The Rest of the Trip!

So . . . ye come seeking tales of salty old pirates do ye?  That was the feeling I got anyway (yes, I'm looking at you Midhrifs!).  The problem was, after a long day at Disneyland, the thought of cobbling together a blog for another hour and a half seemed a little "not-so-good".  But here it is now.  The rest of the trip!

Carsland opened a year ago and this was our first visit.  A perfect way to end Route 66 is to end up in a fantasy version of Route 66.  The biggest difference is that Radiator Springs in Carsland has trees.  Route 66 as you have seen, not so much.

First stop after getting our Fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers was a spin on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

Then, a walk down Route 66 to Luigi's Flying Tires.  I was afraid they were going to be hard to steer but they were pretty easy.  We got a few good hits in!

After that we took a quick peek at what awaited us later that day.  The gigantic Radiator Springs Racers.  Can you believe the rock work?  Compare it with those earlier photos of Arizona.  Crazy!

The Disney folks have done a helluva job with the new additions to California Adventure.  Come.  Look.  Enjoy.  Do as the Mouse tells you.

Look in to the eyes of the Mouse.  You can't resist, can you?  Book your ticket now!

 "Book, book, book.  Ticket, ticket, ticket."

Radiator Springs looks amazing at night.  So much neon.  Radiator Springs Racers is amazing day or night.  It's a really incredible ride.  If you don't mind "spoilers" go to YouTube and watch a complete ride on this attraction.  If you do mind spoilers, "Book, book, book.  Ticket, ticket, ticket!"  I'm telling you, it's a great ride!

The next day, we went over to Disneyland itself and rode on the Omnibus.

We hit all the hotspots in Adventureland.

We did the Haunted Mansion.  We had mint juleps.

The park looks great, as always.

The we hopped on the Monorail for a quick trip over to the Disneyland Hotel.  I managed to squeeze off a quick shot of our hotel.

I also got a quick shot of Buena Vista Street.

Our destination was Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar.  Great drinks and I got two new tiki mugs for my collection!

 (yes, the eyes move)

The next morning, even though we just had breakfast (and another ride on Radiator Springs Racers) we thought gigantic goody milkshakes were in order.  You got a problem with that?  The folks at Ghirardelli mix up some fine treats.

After some "Soaring over California" and a visit to the fantastic Animation exhibit that California Adventure has, it was time to leave.

 Bye, bye.

Oh!  We did some shopping too.

Buy, buy!

Everybody flew home except for Fred and I.  Time to hit the dusty trail for Vancouver!  A late start took us in to one of those classic LA sunsets.

The next morning found us in Santa Nella.  Our motel was right next door to Pea Soup Andersen's!  Hap-Pea and Pea-Wee mixed us up some nice pea soup for breakfast.  With pancakes.  Seriously.

 Hap-Pea is the one with the mallet.

Long days of driving aren't super conducive to picture taking, but we manged to take a few!

In Eugene, Oregon, a couple of Dodge station wagons got together for a family picture.

We missed the collapse of the Skagit River bridge by about an hour and a half and got home safe and sound.  As I headed in to the house, I turned and took a picture of the "old man" and his car.

Oh yeah.  Fred got called an "old man" on the Indiana Jones ride.  Sorry Fred, but you know it was a funny story.  If you ever see Fred folks, ask him to tell the story.  You'll love it.  He won't, but you will.


And that was it.  The true end of the trip.  It was an unbelievably fantastic 2 weeks.  Thank you Fred for instigating the whole thing, and thank you all for coming along for the virtual ride!

Check back here from time to time.  You never know.  I might just keep doing this!  : )