Life is a Journey

The walk begins! I thought this sign might be of interest to some of you. You can see that it was drizzling and it continued for a while as we walked. The ground was very slippery and one poor man fell down! We circled the hub.... I glance back at my fellow Gazette mates:  Leigh, Chuck, Bill, Myrna and Luke, our fearless leader.  Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather were on hand to greet us. Fantasyland looked very inviting...but we had to walk through Frontierland first. Goofy was on hand to entertain us. Gee, no line at Big Thunder. Once in Fantasyland, we see Rapunzel and Flynn! Naturally, Luke strikes a pose! Next is a short (and not very well shot) video of the Princesses riding the Carousel. Wow, no line for Peter Pan??? Look carefully in the mirror...there's yours truly taking a picture of herself, LOL! That's it until next time!

One of the disadvantages of doing the CHOC Walk is being so tired from getting up at 4 in the morning...I could not keep my eyes open and went to bed at 7:30 p.m. So? So now I am awake at 1:25 a.m. uploading my next set  of pictures. I have a feeling this is going to be a rough week! We've entered the Park! Is it just me that thinks Disneyland looks magical when you know you're there earlier than most? The bakery was open for business! Still keeping tabs on the time... Up ahead, the CHOC Walk stage for opening ceremonies. Here's a close-up. It dawned on me that I have NEVER seen the shops on Main Street with the doors closed. Just looking around... Keepting track of the time... This is Myrna and her husband Bill. Myrna is the main staff photographer for The Disneyland Gazette . Ceremonies should start any minute now! Chuck either got a fantastic idea for the next podcast or he just got goosed! They've moved the stage and the walk begins! More to ...

I arrived at the Mickey and Friends parking structure at 5:00 a.m.! Unfortunately, I didn't get to park inside the structure so I had to park in the Pinocchio lot. I walked over towards the trams and saw that several booths were set up to get people registered but didn't see anybody there. While waiting by the escalators, I took a shot of this sign. Not very many early birds at this point in time... They let us start walking along the tramway.... it felt weird being there, LOL! At the front gate, Pluto, Mickey and Donald cast eerie grins... LOL! A few more begin to arrive... I'm trying to take cover from the light drizzle of rain. To quote an old Mervyn's commercial:  "open, open, open" Soon we will be entering... The gates are open! Will continue tomorrow, folks!!

I have over 100 photos to sort through so while I'm doing that, you can watch this short clip I took at DCA. I was very pleasantly surprised to see the fountains running during the day...I guess it was a little "thank you" from Disney to all of us that were walking for CHOC.

34 years ago, I gave birth to a wonderful son. I am spending the day with him so that's why there is no Disney related post today!

Today's post features two videos. One is a video that I came across several months ago. I saved it because I thought it was so cool. Apparently, this was taken inside a shopping mall in Japan.  The other videois a cool little recap of the D23 Scavenger Hunt, courtesy of The Disneyland Gazette. Enjoy!

My mom would have been 96 today! Wow…I have a feeling that I will make it to 96 – because The Grim Reaper is gonna have one big fight on his hands when it comes to taking me to his place! Mom was a character - very traditional Mexican woman and yet in many ways, very modern. She didn’t work outside of the home until I was in high school yet, she sold Avon since the 1940s to a few core customers. She had her own car. For a one income family back then, that was something! She would ALWAYS cook our meals – except when she was mad at my father. If he made her mad after she started cooking, she made sure that the salsa on the table was 28 Fire Alarm HOT! I can’t help but chuckle at the memory of my dad wiping the sweat from his brow because the salsa was so hot. My son and I lived with my parents for a few years and I remember how she would tell my son (then approximately 8) to tell grandpa that he wanted pizza so that she wouldn’t have to cook. And yes, my dad would fall for it e...