Disneyland or Bust: A Mother-Daughter Coastal Road Trip

[RGirl]

"I'm such a fool. I can't be free."​

Day 1 - Friday, 25 July 2014 - Home

Okay - let The Challenge begin! First to name the movie from whence the chapter title hails gets a point; two points for movie and character who uttered the line. One point for the first person to name the character if the person who guesses the movie correctly does not name the character. Ready, set, GO!

Note: I don't have a lot of pictures for this update, so I've tried to supplement with other things to keep your eyeballs entertained.

I'm guessing some of you are wondering if you have been reading this TR (to the extent that there even is a TR yet!) correctly. Did some crazy woman decide to take a 1,300-mile road trip alone with a 7-year-old child????

​

Well, yes, yes, that crazy woman did indeed decide to do just that! Why, you ask? Well, we are on the West Coast, so we tend to try to do WDW/East Coast every other year and had gone in 2013. I got us APs to DLR for Christmas and the clock started running on those when we went to DLR for Willow's 7th birthday in January. So I knew that whatever vacation we took this summer would involve DLR. My original plan was that my mom would join us, we would fly to San Francisco and spend several days there visiting friends and family and then would rent a car to drive the coast over the course of a few days and end up at DLR for a few days. Well, Mom decided not to go, which meant she also decided not to split the costs (obviously!). I looked at airfares and rental car costs and then had A Brilliant Idea. We would just drive the whole thing, Willow would have her first real road trip, and we would see more of the country. GENIUS!!!!

​

Okay, a lot of people did imply in passing (and a few flat out said) that I was not, in fact, a GENIUS, but instead CRAZY. I didn't listen. I planned and plotted - and, let me tell you, there is a LOT of planning and plotting that goes into a two-week road trip (what towns are we going to stay in, which hotels do we book, what roadside attractions will we see, how long will we stay in any given place, how many miles to drive on any given day, etc.). And you know what? I WAS a GENIUS - this turned out to be a truly fun, exciting, and very different trip! Yep, I'm totally using it again:

​

And it all started on 25 July - a Friday and my first day off work for the start of our vacation. I woke up at about 6:45 and was thrilled because the fact that I had woken up meant that I had actually slept! (Work stress had been wrecking havoc with my sleep during the weeks leading up to this trip.) But I was even more thrilled when I realized that I was ON VACATION, people!!!!

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Willow had decided that she would rather go to her day camp than stay home and pack with me. , so I packed the dog in the car and dropped Miss Willow off at camp at about 8:00 so she could say good-bye to her friends. Now I wasn't present for the good-byes and obviously don't have any pictures, but I imagine, given the dramatic nature of Willow and her friends, that it went something like this:

​

Oh, Willow decided that she wanted to be part of writing the trip report this year, so you will see her pop in with her own comments from time to time. Like right now....

Willow: I kind of was sad to leave my friends, but I knew they would have a nice time together with a break from me. And I knew they felt sad too to leave me. So we spent the rest of the day together. And we made ice cream!

After leaving Willow at camp, I took the dog, Oscar, to the vet for a vaccination and then to the next town over, which has a nice kennel that he very much enjoys. During the course of these little errands, I received TWO panicked calls from work. I was thrilled that my first day of VACATION featured work calls - awww, they love me so much! Thrilled, I tell you; I was thrilled.

​

BTW, here's Oscar. Isn't he cute??

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(Yeah, Willow gave him a toothbrush for his birthday last year - it didn't last long.)

After running errands, I went home and got the packing done. I had been kind of freaking out about this for quite some time (just ask Shannon), but not exactly doing anything about it - I found it paralyzing even to think about what all we would need to take on a trip of this sort (two weeks, various types of weather - from the cool Oregon coast to the heat of southern California - various activities, etc.) and yet freeing to think we were driving so that I did not have to weigh my luggage (unfortunately, I did not really think about the fact that I would have to unpack all the stuff from the car every night and repack it every morning). Anyway, I must have gotten more done during the preceding week than I thought, because between the evening before and this day, I managed to finish packing before noon!

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Willow had been enjoying her countdown ring for quite some time now and receiving little trip-related gifts via a clue on the back of each Mickey head she pulled off. Okay - that sentence probably made no sense without a picture. Here's what the countdown ring looked like:

​

Hopefully, that makes more sense now! Among a lot of other stuff (such as tons of books to keep her reading all summer), she got quite a few things to make the car trip more bearable, um, fun, I mean, fun. I had that stuff all ready to go too!

​

I do believe that this was her absolute favorite pre-trip gift this year though.

​

Willow: I like my karaoke; I love singing on it, and on the first day I got it, I sang to Nini [grandma]!

I felt like our vacation really began that afternoon around 1:30 when I picked Willow up at camp and we headed to the salon! We got our hair done and had pedicures. Willow designed our nails - I think Minnie Mouse would be proud.

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Willow: I just got an idea, and it just popped in my head, and I just decided we could do Minnie toes. Mommy could have pink Minnie toes for Minnie's pink dress, and I could have red Minnie toes for Minnie's red dress.

Having cleaned out the fridge completely by this point, we were very happy when my parents invited us over for one last home-cooked meal. We really enjoyed spending some time with my parents before leaving as well since we were going to be gone for quite a while - Willow sees my dad every weekday morning as she has breakfast with him and he takes her to school (or camp in the summer), so she is not used to being away from him for such a long time. We made it home by about 7:30; Willow was asleep not long thereafter, and I didn't stay up very late myself, wanting to get an early start on our adventure in the morning.

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Willow: Awww, Poppy [grandpa].

Up Next: Day 2A

 

[courtneybelle]

ELSA FROM FROZEN!!!

Going back to read now hehehe

***

As you can see, I am in it to win it.

I think you’re a genius. I’m pretty convinced you’re good at everything you try, so I don’t see why road tripping would be any different!

Aww glad to see Willow joining in the TR fun! I’m sure her friends missed her a lot, but were happy she got to have fun at Disneyland.

HA the work calls bring back many “fond” memories of people from work calling my dad when we were at WDW. One time he wired money to a client when we were in line for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. It never ends!

Oscar is adorable!

Frozen karaoke sounds sooo fun.

The Minnie toes are so precious!!! Such a good idea.

That Tiana gif is VERY me.

 

[gardengirl2790]

Cute toenails! Willow had a great idea

 

[afwdwfan]

I haven't done a real road trip (i.e., more than one day) in a looooong time and had never done with Willow. Turns out that we will definitely be doing more - they are a lot of fun, aren't they??

DLR in January, huh? Have you done that before? We have visited twice in January, and it is AMAZING. I am seriously considering going again in January 2015 for Willow's eighth birthday.

I've never been to Disneyland, ever. I have a conference in San Diego, so we're taking advantage of the fact that a nice chunk of our travel costs out to the west coast will be coming out of someone else's pocket and taking the kids and a few extra days to see it.

Okay, a lot of people did imply in passing (and a few flat out said) that I was not, in fact, a GENIUS, but instead CRAZY.

Well, road trips aren't for everybody. You either enjoy them or you think they're crazy.

Willow: I kind of was sad to leave my friends, but I knew they would have a nice time together with a break from me. And I knew they felt sad too to leave me. So we spent the rest of the day together. And we made ice cream!

The key is ice cream. It makes everything better. Even good bye.

I was thrilled that my first day of VACATION featured work calls - awww, they love me so much! Thrilled, I tell you; I was thrilled.

Well, at least you know you're important.

(unfortunately, I did not really think about the fact that I would have to unpack all the stuff from the car every night and repack it every morning).

Next time you'll just have to pack smaller bags and take different bags for different climates. I mean, it is a car. you're not limited to a bag and a carry on.

I do believe that this was her absolute favorite pre-trip gift this year though.

Did it go along in the car ride? Because while I'm sure she thoroughly enjoyed the gift and I'm sure you enjoyed watching her sing with it, I can only imagine it on a road trip...

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

OK since Courtney apparently was stalking the thread to jump in first I'll just continue with the rest of the update. But first since she didn't say it specifically "For The First Time In Forever (Reprise)" for the song title even though it's not part of the contest. That should be worth half a point I think

Wait, Willow preferred to go have fun at camp than pack????? How strange, lol.

Awww, she's even putting in her own thoughts. Too precious.

Oh my goodness what a cute horse. Oh wait... Dog??? Wow.

 

[petals]

Luv the toe nails!

 

[KatMark]

Awww....I don't think you are crazy at all. I like that you and your DD did this trip.

Love the pedi's (a favorite thing for me to do...so relaxing).

That is a big puppy!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

I've been following along on your past TR's (loved them by the way) just never commented on them... I know... Shocking!!!

So I thought I'd try something different and say HI!!! I'm buckled up and along for the ride!!!

 

[jedijill]

Awesome start (minus the panicked work calls!) to your vacation. Love the Minnie toes.

Jill in CO

 

[lwyrwood]

Absolutely no idea on the movie quote. I'm so bad at those type things. Love love love the Minnie toes. You may have inspired me to do the same. Let's see if I can get Sid on board.

 

[courtneybelle]

OK since Courtney apparently was stalking the thread to jump in first I'll just continue with the rest of the update. But first since she didn't say it specifically "For The First Time In Forever (Reprise)" for the song title even though it's not part of the contest. That should be worth half a point I think

Rob, you'll get it next time, but I think for now you should...LET IT GO...I'm here all night, folks.

 

[KatMark]

Rob, you'll get it next time, but I think for now you should...LET IT GO...I'm here all night, folks.

Love it!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Rob, you'll get it next time, but I think for now you should...LET IT GO...I'm here all night, folks.

Love it!

Ok Courtney... Well done, lol.

 

[yeheyprincex2]

hello, I jumped over from you 2013 trip report and I'm about half way through the trip.

But your road trip caught my attention, we took our first family road trip this past March from Dallas, Texas down to McAllen Texas with two stops in San Anotnio Texas to break up the ride. It was a experience with lots of cute moments. I don't know if we will ever do it again till our boys are older.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

sounds like a great start for your trip! and quicker then expected packing? bonus!

i'm so excited for the start of your TR, but i'm even MORE excited about the napoleon dynamite gif! we love that movie!!

 

[pkondz]

Okay, so I'm late.... but this looks like fun, so I'm grabbing the passing train TR while it's just pulling out of the station.

I’m guessing some of you are wondering if you have been reading this TR (to the extent that there even is a TR yet!) correctly. Did some crazy woman decide to take a 1,300-mile road trip alone with a 7-year-old child????

Nope. Not me.

I've done a 2,700-mile road trip with a five year old, did it again with the other rug rat when she was.... 10? I think?
And of course, you know about the last one that's an ongoing TR right now.

So, I believe it.

And I believe we're both a little nuts.

Well, Mom decided not to go, which meant she also decided not to split the costs (obviously!).

Obviously, nothing!
Tell her to cough up some moola!

I looked at airfares and rental car costs and then had A Brilliant Idea. We would just drive the whole thing, Willow would have her first real road trip, and we would see more of the country. GENIUS!!!!

Until you've driven for 10 straight hours and you're wondering about your sanity.

I planned and plotted - and, let me tell you, there is a LOT of planning and plotting that goes into a two-week road trip (what towns are we going to stay in, which hotels do we book, what roadside attractions will we see, how long will we stay in any given place, how many miles to drive on any given day, etc.)

But it's fun, too, right?

And it all started on 25 August - a Friday and my first day off work for the start of our vacation.

um.

You mean July 25th, right?

Oh, Willow decided that she wanted to be part of writing the trip report this year, so you will see her pop in with her own comments from time to time. Like right now....

Cool!

Willow: I kind of was sad to leave my friends, but I knew they would have a nice time together with a break from me. And I knew they felt sad too to leave me. So we spent the rest of the day together. And we made ice cream!

Hi Willow!
How was the ice cream? What flavour did you make?

I received TWO panicked calls from work. I was thrilled that my first day of VACATION featured work calls - awww, they love me so much! Thrilled, I tell you; I was thrilled.

Work: "Hi Roni? It's work. Got a second?"
Roni: "No hablo Inglés. <click>"

BTW, here’s Oscar. Isn’t he cute??

I had been kind of freaking out about this for quite some time (just ask Shannon),

Shannon? Was Roni freaking out?

but not exactly doing anything about it - I found it paralyzing even to think about what all we would need to take on a trip of this sort (two weeks, various types of weather - from the cool Oregon coast to the heat of southern California - various activities, etc.)

Here's a tip that took me a while to figure out.

By all means, make a packing list. The sooner the better.
Add to it as you think of things you've missed.
Now here's the important part.

Don't sweat it.

It's not like you're going to be air lifted into the middle of the amazon.

"Oh no! We forgot to pack Band-aids!"

Yeah. Big deal. Pop into almost any store you can think of and buy some.

(unfortunately, I did not really think about the fact that I would have to unpack all the stuff from the car every night and repack it every morning).

Oh, I hear you!
I'm not commenting on it on my TR, because I don't want to upset Dee's mom or the other moms that might possibly read it.
But those dang tutus!!
Every day I had to haul 'em out, get out the suitcases and put 'em back.
Repeat in the morning.

Pain in the but I agreed to bring 'em, so...

Willow had been enjoying her countdown ring for quite some time now and receiving little trip-related gifts via a clue on the back of each Mickey head she pulled off. Okay - that sentence probably made no sense without a picture. Here’s what the countdown ring looked like:

What a great idea!

she got quite a few things to make the car trip more bearable, um, fun, I mean, fun.

car trip + adult = fun
car trip + child = not so much fun... "Are we there yet?"

Willow: I like my karaoke; I love singing on it, and on the first day I got it, I sang to Nini [grandma] “Let it Go”!

And I bet you were simply marvelous!

Willow designed our nails - I think Minnie Mouse would be proud.

I don't see why not.
I must admit, I have never had my toes done like that.

Willow: I just got an idea, and it just popped in my head, and I just decided we could do Minnie toes. Mommy could have pink Minnie toes for Minnie’s pink dress, and I could have red Minnie toes for Minnie’s red dress.

Of course!

You're a genius too, huh?

I didn’t stay up very late myself, wanting to get an early start on our adventure in the morning.

Curious to see if you'll sleep.

Up Next: Day 2A

Great so far! Looking forward to more!

 

[RGirl]

ELSA FROM FROZEN!!!

Going back to read now hehehe

***

Dang, girl!!!! You are FAST!!!

As you can see, I am in it to win it.

No kidding! Let the other contestants be warned!!!!

I think you’re a genius. I’m pretty convinced you’re good at everything you try, so I don’t see why road tripping would be any different!

Ha! Flattery will get you MANY points!

Aww glad to see Willow joining in the TR fun! I’m sure her friends missed her a lot, but were happy she got to have fun at Disneyland.

It cracked me up when she said they would enjoy a break from her.

HA the work calls bring back many “fond” memories of people from work calling my dad when we were at WDW. One time he wired money to a client when we were in line for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. It never ends!

Sheesh! That's pretty bad! I'm happy to report that, after the first day, they left me alone.

Oscar is adorable!

Thanks! We think he's pretty cute.

Frozen karaoke sounds sooo fun.

She has had a lot of fun with that machine - she got quite a few different Disney song discs to go with it. She uses it a lot as a CD player too.

The Minnie toes are so precious!!! Such a good idea.

I really liked them - in fact, they STILL look great!

That Tiana gif is VERY me.

I actually kind of feel like that right now....

Cute toenails! Willow had a great idea

Thanks! We really enjoyed sporting our Minnie toes.

 

[RGirl]

I've never been to Disneyland, ever. I have a conference in San Diego, so we're taking advantage of the fact that a nice chunk of our travel costs out to the west coast will be coming out of someone else's pocket and taking the kids and a few extra days to see it.

Nice!! I hope you love DLR as much as we do. How many days will you have to explore DLR?

Well, road trips aren't for everybody. You either enjoy them or you think they're crazy.

That certainly seems to be true! We definitely enjoyed ours.

The key is ice cream. It makes everything better. Even good bye.

This theory certainly seemed to hold true with Miss Willow.

Well, at least you know you're important.

Oh, yes, sooooo important.

Next time you'll just have to pack smaller bags and take different bags for different climates. I mean, it is a car. you're not limited to a bag and a carry on.

We definitely had a lot more than a bag and a carry-on each. The car was LOADED.

Did it go along in the car ride? Because while I'm sure she thoroughly enjoyed the gift and I'm sure you enjoyed watching her sing with it, I can only imagine it on a road trip...

What a horrifying thought! No, no, and NO!

OK since Courtney apparently was stalking the thread to jump in first I'll just continue with the rest of the update. But first since she didn't say it specifically "For The First Time In Forever (Reprise)" for the song title even though it's not part of the contest. That should be worth half a point I think

I think Courtney has shown herself a contestant to be reckoned with.

No changing the rules now, Rob, despite how impressive your answer.

Wait, Willow preferred to go have fun at camp than pack????? How strange, lol.

She's a weird kid, isn't she???

Awww, she's even putting in her own thoughts. Too precious.

She was quite insistent that she get her say.

Oh my goodness what a cute horse. Oh wait... Dog??? Wow.

 

[RGirl]

Luv the toe nails!

Thanks! It was a really fun way to start our vacation.

Awww....I don't think you are crazy at all. I like that you and your DD did this trip.

Thanks! There were definitely times when I questioned my sanity, but I was pretty sure it would be a fun trip to take, and it was!

Love the pedi's (a favorite thing for me to do...so relaxing).

Isn't it just the most relaxing thing to do!? I don't do it often, but if I could, I would go all the time!!!

That is a big puppy!

He is Willow's best friend, for sure.

I've been following along on your past TR's (loved them by the way) just never commented on them... I know... Shocking!!!

Wow - thanks for letting me know! It's so cool to hear from someone who has read along - I'm so happy to know that there are people out there reading and enjoying.

So I thought I'd try something different and say HI!!! I'm buckled up and along for the ride!!!

I'm so glad you decided to pop in and say "hi"! Welcome to the TR!!!! Please continue to chime in and have fun with all of us along the way.

Awesome start (minus the panicked work calls!) to your vacation. Love the Minnie toes.

Thanks Jill! A pedicure is a lovely to start a vacation, I think.

Absolutely no idea on the movie quote. I'm so bad at those type things. Love love love the Minnie toes. You may have inspired me to do the same. Let's see if I can get Sid on board.

No worries! Courtney was lightening fast on that one!

Oh, you two should do it! It was so fun!!!

 

[RGirl]

Rob, you'll get it next time, but I think for now you should...LET IT GO...I'm here all night, folks.

Love it!

Ok Courtney... Well done, lol.

Nothing beats a little healthy competition!