Magic Carpet Ride

so i spent this past week/weekend in LA. well..... on saturday i went down and stayed the night at my dads in South SF. we left early sunday morning in my uncles Lexus RX300. ive driven it before. but only around town here. its slightly different on highway 5.

anyways, this things got a GPS Nav system. and it was pretty funny, cuz my uncle entered disneyland into it ahead of time, so we can find our way there.... as if we'd never been there before. anyways, it had us going down highway 5, as well it should. but we were going to my aunts house in McFarland, which is a own on highway 99. so... we wanted to head to highway 99. and, as soon as we strayed from our course our nav system continuously re plotted our course as we passd up possible points to turnaround and rejoin the nav's course. eventually, after toying with the system i found a way to get an alternate route, which took us down 99. and there we had it. not that we needed the system, but it was nice to watch us go down 99.

anywho, we made relatively good time, havign stopped in tracy for ice, then at my aunts to pick up the stuff my brother haad left, then again at the base of the grapevine to switch drivers (i finally got to drive!!!) then again at LA to switch back. my dad didnt want me to navigate LA traffic in a Lexus. anywho, the lexus was nice, luxurious, and smooth... it was no performer. it was hard to keep with the person in front of me after slow downs, cuz it didnt accelerate very fast, especially up hill. sunday night we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and walked around a bit after checking in to the hotel. we ate at the Catal. the outdoor one (each restaurant has a high end VIP Lounge type area, a mid level restaurant area, and a cheaper outdoor type restaurant eating area..... thing.)

the next day we got up early and hit disney at just after opnening time. B lined to the newly re opened space mountain. the wait was only about 30 minutes. not bad for the most exciting new ride in the park. we then went to star tours and fast passed the buzz lightyear ride. star tours was nothing new. ive ridden it dozens of times, and...... it needs a serious update. its all rickity and shaky and rattly. anywho, then we went to buzz lightyear. that was fun, because its basically like one of the storybook rides where you sit in a seat on a cart and the seat rotates. only this one's rotation is controlled by a joystick on the front of the caar. the car also has a pair of laser guns used to hit targets all along the track. you are given a score, and are graded based on how high you score. its not exciting, but it is pretty fun. after that it was 10 and time to head over to CA Adventure which just opnened. the first thing i did there was buy a churro. mmm..... then we rode the new tower of terror ride, which was quite exciting. we then rode soarin', the maliboomer and of course the ferris wheel. we also watched a movie called "Golden Dremas" and braved the challendge trail. og yeah. we also went on the raft ride... and were thoroughly drenched. we went back to the hotel after then to change, cuz , frankly, it wasnt all that hot out. at about 8 we headed across to the main park. just in time for the 9:25 fireworks display. we got awesome spots on Mainstreet, dead center. chris and i camped out the spot while emily and my dad went to get foods. by the time they returned they had already roped off a walkway in front of us and people had started gathering.

the show was absolutely amazing. it featured segments based on many of the atractions in the park, with seperate lighting effects on the castle (which is actually backwards..... did YOU know that?) and the matterhorn, as well as a distinct fireworks set to go with it. all of this accompanied by familiar music and voices blasting over speakers all over the park. after the show, there was a HUGE stampede of thousands of people toward the exit. naturally we clung to a fance waiting for people to get by, then escaped to pirates of the Caribean to help wait out the madness. always a fun ride.

the next day we got off to a relatively early start. or at least i did. i took off without my family and hung out downtown till they decided to join me. we went again into disneyland and rode the matterhorn. another ride that needs an update, that ride kiccked my ass, and it wasnt exciting so much as it was rough. we went again into tommorowland for the inoventions show where we saw Asimo, the robot from Honda, that thing is very impressive indeed. the fast passes were out of commission that day so... we were stuck with having to wait in line. we went on splash mountain, thunder mountain, indiana jones, and watched the "first 50 yrs." movie which was a video hosted by steve martin (who began his entire career by riding his bike to disneyland on opening day and getting a job on the spot at the magic shop... did YOU know that?). i also had another churro as well as a famous turkey leg during the course of that day. we headed back to the hotel for a rest and a swim, and went back to the park for Fantasmic. we got crappy point s of view cuz we got there like 15 minutes before it started, but it turned out well cuz we were right at the walkway, so we were able to make a quick exit. the thing is... the fireworks show begins immediately after fantasmic. so.... as we walked across the park to tomorow land, the sky was exploding and tinkerbell was flying around. i was able to snap a few shots while we walked through the designated walkways during the show, moved along by cast members with lightup thingies.

we made it to the monorail station before the show was over and had to wait for it to end. we rode it to downtown disney where we were gonna eat. despite the fact that we were unable to make reservations at rainforest cafe. leuckily for us, it was only a 15 minute wait for a wlak in when we went (which was about 10pm). we ate there, then drove back to the hotel.

i slept ok. woke early again. i woke early every day we were there. usually about 10 minutes before i had planned to. which was 7 am. i decided to get ready ealry and i was packed and ready to go by 830. so i decided to walk to downtown disney again and hung out at the world of disney, a huge shop that has a bunch of stuff that you prolly cant get anywhere else but inside the park. after spending some time there, i finally got a call from my dad so emily and i left and went to the McDonald's across from the park. from there we left for home. we made very good time considering we stopped a couple of times to switch drivers.

we returned the lexus and hung out at my uncles for a while, then finally came home. and that was that. i had a good time.

Stay

I think this is my first request. for a post that is. I also mader her request a songh too. so this post is in response to carinne's threat inher last comment.

I gave this a lot of thought throughout the day. and based largely on the days events, I'd have to say the #1 important thing to getting me through each day would be my collection of friends. my friends range quite a bit. and regardless of the role they play in my sanity, they're all very important. and just because I've never met some of my friends doesn't mean they're any less important. even you guys who I know onlythrough the internet are just as vital to my survival.

this isn't to say that I don't love my family... but to me, friends are a different kind of family. cuz... you're born with your real family, you're kinda stuck with them, and they to you. your friends, however, are chosen, and they choose to stay with you, therefor making therelationship special and unique in every case.

without the support, distraction and commeradery provided by you guys I dunno where I'd be. and I just wanted to say I appreciate it. and if you're wondering if I am refering to you or not.... if you've ever readand commented on my blog, then yeah, I mean you.

I mean... the simple act of caring enough to come back and check in on me and leave comments and advice and w/e boggles my mind. with a couple of exceptions, all my friends read andcomment here, and that means a lot to me. and if not, at least they know when my birthday is. *sigh*

in other news, my brother, who is with my sister visiting in Southern California with family is in the hospital. after spending the day puking and getting progressively weaker, they took him to the emergency. its likely he was dehydrated, the doctor just saw him not too long ago. I'll
find out what the diagnosis was tomorow.that said. I direct your attention to the "angel of harlem" link in my sidebar. that's restless angel's blog. read her post about water. then
go get yourself a glass.

Long Slow Goodbye

Sunday was a dinner for my grandma's birthday. we were meeting the usuals from SF as well as my aunt and uncle from SoCal in San Rafael. we stopped off at target to get my sister a bathing suit and my brother a set of headphones. my aunt and uncle were gonna be taking them down home with them.

on our way from target to the restaurant we hit traffic. my mom started to change lanes as she usually does, looking for those extra few feet. we eventually made our way back to the fast lane behind a Volvo S60. a little ways down the freeway a Nissan Sentra pulled in front of us, with barely enough room. several seconds later the brake lights on the volvo lit up and the nissan nosedived as it came to a hault. my mom breaked hard, harder when she realized how stopped everyone was. we stopped within feet of the sentra. then a BMW which was behind us and apparently going pretty damn fast slammed into us. it his us so hard in fact that the bed of our truck slammed into the cab, and was noticeably bent from the impact. the bumper was several inches lower and the floor and side of the bed buckled and bulged. it hit us so hard that we ended up hitting the nissan anyway. we smashed the bumper and broke their tailight.

as far as my family.... it felt like sosmeone hit me full force in the back of the head with a firm cusion. it didnt really hurt superficially, but there was a soreness internally.... from slamming my head into the headrest. also, my back and neck were a little sore. my bro and sis had similar symptoms. but im feeling better now and im pretty sure they are too, they ended up going down to SoCal after all. my mom was fine except for some soreness in her arm. none of hour airbags went off, but the BMW.

anyways, we took it to the body shop for ana estimate.. we got the result today. totalled. i figured as much. sicne the floor of the bed was buckled like that and thats bolted to the frame, which was pressumably bent as well.

in other news im making steady but slow progress with school. i have yet to submit my FAFSA because of... a long story. and i now know when my classes will be. mon, tues, thurs and fri. looks like im gonna be living with my dad in south city. or something.

moms home. time to get yelled at.