So I went to San Diego for the weekend and went to Sea World, San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park respectively. I’m back home for a day and a half when I wake up with a nasty sore throat and the sniffles. So it was probably something from one of the parks, right? Wrong! It is in my delirious state of mind that I accuse my father! He has had this bad cold for about a week now, and the family left him alone for the weekend and he infected the entire house! Proof, you say. Where’s the proof? I submit that my mother has the sniffles and sore throat as well! Aha! It’s all his fault. (Wouldn’t I make a fantastic lawyer?)

Delirious you say? No! Never! I’ll never admit to being crazy.

So I’m placing myself on quarantine for the next couple of days (minus school of course…you’re not allowed to miss class in college…). Depressing, I know, but hey…what are you going to do? Somebody invent a cure-all! I haven’t been swing dancing in a week! I’m incredibly depressed! Not really…just bored at home when I should be working…

*I don’t remember seeing the Dustin Hoffman movie, but I remember it..mostly from the Clerks Animated Series where Randall calls in the CDC because Leonardo Leonardo ate a bad burrito.

At Least I Got To See Them At The Zoo (ALIGTSTATZ)

Pictures

The day started out kind of weird. I let myself stay up later than I should have (the previous night I hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep…lots of tossing and turning for unknown reason…I think it was temperature based) but slept really well and slept-in an hour (instead of up at 7, ready to leave at 8, up at 8, ready to leave at 9). I got up, got everything ready and took everything down to the car (Mom and Sis staying at condo, so I can just leave my key and leave the resort without consequences). I start driving down the 5 to highway S12 (shortcut to Wild Animal Park) when I suddenly can’t mentally picture where my ticket to the park is. So I pull off the freeway and into a gas station and begin a frantic search. Then I more thoroughly check my pocket and there it is. <hangs head in shame> So I get back on the freeway and then head down S12 (Palomar Airport Road) to the 78. Now I’m driving along the 78 and reading the sanctioned directions to get to the Wild Animal Park. They say to get on the 15 south, then get off on Via Rancho Parkway and follow the signs. I’m wiffle-waffling, but finally decided to follow their directions. So I get off of Highway 78 and follow their directions. 10 miles later, I turn back on to highway 78. That’s right…I took a detour. I was totally Charlie Browning – AAAAGH!

So now I’m at the park and I walk in and stare…I don’t remember this place very well. So I decide to follow the San Diego zoo pattern (start with a guided tour then visit exhibits on my own). So I take the electronic tram and visit the large preserve and stare at all the pretty animals. No zebras (ALIGTSTATZ)….lots of deer/antelope, rhinos and giraffes. Some Arabian Oryx (my new favorite animal…them and sable antelope cause they’re horns are awesome). That’s it. I’m a little disappointed (Animal Kingdom does a bit better. Also the tram is WAY up on the hill and the photo caravans in the park are private ordeals. They’re opening a new tour in Spring of ’07, so I guess I’ll have to give that a try. Oh! I also see the only cheetah of the day (exhibit is closed because construction bothered them), getting ready for Cheetah run…another private event that you have to reserve. So after the tram I make my way to the first show of the day: frequent flyers. I arrive a half hour early, get a decent seat and take a nap. I’m able to keep my eyes closed for about 15-20 minutes, then I decide to sit up and just people watch. Oh, I scared a little kid in front of me and played a little peek-a-boo with him. Fun stuff. Finally its noon and they start the show. Lots of birds…very cool stuff. Show takes about half an hour, so I decide to go to next show, get a good seat and eat lunch. Elephant Amphitheatre, ho! So I get there and wait half an hour, eating my peanut butter and boysenberry jelly sandwiches and playing with the kid in front of me (mom and grandparents brought him to the zoo and he’s not really into it…ends up being a little distracting during the show, but it’s ok). Yay for elephants doing tricks! Over 100,000 muscles in the trunk. They have really good balance, but they’re the only mammal that can’t jump. Very cool show. After that I head around the south half of the park, wandering through the Heart of Africa and the brand new Lion Camp. Ooo look! Lions sleeping on a car. Yay for lazy animals! The exhibit is nice, but kind of small…I keep thinking that the Zoo had more. So I finish Africa and pass through The Hidden Jungle. The first room I walk in has 4 or 5 Andean Cock of the Rocks and they’re going crazy. They look and sound like freaking Muppets. It is a total trip. As I continue to walk around, I suddenly find myself face to face (not quite, but much closer than I ever expected) with an all blue (some gold, but not traditional?) macaw/parrot bird. After a little bit, he starts doing this low throaty squawk which I am somewhat successful at repeating. So we have a little conversation while he climbs around his little perch. It was really cool. After leaving the Hidden Jungle, I explore the entrance area of the park, suddenly coming across this vision from my past. I recognize something! Apparently it was this fishing village in Africa somewhere, but it was really cool and I’m all like YAY! Oh, ring tailed lemur exhibit also closed. BOO! ALIGTSTATZ. So then I work my way up to the North-Eastern half of the park. I had asked questions at a gift shop in the Heart of Africa and this North American exhibit (Condor Ridge) was where the dinosaur exhibit I remember used to be. So I’m now wandering about it and having a great time taking pictures of areas that I can almost feel I remember. I take a short detour and look out over the original lion and tiger exhibit…and there’s a tiger in the lion cage…or at least what the map says is the lion cage…it’s so confusing. Couldn’t see any lions in the lion cage…just the tiger. I also head by the elephant cage to watch the elephants wander about their enclosure. Then I continue through Condor Ridge. Nice exhibit…get to look at porcupines, hawks, magpies and bighorn sheep! But they didn’t have any big horns, so it’s like…hmmm. Oh yeah, and condors. Sitting on a rock. Not caring about anything. Whee. So now it’s getting close to closing time and I want to do another guided tour before leaving the park. The guide is absolutely hilarious. You’d have to watch the video to really get it, but it was almost like being on jungle cruise…so random…so beautifully funny. So now the park is closed, so I do my shopping: I want some clothing with the park logo, but they only have small T-shirts, so I get a large sweater. I also want a shot glass, but the only one that focuses on it being the Wild Animal Park is the lion camp one…oh well. I also want a black book dedicated just to the Wild Animal Park so I can go back and identify animals from exhibits. But it’s not in this store: just the two park book. So I put it on the counter and think I’ve purchased it. Walking out, I stop by another store to look for something else to buy and THERE’S THE BLACK BOOK! So I walk all the way back to the other store and try to return the two park book. But it’s not in the bag. I didn’t buy it in the first place. So I hang my head in shame and walk back to other store and buy black book. Sigh.

So now I’m ready to leave the park. I walk out and walk down the wrong parking aisle and think my car has been stolen. Then I think and walk down the hill to the very next row to find my car still there. Damn. So I drive out of the lot. Now remember at the beginning where I was all upset about getting off 78 to get back on it? Well I decided to be smart and follow 78 straight back to the 5. This works out fine for about 10 miles before the two lane (on each side) street turns into one lane and a left turn lane…which I’m in. So I divert and get back to the street as quickly as possible…and then I run into a housing development with a gate. So I drive around suburbia (leaving a trail of bread crumbs behind me) and finally get back to where the street says 78. Then I notice the signs. To get to the 78 you have to turn left, right, left. That’s right you have to weave through all of Escondido to stay on the damn highway. Finally I get there and just cry with joy. I’m just so happy to be going faster than 40 miles an hour. And then I drive home and relax. Great day, huh?

Pictures.  Guided tour bus. I film the bus tour to glean facts in review. I’m low on all my batteries, so I am a little upset, but not terribly. After tour, I head to tiger river, don’t see any tigers and continue exploring. 10:30 hits and I head back to the entrance and Wegeforth Bowl for the first show (11 am). Sea lions and wolves…cool. Then I think about taking the skyway to get to the 12 pm show across the park. Lines too long and I don’t have enough time, so I walk through Fern Canyon to get there. I arrive 15 minutes early and enjoy my peanut butter and bosenberry jelly sandwiches which I made myself (I’m an adult! I made my own lunch!). Snope-ing myths about rare animals…interesting. I take the back way out of the amphitheatre and end up at the Giraffe exhibit. I meander through the Horn and Hoof Mesa to the other skyway entrance and stand in line. I’m absolutely fascinated by the bucket system as I haven’t seen them in the context of being an adult. The mechanics of it made me very happy: it’s just like the San Francisco cable cars! So at the other end of the skyway I head to the Reptile House…not very interesting…full of lots of noise…I think the locals just got out of school or something and stopped by…one snake only started being noted for it’s poison after the logging companies of New Guinea expanded their program. After circling the Reptile Mesa (crazy crocodiles…look like statues) I head to the new Monkey Trails exhibit. Nice…but I’m pissed at the mandrill…Rafiki avoided my camera like the plague. I wander through the exhibit, crossing over (again) to Tiger River and Ituri Forest before going to the Giant Panda Research Station. Two panda’s on display…long line…very popular. Couldn’t get George Carlin out of my head. “The two panda’s at the zoo. Do you care if they f**k? I don’t.” After that I make the big trek uphill to the Birds of Prey and Polar Plunge exhibit. It’s getting later and later and the animals are getting lazier and lazier. I head to the nearest express tram spot and ride through the Horn and Hoof Mesa to the top of Cat Canyon. Walking down Cat Canyon and back up Bear Canyon, I circle the Elephant Mesa, visit the Koala’s and finish the day with another guided tour (very good information, but I had no battery to film it…damn!). Then a quick gift shop round (book and shot glass) and I’m done for the day. Thought about stopping by Sea World, but by the time I got to Sea World Drive, it was 5:15 and wouldn’t have been worth it. Oh well. Tomorrow: the Wild Animal Park!

Welcome…I’m gonna start blogging here more consistently, especially this weekend as I explore San Diego by myself.

Now normally, it’s not a big deal to go somewhere by yourself, but this is a bit of a milestone for me because I’m a kinesthetic driver, which means I only really know how to go someplace if I get myself there. You drive me somewhere in a car, I’m reading a book and listening to my iPod (which a man in Amsterdam told me was bad *) so I have no idea where you’re taking me.

Day 1 of my San Diego Weekend: It’s A Sea World Afternoon (pictures here)

I got off the 5 freeway at Sea World Drive at around 2:15, having made remarkably good time (I left Irvine at 1:00 pm) and pulled up to Sea World. No one was at the parking kiosks, so I assumed they did the Disneyland thing where it’s late enough in the operating day that we don’t want to waste staff on the kiosks…just park your car. Went to the electronic ticket booth and purchase my “Fun Pass” – buy a day and play for 2007 (only 2 blackout days, May 27th and September 2nd). Walked up to the security table…I don’t have any bags, so I just stand in the ticket taking line. Couple walks up to the other side of table and the female guard mistakenly says, “May I look in your skirt please?” Ha ha! So I get up to the ticket taker and I scan my ticket and am asked to press my right index finger to the scanner. Apparently (Katy says so) the fingerprint supersedes the need for a hand stamp if you leave the park for lunch. So I walk into the park and look at my guide map…hmmm…the new Shamu show, “Believe” starts in 5 minutes…ok! I sit in the higher part of the splash zone and take some pretty cool jump shots…niiice. Decent show. After this, the schedule is telling me I’ve got some time until the next show starts (Sea Lion and Otter show at 3:30), so I head over the Shipwreck Rapids. They offer lockers for a buck fifty, where I put my camera and phone and jacket (rightfully thinking it would warm me up afterwards). Lots of fun…very wet…they freaking drive you through a waterfall…that’s right a waterfall. So now I’m very wet, but my jacket is taking some of the sting out of it. I head over to the Sea Lion and Otter stadium to catch the tail end of the preshow…it’s a mime…in a sailor outfit. He does a silly magic trick (pulls away a handkerchief to reveal three fingers on the count of 3) and I clap very loudly. He proceeds to indicate that I’ve had “too much to drink” with the international symbol, a thumb to the lip and tossing back an imaginary one. Ha! I again sit in the upper part of the splash zone and get some alright pictures. The show is a lot more slapstick-y than the other shows, mainly because sea lions and otters are more performance than acrobatic. Oh yeah, at the end of the show, the mime runs out and cheers, then realizes what he’s done and gasps. Ha! So after this, I immediately head over to the Dolphin Stadium, but I’m 15 minutes early, so I sit around instead of trying another ride (could have been a more efficient use of time, but it all worked out). I sit in the middle of the splash zone which extends for 12 rows! Apparently dolphins are better splashers than killer whales. Hmmm. I get some really cool shots of dolphin jumps (Dolly, the star, is a really good jumper). It’s now 4:30 and the park closes at 5 and I still have two “rides” to do (Journey to Atlantis and Wild Arctic). I hurry over to Atlantis and hop on board. It’s a great concept (water coaster) which is lots of fun. But now I’m even wetter (lockers again save my electronics) and I’m starting to loose feeling in my fingers and toes. My gloves save my fingers, but all I can do about my feet is run over to Wild Arctic for my last thing of the day. I vaguely remember the simulator from last time, but it’s a lot of fun and a very realistic simulation. Especially when you fly through an avalanching canyon and you hear rocks bumping the sides of the helicopter very clearly and very realistically. I take my time exploring the exhibit, taking pictures and gleaning information from the few remaining cast members. They’re setting up the area for an after hour’s party, so the guests who got in on the last “flight” are allowed to explore a little past the parks’ closing time, which is nice. After this, I move as quickly as I can to my car and start warming up my feet. Brrr. Then I drive back up the 5 to Carlsbad Village Dr, where I’ll be spending the weekend at Tamarack Beach Resort (family timeshare). Where I’m currently writing this from. Where I’ve run out of things to say. I’ll be back tomorrow night with a report from either the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park (I don’t know where I’m going yet). See ya tomorrow!

* Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell this story. So I was in Haarlem (a suburb of Amsterdam as it were) in the Netherlands at an Irish pub: eating dinner, listening to music and reading a book (Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Abraham Lincoln biography) and the guy at the next table starts up a conversation that is basically a reprimand on me. What it boils down to, in his mind, is that I’m cheapening the experience of the food by dividing my attention. You should focus your attention only on one thing and enjoy it to the utmost. … Oh yeah, and I still read, listen to music and eat food at the same time. Hooray for my generation!