Richie's Big Adventure

A promise kept

One thing you must never do is make a promise to your children that you can't keep.  So when Richie turned five he reminded us that had said we would take him to Disneyland when he walked or when he turned five, whichever came sooner. 

1995 was ideal as Chelsea was too young to want to come and grandma Jean was available to look after her.  So in September (when Richie was in fact six) the three of us waved goodbye to Jean at the Greyhound depot in Canberra, on the first leg of our trip to the US.

Fiji Day 1

Our first port of call was Fiji, to visit Brian and Jeanette Henry, who by this stage had the twins, Alexandra and Serena, one year older than Richie.  Brian had a three year contract in Suva, which extended to four, and this was a good excuse to catch up with them and see some of Fiji at the same time.  The kids enjoyed themselves and it was great to meet up again with the Henrys, but as a place to live in it would rate fairly low on my list of desirable destinations..  Nadi is dirty and unexciting, but Suva is probably more acceptable.

Fiji Day 2

On the second day we hired a car and explored the area around  Nadi.  We stayed awhile at the Sheraton before heading back to the hotel.  We flew out at midnight for San Francisco via LA.

San Fran

After arriving in LA we transferred to a plane bound for San Francisco.  Richie was, and continues to be, a keen traveller, and fitted into our itinerary without a problem.  We spent about three days in San Fransisco, staying at a Youth Hostel in Union Square.  We did the usual touristy things – Fisherman’s Wharf, Golden Gate, Alcatraz, Pier 39 and Planet Hollywood, collapsing into our bunks late at night.  From the bathroom we could look down on all of the goings on in Union Square, which was extra free entertainment.  One night we watched a lady pushing a trolley full of cats.  Of all of the places we visited on that trip, San Fransisco would be the highlight for me.

Planet Hollywood

 This was the first of several Planet Hollywoods we would visit on this trip.

Down at the Pier

Out to Alcatraz

Around the Town

Down to Santa Barbara

On Day 3 we picked up our T-Bird rental car and headed off into the unknown, on the other side of the road.  We drove over Golden Gate to Sausalito (very pretty) then south to Santa Barbara via the coast road.  That took all day – a lot like travelling in Australia.