Blair's Blog

Just like that, the holiday is over!  … well except for the unpacking, the laundry, putting the suitcases away and getting the house whipped into shape!

Today was just a travel day,  no sights or attractions other than the airplane ride. The hotel by LAX was handy, but it really made us appreciate just how nice the other hotels had been.   We started the day with a less than satisfactory continental breakfast, but it did keep body and soul together while we faced the rigours of the air travel security theater.  We boarded the plane in sunshine and 15 °C and three short hours later got off the plane to be greeted by -2 °C and a stiff north wind – and snow for tonight.    It didn’t take us long to lose our acclimatization to winter.

Gramps was at the airport to meet us with our van and when we got home Gram was in the midst of preparing dinner for us.  What a treat to not have to think about what to have for dinner, and to have something prepared fresh – nothing deep fried in sight!  After supper we had a chance to look at the videos and some of the pictures that we took on the vacation with my folks before they headed home and left us to our unpacking.

Now to try and psych myself up for work tomorrow…

1 Comment »

Today was pretty busy – we started by packing up all of our gear a checkig out of our hotel in San Diego after a big brunch in the hotel restaurant. We got to SeaWorld about noon, it was a fine, sunny day. We saw the killer whale show then toured a number of the exhibits – bat rays, penguins, belugas, walrus and polar bears. We rode the Skytower at the end of the day, then piled into the van for the drive back to LA.

It was almost exactly 2 hours from SeaWorld to our hotel by LAX – not the nicest part of town! However, the hotel is handy for dropping off the rental car and getting to the airport in the morning.

Our flight is at 11:00 but we need to check in 2 hours earlier, so we’ll have a busy start tomorrow.

No Comments »

Today was still a little cool, but sunny and nice enough for a harbour cruise. We took the first tour of the day at 10:00 am of the north harbour and had a few rain showers. By 11:00, the sun was out and the second hour touring the south harbour was very nice. The US Navy presence at San Diego is pretty amazing -we saw at least one example of each of the main classes of USN ships – a carrier, 3 attack subs, destoyers, frigates, cruisers, landing ships and a bunch more.

After the cruise we drove up the coast to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla and spent about three hours there. To finish the afternoon, we spent an hour at the Wild Animal Park. The coolest thing we saw there was the lions – there were four of them and they were quite active, chasing each other around.

We headed back to the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant there before heading to the pool with the kids. Tomorrow is our last day in San Diego before we head back to LA.

No Comments »

Before we flew down to California, Brenda ordered “Go San Diego” cards for our holiday. These cards allow for admission to dozens of San Diego attrwctions for one pre-paid price. We got the 3 day cards and used them for Legoland yesterday. Today was cool, blustery and rainy so we liked three different attractions. We started with the tour of the USS Midway – a conventionally powered aircraft carrier that was in service with the USN from 1945 to 1992. It was really interesting and we spent 4 hours on the ship.

After that we toured the Air and Space museum before heading to the RH Fleet Science Center for about 3 hours. The kids had a great day.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a little taco shack that some locals had recommended as the place to go to get “California Burritos” – a burrito filled with beef, cheese, french fries, retried beans and who knows what else. It was good, but I wouldn’t hurry out to get another one!

Well, the kids are itching to get to the pool, 10 degrees and windy doesn’t bother them any! Dadly duties beckon…

No Comments »