Universal Studios

On our first day in California we drove to Universal Studios which was a 68km 60 minute trip on the famous LA freeway system from Anaheim to the other side of central LA near Studio City. We had a rental vehicle which we had only paid basic insurance on so I was constantly worried about damaging it. Narelle had her finger nails impaled in the seats and was always quick to remind me about merging lanes or if a car was braking in front of us. Fortunately the kids could sense the tone in the front of the car whenever we drove and kept reasonably quiet.

The GPS was the saviour yet again. It was the best $100 investment I have ever made. It provided a spoken and visual description of what needed to happen well before time. Even so, crossing 8 lanes of traffic can be a bit scary especially when no one seems to have any speed other than very fast. I was told later that the LA freeway system is the second busiest in the nation with Hawaii being the busiest. Next time I'm in Hawaii I will remember this and take a cab! It is amazing when you come to a place in the freeway where 4 or 5 entry/exit lanes are situated. They all curve gracefully away at different heights and angles loaded with vehicles headed who knows where. There were plenty of police around although I am surprised how they manage to pull people over safely.

We even managed to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood sign in the distance although Rhys was annoyed that he didn't see it. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to drive up to the sign. Next time we are in LA (assuming there is a next time), we will spend more time seeing the city.

Universal Studios was great although much of it was the same as I remember from the last time I was there 20 years ago. The one difference is that there seemed to be more shops which were a big hit with the kids even though we didn't buy much. Cameron purchased a pair of Hollywood novelty glasses which he wore religiously for the next few days.

We all enjoyed going on the guided tour and the kids recognised many of the places and props used in movies they had seen. They really liked that town square which was used to film Back to the the Future. Cameron kept saying 'I can't believe that it is right there.' He also loved the Delorian which was used in the movie as well.

The stunt show was spectacular with explosions, men on jet skis, a plane crash, gunfights and people falling to their pretend deaths! Alyssa didn't seem too scared by it all. By the time it was late afternoon we were all tired and ready to tackle the difficult drive home which we did safely.

Riding the Ferries

To get a vehicle onto Vancouver Island you have to catch one of the BC ferries www.bcferries.com/. I found it odd that the city of Vancouver is not actually on Vancouver Island although the capital of British Columbia (Victoria) is. The trip takes around 90 minutes.

The Tsawwassen Ferry terminal is about 45 minutes drive north of Vancouver. We caught the ferry from there to Swartz Bay which about 45 minutes drive south of Victoria. On our return trip we drove about 2 hours south of Victoria to the Nanaimo ferry terminal and travelled to Horseshoe Bay which is about 45 minutes south of Vancouver.

When you arrive at the ferry terminal in your car you are placed in a numbered row of vehicles. They place trucks, buses and heavy vehicles in the outside rows with smaller vehicles in inner rows. Depending on how early you are you then lock up your vehicle and go into the terminal where there are shops, washrooms etc. One of the terminals we were in was almost like a mini-mall with all sorts of tourist shops Of course the kids always want to spend money and are disappointed when we don't let them!

Eventually you get a call over the PA system to return to your vehicles. It only takes them about 15 minutes to get all the vehicles onto the ferry which is a pretty good effort considering that hundreds that are lined up (including trucks and buses). They carefully allow certain rows to enter first in order to ensure the weight in the ferry is balanced. You drive on and are shown where to stop so that they can squeeze as many vehicles on as possible without much space between the front and back of each.

Once out of you car you walk to the passenger decks remembering to take a note of where your car is parked. I think they would not look too kindly on someone losing their vehicle at the end of the trip and holding everyone else up.

The passenger decks are wonderful. There are hundreds of different areas to sit. There are a number of cafeterias (managed by a franchise called White Spot) with a central eating area. There are areas with desks and chairs for businessmen or students who want to work. There are loads of powerpoints for people to charge their electronic devices (very important for iPad lovers). The ferry provides a free wireless network which is okay but not fast. There are various vending machines including one that dispenses electronic equipment including phones, iPods and iPads. Surprisingly, the prices were not bad although I didn't buy anything (I wanted to though!!). There was a small arcade which cost a tooney (two dollars) or loonie (one dollar) per game. There was also a very small area for young children to play which had some things for them to play with.

On at least one of the outside decks you can walk a complete circuit. While I was busy surfing the web on my iPad which was plugged into a convenient wall socket I saw one lady doing laps. It seemed to take her about 2 - 3 minutes to complete a lap. I thought about doing the same but it was cold outside and nice and warm with my iPad!

About 15 minutes before we arrived a message was sent over the PA to return to the car. There are numerous messages posted around not to turn your car on until just before you drive out so as to reduce the amount of vapours that build up in the vehicle decks. Eventually the front of the ferry is lowered and vehicles begin to drive off.

I loved the ferry rides. They gave us a perfect opportunity to sit and relax for a while. The kids stayed entertained although they constantly asked for money to buy things. They enjoyed being able to use their electronic devices and walking around the outside decks. We met an Australian family on the return trip from Victoria to Vancouver which was also nice. The view out the windows is always interesting, especially when you pass close by some of the smaller islands on the route. The captain puts messages over the PA when interesting things come into view e.g. whales etc. We passed close by one of Canada's submarines which looked as threatening as one of our Australian ones (nothing compared to the big American nuclear subs).

Even a ferry ride becomes a time to remember!

Disneyland & California Adventure Theme Park

Disneyland is a wonderful place for kids and adults alike. The whole experience is so happy and positive with all the characters and cast members oozing joy and friendliness. Every element of the experience is rehearsed and designed to be happy.  We stayed in a nice sized unit in West Lamark lane not far from the front gates of the theme parks.

Many rides have a photo service which captures an image of you as you enjoy the ride. These photos are usually expensive so we took the opportunity to take a photo of the photos whenever possible.

Besides rides there are also many street performers and productions/shows. The Aladdin show was amazing and very funny. The sets were elaborate as were the costumes. 

Alyssa loved the fairies and princesses. She managed to get a photo with most characters. 

At night the California Adventure Park has an amazing light show which is created by projecting images onto water fountains and spray. The mix of Disney movie clips, music and sound is wonderfully entertaining. 

Correction to previous post

I just read the last post and noticed the paragraphs got moved when I was putting pictures in. The paragraph between our time in Seattle and our trip to Vancouver has been dropped down. Sorry, I hope you can make some sense out of it!

I just figured out how to fix it so ignore this post!

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Latest news from Canada

I have finally bitten the bullet and sat down to try and post to this blog. I am going to type quickly so forgive the grammatical errors which may appear.
A whole lot has happened since my last post. My first term (second term here) finished, reports got written and given out, my family travelled over the two week spring break, Term 3 commenced with a camp (Canadians call it a field trip) to Vancouver and Victoria and a week in the classroom is almost completed.

The spring break was fantastic. It commenced with an early departure on the very last day of school. I went home and finished the packing before loading up the car with all our gear and setting off for a small motel just a few kilometres inside the Canadian border with the USA. The trip took about 5 hours and got a bit hairy as we came closer to Vancouver as it was raining and visibility became more difficult. Fortunately the motel was not in a really built up area so the traffic was okay. The GPS worked really well.

The motel, while comfortable was right next to a train line at a point where trains were required to blow their whistle. This woke Narelle and I frequently during the night although the kids seemed to sleep well. As they were in bed much later than usual this was no surprise. 

We woke early the next morning and had breakfast. The kids loved the choice of food available. We had to leave early as we had to be at Seattle airport to meet Jacob who was returning from a camp in Mexico. He had gone there with the Year 10's on a mission trip to build a house for a poor family. 

We arrived at the Aldergrove border crossing and had to get out of the car and sort a minor issue with our passports. We then entered the good old US of A. The drive to Seattle was reasonably painless although we were a bit concerned that we may be at the wrong airport. However, we managed to find Jacob who had only been waiting 5 minutes for us. He had lots of adventures to share which we slowly found out about over the next few days.

As our flight to LA was not until later in the afternoon we looked in a few shops before heading to the place where our car would be stored while we were in California. This place provided a shuttle which took us to the the airport. We did the usual airport wait before flying to LAX.

When we arrived at LAX we caught the shuttle to the rental car company. It was now that the stress levels went up. It was late at night, wet and I had to navigate the dreaded LA freeway system to get from one side of LA to Anaheim where the unit that we were staying in was situated. The number of vehicles, roads, overpasses, entries and exits is amazing. I don't know how it could be done without a GPS which once again did a great job. eventually we found the unit which was only just over 1kilometre from Disneyland! It was a late night but we were all very happy to be safe and sound in bed.

In the morning I jogged to Disneyland to pick up the family passes. We then went to Universal Studios for the day. This is a great place and we had a wonderful time. At the end of the day we were exhausted. The drive was also a challenge as the studios were many kilometres away from our unit.

The next three days we spent at Disneyland and the California Adventure theme park which are connected to each other. These places are amazing. We had to wait in line for most rides and attractions although our longest wait was around 45 minutes. We were able to get quick access passes for some rides which reduced wait times a lot. We did most of the big and popular activities. Narelle took Alyssa off to do some 'girlie' things involving princesses while the boys and I tackled some of the scary rides. We found that three days was only just enough as we did miss a few activities.

From Disneyland we flew back to Seattle where we stayed in a wonderful 4 story condo which overlooked Union Lake. This place was beautiful and had wonderful views of the Seattle skyline and the famous space needle. We used buses to travel into the city and managed to see some great stuff. We went up the space needle, saw Pike Place Market, went on a guided ferry ride of the harbour, took a city tour and di some of our own exploring. I loved Seattle and hope to visit it again some time.

After Seattle we drove back to Vancouver saying good bye to the USA. In Vancouver we stayed with Kara Hoffman's parents, Mr and Mrs Dickson. This was a wonderful time and they were so welcoming. We ate a moose roast and saw many wonderful sites. Vancouver is a beautiful city with so much to see and do.

After a few days in Vancouver we put our car on a ferry and drove to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. We stayed in an inner city hotel. This enabled us to basically walk everywhere. We visited the BC museum and saw a movie at the IMAX cinema. We enjoyed a Good Friday service at the Baptist Church which was great. After a few days it was time to return home. We packed up the car and headed for the ferry and commenced the long drive home to Vernon. We arrived safely, stopping a couple of times to look at the landscape including one of the many rivers that flow near the highway. We were all happy to be home, exhausted but full of life long memories and a great holiday.

After this great adventure I only had the weekend to recover before setting off on a field trip to Vancouver and Victoria with three classes of Grade 6/7 students which I will write about in my next post.

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