Day 1 and 2 of our California Vacation

The reason for this trip was because My wife has always wanted to see Disneyland during Christmas time and I haven't been to Disneyland in over 13 years. So we decided to go while we still have money and no kids. While we were at it we decided to make a full vacation out of it and added in a Day at Universal Studios Hollywood and Knotts Berry Farm as well as the 2 days at the Disneyland Resort.

Day 1: The Drive

Well we left on our trip last Sunday the 30th. We went to church that morning cause we had to teach our Primary class that week so we didn't end up leaving until around 1:30. We decided to drive instead of fly to keep the cost of the trip down. Plus with how gas prices are right now we did the whole drive for less then $100 for the trip. Theres nothing too exciting to tell about the drive. We drove until we got to Vegas where we stayed the night. I have family in Vegas so we crashed there. We were going to go out that night but instead we decided to go get some In-N-Out burger and stay in and watch a movie.

Day 2: The Drive Part 2

The next day we randomly woke up sooner then we were planning so we decided to go ahead and get ready and get out of Vegas sooner then we planned. I make many Vegas trips a year so I'm pretty familiar with the area. But I haven't driven to California for over 13 years. Lucky for us my Wife's Dad let us borrow his GPS to help us get around. I can't tell you how thankful I was for that GPS all week long. I don't know how people get around Southern California without one. But anyways I got that all hooked up and we were on our way to our hotel just outside Anaheim.
I made a quick stop in Baker, CA on our drive so we could see the worlds largest thermometer. It was such an amazing site to behold. OK I'm lying. It wasn't too impressive and the town has nothing there other then a few fast food joints and gas stations. So after about 2 minutes we were back on the road.

Our next stop was in the town of Barstow. Mainly cause we needed gas. But also because of a tradition my family had when we would drive to California when I was little. We would always stop at the Barstow Station McDonald's to eat. So I told Kiera that I wanted to keep doing that too. So we did. She isn't a fan of McDonald's at all but lucky for us there are more places to eat there now then just the McDonald's. So after some Panda Express that we ate in one of the train cars we were back on the road non stop to our hotel. When we finally got into the city I became very greatful we had that GPS cause I don't know how I would have found our hotel without it. But we did. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn of Placentia and it was very nice. Our room was very clean and even had a fridge and microwave. Plus the hotel offered an excellent contential breakfast each day. The only thing it was missing was a hot tub. But oh well. We decided before we left on our vacation that to help save money we would take our own lunches to the parks each day. So after we got settled into the hotel we found the nearest Ralphs (I work for a Kroger owned store) and got the rest of the food we would need to make our lunches each day.

After we got our food and stuff I wanted to go drive around the Disney Resort so we headed that way. We also decided to check out the new GardenWalk complex that's right across the street from the Disney resort. Basically its a outdoor shopping complex with many restaurants and a movie theater similar to the Gateway in Salt Lake. GardenWalk is only a few months old and I heard it was very slow but i was shocked at how dead it was there. It felt like a ghost town. Like me and Kiera were the only ones there. I didn't take many pictures here except for there Christmas tree that was made up of all poinsettias.

After that we just went back to the hotel room and relaxed. I watched my two TV shows (Chuck and Heroes) and then it was off to bed to get some rest for our busy week.
But that's it for now. Here's a preview of whats to come later in Day 3. And there will be tons of pictures in my next post.