Flossbolna
Sea days are just so relaxing!
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
Michael finds me a future home and job
August 29: Last Full Day and drive to LA
This most likely is the most boring day of the trip to write about besides the travel days. Not that it was not a nice day. But there really is not that much to talk about. But that will not stop us from boring you to tears anyway! Except the guy from Delaware as he is easy to impress! Michael, you should read the Delawarean's trip report. He visited a nuclear launch site, I am sure he no longer is easy to impress.
As we had discussed the evening before, Michael got up in time for a real breakfast and we headed over to the Copper Café for some food.
This is the outside of the Café:
And this is the famous cake counter:
A better shot of the inside:
Even for breakfast they had the nice goblets out:
Yeah, I would love to have some at home. But the idea of transporting glass has never been appealing to me.
I only have one food picture, so I guess we both ordered the same. Looks like eggs, bacon and hash browns with toast:
The food was really good and the coffee was really excellent, too! I think I had quite a few cups and was feeling very alert after breakfast. Yes, we had the same thing and it was eggcellent!
We continued some more exploring of the hotel to take some more pictures in daylight:
Here you can see the “lobby building” at the far end of the bridge. You drive underneath the bridge to enter the hotel area properly:
Our car and door:
And then it was time to leave. Check out time was noon and that is when we left. We did not follow Highway 1 anymore, but took the 101 instead for some time and then took the 154 to have a more direct route to Santa Barbara where we would meet the coast again.
I think Michael did not have any coffee with breakfast and therefore wanted to get some somewhere along the way. I located one on my phone in Orcutt. This appeared to be a rather non descript town in the middle of some rather dry country. Not really anything there besides the Starbucks. It turned out to be inside a supermarket, an Albertsons. I had some iced tea at the Starbucks and I think Michael wanted an iced tea, too, because he really likes the ice tea lemonade. We had a nice break there and had a brief look around the supermarket which was quite nice. I even ended up buying a package of those scary candies for Katharina:
We also picked up a gift card for a friend who set us up with the free tickets to Universal-Hollywood -- and did for me again last month -- while we were there as well.
I think it was here when we were driving back to the motorway that Michael suddenly started to suggest that we should move there. I should get a job at McDonalds and we would then both be living off my salary from that job. I think his plans did not involve any job for him (maybe he would retire??). I was and am still very skeptical about the validity of that plan… But it seems to be a dream of his. I much prefer his other dream that has both of us retiring to St John, US Virgin Islands.
To be fair, I was sorta hoping she would work two jobs. One at the Albertsons and another at the McD's and I'd work about 25 at the Albertsons myself. It just seemed a perfect place to hide. And while I largely don't want to, the last 18-24 months have clouded my opinions on a lot of things. Both M and I live very complex lives and there is something to be said for simplicity, right? Besides, the Albertsons was nice and the people seemed very friendly. The people are not overly friendly where I live in FL or where M lives in Germany.
Well, the planning of our future in somewhere in the California back country kept us occupied for a little while at least. Another distraction came along when we were on the 154 and left the Santa Ynez Valley as there is a viewpoint. We stopped there and found this rock:
Looks like some people from Berlin thought it necessary to leave their city memorized there. Hermsdorf is a suburb of Berlin.
It was also very hot again with temps easily in triple digits. I mention this because a nasty storm with rain and even snow is on its way to Northern California tomorrow.
But the view into the valley was quite nice:
After this brief highlight another highlight was another coffee break (this time real coffee) at a Peet’s at Oxnard. And then we had quite a lot of traffic coming into LA (as it is customary there), got some gas at some point and arrived at out hotel for the night (Michael had three nights there), the Embassy Suites Anaheim North. The hotel is conveniently located just off the 91 Freeway. And this is also everything there is. It is wedged between the freeway and the Santa Ana River. But we got it for a very good price as an express deal on Priceline. And it was convenient for Anaheim. And we got a suite!
We got gas on Aretesia Blvd. at an Arco I had passed so many, many times in my life but never stopped at. This is likely too much detail. The hotel was lovely although Embassy Suites is undergoing a massive change in its properties to fit in with the bland/hip/muted/Millennial look of every other hotel. So they are removing the beautiful lush tree filled atriums and making them very plain. This hotel already had the lobby changed, but the rooms were just starting renovations, likely why we were able to get the place for a little over $80 a night.
Our bedroom:
Our living room:
They also had free drinks and snacks in the late afternoon and we arrived just in time to take part in this. This was a nice bonus after the long drive.
We had plans for dinner that evening and at some point got ready and into the car. Dinner was at Downtown Disney – again. Remember at the very beginning of this trip report we had a meal at Catal with a rather arrogant hostess that was giving me attitude about not wanting me to get a table outside? Well, Michael’s brother had written to the restaurant after the meal about this and it turned out that they invited us back for a free meal. He was back in Florida by then unfortunately, but Michael and I were able to take up that nice offer!
Yes, my family and I are quite persuasive at times. And there really was no excuse for the snotty 'tude the hostess took with M on our first visit. I am grateful my brother contacted them.
So, when we got there, there was no attitude and we were welcomed warmly. We both started with salads. Michael had his favourite wedge salad:
I think mine was the caprese:
Michael had some kind of steak it seems:
And I had a hangar steak that was a daily special:
We both really loved the food. The server was excellent and the manager came out to speak to us. So, in the end the little bit of sour taste about that meal at the beginning of the trip was forgotten and we are fans of Catal again.
We had some ice cream (Michael) and a bread pudding (me) for dessert:
The only issue was our fault. As we asked to sit outside on the patio, but the weather wasn't simply warm it was humid (not quite FL levels, but not comfortable). The meal was excellent and free and they have earned back our business.
We did a little bit of shopping after dinner and then headed to Trader Sam’s for a drink with a friend. It was great to catch up and I had the HippopotaMai-Tai that I had in 2014 and this is still a very delicious drink!
At some point we walked through the Disneyland Hotel and looked at the model of the DCL ship there knowing that our next big adventure would be a cruise on this ship (in real size) but that it would be quite a while until then:
We've had quite a few adventures in between ... there was Europa Park and DLP ... and ... everything we did this summer ...
And upon further inspection I saw this:
Not only the Fantasy was built in Germany, even her model was built in Germany, too!
It was late when we got home, but we ended the vacation with a really lovely evening!
Up Next: Flying Home
August 29: Last Full Day and drive to LA
This most likely is the most boring day of the trip to write about besides the travel days. Not that it was not a nice day. But there really is not that much to talk about. But that will not stop us from boring you to tears anyway! Except the guy from Delaware as he is easy to impress! Michael, you should read the Delawarean's trip report. He visited a nuclear launch site, I am sure he no longer is easy to impress.
As we had discussed the evening before, Michael got up in time for a real breakfast and we headed over to the Copper Café for some food.
This is the outside of the Café:
And this is the famous cake counter:
A better shot of the inside:
Even for breakfast they had the nice goblets out:
Yeah, I would love to have some at home. But the idea of transporting glass has never been appealing to me.
I only have one food picture, so I guess we both ordered the same. Looks like eggs, bacon and hash browns with toast:
The food was really good and the coffee was really excellent, too! I think I had quite a few cups and was feeling very alert after breakfast. Yes, we had the same thing and it was eggcellent!
We continued some more exploring of the hotel to take some more pictures in daylight:
Here you can see the “lobby building” at the far end of the bridge. You drive underneath the bridge to enter the hotel area properly:
Our car and door:
And then it was time to leave. Check out time was noon and that is when we left. We did not follow Highway 1 anymore, but took the 101 instead for some time and then took the 154 to have a more direct route to Santa Barbara where we would meet the coast again.
I think Michael did not have any coffee with breakfast and therefore wanted to get some somewhere along the way. I located one on my phone in Orcutt. This appeared to be a rather non descript town in the middle of some rather dry country. Not really anything there besides the Starbucks. It turned out to be inside a supermarket, an Albertsons. I had some iced tea at the Starbucks and I think Michael wanted an iced tea, too, because he really likes the ice tea lemonade. We had a nice break there and had a brief look around the supermarket which was quite nice. I even ended up buying a package of those scary candies for Katharina:
We also picked up a gift card for a friend who set us up with the free tickets to Universal-Hollywood -- and did for me again last month -- while we were there as well.
I think it was here when we were driving back to the motorway that Michael suddenly started to suggest that we should move there. I should get a job at McDonalds and we would then both be living off my salary from that job. I think his plans did not involve any job for him (maybe he would retire??). I was and am still very skeptical about the validity of that plan… But it seems to be a dream of his. I much prefer his other dream that has both of us retiring to St John, US Virgin Islands.
To be fair, I was sorta hoping she would work two jobs. One at the Albertsons and another at the McD's and I'd work about 25 at the Albertsons myself. It just seemed a perfect place to hide. And while I largely don't want to, the last 18-24 months have clouded my opinions on a lot of things. Both M and I live very complex lives and there is something to be said for simplicity, right? Besides, the Albertsons was nice and the people seemed very friendly. The people are not overly friendly where I live in FL or where M lives in Germany.
Well, the planning of our future in somewhere in the California back country kept us occupied for a little while at least. Another distraction came along when we were on the 154 and left the Santa Ynez Valley as there is a viewpoint. We stopped there and found this rock:
Looks like some people from Berlin thought it necessary to leave their city memorized there. Hermsdorf is a suburb of Berlin.
It was also very hot again with temps easily in triple digits. I mention this because a nasty storm with rain and even snow is on its way to Northern California tomorrow.
But the view into the valley was quite nice:
After this brief highlight another highlight was another coffee break (this time real coffee) at a Peet’s at Oxnard. And then we had quite a lot of traffic coming into LA (as it is customary there), got some gas at some point and arrived at out hotel for the night (Michael had three nights there), the Embassy Suites Anaheim North. The hotel is conveniently located just off the 91 Freeway. And this is also everything there is. It is wedged between the freeway and the Santa Ana River. But we got it for a very good price as an express deal on Priceline. And it was convenient for Anaheim. And we got a suite!
We got gas on Aretesia Blvd. at an Arco I had passed so many, many times in my life but never stopped at. This is likely too much detail. The hotel was lovely although Embassy Suites is undergoing a massive change in its properties to fit in with the bland/hip/muted/Millennial look of every other hotel. So they are removing the beautiful lush tree filled atriums and making them very plain. This hotel already had the lobby changed, but the rooms were just starting renovations, likely why we were able to get the place for a little over $80 a night.
Our bedroom:
Our living room:
They also had free drinks and snacks in the late afternoon and we arrived just in time to take part in this. This was a nice bonus after the long drive.
We had plans for dinner that evening and at some point got ready and into the car. Dinner was at Downtown Disney – again. Remember at the very beginning of this trip report we had a meal at Catal with a rather arrogant hostess that was giving me attitude about not wanting me to get a table outside? Well, Michael’s brother had written to the restaurant after the meal about this and it turned out that they invited us back for a free meal. He was back in Florida by then unfortunately, but Michael and I were able to take up that nice offer!
Yes, my family and I are quite persuasive at times. And there really was no excuse for the snotty 'tude the hostess took with M on our first visit. I am grateful my brother contacted them.
So, when we got there, there was no attitude and we were welcomed warmly. We both started with salads. Michael had his favourite wedge salad:
I think mine was the caprese:
Michael had some kind of steak it seems:
And I had a hangar steak that was a daily special:
We both really loved the food. The server was excellent and the manager came out to speak to us. So, in the end the little bit of sour taste about that meal at the beginning of the trip was forgotten and we are fans of Catal again.
We had some ice cream (Michael) and a bread pudding (me) for dessert:
The only issue was our fault. As we asked to sit outside on the patio, but the weather wasn't simply warm it was humid (not quite FL levels, but not comfortable). The meal was excellent and free and they have earned back our business.
We did a little bit of shopping after dinner and then headed to Trader Sam’s for a drink with a friend. It was great to catch up and I had the HippopotaMai-Tai that I had in 2014 and this is still a very delicious drink!
At some point we walked through the Disneyland Hotel and looked at the model of the DCL ship there knowing that our next big adventure would be a cruise on this ship (in real size) but that it would be quite a while until then:
We've had quite a few adventures in between ... there was Europa Park and DLP ... and ... everything we did this summer ...
And upon further inspection I saw this:
Not only the Fantasy was built in Germany, even her model was built in Germany, too!
It was late when we got home, but we ended the vacation with a really lovely evening!
Up Next: Flying Home
