January 29, 2007

Disneyland's high-octane Electric Parade is a feel-good way to end the night but, to Adrienne's great surprise, the theme park hadn't "moved" her the same as it did when she was eight, the last time she had visited.

After spending a week with my parents, brothers, and young nieces and nephews at Orlando's Disneyworld a few years back, I didn't have my hopes quite as high going in.

I also spent a good part of the day grumbling about the steep price associated with entering the hallowed gates.

Before driving down to Anaheim, we had spent three drizzly days in Pasadena, staying at the newly purchased/empty house of family friends, driving the LA freeways (never fun in a 4-speed van that wobbles) and seeing the sights: Melrose Avenue, Sunset Strip, the Beverley Hills Hotel, the Santa Monica Pier area and The Getty Center.

The Apple store in Santa Monica proved convenient as we took advantage of the free internet stations to finally set up our blog on Travelpod.com, which proved to be a relatively efficient way to stay in touch with friends and family while we were on the road.

The fact that there is camping almost across from Disneyland's gates - at the CC Camperland RV Park - also made things easy.

But to me Disneyland and California's other tourist attractions were all expensive diversions from the main event, the reason we had saved our money in the first place: crossing the border into Mexico.

Not to say that I didn't cast an appreciative glance at Snow White's long legs.

Key Facts & Figures:

-Getty Center: $8/parking, no admission fee
-CC Camperland: $32/night
-Disneyland: $63/person