Thursday, November 11, 1999  Preamble:

My usual evening with the boys is punctuated by the fact that the eldest son has a "dance" each Thursday evening this month. Tonight, the youngest son and I have - during the dance - a "rendezvous" planned. We make contact with a benefactor: Madame "X"! "Madame X" has possession of two radios that I lost about 5 years ago. She is going to return the radios to me, and I have offered a reward - a radio system to get "Madame X" on the air! Apparently, "Mr. Big" found the radios and offered them to "Madame X", who discovered they were mine, and offered to return them - and the accessories!

The "rendezvous" went off as planned - my radios and I are now reunited! I am beside myself with happiness! Nothing - absolutely nothing - Is impossible. Radios missing for 5+ years, back home at last. The radio offered as a reward is gratefully accepted. I give a power supply - then promptly take it back - so I may repair, charge and prepare it to return it to "Madame X" for her use.

Nothing is impossible!

With the "nothing is impossible" theme in mind:

Friday November 12, 1999

Actually, Nobody in the group ever considered an adventure to the "Merriest place on earth" this month. I was hoping that I would get some time with the children just before Christmas. I had - after all - given up valuable "boy time" so the boys could do an adventure with their Mother, but it was not to be. 

Insofar as the boys, Patricia and I are all Disneyland enthusiasts and hold annual passes, we wanted them to see the Christmas and Holiday decorations.

So, it turned out to be an early out day for the lads, and they are in the Jeep by 12:30.  En route to Lake Tahoe, I had discovered that the boys had received grief from their Mother when they brought the subject up. "To heck with it", I said, "Let's all go to Disneyland, right now"! "What, really?" said the children, "You mean go to Disneyland right now"? "Yes", I said, "Down with meanness! Up with kindness for children!", as I veered the Jeep out of the lane of traffic towards the East and into one heading South, I continued, "I'm making a command decision, we're going to Disneyland right now!". Needless to say, there was nobody aboard who argued with the decision.

So began our latest adventure, and one with one of the longest drives: 7 1/2 hours later, we pulled into the Candy Cane Inn, where the pixies had done their work - we were expected and had reservations.

By 8:45 we were in the Park, our passes providing the access, and just in time for the Mulan Parade. Heading for the newly reopened "Pirates of the Caribbean" we pass the Lights Fantasmic in progress and have no wait for the ride. It has been cleaned up, improved with many new details and has been brought into even more political correctness:

The last time the ride was refurbished, the fair maiden being chased by the pirates was equipped with a tray of drinks. Now the pirates are chasing her for the drinks - not anything else obvious, like her! This year, the next scene was altered. The unattractive woman who was chasing the pirates is now chasing pirates for their food - not anything else obvious, like them! She is now correctly "armed" for her new role, with a rolling pin. Oh my goodness! She is going to use violence against them. How "empowering".

Likewise, after eating a bite, we went for the "Indiana Jones" ride - after watching most of the next light show. Again, no waits but the Park was closed as we departed. One fun thing we noted was that the ride was more congested than usual - the "block system" held us at certain points several times, allowing us to review the rides in more detail than most people get to see. Our car ran out of music before we ran out of ride!

Even though the Park was closed, they don't throw you out. We got to wander the Park as the crowds departed and review the decorations. WOW! They really went all out and the effect is amazing! I'm glad we decided to do this. So are the boys. In fact, they're ecstatic! They still can't believe they are where they are.

Saturday, November 13, 1999

This is our big day! We made it to the Park a little after noon, and Colt delighted the entire four of us by leading us to the Bengal Barbecue for lunch. These little bits of beef come in Bengal (spicy) or Banyan (sweet) barbecue flavors. Colt and I opted for the Bengal, Patricia the Banyan and Christopher the Chieftan Chicken. Although the portions seem small, they are filling and - with tiger tails (bread) - make a tasty and satisfying lunch. With sodas, the bill came to about $30, but it was good food and we left satisfied.

Then it was off to the attractions. Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain and "Honey, I shrunk the Audience" filled the early afternoon. One Holiday find was cookie decorating! In New Orleans Square one can buy a pre baked cookie, which comes with frostings and decorations. Of course, the boys wanted to decorate a cookie and did. They were quite attractive and tasty too. There was a little excitement at Space Mountain, as the ride came to a halt with us just preparing to board. The lights in the mountain came on, announcements about a 15 minute delay came through clearly and in the end, we got our ride in the darkness but without music.

As it was getting dark, we headed over to the Disneyland Hotel for a tree lighting ceremony. To bad the web site people didn't tell the hotel people, for it never happened - we never even found the tree! Cold (as us adults were in T-shirts and shorts), we made our way back to the Inn - including a ride back on the tram which didn't stop at our stop! We stayed aboard and were delivered promptly to our intended destination (We just figure it's another ride). From there, it was a short, albeit unconventional, walk back.

After some rest and hot tub time, we make it back to the Park and Toontown, with mere minutes to spare before the Hot dog hut closed. (The earlier idea of eating Chinese outside the Park went down in flames)! Michael (the server) went to extra effort to get us what we needed, and I made it a point to tell his supervisor as he passed by.

This was followed by several more rides. Outstanding among those is the "It's A Small World" ride, which has been spectacularly redone for the Holidays. It has always been a camp favorite, and has been remade for the holidays - completely. If you know the ride, see the holiday version. Period. If you don't know the ride, see it anyway, but you won't appreciate all the changed details. The end ride was a double header at the Indiana Jones Adventure with no waits, at closing time.

Found out: Disneyland details: In Toontown, at least one of the toon-holes (manholes for toons) will yell at you if you jump on it. There may be more. I found out that a compliment to a Disney employee's supervisor goes a long way toward furthering the employee's standing.

The boys and Patricia were exhausted. They fell asleep with little trouble. All of us have sore feet - especially Christopher. As I write this narrative, The Park is long closed, the Inn is asleep and the entire Anaheim area is blanketed in a cool, dense layer of fog. I have never seen such a thing here.   It's reminiscent of San Francisco - where we head back to on the morrow!

In reflection, this was a terrific - even great - idea. I don't think the boys will ever forget the day I said "To heck with it", and went South. The decorations we saw are spectacular, but the boys will have to think thoroughly before they declare any undertaking as "Impossible" ever again.

In that, I think I have done my duty as a Dad -- and have done it well.

I'm off to sleep with that in mind, and the children were about ten feet away while I wrote this chapter.

Sunday, November 14, 1999

The anti climax day. The boys slept late and we departed around noon. We picked up some school supplies en route and hit the freeway at 1:00 sharp. With little fanfare, we made it back. It was as exciting as a ride back from Tahoe - only longer! We did get to experience almost every kind of weather, from hot sun, to haze, to fog and finally thunderstorms! 7 1/2 hours from ramp to ramp on the dot.

Monday, November 15, 1999

I'm on top of the world! I did it! I did the impossible! Nothing is impossible.

And of "Madame X"? Her power supplies (now more than one) charged over the weekend. I have a proper transformer for one and I will be delivering them to her - perhaps in another "rendezvous" - later this week.   P. S.  And I did.