The week started off well. I met Val the first night after driving 7 hours to get to Marina del Rey. We met at the Bowling Alley, of course, and then drove around to the Custom Hotel, which was in the same shopping center. It's a new hotel, ideally located, and we wanted to see if it would be a good fit as the ordination hotel in May 2008.
The little hotel is a bit out of Europe. It's not yet finished -- the restaurant still has to be completed -- and there are halls that go nowhere. It's very unusual. When the valet car guy came to our room to pick up keys, he fairly shouted, "Did you hear the elevator?!" It seems the elevator talks to you, but most of it doesn't make any sense. So don't go rushing down there just to see what it has on its tiny little mind.
And there are sheep in the lobby. No, not kidding.
We think we're happy with it, and so will seek to negotiate several rooms when the event gets closer. I'm wondering if the invitation should contain word about the sheep. Or the elevator.
The next morning I set out for Disneyland. Against my better judgment (read: the old way of doing things), I followed mapquest's suggestion of using five different freeways to get there. Lo and behold, it only took 45 minutes to arrive! And I skipped the deadly traffic of the 10 East and most of the 5 South.
We had a very nice time at DLand. I met Ricky and Joel there. I'm always kind of amazed that these two guys spend a lot of their time in Fantasyland. Peter Pan is de rigeur, for example. I had my own agenda list: I got to see the castle lit up for the holiday season. 
And the Haunted Mansion decorated in The Nightmare Before Christmas style, which is always a treat. My only mistake, I think, was making Indiana Jones the last ride of the night. It took me an hour to stop shaking.
Rick and Joel said farewell and I stuck around to watch the parade and do some final shopping. I then walked with my oh-so-tired legs over to the Desert Suites, spent the night there, and then the next morning walked back over to the park to have breakfast at the Carnation Cafe. Then I climbed into the car and drove down to San Diego.
We started out the biennial day by registering at the San Diego Convention Center, and then going across the street to my favorite restaurant of the area, Lou and Mickey's, for lunch with a crowd that included Dawn, Mark and Rabbi Berlin. Then we walked back to the convention center for the first of the workshops. After the workshop, I wondered how I was going to survive four-and-a-half days of a world of which I know very little.
But I had little to fear about that. Val became rather ill, and holed up in our hotel room. I saw very little of the event itself.
Things I Learned at Biennial:
San Diego has the best weather on earth in December.
The convention center is too damn large.A bunch of Jews come to biennial, which is the largest gathering of Reform Jews in the world. However, we're only talking 5500 here. Comic Con attendance dwarfs those figures.
The new siddur (prayerbook) is much easier to use, for me, than the old one. 5,000 of us used it in Hall A at shabbat services.
It is possible to completely run through the entire room service menu at the Marriott.
Okay, that's about it. I attended two workshops. I'm not counting the one that Dr. Adler gave; I attended 5 minutes of it, to see how she was doing, when I realized I didn't understand a single word she was saying. She did seem very enthusiastic, however. Instead, I went over to the conversion workshop. That one was rather contentious. I enjoyed that part of it very much.
Will I attend the next biennial? I'm not sure. Thankfully it's two years away. But it's in Toronto, a city I've always wanted to see, always been curious about. Maybe I could do what some spouses do, see the city and meet their partner for shabbat. At this point I'm not sure the pull of Toronto could get me there.
But maybe I'll forget everything I learned this time around. There's always hope.
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