Knott's Berry Farm & Medieval Times

Another beautiful day in California.

Max and Lola joined us today and we have enjoyed the day at Knott's Berry Farm.

Lola remembers the day when admission was free (pre-1968). Knott's Farm claims to be the first amusement park. We had quite a day.

After the park moved over to Medieval Times where you eat with everything with your hands and watch a medieval tournament. You are placed on teams to root for your knight. Our knight was the red knight, although he did not win we had a great time.
Right now we are relaxing in Max and Lola's room. They are staying in the same motel as we are.

Tomorrow we are heading down to the ocean to relax (at least that is what I think the plan is).

More later....

What is it Friday already!!??

Greetings from California,

Yes, it is Friday. Much has happened in our attempt to see EVERY amusement park in California and ride EVERY ride..
2 Days at Disneyland leaves things undone.. oh well, next time...
Thursday we ventured across Los Angeles to MGM Studios. Linda and I made a journey there a few years ago when we visited Max and Lola. It is always great showing backstage movie effects and so much more. Everything here is geared toward Halloween and in full scare mode.
The girls got their pictures taken with almost every critter, cartoon figure, and goblin imaginable. I got my picture taken with Marlyn Monroe yesterday. Linda was "hit" on by Groucho Marx who was riding a big wheeled bicycle through the park.

Today we are starting one hour later at 9 a.m. We are heading to Nott's Berry Farm. Max and Lola are joining us today that will add to our fun.

We have reservations for supper on the Peer at a very nice restaurant to watch the sunset and enjoy a last meal together in California...

Generally we haven't had too much problem with the traffic, although last night it took us almost 2 hours to get back from MGM. It is amazing to see 6 lanes of traffic each way, 2 lane exit ramp, and 2 lane entrance ramp all at a complete stop with everyone looking at each other! But boy I do love those commuter lanes.... zip!

Gotta run the ghosts await.....

First Day at Disney

Sheila If I had known you and Eli wanted to come along I would have made the pilot take the plan to Nashville and pick you up!
We do have mouse ear pictures along with about 150 others. Last night during the Grand Finale Parade the girls were positively "ENCHANTED". The look on their faces made the whole thing worthwhile!
Today we are heading back to Disneyland to continue our adventure. You just can't get through the whole park in less than 2 days. Today we will also "hop" over to the adjoining park, California Adventure. It is also a Disney park and is co-located with Disneyland. We are meeting up with some of Linda's Californi' family this afternoon. They have 2 youngsters too!
Everyone is moving a little slower today, but I think we will get back up to speed quickly when we put our mouse ears back on.
Plans for tomorrow have us spending a relaxing day soaking up the sun and the surf.
And then on Friday Max and Lola are coming down to join us for the day as we venture to Knott's Berry Farm...

Today for lunch I may just have to have one of those turkey legs... they smell soooo good!

Going to Disneyland

On Sunday we began our Disney adventure. Right after church we packed as quickly as we possibly could. The folks of the church have been waiting 2 months for us to go on vacation so they could rip out the carpet and flooring from much of the house and redo it. When we return we should have new carpet in the living and dining rooms, new vinyl in the kitchen and basement, and new laminate in the hall and entry way...
Sunday afternoon we drove to St. Louis to Barry & Julie's house to begin our trip.

Monday we set out for breakfast and a quick trip to the bank for Barry to deposit some yard sale receipts. Low and behold - the banks were all closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday... But we did enjoy breakfast. At 10 a.m. Skeets and Theresa arrive to escort us to the airport and retrieve our car. At the airport our check-in and security went without a hitch. Yes, we got there 2 hours early like they tell you to do. You really never know what kind of things you will run into with security today.

Our flight left on time and we took what must be the smallest passenger plane American Airlines has to Denver where we had a layover before continuing to LA. By the time we set down in Denver everyone was starved to death. We had time to kill so we had a leisurely luncheon in the American Airlines terminal. Yeah if you believe the leisurely part you need to travel with a 5 & 6 year old again. The American terminal is so large the girls played tag in and out of the seats and no one even look up to see what was going on!

Crazy adults we all thought the plane ride would be a great time to take a nap. WRONG!

The girls got really tired of being cooped up in an airplane seat but the ladies of the family (Linda, Hazel & Julie) had prepared backpacks to keep them busy. And they needed everything in it!

We finally arrived in LA about 6:30 p.m. local time. We rented a from Thrifty and got a Chevy minivan. We got all of our stuff loaded and proceeded down the road to the Ramada Inn Limited in Redondo Beach. After we unloaded we headed out on foot to the pier which is 5-6 blocks away. We ate supper on the water at a seafood place. By the time we got to the restaurant it was 8 pm local, but our stomachs said it was 10 pm. The girls actually both fell asleep at the table!

I am writing this in the breakfast room of the motel. In a little over an hour we are supposed to begin our first trip to see the big mouse. The girls are so excited - they make all the trip worthwhile.

Cheryl my secretary just im'ed me. We had a death in the church family of a lady who had been living in a nursing home in StL the past 4 years. In a little bit I will be calling the family and let them know where I am and try to help them make other arrangements... It really never fails. Something happens every day. Today Disneyland!