California Adventures: Day 1

2 Days

Finally in California (as of 6 1/2 hours ago). I must say, things are definitely different here. I never thought I'd be able to wear shorts in the beginning of January for one! At least, not until I had a lot more money.

Today has definitely been a long day. Woke up at 6 and went to the airport. My dad and I were on two different flights, so I had an extra 3 hours to hang out in the airport after he left. Of course, I also didn't have to wait in another airport like he did.

Nearly all of break, Washington has been cloudy and/or rainy. California is the opposite. Not a cloud in site. Or at least, none in comparison to Washington. I still have a hard time believing it was nearly 80 degrees today. The breeze was the only thing that made the weather bearable. Not sure what I'll do if there is no breeze. Guess I'll get by somehow, or pass out trying. Step 1: buy a water bottle. Step 2: fill it up 8 times a day? Oh, wait... might be a bit excessive. At least I wouldn't need to eat too much, my food costs would be cheaper :)

This afternoon was basically spent getting acquainted with the surrounding area. We went to an outdoor mall-like area just after unpacking to look for food. The mall was really cool! Too bad all the restaurants there were so pricey. After dinner, we went looking for a place to buy shoes and other things that I would need immediately on Sunday, excluding groceries.

I knew the place we were staying was fairly close to Disneyland. I didn't realize that we would be able to see it from the nearly non-existent balcony. I can see the Tower of Terror, Matterhorn, Space Mountain, and even some obnoxiously bright display boards for a Disney store, or something like that. At 8:45, the fireworks in the park went off. It was definitely a sight to see from here. The sound-delay was very interesting. We would see some fireworks go off and then ask "are those silent fireworks? *pause* oh, there's the noise." Lets see how long it takes before I get annoyed with the fireworks. Apparently they aren't nightly, so who knows.

Also when we checked in, we were given a visitors guide. In the guide, among other things, it has the daily schedule for both California Adventures and Disneyland for the entire month of January. One thing I don't think I've mentioned here before is that my work schedule changes weekly. Now I understand why. The hours vary so much. There's some days that Disneyland opens at 8 AM, other days that they open at 10 AM, and then anywhere in between. Some days that they close at 8 PM and other days they close at midnight (and again, anywhere in between). There's some days that California Adventure opens at 10 AM, other days they open at 11 AM, and any.... wait, guess that's it (no half hour opening times for either park). Then it closes anywhere from 8 PM to 10 PM. So California Adventures opens either at the same time as - or after - Disneyland, and closes either before - or at the same time as - Disneyland.

Still no clue where I'll be working, or my schedule. Of course, I won't find out until Monday or Tuesday. All I know is that I now have sheets to sleep on and shoes to wear, so I'm set. Time to explore California before check-in.

More "exciting" news tomorrow? We'll see :)

~Amber