To Disneyland and Beyond!!!

So, one thing leads to another.  Here's the train of events that lead us to spend two days in DL.

Most of you know, I have started run/walking half marathons.  Since last June I've done 12 half marathons, in and around Utah and in 6 additional states (prior to June I had completed 7 in 4 states). I am scheduled/signed up for and additional 10 half marathons in as many states on this trip.  But truth be told, there is one series that I just really want to do.  Yes, they are expensive, but they are So. Much. Fun.  Those would be the Disney races.  So, in discussing this with Derrick, we decided to have me go ahead and do the Disneyland Half Marathon in September and then several more Disney races in 2017.  In looking at how that all stacked up dollar wise, it turned out that getting an annual pass made sense.  Tried getting one online, but that proved confusing, sooooo, we DROVE UP TO DISNEYLAND!!!  When Derrick suggested we go up, I started jumping around and screaming and crying (WHAT is wrong with her???).  Anyway, long story short we drove the hour and half to Disney and had an absolute blast.  I posted on Facebook that we were there - blatantly torturing my Disney-loving children (so sorry).  With the pass came a perk we were not expecting - free downloads of all the pics taken by the on-site photographers (which I can also use DURING a race to get pictures :-)  ).  So, here are the pictures from our day at the happiest place on earth.  For more, see our Facebook page, The Two of Us Travel

Chula Vista RV Resort, Temples and Museums

We made it through late afternoon San Diego traffic (no thanks to two road rage engaged drivers!) and arrived at the Chula Vista RV Resort around 5pm.  The resort sits on beautiful San Diego Bay in Chula Vista, a few minutes south of downtown San Diego.  We got set up quickly and settled in for a sunny couple of weeks in California.

One of our goals while on this trip is to take in as many LDS temples as possible.  Southern California has four, so we spent a few days seeing the San Diego, Redlands and Los Angeles temples. We happened upon the Newport Beach Temple quite by accident as we were driving back from the LA temple.  We tried to go there on Friday, but it was so busy we decided to head up to the LA temple for a second visit.

Selfie at the San Diego Temple

In addition to temples, we spent time at several of of the museums in Balboa Park.  One of our favorites so far has been the Model Train Museum.  They had rooms and rooms of model train displays, including a Toy Train Room (my personal favorite).  Derrick took a lot of pictures which I will post, but here a few of our favorites.

WHAT?? A Stegosaurus being unloaded from the train!

Truck crossing in the model train display

Airport in the model train display

MINIONS riding the train!!

Picking up the Baroness or A Couple of Days in Las Vegas

In September, we made the decision that Derrick would retire in early January and we would take advantage of our new found freedom and get out of the Utah winter.  But that would mean driving our 40 foot motorhome through a possible snowstorm.  Not ideal.  So, in October, we drove the RV (a Monaco Dynasty Baroness, hence "The Baroness" moniker), to Las Vegas to an RV storage unit and left it safe in the Nevada warmth.

On January 9th, we loaded the Jeep with essentials and kitty cats, left our house in capable hands and embarked on our journey.  We made a quick stop at Kara's house, took a few pictures then headed out.

Since we had maintenance scheduled for the RV, we spent three days at the Hampton Inn in Henderson.  Gryffindor was less than thrilled and spent most of the time with his eyes glued to the hotel room door.  Strange voices and noises outside made for one nervous kitty.  

We did take the time one evening to go up to the Las Vegas LDS Temple grounds.  It was closed for maintenance, so we couldn't attend.  But, we were able to take some pictures of this lovely temple.  It really is a glittering jewel in the Green Valley.

Other than the temple, Las Vegas has never been our favorite place, but this trip gave us one more reason to dislike it.  On Thursday morning we went out to the Jeep and discovered Derrick's bike had been stolen.  Grrr.  Unfortunately, biking is a activity that we are planning to do a lot on this trip, so we had no choice but to buy another bike.  And TWO Kryptonite locks.  

Kryptonite lock in place

Derrick and The Green Lantern, errr, Bike

By Thursday we were on our way to the San Diego, California area.  Leaving Las Vegas, the hotel AND the black bike behind.

Retirement January 2016

Sometime in the late 1980's or early 1990's (during the Wordperfect years), we started thinking about when Derrick would retire.  We decided that somewhere between age 61 and 62 would be perfect. We would be old enough to (hopefully) have enough saved for retirement and young enough to travel and go on LDS Church missions.  At that time we were young (in our mid 30's) and had three young kids.  Age 60 seemed very far away.

But on January 5th, 2016, the day arrived and Derrick said goodbye to friends and co-workers at Domo in American Fork.  He spent the last 15 years there - first as Corda Technologies and then as part of the team at Domo.  They threw him THREE retirement parties (it isn't really common for there to be retirees in the software development field, so they really had a good time with it!)  And, yes, they DID give him a gold watch.  A gold iWatch, that is! (No, not the 15K one, but a really nice one, nonetheless).  They had a good time, from the party in house to lunch at Tucano's and another lunch at Mi Ranchito's.  

In the few days that followed, Derrick and I took two of our grandchildren out for early birthday lunches since January 9th was our target day to leave for an extended RV trip to celebrate his retirement.

With Peter at Red Robin celebrating turning 9

With Hannah at Red Robin celebrating turning 5

Hannah and Grandpa heading in to pick out a birthday gift

After saying our "See ya later"'s to our children and grandchildren, we loaded the Jeep with stuff and cats and headed for warmer climes... Stay tuned for more adventures...