I got stuck on a roller coaster in the happiest place on earth

No stay in Los Angeles would be complete without a trip to the happiest place on earth - Disneyland.

We grabbed a park hopper so we could go between the two Anaheim parks, Disneyland and Disney's California Adventures. And surprisingly, despite being three grown adults, Sarah, Kate and I had a fabulous time.

I really liked Disneyland compared to the parks in Orlando. They were close, so you could walk between the two rather than riding one of those annoying tram trains between the 5 or 6 Disney World parks. And it felt like there were so many more rides. In any Disney World park, it seems there are only two "adult" roller coasters, but here we spent the entire day riding.

On the ride below, the guy seating us said, "Did the three of you want to ride together in the same car? It might be a little tight, but you can do it." So we said, sure! We didn't know that "it might be a little tight" meant Sarah wouldn't be able to fully sit down! You can see she is half sitting on Kate and me. It was absurd, but so much fun, we just giggled the entire time.

One oddity, we didn't see Mickey and Minnie or Cinderella or Snow White or Nemo. I'm not sure if the economy has forced Disney to cut back on their character staff or what, but it was very disappointing that on Sarah's first trip to Disney that she didn't get a hug from Mickey Mouse or an O-H-I-O picture with the Little Mermaid. The only Disney character I saw was Aladdin taking pictures with some kids - and he wasn't even there with Jasmine! We had to resort to taking pictures of Mickey and Minnie inanimate sculptures.


I had a new "first" at Disney - I got stuck on a roller coaster. Despite years of riding at Cedar Point, I had never been on a ride when it broke down. We were on California Screamin', just launching from the loading zone when we were stopped and stuck for almost an hour. They were rescuing the cars stuck on the hills first before they got to us.


Here's the service guys helping the last passengers off our train at the next safe unloading zone of the track:

Can you imagine being stuck on that hill?

For getting stuck for an hour, we were given a fast pass to -ANY- ride we wanted. (Remember the word any.. it is important in a minute.) They said even if they didn't have a fast pass lane for the ride, we could use the voucher, and they would let us in the exit and right onto the ride. Since it was late in the evening already, we decided we'd use the fast pass for the last ride we wanted to get on before we left: The Toy Story 4D ride (whatever 4D means... I don't quite understand how there can be more than 3D).

So we walk up to Toy Story Mania and say we want to use the fast pass... and the gentleman, very annoyed, tells us "You can't use that fast pass on this ride." To which we explain, no they told us it was valid on any ride, and he points out the fine print "NOT VALID FOR TOY STORY MANIA." Unbelievable.
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We ended up using the fast pass to get back on the Tower of Terror, which was a blast both times we rode it.

We got the front row the second time though, which was definitely worth it. Later that night I dreamed I was on a falling elevator. I think there was a direct correlation with the Tower.

Have you ever been stuck on a roller coaster? :)

Have you been spit on by a rock star lately?

Well, I wasn't actually spit on by Ryan Star, but I very easily could have been, I was so close... as could those ladies in the photo below, who I can best describe as 45-year-old groupies.

The crowd at the Ryan Star concert can only be described as random.
You have the punk rock chicks, all in black with torn fishnets and eyebrow piercings. They were there with their hard rock boyfriends with pants down to their knees and chains and gauges.
You have the 45-year-old groupies, who fawned over him and acted like they were long lost friends, and he tried his best to find a balance between acknowledging them to keep them happy and buying his cds and ignoring them so not to encourage them too much and keep his sanity.
There was the mother with her two small children that stood right in front of me - the only people between me and Ryan Star. I was very confused why a club that only allows adults over 21 in would permit kids probably 5 and 7. I may have only been irritated at their presence because they were closer to the Ryan than I was. (At least I'm honest about my own selfish inclinations).
And then there was Angie and I. I'd be interested in knowing what the other people at the concert thought of the two little clean cut girls sipping wine.

Wine was definitely not the drink of choice at the Troubador - where we went to see Ryan Star. He was technically opening for Thriving Ivory, but I'll be honest, it was a Tuesday - a work night - and I didn't care to stay for the main act. I went to see my Rockstar Supernova star and left.

The Troubador itself was really cool though. It has been in West Hollywood since 1967 and has apparently been helping launch musician's careers ever since, like Elton John and James Taylor.

The scene itself reminded me of the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, but smaller. Just a small area to stand around the stage and a couple rows of seats in an upper balcony over the bar. I really liked the setup though because it was so intimate.

I took a lot of pictures... but mostly I just enjoyed the music. I mentioned in a previous blog post, I discovered Ryan when he was on Rockstar Supernova and liked his songs ever since. I figured he would always kind of be that unknown, undiscovered star who I would really like listening to but no one would really know who he was. Needless to say, I was super excited the first time I heard Breathe on the radio. I hope it is a good break for him.

The concert obviously had everyone on their feet (there were no chairs), but Ryan had everyone up and moving anyway. He was pretty candid about it too. He was like, look if you want to dance, dance, and if you want to jump, jump, and don't be sitting there thinking you are too cool to get into the music. I appreciated his down to earth personality, not to mention his expressive performance and awesome music! :)

I have two of his cds: 11:59 and Songs from the Eye of an Elephant. I'd definitely recommend both (yes, this blog post is now turning into a plug). But seriously, he's a great musician.
Check him out. :) http://www.rstar.net/

We send M!ch*g@n fans to Alcatraz

I got locked in at Alcatraz.


Until they found out I was a Buckeye of course because the entire first block of cells is dedicated to Wolverine fans only.

Ok, maybe I watch too many movies or just have a way-too-active imagination, but getting on the boat to Alcatraz, I had visions of accidentally wandering into someplace the tourists aren't meant to see and being locked up in some unknown section of the once maximum-security penitentiary, and I spend the rest of my life trying to escape from an island prison where in the 29 years it was in operation, 36 prisoners attempted, and all but five were recaptured or "were otherwise accounted for" (found dead in the freezing waters of the bay) - and even those last five were presumed dead. Not good odds.

And the informational booklet they hand you before you get on the boat doesn't help these fears. It explains "Some sections of Alcatraz are unsafe and thus closed to public visitation. DO NOT enter these areas." I'm telling you - something is going on behind closed doors. Should have packed my wet suit in my purse that day. :P

(I think it is a good thing I never watched Shutter Island because the previews alone were enough to plant the seed of concern.)



There is a lot about Alcatraz you'd never guess. Like the fact that kids lived there, playing hopscotch beside the most notorious criminals ever. While Alcatraz was open as a prison, families and children of many of the correctional officers lived in apartments on the island. The kids rode a ferry over to San Francisco for school and came home to the island every evening. Can you imagine being a San Fran kid invited to a birthday slumber party on the Rock?

And who knew that after the prisoners left, Native Americans and birds moved in?
After the penitentiary closed, there was a 19-month American Indian occupation and protest, and then the lands were designated as a national park and it is now a tourist trap and bird sanctuary. The entire place was covered with birds!

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Fun fact from the Alcatraz Island National Park website:
Did You Know?
The red dot on an adult gull’s lower mandible (beak) serves as a target for chicks to peck to inform their parent that they need feeding.
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We did an audio tour of the island, which was actually a surprisingly great guide. They took you step by step through the prison, providing not only facts but stories from former prison guards and prisoners and tales of the breakout attempts.

After the audio tour, we took in the sights of San Fran. I always expected Alcatraz to be completely isolated - far from civilization - but the city was surprisingly close. The prisoners said it was truly torture to be able to hear the sounds of San Francisco night life drifting across the bay - "so close, but so far away" could never be so accurate.


Needless to say, I wasn't locked up on the island. They let me back on the tourist ferry back to Pier 33. But I'm just lucky I didn't stumble onto one of those closed, unsafe areas... I'm just sayin...

New Adventure #6: FOG is the best word to describe the city

Adventure #6: San Francisco

My first time to sunny northern California. It should practically be a different state because there is definitely nothing "sunny" about San Francisco. When my mom told me to bring a jacket because it was cold, I was expecting it to be a little chilly in the evenings... not wearing a sweater and a jacket at noon.

It was a fun trip nonetheless. My favorite part was definitely the bike ride - through the fog. My mom, sister and I rented bikes to ride across the Golden Gate (2 miles on the bridge, an 8-mile trip overall to Sausalito a SUNNY town on the opposite side of the bridge).

When we went out that morning, I told my mom how disappointed I was that I wasn't going to get very good pictures of the Golden Gate because of the fog, and she just laughed at me and said, well that will be the true San Francisco. And she couldn't have been more correct (moms always are). But seriously - I picked up a "San Francisco attractions" book for tourists and fog was listed. See the Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Ghiradelli Square, Fisheman's Wharf and fog.



Of course, being HUGE Ohio State fans (all three of us alums), my mom, sister and I had to get an O-H-I-O pic with the Golden Gate. We were in a biking tour group, which was great because I got to learn all kinds of history and fun facts along the way from our guide. For example, the city of San Francisco is planning a $45 million (yes FORTY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS) net to prevent suicides off the bridge. I'll be honest.. that concept blows my mind for a state in such dire straights. But regardless, we were in a tour group with people from all over (some M*ch!g@n fans, some visitors from England and other European countries), and I can only imagine what some of those who aren't familiar with the tradition of spelling out the name of our school thought of what we were doing. Our tour guide was from Ireland, and he wanted to know the website where the pics are posted.


I'd recommend a bike tour to anyone visiting San Fran. My mom was nervous to make such a long bike ride, but it was relaxing for the most part - with a few GIANT hills, and it honestly can be enjoyable by people with all levels of biking experience. :) Here is my mom and I on the Golden Gate:



We did a little shopping over in Sausalito.. got some ice cream, mostly because we could smell them making fresh waffle cones and it was simply unbearable to walk by without buying some. Then we took a ferry back across the bay. I thought it'd be a great idea to ride in the front of the ferry back so I could get sweet (FOGGY) shots of San Fran. It was a great idea until about halfway across.. when it suddenly became a splash zone. At first, it was just a little mist. Then a few drops, and then I got hit by a wave. At that point, I retreated, cold and soaking wet to the inside seating on the boat.



We stayed in Fisherman's Wharf, which was ironic because I don't really like sea food and that was all there seemed to be available. Except for the Boudin bakery..... MMMMmmm. I admittedly could live on bread (and ice cream) but I have never really had a taste for sour dough. My mom told me, "This sour dough is different. You're going to like it..." and again, of course, mother knows best.

Apparently, San Francisco's awful weather is the perfect climate to make sour dough. Who knew that the WEATHER could affect baking. The sourdough's flavor is produced by a strain of lactobacillus (bacteria found in wine, cheese, etc) that thrives in the San Fran climate - and the climate slows down the fermentation process to allow the dough more time before it rises making it more flavorful. The bread-making process at Boudin is still a 72-hour process while elsewhere in commercialized bread making it takes about two.

So moral of the story, whenever anything doesn't taste right in the kitchen from here on out, I'm blaming it on the weather. It is too hot, too cold, it's the humidity that is really messing up my cooking. But honestly, the reason their bread tastes so good is a combination of the weather and the fact that Boudin still uses the bread starter from the original mother dough from way back in the 1850s. Very cool, huh. Can you tell I took the bakery tour?


In addition to making delicious tasting bread and other bread products like pizza, Boudin also makes bread in cool animal shapes, like teddy bears, crabs, and alligators. They even make a race car one. It sometimes doesn't take much to impress me.

I was, however, unimpressed by "the painted ladies," which is often advertised as the Full House house. I went looking for John Stamos - who I saw live in Bye Bye Birdie in New York last December. But Uncle Jessie wasn't there, probably because NEITHER WAS THE HOUSE. I later learned, thanks to Wikipedia, that the actual Full House house is at 1709 Broderick Street, dangit, but I also learned Full House was only ever filmed in San Fran once. According again to Wikipedia, "the sitcom itself was taped at Warner Brother Studios in Los Angeles. The only episode to have actually been taped in San Francisco was "Comet's Excellent Adventure", the first episode of Season 8." So if I ever go back I guess I have to go to Broderick Street. At least I saw the place where the family picnicked - Alamo Square which overlooks the painted ladies.


We were total tourists in San Francisco and rode a cable car.



Sometime there is a choice between a photo opportunity and safety. I went with photo opp and stuck my arm out into the street while hanging on for dear life with the other arm.


We drove down the "crookedest" street in the world - Lombard St. Pretty much a total tourist attraction, and I have no idea why anyone would want to live there. You have to wind down 8 hairpin turns to park your car in your garage, you have to deal with tourists driving and walking up and down beside your house all day, I just simply do not see the appeal in having my house there, but to each their own. In the distance below you can see Coit Tower, which overlooks the city on Telegraph Hill.


Quite a hike up to the tower. We had to stop and ask directions of this little old lady. She has been around for 7 decades, she told us, and she still does this daily walk up the steps to the tower. She told us about everything we'd see along the way, right down to the detail of this apartment where this woman has a carousel horse and a grand piano, who used to have naked mannequins in the window until the city made her take them down. She told us about this little park to go through and there was a Levi's jeans museum if we were interested in reading postcards and letters to the company. And it was quite a climb. I wish I would have counted how many steps, but there were A LOT. A good workout. I can see why this little old lady is in her seventh decade and she will probably live for 10 decades if she works out like that every day! Plus, saw this cool flower growing on the way up the hill..



Great views of the city from Coit Tower, a tribute to the firefighters of San Francisco. The pics were cloudy from the fog and had weird reflections from the glass, but it was a spectacular sight to see!



So San Francisco was a nice little adventure. I've saved Alcatraz for a separate post because this one is obnoxiously long, but I hope you've enjoyed reading about Adventure #5. I PROMISE I will eventually get to posting about Adventure # 2 - #4. Maybe this week if I get the time. :)

The name of the city I'm living in includes the word "Beach" - life is good

I don't think anyone who lives in a town with a name that includes the word "beach" should ever be unhappy. It is unbelievably relaxing to come home from a long, hard day at work and walk two blocks to the ocean. Or for me, I bike down the two blocks to "The Strand" (a 22-mile bike path from Santa Monica to Redondo Beach) and ride beside the sand and surf.



(Some pics I took on my last bike ride up the Strand to Manhattan Beach)

So I now live in Hermosa Beach. Who are Hermosa Beach's notable residents? According to Wikipedia, some notables (besides myself, of course) are: Carson Daly, Kerri Walsh (pro volleyball player), and A.J. Cook (the actress from Criminal Minds. And yes I like that show. Because rather than the OC and Gossip Girl, I like JAG, and Numbers, and the Mentalist and other shows that only 40 year old men watch).

Another notable resident: Ryan Starr. I got a little excited when I read that Ryan Star lived in Hermosa Beach.. right until I noticed the extra R in the last name. In fact, Ryan Starr (two Rs) is the name of the America Idol contestant (and her name isn't actually Ryan Starr at all it is Tiffany Ryan Montgomery). Ryan Star (one R) is the name of the male musician I really like who sings Last Train Home, Breathe and Back of Your Car,, and he unfortunately does NOT live in Hermosa Beach. I became a fan of Ryan - and Toby Rand (lead singer of Juke Kartel) - when I saw them on Rock Star Supernova, one of the crappy reality TV shows that I really kind of enjoyed. I'm considering seeing Ryan's show at the Troubador in a few weeks. Tickets are only $12 and it might be a nice little intimate setting. Maybe I'll meet him like I did Juke Kartel freshman year in Columbus:



I shouldn't hope for that though. The last time I went to something hoping to catch a glimpse of someone, it didn't happen. Went to see RENT at the Hollywood Bowl with my mom... and I was praying I'd see Neil Patrick Harris at the end (he directed it). The Hollywood Bowl was sweet. You can take your own food in - and people do. And I don't mean picnics of ham sandwiches and potato chips, I mean gourmet meals and wine. It was my first time seeing RENT, and the show was great - packed with celebrity actors and actresses, great singers and music. But did the director ever make an appearance? No. Not at all. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed.

Still hoping for a celebrity meeting while living in LA. And I don't mean I went to some guy's concert and I met him afterwards. I mean, I want to run into a celeb at the bar, hang out and drink a margarita together. I have seven months to accomplish this goal.