Stay-Cation 2015 Has Begun!
Once again, my husband and I are going to be staying home for the spring and summer this year, rather than taking a long trip. We are expecting a couple of batches of family visitors during June and July, and will be taking a quick road trip in early July. So today, the end of my spring break, I started to visit areas of San Diego County that I haven't been to in awhile.
The trip today was to Sea World-San Diego. As a Southern California educator, I was eligible to get a free Fun Card for 2015. Since my daughter's family already had a Fun Card, she and I took the baby and went to Sea World for the day. The last time I was at Sea World was almost 6 years ago, and it was then owned by Anheuser-Busch. They no longer own it, which may be a bit of a good thing.
We were there by 10:00 am. Parking costs $16 unless your pass covers it (and hers did), and getting in early got us a decent parking place. Once up at the park entrance, I had to trade my voucher for the Fun Card.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8732/...97bffdfa_c.jpgSea World April 2015 003 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Sea World has a full section set up for kids to stretch their legs, play, yell, and holler either before, during, or after seeing the many shows and exhibits. My grandson enjoyed the kiddie rides, the bounce mat, and the climbing net before getting back into his stroller to go see some of the aquariums and the Penguin Encounter.
Once past the kiddie section, we headed for the arctic area which contains Wild Arctic and the Penguin Encounter. Outside of the Penguin Encounter were some Magellan penguins, who can tolerate the warmer temperatures that coastal San Diego can give.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8700/...2a6f2357_c.jpgSea World April 2015 034 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Inside the Penguin Encounter, one can view the Antarctic penguins, and the puffins (which are sort of a penguin that lives in the Arctic). It's hard to photograph these when the inside of the plexiglass windows are all steamed up!
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From there, we walked over to do the Wild Arctic. Due to my grandson, we couldn't do the simulation ride, but I've done it before and it's not all that great. But the polar bears and beluga whales were out and in the mood to be photographed by all those people at the windows!
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One beluga whale was also in the mood to play!
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Continuing the day at Sea World....
We had lunch at the Caribbean Reef area. Food at Sea World is rather pricey. We had two pieces of BBQ chicken (a thigh-leg combo and a breast-wing combo), a load of French fries and a roll for $12.99, each. We shared with my grandson, and we each had our own water bottles with us because drinks are sky-high.
Next stop was at Turtle Reef. This was new to me, though my daughter had been inside it.
This was a huge sea turtle.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8711/...3f515d4e_c.jpgSea World April 2015 095 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
This was a much smaller turtle.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8742/...fc46b771_c.jpgSea World April 2015 109 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
My mom taught me to appreciate flamingos. There were two different areas for them. One was on the west side near to the Manta roller coaster ride (what's THAT doing at Sea World!), and the other was on the east side near the old Clydesdale barn. The western area is evidently where they keep the nesting flamingos in the spring.
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8691/...019d78ff_c.jpgSea World April 2015 117 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
We stopped at the Dolphin pool for the longest time. My daughter has always loved dolphins, and she wanted to see if she could pet one. Besides, Baby Boy had finally dropped into a nap.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7598/...ab4f37ba_c.jpgSea World April 2015 127 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
I'm pretty proud of this picture:
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8746/...5360d2ba_c.jpgSea World April 2015 131 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Eventually we made it back to the other area of the park, and saw the eastern flamingos. These were the more social birds. There were two sets of them that had some sort of disagreement that made us all laugh.
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Instead of the Clydesdales on parade, which used to happen every afternoon when Anheuser-Busch owned the place, now the Flamingos from the east side go on parade.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7611/...b315bb51_c.jpgSea World April 2015 159 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Alas, after 5 hours in the place, it was time to head home. We didn't want to fight rush hour traffic and we'd have been right in the middle of it if we waited another hour. We'd had a good time, the only money we spent was on our lunch, and I got a lot of sun and good walking. BTW, I wear a pedometer. I walked for 3+ miles inside Sea World.
Donna
That would be a good idea
Keith, great idea to bring your own water... they're in an unbelievable drought in CA. Just have to be able to get it through security.
:-p
Lifey
Goodan Ranch-Sycamore Canyon Preserve
San Diego County is full of "Open Space Preserves", to try to keep urban sprawl from going everywhere and saving some of nature for recreation and renewal. Blue Sky Reserve is one of them, the Goodan Ranch-Sycamore Canyon Preserve is another one. We set out to explore this one today. There are two approaches to the Preserve. One is off of CA-67 (known to the locals as just "the 67"), the other is the back road in from Poway, a lesser-known and used approach. That's the one we used. It's also the only one open 7 days a week. The staging area off the 67 is open only on Saturdays and Sundays.
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Our feet sported pairs of new hiking shoes today. We'd been hiking in our everyday walking shoes, which really aren't made for trails. I grabbed my 30-yo hiking boots only to have the rubber sole disintegrate on me, so it was time for new ones. We also bought a second pair of hiking poles. Considering the type of trail today, we appreciated having two each (instead of 1).
By accident, we headed downhill on the Sycamore Canyon truck trail, but we knew we were going to do a loop anyway and probably really didn't matter which way we went. It was somewhat disappointing to be walking on a little-used road, but no matter. About 0.7 of a mile, we turned down another road, and were only on that for another 0.3 before turning off on an actual trail: the Martha's Grove Trail.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7697/...13e930e7_c.jpgIMG_1549 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
This was another area that had been hard-hit by the 2003 Cedar fire. I was relieved to see the growth, but you could always see remnants of the damage that the fire did.
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7714/...8fec34aa_c.jpgIMG_1550 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
We followed the very-dry stream bed for a long while, listening to the birds chatter.
Martha's Grove was the destination for this hike. It's a really pretty grove of live-oak trees, named after a ranger who had cared for the area years back. There's a marker explaining her life and how much the area had meant to her. She died in 1988, at age 31, of malignant melanoma, which made me very sad. The county has replaced the bench that was here before the fire, and added a picnic table. (That must have been quite a slog to bring that picnic table up/down the trail, even in pieces!)
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In far wetter years, this particular grove is full of poison oak, ticks and other issues.
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On the way uphill between the Grove and the trailhead, we came across 3 separate mountain bikers. Pedestrians are supposed to have right away, but we used common trail courtesy and just moved over for the downhill bikers. While waiting, I saw this new growth among the burned old growth:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7590/...a2d2ec74_c.jpgIMG_1558 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Alas, we found the trailhead, and decided to do two things: take ourselves to lunch at In-and-Out, and then go to Kohl's and find some decent socks for our new hiking shoes.
Tomorrow? We haven't decided, but it will be some yet-undiscovered (to us) part of San Diego County!
Donna
Whaley House, Old Town San Diego
For Mother's Day, our family went down to Casa de Reyes Restaurant in the Bazaar del Mundo, part of Old Town San Diego. After a delicious lunch, we took a walk. Along our route was the infamous Whaley House, a well-known place where paranormal activity has taken place. Believe it or not, we've lived in San Diego County over 30 years and have never toured the Whaley House, so we decided it was high time.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7771/1...d9f258bc_z.jpgIMG_1648 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Admission on weekends, for a self-guided tour (docents available) was a reasonable $6 for an adult. The others in our party headed for home, so it was just hubby and I doing this tour. If you follow the written tour, things are easy to identify and described in the brochure one is given.
The first stop is the courthouse. Over the years, a number of paranormal activities have happened in this room.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5467/1...bd1118f9_z.jpgIMG_1649 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Our docent herself has witnessed 4 activities in her ten years at the House. One notable one was to walk into this dining room and the smell of bacon was very strong. Yet, walk outside or into another room, and she did not smell it. The odor went away about as quickly as it came, she described.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5329/1...3393b1e3_z.jpgIMG_1653 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
I was surprised to see a theater in this place. It definitely had a small stage, and the audience might hold about 30 people at the most.
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7659/1...bcfd5105_z.jpgIMG_1656 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
The rocking chair in this particular bedroom has been known to rock at the strangest times. A local TV show, "Ken Kramer's About San Diego", featured this rocking chair and talked about this phenomenon.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8692/1...f82d9a48_z.jpgIMG_1658 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
The parlor is the last part of the inside tour. I personally loved looking at the instruments in there. The docent told us that the pump organ works, but only the former director had ever played it. The rest of them were never allowed to do so. It hasn't been played since the former director moved on to a new job. That's a shame, as instruments should be played periodically!
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5335/1...a56ffb5d_z.jpgIMG_1679 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Outside there were some bushes, a few older buildings (one was a private office) and what had been a small garden. With our drought, however, it seems to have been neglected a little bit.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5462/1...38656962_z.jpgIMG_1685 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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After touring the Whaley House, we walked back to our car and headed back for home. It was a lovely day. Happy Mother's Day, everyone!
Donna
Summer portion of Staycation: Julian!
This morning, with 2 cars loaded, 5 adults and 3 small children, we headed toward Julian. This means going up Rt 67 to Ramona, then CA-78 through Santa Ysabel and into Julian.
First real stop was at Dudley's Bakery in Santa Ysabel. This is known county-wide for delicious breads, rolls, and cookies made right there on the premises. On a windy day, you can catch the delicious smells if you are downwind. We stopped for a late breakfast, picking out rolls and cookies to eat on the stop. (Diet, schmy-et, while my family is visiting!) Showing what a small town I teach in not that far away, I ran into a colleague's son and his grandma. They had driven up JUST to pick up some bread. Now that shows you the popularity of this bakery locally!
Next stop was in Julian itself. Julian is an old mining town whose fame now runs to apples (during the correct season) and wineries (any season). It's worth just walking around and looking at the many little stores (no chain stores or restaurants), doing wine tasting if you like at the 4 or 5 wineries in town, checking out the used bookstore. Today's temperatures were actually warmer in Julian than down in the north inland county.
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Julian 002 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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Julian 004 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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Julian 010 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
A word to the wise about visiting in Julian: bring a quarter. It's one of the few places in CA that has coin-op public bathrooms, and most of the stores and restaurants won't let you use their facilities unless, of course, you have done a bit of business there or had lunch. (A lot of the stores won't even allow that, as they state, "No Public Restrooms".)
We had a lovely lunch at a place that served old-fashioned small town cafe' food, Rong Branch Restaurant. My husband had the chicken pot pie and said it was delicious. My younger daughter and I both had sandwiches on sourdough bread which was wonderful. Their kids' menu was pretty decent, too.
We stopped for eggs at the egg ranch on the way back down the hill.
JUNE 2019 UPDATE: We haven't been up to Julian for four years, but a return trip on Saturday, June 15th, gave us new information. The public pay toilets have been "upgraded" to free. So at the moment, one does not need a quarter. However, this status could change at any time. So bring a quarter (or two) just in case!
Donna
Another trip to Sea World!
With a Fun Pass this year (basically a half season pass), we decided to head out as a family and do up Sea World again. So we went in three cars -- each daughter and her family, and us. We had guest passes for our oldest daughter and her family, so we only had to pick up a ticket for my husband. We went with a Fun Pass for him, too, so that he and I could return any time this summer for only the cost of parking and food. Hubby had the same reservations about Sea World that I'd had back in April, but came out with a better feeling like I'd had: "under new management, it seems a lot better".
We took the children to the kiddieland, Sesame Street Bay of Discovery. Kids and adults rode two rides and the kids played on the bounce mat.
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Sea World 003 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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Sea World 013 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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Sea World 020 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Then we headed for the east side, stopping at the flamingos (always my favorite), the penguins, and the Wild Arctic Zone.
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Sea World 037 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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Sea World 050 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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Sea World 059 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
A bit of lunch again, then off to the west side of the park: The Turtle Reef, Dolphin zone, the Manta (where hubby, one daughter and her husband rode the rollercoaster and had a blast), and the sea lions.
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Sea World 100 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
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Sea World 130 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
And so ended our day at Sea World. No, we didn't see any of the shows. Our grandchildren are all 3 and under, and won't get much out of the shows for a few more years. Perhaps my husband and I will return to Sea World, later this summer, and do up all of the new shows.
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Sea World 141 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Donna
Beach Day: La Jolla Shores
Today was Beach Day, part of our Stay-Cation 2015. However, the menfolk decided that they didn't want to go. One was already sunburned from yesterday's Sea World trip, another dislikes the beach intensely and the other just didn't want to go anywhere today of importance. Besides, the men had an alternative plan.
Instead of our "usual" beach, which is located down on one of the Navy bases, we decided to go to a public beach, La Jolla Shores. It's located between "downtown" La Jolla, and Torrey Pines area. Sitting on the beach, you look north to the Torrey Pines area, where you can see the hang gliders and the cliffs of the State Park. Looking south, you can see La Jolla. La Jolla Shores Beach and Park has much to offer. Part of the beach is closed to "swimmers and boogie-boarders", and open to surfers. That's where we parked ourselves on the beach (less people). The other part of the beach, a short walk away, is the swimmers and boogie boarder side.
I took one granddaughter and we went for a long walk down towards the Scripps Pier. She loved feeling the sand on her feet and taking a walk with just Grammy, no little sister tagging along. A little later, I took little sister and we went for a walk down the other way towards the swimming portion of the beach. She isn't mobile yet, so she just spent time looking around and over Grammy's shoulder.
Looking north toward Torrey Pines and Scripps Pier:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/441/18...2db9b62a_z.jpgIMG_1819 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
The Pacific Ocean, on a gorgeous day:
https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3900/1...046d5623_z.jpgIMG_1823 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Looking at La Jolla:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/509/18...6db05b6f_z.jpgIMG_1824 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Since it's a Saturday, the Lifeguards were out in full force at this particular beach. They patrolled up and down in gas vehicles and quads, there were lifeguards in every station including the one directly behind us. That one had to politely ask a family to move their beach canopy because he could not see the ocean from his station.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/335/18...7432574d_z.jpgIMG_1826 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
There are probably restaurants down the way, but this is one of the beaches in which you must BYO food. We packed a picnic and brought it with us. It's also a very popular beach -- parking lot was full when we arrived at 10, but like any Target at Christmastime, just drive around and you'll catch someone leaving! The early crowds are mostly surfers, and your after-lunch crowds are mostly families. We came between, and managed to snag two parking spots abandoned by surfers.
Donna
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Today's activity was the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, located just east of Escondido. It is a sister park to the San Diego Zoo, and used to be called the San Diego Wild Animal Park until just a few years ago. The Safari Park is a large park, with a lot of acreage dedicated to roaming animals and the local flora/Fauna. There are many ways to see the park. The most common ways are walking, and the tram, included in the admission. Less common, but available for extra costs, are cart safaris (on a golf-cart type thing), caravan safaris, and a few others.
If it's a long-legged bird, I want to see it. These were about the first fauna there for the public to see, except perhaps the macaw (who was hiding today):
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Safari Park 003 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
We walked all day, other than when we rode the tram. The kids loved the petting zoo, where my older granddaughter and my grandson enjoyed petting the goats. There was some sort of hog, with a park ranger giving a talk:
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Safari Park 006 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
The bats were just hanging around:
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Safari Park 020 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
For those that want to be very active, one can go ziplining, or you can traipse through the trees on wood slats ... for an extra price.
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Safari Park 021 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Giraffes:
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Safari Park 058 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
These are the trams that you can ride to see the giraffes, rhinos, antelope, and many other African plains animals:
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Safari Park 069 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Gooses! Geeses!
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Safari Park 090 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
A mama gorilla and her little one. There was also an older gorilla, age 57, that the sign proclaimed was a great-great-great-grandma. Wow!
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Safari Park 084 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Our national bird. The sign said that these were birds injured in the wild and can never fly again, so they are being kept at the Safari Park for their protection.
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Safari Park 107 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
We were privileged to see the California Condor fly. My husband and I have been in San Diego County for so long, we remember when the Wild Animal Park had a condor hatch an egg, and the excitement that caused in the county.
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Safari Park 110 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
One of the last things we saw -- a sleeping tiger:
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Safari Park 120 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Price-wise, it's about $48 per adult for a day ticket, $38 for a child 3-12. My husband and I decided that this year, we would get a zoological society membership. We were able to "renew", even though we had not been members for a good 20 years. All you need is your old zoo membership number. Basically, it pays for itself at the third visit in the year. Food is less expensive than at Sea World. You can get a zoological society souvenir cup for $10.99, refill it as many times as you want on the day you buy it (I refilled mine 4x), and then bring it back on subsequent trips and have it refilled for $1.29. The park doesn't get annoyed if you bring your own food or drinks in, though.
We were there for about 6 hours, I put 5 miles on my feet (according to my pedometer), and we all went home tired and happy!
Donna
Antique-ing of a different sort
On my daughter's last day visiting us, we left the oldest granddaughter with her dad and grandpa, and she and I (and baby) went "antiquing" -- to the thrift stores. One city near San Diego, Poway, has a whole shopping mall full of thrift stores and bargain stores. It's an old strip mall that is rented out, mostly to charities and churches, for lower rent. (The downside is that the buildings also don't get much maintenance, but that's another story.) This strip mall used to house a small 1-screen movie theater, a couple of restaurants, and a dancing school. Now it's home to thrift stores belonging mostly to local churches -- Catholic, independent charismatic, Lutheran, Presbyterian -- and to the Bargain Hunters "chain". There is also a consignment shop or two in the "mall".
You can start on one end of the strip mall and go from store to store. Most carry clothing, furniture, dishes, small appliances, books, DVD/VHS, CDs and vinyl, sporting equipment, and miscellaneous. Of course, any thrift store is 'hit and miss' if you are looking for specific items. Sometimes you hit things just right, and other times you don't. My daughter and I went looking for good baby and preschool clothing, and yesterday's trip resulted in two decent summer outfits for the baby and nothing for the older one. (A couple of years ago, I bought a used Christmas dress for the older one, tags still on it. It was gorgeous. $2.) We looked for books for the children, and my other grandchild, and got a lot. I also snagged three board games, one of them still with the original wrapper on it (ensuring that all the pieces were probably there). YAY!
All of these thrift stores like donations, though they each have their "rules" about them. Most of them take the donations through the back door of the store, or via their pickup service. As we went through them, I saw a tent in one of them, and a very old Coleman gas stove that was probably in good shape (Coleman has parts dating back into their 1930s equipment). Seeing these things made me think of RTA, as we occasionally suggest that people buy camping equipment for a trip and then donate it to a thrift shop at the end of their trip if they can't take it home.
It was a nice time with my daughter (and the baby). They had to leave this morning, the long road trip back to MO. They are going through Phoenix to visit with my parents, then up to I-40 through Albuquerque and OKC, then I-44. It's the way they came out, but the I-15 to I-70 route would be out of their way considering where they live in MO, now. The two girls traveled quite well, all-in-all-given-their-ages. Mama doesn't mind putting on a DVD if the older one gets whiney, and the noise puts the baby to sleep, so she gets a rest. This is their first long-distance road trip, and as my daughter says, hopefully the first of many as they develop their travel style.
Donna
..The Zoo in the afternoon
By the time we got into the line to take the Skyfari back to the Polar Bear Plunge, the crowds at the Zoo had grown. A lot longer line at the Skyfari was the first indication, but once off the ride, so were the numbers of people in front of the white bears.
This big guy decided that a sun bath would be a great idea, too. One improvement I noticed, since the Polar Bears moved into nicer quarters at the Zoo, was that their white fur didn't have as much green as it used to have. The chlorine always turned the bears' fur blue, or green.
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San Diego Zoo 100 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
From there, we made our way to an animal that I've never seen: the pandas. When we were here before, years ago, the pandas were never out. I don't believe I've ever seen them in other zoos, either. So the 20-25 minute wait was worthwhile. While standing in line, I got to talking with the people behind us. We had several places in common, where we've lived over the years. Small world!
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San Diego Zoo 122 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
On the Monkey Trail:
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San Diego Zoo 130 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
This big fella decided to entertain us by rolling from one end of his enclosure to the other, right in front of the observation window!
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San Diego Zoo 131 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
This gal (white ones are female) just had to hang around and check out all the people who were watching her, including us:
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San Diego Zoo 146 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
This spoonbill entertained us by playing with a little piece of wood.
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San Diego Zoo 147 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
The gorilla habitat - Large, beautiful, green. This is what San Diego Zoo does best: shows off critters in an environment that is similar to what they'd live in, in the wild.
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San Diego Zoo 155 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Look carefully. In this picture, under that pink "wheel" (on its side), is a hippo.
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San Diego Zoo 161 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
This is where we decided to head back to the car and go home. We'd been at the Zoo for a good 6 hours, I had more than 5 miles on my pedometer, and we were *tired*. Looking at the map, we know that the next trip to the Zoo will bring us up to see the tigers, the tortoises, and so much more that we missed. Seeing the Zoo is probably a 2-day visit for many people -- it's that large, and with all the walking necessary, it takes time. There is a double-decker bus tour (which is extra cost, but it's nominal), or you can opt for a more private cart tour (also extra cost, quite a bit more than the bus), one of which can take you "backstage". (A very long time ago, I took a group of school children on a backstage tour of the Zoo. It was very interesting for me, and definitely for the kids since they got to see some animals a little closer up than you might see them in the Zoo itself.)
Donna
Lunch, then two more shows
We had lunch at Shipwreck Reef Cafe, and managed to find a picnic table in the shade. In this area of the park, there is also a white water rapids raft ride, called Shipwreck Rapids, but not wanting to get soaked, we just watched. Then we headed for the next show, a summer-only show called Cirque de la Mer. We wanted to see one of the Cirque shows, when we were in Las Vegas two weeks ago, but the prices were a bit steep for our budget. This show at Sea World filled in the gap, even though it was just a 25 minute show. Once again, there were some beautiful aerialists, great trampoline artists, good tumbling, and a few other good talents in these young people.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/415/1...3daa6cf8_k.jpgSea World Shows July 2015 097 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/431/1...a428b906_k.jpgSea World Shows July 2015 103 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
A trip to Sea World would be missing something without a trip either to see the orca whales in their pool, or by seeing the fabulous orca show, AKA "Shamu Show". We got there early, baking in the hot sun while waiting. I regret that I don't have nearly enough Shamu photos to choose from, though, as I had to change my camera battery in the middle of the show. A highlight of many Sea World shows, for many folks, is to sit in the Soak Zone and wait for the creatures to get you wet. In all shows today, we sat up high enough to be out of the Soak Zone (and in the Sweat Zone, because of the sun and humidity today).
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/462/1...8a3832c0_k.jpgSea World Shows July 2015 118 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
On your mark, get set....
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/273/1...2efb1add_k.jpgSea World Shows July 2015 123 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Get WET!......
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/468/1...5ea5ebea_k.jpgSea World Shows July 2015 124 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/427/1...e115c143_k.jpgSea World Shows July 2015 131 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Ours was a short day, but we headed home shortly before 2. We'd done what we wanted to do, and know that this fall, we may return on a weekend sometime to catch the Sea Lion Show, the sky bucket ride, and a few other things we've missed.
Donna
Renting a vehicle, locally - things learned!
With more family due in later (today), we decided a number of weeks ago to reserve a mini-van in order to haul everyone around (and their stuff). None of our own vehicles would comfortably hold 5 adult-sized people. Notice I used the word *comfortably*. Indeed, two of our vehicles will each seat 5. But when one is a teenaged girl, probably not. We also wanted luggage room, as we will be heading to Santa Ana (Orange County) as part of this trip.
As I've done for years, and we advocate on these forums, I shopped around for several months before we actually made the decision to rent and made the reservation. I checked prices on the different discount travel sites, the individual car rental agencies, and Costco Travel, and finally found a reasonable rate on a minivan. We didn't want to go with the same people we rented from, two years ago, because of the distance to pick it up and the fact that their vehicles are not the newer ones, plus the fact that as a local-only agency, we might be stranded if something went wrong with the vehicle.
Finally, we ended up going through Costco Travel, whose rates were a good 25% lower all around than any I had come up with. But then I had another issue: when you are renting from a non-airport agency, you contend with the fact that they are NOT open 24 hours for pickup and drop-off. So we had to figure out where to rent from that was open for pickup on a Saturday and to drop off after 3 on Saturday. The latter was impossible -- all of our local places are closed around 2 pm on Saturdays, most of them closed by noon. We ended up with Enterprise, but the need to keep the vehicle an extra day (more $$) because they can't let us drop off when they're closed.
Pick-up at our local Enterprise office (open Saturdays till 2) was smooth, though a bit slow. As an apology for making us wait (and that we didn't get a full tank of fuel to start with), they discounted our rate another 15%. This was on top of substituting a Ford Expedition -- full size SUV -- for the mini-van we had requested. The latter switch was made because they had no more mini-vans to offer and had asked me yesterday, when I called to confirm the reservation, if we rented a mini-van because we needed seating for 7. I had said, yes, and luggage too, so he asked if they could give us a complimentary upgrade to an 8-seat SUV. Of course! (The only difference will be fuel mileage, probably.)
This monstrosity is no bigger than our pickup; as a matter of fact, it's about a foot or so shorter in length, probably a few inches shorter in height in the back only because we have a camper shell on ours. It is loaded with a lot of bells and whistles. It will be fun to get to know the vehicle, and to drive a vehicle that's newer than 13 years old (our babies) for a week or so. Will keep you posted.
Donna
San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Part Two
Here is another park that I have written about, before: San Diego Zoo's Safari Park, AKA "Wild Animal Park" to the locals who have lived here since forever! Rather than more about the same, though, I am going to talk about something we did on Wednesday that most of us had never done before: The Caravan Safari tour. This is a truck tour where they take you into the compound where the animals actually roam, and you ride in an open air truck. My sis-in-law decided to treat all of us to this tour in honor of my bro-in-law's birthday yesterday. It was so COOL!
You load the truck, get the safety spiel, and are taken out onto the compound first in the African area. There, one of the highlights was for everyone to get to feed a giraffe if they so desired. We weren't even sure, at first, that the giraffes were going to be interested.
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Safari Park With Freemans 117 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
However, Navari (I think that's how you spell the giraffe's name) was interested once she figured out that we were bearing leaves! Our guide, Steven, taught us all how to feed her with our right hands. Well, my right hand didn't want to extend out that way, so he graciously taught me to feed her with my left hand for the best photo opportunity. (Photo taken by my husband.)
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Safari Park With Freemans 122 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
We were able to see many other animals up close, such as the rhinos, endangered species in the deer family, and more. Incredible photo opportunities on this caravan, but there is also a photo caravan available .... for more $$$ of course than this one.
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Safari Park With Freemans 164 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
I had no idea that rhinos had hair on the edges of their ears, until I saw one up very close. Some folks got to reach out and touch this one, but I couldn't reach over comfortably because of my arm.
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Safari Park With Freemans 160 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr[/URL]
I also had no clue about the sheer size of giraffe feet. Just seeing them from the tram, or over the fence at the zoo, does not give you this close up view like the Caravan tour does.
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Safari Park With Freemans 142 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
In the Asian section, we were able to view some animal moms with their new babies. Here's one....but the puzzle is, can you find the baby? She is camouflaged in! (Caregivers were able to get close enough to determine that it was a girl, but for the most part they let moms raise their young if possible. Safari Park is primarily a breeding facility.)
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Safari Park With Freemans 179 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
There will be no Thursday report. Everyone has gone off to the beach. It's the same beach I wrote about earlier in this thread, and I have NO interest in getting sand into my splint!
Donna
Hope healing is swift and easy
Quote:
Originally Posted by
DonnaR57
... because I landed on my chin when I fell on Saturday. So no hiking, and my computer time is limited due to eyesight and arm issues.
Donna, my goodness I hope everything heals quickly. Thanks for this very entertaining report.
Mark
The Inside of Walt's Barn
One of the things I wanted to see at Walt's Barn, was Walt's Carolwood Pacific Railroad. This was the train that went all around his property in California (before DL), a miniature railroad.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/698/2...3346e67b_c.jpgFanDom Day 086 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
This is one of the cars behind that engine in the picture:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5706/...748bf919_c.jpgFanDom Day 089 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
A better view of what's inside that barn museum:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5798/...c0086fb3_c.jpgFanDom Day 092 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
A lot of history of the railroads in Disneyland were included in that museum. This included the Mine Train through Nature Wonderland, various monorails, the Casey Jr Railroad, and so much more. Here are some things that used to sit along side of the Nature Wonderland train, back in the late 50s and early 60s.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/692/2...107642bb_c.jpgFanDom Day 074 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr
Donna
