The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter

I have been dreaming about visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood since they first opened in April 2016. Since our home is only a four-hour drive away, I thought I would have visited sooner. Alas, the opportunity never arose. Also, not to mention the prices are up there with Disneyland. At this particular time, it costs $105 for a one-day general admission ticket. That means for a family of four it would be $420 just to get in through the gate. Then there are the added costs of hotel rooms, food, and souvenirs. It's no wonder I had not visited Universal Studios.

My family decided to drive back home for an extended weekend visit, leaving me behind in Southern California because I had to work. I thought it was only fair that I had at least one fun day while they were gone and settled upon a trip to Harry Potter land. I just had to pay for one ticket admission, and I could eat a big breakfast, pack water and snacks, and save myself for one big meal at the Three Broomsticks. I bought my tickets the night before and went to bed that night super excited for the upcoming day.

The park opened at 8 am and I had planned on arriving at that time to get the maximum amount of fun at Universal Studios. My family also woke early that morning for their drive home. My daughter was upset she could not stay behind and visit the amusement park with me, but I reminded her the fact she has never read nor watched any Harry Potter books or movies. She only knows one character, you guessed it, Harry Potter.  I had my big breakfast, packed my bag and I was off before everyone else.

I have never visited an amusement park solo before. I found it to be very relaxing and enjoyable. I got to spend as much time as I wanted in Hogsmeade, I stood in the single rider lines, I did not have to argue with anyone, nobody complained their feet were tired and needed to rest, and I could maneuver through the crowds with great ease. My only issue of the day was at the end when I decided it was time to ride the Studio Tour tram. There was no single rider line for this ride. The line was a never-ending zigzag. I ended up waiting for 55 min; my feet were barking!

I stayed at the park all the way till closing time, having a blast all by myself. My co-workers asked me why did I go by myself. I told them it was better that I went alone and I was glad that I did. Everyone should experience traveling and visiting places solo at least once in their life. It teaches you not to be so dependant on others and gives you the feeling of freedom from doing what you want to do. Maybe a solo trip to Disneyland will be next!

Christmas Drone Time

Now that we have got our first drone flight out of the way I am itching to get out there and fly some more. I can not believe I had my drone for over a year and never once took it out for a spin. Was I just nuts or something? It is so fun to maneuver through the sky. 

Christmas was just yesterday, and we had Thao's grandfather over for the occasion. We did not do anything extravagant. Since it was only the five of us for the day, we decided to take it easy and just grill some burgers and have some potato salad. While grandpa was here, we told him about our "new" drone we had just flown two days prior. He seemed intrigued, and I came up with the grand idea of taking the DJI Phantom out to one of the nearby beaches and showing him what it can do. Everyone agreed so I quickly jumped onto Google Maps to find a beach we could just park and get out and fly. 

Around 3:30 pm we arrived at Capistrano Beach. Not too many people were around, but there were more than I thought there would be. We walked down the beach little ways and picked our flat take off spot. I have watched a few YouTube videos since our first flight to get some pointers. Apparently, we should have calibrated the compass on the drone before our flight. OOPS! I made sure the calibrations were done before lift off this time. I was feeling brave and told everyone I was attempting a manual take off this time. It looked pretty easy to do on YouTube so why not!. I started my propellers and slowly raised the drone up higher, higher, and higher. I could tell grandpa was pretty impressed with that. From there it was business as usual. I soared through the air with ease recording video of the skyline, the city, and the contrast of the ocean and the beach. I could just watch the waves from above all day long. It is very hypnotic. Finally, the low battery warning came on, and I flew the Phantom down to land. Now, I did a manual take off, so it only makes sense to do the same for landing right? It turns out I was fabulous on my landing; even grandpa was impressed.

Since the sun was starting to set, grandpa wanted to stay just a little bit longer at the beach to watch the sunset. We sat on a bench and chit chatted while the sun slowly disappeared into the ocean. While we were seated, all our ears perked right up. Someone else came to the beach to fly their drone too! We all had a good laugh and watched the other drone zip through the sky. 

I like this drone I bought. I wish I could just take it out every day and see what new perspectives I can achieve with it. If only I had the time.