Chapter 132
An Uneventful Homecoming

Previous Post | Next Post
Table of Contents

(Originally posted January 10, 2014)

We went back to the resort one last time on Thursday before heading to Colorado the next day. We’d heard that the first actual Halloween decorations in the parks had been put up in some shops on Main Street, so we went to check them out.

It’s amazing how even the littlest things can make it feel like Disneyland has undergone a huge change.

Another addition we wanted to check out was the new effect on the eyes of Mara over at Indiana Jones. We’d read very positive reviews of the new visual but incredibly negative comments about the new voice. After riding, I’d have to say that those assessments were spot-on. The melting face was extremely cool, and it was nice to see this attraction getting some love so unexpectedly. The voice really was awful, though, so I’m very glad it didn’t last too long.

While on that side of the park, we took our actual last ride through the Mansion before it went down for its redecoration, bidding farewell to the “Grim Grinning Ghosts” for now.

Tracy was yearning for some popcorn after smelling it as we walked by one of the carts, so we got some in Frontierland.

It was delicious, as always (what on earth do they put into Disney popcorn to make it taste so good??), and we enjoyed eating it at a table outside Rancho del Zocalo.

Snack devoured, we made our way toward the exit. We went out through the Main Street shops and noticed these Cheshire Cat cake pops that had appeared since our last visit. We’d already met our snack quota for the night, but we vowed to have one of these on an upcoming trip.

With that, we bid Disneyland a fond farewell for now. We’d see it again in a little over a week after returning from CO.

On Friday, we flew Southwest for the first time ever, heading to Denver. We had no problems finding seats together (having checked in at exactly 24 hours before our flight time), and we loved all the amenities the airline provided—free checked bags, snacks, and free TV on our portable devices. We watched the “End of the World” episode of Parks and Recreation because we love that show and it happened to be one of the free TV offerings available. If you remember, that’s the episode where Andy and April go on an impromptu road trip to the Grand Canyon. Well, literally moments after the episode finished, we looked out the window of the plane, and look what we were flying right above!!

Yep, that’s the Grand Canyon itself, and it’s the only view I’ve ever had of it (we need to take a road trip someday soon).

The irony was just so awesome that it felt like it couldn’t be a coincidence.

Arriving in CO, we got to pick our own rental car because we were renting with National and Tracy’s company is part of their club. We chose a Prius and drove it straight to Boulder. Once there, we got to meet up with this little ragamuffin!

We were so happy to see Stupey Doodle (as always).

August 17-25, 2013

On the whole, this trip was much less eventful than the last one we’d taken to CO (and INFINITELY less eventful than the next trip we’d take out). Tracy worked all week, first in Boulder and then in Denver, and I worked from my mom’s house. The one interesting/funny special event Tracy had on Monday was a team-building excursion in which her group went fly-fishing. They spent three hours learning how to fly fish and then another few hours in a river actually trying to fish, and no one in the whole group had a single bite.

After the workweek was over, Tracy and I decided to go up to Estes Park on Saturday—which is always fun! It was still beautiful weather, and we had a good time taking pictures as we drove into the town.

Once there, we walked around as usual and ate a delicious dinner at Bob and Tony’s Pizza.

Tracy had bought a glitter tattoo kit online and did her first one in the shape of a butterfly.

I know I’ve posted pictures of the rock at our “slow vehicle pull-off” before—the place where we have had many memories over the years, including getting engaged. We hadn’t repainted our heart there for about five years, and it was looking pretty faded.

So we bought some house paint before heading up to Estes and fixed it up.

This excursion was really one of the only memorable things about this Colorado trip (apart from Stewy looking adorable as always).

Soon, Sunday had arrived and we were on our way back to California. I thought it was a little funny that they had Planes advertisements at the Denver airport… I bet someone at Disney marketing thought this was an extremely clever move.