A Kelley-fornia Adventure, Part 1: Road Trip!

After a very busy summer of All Star baseball, summer camps, and VBS, we were ready for a vacation!!!  This time, the Suburban Kelley's were headed to California!!!

This trip has not just been a few months or a year in the making.  This trip has been planned since our honeymoon in 1999!!!!  Craig and I absolutely love San Diego and could not wait to go back.  It never worked out for various reasons...until now.  And we were taking the kids.  And they got to experience all sorts of firsts.

Because our trip was so full, so fun, and packed with events, I am spreading it out over several posts.

First up, the Road Trip!!!

Day 1:
We decided to drive to California, over two days, because it was going to save us lots of money. Plus, we didn't have to worry about how much or how little to pack.  And, it was going to save us lots of money!  Did I mention how much money we would save?  It's a long drive, about 20 hours, so definitely not for a family that doesn't get along. Ha!!!

We left at 4 am on Saturday, the day AFTER VBS and our Family Fun Night.  Which means, we did not get a lot of sleep, but we had places to go!  We made it to our hometown of El Paso for lunchtime.

We were looking forward to some authentic Mexican food at our favorite restaurant, Leo's.  We were in heaven!!!!  The kids LOVED it (Preston talked about it the entire trip), especially the sopaipillas.

We drove through New Mexico and stopped again in the Phoenix area to visit some important people.

Craig's biological grandparents (Craig is adopted) have always kept in contact with us through emails, cards, and letters.  It's been years since Craig had seen them.  I have actually never met them and neither have the kids (their great-grandparents).  So, this was actually another reason we wanted to drive to California.

We didn't get to spend a lot of time with them, but we had dinner and dessert.  And like any grandparent, they lavished us with gifts.  So kind and thoughtful of them!!!  It was nice to see them and finally put a face to a name.  If all works out, we hope to see them again next year.

Day 2:
We spent the night in a nearby hotel, in a beautiful area, (I've always said I would move to Phoenix-gorgeous scenery and the dry heat is much more bearable than the humidity here!) and then it was off for the final leg of our journey. We got to the California border and immediately began seeing palm trees.

We arrived in Anaheim mid afternoon.  We got checked into our hotel and headed to Downtown Disney.

Downtown Disney is situated in between Disneyland and California Adventure and does not cost anything to get in.  However, they get you in the stores and restaurants!

There was a "beach" volleyball exhibition going on and a former Olympic Gold Medalist was hosting.










We also loved seeing the Lego sculptures on display at the Lego store.

We ate a very expensive pizza dinner and then headed back to rest up for our big day the next day.

Hotel Accomodations in Anaheim were made possible with the help of Heather Newton at Shipsmart Travel Inc.