California trip

Over Fall Break we got to go to CA (luckily before the wildfires hit) and had a great time. We started in San Diego visiting Seaside Village, Gaslamp Quarter, and Balboa Park. The Natural History Museum had the Dead Scrolls on exhibit. They are much smaller than I anticipated, but some people who were in the exhibit with us who could read Hebrew were able to decipher some of what the texts said. It was very cool to see portions of the Psalms written so many thousands of years earlier and know that the same awesome God had provided these words through the centuries for us to learn about Him then and now.

We also got to go to Coronado Island for a day. It was very chilly when we were there, but we had fun on the beach and walking through the town. We loved our room at the Glorietta Bay Inn in one of the "mansion rooms." It was decorated in the original 19th century decor and we had views of the harbor and beach from our deck. Very cool.

We went to Disneyland and California Adventure on Monday and Tuesday. The lines were surprisingly long at Disneyland considering it was the middle of October. Turns out CA schools have Fall Break, too. We went on Space Mountain four times (Jon's favorite) and the other coasters two or three times. We were disappointed with the changes they made to the Haunted Mansion for Halloween, and Pirates also had the new "Jack Sparrow" updates to it (okay). I hadn't been to Disneyland in over ten years so it was fun to relive my childhood memories as an adult and go with Jon, especially since we both love Disneyland.

California Adventure was definitely not as cool as Disneyland and seemed a little random in who it was really for-the big or little kids. It has some rides geared towards adults (California Screamin', Tower of Terror) but also many little kids themed areas (Bug's Life section, many kid friendly rides scattered about the park). Luckily the lines here were much shorter. I enjoyed Soaring over California a lot. It was the most "Disneyeske" ride in the park.

Jon also convinced me to go on California Screamin' and Tower of Terror. Both terrified me and I doubt I will be on them again anytime soon. At least I can say I did it though. I closed my eyes during the entire California Screamin' ride, thus turning it into a Space Mountain, because I was so petrified. I couldn't even scream I was so nervous and just kept saying "No, no, no, no, nooooo" when anything "bad" happened. We also went on a ferris wheel that was amazingly scary. Don't judge me until you have tried it. Some of the cars slip off the track and rock back and forth while up in the air. This is arguably even scarier then the two previous rides I mentioned. Click on this link for an alarmingly deceptive portrayal of this ride.


We had such a fun time, proving once and for all Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth!