And the story continues…

Once we arrived in Anaheim we checked into the Residence Inn. This place was pretty cool. Condo style, complimentary wifi, breakfast, nice pool. I like. We dumped our stuff in the room and headed out to meet up with our friends for a late dinner.

Remember how I said the place was pretty cool?

I lied.

Because the room we returned to was HOT. I called the front desk. They sent maintenance. The verdict: AC was broken. Did we want to change rooms? Umm yes…I’d love to move ALL of our bags AGAIN. So at 11:30 at night we hotel room hopped to the comfort of an air conditioned room and crashed in our beds.

And the hotel was once again…cool.

DAY 4:

The next day, we ventured over to Disneyland and California Adventure. We tried to drive. Sat in traffic. Couldn’t find parking. Gave up. Drove back to the hotel.

And called an Uber.

No more driving in Anaheim.

It was super hot. Like 90 degrees hot. And the parks were at like 95% capacity, so the crowds were insane. Becky, Clarence, Josh and Jordan have the fast pass system down though, so thank goodness for them putting up with us tagging along. Otherwise, I likely would have given up. We didn’t have to wait too long for any ride with their organization and planning. Thank you for that. We really appreciated you sharing your Disney wisdom with us.

We made it until about 1:00 and then decided to take a break and go for a swim at the hotel.

We relaxed and refreshed and then got ready for Jordan’s birthday dinner at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. How cool is that? To spend your birthday in Disneyland.

After dinner we went back into the park for a cooler evening riding the rides.

Favorites for the day:

Angie – Getting drenched on Splash Mountain at 11:00 at night. I mean drenched.

Emilee – The Cars Ride

Jaxon – California Screamin

Originally we were going to spend two days in a row in the park, but we made an impromptu change of plans and decided a beach day was in order. We’d save day two of our park hopper for a cooler and hopefully less busy Tuesday.

DAY 5:

Huntington Beach here we come.

We enjoyed the day with palm trees in our view and the ocean waves crashing into the sand.

We were tossed around by waves and burnt by the sun.

Like really burnt by the sun.

Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: Emilee put sunscreen on.

Emilee: I like being burnt because the next day it turns to a tan.

To which I had to force spray her arms and shoulders. We both forgot our legs. And none of us reapplied. Jordan’s family only got a little burnt. They must get outside more often than the Kyle vampires because they already had their summer base tan.

Lessons learned. I don’t think Emilee likes being burnt anymore.

After beaching it, we were invited by a friend to have dinner at her house. She lives in a fancy neighborhood. We had to drive the Civic through a guarded gate house in order to even get into the neighborhood. I was again way out of my element.

Val and Bob were very gracious hosts welcoming us AND all our sand into their beautiful home. I learned about this really cool app called Door Dash where we all literally ordered food from wherever we wanted and it was delivered. I’m pretty sure food was delivered from five different restaurants that night.

The boys swam in the pool and we just relaxed the evening away. It was definitely one of my favorite days of the trip.​

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DAY 6:

This was the day that Jaxon and I would get to the park early and get in line for a Guardians of the Galaxy fast pass. This ride is new and has the longest lines. We tried to get there on time, but we were late as usual. Again the Van Beeks saved us and got us a great spot in line. I mean the park wasn’t even open and the line was already an hour long.

It’s the remake of the old Tower of Terror ride. It was pretty awesome…so I can see why people wait in line for hours, but still…

We spent the rest of the morning bouncing around various attractions.

Favorites for the day:

Angie – Soarin’

Emilee – Big Thunder

Jaxon – Guardians of the Galaxy

DAY 7:

And it was time to start our trip back home.

After a nice lunch, we said goodbye to our friends who were off the airport for their quick 2.5 hour trip home. Several times Jaxon tried to convince me to buy him a plane ticket so he could fly home with Jordan. I guess he didn’t love the comfort of the entire Civic backseat for hours and hours and hours.

We decided that a drive into Beverly Hills and down Rodeo Drive was necessary. It just wasn’t quite the same as living it through Vivian’s eyes in Pretty Woman, but I can sure as heck check that off.

Next stop: Santa Monica pier. We just made a quick stop for a walk down the pier, a couple photo ops and a conclusion that I would NEVER want to hang out on that beach. Way. Too. Many. People. Maybe I’m more like my husband than I thought. Must be all these years of hanging out together. But that’s okay. A nice, quiet, calm beach sounds much better to me anyway.

We continued our journey up the coast until we landed in Pismo Beach. This time, I was smarter and booked our hotel in advance. Have you heard of the app Hotel Tonight? Val told me about that one and it’s awesome. It basically gives you great deals on last minute hotel stays. I booked the Sea Venture Beach Hotel for $150, thinking that price had been pretty typical during our trip.

We checked in and they gave me a bottle of wine and mentioned that our room had a fireplace AND a hot tub on the balcony. The kids were loving it. Emilee and I ran out to the beach for some more instagram worthy photos. We ate dinner in their fancy restaurant. Then the kids hot tubbed as I sat and perused Facebook in front of the fireplace.

Emilee looked it up and I guess our $150 hotel room was actually normally $375 to book.

Whoa…I really dig that Hotel Tonight app. You should try it and use my code ANGKYLE to save $25 on your first booking. I also get $25 so I can save even more money and go on more epic vacations!

Thanks friends. Hee, hee.

Did we have to leave?

DAY 8:

The answer to that question was YES. We were headed home. As sad as it is to leave a fun place and end a vacation, you know when you just get into that mode of “I’m ready to be home”. Well, that kicked in when we woke up.

Originally we were going to stay in Medford or Roseburg, Oregon for the night and then make the final leg on Friday. After a little deliberation, I decided what the heck, why not just drive the rest of the way? After all, we would only sit in traffic for the entirety of our Friday drive (Portland, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle…no thanks). Why not just drive through the night and avoid the traffic?

So we did. We drove for 18 hours, from 9:00am to 3:00am.

But we made it home and into the comfort of our own beds. It was not easy. Thank goodness I had Emilee to drive the last 3 hours. I might have slept at a rest stop. Which we all know is not something that I would ever do…so you know I had to be desperate to even consider it.

Cali Road Trip… ✅

I’m so glad I had this time with my kids. We all know they grow up too fast and I’m just going to soak up these memories.

That’s what it’s all about anyway, right?

Making memories that last a lifetime.

Until next time,

Adventure awaits…