It all started on Saturday, September 25th. I got off work around 2:30pm and we threw everything in the van and headed to our first stop, crashing at Grandma & Poppa's house. We had a great evening and got to bed pretty early so we could wake up at 6:15, eat a delish hot breakfast and be on the road.
Sunday, Saturday 26th
We were headed south by 7:30am. We had our first pit stop at a Rest Stop that we had previously visited when we took our trip to the Oregon Coast. We tried to convince Nolan to run around and get the crazies out, instead he stole lots of pamphlets and showed off his impressive hopping abilities to anyone who would pay him attention.
For lunch we stopped in Salem, OR for Red Robin. I know we can get Red Robin at home, but we've been eating home cooked meals and I have been CRAVING Red Robin. Plus the dining Gods felt we should go to Red Robin too because Nolan's grandparents had given him an etch a sketch the night before that had a coupon for a free kid's meal at Red Robin...so really it was written in the stars. After a yummy lunch we took Nolan to the mall across the street to play in their play area. I think this term must be used VERY loosely in this situation because it was more like a play mat. I will post pictures later, but it was pathetic at best. The mall did have a Children's Place that completely sucked me in...HELLO NO SALES TAX!!!
Then we were on the road again! Brian took over driving duties, which was great timing because the rest of the drive was a LOT of mountain passes, big trucks and curves...I do not do well driving around any of these things. Honestly I'm a pretty cruddy passenger as well (just ask Brian). I know my husband is a great guy because he didn't drop me off on the side of the road and ANY court of law wouldn't blame him if he did. We all survived, ate super yummy pizza in a nice college town. The pizza place had a play area (MUCH more of a play area than that silly mall) and he was super content playing instead of eating, so we packed up his pizza and fed it to him in the car. Honestly, the kid was amazing and didn't lose his mind until the last hour. The fact that we started this day in the car at 7:30 and pulled into Redding, California at 8:30 is impressive that it took so long for the kid to crack...he really is a great rider (and thank GOOODNESS for DVD players!)
Monday, September 27th
I think we left Redding around 8:30...after finding Tylenol for my headache (I slept horribly the night before for various reasons) and finding a gas station with the cheapest gas (thank you gas buddy app on Brian's phone!) Anyway...at some point we started driving south on I-5. I drove first because it was straight and no mountain passes, that's when I do my best work. The speed limit is 70 so we just put on the cruise, pumped up the tunes (Glee channel on the Slacker radio mixed with a little Billy Joel channel on the Slacker). I think Brian was playing on his cell phone looking for somewhere to eat lunch and he found a place called Pea Soup Andersen's. He remembered me craving Pea Soup (yes, most meals center around what I crave, leave the preggo alone!) he checked out the menu and found something he would like so made the decision to stop there for lunch. This place was kitchy and everything I love about traveling. It had a huge gift shop, tall ceilings with super big skylights that made it feel like we were sitting outside. Every thing was very German, even the outfits the poor waitresses had to wear. Our waitress was a somewhat unfriendly gal with a mustache, if I had to wear that outfit I might be unfriendly too. We had a SUPER yummy meal (me: split pea soup & salad Brian: a rueben Nolan: a bowl of homemade mac and cheese the size of his head). Again, we jumped back in the van, Brian at the wheel, and headed for Anaheim. The scenery was so beautiful, the temperature was going up (who ordered this heat wave??) and the traffic was getting worse. Luckily we didn't die, a large truck didn't take off our front bumper (even though he did attempt to) and Brian didn't throw me out of the moving vehicle. SUCCESS!!! We got to our hotel by 5:30 and snacked on food we brought with us for a dinner of sorts (I was still full of pea soup). The sink area had a little alcove and Brian remembered seeing a box of tacks in the van...so he rigged a little curtain of sorts so that Nolan could have his own dark room and we could watch some TV. My husband is a certified genius!!! We all got a great night's sleep and got ready for our first day in DISNEY!!!!
I would love to tell you more, but my battery is running low, I can't find an outlet near where I am perched and all the lights are out because Nolan is napping. So I'll finish up more (and apparently most of this post is really about FOOD!!!!!!) On Tuesday we find ourselves in Disneyland...so stay tuned! There will be more about having fun (and some photos) and less about what we consume...I promise! :)
