On Saturday it rained slightly so the park was very quiet, as most Americans think that they react to rain just like the Wicked Witch of the West (Or so it seems). This really worked out for us, as we pretty much walked onto every ride, and never waited more than 20 minutes. In fact we never even used the vaunted fast pass scheme as there was no point!

We saw a few shows we had not seen before during the time we had scheduled for waiting in lines. We saw the Aladdin stage show in California Adventure which I recommend as the Genie was fantastic, and as funny as Robin Williams in the move. We also saw the Bugs Life show in “A Bugs Land”. I am not going to say too much about this other than, it is one of the best at the park, and somehow we have missed it all this time. This is a must if you have not seen it before.

We also discovered one of the most boring rides: “Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train”. Admittedly, if I was about about 3 years old this would be amazing, but well, I am not…

Despite the low attendance the line for the new Finding Nemo ride was very long (in comparison). We did indeed wait the hour and 10 minutes required to experience this ride (Why oh why Disney, did you not make this one a fastpass?). I enjoyed it, but my lovely wife was not too enthralled. Its basically a remake of the old Submarine Voyage ride, with underwater views of coral reefs interspersed with cartoon action projected onto underwater screens. For a full description see the wikipedia entry, as its pretty accurate.

I think one of the greatest things we saw was the Jedi Academy, which is in Futureland. Basically Mace Windu from the Star Wars movies uses the Force to pick willing volunteers (all under 15 I am afraid) to be taught ways in the force. Each of the lucky participants gets a lightsaber and a Jedi padawan cloak to wear, andf they get schooled in light sabre combat. This is very amusing in itself, as some of the kids are actually smaller than the light sabres!

But the best bit by far is when stormtroopers , well storm the stage, and point their blasters at everyone and then the stage lifts up and Darth Vader and Darth Maul appear to try and convince the young padawans to turn to the dark side. Pretty cool huh? Well get this, each of the chosen kids have to fight Darth Vader to prove they can resist the dark side. Yes, I will say again. They get to fight Darth Vader. HOW COOL IS THAT? (For a geek this is a dream come true, trust me). Of course not all of the children chose to stay and fight, some chose to cry and run back to the audience (I can’t blame them, Darth Vader is pretty scary). But this was one of the most entertaining things I have watched in long time.

Anyway, fun was had by all, and it turns out we will be going back again in 3 weeks time!

Whilst discussing radio coverage of womens sporting events, a senator (not Florez) mentioned that the current host on the station that covers Fresno State womens sporting events has a morning talk show that is degrading to women; The show apparantly talks only about “marrying”, “killing” and dating women. Florez, who I believe was chairing this commitee, jibed “Was this the Ray Appleton show?”.

I happen to like Florez and I listen to Ray Appleton – whom I would describe as on of the most upstanding and respectable radio hosts I know…

Tut, tut, Senator Florez, not very smooth.

It was really awesome, and I highly recomend visiting if you ever get the chance.

But be warned, the hikes are pretty deadly this time of year. Even for those of us that mightconsider ourselves pretty fit. The rangers were telling us that this time of year they do 4-5 rescues a day! The altitude (7000 ft) coupled with the summer temperatures (100F at the rim, and 20 degrees warmer in the canyon), means that unless you are prepared and trained it is very easy to come a cropper. Take this ladies story: A woman who had placed 31 in the Boston marathon, died in the canyon in 2004 due to heat exhaustion and dehydration….

Anyway, here as some of the photos of my trip:

Me on the edge (Please note my LA Galaxy Beckham shirt – a rare number 7 version)

A cool rock thingy

More Canyon

Some critter being a poser

I got a call on tuesday night from “Rees” saying he was in San Francisco. Although we have been keeping in touch (more so recently) it was a surprise to hear he was here in the USA.

After we left school, he signed up for the British army and has served all over, most recently in Afghanistan.So, first off hats off to him for his service.

I of course ended up moving here, and leading a fairly normal life, so I am sure his stories of the past 10 years will be a lot more interesting than mine.

Ahh, well. I am looking forwad to catching up. 10 years is a long time, and well, not seeing someone for that length of time makes me feel really old….