Disneyland Resort

 

We also enjoyed seeing what was new at the parks. The Tower of Terror was in the process of being changed into a Guardians of the Galaxy attraction.

We also tried out the new Luigi's Rollickin' Roadsters ride in Carsland.  It was okay; about as enjoyable as the Flying Tires were, but hopefully easier to maintain.

We enjoyed a lunch at Carthay Circle in California Adventure, and on Monday, a breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.  

I also took some photos of the what I could see of the new Star Wars land under construction. Last night Susan and I flew home, and the kids back to Florida.

Birthday Trip

For my birthday, Susan told me we were going away for a long weekend, but wouldn't tell me where. When we got to PDX Friday morning, she revealed we were flying to LAX. While we were picking up a rental car in Los Angeles, I was surprised by the kids showing up. That's when I figured out we were going to Disneyland. 

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, and from our tower could see into California Adventure.

We enjoyed the holiday decorations in both parks, and riding holiday versions of Small World and Haunted Mansion. 

California Adventure was featuring a "Festival of Holidays". Carsland was especially festive.

Arizona and Nevada

We left Texas and continued west through New Mexico until we came to Petrified Forest National Park. We drove south through the park to the Rainbow Museum, then turned west again.

Thursday night we stayed in Flagstaff, then visited Walnut Canyon National Monument Friday morning.

We drove north to Las Vegas, stopping at the visitor center for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on our way. 

We also stopped at the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument north of Vegas, but currently there isn't much there. We continued north towards Reno, and stopped in Tonopah. We arrived back in Bend Saturday evening.

Texas

Once we entered Texas, we swung down to Waco. Wednesday morning we drove around the downtown and visited the Magnolia Market.

We then visited Waco Mammoth National Monument. This is located west of town near the Bosque River. The fossils of a large number of Mammoth were discovered there.

Wednesday night we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Dallas. This was the 14th HRC I have visited. We then continued driving west to Amarillo, where we stopped for the night.

Westward

Monday morning, we stopped at Ocmulgee National Monument near Macon, Georgia. This site preserves Native American mounds. We then drove across Alabama and Mississippi and stopped in Vicksburg for the night.

Tuesday morning we visited Vicksburg National Military Park. Vicksburg was important in the Civil War because it could be used to control traffic on the Mississippi river.

In the afternoon we visited Poverty Point National Monument in northern Louisiana, which is also about the Native American mound-builders.

South Carolina

On Saturday we left Disney World and headed up to Hilton Head, South Carolina, for the night. We enjoyed staying at Disney's resort there, and walked along the beach near the Beach House the next morning.

Leaving Hilton Head, we headed northwest to near Columbia and picked up Lily, our new Sheltie, then headed west on our sixth trip across the U.S.

And Disney World Yet Again

Last Friday, we flew out to Disney World again. We spent a week in the parks, including Epcot while Jennifer enjoyed Dapper Day. 

As we did in January, we stayed in a Wilderness Lodge DVC villa, where they were making progress building the new DVC cabins along the lakeshore.  

Sunday night we attended a Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom.  

At Animal Kingdom, work continued on the new Pandora area. 

Fall update

When they aren’t working, the kids enjoy going to the parks. Earlier this month they attended a Halloween party at the Magic Kingdom.

They also checked out the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. I generally spend the weekends in Bend, and when I have time work on the pole barn.

Disney World again

Our first three nights we stayed in a studio at Bay Lake Tower, right next to the Magic Kingdom.

Thursday night Susan and Jennifer attended the Halloween Party at MK, while Bryan and I hung out in Epcot and watched Illuminations.  

Friday and Saturday nights we stayed in a concierge room at the Grand Floridian. We spent some time at Epcot, but we also spent a lot of time enjoying the pool and the complementary snacks and drinks at the hotel. Yesterday we flew home.

Down to Florida

 

Tuesday we continued south through Tennessee to Lookout Mountain, which is just south of Chattanooga on the border of Tennessee and Georgia. The site was important during the Civil War, and the battlements are part of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. We walked around the site and watched a film at the visitor center, and enjoyed the views of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River below.  

From there we continued down to Atlanta, where we had a late lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown, the 13th HRC we have visited. That night we arrived in Disney World, completing our fifth trip across America.

Driving Across US Part 2

 

Sunday morning, we turned south off of I-80 and took rural Nebraska highways through small towns to Homestead National Monument. The visitor center had a nice museum about the homesteading of the plains, as well as the Homestead Act in general, and we enjoyed walking around some of the outbuildings.

From there we headed down toward St Louis, where we visited with some of Susan's cousins. Yesterday, they joined us for lunch at the Hard Rock in St Louis (Number 11). 

From St Louis we drove across southern Illinois and Indiana to Nashville. I was hoping to visit the Parthenon, but we arrived just after it closed for the day. 

For dinner we went to the Hard Rock in Nashville, the twelfth we have been to, then drove a bit further before stopping for the night.

Driving across the US

After the kids had been out in Florida for a month, they started asking about a car, so a few days ago we headed out in a car loaded with stuff for them. Our first stop was off I-84 in Idaho, between Boise and Twin Falls. The Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument and the Minidoka National Historic Site share a visitor center in Hagerman.

After checking out the visitor center we headed out to the sites. There wasn't a lot to see at the Fossil Beds, mostly views of the hills and the Snake River.  

The Minidoka site was more interesting. It's the remains of an old internment camp, where Japanese citizens were held during World War II. This site was fairly new, and might be worth a return visit in a few years as they fix it up.  

We proceeded across Wyoming on I-80 and into western Nebraska, where we were briefly delayed by a storm.

DCP Part 2

Last week Bryan joined Jennifer at WDW. Jennifer ended up working mostly at Epcot at park arrivals, while Bryan was assigned to merchandise at MouseGear in Epcot. We flew out with Bryan.

We stayed at Coronado Springs and spent some time getting stuff the kids needed, but also at each park. The kids joined us when they could. Animal Kingdom had recently started staying open later at night, and it was nice to see projections on the Tree of Life, as well as doing a Safari ride after dark.

 

The new Norway expansion was opened at Epcot, and we rode the new Frozen ride.

We also spent most of a day at Disney Springs, checking out what was new. Yesterday we flew home.

Disney College Program

 

As soon as we got back from Japan, Jennifer headed out to Florida to start in the Disney College Program. The rest of us moved out of our rental in Beaverton, and into our house in Bend. I rented a room from a friend in Vancouver Washington, and usually drive to Bend on the weekends, but sometimes Susan comes over to stay with me in Vancouver. 

Two weeks ago, Jenn flew back to attend the wedding of friends from Washington. Bryan served as a groomsman. We hung out in Centralia for a couple of days, then Jenn flew back to Florida. 

This weekend my mom came up for a visit. We visited the Newberry National Volcanic Monument south of Bend, and took a short hike to the Benham falls on the Deschutes River.

Tokyo Again

Saturday morning we checked out of the Disneyland Hotel, took the train into Tokyo, and checked into our hotel for the last two nights of our trip. Our hotel was in the Minato area, near Tamachi Station.

We then explored some Pokemon Centers and the shopping districts of Ikebukuro and Shibuya.

That night we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi, the tenth HRC we have visited.

Sunday morning we took a train out to the Narita airport for our flight home.