Last Day in San Diego

Our last day in San Diego was Valentine's day. We chose to take it easy. A full week of zoos and theme parks had worn us out. Our hotel had a wonderful breakfast every morning with fresh waffles, biscuits with sausage gravy, oatmeal, bagels, eggs, omelets, breakfast burritos, toast, dry cereal, muffins, etc. After breakfast I headed to the hot tub. All week we enjoyed the hot tub and since this was our last day, I wanted to enjoy it twice. I know hot tubs are much like taking baths with strangers but I enjoy soaking my old bones in the hot water. After a soak, we went off to find some beaches. We drove to La Jolla to enjoy that beach and then moved on to Mission Beach. Mission Beach has many stores and a huge wooden roller coaster. The kids got henna tattoos. We dug holes in the sand. We wrote huge words with out feet that the tide would eventually erase for us. We stayed to watch our last sunset in California set over the Pacific Ocean. As the sun moved down to the horizon, more and more couples came to sit on the sea wall and watch the day end. Ah, the romance. We drove home and had our last soak in the hot tub before packing our clothes for the early morning journey. Unlike the way to California, we didn't miss our flight and we got home right on time. My cold was at it's worst that day and I sneezed and sniffled all the way to Denver. On the flight out of Denver I sat next to a Frontier Airline pilot. He fell asleep quickly into the flight. I was adjusting my television set so that the picture would be dark and I wouldn't be forced to see all their commercials. Then I pushed the button to recline my seat but the pilot's seat reclined, not mine. He jumped awake, startled. "Did I do that?" I asked, "I am so sorry." He put his seat upright again and went back to sleep. My remorse quickly faded and grew into the giggles. I had scared the heck out of a pilot. That was funny to me. I knew I couldn't let him hear me giggling so I put my knuckles in my mouth. Suppressing giggles doesn't work with me - it's like trying to put a plug on a boiling teakettle - things only get worse. I was desperate. Earlier in the trip I had the giggles when I was trying to drive and my six year old nephew helped me out by telling me a sad story. He likes to tell stories and many of his stories are sad. I tried to remember his story; something about some people together and one died. Remembering his story did the trick. As long as I didn't look at the sleeping pilot, I was fine.

A Tree on The Horizon

There was a tree we saw in about six locations in San Diego that caught my eye. The tree was an evergreen. In San Diego, lots of decidous trees are evergreen but this was more of a pine or fir tree evergreen. The tree was pyrimidal in shape and the branches were completely horizontal. Most pines branches droop but this tree did not droop, if anything some branches even lifted up a little. The tree looked exactly like a lego tree. If your kids had lego kits with evergreen trees, you might remember the lego evergreen trees. We were intrigued by these lego trees and asked several people if they knew the name of the tree. They understood what tree we were talking about from our description but no one knew the name of the tree. At the Quail botanical garden I asked a docent at the museum store about the tree. We looked through a book of California trees. Her speciality was shrubs and she tried to help me but couldn't. Her only advice was to ask Jared. Jared, she said, would know. Jared worked at the botanical gardens. He was 20 years old, handsome, blond, and "looked like a surfer dude." Say no more, I was on it. I looked for Jared - only for botanical advice of course, but I never found him. Here is another reason to return to San Diego - to solve the mystery of the lego tree.

Disneyland - A Magical Kingdom

I love Disneyland. I think Disneyland is a magical kingdom. This was my third trip there. The first trip was at age 19 when 4 girls and I drove a red VW van from Minnesota, through the Black Hills, Yellowstone, Seattle, down the coast, through Disneyland, and seeing Las Vegas on our way home. That was a wonderful trip that I will always remember fondly. My second trip was in March of 1988. I toured Disney with my four year old offspring #1 while carrying offspring #2. Being pregnant prevented me from going on some of the rides but I still had a great time because it is a magical kingdom. This time I went with my sister, some nephews (ages 6, 13, and 20) and my niece (11). Usually there are lots of cartoon characters walking around and you can have your photo taken with them. This time, we only saw one cartoon character and I think the cold rain prevented the others from coming out. "Look!" I said, "It's Cruella de Ville? Lets go talk to her!" The kids looked at her. She seemed to have a prominent adam's apple and perhaps a five o'clock shadow. She was holding her cigarette holder and gesticulating at a couple tourists. She didn't seem that happy. The kids said no, she was mean, they didn't want to talk to her. I tried again, "She won't hurt you, lets go talk to her." Inside I know that if I approached her with kids, she'd focus on them and leave me alone. But I couldn't talk them into it. We went on all the rides. We wore the 3D glasses for the film. We zapped Buzz Lightyear's enemies with our guns on the next ride. I didn't realize at first that our cars were keeping score. My niece who ended up with me on almost all the rides, had a much higher score than I did. So I quit shooting at my sister and started targeting the bulls eyes scattered throughout the ride. I never caught up to my niece. We drove the old time cars on Autotopia. We all went on the Matterhorn. Normally I would avoid this ride. In fact, I think I passed on it during my first two trips to Disneyland. I don't know what came over me but I got in line with the rest of the bunch. OMG! My niece and I were on the ride together and it was a nightmare. I had my hood pulled over my head because I couldn't bare to look and I screamed bloody murder the entire ride. I hung on as tight as I could wondering what the heck I was doing on this scary ride. It was horrible. I'll never do the Matterhorn again. I was wearing my backpack and I got slammed so hard into the seat that a lens popped out of my glasses inside the backpack. I think my niece's hearing has returned now. After that we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I told my sister that if I saw Johnny Depp I was hopping right out of this boat. Well, we did see him but I could tell he was a facsimile and not worth getting wet. But it was a fun ride and really warm and pleasant in there. The pirates were singing. All through this trip another customer at our Ramada had been after my sister, offering her his room number. Consequently we teased her about sneaking out at night to visit him. So when the pirates were singing, "Yo Ho!" I slapped my sister on the shoulder and sang along, "Yo Ho!" She snarled at me. Sometimes when I think I'm being really funny others don't agree with me. We went on the Submarine ride and the Small World ride. We were a little disappointed to see little Nemo and Ariel incorporated into the ride. The small world ride is supposed to be about international harmony, not promoting Disney movies. But it is their park so they have the right to do whatever they think is best. The Indiana Jones ride was new to me. On this ride we're in a car on a track. It was scary but not roller coaster scary until the end when this giant round rock is rolling right toward us. When I get scared or excited I have the bad habit of swearing. I let go a word I wish I had not said. I hope the kids were screaming too loud to hear that. The weather was cold and rainy but I wanted to ride the Peter Pan ride before we left. So we trudged and sloshed over to the fairy tale area. On the Peter Pan ride you are suspended in a little car and you hang over the rooftops of London, just like Peter Pan. I have always enjoyed Peter Pan and the premise of never growing up. I love the Peter Pan ride. When we got off, my niece made a fake yawn to indicate the ride was boring. What! How could she be bored on my favorite ride? Kids these days, what is the world coming to if an 11 year old is bored on the Peter Pan ride at Disneyland? All in all, we had a good day. We left cold, wet, tired and satisfied.

Zoo

In San Diego, we spent a day at the zoo. This is the same zoo that Dr. Suess spent time everyday thinking up his stories and making his illustrations. Once you are here you can tell that the plants and animals had an influence on his books. Some of the plants here are just like the plants in his books. His animals are taken from two or three zoo animals and combined into one. One of my favorite animals was the meerkat. One meerkat stood upright and stared at me with an expression that seemed to be saying,"What are you looking at?" After a couple minutes of this, I felt like I was the the one on exhibit, not him. Flamingos are always awesome to watch.The flamingos here seem pinker than the ones I saw in Africa, no doubt an influence of their diet.Be prepared for a lot of walking at the San Diego zoo as the facility is built into the side of a cliff. I struggle with walking long distances and considered renting a wheelchair but was glad I didn't. Getting me up those steep hills would have taken the strength of three men and a boy. The zoo offers bus rides around some of the exhibits for an additional fee.

California Life

As you would expect, the weather is nicer in California than Minnesota. My skin lost the typical winter alligator luster and was hydrated again. My sinus headache cleared up within a day or so. The roads in California were in good repair and well designed. The drivers I encountered were courteous. Motorcyclists are allowed to weave in and out of traffic between the lanes when traffic is stopped and even when traffic is not stopped. I freaked a little the first time I saw that but eventually I got used to it. Gasoline was between $2.19 and $2.25 per gallon. We rented a Toyota Sierra van and were very happy with our choice because it drove like a car and had all the modern features. Our van was white as are most of the cars we saw in California - better to reflect the heat I suppose. One evening we were invited to dinner. My nephew’s adopted aunt and uncle had us over for a simple barbeque. We were happy to accept and were treated with a huge feast of steak, chicken, potato salad, green bean hot dish, baked beans, watermelon, biscuits, muskmelon, cheese, crackers, rice rolled up in grape leaves and Turkish Tea. My nephew refers to Turkish Tea as Turkish Crack - must have lots of caffeine in it. We were grateful that this nice couple took our nephew under their wings. There were several teenagers living in this house and a couple Italian greyhounds and everybody got along just fine. This family used to live in Minnesota but moved to San Diego 20 years ago because Minnesota was too cold. Why do I wait here in this Vitamin D deprived frozen tundra? We talked about how green and lush everything was. Hibiscus and birds of paradise were blooming. Birds of paradise are used as shrubs or hedges and were as common as lilac bushes in Minnesota. To real San Diegoite’s the landscape at this time of year is drab. Some trees shed their leaves in February and hardly anything is blooming. California has drawbacks as well. Instead of a state income tax refund, my nephew got a state income tax IOU. He could really use that money now. On the day we arrived, Feb. 6, the state told the workers to take the day off unpaid. If we had needed any state services, we would have had to wait until Monday. Sales tax was applied to every item at 7.5%. The newspapers focused on the difficulty the state legislature had balancing the budget. Our hotel was in the city of Carlsbad. The newspaper reported that the city council of Carlsbad voted to decrease their wages by 5% in order to help balance the city budget. I have never heard of any political body voting to decrease their wages before. I was impressed. Cutting your own pay sends a huge message to the voters. Another controversy in Carlsbad was the cutting of a row of older palm trees because they were blocking some condo owner’s view of the ocean. One man was so upset that he resorted to climbing one of the palms and living in it. The trees are down now but people are still writing letters to the editor about the issue. Down the road in La Jolla, there was a controversy about Seal Beach. The city built a sea wall to make a protective beach area for the kids to play and swim. The seals took over the beach. They act like they own the place. Seals bask in the sun out of the wind and the waves and no kids are allowed near them. The seals lollygag around all day oblivious to the cameras taking their pictures. They decorate the sand with the track marks of their flippers as they propel themselves out of the water and through the sand. The photo above was taken on the sea wall at Seal Beach. Supporters of children argue with supporters of seals. I’m not sure what people who like both children and seals think about the issue. Another major issue in the letters to the editor was the woman who had eight children. She and her 14 children live in California and receive some state funds.

San Diego Wild Animal Park and Sea World

We decided to visit the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative. Soon after arriving at the park, the sky clouded up and the drizzle started. Drizzle we could handle. The heavy rain and winds are what made it tough. By the time we got on the tram to visit the African savanna area, we were freezing. My bones don't bend as easily when I'm cold and wet. Lucky for us there was a sale on fleece jackets. Maybe it was the cold weather or maybe my trip to Africa has changed me but watching the African animals in this park was disappointing. The dik diks were just laying there. When I saw dik diks in Africa, they were looking around, munching, and looking lively. These dik diks in San Diego were listless and inactive. It was the same thing with the wart hogs. The warthogs in Africa were absolutely the cutest things because of their dramatic posturing. The warthogs in San Diego were sleeping in the rain. Animals in a zoo don't act the same as animals in the wild. We saw giraffes and zebras, musk ox and elephants, monkeys and great crested cranes, gnu and wildebeest. I enjoyed watching the kids enjoy the animals. The next day we went to Sea World. At Sea World the exhibits are separated by species. Go in one building and see the penguins. Exit through a store selling all penguin items. Go in another building and see seals. Exit through a store selling all seal related items. It is true that Sea World is very commercial. And seeing sea lions. whale and dolphins o obeying hand signals can be a little disturbing, especially the whales. Whales are huge mammals who live in family groups. To me whales are too majestic to turn circles, splash the audience, or flip their bodies up on a platform on command. I was torn because somehow all this whale performing didn't seem right but where else would the average person see such beauty, such strength, and such intelligence? When I saw the trainer stand on the snout of the whale as it broke the water and lifted the orca's entire body straight up in the air, I was overcome with the beauty and elegance and the communication between the two performers. Who wouldn't want to do that? I enjoyed watching the kids enjoy the exhibits and the show. In the top photo you can see my nephew petting a dolphin. "Soft and smooth," were his exact words. The sun shone on us at Sea World. The temperature was in the upper 50's and the wind was slight. If I look closely at my left foot, I can see a slight tan mark from my sandals and I think this was the day it happened. My right foot must have been in the shade during the Shamu Show.

San Diego - Here We Come

Flying means preparation. I was prepared. I was packed. All liquids were in a 3 ounce containers and inside a zip lock bag. Everything was packed and ready to go the night before. I was up at 3:30 a.m. and we were at the airport 1 hour and 15 minutes early. We missed our flight. Did you know you had to be at the airport 2 hours in advance for domestic flights? Well, now you do. Missing a flight was a new experience for me and is one I do not hope to have again. We were on stand-by for the rest of the day. Since we had 5 in our party, we needed 5 empty seats. Once they had room for 2, not 5. We deliberated leaving the kids behind but thought better of it and turned it down making some other stand by people very happy. Another time they had room for 4, not 5. Again we turned it down. All for one and one for all, we said. We spent about 9 hours in the Denver airport, concourse A. We know it well. There are mosaic patterns on the floor of that concourse that really don't look like much unless you stand upstairs and look down at them. From that vantage, you can see they are pictures of people taken from above - almost like magic eye pictures. We rode the escalators up and down. We walked the moving sidewalks right and left. We ate dinner at Jimmy's-a concourse A airport restaurant. We told them we were having a bad day. One of our party was having his sixth and golden birthday. We asked if they could help make it a good day. Jimmy's did the trick. The service was kind and generous. The food was delicious. The birthday boy was rewarded with a free piece of cheesecake bigger than his head and a birthday card from the wait staff. Our spirits were lifted. We celebrated his birthday. With the time change, he was lucky to have a 26 hour golden birthday. We were supposed to arrive in San Diego around 2 p.m. Instead we arrived at 1:30 a.m. By the time we picked up our car and drove to our hotel and got ready to bed, it was 3:23. I was 7 minutes short of a 24 hour day. We felt better the next morning. We picked up another nephew who lives in San Diego. We decided to tour the Quail Botanical Gardens. As we walked around the gardens we marveled at the green colors and the beautiful flowers. People who live in San Diego told us this was a drab time of year. Some trees are bare and only a few flowers blossomed. To us it looked like paradise. We can upon one short palm-like fig with a large, conical, green protrusion above two round fruits. We discussed another family member's use of the Washington Monument in a photo. So, of course, twisted family that we are, one nephew stood behind the fig to be photographed. Lets just say, that photo won't be posted on the Internet by me. We didn't see any quail at the gardens but we did see quite a few Anna's hummingbirds zooming around our heads. The gardens were very beautiful. I always enjoy a place where the plants are labeled. That evening our nephew treated us to a limo ride. We got into a l o n g Lincoln Continental limousine and went for a ride. Water and pop waited in the ice buckets. Champagne and brandy glasses were available. We could control the sun window, the window behind the driver, the music, the temperature, and the disco lights on the ceiling and above the bar. We drove around La Jolla. We went to Seal Beach to watch the sunset (see photo). Seals were drying themselves on the sand as the tide rolled in. The sunset was beautiful. Our driver was very nice. His name sounds like Far-ee but I'm not sure how to spell it. He decided to take us to the Corvette Diner for celebrate the birthday. What a crazy place this was. From the outside it looks like a diner from the 1950's with chrome tables, black and white tile floor, old time music, and skirted waitresses. Inside, it was mayhem. The waitress kept throwing stuff at us. First she threw a large handful of straws at us. Naturally, we unwrapped them and blew the paper covers at each other. Later she threw more straws at us. I threw one back at her. After we paid the check, she threw a big handful of bazooka bubble gum at us. One piece of gum landed inside a glass of chocolate malt. A man came around and made a balloon monkey on a banana tree (with bananas) for my niece and a large hat, sword, and scabbard for my nephew. The kids had a good time. That place was so perky. Loud happy music played all the time. About every half hour the staff would stop serving and do a dance for all the customers. You have to be in the right mood to go to that kind of place. With my jet lag and lack of sleep, all I could do was stare with my mouth open. I was too tired to participate much. We took our limo home and relaxed in the hot tub before going to bed. Riding in a limo was a fun experience. I felt so decadent. Usually I try to conserve gasoline. I plan my trips and combine my errands in my little Honda civic. When we got in or out of the limo, people stared us. I almost wanted to explain myself - I'm not rich or famous, just lucky.
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