California Trip: Part 2

(I'm sorry I've been away for so long. It was just kind of a bad week for me. Even though nothing bad happened. I think I was just in a funk. I'm better now. On with the program.)

If you haven't read it, here's the first part of our trip. It has a map.

Day 6, Friday: Six people in a hotel room does not make for very good sleep. In my opinion. Because I definitely didn't sleep as much as I would have liked. I was more than happy to get up at 7am, eat breakfast, and get on with our day.

We got to David's cousin's place in Monteray around 10 or 11am. We visited with them for an hour or two, and then we got back in the van, and did the tourist thing (except for Sally, who went grocery shopping for the Filipino feast we were going to have that night). We went to Cannery Row, which is the tourist hub for Monteray.

We didn't get to go to a beach, but we did get to see the Pacific Ocean. The actual ocean. As in, it's not a bay where ocean water flows into, blocked by islands. It's the real ocean, that stretches out into nothingness. We don't have that around here. :)

After a walk around the peer, where every little cafe was trying to sell us their clam chowder (and I was tempted), David took us to the Aquarium. You guys. It is not cheap. But it was so worth it. I don't actually think I've been to an aquarium before, so this one definitely spoiled me. It's amazing. And huge. Gigantic indoor tanks for sharks and large tuna, and sting rays, and touchable coral reefs and starfish, and beautiful jellyfish displays, and a whole section devoted to seahorses....I wanted to stay and stare at everything forever.

We were there for several hours, and even though it was amazing, I was ready to get off my feet and go back to the cousins' house. Also, I knew what was waiting for us there. I wasn't kidding when I said "feast." Plates of lumpia piled high, tons of fried rice, even more tons of white rice, beef and broccoli, sinigang...I'm sure I'm missing something. Anyway, there were 13 of us, and we didn't nearly finish all the food (except for the lumpia. The twin uncles can't get enough of it. And neither can I).

We stayed the night at their place, and I know I should be grateful for free lodging, but they have pets. Indoor pets. Who don't necessarily sleep at night. So......yeah. Anyway, the next day we stayed until after lunch, took some pictures, and then we were on our way back to Fresno.

Day 7, Saturday: We stopped in at great-grandma's place in Fresno just long enough to repack our day-trip bags, and then we went to visit David's cousin David in Visalia. We got there around dinner time, which is fortunate for the guys, because there was an important football game on, and they wanted to watch it.

But I wanted to go swimming. Mari and I immediately changed into our swimsuits and headed out to their backyard pool. I took that opportunity to coach Mari on a few things, like swimming underwater. They had some pool toys, so I threw them into the pool again and again, encouraging Mari to try to get all of them in one shot. She did pretty good.

Art and Joe joined us briefly during halftime, which I was glad about, because I was pretty sure that would be our only opportunity to swim. (I was right.) Then we ate a late dinner of bbq'd hot dogs and hamburgers. Someone had just barely started a puzzle in the next room, so that's where I spent the rest of the evening.

We stayed the night at their place, and surprisingly, this was the night I got the most sleep. They also had pets, but they made sure the dogs and cat wouldn't be running around at night to keep us up. It's a good thing I got such a good sleep, because otherwise I would have been miserable for the most important day...

Day 8, Sunday: I got two words for you. Magic Mountain. Need I say more? Well, I'm going to anyway. We actually managed to leave Visalia at the time we said we were going to leave (7:30am). It probably helped that we were REALLY excited. It took about three hours to drive Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, and we wanted to get there as soon as it opened.

Since Magic Mountain is only open on the weekends, it was pretty packed. The first ride we went on was their new one, and we waited in line for an hour and a half. Yeah. We got there at 10:30, and went on our first ride at noon. We would have had to wait that long no matter when we went on the ride, so it's a good thing we got it over with first. Also? It was so scary!! You lay down in your seat, and then the seats rotate at strategic spots on the roller coaster, to make it even more frightening.

I had my eyes closed for probably 60% of the ride. Very glad to get it over with. I think I was so scared from that ride, and so relieved to go on the next, more normal ride, that I don't even remember that next roller coaster.

I wish I could describe every roller coaster we went on, but this is already a long post, so I'll just tell you my favorite and least favorite rides. My favorite ride was called Terminator: Salvation (based on the movie, obviously). I think it was my favorite because it was more than I expected. It's a wooden roller coaster (totally smooth and safe though), and I guess I thought it would just be okay. But it was WAY better than that. There were some cool effects, and good music. I wish we could have gone on it twice.

My least favorite was called Colossus. It's also a wooden roller coaster, but it rides like an old, rickety coaster. On purpose. It rattled my bones, my teeth, my brain, my life. I hated it. I highly recommend that you never go on it. It hurt.

Another piece of advice, if you ever go to a theme park (because this didn't occur to me): wear comfortable shoes. I had so much fun, but my body hurt, from all that walking around, and all the adrenaline. And the flip flops didn't help. I should have worn better shoes. Also, the food there is SO expensive! So be prepared.

Anyway, we stayed at a hotel that night. I thought I would sleep like a baby from pure exhaustion, but unfortunately, it was like most of the other nights. Inadequate.

Day 9, Monday: So Magic Mountain was my favorite day because it was crazy exciting and fun. But this day was my other favorite day. We went to the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley. Definitely the most patriotic thing I've ever done in my life. It was awe-inspiring, it was encouraging, and I was moved to tears on more than one occasion. Without slipping into a political diatribe, let me just say that our country needs another Ronald Reagan in the White House.

I can't wait to show you the pictures from the museum. Callie, you would have loved it.

We were at the museum for four or five hours. On our feet. Walking. So one day at Magic Mountain walking around + half a day at the Library walking around = Jenene was SO DONE!

Thankfully, that was our last tourist day. We drove back up to Fresno that same day and stayed the night at great-grandma's house.

Day 10, Tuesday: Woke up, ate breakfast, packed up our stuff, took some pictures with great-grandma, went to David's step-dad's and took pictures there, then we went to back to Salinas to hang out with and take pictures with one of the cousin's. Art and Joe spent the whole evening playing Wii. We have a few hilarious videos of them.

We started our return trip at 9pm that night. We left a day earlier than we had originally planned. Not that I minded. I think we were all tired (in a good way). And I know Sally was missing home.

Day 11, Wednesday: Well, what is there to say about this day? We drove and drove and drove, and got home at 8pm. I was so happy to shower, and sleep in my own bed. David and Sally stayed the night, I got up the next morning and went to work.

And that's the trip! I've finished editing the pictures, so hopefully I'll start to get them up soon.