"The West Coast has the Sunshine and the Girls All Get so Tanned"

What a blast this last week has been! We went with Steve's family to California to go to Disneyland, Sea World and Universal Studios. We decided to drive rather than fly and what an adventure that was! We only got lost about half a dozen times, and after a 30 minute detour on the way to Hoover Dam my faith in GPS systems is completely non existent. However, I shouldn't be too critical; we got there safe and sound and had fun along the way (at least in our car we did, I cannot speak for the other two cars). We left on Thursday afternoon and drove to Las Vegas where we stayed for the night. While in Las Vegas we went to "The Strip" for a little while and had pornographic business cards thrust into our faces, beer spilled on our sandal clad toes and cigarette smoke blown in our faces. Pretty safe to say I don't know what the big deal is about Las Vegas... Moving on, The next day while at IHOP for breakfast we decided to head towards Hoover Dam even though it was a little out of our way. I had never been there, and I love Transformers so why not go check out the famous Dam? Apparently not everyone felt so enthusiastic about it because when we reached the visitors center Steve got a phone call saying that we were turning around and getting on with the drive. "We are two minutes away from the damn Dam!" I yelled. I let out my inner drama queen and made everyone pull over so that I could take a bad picture of the Dam we almost got to see. Once again, moving on... Finally we arrived in Anaheim. We spent Saturday at Disneyland (never go to Disneyland on Saturday). Sunday Steve and I went to Legoland while everyone else was good and went to church. I'm so glad we went to Legoland, I think it was one of my favorite parts of the vacation. I knew that I couldn't take Steve all the way to California and then not let him go to Legoland! At first I thought it was going to be boring for me and fun for Steve, but like a good little wife I said I would go. Oh man, am I glad I went! They have built some of the coolest stuff out of Lego's! It's amazing. If you are ever in or near Carlsbad, it's worth checking out! On Monday we went to Sea World, just a few days shy of 3 years from when we were there on our honeymoon. Tuesday we went to Universal Studios... Holy Moly, get ready for a long story... picture us driving down a dirty, graffiti covered highway in California. The traffic is bumper to bumper so we decide to get off the freeway and try taking surface streets. Along the way we pass people trying to sell car parts and who knows what else on the side of the road, at one point we drove through China town and then past Little Armenia. A few blocks before we hit Hollywood and Vine we drove past a Thai restaurant with a giant hot dog on top of it... Didn't know hot dogs were Thai but I do now! Right about then our gas light came on and we had to take yet another detour to find a gas station. P.S. California is not like Utah, there are not gas stations on every corner! While looking for a gas station we drove past the NBC studios, the Warner Brothers lot and drove down Alameda Avenue and saw where Jay Leno is filmed. Finally we found a gas station on Alameda, so while Steve was pumping the gas I went in to ask for directions. Picture for me a six foot tall black man in a wife beater with a southern drawl saying "Child, how did you get lost going to Universal Studios? There are signs all over the freeway!" I'm not kidding, but he was nice and told us how to get there. Once again, we got there safe and sound and had a great time. I could go on the Mummy ride all day long. I loved it! I also loved the Water World show, which I am so glad Jamie talked me into because I was quite skeptical at first. Finally we wrapped up with another day at Disneyland and a day at California Adventure. I could also ride California Screamin' all day long, what can I say, I love the roller coasters! Finally towards the end of the day on Thursday Steve and I hopped back over to Disneyland to search for Club 33. If you've never heard of Club 33, here's the low down: Years ago, Walt Disney felt that a special place was needed where he could entertain visiting dignitaries and celebrities in a quiet atmosphere. Walt and his wife traveled to New Orleans to select many of the beautiful antiques that are on display. After years of planning, Club 33 became a reality in May of 1967, five months after Walt Disney's death. Club 33 is tucked away in New Orleans Square and is only marked by the number 33 on the door. I thought this was a myth, but I have seen it with my own eyes... It's real!
One last highlight for the vacation: Macie cut her second tooth!
Thank you Harwood family for an awesome vacation! We had a blast!

P.S. I hope everyone will take the time to look at the picture slideshow, it took FOREVER to upload!