Around the USA in 150 days (Or how we toured the USA on a budget) First day in L.A.

Anaheim

We slept 14 hours straight, and woke up at 12 noon the following day - April 26th, our first full day in the U.S.A. We were woken by our 5 year-old, Michael, screaming "I wanna do weeeee!"

After the long sleep we were all ravenously hungry, but there were no meal facilities available in the motel. I took a walk to see if I could find a place to eat, and just around the corner I found a MacDonalds! (See Nola and our boys, Chris, Josh and Michael from left to right, pictured below)

Nola and boys outside McDonald's in Anaheim

The kids were delighted to find that their favourite food was also available in America! We all fronted up for burgers and fries, but when Nola and I asked for two "white coffees" the young man serving us looked confused. "Say what?". We repeated that we wanted white coffee. Very politely he replied, "I’m sorry sir, but all our coffee is brown"!

He called his supervisor to help, and we explained that we wanted coffee with milk in it. Immediately they exclaimed "Oh, you mean coffee with cream!". It turned out that they did not have milk, but instead we were given small containers of "creamer" to put in our coffee.

The burgers were great, especially since we were ravenously hungry. The coffee was also good, but we found that we had to put twice as much sugar in it as we normally use, to make it taste sweet enough (see American coffee ).

After lunch we went for a walk down the street. We were on Harbor Blvd, and on one side of the street there is a long stretch of motels and hotels, and on the other side is a long stretch of greenery (the ubiquitous LA palm trees and other shrubs). It was only after walking some distance along Harbor that we realised that Disneyland was right behind the greenery, only a stones throw away.

We checked the prices at some of the motels along Harbor, and found that we could get a larger room, right opposite Disneyland, with a pool, for less money than our present motel. For a few extra bucks they would also throw in a small fridge, and there was a Continental breakfast included in the fee. (Like our original motel, it was actually a room for 4, but most motels are happy to throw an extra mattress on the floor to accommodate an extra child or two at no extra charge)

So we booked in to the Park Vue Inn for the following day (we had already paid for two nights in our first motel). Also found a small "convenience store" in in a nearby motel, which charged inflated prices for small cartons of milk, bread, and a few other basic foodstuffs. We bought enough milk and cereal for the next days breakfast.

We also bought a newspaper (the LA Times, mainly for the vehicle sales section) from a newspaper stand on Harbor - these are based on an honour system whereby you place a coin in a slot and the top opens enabling you to take out a paper.

Spent most of the rest of the afternoon back at the Penny Sleeper going through the Yellow Pages looking for a car hire firm that was not to expensive but also not too far away. (There are plenty of firms that will deliver a car to your door, but you pay extra for the privilege). Eventually booked a car from a rental firm on Harbor, which I will pick up personally.

For dinner we ordered a Pizza by phone, which never came ….

Spent today (April 26th):

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