Go San Diego - Legoland and Whale Watching

We got up bright and early because my sweetie wanted to get to Legoland when it opened. After we grabbed breakfast in the hotel, checked out, and hit the road, we were a little later than we wanted to be, but we still arrived about 10:15, only 15 minutes after the park opened.

Traveling by ourselves, we felt a little self-conscious being some of the few people there without at least one child in tow. We wanted to take the boat tour to see all of the landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. It was easy for us to walk right to the front of the line and climb into a boat. The Lego features are amazing! Someone was definitely a Master Builder! This time of year, we got a lot of debris and leaves and stuff. I think maybe Legoland needs to be a little better at their upkeep in the winter even though they have fewer people coming.

We had never intended to spend all day at the park, but my sweetie wanted to send the kids a picture of the life-sized Buggoti, an amazing sports car made out of Lego Tehnic blocks. Even the engine was made primarily with these blocks. The only things visible to us were the lights and the tires. After we snapped lots of pics and I scoured the Big Store for a good deal, we did a survey on our way out the door and we were gone.

My sweetie was really excited about a Whale Watching trip, so I called about the half-day Hornblower cruise. They would be able to get us onto the 1:30 boat, but we would have to be there by 1:15. We had a comfortable 45-minute cushion according to our GPS, so we thought we would be fine and we booked the trip.

Then traffic happened. Our time was cut in half, but we still thought we had a good margin. Then when we finally found the docks, the parking lots were all full. We drove around like crazy people just hoping something would open up before we finally pulled into the Seaport Village and took a ticket. We had been warned that it was expensive, but by then we were desperate.

We fast walked our way to the dock and picked up our passes from the kiosk with only a couple of moments to spare before they started loading. I was excited to be on the boat, truly I was, for about 10 minutes. I popped 2 Dramamine as we found our seats, but even that didn't help me when we had finally moved out of the harbor and into choppy water.

The waters were good to us and we saw 8 different whales and dozens of dolphins. My favorite part was the big ships that moved around and passed us. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time with my head lowered and my eyes closed. Then when something amazing was spotted, my sweetie would shake my arm a bit so I didn't miss anything big. It's a terrible way to travel, really.

By the time we pulled back in to port 4 hours later, even my sweetie wasn't feeling so good. My foot was hurting pretty badly as well, so my sweetie hired one of those bicycle drivers with the carriage in the back to take us to Seaport Village. (I think that was the best $20 I spent all day!)

He dropped us right in front of a little taco stand that specialized in fish tacos and since my sweetie had been wanting to try some, we decided to get our dinner while we were there. The food was good, but a bit spicy, so we stopped at another little shop for a couple of churros.

Then since we were there, we decided to wander a few more of the shops and we finally found this little eclectic shop where I could buy a hoodie. We also picked up a little something for the kids at home, but there is no way I'm telling you what it is because Curly was probably the first person to read this post today...

People were right about the parking though. It cost us $48 and that was the discounted price because we bought something! Parking in general here is pretty ridiculous, but that is a subject for another day. We have so much more adventuring to do tomorrow. Now that we are in our new hotel, we are much closer to some different venues. Maybe you can guess...

Go San Diego - Dinner at the AMC

I spent a quiet day here at the hotel while my sweetie attended his meetings. It would be nice to totally escape from real life, but that's not possible. I had brought some paperwork with me that needed to be done and the kids called me from time to time. I also had basketball games to arrange and volleyball stuff that crept up. So I didn't get a chance to crack open that book I brought with me or pull out my stitching, but it was still a nice and somewhat relaxing day.

My sweetie showed up about 4:00 and we started looking for something to fill our evening and our tummies. We had decided on Japanese, but when we pulled into the parking lot, the AMC sprawled ahead of us. They even advertised meals in the theater and that sounded way more fun than a simple meal.

We bought our tickets to see Jumanji 2 and then our food at the counter before we headed into the theater. We had just barely gotten settled in our reclining seats when our dinner showed up. My sweetie had an avocado chicken sandwich and I had chicken tenders. The food was pretty good and we munched our way through the opening credits (which were incredibly long!). I think we watched at least 10 trailers before the real movie started.

As we sat there, my sweetie became more and mored confused. Apparently, he didn't realize that the movie we were watching was a sequel to a newer version of Jumanji, not the original Robin Williams movie. We had a good laugh and decided that maybe he should watch the first one sometime.

I called Curly on Duo as we drove back to the hotel and we had a chance to talk with the kids. It was good to share our day with them and to hear about all the things that were happening at home. We are packing up because tomorrow we change hotels and start paying for our own place to stay. My sweetie's company was fine with me coming along, and even with him taking a few more days off, but I don't think they would be that excited about paying for our hotel for the rest of the stay.

I'm excited to use our passes more tomorrow. My sweetie wants to be off early so we can be the first ones at the gate at Legoland. Apparently, they have something pretty special there right now, but shhh, it's a surprise for Curly.

Go San Diego - San Diego Zoo Safari Park

After we got the kids off to school, my sweetie and I made a trip to the airport where we climbed on an airplane and flew to sunny southern California. My sweetie had a business trip and asked me to tag along. We love hanging out together and this opportunity seemed to fall into our laps.

We got off the plane in San Diego about noon and we drove straight to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. My sweetie had heard that the tram around the savannah was the best part. The park was quiet and we were able to park close, but still, the walking was hard on my foot.

See that big smile on is face?

That's because the guy at Hertz convinced him to upgrade to the BMW...

We stopped for lunch at the Oasis Cafe and had a sandwich (although I thought $13 was a little high-priced for a grilled cheese and some chips). The map was difficult to follow and we kept getting lost, but at each turn in the road there were fun things to see, so it was all good. We just didn't want to miss the last tram since the trip took nearly 30 minutes.

We finally got to the little tram station about 3:30. My sweetie loved seeing all the different animals. The giraffes were right up close to us. The others were down in this deep bowl-shaped area. I was surprised, but guess I shouldn't have been, with how the animals were each off in their own groups. I think I was expecting the "waterhole" where they are all hanging out together, but that isn't very realistic, I suppose.

After we got off the tram, we starting walking back to the entrance, carefully avoiding the "Bats" area. (Have I told you about my issues with bats?) We only got lost once and that was only for a minute.

The flamingos pic is for you, Twizlet! I know you love them. I have a little video for you when I get home.

My sweetie wanted to make sure we wandered past the elephants and rhinos on our way out, so we were going a different direction. We left the park just as they were getting ready to close, but it was fun and I'm glad we made the effort to get there even though my foot was definitely complaining.

As we drove toward our hotel, we started looking for a grocery store. Since we had a mini-fridge and I would be without a vehicle, my sweetie wanted to make sure I had supplies.

After stocking up, we finally got to our room where we shared deli fried chicken, rolls, and fresh fruits and veggies. Since Utah is an hour later than here, my sweetie went to bed early and even I managed to turn off the lights around midnight.

After today, we get to play until we climb back on that airplane that will take us home on Tuesday morning. Lots of fun things to do here. It's hard to choose!

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

I know! It might seem that we just returned from Canada and in fact, we did. But last weekend my sweetie came home from work with an assignment to attend a meeting in San Diego and since Drama Queen is working for us during these few weeks while she is waiting for her new job to start on January 21st, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. Besides, airfare to the west coast is relatively cheap.

It has just taken me 2 hours to type out all of the activities and household issues for Drama Queen. When we left in November, we were able to more carefully sweep clean most of our schedule. That didn't happen this time because we didn't have any notice. Thank goodness Drama Queen is a good sport.

We are leaving on Wednesday morning and we will be back the following Tuesday. Earlier today I discovered something pretty amazing. I was looking for activities for us to do in San Diego; stuff that could work in and around my sweetie's meetings. Then I found the Go San Diego pass. It includes way more than we could ever hope to do while we are there even without kids to slow us down. The main attraction is Sea World (or a trolley pick up drop off ride, but I'm not that old yet).

Knottsberry Farm, Legoland, and cruises are pretty exciting as are the museum tours. The price was good too! Only $610 for BOTH of us for 7-day passes. But not to worry, I will keep you posted along the way so you know just what we are doing and you can judge for yourself.

Since we already called our Canada trip the Grand Adventure, I guess we need to name this one something different. I was thinking "Go San Diego." What do you think?