59. Disneyland, Anaheim

Yes, we are in Disneyland, Anaheim after the long drive from Phoenix AZ. It was a very enjoyable drive and still fresh and ready to take in the excitement of Disneyland.  It was early in the morning and the crowd was there already. The weather was perfect and the COFFEE was good.
We started along Main Street which had a carnival atmosphere and being Christmas day made it even better.
As it was the X'mas holidays, Disneyland was exceptionally crowded and there were long queues everywhere so in order to beat the queue, it is advisable to get the 'Fast Pass'. That way you will spend less time at the queue and be able to move on to other places. My sons went on to the Indiana Jones Ride and Tomorrowland while my wife and I went on to see other attractions.

At the Magic Kingdom

At the Magic Kingdom

Visiting Chip & Dale

At Toontown

On the Riverboat Cruise in Frontierland
'The Mark Twain Steamboat'

A mock Native American camp

Taking the gondola into the Whale's mouth
at 'Small World'

Inside the Whale and with the music 'Its a
Small World After All'

Along Main Street before taking the tram ride

Toontown.

Its Mickey!!!

Everybody's having a great time

Still inside the Whale












Exiting the Whale. It was a really fun ride.

58. Heading west to Anaheim

It was 24th December Christmas Eve and a day after we arrived in Phoenix. We had an early dinner and headed for bed to catch some sleep before starting our journey to LA with Disneyland, Anaheim on our mind. We woke up refreshed after a few hours of sleep and eagerly started our long drive. It was a beautiful night as we left Phoenix and with a clear desert sky. I have never seen so many stars in the sky and really enjoyed taking in the view while my son took the wheel first.  We took turns to drive and it was really exciting for me to see real tumbleweeds rolling across the desert. Wow! It was just as what we used to see in western movies. We took Highway 10 which was a long highway right up to LA. Driving cross country is relatively easy as these major highways take you from point to point which is city to city.
The desert here is unlike the Sahara or such as there are hills and shrubs everywhere. I have posted some pics of the early morning desert scenery as we were heading nearer to LA. We made a few stops to break journey and the morning air was really cold. I'm glad that we wore jackets to keep us warm and some warm coffee during our pit stops. Along the highway, we passed by places like Joshua Tree National Park, Palm Springs and and we could see the city lights of San Bernardino (there's also a song by this name).

 

Early morning scenery during our pit stop

Somewhere along the desert highway. Note the
shrubs beside the highway.

Dawn along the highway.

Highway desert scenery

The rising sun with a trucker on the highway

Finally at Disneyland!!!









I have lots of pics of Disneyland which will be in my next blog and I hope to post them soon.

57. By The Time I Get To Phoenix.....

By the time I get to Phoenix, ...... Yes this is a beautiful song by Glen Campbell and thats where I'm heading.
My son Don was relocated to Phoenix, Arizona after spending a few years in Boston.  He arranged to have us visit him there. We arrived LAX in Los Angeles on 23rd December and that was considered peak period for travel.  Upon arrival, we made our way to the immigration hall which was already packed to the brim. By the time we got through, we had already missed our connecting flight to Phoenix. Anyway, we were checked in for a later flight and finally landed in  Sky Harbour International airport, Phoenix AZ about 9pm and was met by my son Don. He brought us for supper before heading back to his apartment.

Sitting next to a wagon

A suburb in Phoenix

A foggy day. A view from my son's balcony

One of the suburbs of Phoenix.









Don planned a weekend trip which was the next day  to L.A. with Disneyland and Universal Studios in our itenary. We spent the next day chilling out before travelling. We love to drive and this was another overnight drive which I was looking forward to. I will be writing more of our trip to LA in my next post.

56. In Boston before returning to M'sia

Well, it has been a very enjoyable time spent with my family in Boston and also travelling to Niagara Falls, Washington and the suburbs of Boston. My son, Don, was based there so it was possible for us to spend a couple of months with him.  We returned to Malaysia with fond memories of our holiday there and it also reminded me of the song by The Bee Gees - 'Massachusetts'. Here are some more pics of our stay there.

A wet day in Marlborough, Mass.

Entering a gift shop.

A typical building in Massachusetts.

Notre Dame Cathedral

A street in Hudson, Mass.

Downtown Boston

A shrine in honour of Our Lady of Fatima
in Sturbridge, Mass.

At the compound of the Church of St Anne,
Sturbridge, Mass.

Lakeview in Massachusetts









I look forward to another visit to the U.S. with the words of the song ' Feel I'm going back to Massachusetts   by the (Bee Gees)

55. Another Day of Sight-seeing

The next day, we woke up bright and early looking forward to another day of sight-seeing. We took a drive to Toronto which was just a short drive away from Niagara Falls. It was beautiful especially driving along Lake Ontario. They had a shopping mall called Eaton Centre and was rather surprised to see there were more Asians than locals there. After spending a few hours in Toronto, we headed back to Niagara Falls, spent the rest of the day and night  at the Falls area.
We left Niagara Falls the next morning but made a detour from Buffalo and headed to Fort Eire, a British Fort beside Lake Eire. Managed to take some pics there before continuing on our journey back to Boston.

This is another crossing point from US
to Canada at Niagara Falls.

Crossing the river via cable car

A beautiful building in the flower gardens

At Fort Eire

Also at Fort Eire

Inside Fort Eire












After touring the fort, we continued on our journey back to Boston with many beautiful memories.

54. On to the Canadian side.

After spending some time on the American side of the Falls, we moved on across the bridge to Niagara Falls (Canada). Crossing the bridge took quite a while as there was heavy traffic heading there but once we crossed the border, we headed straight to the Falls.
The Canadian side of the Falls is really beautiful with its Horseshoe Falls being a major tourist draw. We spent the rest of the day (and night) enjoying the view and waited till the spotlights were turned on. You can really see the beauty of the Falls at night when the coloured spotlights shine on to the Anerican Falls. This is one place I would love to visit again and again.

Taking in the view of Horseshoe Falls

Part of the Niagara Falls area. This road
can be jammed packed when night falls.

Along the Niagara Falls walkway.
That ice cream cart serves one of the best.

Standing by the road. The building behind
us has coloured spotlights to shine on the Falls.

This pic was taken at night with the
coloured spotlights turned on. It was awesome looking at the display of lights.

The 'Maid of the Mist' heading to the Falls.

The 'Maid of the Mist' enters the Falls.

Heading over to look for souveniors.

Relaxing by the Falls area.









It was really great to be with my family at Niagara Falls and this one place where you can spend your whole day and night just taking in the sights.  After calling it a night, we headed back to our hotel for a good nights rest. Tomorrow will be another day of sight seeing.

53. A Weekend at Niagara Falls

After our trip to Washington DC, we decided to go westward to Niagara Falls on another weekend. It was another 8 hour drive which we enjoyed as the scenery in Massachusetts and upper New York State was awesome. There's nothing like driving yourself and taking your time to take in the beauty of the countryside with its lakes.
The city of Buffalo is the westernmost end of NY State. Buffalo wings originated from there but we didn't try it as we were moving to the Falls, just a few miles further on. It was a beautiful morning when we arrived in Niagara Falls with perfect weather. We decided to spend some time on the American side of the Falls before heading to the Canadian side. This post will have some of the pics I took around the American Falls while the others will be in my next post.

Me and my family at the park
on the American side of the Falls.

A bridge across the river before the Falls.

It was awesome on the bridge.

Beside the American Falls with a
beautiful rainbow.

Beside the American Falls.

The American Falls.That's Canada on the other side.

Taking in the breathtaking view.









There's so much to see here and you can spend the whole day here.  We moved on to the Canadian side after spending a few hours on the American side. More pics to come in my next post.