Memory Lane: Senior Trip!

I’m wearing a skirt to Disneyland?

Where were you on May 22, 1992? I was a senior in high school. We were on our allegedly authorized yet supposedly unauthorized senior trip to Disneyland. Why do I remember this? Because it was also the night Johnny Carson retired from the Tonight Show. I remember the cheesy hotel room I shared with my friend and my cousin. I think I stayed there 10 years later on another trip to Disneyland. Maybe it wasn’t that cheesy.

That was the time I saw five minutes of Captain EO. I fell asleep and missed the whole show. For some reason, all the seniors in California had the run of Disneyland…at 2:00 am. This was an epic trip. We left Vacaville before sunrise, which was probably 4 am to get down to Southern California. The bus trip was a blur. I think I recall something foul happening to the “restroom” on the bus. Maybe that was a nightmare I had?

Our first stop was Huntington Beach. You know those images Hollywood spews out of beaches in California? That’s exactly what it looked like. I was used to the rugged Northern California coastline, not these flat sandy Hollywood sets. Being that I was exhausted and LOVE the outdoors, I spent most of the afternoon haunting the trinket shops along the beach.

Finally we were able to check in to the room, but did I get to rest? No. We were too excited. We were on a trip sans parents!  There must have been some sort of chaperon, but who remembers?  We walked over to the Claim Jumper and had dinner. Then we had to prep for our late night Disney rendezvous.

After I awoke from my Captain EO nap, all I can remember now is wanting to go back to the hotel room to sleep. There were thousands of high school kids running around. I didn’t care. I was barely awake and had a boyfriend back home who unbeknownst to me at the time would dump me a few months later. But I digress…

Finally, we were able to get a few hours of sleep until we were herded on to the bus to take a boat to Catalina Island. I was one of the few who wasn’t hungover (because I was nerd and more interested in sex than booze), but of course, I got seasick.

Catalina Island May 1992

Luckily, I kept my breakfast down. I think I had breakfast that day. Anyway, I remember deboarding the boat only to count how much time I had to waste before we were allowed to get back on the bus to go home.

It was a whirlwind trip. I remember wandering around the island with my friends in search of food and shade. Finally, I just gave in to my baser instincts and collapsed in a heap on some shady grass. I stayed there, gathering my energy, waiting for the sweet relief of the bus ride back home.

Don’t get me wrong. I had fun, but I was so damn tired the whole time!