things I learned on vacation...

In the course of my lifetime I've been blessed with many vacations- some just a couple of days and others much longer. While I always learn something new about the location or the function of a place, I am often surprised when I learn something new about the the concept of vacation or about people on vacation. We recently returned from a week-long vacation in southern California. In no particular order, this is what I learned:

1.  Diehard Disney fans will do just about anything, including staying at the park for 24 hours straight.  On Leap Day, for only the second time ever, Disneyland stayed open for 24 hours (from 6am on February 29th to 6am on March 1st and then reopening at 10am) allowing park guests to experience shows, rides and special food all night long. We arrived in California the afternoon of the 29th and went into Disneyland for several hours (annual passes are handy for that!). It was a bit crowded but not grid-locked and everyone seemed to be having a good time. As we left the park at about 9pm, the line to buy tickets to get in was the longest we'd ever seen- these were the serious party people! Disney officials expected 44,000 people that day- 88,000 showed up! It was a record-breaking attendance day by a huge margin, one not likely to be seen again in the near future.

We were given the official Leap Day button that reads "One More Disney Day" when we entered the park!

2.  Vacationing with friends can be crazy fun!  After spending a few days at Disneyland by ourselves (and about 45,000 other people!), we met up with our MR KLUD group at Mike and Laurie's timeshare north of Escondido. We returned to Disneyland (Doug and Ursi's first time!) for a day, went to Knott's Berry Farm and to San Diego.

MR KLUD at the house of the Mouse!

3.  Some people are natural "participants" while others (me!) are "observers."  This, of course, is an elementary observation; you have to have both performers AND an audience. And it's one I knew intellectually but this time really experienced first-hand.

Doug was "invited" to join the "saloon gal" as she sang to him. Mike volunteered to let real, live scorpions crawl on him. I was quite content to be an observer in both situations!

4.  Some people like going from 0 to 82 mph in 2.3 seconds, ascending 205 feet followed by an immediate descent at a 90-degree angle. I, however, am not one of them. But I think I fooled them by saying I wanted to take pictures! 

Mike, Laurie and Richard went on "X-celerator" at Knott's Berry Farm several times!

5.  Sometimes what you see and enjoy is not what you expected or paid for.  We went on a whale-watching tour one afternoon. While two whales were spotted, I was not in a position to really see them. However, I did have a delightful time watching pelicans fish quite far from shore. Their gracefulness and perseverance was inspiring.

The pelicans flew so close to the water it seemed at times that their wing tips brushed it!

 It's always good to get away from the everyday grind- and sharing it with friends is great! But after a fun-filled, relaxing week in southern California, it was time to return home. And sleeping in our own bed was heavenly!