So Cal Day Six

 For us, Southern California means Disney. But in honor of Rosie, we went instead to her favorite theme park: Knott's Berry Farm. 

My boss went a month earlier and said they only got to ride three rides because the lines were so long. So we bit the bullet and paid for the Fast Pass wristband. It made the normally very reasonable tickets not reasonable and turned out they were totally not necessary... 

It was a Tuesday but our guess is that the much higher than usual (for the recent 70s of the past two months) temps kept the locals away. A high near 90 did seem very hot when there's very little shade and lots of blacktop. 

Not much theming but a lot of good and unique roller coasters and rides. And because we could just walk on to rides with little to no wait, we did almost everything! And a few of them more than once after Rocky and Nic joined us. 

We also had time to take advantage of our $40 food wristband that allowed us to get a meal or snack and a drink every 30 minutes. And the food was both tasty and generous in portion! 

Hang Time was the most intense ride we went on, which you can see better from the top of the Sky Cabin...

It was fun to see the park from way up high and be able to take pictures... 

That giant wooden roller coaster that looks like it's in two parts (it isn't but it part of it is on the other side of the street!) was the first, and one of our favorite, rides: Ghost Rider. Not only is it super fast but it's probably the longest roller coaster ride we've ever been on! 

The Calico Mine Ride was a little bit like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Journey to the Center of the Earth combined...

The Pony Express was fun because you got to "ride a horse" and they launched you from the starting point...

The Silver Bullet, Jaguar and The Extreme Scream were all pretty fun, too...

We got pretty wet on the two water rides and played some carnival games. We didn't win but Rocky was sweet enough to share a couple of her prizes with us...

And although our train on the Calico Railway was held up by bandits, we either looked too intimidating or too poor because they walked right on by... LOL

After Rocky and Nic left, we did a few more rides and finished out the night on some "kiddie" rides in Camp Snoopy... 

It was a very long day and we were thankful it was only an 8 minute drive back to the McIvors'! We'll probably go back again someday... :) 

So Cal Day 3 to 5

We spent the weekend hanging out with the McIvor family and doing the funeral for Rosie Miller, the entire reason for our trip. It was a very nice funeral and it was good to get to meet some of Rocky's family and hear new stories about Rosie. One of her "sons" and his family made a fantastic taco bar for the dinner!

We played really fun games on Saturday morning with Dirk, Alyssa, Abby and Hannah; ate yummy food; and read some Cooks Illustrated. They have some amazing tips and recipes! 

Sunday was just a day of worship and rest with the McIvors and their church family at Calvary. Rocky and her friend were also able to join us for worship.

Monday was Dirk's day off so we went to a near by park to see the only thriving redwoods grove in Southern California and do a bit of hiking. By then the weather had gotten much hotter and we enjoyed our lunch in the shade... 

We picked up Chris' Amazon order at a drop by and happened to drive by and pick up some of the most amazing mochi donuts ever! They were so good I also bought some of their mix to make my own at home... Yum!

Then it was more games and an early bedtime for a big day at Knott's Berry Farm!