You Did What?!?

This morning we awoke much happier with our overnight accommodations.  We left the hotel and went a grand distance of 1/2 mile and stopped at the Tillamook Creamery.  Since it was just after 8am, we were the only ones there.  We had the show room all to ourselves and enjoyed looking at all the goodies.  We also spent a little bit of $$ there.

I haven't yet mentioned the condition of the highway in Oregon.  It's a mess.  The road is scarred with landslides, sunken roadbed, flash floods, cave ins, you name it.  In quite a few places we found the road had been repaired, but not re-asphalted.  It was a mess.

And the traffic was different, too.  It was clear that most of the travelers in Oregon--at least at this time of year--were locals.  We rarely had a road companion that lasted more than a few miles.  It was interesting.

As we drove up into Washington the roads were in excellent condition, but now we found our fellow travelers had grown in size--logging trucks.  And those logging trucks are dangerous.  When Jenni was driving, a logging truck traveling in the opposite direction went past as we were going around a sharp corner.  That truck was moving so fast you could see the back end of the trailer skidding out!  Yikes!

We no longer had multitudes of spectacular bridges, except for the bridge running over the Columbia River near Astoria.  When you come up to the bridge you see it WAY high above you and you can't imagine how you are going to get all the way up there in such a short time.  But after a loop de loop we climbed up a ramp and found ourselves high enough to touch the clouds--if there had been any clouds.  (It was a gorgeous day.)

It turns out this bridge is the longest continuous running truss bridge in the United States.  I believe it!  It kept going and going and going.  It's over a mile long with half of the trip being just above the water.  Spectacular.

As we headed north up the coast of Washington, we realized we were coming close to the end of our trip.  The road was clean and clear--except for one place were a crew was clearing up the remains of an immense tree which had fallen across the road.  As we were traveling along Grays Harbor, Jenni remembered to look to see if there were any Carnegie libraries in this part of the state.  Turns out we had just driven past one in South Bend.  Oops.  Another is located in Hoquiam.  We decided that we'd do those on another trip.  No turning back, now!

North of Hoquiam we traveled through logging country.  Acres of stands of tall trees alternated with acres of old stumps.  I was surprised to see that much of the cleared acreage hadn't been replanted.  Are they giving up?  This is the land of the spotted owl controversy, after all.

As we drove into Forks we saw a sign for a rest stop and decided that was a great idea.  In the words of Mike's niece, Christina, Forks is a "magical" place.  It's the setting for the Twilight trilogy; I felt that odd because I read that author Stephenie Meyer never set foot in the place.  It was magical, however, because the rest stop had completely disappeared.  Oh, boy.  I could have used that rest stop.

We drove past signs for Hoh Rainforest.  I had been to Hoh camping with my friends Anna and Linda.  I HIGHLY recommend a visit to this place.  The weather was perfect for a visit today.  You know how road weary Jenni and I were when I tell you we didn't want to drive the extra 30 mile round trip to visit the rainforest.  Another day, another trip.

Something very interesting happens when you drive up over the top of the Olympic Peninsula.  Hwy 101 North becomes Hwy 101 East.  I was wondering how this would be handled because eventually Hwy 101 starts heading south on the east side of the peninsula and travels back down to Olympia, nearly circumscribing the entire peninsula.  When does Hwy 101 North become Hwy 101 South?  Answer: well, first it becomes Hwy 101 East.

As we headed east on Hwy 101 we drove past one of the most beautiful lakes in this state--Crescent Lake.  The road skirts right along the shoreline, slowing to 35 mph.  I haven't been here since 1989 when I met my mother here at the end of a hiking trip she took.  (Yes, my mother hikes.  She still hikes.  My mother is in better shape than me!)

Past Port Angeles we passed signs pointing out the direction of Hwy 101 South.  Yay!  We're heading south.  That was shortly followed by a roadside sign stating Hwy 101 East.  Oh.  Guess we're still going east.  Another couple miles down the road and another directional sign for Hwy 101 South.  Somebody's confused!  And, not just me.  So, we decided to give up on Hwy 101 East-South, and headed instead east on Hwy 104.  This took us across our last major bridge over the Hood Canal.  We drove through the charming town (picket fences included) of Port Gamble and around the top of the Kitsap Peninsula and down into Kingston where we waited in line for a ferry to Edmonds.

After the 30 minutes ferry ride we drove over to Elysa's apartment to drop off the peacocks that had been traveling with us for the last 2,000 miles.  Yes, peacocks.  Elysa inherited a peacock mosaic from my parents.  No, my parents are still with us and doing fine, thanks.  My mom is downsizing, though, much to my Dad's chagrin (is that a good way to put it, Dad?), so the peacocks came with us.  It was kind of funny because while we watched home movies back in Walnut Creek last week, we saw a 1961 film showing the peacocks in the background!  Ah, sweet history.  And so the peacocks now roost in Elysa's apartment.

While there we past on goodies we picked up for Elysa, and Elysa gave me my Mother's Day gift.

Okay, I try not to boast about my kids because I think that gets annoying.  So, if you don't liked bragging, then skip to the next paragraph.  Jenni got tired of hearing me complain about my cell phone, so she bought me a brand new Windows phone for Mother's Day.  I chipped in because I felt guilty about the cost.  Because I chipped in, Jenni decided to also buy me a phone case and screen protector (coming in the mail tomorrow) and then mentioned that something else is coming in the mail tomorrow.  On Mother's Day proper, we were traveling through Oregon so Jenni offered to take me to a fun place for lunch.  Upon arrival at Elysa's apartment I found a wooden basket full of tangelos, oranges, pears, apricots, cherries, and--oh, my bathroom scale--homemade bonbons and chocolate dipped cherries and strawberries.  The bonbons are all different flavors--orange, lemon, vanilla, almond, butterscotch, raspberry--and there must be two pounds of them!  My friends are all going to have to break their diets.  I have the greatest daughters.

In less than an hour, Jenni and I found ourselves at home.  HOME??  Didn't we just leave Tillamook this morning? Yes, folks, we drove all the way home.  We had planned to spend the night in Port Townsend, a marvelous seaside village, but when I proposed to Jenni that we skip the libraries in Port Angeles and Port Townsend and head straight home, she readily agreed.  We've had enough of hotel rooms and driving, and Jenni's had enough of my snoring.  We got home after 7:00, Mike helped unload the car, and then I crashed.  As I type this, a day later, Jenni is outside working in the yard (she loves doing that as long as it doesn't include weeding).  Since we gave ourselves until Wednesday to get back, I'm just taking it easy, slowly working through the laundry and the mail. 

We put 3,365 miles on my car with this trip--1,644 of those miles were just Jenni and me on the coastal trip.  I wanted a road trip and I got a road trip!  We had a marvelous time.  This trip meant a lot to me.  I'm glad Jenni came along and I'm glad she had the patience to put up with her mother in such close quarters for such a long time.  Thanks to Mike for supporting me in this journey; Mike, you're the best.

And so ends my West Coast Adventure.  What comes next???

A Mother of a Day

Dutch Bros. Coffee saved Eureka, and that is a tall (or grande--ha ha) order.  On top of gouging us an additional 50% on our hotel bill, our hotel left things unplugged and what outlets they had were on light switches.  We had to plug in the air conditioner, plug in the refrigerator (which was on a switch, too), and I forgot to make sure the outlet I thought I was charging my cell phone on wasn't on a switch.  And--get this--they installed a door size mirror on the back of the bathroom door so that you had to stare at yourself while you were on the commode.  We weren't very happy.

But, on the way out of town we visited a Dutch Bros. Coffee stand where they not only gave me a free Mother's Day drink, but they also gave Jenni one.  I love Dutch Bros. Coffee.  We need one in Marysville.

We said goodbye to Eureka without hesitation and moved on north.  The road here is four lanes wide and 65 mph to the Oregon border.  We were traveling much faster than on PCH so we covered a lot of ground today.  The landscape is much more familiar, now, typical of what you see on the west side of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest.  It was a comfortable familiarity and I realized I missed the trees.  Good to be back in the north.

Even the bicyclists changed.  The bicyclists on the PCH were primarily day trippers.  EVERY bicyclist we saw today was fully packed, some towing trailers.  Upon entering Oregon Hwy 101 is labeled with signs stating Oregon Coast Bike Route.  Most bikers were traveling south.  Perhaps they thought they were going downhill.  [On a side note: the bicyclists in Eureka were all scraggly, hairy, scary looking men.]

We're also seeing grander bridges.  Very long, very tall, and very wide.  These gargantuan bridges are crossing bays, estuaries, and very wide rivers.  We also crossed several smaller bridges due to either rivers & creeks or to canyons.

I must say, I am in awe of the original surveyors of this highway.  As we drove along I wondered how they decided this was the best place to put a highway.  Sometimes we were right amongst the sand dunes and other times we were a hundred feet up on a cliff.  Sometimes they required a bridge and other times the highway turns inland following a canyon.  The original surveyors didn't have a road to take them to this coast.  How did they get up those cliffs to really know what was up there?  I am just impressed.

As for fauna, today we saw egret, bunny, elk, and dead possum.  As far as flora, we drove past a skunk cabbage farm.  Who woulda thunk?

The Oregon Coast boasts several vacation destinations.  We drove past one Ogden family vacation spot in Gold Beach.  Jenni and I lunched in Coos Bay.  We were appalled to find a Wal-Mart in Newport.

We eventually found ourselves traveling past dairy farms so we knew we were nearing Tillamook.  Since I want to visit the creamery, we decided to spend the night here.  We have a much better hotel room--with working outlets--and at half the cost.  I like Tillamook.

Beware Grad Night

Airlines were taking off next to our hotel this morning, so we took off, too.

We went back to Hwy 1 where we left it; luckily nobody took it, so it was still there.  Since the day started out foggy, Jenni and I knew we weren't going to see much.  Hwy 1 soon became a city street and we trekked north through Golden Gate Park.  We traveled through a very long DARK tunnel (no lights) and emerged onto Hwy 101 just before it headed over the Golden Gate Bridge.  At least we think it was the Golden Gate Bridge.  All we saw was fog.

After we drove over what was presumably a bridge, Hwy 1 soon split from 101.  We immediately left Hwy 1 and headed to the most charming valley I've ever been in--Mill Valley.  Here we found what used to be a Carnegie Library hidden in the trees--well hidden.  It's now a private residence and you'd never know it used to be a civic building.

We drove back to Hwy 1 and continued our journey north.  I've written about roads with character.  They've got nothing on this road!  Much of the road had a 35 mph speed limit--we didn't often go that fast.  Twisty, turny, topsy turvy.  What a great road!  Now, if you were to ask me about the landscape, I can tell you it looked like fog.

What we did see of the landscape had changed from the low grasses we saw yesterday.  We saw more trees and quite a few roadside bushes.  Large roadside bushes.  I often thought I shrank down to the size of a mouse and was running down animal paths.  Again, we saw lots of wildflowers.  At one point we passed a home that had wildflowers planted all around it and across the road.  Yellow, purple, and white wildflowers accompanied a panoply of California poppies, along with yellow poppy-like flowers that had orange centers.  Stunning.

We drove around Mt. Tamalpais and past Stinson Beach.  I remember coming here as a teenager with my family.  I'm not sure why we brought our Dalmatian with us because she didn't like water.  We were allowed to let her run off leash.  Again, I'm not sure why we would do this, because she never came when called.  Pepper had a ball running free on the beach.  However, as soon as we got in the water, Pepper freaked out.  She barked at us, ran up and down the shoreline, she even ignored her fear of the water and ran in to paw at us.  She did not like us in that water.  As soon as we came out, Pepper went on her merry way.  Get back in the water, and the freak was on, again.  Weird dog.  I loved her.  Miss you, Pepper!

We continued up through Point Reyes--a large wetlands area.  We zigzagged through Point Reyes Station where my family supped a few years ago during a family vacation to Dillon Beach, several miles further up the road.  Further north we traveled past Bodega Bay, weaving along, working our way toward Sea Ranch.  About this time we're getting butt-numb, antsy, and I found myself looking for bathroom facilities.  Aside from a few dodgy looking restaurants and several scraggly bushes, no facilities could be found.  We finally came upon Little River State Park, and the name was indicative of my situation.  Saved!  Thank you, State of California!

A flock of water fowl escorted us up the coast for several miles.  We never quite caught up with them so we can't tell you what kind of bird it was.  (That should give you an idea of how fast we were moving.  "As a crow flies..." certainly benefited them.) We also saw quail, tons of vultures, blue jays, hawks, maybe eagles, two deer, and a really stupid duck that tried to cross the road with her brood.  Luckily we spotted them in time.

All day yesterday and up until this point, I did all the driving.  Jenni's not very comfortable driving my car on windy roads and I LOVE windy roads, so I was happy to do all the driving.  It was time, though, to hand over the wheel, so Jenni took us the rest of the way.  Up through Mendocino we went and into Fort Bragg.  It was exciting to see all these coastal towns I had only heard of.  Trees were taller and bushes grew scarce.  We knew when we were drifting inland because the sun would come out.  Poor Jenni had to drive some of the windiest roads of the day. 

It was during Jenni's drive that we encountered our first redwood trees.  The road weaved around these incredible giants.  Absolutely stunning.

Soon we saw the last we of the Pacific Ocean from this road.  Why?  Well, this picture should explain it:

 

Bye, bye to the Pacific Coast Highway, Cabrillo Highway, Coast Highway, Shoreline Highway--whatever you call it, it's the good 'ol Hwy 1.  [Jenni Wiki'd California State Route 1 and learned that the highway ends here because the coastal cliffs north of here are too steep and unstable.  She also learned something else interesting.  In yesterday's blog I noted that we passed a colossal construction of two tunnels and two bridges.  It turns out that area is referred to as Devil's Slide.  Recent slides shut the highway down for months.  In fact, the highway used to run past Pacifica and up to Daly City, but an earthquake in 1957 wiped out a large portion of the highway.]

After saying goodbye to Hwy 1, we joined Hwy 101 and  a new highway name was added to the list--Redwood Highway.  101 was called El Camino Real when we rode it in Santa Barbara, but we can easily adjust to the new name.

After stopping in Garberville for gas, we continued into Humboldt County and then back to the coast and up to Eureka.  In Eureka we found one of the most beautiful Carnegie buildings I've ever seen.  This building is now a modern art museum and was lovingly restored.

Look at this very small sampling of the mosaic floor:

The woodwork was incredible, too.

It was time to find a motel.  Somehow we managed to land in Eureka during graduation weekend for Humboldt State University.  The hotels universally raised their rates by 50%.  And no other hotels for miles.  And they have lousy internet.  It's taking me 3 hours to write this because of the upload time.  (Of course, it could be the distraction of "Storage Wars.")  Thank goodness for the gift of the library; I'll focus on that.

Tomorrow we'll say goodbye to California and hello to Oregon.  Yippee!

Somewhere Out There...

I have been looking forward to this leg of the trip for sometime.  The drive up Hwy 1 between San Luis Obispo and Monterey is famed and historic.  You know that picture you always see of that spectacular bridge?  We drove over that!


 

 No, I didn't take this picture.  I found it on the web.

I was very excited as we set off north (past Cal Poly, John!).  It was a bit of an overcast day and the mist was heavy, covering the tops of the nearby hills.  As we drove closer to the coast it became clear that the mist wasn't going away.  We entered Morro Bay and sure enough--fog--mist--low clouds--it all adds up to poor visibility.  This isn't unusual for the California coast, but it is still frustrating.  We could only hope it would burn off soon.  Off course, the temps were in the 50's--doesn't bode well for burning off.

Still, what coast we could see was spectacular.  Every once in a while gray seas came into view, crashing onto the rocky shore below.  The four lane highway became a two lane highway and then the two lane highway quickly became quite windy.  Driving in spring may mean more fog, but it means less traffic.  I think the bicycles outnumbered the autos.  And no RV's. 

We drove past San Simeon and waved in the direction of Hearst Castle.  Soon we were driving over those spectacular bridges near Big Sur.  We drove past some kind of seal down on the rocks (the sign said Elephant Seals, but they were too gray and too small). We zoomed past windswept Monterey Pines and jillions of wildflowers.  What we could see was amazing.

Soon we arrived in Monterey and found our first Carnegie library of the day.  This is a large building which belongs to a university.  It wasn't very exciting and had been remodeled extensively.

The drive over to Pacific Grove was fun.  We navigated up into the Monterey Peninsula and around its rocky shores and into the lovely little town of Pacific Grove.  There we found another renovated building, but this one was done right.  It's still a public library.  The city added on to the building FOUR times over the years.  With each addition the architect strove to keep the character of the original building.  You can seen remnants of the original perimeter of the building on the interior.  Well done, Pacific Grove!

  That curved area is the reading room.  It's beautiful.  You can see one of the early additions on the right.

We took a potty break at a McDonalds that didn't look like a McDonalds, and then we're off towards Santa Cruz.  Santa Cruz still boasts two of an original four Carnegie buildings.  The first was on the east bluff and is currently a museum.  It had an add-on, too, but the original had bent wings, which was interesting.  (No pics to do it justice due to the large trees in front.)  The curator wasn't sure about the history of the building, but she's a UW grad, and that's worth a $5 donation!

We dropped down to the beach and visited the Santa Cruz boardwalk and the wharf.  I remember going to the boardwalk with friends on Senior Cut Day in 1976.  We went down in my friend's convertible--four girls and one guy.  We have family who own a cabin in the nearby hills, so I've been in Santa Cruz on several occasions.

While out on the wharf we came face to face with a bunch of sea lions sunning (sun?) on a floating pier.  Think any of them were in San Francisco the other day?

It's still a weird town with many identifies and each neighborhood has a character all it's own.  It can be rather confusing.  But the downtown is pretty and has many eateries.  Which is why Jenni and I went right back to the same sandwich shop my brother, John, introduced us to last year.

On the west bluff we found the second building which is still a library.  Small and ordinary, but had a charm all its own.

After fueling at Costco--I was rather surprised to find one in Santa Cruz--we hopped back onto the Carrillo Highway and headed north towards Half Moon Bay.  We went online (I love our smart phones) to check out possibilities for motels in Half Moon Bay, read a few reviews, and decided we didn't want to pay a lot of money for a decent hotel.  So we decided to drive up to Pacifica and cut over to South San Francisco where we would find our last Carnegie building of the day.

During today's trip we drove past several small bits of construction--landslide clean up, replacement of washed away road--and had already driven past a large construction site where a new bridge was being constructed.  This was nothing compared to the marvel of engineering we south of Pacifica.  Two new holes are being bored through a large hill.  We were quite amazed by it, but couldn't see where the tunnels emerged on the other end  A mile further down the road and we got our answer:  We found the opposite ends of the two tunnels and they emptied out onto two amazing bridges--same graceful design as the new bridge we saw further south.  I think we found out where all of California's road funds are going.  If you want to check out this massive project, pull up Pacifica on Google Maps Satellite and scan a bit south past the houses.


The South San Francisco building is another beautiful library and once again I'm frustrated with a closed sign.  Pooey.

As an aside, South San Francisco is a town all its own and is not to be confused with south San Francisco, which includes the Mission District.  South San Francisco is much prettier than the Mission District.

We're now in a comfortable hotel and watching Deadliest Catch.  Tomorrow we'll head north crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

And so it begins...

At 8:30 this morning Jenni and I started our West Coast Adventures.  Officially.  Without Mike.  Just us.

We dropped Mike off at the Long Beach Airport and proceeded to Hwy 1--the Pacific Coast Highway.  This highway--with occasional visits to Hwy 101, will take us all the way into Northern California.  I've visited different parts of PCH, but always wanted to drive the entire highway.

The trip out of the LA basin took quite a while.  In Southern California, PCH travels through several--no, A LOT--of small beach communities. Starting in Long Beach we visited Wilmington, Palos Verdes, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo (where we drove under the LAX runway), Playa Del Rey, Marina Del Rey, Venice, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Topanga Beach, and then, finally, Malibu.  While we saw tons of Jack in the Boxes, an accessible Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf was nowhere to be found.

After Malibu, the city driving slowly gave way to beautiful coastal views.  We drove by Port Hueneme and Point Mugu where Mike worked while in college.  We soon arrived in Oxnard where we visited our first Carnegie Library of the day.  This library is currently a museum and was closed.  I would have very much liked to see the inside of this rather large and very white building.

We found a Starbucks nearby and picked up a mid-morning drink.  This reminded Jenni how much she does NOT like Starbucks espresso.  This is unfortunate because I LOVE Starbucks iced tea.  Compromises abound!

Back on to Hwy 1 and we soon had to join Hwy 101.  Just a bit past Ventura, Hwy 1 reappeared and we enjoyed a short run along a strip of land between the ocean and Hwy 101.  This turned out to be a very popular location for RV parking.  We eventually were forced back onto Hwy 101.  This time we stayed on all the way into Santa Barbara.

Mike and I met in Santa Barbara when we were both going to school at UC Santa Barbara.  We've always loved this place, partly because of the significance of the area, but also because it is so beautiful and the weather is temperate.  Jenni and I drove into the city and I was pleased to see that the community is as beautiful as ever.  As we drove around looking for the local Carnegie building I found myself in familiar surroundings.  The library was right across the street from the Santa Barbara County Courthouse!.  Not only was this a favored place to picnic--it is an incredibly beautiful site--but this is where Mike and I applied for our marriage license.  Ah, sweet memories!

Jenni and I parked and investigated this rather large edifice of a library.  We found nary a clue that this was a Carnegie building.  We have our doubts, but will trust the California Carnegie Library website.

Yeah, we were unimpressed, too.  This library is the only way Santa Barbara could disappoint me.

Jenni and I walked around and I located where Mike and my favorite restaurant used to reside.  We walked over to the building where as a college student I worked part time for Lawyer's Title.  My dad got me this job because a friend of his was the office manager.  However, I can proudly say I kept the job!  Thanks, Dad!

After relocating my car, we got back on the freeway and headed up to Isla Vista.  This was a very small community where UCSB students live.  Well, it WAS very small.  We were surprised to find a large shopping center with a Costco.  This made a great lunch stop (believe it not).

It was hard to leave, but leave we must.  Hwy 101 (or El Camino Real--a great California/Spanish history lesson) took us further west until the Pacific Coast Highway--now the Carrillo Highway--went its own way.  This time we found ourselves in rolling green hills and dropped rather unexpectedly into Lompoc where we found our third library of the day.

Now this was a gem!  This library is typical of a small town.  It is now a museum, but the insides were completely remodeled 50 years ago.  Inside decorative pillars--probably made of wood--were removed and large beams installed in the hopes of opening up the building.  But it wasn't the building that was the gem.  Inside the museum I located a wonderful source of information who was determined to find out all she could about her building.  She was a font of Carnegie library knowledge and recommended a couple books regarding the Carnegie Library legacy.  I think Jenni must have wondered what had happened to me (turns out she was singing while waiting), but I eventually emerged.

Back onto the Carrillo Highway and we worked our way through Vandenburg Air Force Base and through the tiny communities of Mission Hills, Vandenburg Village, Orcutt, Waldorf, Guadalupe, Bromela, Oceano, Grover Beach, and into Pismo Beach.  Here we were once again forced onto Hwy 101 which took us all the way to San Luis Obispo where our fourth and last Carnegie awaited us.

This building was, by far, the sweetest looking of the bunch.  Once, again, this museum was closed, a major disappointment.  It's a beautiful site and through the front doors it looked like the interior was well preserved.  Oh, well.

While I'm not very familiar with this town, my brother John is; he attended Cal Poly SLO here, and I think he'd say it was amongst the best years of his life.  I know he very much cares for this community.  Given that there are a few wineries in the area now, I think we can find an excuse to come back.

Jenni and I are holed up in a Ramada Inn.  Great price, nice room, good accommodations.  Jenni just came back from a short run.  Tomorrow we'll be driving through some of the most beautiful scenery in the state.  I am really looking forward to this.

How You Can Ruin Things for All

Apparently a proposition was passed that stated that warnings for potential cancerous hazards has to be posted.  We saw a similar sign in a coffee shop.  It should say "et nauseum" at the end.

The Happiest Place on Earth

I doesn't matter how warm or cold the day.  It doesn't matter on your mood when you arrive.  There is something special about this wonderland.  The minute I step inside the gates, walk through the tunnels under the railway, something just clicks into place.  I'm back.  This is where I should be.

I don't know why I feel this way.  I don't know when I started feeling this way.  Maybe it was at my first visit at four years of age. Maybe it was during those 11 years when my family lived 20 minutes away.  Maybe it was when I visited for my high school grad night.  Was it when I first went with Mike?  With the kids?  I'm not sure when it was, but this place holds a special place in my soul.

We arrive in Anaheim around 8:30 in the morning and checked into the best non-Disney hotel ever--Candy Cane Inn.  I remember seeing this hotel as a girl and wishing we could stay there.  How could you not want to visit someplace called Candy Cane Inn?  It's a real storybook kind of place, absolutely beautiful.  I've never seen it in spring, but there are flowers blooming everywhere.  GREAT accommodations.

We walked through the turnstiles just past 9am.  We went where we needed to go, saw what we needed to see, and experienced all we needed to experience.  The temps rose into the 80's--a bit on the warm side, but somehow that didn't matter (lots of trees, cool places, air conditioning).

Mike and I went back to the hotel during the hottest of the day while Jenni visited California Adventure (she could with her annual pass).  We went back to the magic around 6 and explored some more.  Disneyland is most magical at night.  While Mike & Jenni experienced Star Tours, I walked over to Main Street and visited every shop.  I sat near the flag pole and soaked in the lights, sounds, and smells of the park.  Enchanting.

We left at closing at 9pm.  It was really sad to go, but what a beautiful day.