Best childhood ever!
 Revisited August 2011
(yup, it’s been 40 years)
Day 1: We're goin' to DisneyLand!
Frontier and Adventure Lands are still my favorites.
Behind me is the line for Splash Mountain, at that
time with a 75-minute wait. But when Kari and I got
there first thing in the morning, we were on in less
than five minutes! We also fit in Pirates of the
Caribbean and Indiana Jones well before 10:00. The
lines went downhill after that.

We chose Rancho del Zocalo (the Mexican joint,
naturally) for lunch (surprise).




               This was taken in FantasyLand while
               we were waiting to get on Mr. Toad’s
               Wild Ride or Peter Pan... dunno what
               these flowers are, and I haven’t seen
               any like them before. The Matterhorn
               was closed (boo), and after going on
               Space Mountain, we both decided we’d
               had enough of the fast rides.
While waiting in line for one of the
rides, I texted Steve that we were at
DisneyLand yadda-yadda, who at the
time was in Laramie, Wyoming on
his cross-country trip back from
Pennsylvania with Heather, who
requested a picture of Winnie the
Pooh if we saw him. One
disappointment this go-round was
the lack of characters roaming the
Park, but the Pooh gang had their
own set-up for picture taking next
to Splash Mountain. Kari and I
patiently waited like all the other
kids for our turn. :)

Tee-hee, Tigger was a total ham and
quite the ladies' man!

This actually turned into one of my
favorite parts of the day, and
certainly the cutest... the shade
didn’t hurt, either.
This is Asimo, a robot made by
Honda that was being demonstrated
at the Innovations exhibit in
TomorrowLand. It moves very
smoothly, including running and
climbing stairs, which is apparently a
large feat for a robot, and operates by
voice command. Basically it's
designed to do various chores, and
may eventually be used for things
such as hazardous clean-ups, like the
nuclear power plant disaster in Japan.



I misremember the name of the parade,
and the tree was in the way (but again,
good shade ;)) and we were pretty far
away. It looked good in person, though,
and afterward I had an urge to watch 101
Dalmatians.

And Steve, The Donald is for you!
Day 2:
                                                                           Yay, Visits!
                                                                            (Part 1)




Bob and June have been in this house in San Dimas for 16 years, and they have gorgeous
views of the valley and downtown Los Angeles. Bob had a 1000-same-shape-piece
jigsaw puzzle going. June made us yummy wet burritos and fresh peaches for lunch.

Bob is now 84 and June is 88, and wow, are they looking and doing good!
Day 2:
                            Yay, Visits!
                             (Part 2)

                        Kari and I met Bobby, his
                        wife Chris, and Martha (a
                        legend in my family's
                        memories) for dinner at El
                        Cholo, where I had sweet
                        green corn tamales for the
                        first time... gotta love
                        Mexican food twice in
                        one day! Martha gave me
                        a lovely photo book of
                        Payne/Sykes memories.
                        <3




Bobby and Chris. Bobby teaches PE and
Science at Imperial MS. Chris also teaches,
and they have two boys: Chad who's almost
18, and Kevin, 14.
Day 3:
                Huntington
                Beach, baby!




We had originally planned to go to Corona
del Mar, but when Kari found out the Snack
Shack there was closed, we decided to go
to Huntington Beach instead. It's where I
remember going as a kid, and we got to
have Strips, our favorite, for lunnnch...
Also bought an order of them to give to
Mike. Btw, he loved them!
Okay, the surf
was seriously
perfect... wild
enough to be
fun and a thrill
for me, but not
too rough like it
can sometimes
get.
Hours in
the water
with my
iPhone
was
soooo
much fun!
Photo by
Kari :)
B
                                                                                                                 u
                                                                                                                 e
                                                                                                                 n
                                                                                                                 a
Payne (now blue :p)                                               Sykes (now green :p)


                                                                                                                 V
                      Davis
                                                                                                                 i
                                                                                                                 s
                                                                                                                 t
                      Kelly
                      (they still
                                                                                                                 a
                      live there!)


                                     Haha, the house on the hill that used to be behind all the trees, that we
                                                   kids thought was soooo big and scary! :D
And our final stop down Memory Lane, the end to three days of perfection...

Vacation 2011 Southern California

  • 1.
    Best childhood ever! Revisited August 2011 (yup, it’s been 40 years)
  • 2.
    Day 1: We'regoin' to DisneyLand! Frontier and Adventure Lands are still my favorites. Behind me is the line for Splash Mountain, at that time with a 75-minute wait. But when Kari and I got there first thing in the morning, we were on in less than five minutes! We also fit in Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones well before 10:00. The lines went downhill after that. We chose Rancho del Zocalo (the Mexican joint, naturally) for lunch (surprise). This was taken in FantasyLand while we were waiting to get on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride or Peter Pan... dunno what these flowers are, and I haven’t seen any like them before. The Matterhorn was closed (boo), and after going on Space Mountain, we both decided we’d had enough of the fast rides.
  • 3.
    While waiting inline for one of the rides, I texted Steve that we were at DisneyLand yadda-yadda, who at the time was in Laramie, Wyoming on his cross-country trip back from Pennsylvania with Heather, who requested a picture of Winnie the Pooh if we saw him. One disappointment this go-round was the lack of characters roaming the Park, but the Pooh gang had their own set-up for picture taking next to Splash Mountain. Kari and I patiently waited like all the other kids for our turn. :) Tee-hee, Tigger was a total ham and quite the ladies' man! This actually turned into one of my favorite parts of the day, and certainly the cutest... the shade didn’t hurt, either.
  • 4.
    This is Asimo,a robot made by Honda that was being demonstrated at the Innovations exhibit in TomorrowLand. It moves very smoothly, including running and climbing stairs, which is apparently a large feat for a robot, and operates by voice command. Basically it's designed to do various chores, and may eventually be used for things such as hazardous clean-ups, like the nuclear power plant disaster in Japan. I misremember the name of the parade, and the tree was in the way (but again, good shade ;)) and we were pretty far away. It looked good in person, though, and afterward I had an urge to watch 101 Dalmatians. And Steve, The Donald is for you!
  • 5.
    Day 2: Yay, Visits! (Part 1) Bob and June have been in this house in San Dimas for 16 years, and they have gorgeous views of the valley and downtown Los Angeles. Bob had a 1000-same-shape-piece jigsaw puzzle going. June made us yummy wet burritos and fresh peaches for lunch. Bob is now 84 and June is 88, and wow, are they looking and doing good!
  • 6.
    Day 2: Yay, Visits! (Part 2) Kari and I met Bobby, his wife Chris, and Martha (a legend in my family's memories) for dinner at El Cholo, where I had sweet green corn tamales for the first time... gotta love Mexican food twice in one day! Martha gave me a lovely photo book of Payne/Sykes memories. <3 Bobby and Chris. Bobby teaches PE and Science at Imperial MS. Chris also teaches, and they have two boys: Chad who's almost 18, and Kevin, 14.
  • 7.
    Day 3: Huntington Beach, baby! We had originally planned to go to Corona del Mar, but when Kari found out the Snack Shack there was closed, we decided to go to Huntington Beach instead. It's where I remember going as a kid, and we got to have Strips, our favorite, for lunnnch... Also bought an order of them to give to Mike. Btw, he loved them!
  • 8.
    Okay, the surf wasseriously perfect... wild enough to be fun and a thrill for me, but not too rough like it can sometimes get.
  • 9.
    Hours in the water withmy iPhone was soooo much fun!
  • 10.
  • 11.
    B u e n a Payne (now blue :p) Sykes (now green :p) V Davis i s t Kelly (they still a live there!) Haha, the house on the hill that used to be behind all the trees, that we kids thought was soooo big and scary! :D
  • 12.
    And our finalstop down Memory Lane, the end to three days of perfection...