12.04 & 13.04 - Day 88 & 89 - Mission Viejo
Friday 12th & Saturday 13th April - Mission Viejo, California (Day 88 & 89)
With Daniel working and Maggie and the girls having school meetings we take the car and head back to Irvine Regional Park that we’d visited last weekend. Instead of the zoo we hire out one of their Surreys, a four wheeled contraption powered by two sets of bike pedals. With Sienna sat between Kate and I and Seb wedged in the seats at the front designed for kids a few years younger than him.
We make our slow merry way around the park, repeatedly shouting squirrel as they dart hither and thither. The kids try out steering to varying degrees of success, preferring instead to weave about the, thankfully, quiet roads and also play with the handbrake for emergency stops.
The crowds of families from the weekend have been replaced by a smattering school children delivered by the famous narrow yellow school buses and so we enjoy a quiet lunch by one of the small lakes before heading back towards Mission Viejo - with a stop at Target: our road trip is fast approaching and eating is likely to be a lot of self catered so we’re now in a practical phase of buying plates, bowls, cups and cooler bag to transport food. The afternoon back at Daniel and Maggie’s is relaxing slow time - we’re in no rush.
As the girls and Seb settle for dinner, Daniel and I head out for some live sport - this time ice hockey. On the way to the Honda Centre, which is more local than Crypto / Staples Arena, I’m introduced to Raising Cane’s, a fried chicken place which instantly goes onto my list of food options for our travels, because of the fresh and crunchy chicken. Plus how many fast food places include a very thick slice of toast in their combos?
After a brief walk from parking the car, the tickets I’d bought that afternoon from one of the reseller websites were accepted without fuss and we found seats at the front of the upper tier in line with one of the goals.
The Anaheim Ducks are hosting the Calgary Flames, 6th vs 7th in the Division at the back end of the regular season. The Flames look better even to my untrained eye; more accurate in passing and more efficient in D-Fence. Or maybe it’s because they take a 4-0 lead into the final period.
There are plenty of breaks in play and tonight, the last home game of the season is Fan Appreciation night, so randomly drawn seats keep winning spot prizes from free tacos to surfboards to the shirts of the players backs after the game. And in the two intermissions a new Honda is driven onto the ice, where with no skill involved one of four supporters unsteadily brought on the ice also wins it to take it home. Sadly Daniel and I won nothing.
In the final period, the Ducks make a comeback to 3-4, before the Flames extinguish the building crowd excitement to run out 6-3 winners.
There is a final ovation for Jacob Silverberg, the co-captain retiring after 11 years with the Ducks, his family brought out onto the ice with him. His remarks of “the team will turn it around”, “it's been a tough few seasons” point to a barren run for these Mighty Ducks. But it was great to see the game and experience the atmosphere and occasion.
On our last full day with Daniel & Maggie, it’s forecast to rain all day but as each hour passes the forecast of rain is pushed out another hour or two. It’s a homely day today with a trip to the post office to send some Vietnam bracelets back to Sienna’s friends in Sydney, before spending a healthy part of the morning at Cherry Playpark nearby.
In further prep for the road trip starting tomorrow we source a booster seat for Seb so he can at least see the 3,000 miles of scenery we’re passing. The afternoon is spent at home doing nothing in particular other than being a family with friends playing with toys on offer. There is a final bit of schoolwork for the last day of term, which brings Term 1 to a close and the start of 2 weeks “off”. This leads into a final supper which is eagerly and gratefully received.