3-10-19
We decided to head out on our spring break adventures on Sunday, allowing us Saturday as a day of rest and catching up. We headed out in the morning, heading west on I-40, with Las Vegas our planned evening destination. We stopped for a quick McD’s lunch in Gallup, and made another stop at our trusty Holbrook Taco Bell for a Pepsi to keep me awake during my driving stint. From there, we continued on to Kingman where we headed north. On the way, we stopped at an overlook of the Colorado River, and we even grabbed a geocache in the process.
Continuing on, we stopped at the Hoover Dam and walked along the bridge with the kids, admiring the splendid views. While there, Griffin nabbed his 22nd state: Nevada! Woo hoo!! After we had our fill of the Dam, we made our way up to Las Vegas.
We hoped to see the Neon Museum, but we arrived just after 5, and we were turned away because apparently you need to have a reservation for evening viewings. Honestly, it really didn’t look as cool as we hoped anyway, and on top of that, we were all exhausted, so we really didn’t mind just heading to our hotel at that point.
Nate made us a reservation at the Luxor because I’d always wanted to ride the 45-degree angled elevators there. So we headed out to find parking. We had quite the haul, dragging the kids and our luggage all the way from the parking lot, through the casino, and to the lobby. I waited with the kids and luggage while Nate checked us in. The line snaked around, and it took quite a while, as seems to be the norm with Las Vegas casino hotels. At one point, some guy parked himself next to us and proceeded to light up a cigarette. I think he saw the look of disdain on my face (um, there are KIDS right here, and I don’t know where else to go with all this luggage!), and he left, thankfully. Eventually Nate returned, and we headed to the wrong set of elevators before eventually finding the right ones, which was exhausting, but hey, more steps, right? But now we were here: the very purpose of our stay at Luxor – the elevators!!
Riding the elevators was actually a pretty entertaining experience, especially when people get on that don’t realize they’re special, and even more so when said people might have been drinking. It’s a little disconcerting when you feel yourself shifting to the side instead of just up. Good times. I just wish there were windows so you could really see what the elevators were doing. Oh well. It was a neat and novel experience, nonetheless!
We settled into our room and relaxed for a while before attempting to find food. We finally made it downstairs and decided to try the Diablo Mexican Restaurant in the middle of the pyramid. Service was really SLOOOOOOOW, and the kids were miserable and hardly wanted to eat, but we made it through. I wound up eating way more than I wanted to because I couldn’t let Hyla’s food go to waste. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother ordering anything for myself! Eventually, Nate took the kids back to the room because it appeared our waiter had forgotten us, and the kids were melting down. I sat there for probably another 20 minutes, trying to make eye contact with any waitstaff at all, before he finally returned with the check. Ugh. Eventually, I was able to reconnect with everyone back at the room.
Despite our exhaustion, Nate and I both wanted to explore more of the area. We took turns, and I went first, quickly walking through all of the Luxor as well as adjacent Mandalay Bay and Excalibur. It took at least an hour, but I did manage to stop once for water, as all our adventures had left me parched. Once I returned, the kids were asleep, and it was Nate’s turn to adventure. He was out considerably longer, having explored the outside sections of the casinos, too, which I hadn’t thought to do, having been 11pm and all. I seem to remember there being more to see and do in the casinos (besides gambling, of which I’m not a fan), but it really wasn’t all that exciting. I stand by my conviction that Las Vegas is ok for a night or maybe two, but beyond that, I think I’d get bored.
3-11-19
We got up early-ish and grabbed a quick breakfast down at the food court inside the pyramid. For a place that’s on the go 24 hours a day, it was awfully hard to find food that wasn’t breakfasty in the morning. I wound up getting an extremely overpriced slice of pizza from Bonanno’s while Nate and the kids shared pancakes from Johnny Rockets. Then we dragged our luggage back to the car and headed out toward Death Valley.
The last time I’d visited Death Valley was back in 2005, during the super bloom of flowers that occurs something like once every 100 years. It was neat, but I was super out of shape back then and was stricken by the heat, even though it was only April. I didn’t know what to expect this time, taking the kids and all.
We drove through Pahrump, which was exciting, as it brought back memories of Art Bell’s Coast to Coast show, which would broadcast from there. I always pictured the town as being somewhat creepy and UFO-y, but it seemed pretty normal. Alas. We grabbed a quick lunch at Taco Bell and headed into Death Valley.
Once we got there, it was much as I remembered it, sans the flowers, of course. The landscape is eerie and beautiful. So picturesque! We’d planned on going up to Rhyolite and heading over from there, to see more of the park, but somehow we wound up just heading in once we hit Pahrump. Still, we saw quite a bit of the park that day, more than I think we’d have had we spent all the time driving up north. I believe we stopped at Zabriskie Point and did a short hike to the overlook. We hiked another great trail (Golden Canyon, I think) through a canyon that seemed to go on for a quite a way. I kept wanting to see what was right around the bend…and the next bend…and the next bend…or maybe even down one of the many side canyons. It was so cool, and I’m pretty sure it was one of the hikes we did in 2005 when I was super out of shape. It felt great to just keep going, especially since the weather was only in the 70s and beautiful…but Hyla wasn’t having it, which I get. We turned back after about a mile and a half. Maybe next time. From there, we hit the visitor center and looked around. Then we explored the Harmony Borax Works trail, learning about the history of borax mining in the area. We started north to check out Salt Creek, but we decided it wasn’t going to be interesting enough to risk missing out on other sites for, so we turned around.
We drove on down to attempt the hike at Devil’s Golf Course, but we kept walking and getting nowhere, and the sun was starting to descend, so we decided to head back over to Badwater Basin, the main attraction at Death Valley, before the sun went down. We drove over and walked out among all the other tourists, tromping along at North America’s lowest point, 282 feet below sea level. We enjoyed watching people flying kites in the windy valley as we walked all the way through the salt flats until we finally hit water. I love how the salt makes the water look icy and arctic up here. Hyla and I even got our feet wet a bit (which wasn’t great for the smell of our shoes) and enjoyed looking for aquatic life (I’d seen desert pupfish last time I visited, but not at this spot, and I’m not sure where exactly it was, which was sad…they’re so neat to see, and I was hoping to share that with her).
By the time we returned to the car, it was pretty dark. We started driving out of the park, vowing, as we always do at national parks, to come back and spend more time one of these days. We had reservations at a hotel in Barstow, and made our way there, exhausted, but happy. We stayed at a modest Super 8 but were delighted to discover they’d made an elephant out of towels for us. Nice touch! After checking in, we grabbed a quick McD’s for dinner and then collapsed for the night.
3-12-19
Today we were going to take it “easy” and slowly work our way toward Carlsbad. Seeing as how we had no clear plans, we decided to hit up some playgrounds, try geocaching (every single one we tried was a bust!), and climb a mountain. Yup. We spent most of our time around Riverside, starting our day at Fairmount Park. It was our understanding there were a number of playgrounds here, but when we attempted the first one, we encountered a number of sketchy people and decided it best to move on. We eventually found the other one, which was carnival themed and spectacular! Nate stayed with the kids and played while I ran off to circle the lake and look for geocaches. Even though I couldn’t find them, I enjoyed walking and observing coots and ducks. I’m sure I got a few odd looks from climbing all over the tank and poking around the gazebo, but that’s half the fun of geocaching, right?
Once back, we headed out again to climb Mt. Rubidoux. While steep in sections, it consists of a number of established and paved trails. Hyla complained a lot, but I think that she felt accomplished once she hit the top. We zigzagged our way up, admiring the brilliant yellow flowers and the great views from above. We visited the world peace bridge and adjacent tower, and headed all the way to the top to see the giant Serra Cross. What a great park this was! But by the time we were done, it was time to grab some lunch and just relax.
We headed over to Heroes Restaurant and Brewery and grabbed our meal. It was ok, and the highlight for Hyla was throwing peanut shells on the ground…of course she didn’t want to actually eat any, though. The food wasn’t bad, and the beer was good. We were treated to the company of a St. Bernard service dog, which was a neat sight – we rarely see them, and they’re so big! This one barely fit between the tables. When we finished, we headed out again toward Carlsbad, CA.
Traffic wasn’t too bad, considering it being So. Cal., and we were treated to brilliant hillsides of orange and yellow poppies as we drove. We finally arrived at the Legoland Hotel a little after dark and checked in. The place was hopping! Kids running everywhere, Lego pits at every turn, a play area, a princess telling a story, mini figures galore behind the front desk. It was a feast for the senses. Exhausted, as usual, we were happy to get our room. We’d heard it was going to be good, and that was no joke!
We were given a pirate room, and yes, everything in there was Lego pirate themed. The kids had their own room with a bunk bed (and trundle!), and we had ours. There was a safe that you could only open once you’d completed a scavenger hunt in the lobby, so we headed out and completed that and retrieved a Lego kit once we did! So fun. Lots of things were made out of Legos around the room from spiders to beetles to a monkey. They really went all-out with this place!
That night, we trudged down to get dinner at the in-hotel restaurant, the Skyline Café. We sat next to a great display of Lego skyscrapers, each with windows that would light up scenes intermittently. The food wasn’t great, but at least we had eaten. We were all glad to retire to our room after our busy day.
3-13-19
Legoland!!! We got up early and headed down to the Bricks Family Restaurant (a buffet) to gorge ourselves on the breakfast provided by the hotel. I’m not a big fan of breakfast, usually, but they had such variety that I wound up eating a ton. And there was plenty that appealed to the kids, too! How wonderful! We finished up just in time to make it to the early opening (the park opened a half hour early for hotel guests). Hyla and I ran for the Coastersaurus roller coaster, of course. The line took longer than we’d expect, but we chatted with the mother and son in front of us who were from Chicago. Good times. We finally got on and enjoyed ourselves tremendously.
Next we headed over and did the fairytale river ride. Griffin and Nate could join us, too! We had such fun looking at all the scenes from various storybooks. Once that was over, the park was essentially fully open, so we headed out to try everything! We rode the carousel, Hyla got a drivers license three times driving some cars around, we toured the Lego factory, explored the Adventurer’s Club (where you have to explore a jungle, Egypt, and the Arctic to discover keys – it was Hyla’s favorite thing), did the submarine ride several times (one of the best rides in the park – we got to see marine life and look for Lego treasure). Hyla and Nate did the boats, and Griffin had a bit of a meltdown because of all the waiting, so a kind ride op gave us a skip-the-line pass for a different ride, which was really wonderful! Hyla and I rode the Dragon coaster, and even the Technic Coaster, which is a biggie for her! She was so brave and had such a good time. We rode nearly everything that day and had so much fun! We were excited to see Lego bins at nearly every queue so that kids could occupy themselves while waiting. What a nice touch! We stayed until the park closed at 5, enjoying everything we could. But there was still more, so we were glad to have the next day to finish up.
Once we were done, we headed out to find dinner. We wound up at the nearby Karl Strauss Brewing Company. We ordered things that are usually a hit with the kids (hummus, quesadillas), but, with California flair, they had to make their own twist on the food and we wound up getting stuff Hyla would not eat again. The hummus had whole chick peas and sliced almonds, and the quesadilla was mediocre. Oh well. Nate liked his beer, at least! From there, we headed back to the hotel to explore some more and call it a night.
3-14-19
Today we roamed about, feeling a bit less hurried, hitting things we’d missed the day before like the miniature cities, Star Wars land, and the aquarium. We also revisited the rides we liked best from the day before (or let Nate ride the things he missed out on yesterday). I’m kind of sad we didn’t get to ride the Knight’s Tournament, but it was such an extremely low-capacity ride (that flips you up, over, and every which way), that I couldn’t see spending the time in line for it. This was an excellent place to take the kids, though – Griffin could ride quite a few things even though he’s not yet 2, and Hyla could do them all! I think it was a hit all around!
That night, Nate went out and found us some Wienerschnitzel for dinner, and then he took Hyla out to see a movie in the pool (brrrrr!). Griffin and I wandered around and headed to the arcade for a bit. As usual, we were glad to get back to our room at last and get some rest. Another fun day down!
3-15-19
One last breakfast at the buffet downstairs left everyone full and happy. We packed the car and headed out toward the San Diego Safari Park. After sun screening everyone up, we made it to the front gate. The people in front of us took forever to figure out what they wanted, and when we got called, you could see the checker was so relieved that we knew what we wanted right away. In and out in 30 seconds.
We had a lot of fun exploring the park, though the big hills were a bit much for Hyla. We enjoyed watching the serval demonstration, and then the bird show. We wandered all over, taking the tram tour and exploring the gardens and animals. It really isn’t the biggest zoo (well, maybe it is in acreage, but not variety), but it was still a fun day. One docent near the Australia section tried to convince me to apply to work here. Haha! Quite a commute that would be! But neat nonetheless.
We headed out right before closing and headed east toward Blythe where we’d spend the night. We grabbed dinner at Rally’s in Brawley, smelling the odious Salton Sea as we passed. Again, we were glad to stop for the night.
3-16-19
Not much more to do on this day but drive drive drive! We did manage to stop for a geocache at a rest area in Arizona, and then grab lunch at McFate Brewing Company in Scottsdale, which had better food than we’d been getting. From there, we hauled it back home, only stopping briefly for some Dairy Queen and rest stops. We got back before 9, in fact! It had been a great trip, as usual! Can’t wait for the next one!
