Canadian Buffoon's Sweet 16 Celebration - Update 01/28 - The End

All I know is I saw four
or five Jawas running about.
And they even had pre-recorded
Jawa-speak!

It was hilarious!

This is awesome!! Not sure whether Nathan and I will ever have our own little rugrats to take to things like cons, but if we do then we'll definitely be forcing them into fun like this.

I kinda like this one.
It says where it's from
and it ties in the
Pirates of the Caribbean
theme too! :)

I like it, too! Neat!

I'd always thought Chick-fil-A
was pronounced "Chick fill-ah".

I didn't get it.
Then I heard a radio ad for it.

"Oh! Chick Fill "ay"!"
As in day or say.

I also thought this at one point. I heard it spoken at some point in my US travels and made the correction. Makes muuuuch more sense that way.

Totally worth it.

Bonus points if you agree it was worth it.
(Or not. Bonus points either way)

Absolutely worth it! With great sacrifice comes great knowledge.

I asked a couple of guys
who were getting in their car
if this was where the sign was.

"The Hollywood sign?
No, it's nowhere near here."

:eek:

I tried to get directions,
but they didn't seem
too sure where it was.

Oh. My. Gosh! :eek:

How frustrating!!

Apparently, she had tracked
down Gaston and gotten him
to do a little video for Kay.
Kay was very pleased
and even used a video still
as her home screen for a while.

This is amazing! What a wonderful friend we have in Liesa!

I do remember that Kay kept
making us laugh with her quips.
She asked me how much
I normally tip. (20%)
But every time the waiter
didn't do something quite right,
she would comment.
I think Liesa asked for a glass
of water with lemon.
He forgot the lemon.
"He's down to 10%!"
But he did bring pepper
or parmesan to the table.
"He's back up to 13%."

I love this! We also have a similar tipping norm—I worked for a meager few weeks as a server before getting my braille job, and I got a taste of how difficult serving really can be! But with some of the poor serving experiences we've had lately, I might just have to implement Kay's methods!

I nodded to whatever she was
going on about
"You can't park here! You can't leave
a vehicle unattended!"
and drove off.
What's she going to do?
Wave her fist at me?

I think it's insulting to Kay for her to chastise you about leaving the car unattended. It was absolutely attended. Friends helping friends. That's what it's all about.

I was really sad to be leaving.
Possibly more so than I'd ever
been on any other trip.
I'd met some wonderful people
and had the time of my life...
And I didn't want to go back
to my life back home.
At home I work and watch TV.
In LA, I felt alive.

As you said, more reason to return!! I'd love to go someday. I'm crossing my fingers for a grad trip in 2020 after I finish my masters—Disneyland, LA/Hollywood, a side trip to San Francisco...or San Diego...any of the Sans really... :)

I makes me happy to hear how wonderful this trip was for you on a mental/emotional level, and makes me excited to get there myself someday! What a wonderful time you had making memories with Kay and with friends!

See?
Doesn't it look Canadian?
(Tell me why. Bonus points.)

It does. Canada just looks Canada-y to me. We feel it the moment we cross the border one way or the other between Maine and New Brunswick. And there's just something apologetic about that green grass...

Marvin in the mural
above the bar.

Ahhh, sneaky!!

MeghanEmily - 945

Uh oh...I'm slipping!! I was doing so well for a while!
 
This is awesome!! Not sure whether Nathan and I will ever have our own little rugrats to take to things like cons, but if we do then we'll definitely be forcing them into fun like this.

:lmao:

I love the use of the word "forcing"

I like it, too! Neat!

:)

I also thought this at one point. I heard it spoken at some point in my US travels and made the correction. Makes muuuuch more sense that way.

Glad I'm not the only one!
Maybe it's a Canadian thing.


Absolutely worth it! With great sacrifice comes great knowledge.

I thought it was great responsibility?
At least that's what Uncle Ben said.
You, know, the guy who made
converted rice?
Which is rice that's found Jesus, of course.


UB_CBR-900g-Converted-Original-Brand-1-210x300.png


Oh. My. Gosh! :eek:

How frustrating!!

It was not a banner day.

This is amazing! What a wonderful friend we have in Liesa!

::yes:: She's the best!

I love this! We also have a similar tipping norm—I worked for a meager few weeks as a server before getting my braille job, and I got a taste of how difficult serving really can be! But with some of the poor serving experiences we've had lately, I might just have to implement Kay's methods!

I never worked as a server,
but I did work in the industry.
I tip very well.

Unless the service is
really, really, really bad.

Then they get nothing.
And have earned it.


I think it's insulting to Kay for her to chastise you about leaving the car unattended. It was absolutely attended. Friends helping friends. That's what it's all about.

Yeah! And she had
her licence, too!


As you said, more reason to return!! I'd love to go someday. I'm crossing my fingers for a grad trip in 2020 after I finish my masters—Disneyland, LA/Hollywood, a side trip to San Francisco...or San Diego...any of the Sans really... :)

Ooohhh... that would be wonderful!

I makes me happy to hear how wonderful this trip was for you on a mental/emotional level, and makes me excited to get there myself someday! What a wonderful time you had making memories with Kay and with friends!

It really was.
I think maybe because
I didn't have many
expectations going in.

Well... one or two...
And they just turned out
even better than I could
wish for.


It does. Canada just looks Canada-y to me.

::yes::

We feel it the moment we cross the border one way or the other between Maine and New Brunswick. And there's just something apologetic about that green grass...

I know, right???

Ahhh, sneaky!!

;)

Uh oh...I'm slipping!! I was doing so well for a while!

Better get on it, then!
(And yes, got your PM!)
 


I thought it was great responsibility?
At least that's what Uncle Ben said.
You, know, the guy who made
converted rice?
Which is rice that's found Jesus, of course.

I may have taken some liberties here. I figured there was only so much responsibility involved in the whole sitting in traffic situation. ...though there definitely is a level of responsibility which seems to be underestimated by poor drivers in every new city I visit.

Ah, yes! We had some of this rice knocking on our door the other day!

As we used to proclaim when I worked in the kitchen at Bible camp: "Cheese Sauce! King of the Juice!" True story.

It really was.
I think maybe because
I didn't have many
expectations going in.

Well... one or two...
And they just turned out
even better than I could
wish for.

:goodvibes
 
I may have taken some liberties here. I figured there was only so much responsibility involved in the whole sitting in traffic situation. ...though there definitely is a level of responsibility which seems to be underestimated by poor drivers in every new city I visit.

Ah yes.
Like my youngest DD...
Who just crashed our brand new SUV.


Ah, yes! We had some of this rice knocking on our door the other day!

:lmao:

As we used to proclaim when I worked in the kitchen at Bible camp: "Cheese Sauce! King of the Juice!" True story.

:rotfl:

You, my dear, are going
straight to Hell.
 
I should have guessed VAN, but I thought for sure since you were headed back to WIN, it'd be CAL... oh well.

Do I think it was worth it? If you do, then I do. But I don't personally.

Steppesister didn't mind her photo taken.

It's Canadian because it's green grass with sprinklers inset? The plane doesn't look too much like a Canadian flag to me.

PM on its way.

And YES, SoCal is lovely, and I'm so glad you had a good time there! While we were at USH, we were planning our next family trip in April 2019, and I'm having an Adults-Only trip to DLR for a weekend in October because I missed it so much last year, that I had to go back again this year. It's an adult-only trip, so you qualify (mostly) if you wanted an excuse to visit for a weekend.

Off to PM!
 


So I promised her that today
we would go back and see it.


We slept in and didn't rush.
While she got herself ready,
I Googled the best place to see it.

This was definitely your first mistake. I mean why not just ask the local?

But there was a better place.
According to a couple of websites,
the best place was on
Mulholland Blvd.

Actually it's Mullholland Drive. And I can't even imagine which universe a website would recommend that location to see the sign.

I scooted in,
did a quick reconnoiter,
grabbed a shirt I liked
and headed for the till.
I grabbed a poker chip,
paid for my shirt
and headed out.

Finally!!!

Do not ask me how we got there.
I have no idea.
All I know is....
Even in the middle of the day,
Los Angeles traffic... sucks.

Oh, I know how you got there, you took the I5. If you had taken the 101 you would have seen the sign from the freeway when you were stopped in traffic.

And yes, Saturday is THE WORST day for LA traffic. At least during the week, the majority of the population are trapped at their day jobs, and many carpool to work. On Saturday, everyone is running errands, being soccer moms, and they're out and about all. day. long.

It only took being stuck for hours
on a freeway to reveal the truth.
Totally worth it.

Bonus points if you agree it was worth it.
(Or not. Bonus points either way)

It's never worth it to be stuck on the freeway for all those hours.

And... I didn't see the sign.
Well... of course not.
It's not beside the highway,
it's up in the hills!
Sheesh!
Any doofus knows that!
Well... maybe if by some
miracle, you've never seen it...

But most have,
and most know it's on a hill.

I'll give you a hint, it's on a hill that faces South, overlooking Hollywood. Mullholland Drive mostly has views that face North, overlooking the San Fernando Valley.

I imagined how fun it would be
on my Harley.
Hmm.... future planning....

So is that what you have planned for the Tuesday when you're here?

I asked a couple of guys
who were getting in their car
if this was where the sign was.

"The Hollywood sign?
No, it's nowhere near here."

:eek:

Yup. Let me put into perspective (albeit a smaller scale). Trying to view the Hollywood sign from Mulholland, would be akin to watching the Castle projection show while riding BTMRR! :laughing:

Disheartened and disappointed,
we set out for the long journey
back to Anaheim.

At least the drive back
wasn't quite as bad.

That only took us two days.

Again... totally worth it.


ahem...

Why do you think we listen to audio books when we drive?

We eventually got back
and I dropped Kay off
at the Grand Californian.

How did you do that? They turn people away at the corner? :confused3

We sat at the new,
poop-free table
and began to look over
the menus.

All of a sudden...
<thwack!>
Something fell out of
the tree above us.

And I keep forgetting to check out those trees to see what those little things were.

I took a couple of photos
of my dining companions.
Can you guess which
one didn't mind having
her picture taken?

It's subtle... but maybe
you can figure it out.
Lemme know. Bonus points.

Liesa seems to be enjoying having her photo taken, but the guy in the background looks like he wants his photo taken about as much as Kay.

We picked up Liesa in
front of the lobby and
headed off to LAX.
She was kind enough
to buy us treats for
breakfast on the way.

That was nice of her!

When I returned to the car,
Kay was being reamed out by a security lady.
When I hove in sight,
she started to ream me out too.
I nodded to whatever she was
going on about
"You can't park here! You can't leave
a vehicle unattended!"

But if Kay was there, the car wasn't left unattended....

I was really sad to be leaving.
Possibly more so than I'd ever
been on any other trip.
I'd met some wonderful people
and had the time of my life...
And I didn't want to go back
to my life back home.

Awww...at least we get to do it again!

At home I work and watch TV.

Funny, that's what I do, but work far less than you.

In LA, I felt alive.

You do realize that you were technically in LA for maybe 48 hours. The remainder of your time was spent mainly in Orange County, or as Angelinos have been known to call it, "behind the Orange Curtain".

And within minutes,
we were touching down
back on Canadian soil.

See?
Doesn't it look Canadian?
(Tell me why. Bonus points.)

The air above the soil is clean?

Our connecting flight
wasn't scheduled to depart
until 7:00pm.
Four and a half hour wait.
Well... at least we didn't
have to worry about how
long it would take to clear customs!

:faint:

The following day,
Kay showed me this
from Instagram:

Who goes to Disneyland looking like THAT?

Score
Steppesister - 1,130
Captain_Oblivious - 1,005
franandaj - 1,000

Well I'm making some progress!

Bonus: Did you see them?
PM your guess.
Posting will result in deductions.

PM to come, but might be much later. Momma cat just came home from the vet trip that ensures she will not be a momma again. Kittens are currently at the vet doing their pre op blood work to prepare for their surgeries. Until I get to sit at my computer and scrutinize the photos one last time, I can't send the PM.
 
I took a couple of photos
of my dining companions.
Can you guess which
one didn't mind having
her picture taken?

It's subtle... but maybe
you can figure it out.
Lemme know. Bonus points.

Upon careful consideration, I'm gonna go ahead and guess that Liesa was more open to having her photo taken. ...unless that's Kay's "good side."
 
Nice last day

Glad you finally got your Shirt and Poker chip

Sorry you didn't make it to the Hollywood sign

It only took being stuck for hours
on a freeway to reveal the truth.
Totally worth it.

Bonus points if you agree it was worth it.
(Or not. Bonus points either way)

Totally worth it
Love Chick Fil-a, I used to go pretty often when I lived in VA, Last time I went to one was at the Orlando airport in 2014.
we don't have one near us here in Western NY but they are building one about a 1/2 hour away, they made a big deal about breaking ground.

I'll take a wild guess and say that Kay didn't want her picture taken, LOL

I fell in love there, and later,
I learned that they
tore down the Anabella.
So many fond memories.
A lot of firsts, and now it's gone.
:sad1:

So sorry that they tore it down, that was always in my list when I would look into finally getting to go to DLR, Still hoping to go someday but I guess I'll have to pick a new hotel now.

PM being sent.
 
Awe, sorry your trip had to end. I'm sure the rest of the fam was happy to have you two back. LA does have a special vibe. I never like to leave, either. Thanks for sharing a great trip with us!
Is that a Canada air shadow?
 
First off, was that a record number of pkondzs I spotted this update?! :worship:

A certain store is open now.
Woohoo! :hyper:

I
hustled over to the store.
I knew where it was, you know.
Yup :thumbsup2

And Comic Con was going on.
If you've never been to one...
Go!
I want to! ::yes::

It only took being stuck for hours
on a freeway to reveal the truth.
Totally worth it.
Yep, worth it :laughing:

Some kind of.... nuts,
or seeds, were falling
out of the trees.
No idea, really.
But it wasn't bird poop,
so I consider that a win.
I thought for sure it was gonna be bird poop.

At home I work and watch TV.
In LA, I felt alive.

Ah well.
I guess I'll just have to go back, right?
I get this feeling. Just replace tv with homework :sad2: But yes, that just means you must go back!

What a wonderful trip, and I am sad to see your TR end. But what wonderful Disers you got to meet and spend time with! :goodvibes
 
Not sure how many of you
remember the (very) brief
glimpse we got of the
famous Hollywood sign?

Just a quick glimpse
between buildings.

Hey, I do remember that. I guess I was paying attention for that part.

In just a minute or two,
I came upon this sight.

Open, by Jove!

:eek: Will wonders never cease??

Go!
They're a ton of fun.
People dress up in costumes
ranging from silly to
breathtakingly elaborate.

I'm partially curious and partially scared of that crowd.

All I know is I saw four
or five Jawas running about.
And they even had pre-recorded
Jawa-speak!

It was hilarious!

Impressive detail!

No time to dilly-dally, though.

Dilly Dilly!

I kinda like this one.
It says where it's from
and it ties in the
Pirates of the Caribbean
theme too! :)

That is kinda cool. :thumbsup2

Do not ask me how we got there.

From what I can tell, it was by car.

We crawled along slowly
towards Mulholland.
We would stop occasionally
(and when I say "occasionally"
I mean "frequently")
to admire the line of cars
stretching out in front of
and behind us.

:faint: The things we do for our kids...

I have to admit...
that's pretty good marketing.

and...

I may have mentioned this before
(and I recently did on the DISdads thread)
that until this trip,
I'd always thought Chick-fil-A
was pronounced "Chick fill-ah".

I didn't get it.
Then I heard a radio ad for it.

"Oh! Chick Fill "ay"!"
As in day or say.

Who says the DIS Dads aren't good for anything? And yeah, their marketing is pretty funny. Their food is really good, too.

It only took being stuck for hours
on a freeway to reveal the truth.
Totally worth it.

Bonus points if you agree it was worth it.
(Or not. Bonus points either way)

In the words of Han Solo: "No reward is worth this."

So we followed them up
an even steeper side street.
We came to a dead end....


Stupid tourists.

Them, or you?

Um.... Where's the sign?


I asked a couple of guys
who were getting in their car
if this was where the sign was.

"The Hollywood sign?
No, it's nowhere near here."

Oh. I guess it was you. :rolleyes1

Next you'll be looking for the basement in the Alamo.

When I got back to the GCH,
Liesa had met up with Kay,
and had a surprise for her.
Apparently, she had tracked
down Gaston and gotten him
to do a little video for Kay.
Kay was very pleased
and even used a video still
as her home screen for a while.

Wow, that's very thoughtful. Nice work, @Steppesister !

We were led out to the patio
and to our table...
that was covered in what
looked like bird poop.

For our wholly organic customers.

Some kind of.... nuts,
or seeds, were falling
out of the trees.
No idea, really.
But it wasn't bird poop,
so I consider that a win.

Yeah, it really doesn't matter what it was. As long as it wasn't bird poop.

Can you guess which
one didn't mind having
her picture taken?

It's subtle... but maybe
you can figure it out.
Lemme know. Bonus points.

Hmmm...

Lemme see...

You know, if I compare them side-to-side....contrast the negatives....maybe adjust the shading a bit...

I'm guess Liesa was ok with it. I think.

He forgot the lemon.
"He's down to 10%!"
But he did bring pepper
or parmesan to the table.
"He's back up to 13%."

Man. She's ruthless. :rotfl2:

I was a little sad to be leaving.
I fell in love there, and later,
I learned that they
tore down the Anabella.
So many fond memories.
A lot of firsts, and now it's gone.
:sad1:

Well, dang. What did you guys do to that room??

When I returned to the car,
Kay was being reamed out by a security lady.
When I hove in sight,
she started to ream me out too.
I nodded to whatever she was
going on about
"You can't park here! You can't leave
a vehicle unattended!"
and drove off.
What's she going to do?
Wave her fist at me?

Time to dust off that old Tom Hanks knock-knock joke again, I guess.:rolleyes1

I was really sad to be leaving.
Possibly more so than I'd ever
been on any other trip.
I'd met some wonderful people
and had the time of my life...
And I didn't want to go back
to my life back home.
At home I work and watch TV.
In LA, I felt alive.

Wow. That's quite the endorsement. I'm glad you had such a great time and that it was so rewarding. In a nutshell, this is why we travel!

I guess I'll just have to go back, right?

I would say so!

Around 2:30pm, Vancouver
appeared through the clouds.

Vancouver looks like a beautiful place.

See?
Doesn't it look Canadian?
(Tell me why. Bonus points.)

That soil looks very polite. It's even letting an airplane land on it. Looks like you'd only get about 75% back in American soil if you tried to exchange it, though.

I guess that proves
that Kay really saw her then. :)

Good enough for me!:thumbsup2

Bonus: Did you see them?
PM your guess.
Posting will result in deductions.

Time to roll up my sleeves, I guess!
 
I should have guessed VAN, but I thought for sure since you were headed back to WIN, it'd be CAL... oh well.

It easily could have been Calgary or Edmonton.

Do I think it was worth it? If you do, then I do. But I don't personally.

Well... actually...

Neither do I!


Steppesister didn't mind her photo taken.

What gave it away? :laughing:

It's Canadian because it's green grass with sprinklers inset?

Sure! Why not?

The plane doesn't look too much like a Canadian flag to me.

No... but it's a polite plane.

And YES, SoCal is lovely, and I'm so glad you had a good time there!

I really did!

While we were at USH, we were planning our next family trip in April 2019, and I'm having an Adults-Only trip to DLR for a weekend in October because I missed it so much last year, that I had to go back again this year.

That's great!
You obviously had fun!


It's an adult-only trip, so you qualify (mostly) if you wanted an excuse to visit for a weekend.

Hmmm....
I might have something
else going on this October.


Off to PM!

Got it!
 
This was definitely your first mistake. I mean why not just ask the local?

If only I knew one!!!

Oh... wait....


Actually it's Mullholland Drive.

I actually knew that. Have for years.
No idea why I wrote "Blvd".
Fixed.

And, thanks!


And I can't even imagine which universe a website would recommend that location to see the sign.

The first ones I looked at!

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/guide/the-best-places-to-spot-the-hollywood-sign/
https://hollywoodsign.org/best-viewpoints/
https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-hollywood-sign-1586948

But next time (if I bother)
I'll just go to
Hollywood and Highland.
Upstairs.


Finally!!!

I know!!

Oh, I know how you got there, you took the I5. If you had taken the 101 you would have seen the sign from the freeway when you were stopped in traffic.

Sure. I took the I5.
(That does sound familiar.)


And yes, Saturday is THE WORST day for LA traffic.

I was totally caught off guard.
"Yay! A Saturday. Traffic will be light!"


At least during the week, the majority of the population are trapped at their day jobs, and many carpool to work. On Saturday, everyone is running errands, being soccer moms, and they're out and about all. day. long.

Now you tell me!

:duck:

It's never worth it to be stuck on the freeway for all those hours.

That would be correct.

I'll give you a hint, it's on a hill that faces South, overlooking Hollywood. Mullholland Drive mostly has views that face North, overlooking the San Fernando Valley.

Except all those websites
say to go there!


So is that what you have planned for the Tuesday when you're here?

Truthfully? I don't know yet.
I haven't looked that far ahead!


Yup. Let me put into perspective (albeit a smaller scale). Trying to view the Hollywood sign from Mulholland, would be akin to watching the Castle projection show while riding BTMRR! :laughing:

Hey! I should try that!

Why do you think we listen to audio books when we drive?

I do too!
Except I wasn't expecting
to be in traffic like that.


How did you do that? They turn people away at the corner? :confused3

And that's exactly where
I dropped her off. :)


And I keep forgetting to check out those trees to see what those little things were.

It wouldn't mean anything to me.
Although @Steppesister would be interested.


Liesa seems to be enjoying having her photo taken, but the guy in the background looks like he wants his photo taken about as much as Kay.

:laughing:

That was nice of her!

It was!
As you know,
she's a very nice person. :)


But if Kay was there, the car wasn't left unattended....

Exactly!

I guess they want
the driver there.

Should have told her to move over. ;)


Awww...at least we get to do it again!

Yes! I am really
looking forward to this!


Funny, that's what I do, but work far less than you.

So you watch a lot of TV?

You do realize that you were technically in LA for maybe 48 hours. The remainder of your time was spent mainly in Orange County, or as Angelinos have been known to call it, "behind the Orange Curtain".

Okay...
I was in the LA area.


The air above the soil is clean?

:lmao:

Who goes to Disneyland looking like THAT?

Celebrities?

Well I'm making some progress!

It all depends on this last round!

PM to come, but might be much later.

Got it!

Momma cat just came home from the vet trip that ensures she will not be a momma again.

That always kinda cracks me up.
"Hey! We're going to the vet for a check up, right?"

Later...

"What did you do to me????"


Kittens are currently at the vet doing their pre op blood work to prepare for their surgeries.

No more extras... at least from that crew.
 
Nice last day

It didn't start out so great,
but ending with dinner
with Liesa was really nice. :)


Glad you finally got your Shirt and Poker chip

Me too!
I didn't think
it was gonna happen!


Sorry you didn't make it to the Hollywood sign

I was more sorry for Kay.
She really wanted to see it.


Totally worth it

:laughing: Okay!

Love Chick Fil-a, I used to go pretty often when I lived in VA, Last time I went to one was at the Orlando airport in 2014.

I didn't know there was
one there!

Hmm.... maybe not
in my departure terminal...


we don't have one near us here in Western NY but they are building one about a 1/2 hour away, they made a big deal about breaking ground.

Excited to go?

I'll take a wild guess and say that Kay didn't want her picture taken, LOL

:laughing:
It's subtle,
but the clues are there!


So sorry that they tore it down, that was always in my list when I would look into finally getting to go to DLR, Still hoping to go someday but I guess I'll have to pick a new hotel now.

I'm booked into a different one
(obviously)
I'm hoping it will be okay.


PM being sent.

Got it!
 
Awe, sorry your trip had to end.

<sigh> They always do, don't they?
Maybe not if you're incredibly rich.


I'm sure the rest of the fam was happy to have you two back.

::yes::

LA does have a special vibe. I never like to leave, either.

It really does!
Something about it. :)


Thanks for sharing a great trip with us!

You're welcome!
Thanks for reading along, Tammie!


Is that a Canada air shadow?

Well, technically
it's a WestJet shadow.


:laughing:
 

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