40/20 5+ State Tour!

Guest · 21 Aug 14, 07:59 PM

Well, really this is a "post-trip" as I'm posting this after we came back, but we'll call it an introduction!

The cast

Me: 40, chief planner, wife, mum to 2, HLTA. Previous visit highlights: NY, San Diego, LA, San Francisco & several places in between, Boston, Niagara & a lot of Florida 3 years ago

DH, 43, happy to go along with all my crazy ideas, loves the USA & California in particular (spent several family holidays out there as a teenager because his Dad worked in LA & has been to more of the country than me – several long road trips ie from Colorado to LA, up the CA coast to Seattle)

DS, 16, personable teenager who is especially interested in books & history & perfectly reasonable so long as you feed him regularly & make sure he gets enough sleep!

DD, 12, chatty, happy pre-teen who adores her brother & loves our road trips. There are several things planned that she’s not sure she’ll enjoy but “…thinks they might be like Kennedy!” a reference to our Florida trip 3 years ago when we went to Kennedy Space Center & she was bored & grumpy in the morning but by the end of the day was calling everything “awesome” – she’s right about that!

This trip was planned to celebrate several things; my 40th birthday, ds’ 16th birthday/school leaving/exam taking & our 20th wedding anniversary. Our honeymoon was to New York, LA & San Francisco so we will be re-tracing some steps as well as visiting new places.
3 years ago we went on our first ever trip to Florida to celebrate dh's 40th & did WDW, Universal, Discovery Cove, Kennedy, a stop on the Gulf Coast & then drove down to the Keys, staying down there for several days followed by a quick trip to Miami before flying home. We like a busy holiday & aren’t afraid to drive & pack stuff in!

Other relevant information:
We moved my mum & dad (who are in their 80s) in with us 5 years ago. They have both had several health challenges since & when we went to Florida my mum had been in hospital for about 10 days already & was in a very bad way, I genuinely did not think she would still be here when we got home but she & my dad INSISTED that we go on our trip. In total she was in hospital for 3 weeks & even when she got out was very poorly. It didn’t “ruin” our holiday but it cast a long shadow & made for a stressful return as we battled her back to health.

They have averaged one hospital stay a year since we moved in, mostly alternating with each other. In January mum fell & broke her hip & my dh foolishly said “that’s our hospital stay for this year then” & I yelled at him not to jinx us. Sure enough, the Saturday before we were due to leave this time my mum had a stroke. She seemed to make a miraculous recovery & was home after 5 days the day before we left…

Itinerary:
31st July fly to NYC with Norwegian
3rd August fly Delta to Las Vegas, collect car stay at Hard Rock Hotel
5th August drive to Anaheim
9th August night in San Luis Obispo on our way up PCH
10th August drive up to Monterey
12th August to San Francisco
15th August fly United to Washington DC
18th/19th August fly home via Reyjavik with IcelandAir

Things booked ahead of time:
• All hotels & flights & car (making sure not to pay a one way fee as we found out it’s illegal to charge one between Nevada & California but that doesn’t stop them trying!)
• Tickets for The Crown at The Statue of Liberty
• A whale watching trip while in Monterey
• A Giants game in San Francisco, an Alcatraz tour for the boys & a Bay cruise for the girls
• The Monument & a tour of The Capitol in DC
We have a rough itinerary planned but everything is subject to change…

lovedisney89 · 22 Aug 14, 09:58 AM

Sounds fab

abiknox · 22 Aug 14, 12:25 PM

Looking forward to thins one

21 Aug 14, 07:59 PM	#1
	21 Aug 14, 07:59 PM Guest Guest
Guest Guest	40/20 5+ State Tour! Well, really this is a "post-trip" as I'm posting this after we came back, but we'll call it an introduction! The cast Me: 40, chief planner, wife, mum to 2, HLTA. Previous visit highlights: NY, San Diego, LA, San Francisco & several places in between, Boston, Niagara & a lot of Florida 3 years ago DH, 43, happy to go along with all my crazy ideas, loves the USA & California in particular (spent several family holidays out there as a teenager because his Dad worked in LA & has been to more of the country than me – several long road trips ie from Colorado to LA, up the CA coast to Seattle) DS, 16, personable teenager who is especially interested in books & history & perfectly reasonable so long as you feed him regularly & make sure he gets enough sleep! DD, 12, chatty, happy pre-teen who adores her brother & loves our road trips. There are several things planned that she’s not sure she’ll enjoy but “…thinks they might be like Kennedy!” a reference to our Florida trip 3 years ago when we went to Kennedy Space Center & she was bored & grumpy in the morning but by the end of the day was calling everything “awesome” – she’s right about that! This trip was planned to celebrate several things; my 40th birthday, ds’ 16th birthday/school leaving/exam taking & our 20th wedding anniversary. Our honeymoon was to New York, LA & San Francisco so we will be re-tracing some steps as well as visiting new places. 3 years ago we went on our first ever trip to Florida to celebrate dh's 40th & did WDW, Universal, Discovery Cove, Kennedy, a stop on the Gulf Coast & then drove down to the Keys, staying down there for several days followed by a quick trip to Miami before flying home. We like a busy holiday & aren’t afraid to drive & pack stuff in! Other relevant information: We moved my mum & dad (who are in their 80s) in with us 5 years ago. They have both had several health challenges since & when we went to Florida my mum had been in hospital for about 10 days already & was in a very bad way, I genuinely did not think she would still be here when we got home but she & my dad INSISTED that we go on our trip. In total she was in hospital for 3 weeks & even when she got out was very poorly. It didn’t “ruin” our holiday but it cast a long shadow & made for a stressful return as we battled her back to health. They have averaged one hospital stay a year since we moved in, mostly alternating with each other. In January mum fell & broke her hip & my dh foolishly said “that’s our hospital stay for this year then” & I yelled at him not to jinx us. Sure enough, the Saturday before we were due to leave this time my mum had a stroke. She seemed to make a miraculous recovery & was home after 5 days the day before we left… Itinerary: 31st July fly to NYC with Norwegian 3rd August fly Delta to Las Vegas, collect car stay at Hard Rock Hotel 5th August drive to Anaheim 9th August night in San Luis Obispo on our way up PCH 10th August drive up to Monterey 12th August to San Francisco 15th August fly United to Washington DC 18th/19th August fly home via Reyjavik with IcelandAir Things booked ahead of time: • All hotels & flights & car (making sure not to pay a one way fee as we found out it’s illegal to charge one between Nevada & California but that doesn’t stop them trying!) • Tickets for The Crown at The Statue of Liberty • A whale watching trip while in Monterey • A Giants game in San Francisco, an Alcatraz tour for the boys & a Bay cruise for the girls • The Monument & a tour of The Capitol in DC We have a rough itinerary planned but everything is subject to change… Edited at 08:14 PM.