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April 19, 2012

Day 67, 23rd October 2011. Los Angeles - Anaheim, California

I woke up just before my alarm went off and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was this mess on the floor...


I woke Gary up and we both got ready and attempted to start packing our stuff away, but then we had to give up for a while because we were meeting everybody downstairs to go to Ihop for breakfast at 9.30am. This was the final time and today was going to be full of goodbyes so I didn't even put any make up on in preparation for all the tears that would be happening.
Ihop was really busy so they sat us on 2 separate tables next to each other. I sat with Carlos, Cece, Kirsty, Dean and Justine, and Gary sat with Bryan, Steph, Lisa and Nick.





Ihop was great as usual, I had chocolate chip pancakes, it was so weird that the last time I was sitting in this Ihop was a few hours before we met all these people, and now we were sitting here with them as best friends.  When we were finished eating, and we started walking back to the hotel, that's when I started crying (and basically didn't stop for the rest of the day). I do wish I hadn't been such a cry baby about the whole thing, but I really was devestated to leave these people that meant so much to me, and I really hate goodbyes.

When we got back to the hotel we all went up to our rooms to get our bags (me and Gary had to frantically pack and decide what to throw away so we could fit it all in), and then we went downstairs to day the real goodbyes. On the way we stopped at Leah's room and gave her lots of hugs and said goodbye to Donna because we saw her up there too.

Some people were going to the airport to go home, and some of us were staying in the USA but going other places, like us, we were on our way to DISNEYLAND, but I was failing to be excited because I was so sad.
When we got downstairs we spent about half an hour hugging each other and I was obviously crying the whole time. Before I got too upset I took some photos.


My favorite girl





Dean's bracelets that I made him



It was so hard to leave. Kirsty, Steph and Bryan were all on the same flight back to London, so me and Gary were going to the airport with them, because we were getting our Disney Express bus from there. Carlos was being so lovely to me trying to make me stop crying but I was just so sad, he is the sweetest person ever. Said goodbye to Lisa and Sua, even though they hadn't been my best friends on the trip, it was still upsetting to leave them because they were nice people to have on the trip, Sua is so funny and sweet, and was always so nice to us. We didn't need to say goodbye to Justine and Cece because we would be spending the day with them tomorrow at Disneyland, which we were all excited about. I still cried and hugged them and told them I loved them though.

Of course when it was time to say goodbye to Nick and Dean I had so much to say to them because of the whole wedding thing, we are so thankful for everything they did so I had to make sure I told them over and over again. I was so sad to say goodbye to Dean especially because he had been such a good friend recently and he is one of the nicest people ever, I cried a lot saying bye to him. I was in such a state that I was even crying my eyes out watching other people say goodbye to each other.

We got on the bus, and Carlos, Nick and Sua waved us off and we were on our way to the airport. It didn't take long at all to get there, about 15 minutes. When we got to the terminal, Kirsty, Steph and Bryan checked in, and then we all went to have a coffee (even though none of us actually had a coffee, but I can't say we had a drink because that sounds alcoholic haha). We sat together for about half an hour just chatting about how weird it all felt that it was over and just reminisced about how good it had all been. Steph found that she had some scissors in her bag and we all laughed at her for being dangerous and she gave them to me so I could keep hold of them for her. Then 5 minutes later we all laughed even more because she discovered that she had a huge knife in her bag, which she also gave to me so the airline didn't think she was a criminal!

Steph and her dangerous items


Then, it was time for them to go through security and leave us. This was the moment that I was most dreading, saying goodbye to Kirsty. We walked them right over to the security gate and of course I started crying again when we said our goodbyes. Steph cried too, I was really going to miss her, she is so funny, then I said goodbye to Bryan, saving Kirsty until last. I hugged her for about 10 minutes and really did not want her to go, she is the best friend I could have ever met, it feels like she is my long lost sister and we were meant to meet on the trip. I know Gary was really upset to say goodbye to her too. It was strange because it would normally be weird for a couple to be best friends with one person, but it felt totally normal with Kirsty. 

After I cried watching Kirsty walk through the gates, it was time to pull myself together because we were going to Disneyland. I definitely managed to get myself excited a bit now, we were finally going to somewhere I had dreamed of going for years, the first, original Disney!
We had a little walk around the airport building to the place where we had to catch the Disney Express bus, they come about every half an hour, I think we waited about 10 minutes for one. I was getting the excited Disney feeling now :)
We got on the bus and as soon as it started driving I looked around and Gary was asleep. The journey to Anaheim took about 40 minutes and I just sat there thinking about what an emotional day I was having and did some (more) crying. The song from Tarzan 'You'll be in my heart' came on and it made me cry my eyes out, it was a combination of being excited that we were finally on our way to Disneyland, and the fact that the words of the song made me think about how I felt about all the amazing people I had spent the past 9 weeks with.

When we arrived at our hotel, the Howard Johnson Anaheim (or HoJo if you prefer, I liked calling it the HoJo  LOL) and it was about 3.30pm I think so we checked into our room. We had originally booked a more expensive hotel, but to save money we had downgraded to this one, and I am really glad we did. It was so close to the parks and all the other things in the area, and the rooms were really nice.



One of the best things was the fact that I was finally able to get all my toiletries out of a bag and spread them all over the bathroom, there were bottles and pots of stuff everywhere. Unpacking, knowing we were staying for 8 nights was such a relief, it was nice thinking that we wouldn't have to pack it back up again in a day or two.

We had decided to have an early dinner tonight because we were so tired and wanted to be refreshed for our first day at Disneyland tomorrow. We went to Mimi's Cafe which was right next to our hotel, and had been recommended by my lovely friend Sarah. This is where I have to thank you a million times Sarah, because Gary and I became a bit obsessed with Mimi's, we ate there so many times and still talk about how much we loved it.

The food was so good, we had bread with tomato soup which was the nicest soup I have ever eaten, and I had fish and chips (with sweet potato fries) and Gary had some chicken. The food was so cheap, and literally some of the nicest food we have ever eaten. It's safe to say we enjoyed it a lot, and made plans there and then to come back. (By the end of the week the waitresses started to recognise us)



After dinner we went back to the room and just chilled out for the evening. We watched our very first episode of The Office (US version) it was Pam and Jim's wedding episode, and that made me emotional all over again because I was so happy to be married and was so excited to be going to Disneyland with my husband tomorrow. I then had a shower and got in bed to start writing my diary for the day we had just had.

It was so weird that I finished my diary right on the last page of the notebook that I had bought, it was weird that I'd had exactly the right amount of space in my book, and I thought to myself that I would have to buy a new one tomorrow to write in for the rest of the trip. I wrote a lot on my thoughts on the whole of Trek America, which I will do another post on before I continue on the Disneyland part of the trip.

I went to sleep feeling excited because of Disney tomorrow, but also sad because I wanted everyone on the trip to be able to share it with us. It was really strange to be all on our own after all this time with so many people. It was nice to finally have my husband all to myself, but it hurt me that I couldn't see any of my best friends any more. 

This day will always be remembered as the most emotional day of my life, the happiest and saddest things happening all together!

2 comments:

  1. That was such a great episode of the Office and so perfect for what you were going through lately. I can't wait to read all about your Disneyland adventures! :D

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  2. Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed Mimi's, I hate recommending places because I worry people won't like it and then hold me responsible haha! Glad you liked the HoJo as well and were glad you switched to it.

    I can't wait to hear all about your time in Disneyland =) will have to make sure I check for updates while I'm in Orlando x

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