Our Second Vacation

This last trip was two trips in one, really. After our fun day at Universal Studios, we headed southwest to the beach. Crystal Cove State Park to be exact. And it was glorious!

We arrived to a beautiful campground right on the coast. The campground consists of three loops over six tiers, so everyone has a gorgeous ocean view. The sites were big and there was plenty of vegetation to provide privacy. We loved it!

After we got set up, we took a walk to explore. The campground and beach are separated by PCH, but the bluff takes away any road noise.

We drove down the bluff to the parking area at the bottom, went through a tunnel under PCH, and then we spent some time at the beach. Though chilly, the kids had a good time in the sand already. Matthew got a metal detector for Christmas, but we didn't find any treasure.

We did enjoy a beautiful sunset, and the kids even created sandcastles.

By the time we got back to our Airstream, the view looked like this:

The next day we knew would probably be our only sunny day at the beach, so we took advantage of the weather and stayed outside as much as possible. Brian and Elizabeth took their mountain bikes because there are hiking and biking trails behind the campground that go through the backcountry hills. However, due to recent rains, all the trails were closed so we couldn't use them. Thankfully, there is a paved trail along the bluff that goes the length of the state park beach--about three miles. So after Matthew and I set off on foot and scooter, Brian and Elizabeth caught up with us shortly. They were bummed, but we made it work. They'd go ahead and double back. It wasn't a bad way to spend a morning.

Matthew and I took our time and caught all the sights. We took lots of pictures, even of all the signs. He and I can butt heads sometimes because we are so similar, but we had a nice time together exploring here. This time was one of the best parts of the vacation for me.

The photo below looks like Matthew is about to merge onto PCH. hahaha

We came upon the Historic District at Crystal Cove. This place is really cool. There are lots of old cottages you can rent out and a swanky eatery called the Beachcomber Cafe is right on the beach. We stopped for a peek. It was a neat little village.

Never saw a Christmas tree right on the beach before.

We left the Historic District and headed back to camp.

When we got there, we were in for a big surprise. Matthew's buddy from third grade was camping in the site right next to us! Kaedan and his mom flew in to stay in her best friend's Airstream with her for a few days. What are the odds?

Though it was sunny, the air was still cool so we warmed up with some ramen noodles for lunch and then hung around outside for the afternoon.

Elizabeth and I tried to find the sea glass jewelry making class in the Historic District, but I guess the guy who manages that was under the weather that day. We still had a nice walk through another tunnel to get to that part of the beach. This one was decorated with all kinds of ocean-themed art.

Late in the afternoon, we went to Pelican Point to see some tidal pools at low tide. Crystal Cove has quite a few good places for tidal pool viewing, but a ranger said this place would be the best. I think she was right. I thought we'd be freezing and uncomfortable, but the excitement of seeing anemones and hilariously walking hermit crabs (and the possibility of spotting something super cool) warmed us up, I think. We accessed the beach via a boardwalk and then a steep hike down the bluff.

When the tide recedes, tons of rocks show up and sea creatures sometimes are safely stuck for a while between them.

We spotted a sea lion or otter or something out on that rock. It's hard to see in the photo, but he was moving all around like he was waving at us.

Matthew doing some karate kid moves.

Wednesday was a really cool day at the beach!

Overnight the rains came, and in the morning they were still falling. It got pretty wet. Even the Airstream was soaking up some water. Nothing was dripping, but some water was seeping in through the seams. Luckily, we were able to lap it up with towels easily, but we do need to figure out how to fix that leak.

Since the weather wasn't really beach weather, we took our time eating breakfast and then decided to drive to Long Beach to tour the famous and historic ocean liner, the Queen Mary. You can't just go on it an look around; you have to buy some sort of tour package. So we got the passports that let you board the ship, do a self-paced audio tour, take a guided tour, and watch a ten-minute movie in their 4D theater. Though pricey, it was a good rainy day activity, especially since the rain stopped when we were outside on the decks. The audio tour was decent, but the guided tour was more interesting. Our guide was very passionate about the Queen Mary and also, quite possibly, an actor of some sort so he was very animated.

The Queen Mary is docked in the harbor. It's very close to the port so we followed lots of trucks in and out of the area. Many ships were being loaded and unloaded, and that's probably what it's like every day there.

The audio tour took us to all kinds of places, even a viewing area to see one of the propellers.

All in all, we had a fun vacation to California. It was hard to leave on the morning of such a beautiful day at the beach, but we had a 7-hour drive ahead of us so we managed to get out of there by 10:30 am. Sad to go, but we look forward to going back sometime.

Break's Over

Tomorrow the kids go back to school. It's been a nice break. It felt like it didn't fly by like some do, and I think that's because it started so close to Christmas. Usually the first week is a frenzy getting ready for the big day, but this year we had only two days before Christmas. So most of the vacation was actually vacation. And then we went on vacation! It was a pretty good eighteen days for sure.

On our last day off, the kids and I took down the Christmas decorations and then went to see Moana. Did you see this movie? I had no idea David Bowie would make an appearance. I mean he was in the form of a crab, but it certainly felt like that crab was impersonating Bowie. Did you notice? Is it just me? I was a little freaked out, actually.

Anyway, the point of this post was to say how fun-filled and relaxing our break was. It really was. It's going to be hard to get back into the swing of things, though, especially judging by how inefficiently I made the lunches this evening. I'm way off my game. Gotta get our grooves back. And hopefully that starts with a run tomorrow. I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't run in 2017 yet. Ack!

Here's to a great start to the second semester!

Our Visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We surprised the kids with a trip to California for Christmas. After they opened their gifts on Christmas morning, they found an envelope stuffed into the tree. They were very excited to learn that we would be visiting Universal Studios and the beach the following week.

We left on Sunday, January 1st, and stayed in Valencia those first two nights. It's about thirty miles north of LA, and it wasn't a bad drive into Universal City on Monday to get to the park. We stayed in an RV park that was literally around the corner from Six Flags. So if we ever go there, we know where to stay. It was a nice little trailer park. They certainly pack in the campers tight, but it was fine for what we needed--which was nothing more than a clean and safe place to sleep and free showers. I absolutely love that we take our own hotel room with us now, and this place wasn't a bad place to park it. Though the patches of grass between the sites weren't much more than two feet wide, we had a nice tree next to the door. Once you got out to the lane, you could see rolling hills all around and the sunset and sunrise we saw there were pretty. Most window views were of other campers, but it really didn't matter. We got there around 3 pm on Sunday, were gone all day Monday, and left by noon on Tuesday. Valencia Travel Village was perfect for what we needed.

We bought our Universal Studios tickets online directly from the park, so that gave us early entry. The park was open from 9 am to 10 pm on Monday, but our tickets allowed us to get into Wizarding World at 8 am. So, we woke up early, ate our bagels in the car, and parked the car at Universal by 7:20.

We waited at the gate for a while, they let us into the main street within the park, and then at 9:00, we and the other early ticket holders headed into Hogsmeade. 

If you're not familiar with the Harry Potter books, well you might want to quit reading now because the rest of this post may sound Chinese to you. But we were all very excited to enter this quaint English town where Harry and his pals had quite the adventure.

And it was fabulous. Everything from the snowy rooftops to the train to the details in every shop window was something to admire. The time and effort that had to go into creating this real-life fantasy world is mind-boggling. And we loved every moment.

However, our first order of business was to get in line for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. So we headed to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Oh my!

It was like we were really in Hogwarts. As soon as we passed through the gates and set our backpack in one of the free lockers, we were in line. The queue is just as delightful as the ride, so we slowed our pace and tried to take it all in. I didn't take many pictures in line because it was dark in the castle and we were too busy admiring it all, but I couldn't resist getting the Hippogriff outside Dumbledore's office and the Sorting Hat.

Once the line stopped, we waited for only ten minutes before boarding the ride. Brian and Matthew opted to not ride since they both suffer from motion sickness and didn't want to ruin their day at 8:15 am. We're sorry they weren't able to ride it because Elizabeth and I both agree it was the best ride we've ever been on in our lives. It's a dark ride like at Disneyland, but there's so much more. And if you're into the Harry Potter story, it's wonderful to feel like you're flying on a broom, playing quidditch or escaping from dragons, the Whomping Willow, and dementors. We walked off that ride like we were high.

We rode the tame Flight of the Hippogriff roller coaster afterwards and walked around Hogsmeade a little bit before the bigger crowds came at 9:00. 

After we left Hogsmeade, we did the Back Lot tour. That's the tram ride that if you don't do at Universal, it's like going to Pisa without seeing the leaning tower. We walked right on, and it was a good 45-minute tour that had something for everyone. Next, Elizabeth and I rode the Simpson's ride (also full of motion that the guys didn't want to try to handle), and then we all went to the Special Effects Show, which was a great introduction to how filmmakers create a lot of the magic.

We then headed down to the Lower Lot for the Jurassic Park ride. It's a water ride, and while we didn't get soaked, we did get a little wetter than we had hoped on that cold and cloudy day. Surprisingly, we dried quickly and the giant dinosaur that scared us out of our wits towards the end made it all worth it. Matthew loved it.

Elizabeth and I then stood in line for the Mummy ride for ninety minutes, while Brian and Matthew walked around the park, talking to Transformers and posing for pictures with them.

We all caught up with each other at the Three Broomsticks for our lunch/dinner. We each snuck in a granola bar in our pockets which we ate while in line for Jurassic Park, but we planned to buy one meal in the park and we knew it would be here. We never, ever buy a sitdown meal in a theme park, but just this once we felt we should. And we don't regret it, either. $70 was a small price to pay to be all together, sitting down, and eating good food. It's an authentic English pub.

Brian had beef and lamb stew in a bread bowl. I had a chicken and bacon sandwich and salad. Elizabeth had bangers and mash, and Matthew had fish and chips. It was a lot of food, but absolutely none went uneaten. We were hungry and the food was tasty. So was the Butterbeer!

While eating, we decided that we all wanted to stay in Hogsmeade. So we went to Ollivander's Wand Shop and sat in on a wand choosing ceremony. The wands choose the wizards, ya know, so they have a little show in which one lucky guest gets a wand (or more accurately, has a wand chosen for them to purchase). Our kids were not chosen for the ceremony, but it was a cute 10-minute show that spits you out into the overcrowded wand shop. 

They'd saved some of their Christmas money to buy a wand, so we spent quite a bit of time here. The shop has character wands, wands that don't belong to characters, and even interactive wands that you can use throughout Hogsmeade. Elizabeth made her choice, but the whole place was too much for Matthew. He and Brian got out of the madness and found a cart outside. It was a much more peaceful place to shop, so I recommend walking into Ollivander's to see the place and then quickly getting out of there.

We visited the Owl Post and sent a postcard to their cousin in Georgia--whose parents love Harry Potter maybe even more than we do--before heading to our next stop which was Waterworld.

I really couldn't believe Universal has an attraction for that flop of a movie, but I guess they spent a lot of money making it and are trying to get it back. It was a good show, and when that sea plane crashed into the pool it blew our minds. None of us was expecting it, and it made quite an impression on all of us. Rumor has it that attraction is going away very soon, so we may have been some of the last guests to enjoy it.

After the show, we did some more shopping. Matthew had seen a Jurassic Park Jeep earlier in the day which he could not get out of his head. So he and Brian went back down to the Lower Lot to get it while Elizabeth and I rode the Forbidden Journey again. Hogsmeade is beautiful at night! The castle is like a painting.

Because the line was 150 minutes long, we decided to try the single rider line. While it took only 40 minutes, we unfortunately bypassed a lot of the castle so we didn't see as much of the queue. Pros and cons. Anyway, we bid farewell to each other at the end of the line and boarded the ride with our new pals. Close to the ride's end, they had a malfunction and briefly stopped the ride. She managed it just fine, but it figures something would go wrong when we weren't side-by-side. haha

We met up again with Brian and Matthew and finished the evening in Hogsmeade with photos of the frog chorus and watching the Tri-Wizard Pep Rally.

By then it was 7:30 and we were exhausted. But a kind stranger gave me a "front of the line" pass, so we used it on the Minions ride. Brian and Matthew sat in the stationary seats so they could handle this one. Once that was over, we headed towards the exit. I took some photos of the pretty Christmas decorations since we're not usually at a theme park over the holidays.

On our way out the door, a park rep asked me if we'd like to take a survey about our day. Thinking it would probably result in some kind of perk, I said yes. So they took us to a reception area, and the kids and I waited around in a warm room with comfy couches and a neat balcony until Brian was done taking the survey. We didn't get anything, but it didn't take too long.

Overall, it was an exciting day. I still don't think we're the theme park kind of family. For one, half of us can't ride many rides. And two, crowds aren't really our thing. But spending half the day in an imaginary world that we love that's come to life--now that was really something special.

Goodnight, 2016

Good stuff happened this year. Bad stuff happened this year. That's life, and that's how it goes. Still, I'm ready to start fresh, and hopefully 2017 has more good than bad.