I have internet access at my aunt and uncle’s, so figured I’d post a quick update on us.
The ride down was fine, though a bit hairy in parts. We left a day earlier than we had wanted to because of the weather, and I’m glad we did. The first day on the road was nasty. I have a pic of the freeway as we were leaving the first hotel, which I’ll post later. It was basically a pure white road with no lanes! At least we were one of the only cars on the road. Our car trucked through it just fine. Eleanor did wonderfully in the car, sleeping the majority of the way.
At some point on the way down, all three of us and most of my family came down with a cold. We’re all still fighting it. Figures, but what can you do? Just life.
Disneyland was fun, though quite a bit harder with Eleanor than I had hoped it would be. She had a few major breakdowns on rides, which was not so fun, the worst one being on the Finding Nemo ride! Ugh. (For those who don’t know: it’s a submarine. Yeah, imagine a baby screaming on a submarine! It was awful.) For the most part she was a trooper and slept quite a bit in her stroller. Her favorite rides were Small World – she was enthralled! – and Dumbo. Riding through Small World with her made my trip. She was so excited and happy!
We got to my aunt and uncle’s – my uncle is my father’s brother - in So Cal on the 26th, and had a great first evening here. However we woke up to the news that my paternal grandfather had passed away in his sleep the night before. : ( My grandpa successfully fought off lymphoma two years ago – it was Christmas time when he was diagnosed – but never truly recovered. He’s been pretty ill ever since, and we’ve been worried several times that we were about to lose him. So his death was not exactly shocking, but still felt a bit out of left field. He had been doing pretty well lately. My grandma seems to be coping well. In a way it was the best possible timing: we would all have come down here for his funeral anyway of course, but this way my grandma also has help making arrangements, etc. and has all of her family around her for support. One of my uncles lives with her still, so I’m sure he’ll keep her good company in the future. (She lives about an hour and a half away from my other uncle, so I’m glad she has someone closer.)
Looks like the funeral is going to be this Saturday, and we’ll be staying for that. We were originally going to leave on Friday. John’s work is very generous and gives him three days of bereavement leave even for his spouse’s grandparents, so that’s great. He has enough time saved anyway, but it’s a nice bonus.
We’re hoping for an uneventful conclusion to this trip. The roads have cleared quite a bit, so at least there’s that.
