Life is a Journey

The Date:  4-4-19 The Time:  1:30 p.m. The Reason:  Things slowed down dramatically at work. Rather than go home, my friend Laura and I decided to go to the Parks and I'm so glad we did! Since it is still spring break season, the crowds were there but it wasn't unbearable. We started our visit at Tongaroa Terrace because Laura had never experienced a Dole Whip! Naturally, we got the spiked version. She thoroughly enjoyed it! Once we were done, we walked to the Monorail station to ride into Disneyland. I had an ulterior motive - I wanted to show Laura a little bit of Disneyland history so as we disembarked the Monorail, we walked towards the Matterhorn and I showed Laura the Three Fences and gave her a brief explanation as to why this area was special to Disneyland nerds like myself. I also recorded it for the latest episode of my podcast, Not Strictly Disney. Laura then mentioned that she has always wanted to wander through New Orleans Square a...

I had to go back to the Parks because I had missed a few things and...well...I just love it there, LOL. This little guy by Mater's Jam-BOO-ree is adorable! I tried several times to get a decent shot of the window displays in Ramon's but the lighting was never quite right. This one reminded me of Sugar Skull art and I'm willing to bet there is a hidden Mickey somewhere in there! I completely missed this little guy the last time I was there. It wasn't dark enough to see but the trees are full of purple lights. It looks great! Believe it or not, I did not notice the bats flying out of the tower on my last visit. Let it be known that I would make a terrible eye witness! This is such a cute idea! Now we are at Disneyland and I am sitting on the upper level of the Hungry Bear restaurant. I noticed the cranes and just sat there, staring. I wondered to myself if it was "good show" that the tops of the bu...

I had to be there, I simply HAD to be there. It was crowded and it was hot but I had made up my mind that I would ignore it and enjoy the fact that I was there. Paint the Night was BEYOND phenomenal. I did not film it, I did not Tweet it, I did not Periscope it because I needed to be fully there in the moment, taking it all in. I am not ashamed to say that tears were flowing like a broken water pipe. The parade brought back memories of waiting (sometimes impatiently) and also the satisfaction and wonder of the original Electrical Parade. The fireworks had me looking left, right, up and down constantly. Wow, what a show! Again, I simply watched and experienced the show. You can find tons of videos on YouTube If you so desire. I simply enjoyed the show and kept thinking about my Dad and how much he loved the fireworks and I knew he was watching with me. So now, I will share a few pictures taken that day. I got my badge!! My friends, Karen and Peter took me to di...

If you didn't know, Big Thunder is under refurbishment and it will be quite a while before it opens - February of next year! If only my camera lens was a bit smaller I could have forced it through this opening, LOL! I noticed that a rogue pirate was climbing the mast of the Columbia. Wait, that ain't no pirate! The Haunted Mansion is down until the 12th of this month in preparation for Haunted Mansion Holiday. I managed to find a hole to look through. Yup, those are Halloween decorations waiting to be unveiled!  It was quite muggy so I sat for a spell and enjoyed the views... OK, time to walk around a bit! Here is a cute and clever sign for you to examine. Jack Skellington is only too happy to inform you! I love these! These are the most amazing hanging plants EVER! I know, I know, it's just a plant. but since I haven't been to the park in 327 days, everything looks new to me! I think this would l...