The destination for Spring Break 2013 is set for Disneyland, something fairly close to home, and the distance is such that it would make better sense to drive than fly. The grand plan is that we would drive there on Saturday (03/30), park hop for three days and then drive back home on Wed. (04/03).
We were planning to pick up the rental car by 9am on Saturday, and not surprisingly and as expected, we did not manage to do that until about 10:00am :-). The car was a red Ford Fusion, an ordinary full size sedan yet something neither of us had ever driven before.
Packing was done the night before. Both my hu*****and and I are very disciplined when it comes to packing for a trip, that is, if it involves getting onto an airplane. For road trips, I am of an entirely different mind set. I could and am often tempted to pack the whole house:-). I told both kids to pack their own backpacks - books, toys and whatever they'd like to bring on the trip. My little boy enthusiastically started on his packing while I was getting dinner ready, and he was pretty fast on that. At the end, he made an announcement that he was trying it on to see if it's too heavy and declared that it was good after trying it on. In contrast, it took his big sister almost two hours to pack her bag - making trade offs among toys, books and her other things. Once again, manifestation of two different temperament - the little brother is often quick to choose while his big sister is the opposite :-). When my daughter was done packing, my, my, my, it was like a rock! I commented on it, and she sheepishly told me that she had also packed her purse full of the red envelope money she got from this Chinese New Year, and I asked her why, she said "gift shop."
The Ford Fusion trunk was packed full, and we were ready to go at around 10:30am on Saturday. A picture of my precious trio just before getting into the car. See how heavy my daughter's backpack was!
Daddy snapped this while I was getting into the rental car.
The morning drive was rather smooth. No complaint whatsoever from the kids both of whom were pretty engaged in listening to the audiobook "The Demi God Diary". At a little past noon, we decided to stop for lunch and exited upon seeing a sign for McDonald's and Carl's Jr.
While we were about to pull into the parking lot for the big M, to my delight, I saw there were a Panda Express and a Quiznos right next to it. Either one would be much better than the golden arc! There ensued a few minutes of the classic Gardenia family battle on fast food pickings, and fortunately, the kids agreed on Panda Express:-).
A rather non-descriptive California roadside landscape..
My usual order from Panda Express.
Speaking of Panda Express, I had my first experience while I was working on a project in beautiful Carl*****ad many years ago, and it was, ironically, introduced to me by an American colleague of mine from Chicago! I took this picture to show a slice of the American that, at this particular moment, was patronizing this Panda Express.
There was also a funny story involving Panda Express the very first time we went to Disneyland. As this time, we also drove, and while we were approaching our hotel, the Doubletree Suites close to the main gate of Disneyland, we thought we saw Panda Express and so we happily pulled in. However, after we sat down with the dishes, the dishes did not feel like the quality you'd expect from a Panda Express, and then we took a careful look around and felt the decor was completely off, and then we noticed the name was not Panda Express and instead, it was Panda Kitchen!
My little boy had acquired an interest in doing math problems complicated beyond his years. And at one point during our lunch, he made a statement, "32 times 2 equals 64." I clapped and said he was very smart. Not surprisingly, his big sister said he memorized it (I think out of sibling rivalry). She challenged him with another problem, " how much is 25 times 5?" The little brother, after some mumbling, said, "125". We were very surprised, and I asked him how he had done it, he pointed to his forehead and replied " I used my mind. It's all in my head!"
My hu*****and later relayed a comment our little boy made when they went to the restroom before our getting back onto the road. In the restroom, he looked into the mirror, seeing himself, and said to Daddy, " Hey, who's that in the mirror? A cool dude!"
Daddy, for some reasons, did not get a fortune cookie, and here were the fortunes for the rest of the family with the middle one being my daughter's and the last one mine.
The first one was my son's. Isn't he a little charmer?
We resumed driving after lunch. The scenery does not change that much for the most past.
Then about two hours away, we needed to have a bio break, and fortuitously we picked an exit that led to a beautiful reservoir, Lake Pyramid.
What a nice change of scenery.
We arrived at our destination at around 5:30pm.
A loyal Marriott member, I booked the Residence Inn close to Disneyland main gate for our stay. Ever since we had kids, suites with fully equipped kitchen are almost always preferred to simply guest rooms. And that's the key reason behind us booking the Residence Inn.
The location turns out to be fantastic. Just a few minutes walk away, there are a slew of restaurants. Here was the one we were planning to go.
However, the wait was going to be almost 50 minutes. So we strode further to other options. The street is aligned with gorgeous palm trees. Two things always hold a soft spot in my heart - pampas grass and palm trees.
Roy's was where we ended up with. This is a nice chain restaurant that specializes in Hawaii fusion cuisine. We had dinner at a Roy's during our last trip to Oahu, and both kids had fond memories.
We were seated outside. The gorgeous weather and the palm trees were a bit reminiscent of Oahu, and even my daughter made a comment on that.
My hu*****and's cocktail
Brussel sprouts as our appetizer 
Complementary appetizers for the kids. One bite of the cheese quesadillas, my son exclaimed it tasted great so much so that he finished his sister's leftover quesadillas!
Both kids ordered penne pasta, one with cheese but not melted butter and the other with melted butter but not cheese..
My order - Thai basil seared sea scallops with lobster sauce.
Incredible texture and amazingly tender!
The order of my hu*****and, the carnivore:-)
We still had room for deserts. I checked my blog, and we had chocolate suffle, so this time we opted for a pineapple upside down cake.
Desert for the kids..
And their names were spelt out in chocolate drips!
By the time we finished, the night had truly fallen.
Good night.
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