Hollywood sign, and check out the Hollywood Forever cemetery.  We checked out of the hotel and walked a block up to the theater.  Throngs of people were there, so we just looked from across the street and took some pictures.  We saw the star of Tom Cruise and wondered if he was angry to be put across the street from the theater??

Next stop was our adventure to find a spot to view the Hollywood sign.  We attempted it last nite, only to be chased off of the observatory road because we were there too late.  I googled the best place to view the sign and read about the Hollywood reservoir.  I entered that into the phone GPS lady and off we went.  We ended up in a very ritzy neighborhood on narrow winding streets.  I felt we were in a Europe somewhere.  Round and round we went thru this neighborhood with no sign in sight.  This would not be the first time the GPS lady had misled us.  We saw a guy out for his walk in the neighborhood and asked him where to see the sign.  He said it was difficult to give directions, but keep going left and keep going UP.  So, I did just that.  Loren hung on for dear life as I led Stan up and up hills.  Only one car could drive at a time, so it was a little tense if a car was coming down the hill.  Finally, as we made another left turn, I looked out and there was the sign.  We parked in front of a private residence, covered in security cameras, and jumped out for quick pics before the Hollywood police were called to arrest trespassers.  

Our last stop before leaving town was the Hollywood Forever cemetery.  I didn't want to see anything in particular there, but had read a lot about the place.  We roamed around and saw graves, huge elaborate monuments, to some obviously wealthy people.  We randomly came across the resting place of Chris Cornell and Larry from Bewitched.

We had planned to make San Diego our next stop, but the traffic was so awful on the 101, that when we saw the sign for 10 East, we decided to take it.  We ended up in some nowhere town California called Blythe.  Our plan for tomorrow is Tombstone, so stay tuned.

Day #28- The Simpsons!

Make sure you sing that title like they do on the opening of The Simpsons.  Today was Universal Studios day.  First of all, this adventure is the #1 reason for our vacation.  Universal is the home of The Walking Dead Experience.  Loren is the ultimate fan boy.  Our house is covered in Walking Dead collectibles, so it made sense that he got to go to the attraction.  My hidden agenda was Harry Potter land.  Yes, I am a 42 year old Harry Potter fan.  So...we paid $102 a ticket to go to Universal Studios. 

The park opened at 8am, so we got up hours earlier than any day thus far and arrived as the park opened. Our first expense beyond the tickets was to pay $25 for parking.  Surface level parking was already full, so we climbed the levels of the ET parking structure to find our spot.  First impressions of Universal is that it was very clean and very organized.  We rode down escalators and arrived at a mile of shops before even entering the park.  We walked in awe at King Kong hanging from a building and other larger than life characters. 

Finally arriving at the front gates, we decided to check in to fast passes to get us to the front of attraction lines.  The ticket guy said yes, we could upgrade our tickets for an additional $100 each.  Uh, no.  So, we kept our "cheap" tickets and walked thru the gates.  I can't put into words how amazing the place was.  As people who love TV and movies, this place was the big screen (or small screen) in life size reality.  

We walked to the enterance to Harry Potter land and I just had to stop and stare.  Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, and Hogwarts were right there in front of me.  My eyes could not even take in all of the sights.  The place was already packed with people, so we decided to let things die down and come back.  What a stupid idea...as you will find out later.

Next stop was Walking Dead.  To our amazement, there was no line!  We marched right up, ready to be go.  Sadly, the worker told us the attraction did not open until noon.  We also found out that Harry Potter land opens an hour before the rest of the park, so we could have (should have) been there at 7am.  Heads hung we walked along, feeling sorry for ourselves.  

My head jerked up when I heard a familiar voice.  It was donkey from Shrek!  It seemed to be some sort of animatronic donkey, yet he had Eddie Murphy's voice and responded to people talking to him.  We walked up and had our picture taken.  Loren said, "Shut up, Donkey" and he responded that Loren sounded just like Shrek.  My spirits were lifted by our donkey chat.  What no one knows is that I actually call Loren- "donkey".  He reminds me so much of that character...hoping around spouting nonsense.  I like to tell him, "Atta do, donkey", just like Shrek does.

To Loren's absolute delight, we next walked into Springfield- home of Homer Simpson.  We had no clue that Universal had an entire Simpson's area.  Moe's bar, Krusty Burger, Kwik E Mart, Cletus's Chicken Shack...they were all here.  Wait time for the Krustyland ride was only 20 minutes, so we did our first ride. It was a 4d experience where you feel like you are on a roller coaster, but are really just sitting in a room.  I wonder if all rides will be this way one day?

The Universal back lot Tour had a 15 wait, so that was next.  As Universal has visitors from all over, Spanish and Chinese tours were available.  However, the group behind us apparently missed that queue and took our English tour.  The Tour now offers 2 different 4D attractions, so we had to take 3D glasses before the tram left.  Several minutes into the tour, the tram stopped for us to look at some of the movie sets.  Someone in the Chinese group dropped their 3D glasses overboard.  Oh well, I thought.  But this lady stands up and pulls the red emergency chord.  The driver comes over a speaker and says if this is a medical emergency, pull the chord again.  Not speaking English, the lady starts to again pull the chord.  A tram load of people all yell, "Noooooo!" at the lady.  

We rode past the clock tower from Back to the Future, the Bates Motel, Jaws, and other familiar sets.  We went thru 2 rides that felt like we were part of the movie.  The first was like we were on a subway in the middle of an earthquake.  Then, King Kong and TRex appeared and started to battle.  The Chinese lady who wanted the rescue her glasses started screaming.  Loud screams.  That ruined the experience.  The best part of the tour for me was the Fast and Furious attraction.  We were in the middle of a car chase with Dom.  The Chinese woman continued to scream.  

Done with the tour and looking at the sign for wait times, we saw that it was a 120 min wait for Harry Potter.  Frustrated, we had a waffle and chicken sandwich at Cletus's Chicken Shack and battled the crowds to walk around the park.  We went into the Harry Potter area and could not even open the doors to the shops due to the crowds.  We were able to finally get to the Walking Dead experience.  It was admittedly very cool, but the zombies kept jumping out at the people in front of us, so they got scared instead of us. 

About 5pm, our feet were killing us and we were soaked in sweat.  The plan was to go back to the hotel, rest, and then go back to the park for the lighting of Hogswarts.  Well, that didn't happen.  Some drama from home kept us on the phone and ruined our plans.  Angry at people bothering us on vacation with problems that were not ours, we just gave up on going back.  I was incredibly disappointed to have paid so much money and to not get to do all that we wanted, but reframed and realized we had a great day.  

Tomorrow we will see Hollywood touristy things, so stay tuned...

Day #27- Hooray for Hollywood!

Movies, stars, glitz, glamor...NOT!!!  Our initial experience with Hollywood was something out of a movie.  While still in Grover Beach, I found a great Hotwire deal for a hotel right in the middle of the action between Hollywood Blvd and Sunset. 

We pulled up to a super sketchy looking place, but noticed the Starbucks, Jersey Mike's, and Jamba Juice close by, so we decided it may not be as bad as it looked.  We walked inside and there was a less fortunate man laying on a couch in the "lobby".  The check in desk was behind glass with only a hole to peak thru.  I was already feeling nervous about the place.  The desk clerk comes and wants both of our Id's, along with our licence plate #.  He then gives us a set of keys- actual keys- not a key card like at most hotels.  He also gives a key to the building which he says he locks at nite.  We went to move our car into a tight parallel spot in a super small lot, only to have the desk clerk follow us and tell us exactly how to park.  Now super nervous, we head to our room.  It was on the ground floor with the only lock being one like would be found on the bathroom door at home.  The room had no AC and a window with no screen open to the street.  The bed was a twin and the one chair in the room was covered in a sheet.   I had already decided we were NOT staying at this dump, but had to use the restroom before we left.  I walk into the bathroom to see a window open to an alley.  That was it.  I was DONE. 

We hurried back out to Stan and sat in him with the doors locked tight.  I called Hotwire and told the lady that I know rooms are not refundable, but I just was not safe at this hotel.   After rattling off the list of scary features, the woman not only refunded our money,  but she arranged for an upgraded hotel and Hotwire paid for it.  I was very impressed with the level of customer service!!

Once in a safe, clean, locked hotel room we decided to look for food.   We ended up at an Italian restaurant named Miceli's- just like my Michigan family.  We had the best time!  All of the wait staff took turns performing a song- just like on Glee when they move to NYC.  The voices were very good and sounded like these people could be on Broadway! 

We now sit comfortably in our room getting ready for to tomorrow's trip to Universal Studios.  Stay tuned!

Day #26- Mr. Jones and Me

Today was fair day!  Counting Crows and Matchbox 20 were both playing at the fair.  Of course we missed Zak Brown, Garth Brooks, and Midland.  Just our luck.   I am not a huge fan of either of tonite's bands, but we love live music, so at least it is people we have heard of. 

For the majority of our time in Cali, weather has been in the 60s and 70s.  I guess we got spoiled because we were sweltering in the low 90s at the fair grounds.   I must have applied sunscreen 5x, yet still felt my skin frying.

We have not ridden rides for several years since Loren passed out cold after a ride at the Austin rodeo.  It just so happened that the exact same ride was at this fair.  Loren decided that it was redemption time and he was going to ride again.  I was almost too worried to have fun, but he braved the spins and drops like a pro.  Ride defeated!!  We rode a few more rides and had a good laugh.  Ride prices are ridiculous, but I always have so much fun! 

Next, we went to the petting zoo.  Loren stood outside and watched while I oohed and ahhed over goats, pigs, and deer.  I was loving the animals until I felt a tug and looked down.  A deer had my shirt in his mouth!  I was laughing, and of course took a picture, thinking Bambi would release me.  Negative.  Still chewing.  I have some junkie shirts that I probably would not have minded being nibbled, but I love the Yeti shirt I had on!  I didn't wanna pull too hard and rip it, but had to get the deer off.  A minute of tug-o-war later, and my shirt is soaked in drool and a green stain of something. 

We had a hard time deciding what food to have for dinner.  There were so many choices!  Turkey legs, fried avocados, fried everything!  We decided on a giant corn on the cob and cotton candy flavored ice cream.  Dinner of champs!

Loren and I sat down on a wall to wait for Corey, Kari, and the kids to ride the bumper cars.  We somehow managed to be just outside the gates to the concert and could hear it perfectly.  We listened to songs and waited for the ones we know and like.  Just as has happened to me before, I went to the bathroom and while I was away, the songs I wanted to hear were played.  2 songs out of 20 and they played them while I was away.  What are the chances?!?

Sunburned and full of junk we headed home to say goodbye to the beach.  Tomorrow we head to LA, so stay tuned!