California - June 2016

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Next door to Liz's mother, her neighbor refurbishes police cars that are used in movies and TV

Solvang CA. A dutch tourist town.

Carpinteria. A beach near where Liz grew up.

Flowers at the entrance to Universal Studios amusement park

In the park, the entrance to Hogsmead, the town from Harry Potter.

You could go in all the shops and buy Harry Potter stuff, like wands, chocolate frogs, robes, etc.

We had butter beer, actually a recipe including probably butterscotch and soda.

The Hogwarts Express!!

Olivanders, the shop where you buy wands. They had 2 kinds. One was a regular reproduction of the wands used in the movies. The other was the same except when you waved it near certain shop windows it would make things happen... like magic.

The enchanted car

A Hippogriff, one of many statues inside the Hogwarts castle

The sorting hat, that spoke to us

Hogwarts outside with the winged boars

The Jurassic Park section

Video: Jurassic Park props (13MB download)

Video: Raptor loose (6MB download)

One of the rides we went on. Yes, we got wet.

One ride was the Universal Studios tour. It included really spectacular rides. You'd go thru these buildings with special effects, including 3D. The bus was set up with special effects so you would get bounced around in tandem with the ride. The tour and the Hogwarts ride were by far the best.

There were many buildings that are actually non-functional sets. They're only about 40 feet, but with camera angles they look much taller. The top is even curved to give the illusion it's taller.

This was the entrance to one of the rides. It was dinosaurs and king kong fighting each other, only with 3D glasses on it looked they were about to grab you. It was so realistic with the bus moving with it and water sprayed on you to simulate the dinosaur spitting on you. The was even hot air blown on you to simulate the dinosaur (or king kong) breathing on you.