California-Here I come!!

[Johnie]

We're going to California!! This will be our first trip to the Sunshine State....in fact, it's our first trip west of the Mississippi River.

It all started with a JCPenney's and Dockers promotion to get a free airline ticket. I got my mom a free ticket to Vegas and that went fine. I STILL haven't managed to get my free ticket

Our cast of characters include:

Me-36, Lover of all things Disney and Walt. VERY excited to go to the Mother Land :p
Alysia-17, my California girl at heart. Has an obsessive need to visit Marilyn Monroe's grave
Jordan- will be 17 when we travel, my other daughter and Alysia's twin. Always up for an adventure with us

We were originally supposed to go to Disneyland in May. However, the school put an end to that trip. They said Alysia had missed too many days of school and although she has A's and B's, is on the Honor Roll and has passed all of her SOL tests with flying colors, they said if she missed anymore days of school then they would take away her credit.

We are flying American from Norfolk, VA in the evening of Aug. 12, 2008. WE fly into LAX. I *think* we are renting a car. I have a GPS in my head so don't worry about driving in new places.

We're staying at the Travelodge International. I got this via Priceline. I am not too happy with this choice of accomodations. I may try to book something else but I don't know yet. We truly don't spend too much time in our room......

We're meeting family that lives in CA for dinner one evening. We were going to spend longer with them but they have a bowling tournament in Vegas that weekend.

I called today and booked the Walk in Walt's Footsteps tour for 9:30am on Aug 14th!! I am soooooo excited!!!!! They give AAA members a 20% discount as well. I didn't know that so I am even more excited to have save money ::

I haven't made any ADR's yet. I have no idea where we want to eat. Quite frankly, none of the restaurants sound too promising but that may be cause my tummy hurts right now

We're off one day to visit Marilyn Monroe's grave and off to another cemetary to see Walt's grave. Jordan is a HUGE Lucille Ball fan....unfortunately they moved her burial site to her hometown in New York a few years ago or else we would be going to visit her as well. We plan to visit the Walk of Fame as well.

There is also this tour of the beaches we're going to go on as well. The bus is decked out like a Woody car and Alysia is beyond excited about that!

We fly home on Aug 19th back to Richmond.

Those are our plans thus far....we've got a little less than a month to go!

[Johnie]

Here is the Woody...aka the OC Cruiser

[Britchick]

can't wait to see the trip report and photos Johnie and also the comparison. Have never wanted to fly that far in case it's a let down. Although as you say it's the motherland!!

where is walt buried?

[Johnie]

Forest Lawn Cemetary in California. Clark Gable is buried there as well.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...ge=gr&GRid=284

[lisaw]

Sounds great Johnie, can't wait to hear all about it - I NEED to do California soon

[Britchick]

i just said to dh 'when we go to california i want to go to Walts grave' he's like what do you mean- i didn't know we were going to california - silly boy lol

[Johnie]

I'm really looking forward to it. Though I am NOT looking forward to being on a plane that long!

[SleepinCatz]

Have a fantastic time!!! You all travel so much that safety tips are a mute point lol. It's a dry heat...different from this side of the country...watch your skin and drink more fluids than you would in Florida. I used to live not far from Disneyland.....years ago...

[foreverducky]

That's so cool Johnie. I would love to see some of those graves, hope you bring back pictures. (I know, I can be a little creepy. )

Sounds like a wonderful trip. How long is your flight going to be? 5 hours?

I wish that I could go to. I use to live in CA, but we lived in the desert.

[Johnie]

That's so cool Johnie. I would love to see some of those graves, hope you bring back pictures. (I know, I can be a little creepy. )

Sounds like a wonderful trip. How long is your flight going to be? 5 hours?

I wish that I could go to. I use to live in CA, but we lived in the desert.

We will be taking tons of pictures! I will definately be taking pics of the graves. I used to that all the time. Old cemetaries were really fascinating to me.

okI exaggerated about the flight home
August 19, 2008, Flight 56 [Non-Stop]
Departing Los Angeles, CA (LAX) at 11:55 AM
Arriving Atlanta, GA (ATL) at 07:26 PM
--- Connecting To ---
August 19, 2008, Flight 237 [Non-Stop]
Departing Atlanta, GA (ATL) at 08:30 PM
Arriving Richmond, VA (RIC) at 10:06 PM