California or bust.
Go west.
California here I come.
Those thoughts have been going through my mind for the past few months, as I prepared to return to the Sunshine State after more than 17 years.
And as always when I return from a trip, there are adventures to share.
I was so excited as we landed in Los Angeles almost two weeks ago. I got a sense of deja vu as my mind wandered back to my childhood trip out west with my best friend and her family. Her grandmother lives in Anaheim, about 10 minutes from Disneyland.
The trip so long ago was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We spent a total of three weeks traveling - one week going to California, 10 days there, and three days coming back.
I doubt I will ever again see the mountains, the Grand Canyon, Los Vegas, Hoover Dam, the Great Salt Lake, Brigham Young University, the Mesa Verde Indian Ruins and other incredible sites in one trip.
So the thought of flying back out to visit Los Angeles, Disneyland, Universal Studios, the beach and Knott's Berry Farm, as well as members of my extended second family, was a great thrill.
The excitement of the trip more than overcame the horrible memories of flying earlier this year. At least I didn't have to change planes in Atlanta. I only had to get on and off in Los Angeles, another very large airport.
As the old saying goes, the more you do something, the easier it gets. I even looked out the window as we landed this time.
Once on the ground, I realized that the city has changed so much that I hardly recognized where I was.
I just think about how much has changed here in 17 years and quadruple it for the City of Angels.
I've never been any place where it seems the city never ends. But in California, you can't tell when you leave one city and enter another.
At least one thing hasn't changed - the bumper to bumper traffic on the freeways. Each time we got in the car, I just closed my eyes and prayed that California drivers would have pity on us. We drive at normal speeds. They drive at warp speed.
But the view from the freeway wasn't all bad. I got to see the cops blocking the entrances into the Staples Center, where the Democratic National Convention was held. We also took a wrong turn at one point and ended up about a block away from the action in downtown Los Angeles. It was great.
Fortunately, we were spared the site of cops beating people over the heads with clubs and shooting them with plastic bullets.
Although I didn't get to attend the convention itself, it was very exciting just being in the same city where it was taking place. Los Angeles was definitely hopping.
After making a visit to the family on the first night, we prepared our fun-filled itinerary for the remainder of the week.
On Tuesday, it was off to Hollywood and Universal Studios. Boy, has it changed. Years ago there were not a row and rows of shops along the entrance to the park. It seemed much smaller and a lot less crowded back then.
We started off with the usual tour of the studios, waiting for jaws to jump out of the lake at us and getting chills as we passed the Bates Motel and the Psycho house.
And for those who've never been to Universal in Hollywood, the entire studio is on a hill. At one point, we road three back-to-back escalators, with sharp elevations, to get us up and down the hills. And anybody who knows me well knows that I don't particularly like heights.
But it was worth it.
One thing that I didn't like was the Jurassic Park ride. It was a water ride where the raft went straight down a steep hill, leaving all the riders completely drenched before they got off. We sat on the back, hoping that we wouldn't get as wet as those who were up front. That didn't work. To put it mildly, there wasn't a dry hair on my head when I stepped off the raft.
It made it a lot cooler on a hot summer day, but it didn't make for very comfortable walking conditions.
The next day it was off to the Wax Museum and Disney Land.
We waited until about 2 p.m. to go, because we thought 10 hours of the Magic Kingdom would be plenty. And it was.
What I like most about Disney Land is the fact that I will ride almost everything. I'm not big on high roller coasters that turn flips. Disney Land's rides are a little easier to take, or so I thought.
This is where the terrifying part of the trip comes in.
My friend and I waited in line more than an hour to ride the Rocket Rods. It is a new ride that opened at Disney last year.
It looked harmless. Its only drawback was going really, really fast on a monorail. But I thought I could take that.
What I didn't count on was our car malfunctioning during the ride, causing it to completely stop.
The Rocket Rods weave in and out of buildings throughout the park. And we just happened to be inside a building, thank goodness, when the incident occurred.
When the car finally stopped, a woman came over the loudspeaker to inform us about what happened, and a man walked out of a service door to my right. He jokingly asked what we had done to the car.
Then, he made the most amazing comment I could have heard at that moment. He said the reason our car stopped was that it wasn't going fast enough.
As I looked at my friend horrified, I said, "He's got to be kidding." The panicked statement drew a roar of laughter from the three other people riding in our car.
I didn't think it was very funny.
Being consumed with fear can make you hear every noise and wonder what is going to happen next. As the ride started again, I could hear every creak the car made. And I prayed we would make it back in one piece.
As I joyfully saw the end in sight, I reached to unbuckle my seat belt. Little did I know I was going to get tricked into riding the thing again.
Being unable to hear what was said when we came to a stop, my friend told me they said to put our seatbelts back on. We were going again.
I immediately cried, "But I don't want to go again. I want off this thing."
After it was too late to turn back, my friend told me that they said we only had to ride again if we wanted to. I immediately threatened her to within an inch of her life. She just laughed at me.
Then the prayers started again - louder this time. I wanted to make sure God heard what I was saying. I told Him that if I ever got off this ride, I would never get back on it again. I plan to keep that
promise.
The man sitting in front of us has probably never laughed so much in his life. I'm glad it was an entertaining ride for somebody.
But I survived.
Thursday was the best day of the trip. We had a relaxing afternoon at
the beach. I was so thankful that there was very little walking involved with this outing. I don't dare guess how many miles we walked throughout the week.
As always, it wouldn't be a normal trip for me if I didn't have a problem at the airport. Due to the tremendous number of travelers leaving the Democratic Convention, we were almost an hour late leaving Los Angeles. At least we got a good tour of the facility as we taxied along the runway. But leaving late messed up our connecting flight in New Orleans. Luckily, Southwest had already booked us on the next flight into Birmingham.
I've never been so glad to get home. Something always seems to happen when you're anxious to get somewhere.
And I was antsy to get home. I had to see my new nephew, Garrett, who was born while we were in California.
But getting to hold the little bundle of joy was the perfect end to my my vacation.
My only problem now is getting back on schedule after a week on California time. That's not as easy as it seems.
