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4:03 p.m. - 2004-10-25

Disneyland or Bust

Greetings gentle readers! I have returned from our adventuresome travels encompassing such stops as Disneyland, California Adventure Park, and Universal Studio�s, and some other points of interest along the way. But first, as all stories should, I will begin at the beginning.

At the dawn of Sunday morning, October 10th T and I bolted from bed ready to start our journey. Off to catch the 7am ferry from Schwartz Bay we did go. Being Canadian Thanksgiving weekend I wasn�t exactly sure how busy the ferries would be. To our blessing, we did not have to beat off hordes of bleary-eyed travelers to gain passage, and it was an uneventful portion of our day. Upon dry land once again we set our compass for the south and set off.

Our excitement was barely confinable as we traveled through the Peace Arch Customs, and for the first time ever presented out Passports as proof of our citizenship. When driving over the boarder between Canada and the US it is not necessary to have a passport, but we�d paid for the and darn it � we were going to use those puppies!! (Side note � did you know that the Canadian passport is the most highly sought after passport in all the world? Supposedly it is the most difficult to fake. Little known fact for your day.)

Once into Blaine, Washington we stopped for gas. On our travels as we met a variety of people one of the first things American�s complained about was the price of their gas. We paid anywhere between $2.05 and $2.59 for an American gallon. Which, once you convert it to Canadian litres worked out to be an average of 62 cents a litre. The last time I was at a Canadian gas station it was closer to $1.00 a litre. � They have nothing to complain about!

Sorry about that - Just place it under �another side-note� by LJ.

Also when we were in Blaine I realized I hadn�t purchased the Canadian beer my brother had asked me to pick up. Beer is not something that is on either T�s or my shopping list. Oh I enjoy the occasional beer on a hot sunny day, but I couldn�t tell you when the last time I�d purchased the stuff was. Anyway � we stopped at a local gas station and picked up a 6-pack of Molson Canadian. I still can�t get over the fact that you can buy liquor from a gas station. That strikes me as a bit of an oxymoron. The really funny thing is that on the packaging it said �Import�. Ha!! Import!!! You�d think it was beer from Australia or something.

I had remembered to buy two bags of my nephew�s favourite potato chips � Ketchup flavoured. Supposedly you can�t get Ketchup flavoured chips in the states. I really don�t understand the desire for it in the first place, but then again I don�t do roasted chicken flavoured potato chips either.

Another side-note, and still I digress.

Back onto the road we quickly made our way to the I-5. This freeway (can anyone tell me the difference between a freeway and a highway?) will take us directly to our destination � the Penny Sleeper Motel in Anaheim, California. Walking distance to and from Disneyland. However, we had many miles to accomplish before that goal could be reached.

We made very good time and pulled into Yreka, California at 8:30 that evening. This is Northern California, just 30 miles or so from the Oregon/California border. I must say � the I-5 is terribly uneventful. We made little games around how many semi�s we passed, what their rear doors read (as in signs and such), and how often we would pass the same one once we�d pulled off into a designated rest area.

One semi we passed (on our return trip) read �His name isn�t the man upstairs. His name is Jesus.� Just one of those things that makes you go � ummmm �

Starting out Monday morning I found our surrounds very beautiful, and I kept thinking about the early settlers and how their travels were not so easy as our own. I couldn�t imagine trying to negotiate the harsh surroundings of mountains and hills. All in the name of a better life.

The further south we went the more palm trees and cacti we saw. The kind of agriculture we passed astounded me. Fields of pistachio trees, tomatoes, vineyards, and much to my surprise � cotton. Fields and fields of cotton, and it was harvesting season. We watched the large farm vehicles maneuver their ungainly, but useful equipment through the rows of plants.

As we got closer and closer to LA the traffic reflected the hectic pace of life. I was very glad that T was driving this particular area. I would have been a complete muddled mess by the time we reached our motel. As it was, we had been so careful on getting directions from Expedia on how to get from our motel to Universal Studio�s, our motel to Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, and our motel to my brother�s place that we had forgotten to get directions to our hotel. Fortunately for us � Freeway markers to �Disneyland� were common once we were closer to that landmark. From there it was a breeze, but for a while I was a little panicked and envisioned us somehow getting lost in infamous East LA. Not a pretty picture for my uneducated eye�s. Thankfully T is a very calm, cooled, collected bloke who has little fear when it comes to driving these busy, hectic, confusing city streets.

We safely arrived at our motel around 9:00pm. We were so tired, and at the same time excited at arrival that we barely noticed the freeway being a stone throw away from our motel. No really � I could have picked up a stone and thrown it at that I-5 � but that would have been illegal. Fortunately � our room was on the other side of the building, and the constant hum of traffic could be blotted out with wonderful earplugs as night.

Needless to say � we slept fitfully with visions of what we were going to be seeing the next day dancing through our heads.

And that � dear folks � is all I will tell you for one day. I will be adding pictures as soon as I get into work (tomorrow) and can scan them. So stay tuned � Mugwhump�s adventures will continue.

This was before - This is now




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