Thank goodness I caught up on some sleep last night. I woke this morning feeling a lot better than I did yesterday.
We had a bite to eat before heading out for the day. Breakfast was without event however I did have one of my age old questions answered - how does a spook eat when her mouth is covered by a burka thingy? Answer - she actually takes it off briefly. Unfortunately the spook in question seemed to have good reason to wear something that totally covered her face. She resembled "Clinger" from MASH and had a nose that could challenge the Eagle out of the Muppets.
We wanted to head towards Anaheim where the Honda Centre is. This is the home of the "Anaheim Ducks" formerly known as the "Mighty Ducks" which Alyx has followed since a movie was released of the same name. For those that do not know who the Mighty/Anaheim Ducks are, they are an Ice Hockey Team that compete in the national league. Whilst we were heading that way Nic had also asked us to swing by "Angel Stadium" which is the home of the LA Angels Baseball Team. No, Nic has not had a change of heart and has decided that he will follow the much safer sport of baseball. I believe a moto cross track was being made up there for the "X games" whatever the hell they are.
We found the Honda Centre OK so went and made our purchase for Alyx. The ducks store was quite unassuming which was disappointing. Given that I am vertically challenged and walk with a waddle, I felt that I would have a kinship with this team. Well at least enough of a bond to secure a substantial discount. Not so. A disappointing outcome I feel. I also felt that the puns that could be used could in fact be enough to hire a full time writer. You know....to create a "Quack of the Day" or something. There is such a comedic opportunity here, but instead they make money by charging ridiculous amounts for it's merchandise. Its a good thing I love my daughter enough to place a second mortgage on the house in order to buy her an ice hockey jersey. If I didn't we certainly would have just pucked (hahaa...get it? *groan* Yeah I know) off with out buying anything.
We drove past Angel Stadium where the Bear took some photos for Nicco even though I had absolutely no idea what we were there for. It was jus across the road from the Honda Center so it was not a big deal.
Only a couple of minutes down the road was Disneyland. The happiest place on earth eh? Yeah only if you have a set of young legs to walk the mile up to the fairytale castle and have recently had a lotto win to pay for the parking. Fortunately I have never wanted to visit there unless it was to cure myself of a giant mouse fetish, so we continued with our day. Perhaps the Bear and I can take our grandchildren if our children bless us with them! I took some photos of the palms around the perimeter so I could show that I had actually been close, and I could cross that off my to-do list.
We decided to get some lunch on the way to hopping on board the Queen Mary at Long Beach and decided to visit Taco Bell for a spot of Mexican. Taco Bell is cheap, and doesn't taste too bad. We entered and placed our order (to go) and stood back to await the order to be filled. There was a strange looking lady sitting at a table by herself in the restaurant. She wore the most garish makeup and I found myself wondering if she was in fact a "he". Definitely the burka we saw this morning would have come in handy. She was chatting away in a (dare I say it?) almost retarded fashion. I asked the Bear if he thought she was talking to herself? He said no, and that he felt as though she was talking to someone via Bluetooth. She was very loud and animated. I felt terrible thinking that just by looking at her, that she didn't seem to be the type who might have actually been able to operate a mobile phone. One of the restaurant staff went over to clean the table next to wear she was sitting. The woman stopped chatting to thin air, and started talking to the waitress. She did it so abruptly that I was certain that she did not have anyone on a phone call via blue tooth. The proof was irrefutable when, once the waitress had disappeared, the lady placed her hands flat on the table, splayed her fingers, and asked an invisible soul in the chair across from her whether he/she liked her new nail polish. An absolute fruit loop.
We continued on to Long Beach which we found was a beautiful part of the world. It looked much like what I would expect to see if visiting the Florida Keys. We had a bit of a chuckle along the way when following a white van that had sign writing across its rear stating "Quick Rooting - Plumber". There were too many lines for even me to come out with but I found myself wondering how many premature arrivals he might participate in on any given day. We also passed a utility that had "Mr Rooting" (also a plumber) on the side, so I decided that Long Beach was simply a nest for mobile gigolos.
The Queen Mary was a majestic ship which came to its resting place in 1971. It serves as a floating restaurant, museum and hotel and is said to be one of the most haunted places in the world. It is currently hosting an exhibition of Princess Diana's clothing and was sharing the dock with the Carnival Inspiration which was not far off departing. As we entered the ship I was in urgent need of a loo so asked a staff member for directions. We were advised to go to the second floor and follow directions. So we did. As we stepped onto the second floor my skin started to crawl. There was something about the deserted level that gave me the creeps. I am not sure whether it was the aging timber walls, or the smell, or the fact that there are notes everywhere listing ghost sightings over the years.
I found the ladies room which was fortunately light and airy much to my relief. As I entered my cubicle I made the very conscious note (as I do with every bathroom visit over here now) of whether the toilet is automatic flushing or manual (this one was manual), whether the toilet seat is fastened securely to the pan (and yes it was), and whether the pan was close enough to the floor for my feet to reach, because if they don't and if the toilet is an automatic flushing one, I have found I can run into the most ridiculous of situations (please see countless events listed in my first trip to the USA). I felt that I could have a tinkle here and come out of it alive...so I did. Once this chore had been completed I went out to wash my hands. I didn't want to leave the bright airy ladies room and go back into the scary foyer outside. I was fairly sure that there was a couple of million ghosts although have no idea what they would do with me. I finished washing my hands and reached up to retrieve a piece of paper towel to dry them. Initially I couldn't feel where a new piece of towel was - so patted the machine a little as though trying to feel if there was any inside. The machine "started up" and with a grinding noise, spat out a piece of paper. Needless to say I hadn't expected that I would encounter an automatic hand paper machine (in fact I had no idea that they existed), and I shit pink pigs whilst a sound resembling a strangled cat escaped from me. I ran out the door madly searching for the Bear hoping that he just might have one of the slime guns that Dan Aykroyd used in Ghost Busters. Just when I thought had beat the toilets, the bathrooms decided that I had another think coming!
The Queen Mary was amazing and I was amazed to see what she did whilst in service and how she technically continues to serve today. Her staff were advised that she was being decommissioned on the day that the Bear was born in 1967 and that she would be making her way to Long Beach. We chose not to attend a talk on the ghosts that haunt the ship. This was of no consequence to the Bear who doesn't believe in them, and of no consequence to me who was still convinced that I had a meeting with beelzebub in the ladies toilets.
A ridiculously odd day all around! Tomorrow we head to Madame Tussauds in Hollywood
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