Erin decided to do something fun for her birthday this year, so we headed to sunny SoCal and made a weekend of it. We basically went to eat our way through California and go to Disneyland. We made a stop in Las Vegas (no gambling was involved) to see Tracey. We ate at a shady sushi place for dinner, but it was still pretty good. I mean I've had better, but Tracey paid for it. The next day we went to Town Square for some shopping. Erin was really excited to go there and I must say that it was a magical place. H&M is where it's at! I can see why all are fans of this store.
After shopping Ewee and I headed to Newport Beach, CA to the Crab Cooker. After only two U-turns we arrived and Erin had her coveted King Crab legs ($30!) and I my beloved salmon. We headed out to the pier after dinner to see a beautiful sunset and all the fishermen. We got a nice whiff of marijuana and saw the culprit (see random sighting 2). It was a little windy and chilly but the ocean looked amazing and the sunset was quite pretty. It worked out perfectly so we could have this model-esque picture with our wind-whipped hair.
Random sighting 1: this guy was running around on the beach chasing the seagulls (we weren't sure what was happening)Random sighting 2: a fisherman was totally laced out on marijuana and was smiling at us at we walked by and nodding his head. He was completely wasted!
We got back in our car and headed south to San Diego. We drove around the Gas Light District to see if we could hook up with someone (JK!) and then found a Motel 6, which "left the light on" for us! We woke up the next morning and made our second restaurant destination--Kono's. Well, it was a little tricky getting there for us (my fault) and we ended up at the gate to some naval base. Erin pulls up to the gatekeeper and says "We're lost! We just want to turn around." So, we backtracked and found our way to Kono's which had a line as usual. Breakfast was supposed to be on me, but I had no cash on me and Erin ended up paying. Idiot! But breakfast was Awesome with a capital A! Lots of food and worth the wait.
From there we drove to the Magic Kingdom that is known as Disneyland! First ride: Peter Pan! The wait was huge, but isn't it always? D-Land was jam packed with people, but Erin and I went on pretty much every ride we wanted except Space Mountain (105 minute wait!! Out of fast passes by 2pm!! Insert double bird here!) and Splash Mountain because it was a little chilly. Our Pirates of the Caribbean boat ride was interesting. There had to be at least a ton and a half of weight in that boat! (That's 3,000 lbs people!) Erin and I were placed in the very back and then all the rather large people were put on. I have never gotten wet on that ride, nor got up to that speed...until this encounter. It was a labor to push our boat along through the ride. I've never had other boats follow that closely. Was it because we weren't moving or that the other boats could manuever much faster? I don't know.
We fast-passed The Haunted Mansion and it's a good thing we did, because that line was ridiculous! We got the fast pass at like 3pm and it said to come back between 8 and 9pm! So we had lots of time to kill. We were sure to hit the Teacups (which are one of my favorite rides, see my picture). Erin was sufficiently sick on those (see picture)
The Matsumoris were there for a big family trip and we met up with Jean and went on It's a Small World (Dad's favorite). So fun. But the Magic Kingdom does not disappoint. Of course Melissa was checking in with us to see where we were and what we were doing. She had a few requests that we were sure to pick up on the way out--a snow globe pirate ship from Peter Pan among them. :)
THIS IS IT! and Thriller
It has been a month filled with MJ -- Thriller by Odessey Dance Theatre last weekend and then last night we saw This Is It! I think most people in the theater didn't realize that it was a movie and not a live concert. You better believe they clapped after every number and were cheering as if MJ could actually hear them. Yeah, not so.
It has been a month filled with MJ -- Thriller by Odessey Dance Theatre last weekend and then last night we saw This Is It! I think most people in the theater didn't realize that it was a movie and not a live concert. You better believe they clapped after every number and were cheering as if MJ could actually hear them. Yeah, not so.
Sidenote: A trend I've noticed in Utah - standing ovations are for anything horrible to mediocre to outstanding. It doesn't matter--if it's on a stage (or screen), it's worthy of a standing ovation.
I must say that these two events have reaffirmed that I am a Michael Jackson fan. I wouldn't say that I love him as much as say...Katie G, or Jenny G, but a fan nonetheless. He's got the moves, he's got the voice and he's got the love! "God bless you!" he said to all who were rehearsing with him for his would-be tour starting in London this year.
It was a good show and I do love his music. RIP Michael!
