It has been another fun week for us, well for me. I was lucky enough to have an all expenses paid trip back to Southern California for some work and fun. I spent 5 days in Anaheim at the Grand Californian, which is by far one of the more up scale hotels I have ever stayed in and this time was no different.
When I first checked in I had been up since 3:00 am, spent the day in Disneyland running around and was in my sweats when I was told that I was at "VIP" Status in the hotel and would I wait because the check in manager was looking foward to meeting me... yes really. That was a little weird, but as soon as I walked into my room the phone rang from Guest Services to welcome me to the hotel and find out if I needed anything (again... huh?). I was taken aback by all this attention... but After the second phone call the next morning to see how I was doing I felt pretty good :-).
I had a blast on Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror, Soarin and of course Screamin. I walked until I couldn't walk no more and then enjoyed people watching in the Magic Kingdom. After an exhausting day I always find myself pondering why I love this place so much and then I realize how much magic and joy are held in the park and how the outside world is left behind as soon as you walk through the gates. By then my thoughts are usually interuppted by the screaming kid who wants to stay and see Buzz Lightyear.
The conference was a huge success, everyone was very thankful at all the hard work I put into it, but really it was a blast to organize.
On Tuesday night I got to do something most people never do.... I got to go back stage! that was so much fun (for those reading with little children or a great imagination stop reading now). We saw the costume shop, I will be forever traumatized seeing all those character heads hanging on racks, and buzz lightyear taken apart & laying all over the floor. I saw all the old buildings and heard what they used to be and what they are now. It truly is a piece of history I will probably never get to see again. Sorry, there are no pictures of backstage- I was told that if I pulled my camera out I might get shot. :-).
The bottom picture is hard to make out, but it is by far my favorite part of flying... It is the top of Mt Rainier sticking out above the clouds, usually you can see the whole mountain peering out against the blue sky, but on this day it was only the top part.
The view from my room at sun rise.
