California here we come!

[Robin 48]

This trip was myself, my husband and, my son who turned 18 on this trip.(How can that be?)

 We left Wisconsin on June 19th at about 8:00 am. We stopped at the American Pickers store in Iowa. It was fun to look around. A few hours later my husband noticed a problem with the tail lights on the van and running lights on the popup. Pull over try a few things and nothing? So we continue on we had a reservation in Nebraska at a campground but, ended up canceling it. We stopped for dinner and it was starting to storm. There was no way we where putting up the camper in a storm and with lights not working. We ended up pulling in a rest stop till first light.

 Are next stop was in Strasburg Colorado at a KOA. We spent 3 nights here. The pros very nice staff, clean nice bathrooms, restaurant on premises. The cons very close sites, grounds could use a little TLC , musty smell in game room. We set up had dinner and went right to sleep.

[Tony 27]

I'm in! Hope the tail light running light issue wasn't too bad of a fix.

[Robin 48]

Thanks I will be getting back to this.

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

 

How was the American Picker's store?  How were the prices?

You were smart to not go on with the light issue and coming storm.

[Robin 48]

The pickers store was smaller than on tv. They have the two buildings which are right next to each other. A lot of stuff is not for sale just fun to look at. Other stuff was priced like what they say on tv. Just fun to look around if your a fan of the show.

[Robin 48]

The real reason for going out west was a car show. The Buick Nationals were being held near Denver this year. My husband is a big Buick guy. It is his Hobby and his business.

After breakfast we drove about 30 min to the show. We where there for about 3 hours. After that we got to mix business with pleasure. We went to The Garden of the Gods. It was really beautiful! We brought bikes from home and did a little biking around. Well honestly I had to walk up the hills so a little bit of walking. They do have bikes to rent has well has Segway and jeep tours. After biking we did a little bit of walking the trails the have signs up along the way with info on the park. There is a really nice visitor center with a café, bathrooms, a small museum and, a short movie.( We skipped the movie there was a charge.)  All three of us really loved it here! 

When we got back to the camper we had dinner and went to bed we where exhausted but in a good way. 

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Thanks for the info on Pickers store.  Good to visit.

[Robin 48]

Next day was about the same. Had breakfast went to the show for a few hours and, went hiking at Red Rock Canyon.

 Had a bit of trouble parking here because there was some kind of hippy fest going on. They have a amphitheater here where they hold concerts. Today was one of those days. It was a band I never heard of. A quick goggle search and I guess they have been around for a while. Well lets just say we got a free show has well as a hike. They have a small museum with memorabilia from area musicians that have become famous. Also bathrooms and a small gift shop. Once again very beautiful! Lots of trails to pick from and different degrees of difficulty. Once away from the crowds it was very peaceful and a nice hike we even saw a deer. It took a while to get out of the parking lot due to the fact that people really where not paying attention or could not pay attention to the fact that a large 12 person van was coming right at them. Good thing my husband is a very patient person. Got back to the campground had dinner and bed time.

[Robin 48]

Friday morning up early. Went to the area auto parts store got parts for the lights. Back at the campground my husband worked on the lights. I made breakfast my son starting to get things together to pack up. Well failure on the lights still not working. Pack up and get going. We head back to the show for a few more hours. We are back on the road. We make a stop in Las Vegas stop at the Pawn shop Gold and Silver Pawn where the TV show is filmed. We take some photos and look around. Next we head over to Count Kustoms from the TV show. They have a free little tour where you can look at some of the cars. This was a nice break from being in the car. We stop for the night in Elk City Utah at a KOA. This was a nice campground. It was very hot here! We had beautiful weather in Colorado high 70's and lows in mid 60's. We had dinner on the road so it was straight to bed for us.

[shoreline99 137]

My son was hiking at red rocks on the 29th! Not sure when you were there. The Avett Brothers were playing that weekend, he said.

[ImDownWithDisney 342]

I would love to visit red rocks. I've been close but never seem to take the time

[Robin 48]

We where there on the 20th it was Kaleo.

[Robin 48]

You should go it was really something! Just watch out for hippies lol!

[dblr....Rennie 224]

Visited Red Rocks just after a day of skiing at A-Basin last February and have added it to our list of things to see and do next time we camp in Co.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

The Pickers store in Nashville called Antique Archeology is pretty big.  But also pretty expensive.  Mike Wolfe is actually our neighbor...but pretty far back behind us as he has a nice big piece of land.  It's fun to see the cool old cars and motorcycles that he leaves his driveway in. Some I've recognized from the show.   

Add me to the list of people who have attending a concert at Red Rocks on the bucket list.  I've wanted to do that since U2 released their live EP from there in the early 80s.

 

 

[Robin 48]

We thought the Nashville store was bigger. We where there a few years ago. The original building was to us small and there was only a few other people in it. New building was bigger but was a lot of merchandise.

Still fun to see the items up close that they show on TV. Funny story a older guy was at the counter pretty upset because he wanted to see Danielle. He drove all the way to see her. The workers said oh sorry she is busy today you can see us. He was getting pretty heated about it so we left. I'm sure they get that all the time.

 That is cool that Mike is your neighbor!

[Robin 48]

We arrived at the Anaheim Harbor RV park before it got dark has we still had no working running lights. This park is about a mile from Disneyland. You could see the fireworks really good! It's not a bad park considering your in the city. We did not like that our van had to be parked about 5 spaces away. It was a bit of a pain going back and forth. They had some gas grills set up for anyone to use. Also had a club house with a TV, snack machine, toaster oven, microwave and a Keurig. We took advantage of all of this. Bathrooms nice and clean and very modern. Dinner was at the Taco Bell down the street. We walked there saw some homeless people but they did not bother us. We set up and went to bed very excited to be here!

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I’m really enjoying reading your report. Thanks for sharing. 

Been to GOTG (brother lives in the Springs) and Red Rock but there was no concert at the time. It definitely would be  cool to see one there. 

Was this your first time to Disneyland?

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

On 7/12/2018 at 7:54 AM, DaveInTN said:

The Pickers store in Nashville called Antique Archeology is pretty big.  But also pretty expensive.  Mike Wolfe is actually our neighbor...but pretty far back behind us as he has a nice big piece of land.  It's fun to see the cool old cars and motorcycles that he leaves his driveway in. Some I've recognized from the show.   

Add me to the list of people who have attending a concert at Red Rocks on the bucket list.  I've wanted to do that since U2 released their live EP from there in the early 80s.

 

 

Btw how long does that VPO Mike Wolfe filed on you last?

and how many feet away do you need to stay from his driveway?

[Robin 48]

Thanks for reading! Yes, first time to Disneyland and California also first for Colorado and Utah.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

6 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

Btw how long does that VPO Mike Wolfe filed on you last?

and how many feet away do you need to stay from his driveway?

Ha, I'm pretty sure he has no clue who I am.  I'm just the creepy guy who points at all the cool cars he drives.  

[Robin 48]

Today we had a light breakfast. We are going to Six Flags Magic Mountain. We have a Six Flags membership that allows us to go to any Six Flags Park. We also have a dining pass that you pay once and get a snack, lunch and dinner every visit for the season. We also all get a drink bottle so free soft drinks every visit as well.

 Once we arrive we see the parking lot is huge. You have the choice of walking in or taking a tram. We took the tram. We waited about 10 min to get thru bag check security and to scan our ticket. We have been to about half of the Six Flags and this was probably our favorite. They have a good mix of rides and, we saw a really good show. I am not a big thrills person and usually end up holding everything but, I was surprised at how much I rode. We had a great time here we walked in about 10:45 and left when it closed at 9. We got to do a lot not everything but a lot. They also had good food choices we did not leave hungry. We decided to walk back to the car there was a long line for the tram. It was a long walk and we where tired we should of waited.

 Got back to the camper and got ready for bed. One thing about this resort is they have 2 tenting spots that are right next and I mean right next to the bathrooms. If your a light sleeper this could be a problem.

Up next finally Disney!

[Robin 48]

Today was Disney day and my sons 18th birthday. If you have kids you know how fast time goes bye.

 The plan was to ride our bikes over but, somewhere along the way to California, I got a flat. We decided to walk. First my son had to have Taco bell and Starbucks they where on the way it was his birthday so we stopped there first.

 We got to Downtown Disney in about 20 min. Not much of a line thru security walked thru onto Disneyland. Not much of a wait here to get in.

First thing was to fast pass for space mountain. Next we rode Buzz, autopia and, Nemo. We had some time before our fast pass so we watched the trailer for the new Ant man movie. It is right next to Space. We rode space and liked sitting next to each other it also seemed smoother. Next we hit up Fantasyland and rode everything in there. There is so many rides in here! My son got a treat and I ran and got fast pass for Big Thunder. We met back up and rode a few things and it was about 2:15 I wanted to see the parade my son did not. He went and found a outlet and charged his phone. My husband and I got a spot for the parade. From reading others post we watched from the area across from it's a Small world. This was a great spot! It was a cute parade we enjoyed it. After this we met up with my son and pulled a fast pass for the Matterhorn ride. We rode Big Thunder and, by now was getting hungry. We left and went to Downtown Disney we ate at Tortilla Jos Taqueria counter service. It was the worst food it was really bad! A big disappointment!

 Went back into the park and got my son a birthday button headed over to the Matterhorn it was down so we could come back anytime. We rode Haunted Mansion and, Pirates. We all loved Pirates a lot especially my son. Went back and rode the Matterhorn sled ride it was fun but, needs a little more padding on the seat. Toontown was getting ready to close we had 10 min. We went in and rode Rodger Rabbit. We got off and my son says I don't even know what I just saw. He never saw the movie and I was no help because I have not seen it in a long time. It is a little strange.  My son wanted to ride Splash so went there next. I skipped this one I did not feel like getting wet. While they rode that the ship from Fantasmic sailed right past me. I walked over by the area the show was going on. We opted not to watch this. I found a spot with a few others by a counter service place that was closed and watched from there. It was not the best spot but, it was good for a walk up. After the Riverboat sailed out I walked over by Splash and got some pics of it as it sailed bye. Found my boys just getting off splash and decided to call it a night.

 The walk back was not fun it took us 35 min we where tired and hungry. Once back my husband and son went out and got me a new tire we would not walk back again. They also stopped at Pizza Press and brought back some food. This was really good and it hit the spot. After dinner we went to bed. We had a great day!

[Tony 27]

Nice!

[Robin 48]

Today I went to the clubhouse to make breakfast sandwiches. We have a micro in are pop but it is low and small. This was a nice size one on a counter and they also had a toaster oven so I could make a few at a time. I was the only one in there so I turned on the tv while they cooked. The boys worked on my bike tire. After all this we headed out. I must say bikes was way better than walking! The bike rack is past security so they take your bike for you then you walk in and take your bike. Not to bad of a line. I forgot the day before a women in front of me had a knife with her. They quickly pulled her to the side and called for back up.

 Today we are going to California Adventure. Once we got in had to look at a map it looks like MGM but different it felt strange. Cars land was first on the list. We head over there and can't find fast pass machine? Oh it's in A Bugs Land oh of course it would be. Waited in line about 5 min and helped a family new to Disney with how fast pass worked. They had no idea what they where in line for. Pulled fast passes about by now it was close to 10 the passes return time 9:05 pm! We walked around Bugs land a little and headed out. The park was super busy! We walked around a bit talked about what we wanted to do. We ended up on Monster Inc it had a 35 min wait. We all really liked this ride it was really cute.

Next my son wanted the water ride wait time was 70 min. He found the single rider line and they went in. I went to get fast passes for the Incredicoaster. I headed over to Pixar Place and found mobs of people. I was waiting in line when my son texted me they had ridden the ride and where all done. I told them I would meet them back there. Fast passes in hand I met them and said lets do the Redwood Creek trail. This is a great area nice and quiet we enjoyed it. We had hopper passes so we went back to Disneyland. My son wanted Pirates again so headed over there only 20 min wait. We then went on the Riverboat and had a bonus ,Princess Tiana was on board with us. I was the first one in line for a  picture. After this I suggested we paddle canoes. They both looked at me and said really you want to do that. I had heard it was fun so I talked them into it. We had a blast are guide was great and kept telling jokes. Now we where getting hungry so we headed out.

 We went back to the camper and cooked on the grill. After dinner was done we headed back. Without our bikes this would not have been possible.

 We went back in to California Adventure and my son and I rode the coaster my husband was not feeling it. It was a great ride a lot of fun. My son took my husbands pass and got in line to ride again. He was next to get on when it went down for the night. We got lucky we got to ride it when we did. This area was still a mess so headed over to Cars land. We rode the rides in there with little wait has the parade was about to start. We got in line for Radiator Springs and waited about 20 min has by now the parade was ending. Again we all loved this ride! My husband was done for the night and went back to the camper. My son and I headed back to Disneyland. We took pictures of the castle and rode Buzz again. My husband called me and said be careful a homeless man was yelling cuss words in the alley by the resort when he got back. My son and I walked around Main Street and a few shops and headed out.

 All was quiet when we got back we did not see or hear the man. Another busy day we went right to bed.