Disneyland / Universal Studios 2010 - Day 8

We just watched the sun set behind the hills from somewhere in the middle of California. It looked like that scene in Star Wars when Luke Skywalker is watching the twin suns set on Tatooine while he reflects upon his destiny. Except there was only one sun, we aren’t on Tatooine, and we weren’t reflecting upon our destinies. But other than that, it was exactly the same.

We spent another fun-filled day at Universal Studios. We went to the attractions that we missed yesterday like Shrek 4-D and Waterworld (both were highly entertaining), and we went on Jurassic Park and Revenge of the Mummy one more time to burn the experience into our memories. Then we decided to do the Studio Backlot Tour once more in hopes that we would get a more entertaining guide than we had yesterday. It was a success! Our guide's name was Owen, and he made the experience so much more fun. And we could understand what he said which is always an important quality in a tour guide.

4 acres of the backlot burned down in a fire two years ago, so the tour has changed a lot. The highlight of the tour this time (aside from the classic Jaws jumping out of the water and making everyone scream) was what they’ve done with the Bates Motel. The motel has always been one of the sights on the tour, but what they've added to it is so rad. As the tram pulls up to the motel, we saw an old car parked out front with the trunk open. A man (Norman Bates) walked out of the motel carrying a blonde woman’s body wrapped in a shower curtain. He put her in the trunk and shut the lid. He glanced up, noticing the onlookers on the tram and stood completely still for a moment before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a butcher knife. Walking towards the tram with his head down and knife up, Norman Bates soon began to run after us as the tram pulled away and everyone was screaming because we were about to die. It was terrifying and fantastic and I wonder how many times a day the poor guy has to do perform that scene.

We left the park at 4:00 and walked to City Walk for a late lunch. We chose Bubba Gump’s because none of us had ever eaten there before. The décor was enjoyable but the food was typical for a touristy themed restaurant. After ordering our food, we realized we had no idea where we were going from there. We looked at a map and decided on a town called Patterson a couple hours outside of San Francisco. I called and booked a hotel room at a Best Western. We thought it’d be fun to take the kids site seeing in San Francisco tomorrow morning before we head back to Washington.

Lunch came and while we were eating, Ashley started to choke on a piece of chicken. More like, Ashley inhaled a piece of chicken between words and it went down the “wrong pipe.” It scared her more than anything and hurt her throat a bit. When she recovered, the first thing she said was “are you going to write about that in your blog?” I asked her if she wanted me to and her eyes lit up and she said, “Yeah!” So there you have it. Ashley choked on a piece of chicken. She will gladly accept any special attention you might send her way and answer questions you may have about her near-death experience.

So now here we are, in the middle of nowhere, enjoying the peace and quiet. The last thing we heard from the backseat was “I can’t believe I almost choked!” I imagine we'll be talking about this for a while.

I have no clever way to end this blog.  

The Niemeyers