Disneyland / Universal Studios 2010 - Day 1

How far into a 13-hour drive would one usually expect to hear this little gem: "Are we there yet?" Does an hour and a half seem way too soon? Because that's when we first heard it. At 7:05 this morning, just south of Portland. Apparently our 7 year old still hasn't grasped the meaning of time. The questions never really ceased for the entire drive: "Are we there YEETTT?" "How many more minutes?" "Are we still in Oregon?" (seconds after I announced that we are now in California, minutes after taking the above "farewell to Oregon" photo.) 

But after a peaceful, uneventful drive, we finally are "there yet." Settled into our 3' X 2' gym-locker-sized room at the Super 8 in Sacramento. Ever so gently nestled directly on top of I-5 with the faint aroma of 45 year old cigarettes wafting through the halls. But it was $50! I suppose the 2 pillow-top Queen beds and complimentary breakfast make up for all of it. The kids just came in from swimming in the outdoor pool which, Jackson pointed out, is the size of a trampoline. But of course, the easiest-to-please children in the universe had a blast as they always do. 

Today's drive was exceptionally ordinary. In fact, the highlight of our trip came as we entered California and realized we had quite a bit of fresh produce in the form of apples, oranges and grapes. We were explaining to the kids how we can't bring those things into California (or so we thought). And I was trying not to freak out because I forgot this bit of info and had so carefully packed all the fruit, washed each individual grape, and placed them all in portion-sized Ziploc baggies. I was becoming overwhelmed at the thought of wasting all that food (and money).

As we approached the checkpoint, Alison and Ashley were cramming apples into their mouths and Jackson was shoveling grapes into his face as if it were the last thing he would ever eat again. Imagine our surprise when the mustached man in the uniform told us we could keep it all. We cheered as if he had just handed us $10,000.00 in cash. He gave us a look that so many others before him have given us and waved us through. Hopefully, throughout the next 10 days, our highlights become more exciting. But for now, this is as good as it gets.

Let's see... There was a massive pillow fight in our van. What else? Oh yeah, Chad pointed out a car swerving in and out of lanes and as we passed the car and glanced over we noticed the driver was a girl who thought it was a good time to change her shirt. She's right though. I can't think of a better place to change my shirt than driving 70 mph down I-5 in the afternoon traffic.

So, the kids are scrubbed and jammied and snuggling in their beds watching a movie on our big, enormous 12-inch screen. And we are ready to crash so that in 9 hours we can wake up and do this all over again. And we couldn't be happier.

Lovin' you all, but not missing you a bit.  Sorry.

The Niemeyers