Christmas Travels

The past few weeks were a joy.  I traveled to Denver, Colorado to spend Christmas with my son, daughter-in-law and their children.  My arrival was met with bitterly cold weather.  Thankfully, I had my lined leather gloves, though the tips of my fingers cracked anyway.

We stayed inside most of the time.  The day before I left, I was able to take a walk through the neighborhood when the temperature rose to 40 degrees.  On my last evening with the family, we went to PF Changs in Broomfield, to celebrate my daughter-in-law's upcoming birthday.  Since my appetite is small, I enjoyed the Hand-Folded Crab Wontons for my dinner.  The others chose beef dishes. That evening, I had my first taste of edamame.  On the way home, we stopped for ice cream treats at Cold Stone Creamery. This was a great Colorado night out.  I enjoyed spending Christmas with the family.  The children are growing so very quickly.

I flew home on Friday morning and that evening, one of my New York daughters flew to San Diego to take me on a surprise vacation.  After I visited some of my long-time, wonderful friends for lunch in El Cajon, we drove with one of my San Diego daughters and her two children to Disneyland in Los Angeles. We stayed at a near-by Hyatt hotel and used the shuttle to the park.  This provided freedom from any concerns about parking the car.  My daughters' plan was to spend the whole day until midnight to celebrate New Years Eve.

Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle

Upon arrival at the Park, we enjoyed a quick breakfast at the Market House on Main Street as the crowds of people grew.  Then, on we went for a wonderful day.  After we enjoyed the Enchanted Tiki Room, we stopped by the Tiki Juice Bar and enjoyed a frozen DOLEWHIP that my San Diego daughter and her family never skip. They love it.

For Lunch, we stopped by the Plaza Inn, mostly because while there were many diners, there was no line.  Because there was a buffet, each family member could choose from pot roast, chicken or pasta.  Unfortunately, the youngest of the troop lost his cell phone on the Thunder Mountain ride.  A quick call to his father resulted in locating the phone.  A dutiful mother returned to Thunder Mountain to claim the phone.  Then after a delicious lunch, we went on with our day.

When we stopped for dinner, as many restaurants were filled with people celebrating New Year's Eve,  one of my daughters approached the hostess at Cafe Orleans.  We had only a short wait for a table.  Everyone was pleased with their choice of entrees.  I have a small appetite, so I enjoyed the Seafood Gratin.  I noticed grapes at a neighboring table, not realizing it came with a child's meal.  The waitress graciously provided grapes to me.  Her service was exemplary.  We finished dinner with beignets shaped like Mickey.  During dinner, we were able to enjoy a magnificent fireworks display.

The family rode everything from the "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" to "It's a Small World," to the "Jungle Cruise" to "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride", and, if I remember correctly, "Space Mountain."  I stayed away from anything like roller coaster rides, but everyone else enjoyed them greatly.  We basically managed to go on every ride that interested the children, including "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters."  My San Diego daughter purchased a 'MaxPass' to provide unfettered access to the rides, so we didn't have wait a long time at each location.  I was very grateful, since waiting has never been my strong suit.

Disneyland Countdown to New Year

Towards midnight, we joined a celebration in Tomorrowland with the Suffragettes Band.  As we were walking toward Main Street, some of the celebrators were just lolling along.  As I stepped to go around them, I fell abruptly to the ground.  I had not realized that as I stepped to the side, I was actually stepping from a sidewalk onto a road.  Although the area was lit, I didn't notice I was stepping down into the road. Some people passing by picked me up and a Disney employee offered to call a nurse.  However, I declined thinking it wasn't necessary.  Then, another Disney employee approached me to ask if I was OK.  I've written Disneyland to suggest that they paint the curbing with a paint that glows at night to prevent this from happening to anyone else.  If they already have it, I didn't notice it.  The area just looked like an open plaza.

Before leaving, we took one more ride....The Disneyland Monorail, which I had been pointing out all day.  Our visit to Disneyland was wonderful.  My New York daughter stated that she planned to visit another Disneyland for New Years Eve 2018.

More of my travels to come.

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Perhaps by Catherine Hall (on Kindle) 

The Book of Micah by Catherine Hall (in paperback and on Kindle)