Universal City on Sunday

Motzei Shabbos we had the famous blog dinner which will be adequate re-reported in the Psycho ward, so I will move onto Sunday.

First of all, we got sort of a late start because our husbands decided to go to the hospital and round first, which didn't turn out at all as they planned, but is adequate reported here.

Then we had to pack some tuna sandwiches. This is an important part of any trip, as has been chronicled before and yes, even in California, people pack a cooler with tuna sandwiches. Personally, I had the eggsalad and it was great.

We went to Universal Studios. I really wanted to see where Jay Leno filmed the Tonight Show, but this was not that place. That place only had tours on Mon-Fri, so we had to settle for a theme park. Little did I know, until I was on the tour, that this is where they taped that award winning and never-forgettable saga - Columbo. We were in the presence of history.

For these past 16 years we have been visiting theme parks with strollers, diaper bags and yes, tuna sandwiches in tow, pockets stuffed with Kleenex and 15 other things we might need. This trip was different. First of all, it was the most expensive theme park I have been to, and has less rides and attractions than any other, (I think you pay for the Columbo factor). But I digress.

The point is - We left the kids at home! On purpose! (lest you think otherwise).

This was a double date, for grownups. We still made numerous bathroom stops and still had to stuff Kleenex in our pockets, but other than that, it was just fun. The park is full of subliminal advertising for Universal movies and shows. Some of it wasn't subliminal, it was actually kind of obvious. At the end of every ride/show someone said "The new King Kong movie, in theaters this coming Wednesday, is AWESOME!"

The shows that we saw had first rate talent - the kind of talent that goes out to California to make it big in the TV/movie business and winds up doing stunts in a Waterworld Show at a theme park, maybe you know the kind? Anyway, it beats the kind that does the Batman Thrill Show in Gurnee Illinois from May to Sept.

As you can see in the picture, I am next to Storm from the X-Men Playstation Game and Mark is next to Capt. America, who I think is wearing his own chest there.

We went on the Studio Tour, which was by far the coolest ever, and the Jurassic Park ride (which was Pirates of the Caribbean with Dinosaurs and a mean 84 foot drop) and a Mummy ride, which I do not recommend for people of sound or unsound mind or body. Certainly Mrs. Bean and I did not enjoy it, and we fancied that we may have taken years off of our lives just then. We saw the Special Effects show, which was fun and quick paced and the Waterworld show, which actually slowed down when the show started, but if you like to see things on fire I would recommend this. Also we went into the Haunted house, though I can't remember why. There was a simulator ride for Back to the Future that we declined, and we skipped the Backdraft show. But other than that, we did everything there.

Universal Studios is not a theme park for kids, certainly not little kids. (Pyschotoddlers are allowed however.) It was however, the most fun we have had in years. I think the best part of the park had to be the view of the mountains behind it.

Oh, and I think Universal would like everyone to go out and see King Kong at least once. (I don't know what made me say that.)

Shabbat in California

The next installment of my vacation post will cover the elements unknown to man, yet perfectly clear to woman, especially a balabusta. We can be reasonably sure I will not be overlapping the PT in his blog.

The pure time mechanics of this trip are that California is 2 hours behind Wisconsin, so Shabbos in Milwaukee started around 2 in LA. Also, if you normally wake up at 7 in Milwaukee, you can sleep an extra 2 hours and still get up at 7 in California. Amazing, I know. I we could bottle this, we would really be in the money, but I digress. Due to some differences in latitude, there is also a half hour lag aside from the time zone issues, but I don't want to muddy the waters.

Shabbat with the Beans was beautiful, but unpretentious, which is good, because Mrs. Balabusta is not about pretense. If my little kids are washed and in pajamas (even at 4 p.m.) before Shabbos starts we are in good shape. I don't think I would get them dressed for company (even if we had company) at that hour. Usually, though, I don't even attempt company at night because I personally am not at my best and my kids definitely are not at their best and that whole ball of stress just goes away if I cede Friday night and only invite company to lunch. Nonetheless we were invited for all of Shabbat, (Wisconsin being a rather long walk home), and it turned out great. I must record the Dr. Beans MIL cooked dinner for Friday night, which included a yummy carrot barley soup, corned beef (Dr.Bean calls this "cow") cabbage, potatoes and chocolate birthday cake by Mrs. Bean for Dr. Bean's Birthday. All this was served on the finest china and serving platters which made a beautiful dining room look positively elegant. My dining room would look like that if I moved the Craftsman tool box down to the basement - and did like 100 more things to it. The Beans in laws joined us for dinner and delightful conversation, where we discussed the finer etiquette of deer hunting and ice fishing. But I digress again.

I wanted to talk about the most important element of being on vacation. While at the Bean's abode, I had to let many things go. Mrs. Balabusta is perpetually in control of many things, close to everything, most, if not all of the time. In California I was in control of little to nothing. Maybe I picked out my clothes in the morning, (wait, my friend J did that for me). I ate what was served, and I loved it. I wore what was packed. I conversed with those at the table. So many of my bundles of joy and stress were handed over to people I know and love, that I was carrying such a light load I was practically floating on air. That was a wonderful feeling. The company was stimulating and entertaining, exhillarating in the sense that you didn't know what to expect or what would come next, but you didn't want to miss anything. And most importantly, we were with friends.

Another interesting note involves Mr. Balabusta, aka the PT or Dr. PT to you. It turns out I have a husband. I was at the wedding in 1987 and I remember flowers and a cake, but the rest is sort of a blur. When you exclude all the background noise, that has become the sounds of your lives, and have the time to actually see and hear each other, it comes back to you, "Yeah, I remember you. Long time no see." The Beans lent us their car on Sunday so we could go out for a "romantic" dinner alone, and I laughed. But it was nice and it was good. Dr. PT commented that in California I was more like I was before we had kids. I have to take his word for it, I don't remember what I was like before kids. Having said that, over vacation I felt like something I haven't been in a long time. I don't know what to call it, but it was good. It wasn't just a vacation for Mrs. Balabusta, it was a vacation from Mrs. Balabusta.

Los Angeles, Friday

This will be a travel blog after the fact, easy on the facts. I am blogging this for no one in particular, but I want to remember this trip very much, so I will record it as it happened, for posterity.

But first, you have to remember what it looked like before we left. So aside from leaving 5 kids behind, we had very good reason to go.

It stopped snowing at midnight, which was good enough for the airport to clear away the snow and get our plane de-iced and ready to leave. Of course some of you will remember it was the same snowy Thursday night that a plane, while landing at Midway in Chicago slid off the runway. But since we weren't flying through Midway, and the snow had stopped we were optomistic. Here is what Milwaukee looked like the next morning.

Our flight was delayed by half an hour because we were waiting for the pilot and then we were waiting for the first mate. Now how would you like it if you showed up to work and had 80 some people waiting for you with their hands on their hips. But I digress. I do want to say that when the pilot did show up (I could see him walk across the tarmak and up the stairs to our plane), he had his pilot's cap, the map briefcase in his right hand and a snowbrush in his left. So what was he going to do, roll down the window and start brushing off the snow? This was in fact, exactly what happened. So here is what happened next:

And so would you.

As we got on the plane my husband and I passed a woman with a baby folding a stroller on the jetway and we commented how it has been a long time since we took a trip without a diaper bag, or a stroller or a baby for that matter and yet here we were.

It didn't last long. I recognized a friend of mine from work with her baby and they were going to California on the same plane so I offered to hold the baby while she secured the car seat and got herself situated. My husband turned around and said, "Well, that lasted like 4 minutes."

Still it was a record.