Summer Road Trip - Travelling to Anaheim

Today's destination was Anaheim but we did have plans to take the scenic route. We had spent the night in San Francisco and the trip to Anaheim is only about 6 hours so we started our day on the Full House tour. Kerry and I watched it as a kid, and the kids both found it on Netflix in grade five and were also actively watching the new series Fuller House. There are probably lots of individual scenes shot in San Francisco but we only had time for the highlights.

The first destination was the "Painted Ladies" which is a set of row houses visible from a nearby park. In the opening scene I believe the family is having a picnic in the park and the houses are in the background. The nice thing about this destination was that we could check them out from across the street. This wasn't the case for the second destination which is the house exterior that shows in the series. There is now a gate on the front steps to stop the fans. We drove by and were only there for about 2 minutes and we saw another family stopping bye. The owners must hate that show.

Our final destination was Lombard Street. I have driven down it but Kerry was unwilling to drive herself or even be a passenger. We drove by the bottom where there were quite a few people just standing in the street for pictures. The thing I find interesting is that some people have driveways off this street. There are apparently plans to start charging visitors which makes sense. The funny thing about Kerry not wanting to drive the street is that I think some of the streets we took to get here were steeper and scarier.

We got out of town around 9:00 am and started down the I-5 to Anaheim. San Francisco was cool weather wise but our drive was not. We hit at least 40 degrees. Our trip was relatively uneventful except for the fact that we didn't stop for breakfast in San Francisco. We waited until we were on the road. Callie was committed to finding a Starbucks and was prepared to navigate to one however she decided she couldn't wait and we stopped at a McDonald's instead. Apparently the Starbucks was at the next exit. Callie was not happy.

The directions to our hotel are relatively simple. Follow the I-5 until exit 109B. That doesn't mean the drive is easy. As soon as you hit LA the traffic on the roads gets crazy. Despite going 10km over the speed limit it still felt like were sitting still on the freeway with vehicles passing us on both sides. We made it and checked into our hotel with some time for laundry, grocery shopping and a trip to Downtown Disney for a snack. We also gassed up our vehicle. We don't want a half full tank if the big one hits!

Summer Road Trip - Meeting Up With the Family

A bit of an unusual start to our summer road trip this year in that we didn't start it as a family. Our summer began with our annual trip to Prince George. After we got home I packed again for a trip to San Diego to attend a week long conference. The plan was for the family to drive to Oliver to drop off Oliver and then drive to San Francisco to meet me. This meant they had a three day, 2000 km drive while I had a 1 hour flight to get to our meeting place at the hotel in San Francisco. I had no complaints.

I arrived in San Francisco at 8:00a and had about 5 hours to kill while I waited for the family to arrive from Klammath Falls, Oregon where they had stayed the night. Did I mention that I had spent the night watching fireworks from my hotel room while they spent the night listening to what may have been fireworks or gun shots from their hotel room. They're still not sure. Again, no complaints from me.

Our first destination was the trolley cars. As soon as I guided the family to the parking for the hotel I ran the five blocks to grab tickets and get in line. In hindsight I completely forgot about the trick for the trolley cars. There is a starting point where everyone lines up but they never fill the cars because you can hop on and hop off at stops along the way. This means that you can either wait in line for an hour or just get on at the second stop with almost no wait. We did get a seat which is nice and we did use the time to catch up on stories about our trip so far.

The trolley cars take us through the steep hills of San Francisco and end up at Fisherman's Wharf. Our first destination was Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory.where we got in line for sundaes. A few additional tourist tips here include the fact that there are multiple entrances to the factory with varying line sizes. I also recommend sharing the desserts. Even through we were very hungry and I can usually hold my own with ice cream, there was plenty to share. Kerry and Callie had the salted caramel sundae and Carter and I had the cookies and cream.

Another tourist tip is that even when it's nice out San Francisco is not always the warmest of places. I'm not sure why, but Kerry and the kids all chose not to wear their jackets. Luckily there was a tourist shop at the end of Fisherman's what where they had clothing on sale for 70% off. Carter got a jacket and shared it with Kerry. As a bonus the jacket even came with four Ghirardelli chocolates in the pocket. It was also missing a button. We're not sure what the history of this jacket is but we think it has an interesting story.

By this time it was close to dinner so we started looking for a place to eat on the wharf. I had previously gone to Lou's Fish Shack and Kerry liked what she saw on the menu so we stopped in for dinner. I don't know if I can truly recognize fresh versus frozen fish but if this was never frozen I could tell. Best fish and chips ever. The breading was light and the fish was sweet and flaky. Kerry had the crab bisque bread bowl and loved it as well. It was at this point that the family realized why I had recommended we add San Francisco to the itinerary this year.

After dinner we continued on down Fisherman's Wharf to Pier 45. There is a great penny arcade there with machines ranging from the 1800's to the 1980's. I broke a five into quarters to give the kids and soon realized that I have perhaps made them too money savvy. They seemed content to pocket their money. We did get them to try a few items including laughing Sally. Carter tried waiting for someone else to activate her but could wait no longer. She was really quite frightening. We also had a fun time with the telescope for 25 cents. Carter said it was broken because all he could see was blue. I helped him turn away from the water so he could see Alcatraz.

We finished our trip down the wharf with Pier 39. It's mostly restaurants and souvenir shops though we did have fun checking out the sea lions. Apparently they can have 1,500 later in the year. We saw a few dozen sunning them selves on some specially made docks just for them. We also checked out the pet store where we were amazed to find Schnoodle merchandise. You know you've picked a trendy dog breed when there is signage and socks for sale with Schnoodle on them.

The trolley cars are $7.00 per person one way so we found a cheaper way back to our hotel via bus. Kerry managed to make friends with the bus driver and got all sorts of advise and local knowledge sent her way. We stopped off a few blocks from our hotel at Union Square which appeared to be getting a major overhaul. 

Our first day together as a family was great fun. Only one more day of travel until our final destination in Anaheim.

ESRI Users Conference in San Diego

This past week I had the opportunity to attend a conference in San Diego for work. I've been to a few conferences in San Diego and have done most of the tourist relate activities so I only came down the day before. For reasons to be explained later I was also not in the same hotel for the full week. My first hotel was close to the airport. The bad part was that they hadn't paid their cable bill and the rest of the experience was on par with that. The good part was that it was near Old Town San Diego, an area I've never been to. It's kind of like Barkerville in BC with older buildings but there were also modern shops.

After my adventure in the less then desirable hotel on the first night I moved to my second hotel and got ready for the opening day of the conference. They call this part the Plenary and it's a mix of inspirational messages and product sales. ESRI is a bit unusual compare to other conferences I've been to because they do the Plenary for a full day. They kept things exciting though as they had Jane Goodall and E.O. Wilson attend. Being a science based application the ESRI conference is very left leaning on the political spectrum. It was fun learning about the charities these two have started. Goodall is 85 and Wilson is 91 and still contributing to the good of the world.

The next three days were a whirlwind of talks and wandering the hall floor. The conference is at the San Diego convention centre and had 20,000 attendees. This is the same convention centre as Comicon which starts next week and despite it's size we only filled a portion of the halls. I think one end of the hall to the other was close to a half kilometer. I was walking with a colleague who had an Apple watch and I think we walked 12k on one day. I should be well conditioned for Disneyland next week.

On the last day of the conference ESRI hosts a party at Balboa Park. They shut down an area that includes the Natural History Museum, the Art Museum and several other halls. The party includes music on multiple stages with DJ's and live  bands, acrobats and plenty of food. It was another long day of walking. Last year I left on Thursday evening and I'm glad I stayed the extra day this year. A great event.  I'm actually staying to Saturday because I'm flying to San Francisco to meet the family for a day before heading to Anaheim. A long road trip for me this year.

Saying Goodbye to GG

My Grandmother passed away in November and rather than a funeral the family decided to have a celebration of life later in the summer. This ensured that all the key family members could plan to get together. Everyone directly descended from GG was able to attend. This included 2 children, 5 grand children and 7 great grand children plus spouses. GG certainly knew all her grand kids and great grand kids but when it came to getting their names out in the moment there was often mistakes made. It didn't help that there were multiple Kerry's and at least 6 kids that ended with the sound en/an/on.

The celebration of life was an all day event and we started with a trip to the cutbanks. GG had many fond memories of this area as her family had a farm on the river right in front of them. She told many stories of making her way across the river to school. Walking, boating and crossing the ice were all valid ways of getting to school in her day. The family walked to an area where we could see where her farm was and we spread some of her ashes over the embankment. She will have fun walking back up.

The next quintessential GG location was West Lake. Our family has owned property there for many generations and we're left with 2 1/2 acres of the best beach. I have many memories of GG sitting on the beach by her tree. She didn't sit for long of course because there was always work to do, whether it be pushing rocks back up the beach, making the fire or cutting brush. She was always busy. Mom built a small garden for her ashes. GG always had a garden at the lake and the original is now too close to shore. This new spot should last a long time.

The Monday after the celebration of life was Canada Day and the family took our regular trip to what was previously known as Fort George Park. I would list the new name but it's native and hard to remember. I have no issue with the renaming. The park was built on top of an Indian Burial Ground. Good karma to recognize it with a name that doesn't represent colonization. The steam engine was working and we had some great food. The weather wasn't great but the rain stopped long enough to enjoy.

This was our first trip up since my nephew Lucas was born. I think he's about 10 months old. He's a funny little character. Quiet most of the time and he's got some baby chubbiness to him. He doesn't smile too much but by the time we left we had a few techniques including blowing on his feet and squishing his cheeks together. He was starting to crawl so he should be a handful for his parents shortly. He's quite alert so I think he should be as bright as his big brother Jackson.

Our last GG related event was a trip to the Prince George cemetary. It's becoming more common to cremate but GG wanted some of her ashes spread on Grandpa's grave. I never knew him as he died when my mom was 17 but we found him in the veterans area of the cemetary. Mom couldn't remember where he was but GG had taken us there often so I recognized the  group of trees where he was buried. Apparently GG brought some trees from the lake when he was buried. Not allowed anymore but fun to know the big trees were planted by our family. Bye GG. We love you.

Tying Fish

If you're wondering how much 600 fish cost the answer is $10k. That's the going rate to have six people show up to your school during a series of workshops, help kids paint pre-cut fish and then come back to help you attach them to chain link fences at your school. This trend has been happening in the lower mainland for quite a few years. Some schools fish are so old that they have started to fall off. Hopefully the fish at Frost Road last to the point of fading. I couldn't quite tell what kind of plywood they used but the paint they used looked good and they put a coat of clear coat over the fish after they were installed.

The fish had been painted during the month or so before fish tying day. Our role as parents was to help permanently attach the fish to the fence. It was a 'Bring Your Own Pliers' event and it was tougher than I was expecting. The organizers were responsible for placing the fish which was good. You could tell they were experts because they knew what shapes and colours went together best and really helped put together a fun layout. The wire was very thick which meant they were pretty tough to twist. I was on shift one of two and I think we were about 1/3 through. I'm guessing the organizers finished up. End result was a fun project for the kids and it looks great.

Callie's Dance Recital - Welcome to the Gallery

After 9 months of work it was time for Callie's annual dance recital. This has become an event we look forward to every year and I only partially mind that they've split it into 4 different shows and your kid could be in anything from 1 to 4 of those shows. At $24 a show it gets a bit pricy. This year Callie was only in two so it wasn't too bad. She started both days in the same costume that she has indicated is not exactly her favourite. When it's just her she looks like a ballerina died orange but when it was on stage and with the other girls it looked quite nice.

Day one consisted of Ballet and Point. Ballet is the more advanced form of point where the girls spend a lot of their time on their tippy toes. Being the first year they want to make sure they have had time to train before making them do too much so only a few moves are done that way. Both dances were quite beautiful and Callie did great. Every once in a while I will see her do a swooping movement with her hands. I now know what this is all about. There is a lot of hand swooping in these two dances.

The theme this year was art. Every dance matched the costume, art piece in the background and the song. The picture for Jazz seemed a bit basic and was obviously computer generated. Callie was not overly impressed by the costume either. It was a crazy sparkly skin tight material. The dance on the other hand was amazing. This was definitely where she had to do the most advanced moves. Lots of quick arm and body movements. I can see why she enjoyed the dance but not the costume.

My favourite dance style is lyrical. Lot's of running and looking. The costumes are typically very flowey and I usually enjoy these songs the best. This is where I found Ed Sheehan about 6 years ago. (Long before he was famous. :)) Callie ended up being in a class where she was in the top end of the class. This meant she got to do a 3 person solo but it also meant not all of the moves were super advanced. She's looking forward to going up a level next year.

We got a bonus scene this year. Callie has been volunteering all year as a student teacher. This is about 90 minutes of time every Friday where she helps the teacher guide one of the smaller classes. For the recital it meant she was on stage during their dance making sure they were in the right position and doing the right moves at the same time. She was right when she said they didn't need a lot of guidance which must have meant they had great teachers. Another great year. Very proud of Callie.

Carter's Field Trip to Victoria

When Kerry taught grade five at Frost Road she started an annual trip to Victoria. When she moved to grade seven they stopped doing it so Callie didn't get to go. Carter's teacher however have reinstated the trip and I'm glad they did. It's a lot of work to plan and a lot of work to execute and it makes for a very long day leaving at 5:30a and coming back at 7:30p but I think it will be something Carter will remember for a long time. My favourite part of the trip over was the Wasabi challenge which was initiated by my group. One girl had ordered sushi and dared one of the other group members to eat the Wasabi. Great fun!

Our first destination was the Royal BC Museum. With Victoria being BC's capital, much of the funding for this sort of thing ends up in Victoria and they make good use of it. The exhibits are top notch and well maintained and it's right near in the harbour near the parliament buildings. We wandered the 'Making BC' exhibits and stopped in the theatre to watch a movie about some guy breaking into a cabin. The kids loved it. I had six in my group so being able to sit in a theatre for 5 or 10 minutes was a welcome break.

Our trip to the museum ended quickly as it was time to go for lunch at the Spaghetti Factory. They have a menu dedicated to kids groups that really just involves spaghetti and 6 different options for things that go on top of spaghetti including different sauces and different cheeses. We didn't have a lot of time so it was for the best that serving 100 or so kids and parents was as efficient as possible. I had some sort of salty goat cheese which was good but I had to steal the water jug. Highlight was when they brought out dozens of loafs of bread with knives. Parents got involved quickly.

The highlight of the day was our trip to the Legislative Assembly. I had been before but the timing of our visit this time was better. It was the last day of the spring session and our group got to go into the main chamber while the Premier was speaking. We dropped off all our electronic devices and anything that could be used to record and we got to sit in the balcony and listen to committee as they debated what to do about the caribou issue up north. Fun to see our government at work.

We had a bit of free time left after our time with the MLA's and there is a well placed English Candy store. The owner must be used to large groups of kids because I can't say the groups that were there were very well behaved. They were noisy and I had to pick up more than one display that was knocked over. I made sure to buy some mints and chocolate since many of the kids had run out of money by this time.

We got back to the school around 7:30p. A long day but a fun one.