We hadn't really planned to go on holiday this year what with Cerys recovering from her illness, the closest thing we had thought about was maybe a couple of days in Melbourne. The last time we were on holiday was April/May 2018, then the start of Cerys' illness began in late September/October 2018 which has been ongoing ever since, including recovery time. (Life has been quite sucky these past 4 years, not just with Cerys' illness, there have been other things that have contributed to the daily grind of life)
The beginning of May 2022 I spotted a photograph of the new arch in Las Vegas, (we love Las Vegas), so I sent the picture through to Scott 🙈🙈. Then I looked up Reno, Nevada as we have been to Vegas twice before. We discussed the whole idea of possibly venturing back to the USA but we knew it wasn't going to be cheap or easy, what with all the past global pandemic with covid-19, plus, Cerys and I didn't have current passports and our return visas were well and truly out of date. But after about a week or so we decided to look more into things as it has been such a draining 4 years (in October 2022) with Cerys' illnesses, from constant appointments with various health, medical, psychology professionals, meetings, trying to convince them that she does need help, to finding a new school to move her too, and eventually in October last year, actually getting a proper hospital referral after 3 long, worrying, sleepless years!, we made up our mind to take the bull by the horns and treat ourselves to a proper holiday, somewhere we can get respite from what has become our everyday life. What we have learned from this last 4 years is that life as you know it can change in a millisecond, life is short and we want to grab any chance to spend quality time together as a family as much as we can and if it means saving hard for a holiday so that we can temporarily get away from 'real' life and make the best memories we can, then that's what we will do, it will do us all the power of good, give us space and time to regenerate and recharge.
Scott suggested San Francisco which we were very excited about, we would stay in Los Angeles first then road trip to San Francisco, but further investigation into SF we were a bit perturbed by the reviews that the crime rate was worse than it is in New York, with a huge amount of tourist cars being broken into and their belongings stolen so we weren't prepared to take any chances not with the kids, and we didn't fancy having to keeping looking over our shoulders and not being able to enjoy our holiday.
Now, our holiday will consist of Los Angeles, doing various sightseeing, theme parks, shopping etc, a couple of nights in Palm Springs (my favourite, plus there is a huge 26 foot statue of Marilyn Monroe I am dying to see), then on to San Diego for a couple or so days, taking a day trip to Tijuana, Mexico to experience the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebrations as we happen to be in San Diego during this traditional Mexican holiday, needless to say, Jodie was overwhelmed to hear this news, she has always wanted to see and enjoy the experience in person. Day of the dead is a 3 day festival celebrated each year from 31st October to 2nd November in commemoration of friends and loved ones who have passed away, originating in Mexico.
Anyway, getting back to the preparing part...
We applied for my and Cerys' passports, fingers crossed they come in time 🤞🤞, I don't know what the hell we will do if they don't!!. (They arrived💃, Cerys received her one on her 18th birthday, mine arrived a few days later)
I have been jotting down notes with places to visit, places to eat etc.
We bought a travel passport document organiser with various sized pockets to keep our passports, documents, plane tickets etc safe and altogether where they can be easily accessed when needed, we went for the bright green as it would be easier for us to find in our hand luggage, it also comes with RFID blocking to protect against scammers.
On the weekend of the 30th July 2022, we properly started planning our holiday itinerary and accommodation.
We booked Rowland Heights guesthouse in Rowland Heights, California for the first week.
We booked a night in Barstow as we plan to visit parts of Route 66 on the way to Palm Springs.
We booked the Caliente Tropics Hotel in Palm Springs for 2 nights.
1st August 2022, we booked our accommodation in San Diego.
12th September 2022, we finally found someone to care for Hamish while we are away, (there are not many people willing to take on the responsibility of caring for an elderly dog, which is understandable). We had originally assumed that Darren would watch him again but his friend Andrew is coming out from Scotland the same time we leave, so that put a spanner in the works. Scott phoned to say that Joy would take him, she has watched him 2 or 3 times before in the past and we know he is well cared for with her, so that's a weight off our mind.
14th September 2022, Scott received a message in the evening regarding our flights, one of them had been cancelled but it didn't stipulate which one so he had to go into flight centre to see if they could make sense of it, our flight from LA back to Melbourne was the one that has been cancelled, she looked to see alternative flights, there was one the same day but only a few separated seats were available and the girls would get anxious if they had to sit on a long haul flight with strangers, she said there was another the day after but as we had booked the flights online, he would have to phone to get it sorted. He was on the phone for 45 minutes sorting it out but fortunately we got booked on the next days flight, so we are getting an extra day.
1st October 2022, Jodie started planning how to work the Disney Genie app for our upcoming Disneyland day in 26 days time 💃💃.
Here she is selecting our favourite attractions that we want to fit in, so Disney Genie can suggest an itinerary when the day arrives.
2nd October 2022, Jodie informs us that the day we go to Disneyland the opening time is 8am and the closing time is 12 midnight!, boy is that going to be a long day, 16 hours to be precise!
Our Oogie Boogie Bash costumes all finished and waiting for the big night!
We ordered some US dollars from the post office which we collected Saturday 8th October.
Instead of staying in San Diego for the last night, we decide to drive back to LA and do a bit more sightseeing so we booked a nights accommodation.
Over the weekend of the 8th October, Scott and I sorted through our itinerary, jotting down places and addresses that we want to visit during our holiday, I also jotted down items that I plan to take.
Scott also downloaded a travel app that allows you to store and document your travel arrangements to keep at hand.
Jodie concentrated on Disneyland and Oogie Boogie Bash.
I bought a pair of crocs to wear on holiday, they were reduced to $49 in anaconda on 9th October.
The Sunday before we sorted through some more of our itinerary.
Our Oogie Boogie Bash costumes are packed.
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