A Little R&R

Just after Thanksgiving Cami's brother and his wife (Mark and Kim) asked us if we would be interested in spending a week in California/Disneyland with them. They had found a Marriott timeshare slot for sale in Newport Beach and told us that there was enough room for us to stay there with them. They told us that we would only need to come up with money for our food and our Disneyland park passes. Those of you that have been to Disneyland know that a park pass can exceed the gross national product of many a small country.

Cami, my bargain shopper extraordinaire, discovered that we could get military passes at a substantial discount. So I got permission from the hospital to take the time off and we headed to California. The weather for that substantial drive was pretty good. Saturday we drove to Mesquite and stayed with Kim's grandmother. In the morning we went to church and planned on getting back on the road afterward. As we were loading up to hit the road I noticed that our driver-side rear wheel was flat and a huge nail fragment was visible in the sidewall.

We drove on the tire to a nearby gas station and put some air in it and then went to Walmart to see if it could be fixed.  After $85 for a new tire and locking the keys in the car we were back in business. We made good time to Vegas but quickly realized that we were not going anywhere fast when it took us 3 hours to get from Vegas to Primm. The 20 miles from Jean to Prime alone took an hour. The drive to Barstow was pretty much the same type of stop and go traffic the entire way. I think that the total time from Vegas to Newport was about 10 hours.


Our plan was to go to Disneyland every other day starting on Monday and to recuperate at the beach on the days in between. Monday and Wednesday were awesome. The lines were reasonable and we were able to get everything done that we wanted to. The kids had an absolute blast and it was not too bad for the adults either. We spent Tuesday swimming in the incredible pool at the hotel and just generally loafed around. The weather was mid-70s and absolutely gorgeous the entire time. We spent Thursday at the beach in Dana Point. Despite the coldness of the water I just had to get in and be at one with the sea.     

While we were there eight or nine dolphins kept circling the little bay we were in. They came very close to the shore and it became evident that there were several babies with the group. It was really cool until some kids paddled to within touching distance of the pod and then they left.
   You may have noticed that I have not yet described our Friday in the park. Well many of you may understand that Friday at Disneyland can be quite busy and lines extremely long. The fastpasses can help but you really don't get to do as much and after a week of late nights patience begins to run quite thin.

Connor trying to be a good sport during my pity-party

   There must be some unwritten rule of fatherhood that you have to become mean and ornery on family vacations. Not wanting to dissapoint, I held true to this less than pleasnt fatherly tradition and became the wet blanket of the group. My incredible wife with the patience of Job put up with my crabbiness and gave me the space I needed. Luckily, I was able to leave early that day and go back to the hotel with Mark and Kim and one of their boys so that the rest of the group could enjoy their final day at Disneyland and I could get some sleep and prepare for the long trek home the next day. 
   All in all the trip was fantastic and everyone had an incredible time. Many thanks to Mark and Kim for their generosity and willingness to let us tag along.