In case you didn't notice from Facebook, Paul and I did our San Diego trip this past weekend. I can safely say this was one of the more unique trips I've been on. On this trip we did more than just visit a few zoos. We did a bunch of up close, "VIP", behind the scenes type stuff.
I will sum up the weekend by saying A) Paul is too good to me, I can't believe he put all this together and B) I now want a red panda, penguin, or cheetah for a pet. So there are some Christmas ideas for you...just saying.
Most of the pictures I'm going to post from the trip will be on Facebook too, but I wanted to use the blog to go into more detail with some of the key moments of the trip.
Friday:
We didn't do anything "special" on Friday. We just went to the San Diego Zoo. Though, if you've never been it's like a zoo on steroids.
The red panda! I'd have to say these guys were my favorite from Friday.
How cute are these guys? Though they're called pandas they look like they're part fox and part raccoon....and part awesome.
I've seen peacocks before but I've never been lucky enough to see them show off before.
The peacock kept turning from side to side to show off but in doing so he kept hitting the ducks behind him with his feathers. They looked like they were plotting his death after a while.
Saturday:
Sea World...and the main event.
The penguin exhibit at Sea World was insane. So big. So many penguins.
Outside. This guy was hanging out by the air conditioner (even though it wasn't very warm outside). My kind of guy.
Inside the exhibit....as most people get to see it.
But sometimes pictures don't do things justice and are better said with video...
I think I made Paul watch the penguin exhibit for at least 20 minutes.
Seriously, watching penguins waddle along is one of the most entertaining things for me.
Let's do this!
A video with our penguin expert. And the "souvenir" she's talking about at the beginning is getting pooped on. Like all birds, penguins just kind of go whenever, wherever they feel the need, and there some force to it when they go...and it happened to her about 10 minutes after this video. Call it a hunch, but I don't think that was the first time it's happened to her.
It's a short video but I'm petting a penguin...it gets posted.
Ahhhhhhhh
I couldn't believe how SOFT he was. I wasn't expecting that at all.
I think Paul found a good spot
I think Paul now understands the pure awesomeness that is a penguin
Afterward Paul said something about every February 24th should be national pet a penguin day...I like this idea.
So, based on our time around this guy, and what the researcher was saying, penguins are practically feathered dogs. They're extremely sociable and friendly. I'm posting the video below because, even though we don't know the guy petting the penguin, you can see how the penguin interacts like a pet would. Like, "yeah that's a good spot keep scratching there."
And now we go INSIDE the exhibit...they have to make snow every morning for these guys and it was about 29 degrees in there. Can't say I really noticed the cold though since I was standing only a few feet away from penguins! We were only allowed in the back corner, but it was still beyond awesome.
EPIC - all I can say.
Sunday:
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
I had never been to the safari park before. Some of the exhibits are HUGE. Which is good because the animals get to be in more of a natural, and less of a zoo-like, setting. However, it also means it can be hard to see everything...unless you do a caravan safari, then you get to see things UP CLOSE. Oh yeah...and you get to feed a giraffe.
Our guide giving us the dos and don'ts of giraffe feeding
Paul's turn
Giraffe's aren't very shy
Success
My turn...
The giraffe was a bit of a drooler, so both Paul and myself were left with some souvenirs
How you doin'?
(One of my favorite pictures from the trip)
So cute I wanted to throw up. And the baby was ONLY 7 feet tall.
Next we visited some more animals, among them rhinos...
Living, breathing TANKS
In a different part of the park we saw a mama rhino and her 2 month old baby...for obvious reasons we kept our distance from them though...
Nap time
...and now off to find some food
And elsewhere on our visit at the park...
Greatest bird name ever
That's the actual wingspan for this type of bird. Holy cannelloni!
We ended our animal crazed weekend with the cheetah run at the safari park. A cheetah run is basically...exactly what it sounds like. A cheetah runs, chasing a toy, down a decent length of grass to show off her speed...all 70 mph. And most cheetahs get to that speed in about 3 steps. Oh, there's an option to sit up close for the run and see the cheetah close up afterwards? Why yes we'll do it. And boy am I glad we did. I actually learned quite a bit about cheetahs. For example, though they are wicked fast, cheetahs are big wimps. As the trainer said, "in a fight or flight situation, a cheetah will always choose flight." So, how do they get the cheetah to do the run where there's a bunch of people and noise and other potential scary things? They actually raise and train the cheetahs with domesticated dogs. The cheetahs learn to look to the dogs to read if a situation is scary. If the dog is happy and calm (and a dog basically always is) the cheetah knows there's nothing to worry about. Because of these wherever the cheetah goes her canine companion must also go...actually the dog always has to lead the way. You could actually see her look over to the dog every so often to see how things were going. It was one of the oddest, yet sweetest, things I've ever seen.
So, as I said, the dog goes first and the cheetah sees everything is okay.
And now it's her turn...
A little post run snack for our athletes
After the runs, we were able to meet the stars of the show...as you can guess we weren't allowed to pet the cheetah...but we were only about three feet away from real life, living, breathing cheetah, so I'll take it.
Watching her with her trainers, she was simply acting like a BIG house cat...and notice the dog isn't too far away
A cheetahs BFF
NO ZOOM NECESSARY
No, no, THANK YOU
And that sums it up! I told Paul on Monday it almost felt weird to not be walking around looking at animals. A completely fun, but absolutely exhausting weekend.
Since it's been so long since I've written, I have a few things to share:
Let me start with the bad...luckily that's a much shorter list.
I'm pretty sure I will not be doing the half marathon in July. Though I was sticking with it and trying, I think I'm the only person in the history of the world who has managed to gain weight and get slower while training. Oh yeah, I've also hurt ankle...so yeah. I'm not saying I'm giving up running all together, but I probably won't be doing many long distances for a while.
And now the good news!
As part of a birthday present from Paul, we'll be going for a weekend trip to San Diego at the end of this month! (Yes, my birthday is in February but we couldn't find a weekend that worked until the end of March.) We'll do a safari thing at the San Diego Zoo and a behind the scenes thing at Sea World...we're going to see penguins close up. I'm really hoping I get to feed one.
And now for the big one....
I've recently accepted a dosimetry job at UCSF Medical Center. This means a pretty hefty pay increase, better benefits, and this will be great experience (as far as technology in radiation therapy they truly do a little bit of everything)...but this also means more stress. A university hospital is busy, and there's lots going on...kind of intimidating, but I'll be learning TONS. Also, my lease in Petaluma isn't up until fall so that means I'll have to commute to the city for a while...I'm not exactly sure how long it will be yet but I know traffic will be a bitch and it will totally going to suck. I'm trying to figure out what to do with Kenai so he isn't locked up for 12 or 13 hours everyday :o/ But I think it'll all be worth it though. UCSF has been ranked the #7 hospital in the country and was ranked #8, in the entire nation, in the specialty of oncology!....soooo this is kind of a big deal to be working for a place like that.
Paul and I took Kenai out to Point Reyes (another beach near here) last weekend, and there were some good pictures. He was a happy, happy, happy dog. I'll try to post pictures on here for Facebook later this week.
As I stated earlier, Paul and I were planning to "get away" for a mini-vacation to Santa Cruz and Monterey MLK weekend. Short, but fun. I'm definitely glad we did it. It was a bit cold, but when you're walking along the ocean in January can you really complain?
Santa Cruz is about 2-2 1/2 hours south and Monterey is about 3 hours south of where I live. Not too far, but far enough you don't want to do it as a day trip.
Sunday, we left Petaluma and headed toward Santa Cruz. Once we reached the seaside town, we walked along the boardwalk for a little while and had lunch on the pier. Imagine the state fair (or county fair depending on where you live) and that's basically the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Lots of fried foods, haunted houses, and roller coasters...but this one is along a beach and the ocean! It reminded me a lot of Coney Island too. We did give in and ride one of the roller coasters. It was a wooden roller coaster called the Giant Dipper. It's something like the sixth oldest coaster in the US...sadly no pictures of that.
View of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk from the Santa Cruz Pier
Walking along the boardwalk
I had always heard tales of such things, but until this day I thought they were just myth. (No, I did not try one.)
After lunch, we grabbed a candy apple for the road and had to rush over to The Mystery Spot to make it in time for our "guided tour." The Mystery Spot is a tourist trap in Santa Cruz that claims to be supernatural spot that defies the laws of physics and gravity. On the guided tour we were shown numerous examples to demonstrate this. There are several "theories" on why this is....in reality it's just a bunch of optical illusions and theatrics...but for $5 it's a different and fun way to kill an hour.
This was me trying like hell to stand up "straight." I have to admit I got pretty dizzy at one point.
But however is Paul hanging like that??
Our guide, Wade, outside of the house
Random victims from our tour group, including Paul in the middle, standing in order of height
And now they're all the same height! Oooooh! Aaaaaah!
They give out free bumper stickers at the end of every tour...heck yes I took one.
After all that a chocolate covered apple is necessary
Next, we moved further south to Monterey, and this would be where we
spent the night. Lucky for me, Paul is a LivingSocial ninja. He was
able to find a super nice hotel right on Cannery Row and basically next
door to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (all the touristy stuff Monterey has
to offer) at a very discounted rate. Sunday night we walked along
Cannery Row, stopping in random shops along the way.
View from our room
Know how you know you're in a nice hotel? You get a f'ing bonsai tree and zen garden in your room.
Cannery Row
Enjoying one last view of the bay before the sun completely sets
A little gem we found in one of the shops
John Steinbeck was from the Monterey area and used it in several of his novels. So, we saw his name *a lot* while we were walking around.
...I have no words...
This was one of those fortune teller machines...but this one took it to a whole new level of creepy.
The hotel had a couple fire pits right by the water...I don't care how cold it is, I'm taking advantage of that!
Trying to stay warm by the fire
Paul decided we should really go high class and get room service for breakfast the next morning. Neither one of expected what we got.
This was rolled up to our room in the morning. Omelette with smoked fish (I'm drawing a blank of what kind right now), feta cheese, and tomatoes...complete with roasted potatoes and fresh squeezed juice.
This was basically my view as I ate breakfast Monday morning. Fireplace. Ocean. It didn't suck.
Good morning Monterey!
Paul and I kept giggling randomly because neither one of us could fully grasp that this was really how we were having breakfast. After breakfast we packed up, checked out, and headed over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
So long super nice hotel
The Monterey Bay Aquarium isn't particularly huge but the stuff they do have is pretty well done.
Sea otters - the stars of the aquarium
Sea Dragon....so weird
This reef exhibit represents what goes on in the waters in the of Monterey Bay
Trying to get my picture taken with the penguins...they weren't having it
And now back to reality...when is the next long weekend?
