The Amazing Vacation Blog (TM), Day Five

3:52 AM - Sweet Jesus.

It would be funny if it weren't so sad that I'm up at this time of the morning; and not after a good sleep either. Oh, the humanity.

5:50 AM- After a couple hours of laying awake counting ceiling tiles (not that I can see the ceiling, it's pitch black), I am contemplating getting up and going to the gym when I notice that I am finally getting tired. So much for that.

7:30 AM - Awake again, and the wife is still not stirring, so off to the gym I go. Thankfully this is mostly a travel day and I can usually sleep in the car. I'm going to need some sleep!!

I spend about as much time at the gym as I possible can given the lack of sleep I have enjoyed so far this trip, and then stagger back to my room. Thank goodness it's across the hall.

9:00 AM - We're up and hitting up the free breakfast before checking out, loading up the car and heading onto the highway. I should say, HIGHWAYS. Nine different highways, no exaggeration, to get back onto the I-5 to lead us to Universal City. The California highway system is truly mind-bending.

I manage only about one hour sleep in the car (SERIOUSLY?? I CAN'T EVEN SLEEP IN THE CAR???? I used to be able to sleep in the car WHILE I WAS DRIVING!!!)

4;10 PM - We pull into the Hilton (if I were crass, I'd make a joke about how most guys would talk about pulling OUT of a Hilton) in Universal City, literally a 5-minute walk from the theme park. After checking in, we head out to the Universal CityWalk to grab dinner and look around. After a decent meal at Tony Roma's, we're back to the hotel to relax and hit the pool and hot tub.

While we are down at the pool, we both get calls on our cell phones from our alarm company. Of course, we didn't take our phones to the pool. Apparently my Dad closed a window he was not supposed to close, set off the alarm, and couldn't figure out what else to do. The alarm company dispatched the police. Thankfully we had left a key with our neighbors who let the police in, and they, after talking to Dad, obviously realized that he was not a burglar and went on their merry way. I suspect we are going to get a bill for that false alarm. Aye, carumba.

The joys of leaving an elderly man in charge when going on vacation. Actually he's far from "in charge", he's below three of our cats on the list of who we trust, but I guess the police have a preference to talk to an actual human being instead of a feline in these circumstances.

8:30 PM - After all the excitement, I decided I needed a damn glass of wine, so we cracked open the Robert Mondavi Moscato that they comped us yesterday. It's absolutely fabulous; the only downside is that it's only a half-bottle and after the alarm fiasco I probably could have used quite a bit more :-)

9:00 PM - OK I am going to take many sleeping pills. Just enough to go to sleep, not enough to mix with the wine and kill me. I hope. If I'm wrong, I'll let Tracey write tomorrow's blog.

Tomorrow: Universal Studios!