Fort Vancouver

Earlier this month, we were in Portland, so we drove into Washington to see the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. In the 19th century, Fort Vancouver was founded by the British Hudson Bay Company as a fur trading site. For many years it was run by John McLoughlin. The current buildings are a recreation of the originals.

 

We also drove by the nearby US Army buildings. These were built after the Oregon Territory became part of the U.S.

Later we went by the house in Oregon City that John McLoughlin lived in after he retired from running Fort Vancouver. Although it is part of Fort Vancouver NHS, it had a separate Junior Ranger program.

Grand Californian

 

We usually stay at the Disneyland Hotel, but this time we got a great rate at the Grand Californian. It's a beautiful property, and its location between Disneyland and California Adventure can't be beat. We love the craftsman style theming.

We had a great view of the Paradise Pier area of California Adventure from our balcony.

We swam in the pool and, after completing a scavenger hunt one afternoon, were named "Family of the Day". That night we got to hang out in the concierge lounge, had free snacks, and listened to a story.

On our last morning, we enjoyed a breakfast at Storyteller's Cafe. The buffet was good and the kids had fun meeting characters.

Disneyland

Last week, we headed down to California for a few days at Disneyland. We've been taking the kids down around once a year since they were little. Disneyland was still celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

We spent a couple of days hopping back and forth between the parks, meeting characters and enjoying the rides. 

A couple of new things were added since we visited last in 2004. We enjoyed the new Buzz Lightyear ride and the refurbished Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. We liked Disneyland’s version of Buzz better than WDW’s, and Space Mountain is much smoother than before.

In California Adventure, we experienced the new Turtle Talk show and Monsters Inc. ride. While Monsters is a better ride than Superstar Limo which it replaced, it doesn’t fit as well with the California theme.