The ABC’s of Vacation

We just returned from a family vacation to California. We left on a Friday after school and spent a night in Cedar City. Then we hit a few fun sites in Nevada on Saturday and arrived in  California that night. We spent one day at Universal Studios and five days at Disneyland. Then we headed home the following Saturday. Here are some highlights from our trip - alphabet style:

A is for Area 51

We didn’t go to the actual Area 51, but we went to a couple of nearby gift shops where I experienced one of the worst bathroom emergencies of my life (second only to this one) (the first gift shop wouldn’t let me use their restroom so I had to hold out for the second gift shop, and I damn near died). 

B is for Bentonite

We stopped in Panaca, Nevada to see Teapot Arch (formed from bentonite clay). It was a short hike a short way off the road (just my style)!

C is for Cathedral Gorge State Park

Also on our way to California, we stopped at Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada. The formations there are bentonite clay as well, and our mountain goat kids had a blast climbing all over the place. 

D is for Donut

We enjoyed a rather large donut in Springfield in Universal Studios.

E is for Eat

We did our fair share of eating. Eva really wanted a Krusty Burger, and she ate almost the entire thing for the first time in her life.

F is for FaceTime

Nicky was able to call us on Monday while we were in Disneyland. He “rode” Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (formerly Splash Mountain) with us from the inside of a Ziploc bag. 

G is for Grandma

My mom and her husband came on our trip with us (but they took the less adventurous route and flew).

H is for Hot Dog

I took grilled hot dogs in a cooler (among many other foods) so we could heat them up for dinner in our hotel. That worked well until we stayed at a hotel that didn’t have a microwave! Luckily that was only for one night (apparently fancy people at fancy hotels don’t bring coolers full of food to microwave in their rooms), so we survived on carrots and dip and Pringles.

I is for Infinity Cream Puffs

Zoe loved these and convinced Grandma to buy her a second helping.

J is for Jurassic World

Scotty picked out t-shirts for all of us to wear to Universal Studios. He picked a Jurassic World shirt for Daisy because she loves Chris Pratt.

K is for Kiss

All our love to Chief Wiggam.

L is for Lines

The lines weren’t too bad, thankfully.

M is for Mickey

One of our favorite snacks at California Adventure is the sour dough bread. Zoe was our foodie this trip and had a list a mile long of everything she wanted to eat. Sourdough was one of her tops.

N is for Nintendo 

This was our first time seeing Super Nintendo World at Universal. It’s cute, but not all that great (in my opinion).

O is for Officer 

I don’t have a picture for this one, but we got pulled over for speeding in Nevada. The officer and Scotty bonded over Disneyland, and we got off with a warning. I was worried Scotty was going to invite him on Brocation.

P is for Pickle

Eva doesn’t like pickles, but she really wanted a pickle. As expected, she took one bite and said it was gross, but the rest of us took care of it.

Q is for Quirky

In Nevada we stopped at a place called RyanHenge. There’s a guy (named Ryan - imagine that) who owns a landfill, and he made his own Stonehenge. There are also some animals, train cars, and other art attractions. It was a fun and quirky little place.

R is for Rides

Six days in theme parks means lots (and lots) of rides!

S is for Stairs

Several staircases in Cathedral Gorge led down to, well… a gorge. Daisy and I went all the way down and followed the riverbed, and Scotty came and picked us up at the end.

T is for Throw Up

Daisy got really sick on this trip, and one of the days she tried to stick it out at the park. Right as we were about to get on the Guardians gantry, she got hit really quick with nausea and had to puke in the garbage can. Scotty took her out, and the cast members gave her a return pass to come back later and ride again via lightning lane. If she’d gotten sick one minute later, we would have been on the ride, and I can’t even imagine what that would be like tossing your cookies while going up and down in a car full of people in the dark!

U is for Universal Studios

Universal Studios Hollywood is fun to visit about every ten years, and we were due.

V is for Valuables

Since we didn’t have Nicky with us to find all the treasures around Disneyland, Scotty had to fill in. These were his findings.

W is for Wizards

Of course we had to visit Hogwarts.

X is for eXtraterrestrials

The Area 51 gift shops are full of old beef jerky and alien-themed merchandise that is covered in dust. 

Y is for Yummy

We ordered the Great Feast and some toffee pudding and frozen butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks in Universal. 

Z is for Ziploc

I’ve been known to feed my family from Ziploc bags on vacations. It ain’t pretty, but it tastes just fine. 

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We had an awesome trip! Now we have to figure out how to return to regular life after months of holidays and a vacation. I don’t remember how to do it!