Day 3 - Salt Lake City to San Diego
We left our car at the hotel and got the early shuttle bus to the airport. We had a good short flight to San Diego where we hired a car and spent most of the morning navigating various US Naval bases trying to find discount tickets for various theme parks. Fun Fact: The Movie Top Gun was primarily filmed in and around San Diego. Many scenes were shot at Miramar Naval Air Station, which is now the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
In the afternoon we walked along the beach and the girls saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. The sun was out but it was quite cold and windy. A view clearly not shared by the locals who were dressed in nothing more than bikinis and shorts! We also took a drive across the award winning Coronado bridge which is 2.1 miles long and reaches a height of 61 metres allowing the U.S. Navy ships to pass underneath it. Its distinctive towers and graceful curve brought it the "Most Beautiful Bridge" Award of Merit in 1970. It is also the third deadliest suicide bridge in the USA, trailing only the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and the Aurora bridge in Seattle. Signs have been placed on the bridge urging potential suicides to call a hot line.
During our road trip we had booked to stay in a combination of budget and luxury hotels. The hotel in San Diego was of the latter variety and ideally located in the Marina within walking distance to Sea World.
Day 4 - Sea World
We arrived at the gate at around 9.30am hoping to beat the crowds. Stuart and the girls got in for free thanks to a 'Help the Heroes' initiative. Unfortunately I couldn't prove that I was Stuart's wife (no I.D) so I had to pay to get in (not that I'm bitter or anything!). The girls loved to see the animals - the polar bears (which looked a bit sad in their enclosure I have to say), beluga whales, dolphins, seals, penguins (just like in the Happy Feet) and by far the most popular the killer whale show. We rode the water rapids and got absolutely soaked by a cold waterfall. It was quite a shock and left bot
h Holly and Amy screaming and me rather pi**ed off as it was quite cold, there were no dryers and I'd bought no change of clothes. In an attempt to dry off we went inside to watch a brilliant 4D movie. The girls had never seen 3D before and it was amusing to watch them trying to touch objects which seemed to be floating right in front of them. The other effects of dare I say water, wind and bubbles were also very cool! We ate and drank all day making the most of our all day meal tickets and returned to our hotel just in time to have a warm bath and watch the fireworks from our balcony. The girls slept well that night sharing a bed for the first time!
Day 5 - Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverley Hills
Easter Sunday morning was spent driving around Los Angeles, Hollywood and Beverley Hills. We spent quite a lot of time admiring the houses in Beverley Hills and trying to find a good spot to take a photo of the Hollywood sign. Hollywood Boulevard was a bit of a disappointment and we finally decided to go to Venice Beach and take a walk along the boardwalk. What an experience. From street dancers to 70 year old Rastafarians in speedos t
o bodybuilders to experiencing our first (and hopefully last) earthquake tremor! The girls had just finished their rather large ice-creams and we were just getting in to our car when suddenly the car started to rock gently. I got out of the car and it just felt as if I was having a dizzy spell. It probably lasted less than a few minutes and at the time we didn't know what it was but soon saw the headlines on the news back in our hotel room. Apparently tremors are very common in California. Our hotel for the next two nights was a budget $40 a night room - basic but clean and functional.
Day 6 - Knotts Berry Farm (theme park)
We woke to pouring rain - not ideal weather for a theme park. We dressed as appropriately as we could and went for breakfast at IHOP (international house of pancakes). As the heavens opened we munched through several pancakes covered in butter and maple syrup - yummy! The rain soon stopped and the sun came out. Knotts Berry Farm is America's 
oldest theme park. It has Camp Snoopy for the kids, although neither Holly or Amy had heard of Snoopy and many other thrill and water rides. The girls were a little sceptical about the water rides after Sea World but this did not affect Holly's enthusiasm for wanting to ride the longest and tallest wooden roller coaster in the world called the Ghostrider. She also discovered the Viking ship which she loved and rode over and over again on her own raising her arms above her head during every swing (nutter!) Personally I was content riding the spinning teacups with Amy!
Day 7,8, & 9 - Disneyland and California Adventures
Tuesday morning we got up early and drove to Disneyland. We parked our car at our hotel and immediately made for the park. We were standing at the gates by 7.30am and I'm not sure who was more excited me or the girls! We knew the park was going to be busy and it was. I was a little anxious about losing the girls and kept them close by me at all times. Friends had visited a few days previous and said the queueing times had been in excess of 1.5 - 2 hou
rs for each ride. So we arrived with a plan. Stuart had researched how to make best use of the "fastpass" system which allows you fast access to certain rides at specific times and together with "Ridemax" a piece of software downloaded from the Internet which allows you to enter the rides you want to do and when and produces a schedule with helpful hints and tips to follow, we didn't queue for more than 30 minutes on any ride. We even managed to do a few rides more than once. The girls had a great time meeting and being photographed with some of their favourite Disney characters and princesses. Holly rode a few more roller coasters and her first loop the loop see link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2pnWYiv0pg), we watched the parades and saw the fireworks. Our fav
ourite rides were as follows: Amy - Astro Orbitor where you pilot your own rocket ship and travel around a whirling planetary solar system, Holly - California Screaming roller coaster, Daddy - Indiana Jones Adventure where you board a oversized jeep and experience poisonous darts, screaming mummies, giant insects, swarming rats and the lava-filled Cavern of Bubbling Death and finally mine was Toy Story mania where you grab some 3-D glasses, board your ride vehicle and zip off into a 4-D world of exciting, midway-style games. By the end of the three days we were all exhausted and completely themed parked out. Now it was time for the long journey home.
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