My trip to San Diego
Aug. 24th, 2005 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hlmaueraAnother year has gone by but this time it wasn't all spent frivolously. I have my first year of my Master's degree under my belt and 5 more terms to go. I'm so pleased to have accomplished so much.
J. and C. are married now and living in San Diego. I just returned from visiting them. I wish I could say I felt nothing but it's not true. I still love J. but I've learned to let go. We still have something very special and I'm beginning to accept that it is true when he says it will always be that way. It's hard to have him/them so far away. I'm very lonely in my little apartment all by myself but time goes quickly and before I know it I'll be done with my Master's degree and moving on to new things. J. and C will be stationed in Everett starting in January for the next 3-5 years if all goes well. J. will be out to sea for 6 months every 18 months. That will be hard for everyone but we will all survive.
I really wanted to record the details of my trip before I forget. I have loads of film to get developed and I don't want to lose the details before I can get it all scrapbooked.
I flew in to San Diego via Oakland late on Wednesday the 17th. They met me at the airport and we went directly to their house. We visited for a while but we were all tired.
Thursday-
C. and I went shopping. We visited a large mall with a two story carousel. There were lots of interesting things to see but I didn't want to spend much on the first day since I didn't know what I was going to need as the visit moved on. There was a Fredrick's of Hollywood and some other interesting stores. The Torrid there has much a much better selection than the one I visited in Portland. I really liked a skirt I saw there but I just didn't want to spend $45 on it. C. and I ate lunch at a fast food Mongolian grill. It is apparently the only one around. They had a good selection of meat but a meager selection of vegetables and only 6 choices of sauce- none of which you could put on in any amount. Still it ended up being tasty.
At 1:30 we left the mall because we were supposed to go watch J.'s PT. When we got to base, though, we discovered that a water main had burst and most of the roads that led to gates were closed. We finally found an open gate but we were 30 minutes late. Turned out that the broken water main had caused a sink hole. The boys were playing dodge ball and it was readily apparent that J. was really mad. Fortunately it wasn't with us but with a shipmate who had no showed for PT but it took him a while to settle down. After PT, J. was done for the day so we went back to the house. Since J. was in such a rotten mood, C. and I gave him some space and ran to Walmart to exchange a controller for their X-box. It was at another mall so we took a little time to roam around. I got a small purse and two pairs of shoes. The shoes cost me $9.00 including tax so I thought that was a pretty good deal. When we returned to the house we grilled some pork and vegetables and visited. Pumpkin time comes early though when wake up time is 5 am. J. hit the sack about 10 and C. followed closely behind him.
Friday-
AJ. had class in the morning but was home by around noon. I had a relaxing morning reading a book. When he got home we talked for a while, then he showered and we went on our adventure to Old Town. We were both hungry when we arrived so the first thing we did was eat at Rockin' Baja Lobster. It was a charming restaurant with covered outdoor seating and a waterfall. The birds were bold and would eat from the ground less than 2 feet from us. J. had a bucket of lobster, shrimp and steak. I had Fajitas. Unfortunately they overcooked the chicken so my fajitas tasted burned. They had an all you can eat Caesar salad buffet that was wonderful and they served flour tortillas with a honey chili butter. Oh...it was soooooo good.
Old town park looks like an old western town with a Mexican flair. There was a lot of adobe and a lot of slat wood houses. I didn't bring my camera, thinking that old town was just a down town area. This was more like a historical monument/museum. There are photo tours online- http://www.gothere.com/sandiego/oldtown/phototour.htm. The museum was fastinating. There was furniture that I would have loved to have in my house. A few of the stores really appealed. One had books from all different eras of costuming. Lots of Victorian stuff which I adore but have no practical use for. Another had natural gem stones of all shapes and sizes and many pieces of jewelry and carved stone. Pottery shops abounded. There was so much more that we didn't see but my new shoes wore blisters on my feet and I didn't feel up to walking. We left around 4, I think.
Saturday-
We picked up J's son, j, at 8 am and went to Sea World. The tickets were $50/person. Thank goodness J. had a military discount. Sea World opened at 9 and we made it to the park about 10 minutes before opening. They had a flag raising ceremony and the National Anthem and then the gates were opened. j wanted to ride Journey to Atlantis which is a water ride. He was bouncing around like Tigger on speed but we suggested that we should wait until it was a little warmer before we got all wet. He grudgingly agreed. Nearly the first thing we saw were the Busch Clydesdales. A Mare and her colt were in the pasture while others were in the stalls and probably there was a back pasture that we couldn't get to. We wandered by Atlantis so j. could see how wet the riders got then continued on to the Wild Arctic, Penguin Encounter, Manatee Rescue and Shark encounter. Then we went and watched the Dolphin Encounter show. Amazing! The boy's raced and chased through Shamu's happy harbor; then we went back to Atlantis. We stood in line for 10-15 minutes and were almost to the loading area when two of the boats got stuck and they closed the ride. Poor j. was terribly unhappy. So we wandered across the park to Shipwreck rapids where C. and I got totally and completely soaked. The the husband of the young woman who rode in our raft and several other spectators soaked us with the water cannons. We decided it was time to eat afterwards and went to shipwreck reef cafe to eat. I was really sad I couldn't have any of the scrumptious looking deserts but I had some strawberries with my club sandwich. After lunch we went and saw the Shamu adventure. They had a big salute to the soldiers which was really nice. It was also a very impressive show. From Shamu we went and saw the Cirque de Mer which was basically a cirque de sole over water. I found it to be interesting and impressive but J. thought it was gay. *laugh* I guess I just have a lot of respect for the power that those gymnastic feats require. After Cirque de Mer we were all getting rather run down. J. wanted to see the haunted light house but the line was an hour long. We made a quick tour through the aquarium but it was so crowded I gave up and left. From there we went and watched Clyde and Seymour in deep, deep trouble which is a show with a sea lions and otters. It was cute but very silly. There wasn't enough animal behavior showcased. When it was over we went through the gift shops and bought souvenirs then headed home. j. fell asleep in the truck on the way home. Poor kid was really beat. C. and I needed to get more film so we stopped at Save-on and found some film that was a couple months out of date for really, really cheap. (98 cents a roll and $2.49 for a 5 pack)
Sunday-
Sunday we got up early, again, and went to the swap-meet. It was in the parking lot of a convention center and it was huge. The Boys and Girls separated to shop, having different interests. It was interesting. Some parts were like a giant garbage sale others were respectable merchants. The sale was shaped like a large L I didn't realize how extensive it was until we got to the turn of the L. It took us an hour to get to that point and we only had two hours before we needed to go home and get our gear to go to practice. C. and I raced to get through the other side, which was too bad because it had some really interesting stuff. It was mostly cash only though and I didn't have any on me so I looked but didn't buy much. Lots of the stuff I liked wasn't stuff I could put in a suitcase and take home anyway. Just can't do that with a dresser or area rug. *laugh* C. found a VHS copy of Anne of a Thousand Days, which has been on my gift list for years. She bought it for me for a part of my birthday present. (They had already given me a rapier letter opener and a fan card on Wednesday night before we went to bed) For $3 it was a good deal, if it plays well. I haven't had time to check it yet. At the same little shop they had dozens of period type books. I found 6 Jean Plaidy books about the Queens of England that I've wanted for a long time. She charged me $2/book and they usually run $13.95/book. It was a great deal. C. and J. bought an Angel wall mount too but that was the extent of our actual purchases. I remembered to wear a hat since my head and shoulders had gotten burned at Sea World. My shoulders surprised me a bit since both C. and I had put sunscreen on them several times. I guess they were just ultra sensitive.
We raced back to the house to change and pack for practice. We made sandwiches for lunch along with peaches and nectarines. Then we made the 20 minute drive to the SCA practice site. It was in a school yard and the Barony pays someone every weekend to come unlock the restrooms for them. It was handy. There were lots of people there although the heavy and rapier fighters didn't seem to mingle at all. There was a Roman unit training in matching "uniforms" and armor. They did a lot of marching and drilling. I was told that the unit leader promises to provide everything when they join the group so it's a cheap way for a fighter to get started and be part of an organized unit.
As usual J. and I raced to 10. It ended up being 7 to 10. Not too shabby. *grin* J. says I've definitely improved. It was so hot though and I'd forgotten my inhaler so I had to sit between fighters and catch my breath. T. was next. She had a large opening in her chest which I took advantage of several times. She was a fun fight though. G. showed up then and I bespoke the first fight with him. His baby K. and her mom came too. He turned into mush every time he looked at K. The tension between E., K's mother and he was different She says they are together, he says they aren't and everyone else is trying to stay out of the middle.
I teased him about it being a good thing that we wear masks or his hair would be very distracting. He laughed and said, "I don't usually have this good a memory but you really are as sweet as I remembered." That made my day since I was worried that I'd made a bad impression at W4MA. When he'd had a little time to cuddle K and get dressed we fought. He tore me apart, as expected, but we talked about it afterwards. I was letting him lull me into drifting my sword arm to the left until I opened up and he hit me. I knew he was, he was so fast I couldn't move out of the way. I also was underestimating his distance. Maybe someday I'll be a challenge for him.
Don I was next. J. told me he was a speed fighter. I kept moving and kept my distance and was able to parry most of his attacks. J. didn't have a chance to talk to him to find out what he thought. Hopefully there will feedback soon.
I also fought A. and O. J. didn't think either should be a challenge for me but I didn't do well against them. Mostly I think because of the heat and because I was unused to them. I seem to have trouble fighting against people that should not be as skilled as I am. I don't know if I drop my guard or fight down or what But it is a problem. One of them finally asked me if I was ok because my parries were so slow. I imagine I was too hot and it was 3 hours into practice- about 3 times the length of my usual practice. C. the Mongoose wanted to fight me and he was the last fighter I hadn't faced but I just didn't have another fight in me. At 4 we started packing up. The intimate dinner we'd planned had blown up from 6 to 16. Since people were following us back to the house, we had to wait and it was 4:30 or nearly 5 before we got out of there. When we got back to the house, all of us needed to shower including Giacomo, Ian, Delores and the three kids. We had to call and change our reservations since there was no way for us to get there by 6. A.called and said he couldn't join us. It was going to be J., C. and j., G, E and K, I, D, R, A and An, O and C and myself. I rode with Gto the Italian restaurant, Deco di Beppo. It was nice to get a chance to talk to him. I didn't know that our careers were so similar. It was good to get to know him better.
The restaurant was a family style Italian restaurant. Every two people ordered a dish to feed 4-6. It was all heavenly. I especially enjoyed the Lemon chicken and another chicken dish with artichokes and capers. Yummy! I split a piece of cheese cake with O and C. It was very good too. I sat next to G and C. G and I chose the chicken dish and shared a love for capers. Everyone shared their food but I tried to be good about what I ate, aside from the cheesecake. J. made a nice little speech about celebrating my visit and friends. It was such a nice time I was disappointed when it had to end. G was very fun and he told me several times that he was happy to see me. I was glad for that; it was a nice ego boost. It was almost 10 when we left. Poor j. was so tired he was asleep in the truck before we got out of downtown. I ran up to the house and put his things together while J. used the restroom and then J. and C. drove j. back to his mom's house. Apparently J. had to carry j. up to his house. I was ready for bed when they returned. We were all tired and went to bed nearly immediately
Monday-
C. called in sick and we went to the zoo. It was a wonderful Topiary at the entrance of two elephants. It must take a lot of work to maintain it.
We started at the reptile house looking at the snakes and lizards. They are beautiful in their own way but I'm just as glad there was glass between us. There were too many toxic things.
After a few minutes of contemplation we decided that the map was next to useless as it didn't seem to show all the available trails. We had a basic idea of what we wanted to do.
We went up through the center of the zoo seeing the monkeys, chimps and the aviaries. We wandered past the hippos and Tigers. The Hippos were swimming together and we could see them through the underwater observatory. The glass had some weird distortion when combined with the water. The tigers we didn't see much of. The female was isolated in a den with three new cubs and the other tiger, probably the male was pacing at the back of the enclosure. I suspect he was next to the den.
We watched two otters play in the river, that was very amusing. They move so fast and it's like their bodies weave around each other to form a continuously moving and changing ball.
From there we went past the pigs and the birds of Prey. We laughed about the Sea Eagle being A's bird. We went through the Polar bear exhibit. I had wondered how an Arctic animal could be comfortable in San Diego but they went to great lengths to explain the the bear has a wide variety of habitat and it isn't always cold so he is perfectly comfortable.
We went through the horn and hoof mesa from there. I took pictures of all sorts of animals that I thought dad would appreciate. The mesa included the giraffes and Merkats and brought us back down to our starting point.
Of course through out our visit we stopped at every little souvenir, shop but made the conscious decision to wait until we were done to do any shopping so we wouldn't have to carry our purchases with us.
We had lunch when we finished with the horn and hoof mesa and took the loop that surrounded the elephant mesa. From there we went up Cat Canyon. Through the bears first and then on to the cats. Unfortunately most of the cats were sleeping in their dens since we'd reached the heat of the day. However, the black Jaguar put on a show for us, gnawing on a bone then prowling up and onto a tree branch then back around. I'm hoping I got some good pictures but you never know how zoo pictures will turn out with all of the containment fences in the way. We decided not to take the loop through all of the sheep and instead went back up the canyon to try to look at the Panda exhibit but with a new baby it was so busy there was probably an hour's wait so we decided that it wasn't worth the wait. We were getting tired by this time too. So we took the escalator up to what seemed like the tree tops at the very top of the zoo. The souvenir, shop there had some sheets of stickers I wanted but I decided to wait. It was an unfortunate decision because I was unable to find them at the shop by the gate and it was too long a hike to go back. From the tree tops we wandered down through the pygmy chimps and by the Gorilla's and orangutans. There were children drawing all of the orangutans and chimps so we couldn't find a good place to sit and look at them. One orangutan was sitting by the glass rolling around for the children, reach towards them on the glass, generally being very friendly. The kids seemed really tickled.
From there we traveled downhill to the entrance of the zoo. The San Deigo zoo is in no way a flat space, we did a lot of hiking up and down hills and the map even indicates where there is a steep grade and which direction it goes. We got quite a work out and were rather pooped when we finished doing our shopping at the central shop. I got postcards, a book, and some stickers for my scrapbooking. Candy bought several postcards for me as part of my birthday present.
J. Called to let us know that he was already home and we didn't need to pick him up and we headed home.
Tuesday-
It's time to go home and it's a sad thing. I slept in, packed my clothes and read a book until J. got home. I had to borrow a suitcase to take home the books and things I'd accumulated on the trip. It was hard to think about saying goodbye but I know it's not forever and I tried to keep that in mind. J. rode the Trolley home. But C. called to say that there was a major traffic back up on the highway and we needed to leave immediately upon her arrival for J. to be able to muster at 3:00. The traffic was in a terrible snarl for no particular reason and J. began to get really worried that he was going to be late. We made it with a few minutes to spare, fortunately. C. and I waited until he was done and then we went to the NEX and then to the Commissary for lunch. The NEX is like a Walmart. There is also a department type store which we wandered around after eating at the Commissary. It was interesting to see the Base. I've never been inside a military installment before. I got to see the guns that J. is training on and the building with all the radar dishes on top. It was all very informative and gave me a much better background for J's new life. Now I can understand a little if he talks about his day.
We headed for the airport by 5:00 passing the sailing ships in the harbor. I would have liked to have gotten pictures of them but we didn't have time at that point. At the airport the new security measures didn't really allow them to come past the ticket counters with me. We said goodbye about 5 times but it was so hard. I finally said it wasn't going to get any easier so I'd just better go and walked away. They waited until I got through security and I waved goodbye one last time. Suddenly it was lonely. But I sat and read my book until the plane boarded. I discovered that a nonstop flight doesn't mean that the plane doesn't land but that you don't have to get off it. We landed in oakland and boarded new passengers before we finally landed in Portland. Dad wanted me to meet him at the curb so he wouldn't have to park so I muscled my cases out to the curb, very awkwardly and then called his cell phone, only to discover that he had changed his mind and come into the baggage claim area to wait for me. Somehow we'd missed seeing each other. I was kinda crabby and it was late. Dad needed me to stay awake to keep him company. So we chatted on the way home. It was 1:30 when I finally got into my house and to bed. 6:00 am came really early.
J. and C. are married now and living in San Diego. I just returned from visiting them. I wish I could say I felt nothing but it's not true. I still love J. but I've learned to let go. We still have something very special and I'm beginning to accept that it is true when he says it will always be that way. It's hard to have him/them so far away. I'm very lonely in my little apartment all by myself but time goes quickly and before I know it I'll be done with my Master's degree and moving on to new things. J. and C will be stationed in Everett starting in January for the next 3-5 years if all goes well. J. will be out to sea for 6 months every 18 months. That will be hard for everyone but we will all survive.
I really wanted to record the details of my trip before I forget. I have loads of film to get developed and I don't want to lose the details before I can get it all scrapbooked.
I flew in to San Diego via Oakland late on Wednesday the 17th. They met me at the airport and we went directly to their house. We visited for a while but we were all tired.
Thursday-
C. and I went shopping. We visited a large mall with a two story carousel. There were lots of interesting things to see but I didn't want to spend much on the first day since I didn't know what I was going to need as the visit moved on. There was a Fredrick's of Hollywood and some other interesting stores. The Torrid there has much a much better selection than the one I visited in Portland. I really liked a skirt I saw there but I just didn't want to spend $45 on it. C. and I ate lunch at a fast food Mongolian grill. It is apparently the only one around. They had a good selection of meat but a meager selection of vegetables and only 6 choices of sauce- none of which you could put on in any amount. Still it ended up being tasty.
At 1:30 we left the mall because we were supposed to go watch J.'s PT. When we got to base, though, we discovered that a water main had burst and most of the roads that led to gates were closed. We finally found an open gate but we were 30 minutes late. Turned out that the broken water main had caused a sink hole. The boys were playing dodge ball and it was readily apparent that J. was really mad. Fortunately it wasn't with us but with a shipmate who had no showed for PT but it took him a while to settle down. After PT, J. was done for the day so we went back to the house. Since J. was in such a rotten mood, C. and I gave him some space and ran to Walmart to exchange a controller for their X-box. It was at another mall so we took a little time to roam around. I got a small purse and two pairs of shoes. The shoes cost me $9.00 including tax so I thought that was a pretty good deal. When we returned to the house we grilled some pork and vegetables and visited. Pumpkin time comes early though when wake up time is 5 am. J. hit the sack about 10 and C. followed closely behind him.
Friday-
AJ. had class in the morning but was home by around noon. I had a relaxing morning reading a book. When he got home we talked for a while, then he showered and we went on our adventure to Old Town. We were both hungry when we arrived so the first thing we did was eat at Rockin' Baja Lobster. It was a charming restaurant with covered outdoor seating and a waterfall. The birds were bold and would eat from the ground less than 2 feet from us. J. had a bucket of lobster, shrimp and steak. I had Fajitas. Unfortunately they overcooked the chicken so my fajitas tasted burned. They had an all you can eat Caesar salad buffet that was wonderful and they served flour tortillas with a honey chili butter. Oh...it was soooooo good.
Old town park looks like an old western town with a Mexican flair. There was a lot of adobe and a lot of slat wood houses. I didn't bring my camera, thinking that old town was just a down town area. This was more like a historical monument/museum. There are photo tours online- http://www.gothere.com/sandiego/oldtown/phototour.htm. The museum was fastinating. There was furniture that I would have loved to have in my house. A few of the stores really appealed. One had books from all different eras of costuming. Lots of Victorian stuff which I adore but have no practical use for. Another had natural gem stones of all shapes and sizes and many pieces of jewelry and carved stone. Pottery shops abounded. There was so much more that we didn't see but my new shoes wore blisters on my feet and I didn't feel up to walking. We left around 4, I think.
Saturday-
We picked up J's son, j, at 8 am and went to Sea World. The tickets were $50/person. Thank goodness J. had a military discount. Sea World opened at 9 and we made it to the park about 10 minutes before opening. They had a flag raising ceremony and the National Anthem and then the gates were opened. j wanted to ride Journey to Atlantis which is a water ride. He was bouncing around like Tigger on speed but we suggested that we should wait until it was a little warmer before we got all wet. He grudgingly agreed. Nearly the first thing we saw were the Busch Clydesdales. A Mare and her colt were in the pasture while others were in the stalls and probably there was a back pasture that we couldn't get to. We wandered by Atlantis so j. could see how wet the riders got then continued on to the Wild Arctic, Penguin Encounter, Manatee Rescue and Shark encounter. Then we went and watched the Dolphin Encounter show. Amazing! The boy's raced and chased through Shamu's happy harbor; then we went back to Atlantis. We stood in line for 10-15 minutes and were almost to the loading area when two of the boats got stuck and they closed the ride. Poor j. was terribly unhappy. So we wandered across the park to Shipwreck rapids where C. and I got totally and completely soaked. The the husband of the young woman who rode in our raft and several other spectators soaked us with the water cannons. We decided it was time to eat afterwards and went to shipwreck reef cafe to eat. I was really sad I couldn't have any of the scrumptious looking deserts but I had some strawberries with my club sandwich. After lunch we went and saw the Shamu adventure. They had a big salute to the soldiers which was really nice. It was also a very impressive show. From Shamu we went and saw the Cirque de Mer which was basically a cirque de sole over water. I found it to be interesting and impressive but J. thought it was gay. *laugh* I guess I just have a lot of respect for the power that those gymnastic feats require. After Cirque de Mer we were all getting rather run down. J. wanted to see the haunted light house but the line was an hour long. We made a quick tour through the aquarium but it was so crowded I gave up and left. From there we went and watched Clyde and Seymour in deep, deep trouble which is a show with a sea lions and otters. It was cute but very silly. There wasn't enough animal behavior showcased. When it was over we went through the gift shops and bought souvenirs then headed home. j. fell asleep in the truck on the way home. Poor kid was really beat. C. and I needed to get more film so we stopped at Save-on and found some film that was a couple months out of date for really, really cheap. (98 cents a roll and $2.49 for a 5 pack)
Sunday-
Sunday we got up early, again, and went to the swap-meet. It was in the parking lot of a convention center and it was huge. The Boys and Girls separated to shop, having different interests. It was interesting. Some parts were like a giant garbage sale others were respectable merchants. The sale was shaped like a large L I didn't realize how extensive it was until we got to the turn of the L. It took us an hour to get to that point and we only had two hours before we needed to go home and get our gear to go to practice. C. and I raced to get through the other side, which was too bad because it had some really interesting stuff. It was mostly cash only though and I didn't have any on me so I looked but didn't buy much. Lots of the stuff I liked wasn't stuff I could put in a suitcase and take home anyway. Just can't do that with a dresser or area rug. *laugh* C. found a VHS copy of Anne of a Thousand Days, which has been on my gift list for years. She bought it for me for a part of my birthday present. (They had already given me a rapier letter opener and a fan card on Wednesday night before we went to bed) For $3 it was a good deal, if it plays well. I haven't had time to check it yet. At the same little shop they had dozens of period type books. I found 6 Jean Plaidy books about the Queens of England that I've wanted for a long time. She charged me $2/book and they usually run $13.95/book. It was a great deal. C. and J. bought an Angel wall mount too but that was the extent of our actual purchases. I remembered to wear a hat since my head and shoulders had gotten burned at Sea World. My shoulders surprised me a bit since both C. and I had put sunscreen on them several times. I guess they were just ultra sensitive.
We raced back to the house to change and pack for practice. We made sandwiches for lunch along with peaches and nectarines. Then we made the 20 minute drive to the SCA practice site. It was in a school yard and the Barony pays someone every weekend to come unlock the restrooms for them. It was handy. There were lots of people there although the heavy and rapier fighters didn't seem to mingle at all. There was a Roman unit training in matching "uniforms" and armor. They did a lot of marching and drilling. I was told that the unit leader promises to provide everything when they join the group so it's a cheap way for a fighter to get started and be part of an organized unit.
As usual J. and I raced to 10. It ended up being 7 to 10. Not too shabby. *grin* J. says I've definitely improved. It was so hot though and I'd forgotten my inhaler so I had to sit between fighters and catch my breath. T. was next. She had a large opening in her chest which I took advantage of several times. She was a fun fight though. G. showed up then and I bespoke the first fight with him. His baby K. and her mom came too. He turned into mush every time he looked at K. The tension between E., K's mother and he was different She says they are together, he says they aren't and everyone else is trying to stay out of the middle.
I teased him about it being a good thing that we wear masks or his hair would be very distracting. He laughed and said, "I don't usually have this good a memory but you really are as sweet as I remembered." That made my day since I was worried that I'd made a bad impression at W4MA. When he'd had a little time to cuddle K and get dressed we fought. He tore me apart, as expected, but we talked about it afterwards. I was letting him lull me into drifting my sword arm to the left until I opened up and he hit me. I knew he was, he was so fast I couldn't move out of the way. I also was underestimating his distance. Maybe someday I'll be a challenge for him.
Don I was next. J. told me he was a speed fighter. I kept moving and kept my distance and was able to parry most of his attacks. J. didn't have a chance to talk to him to find out what he thought. Hopefully there will feedback soon.
I also fought A. and O. J. didn't think either should be a challenge for me but I didn't do well against them. Mostly I think because of the heat and because I was unused to them. I seem to have trouble fighting against people that should not be as skilled as I am. I don't know if I drop my guard or fight down or what But it is a problem. One of them finally asked me if I was ok because my parries were so slow. I imagine I was too hot and it was 3 hours into practice- about 3 times the length of my usual practice. C. the Mongoose wanted to fight me and he was the last fighter I hadn't faced but I just didn't have another fight in me. At 4 we started packing up. The intimate dinner we'd planned had blown up from 6 to 16. Since people were following us back to the house, we had to wait and it was 4:30 or nearly 5 before we got out of there. When we got back to the house, all of us needed to shower including Giacomo, Ian, Delores and the three kids. We had to call and change our reservations since there was no way for us to get there by 6. A.called and said he couldn't join us. It was going to be J., C. and j., G, E and K, I, D, R, A and An, O and C and myself. I rode with Gto the Italian restaurant, Deco di Beppo. It was nice to get a chance to talk to him. I didn't know that our careers were so similar. It was good to get to know him better.
The restaurant was a family style Italian restaurant. Every two people ordered a dish to feed 4-6. It was all heavenly. I especially enjoyed the Lemon chicken and another chicken dish with artichokes and capers. Yummy! I split a piece of cheese cake with O and C. It was very good too. I sat next to G and C. G and I chose the chicken dish and shared a love for capers. Everyone shared their food but I tried to be good about what I ate, aside from the cheesecake. J. made a nice little speech about celebrating my visit and friends. It was such a nice time I was disappointed when it had to end. G was very fun and he told me several times that he was happy to see me. I was glad for that; it was a nice ego boost. It was almost 10 when we left. Poor j. was so tired he was asleep in the truck before we got out of downtown. I ran up to the house and put his things together while J. used the restroom and then J. and C. drove j. back to his mom's house. Apparently J. had to carry j. up to his house. I was ready for bed when they returned. We were all tired and went to bed nearly immediately
Monday-
C. called in sick and we went to the zoo. It was a wonderful Topiary at the entrance of two elephants. It must take a lot of work to maintain it.
We started at the reptile house looking at the snakes and lizards. They are beautiful in their own way but I'm just as glad there was glass between us. There were too many toxic things.
After a few minutes of contemplation we decided that the map was next to useless as it didn't seem to show all the available trails. We had a basic idea of what we wanted to do.
We went up through the center of the zoo seeing the monkeys, chimps and the aviaries. We wandered past the hippos and Tigers. The Hippos were swimming together and we could see them through the underwater observatory. The glass had some weird distortion when combined with the water. The tigers we didn't see much of. The female was isolated in a den with three new cubs and the other tiger, probably the male was pacing at the back of the enclosure. I suspect he was next to the den.
We watched two otters play in the river, that was very amusing. They move so fast and it's like their bodies weave around each other to form a continuously moving and changing ball.
From there we went past the pigs and the birds of Prey. We laughed about the Sea Eagle being A's bird. We went through the Polar bear exhibit. I had wondered how an Arctic animal could be comfortable in San Diego but they went to great lengths to explain the the bear has a wide variety of habitat and it isn't always cold so he is perfectly comfortable.
We went through the horn and hoof mesa from there. I took pictures of all sorts of animals that I thought dad would appreciate. The mesa included the giraffes and Merkats and brought us back down to our starting point.
Of course through out our visit we stopped at every little souvenir, shop but made the conscious decision to wait until we were done to do any shopping so we wouldn't have to carry our purchases with us.
We had lunch when we finished with the horn and hoof mesa and took the loop that surrounded the elephant mesa. From there we went up Cat Canyon. Through the bears first and then on to the cats. Unfortunately most of the cats were sleeping in their dens since we'd reached the heat of the day. However, the black Jaguar put on a show for us, gnawing on a bone then prowling up and onto a tree branch then back around. I'm hoping I got some good pictures but you never know how zoo pictures will turn out with all of the containment fences in the way. We decided not to take the loop through all of the sheep and instead went back up the canyon to try to look at the Panda exhibit but with a new baby it was so busy there was probably an hour's wait so we decided that it wasn't worth the wait. We were getting tired by this time too. So we took the escalator up to what seemed like the tree tops at the very top of the zoo. The souvenir, shop there had some sheets of stickers I wanted but I decided to wait. It was an unfortunate decision because I was unable to find them at the shop by the gate and it was too long a hike to go back. From the tree tops we wandered down through the pygmy chimps and by the Gorilla's and orangutans. There were children drawing all of the orangutans and chimps so we couldn't find a good place to sit and look at them. One orangutan was sitting by the glass rolling around for the children, reach towards them on the glass, generally being very friendly. The kids seemed really tickled.
From there we traveled downhill to the entrance of the zoo. The San Deigo zoo is in no way a flat space, we did a lot of hiking up and down hills and the map even indicates where there is a steep grade and which direction it goes. We got quite a work out and were rather pooped when we finished doing our shopping at the central shop. I got postcards, a book, and some stickers for my scrapbooking. Candy bought several postcards for me as part of my birthday present.
J. Called to let us know that he was already home and we didn't need to pick him up and we headed home.
Tuesday-
It's time to go home and it's a sad thing. I slept in, packed my clothes and read a book until J. got home. I had to borrow a suitcase to take home the books and things I'd accumulated on the trip. It was hard to think about saying goodbye but I know it's not forever and I tried to keep that in mind. J. rode the Trolley home. But C. called to say that there was a major traffic back up on the highway and we needed to leave immediately upon her arrival for J. to be able to muster at 3:00. The traffic was in a terrible snarl for no particular reason and J. began to get really worried that he was going to be late. We made it with a few minutes to spare, fortunately. C. and I waited until he was done and then we went to the NEX and then to the Commissary for lunch. The NEX is like a Walmart. There is also a department type store which we wandered around after eating at the Commissary. It was interesting to see the Base. I've never been inside a military installment before. I got to see the guns that J. is training on and the building with all the radar dishes on top. It was all very informative and gave me a much better background for J's new life. Now I can understand a little if he talks about his day.
We headed for the airport by 5:00 passing the sailing ships in the harbor. I would have liked to have gotten pictures of them but we didn't have time at that point. At the airport the new security measures didn't really allow them to come past the ticket counters with me. We said goodbye about 5 times but it was so hard. I finally said it wasn't going to get any easier so I'd just better go and walked away. They waited until I got through security and I waved goodbye one last time. Suddenly it was lonely. But I sat and read my book until the plane boarded. I discovered that a nonstop flight doesn't mean that the plane doesn't land but that you don't have to get off it. We landed in oakland and boarded new passengers before we finally landed in Portland. Dad wanted me to meet him at the curb so he wouldn't have to park so I muscled my cases out to the curb, very awkwardly and then called his cell phone, only to discover that he had changed his mind and come into the baggage claim area to wait for me. Somehow we'd missed seeing each other. I was kinda crabby and it was late. Dad needed me to stay awake to keep him company. So we chatted on the way home. It was 1:30 when I finally got into my house and to bed. 6:00 am came really early.
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