We are never too big or too old to be a child at heart. When this trip was planned as my birthday present a while back, the childhood glee set in. I was excited every morning at 3 AM, 6 AM, every night at 11 PM... I was relentless. But, when Mimi passed away on May 18th somehow that excitement slipped away and quite honestly there were a few days when I dreaded having to go. I wanted to sit alone in my dark empty house. Sometimes that’s just how you feel after you’ve had a sad experience. However, when Sarah and Gabino arrived on my doorstep, smiles and wit in full force, I instantly felt a bit of my sorrow slip away. When the laughs started, they didn't stop. 6-pack Miss California abs here we come. I came face to face with the reality that life has its tragedies but there are so many wonderful moments that we can't let ourselves miss out on. It was a much needed weekend. I smiled as the subtle “road trip music” played as we passed through the rolling California hills because I realized this was the first time I had laughed all week. We started out with delicious Subway subs and made the journey to LA... of course accompanied by bumper to bumper traffic for several hours. (What trip to LA is complete without traffic?)
You gotta go when you gotta go... pit stop #2
Sarah and I got the key to our room and in record time quickly got ready and the boys stopped by our room at 8:30 to pick us up for our dinner show at Medieval Times. Our knight won! Black and White Knights always! It was such a fantastic show and if you have never been I highly recommend Medieval Times.
We jumped out of bed too excited to slow down. We were all talking fast, asking, “are we there yet?” on our long 4 minute drive from the hotel, and jittery in our seats. Ah, Disneyland. Being in Disneyland really makes you wonder if magic is around. You feel like you are in a totally different world of adventure and fantasy and time somehow flies by. Perhaps it was the wonderful company I was in; perhaps it was a glimpse of the enchantment Walt Disney himself left around the park. So what if you are not a kid anymore? I believe all of us are child at heart.
Heights and fears: Here was the situation: Gabino did not want to go on the Tower of Terror. I did NOT want to go on Mickey’s Ferris Wheel- ie Mickey’s crazy let-me-drop-your-cart-15-feet-every-time-I-move Ferris Wheel. So, being the mature adults we are, I called him a baby for not wanting to go on the tower of terror, only to be countered with the accusation I was being a baby for not wanting to go on Mickey’s unsafe, unstable, horrendous wheel of death. So we compromised. And so there I was on Mickey's wheel.
We started our ascent to the sky when Bob Marley erupted from my phone… “Tony” displayed across my screen (from Tony Moises). Hmm. This Ferris wheel wasn’t as bad as I thought… I had a quick decision to make- answer, not answer, answer. “Toooooonnnnnyyyyy!!!!!” All four of us cheered on the count of 3 when I picked up. I’m sure Tony was a little taken aback as he was calling to see how I was doing after Mimi’s passing (he always so kindly checks up on me to make sure I’m okay) and finally thought it was time to actually call instead of sending warm wishes through texting. I’m sure he was expecting hearing the me that wanted to wallow in my misery alone in the dark. However, Miss California brought me sisters like Sarah. Which led to me being here this weekend when I needed to be away the most. Miss California brought me so many wonderful people in my life that I can’t help but smile at the thought of the dozens upon dozens of people who have made my life precious. We all talked for about 1 minute before…. before “the drop” happened. I’m just starting to say, “We are on this really big Ferris Wheel….” When Mickey’s “Fun Wheel” (note my quotations) came to a stopping point 150 feet in the air and our gondola slipped backwards along the tracks inside the spokes of the wheel. Although it caught all 4 of us off guard and we all screamed, I’m sure my shriek of intense bloody-murder fear 2 inches from my delicate microphone leading straight to Tony’s ear was least appreciated. Tony laughed and laughed on speakerphone and said, “sounds like you’re a little busy, perhaps we will talk later…” we all shouted bye in unison and I hung up to genuine fear for the next three and a half minutes. Ugh… Mickey’s Fun Wheel.
We even got to meet up with my roomie Cori Coleman! Coreena, Sarah, and I are all Miss California 2009 sisters, so we had a mini reunion. We skipped through the parks, sang every word quite loudly on It’s a Small World and for the next 45 minutes, stopped like tourists at every major attraction for pictures, danced our ways through the quaint streets, basked in the warm Southern California sun, and then Cori bruised all of our egos by obliterating everyone’s score in Toy Story Mania. She was such a tease- I was having so much fun with her and then we had to part ways so she could go to work- leaving me wanting more of her fun personality for the next 4 weeks.
Sarah, Gabino, Ryan, and I literally ran from ride to ride for the rest of the day, we searched for Disney Characters to stop for pictures, and were very efficient with our time by incorporating modern technology on Gabino’s phone which tells you how long wait times are for each ride. I ate a churro, drank hot cocoa, we stayed up way too late, waved wildly at the parade characters, and threw my hands up on every roller coaster. Laughter erupted from my mouth several times a minute and as darkness began to fall over Disney, it was time to choose last minute rides before stopping for dinner. We dined at the adorable Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante in Frontierland- a romantic hacienda/ Spanish style restaurant under the California night air and white lights which kindles the spirit of California’s heritage. I enjoyed a delicious burrito. Muy delicioso! Fortunately, (unfortunately?) my best friend’s husband, Clint, (aka my brother) wasn’t there to make me order everything in Spanish and speak only Spanish… for it was a long day. We told Sarah and Gabino about how Clint proposed to Stefani in Disneyland just a few years ago and they thought it was the cutest idea. The day of fun managed to satisfy my inner child and I was reminded that the little things in life really do lead to the greatest happiness.
: The 50 mph in 4 seconds launch sets the tone for the entire ride as it propels you from a standing start. My head shot back with sincere delight and I could have sworn my little cheeks were flapping in the wind. It’s too bad the picture didn’t capture that. Once was not enough- we rode the upside down roller coaster once during the day, and then just before the California Adventure Park closed at 9 PM (Really, Disney? 9 PM?) so we could see it at night. It was perfection.
Pirates of the Caribbean: “Yo Ho– Yo Ho, a Pirates life for meeeeeee”. As we began the ride through the Louisiana Bayou (thinking of you, Hope!) we cried laughs of pure amusement as we went through two water drops through and underground grotto stuffed with the remnants of shipwrecks, treasure, pirate bones, and of course, Jack Sparrow.
We just didn’t want to leave. I cannot say thank you enough to Sarah, Gabino, Ryan, and Cori for bringing so much joy into my life on a weekend I needed it the most.
"Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world."
-Walt Disney
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