CA 06: The Zoo, the Desert, and the Rabbit

On the third day of our vacation, we went to the San Diego Zoo for the first half of the day, and then we spent the evening at Joshua Tree National Park.

The San Diego Zoo is very impressive. They have every type of animal you would expect to find in a zoo, including Koala bears, an many more. Many of the animals had or were getting ready to have babies. There were gorilla, orangutan, and chimp babies. An anteater carrying its baby on its back, a young, though not new born, panda, and the flamingos were building mud. The zoos in my area definitely don't have breeding programs like this. We also visited two animal shows. The first featured a sea lion and a timber wolf, but not together! The second show had a bear cat and an Arctic wolf. We all howled until the wolf howled with us, and that is a very sad and eerie sound. My favorite exhibit was probably the chimps, who have an artificial termite mound, so we got to watch them using sticks to eat from it. We did some fast walking and managed to see most of the zoo in 6 hours.

After the zoo we left for Joshua Tree National Park, and arrived on the south side about 5pm. A short walk took us to the Cottonwood spring, where the water was trickling out from among the tall trees to disappear in the sand and rock. We then headed north through the park and stopped to see Cholla Cactus Garden. After that we went to see arch rock, which looks like an elephant. After that Jake went to see skull rock, but my feet hurt too much at this point to make the short walk to see it.

The small town where we came out of the park is called Twenty Nine Palms. There weren't many food options there, so we ordered some Papa Johns, and ate it sitting on the warm pavement in the parking lot behind the place, illuminated by an orange street lamp. It was the best Papa Johns I've had in years, as they still actually load it up with sauce. Then we headed off for the Mohave, thinking that our adventure for the day was done. Little did we know, a rabbit was waiting for us.

We planned to drive into the Mohave, and sleep in the car at a campground there, but by 11:00 pm I was too tired, and made Jake pull to the shoulder to sleep. Unfortunately, the desert is still very hot at that time, so about 12:30, we decided we couldn't sleep in the heat any longer, and decided to continue on to the campground. By this time, the nightlife was out in force. Mice and rats of various sizes scurried off the now gravel road. Jack rabbits were startled and hopped out of our path, all of them that is, except for one. This rabbit, instead of running off the road, ran down the road. So we stopped the car, thinking it would move out of the way. It stopped. We crept forward slowly, it crept forward slowly. We tried stopping and turning off the headlights, because we were in the middle of absolutely nowhere. At this point, it actually returned toward the car. I tried to scare him off the road by getting out of the car and walking down one side, but he persistently stayed in the middle of the road. We were afraid to push him to much, as we didn't want to give him a heart attack, so we finally admitted defeat. We decided to stop and try to get some sleep where we were. The bunny once again approached the car, and finally crossing right in front of the wheel, almost under it, he hopped of onto the shoulder of the road, and after 20 minutes of being delayed by this guy, we were free to go. By the time we reached the campground, temperatures had dropped down to be a little chilly, and we slept much more comfortably, until the rain woke us up in the morning

CA 06: Truly the Happiest Place

Honestly, I went to Disneyland because I felt obligated to see the place that seemed to impress so many. But I've been to theme parks. I've waited in the lines. And the population of the LA area is astronomical, the number of tourists there, far larger. The financially capable juggernaut that is Disney: substantially more evil.

My expectations were low. I assumed the lines would be terrible, and we would be very luck to be able to ride all the rides on my list, even once. I supposed the food costs would be astronomical, in keeping with tomorrow lands theme. I thought the rides would be kitschy and boring and the evening shows would be a disappointment

I have to admit, I was very pleasantly surprised.

We were able to ride all the rides I had written on my list, except one, and we probably would have been able to do that, if I had known what fast pass was prior to waiting an hour to ride Splash Mountain. Not only is the fast pass fantastic (I barely had to wait in line at all after that), but its a free service. They could easily charge an extra buck or two, and being the huge corporation that they are, I expected it. But they don't. Those tickets are free which is simply awesome. If you're wondering, you get ticket from a machine near the ride entrance that tells you to come back between such and such times, and you get into the fast pass line, which was usually empty when I was there, and pass all the people waiting in the regular line. And I'll add that if we had gotten there at the planned 8am, instead of the much delayed 12pm, we could easily have ridden the rides twice.

Food costs were more reasonable than the airport. We ate outside the park, at a little stand by the Disney downtown. Chicken fingers, chili cheese fries, coke. About $10. I was a little surprised at that. We also discovered that they will let you bring food and drink into the park. We hadn't brought our backpack though, anticipating, incorrectly, that this would not be allowed. We chose not to make the hike back to the car, because we were already running late, but this is very good to know.

The rides while kitschy were absolutely wonderful. Splash Mountain tricked me. The jungle cruise entertained me. The Matterhorn was fun, and Space Mountain actually awed me. The haunted house impressed me, and made me laugh. These aren't the fast pace, rip your heart out speeds, loose your stomach drops of modern rides. The roller coasters and other rides are almost leisurely. Jake and I both agree that the themed part of the theme rides is a big part of what makes them great.

The evening shows absolutely did not disappoint. The Fantasmic show by the water was really fun and entertaining. A grin inducing mixture of video, pyrotechnics, costumed character, and a magician like ability to sneak in the scene changes including entire boats. Afterwards we had time to get over to the main street to watch fireworks which were sweet, and dare I say, romantic, despite the massive crowd watching.

Good crowd control is a big part of what keeps Disneyland fun. In addition to the fast pass, when they are having shows, such as Fantasmic or the parade, they rope areas off and help keep pathways open for walking.

Wherever you look while at Disneyland, there's something fun to see, whether it is costumed characters or swing dancers in the evenings, it all comes together to make for a surprisingly great time.

While the entrance cost is somewhat high, it's worth it.

Il Gesu and Area Sacra Largo Argentina

Located within easy walking distance

of the Pantheon and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva are two more Roman treasures: Il Gesu, the Jesuit Mother Church, and Area Sacra Largo Argentina a collection of ruined temples among more recent city structures.

Il Gesu

Il Gesu stands on
the location of the first Jesuit chapel. When this church was finally built, the catholic church was still struggling in the wake of the protestant reformation. Initially undecorated, the church is now decorated with silver, gold, marble and more.
Il Gesu has a distinctive white facade. exterior is a richly decorated and colorful interior. The ceiling, which is the main reason I chose to visit this church, is elaborately painted with a scene of the glory of Christ. The painting literally bursts from its frame. It is set amidst a ceiling of gold, and surrounded by white sculptures of angels.
Its telling feature are the scrolled pieces known as volutes. Beyond the somber

Area Sacra Largo Argentina

These ruins are little known, even among the abundant amount of information to

be found on the web, despite the fact that they are located so near to other structures of note.

The ruins are located along the Corso Vitorio Emanuele II and consist of 4 temples and their surroundings. The ruins set lower than the modern streets. While it is possible to get a brief tour to walk among the ruins, everything of interest can generally be seen from above. For more detailed information, I took the liberty of photographing the signs around the ruins. There is some historical info, as well as some maps. The ruins are also a cat sanctuary, and the guided tours are billed as supporting the cat population.

You may even be able to make out the lone black cat in my picture, but be assured there are many
cats in every shady spot within the sanctuary.

CA 06: A day at the Beach and more

In 2006 we took a week to explore the southern 2/3 of California. We began in San Francisco, and worked out way south through LA to San Diego, then headed inland to the deserts and mountains as we worked our way north again, finally returning to San Francisco.

After our arrival in San Francisco and driving south out of town the previous night, we woke up ready for our first day in California. Having been born in LA, but moving away at the age of only 1, I was excited to get to know my home state.

We first went to Point Lobos, which has one of only two natural stands of Monterrey Cypress, the other being just across from the point. We were early arrivals and weighted in line for the gates to open, because I had heard the point could become very crowded later in the day. After entering, we parked and headed straight for a trail through the cypress. We immediately saw some quail in one of the trees, along with spectacular views from the cliffs. With our binoculars, we could just make out the sea lions out on their rock, but we could hear them easily. We walked leisurely along the trail that would through the grass beneath the trees. In a cove on the back part of the trail we saw two harbor seals basking on a rock, and a sea otter sleeping in the kelp beds.

After finishing the cypress trail, we walked down the sea lion path, which leads closer to the shore. There we saw more harbor seals including some babies. We saw another sea otter, this one swimming in the crashing waves near the rocky shore, and we got a closer view of the sea lions. There were also some nesting sea gulls, Brandts cormorant, and some brown pelicans to be seen.

After this we proceeded on to a series of beautiful waterfalls and beaches along highway 1. We saw Pfeiffer falls first, which is down a path through a beautiful stand of redwoods. There at the falls was a Stellar Jay being fed by excited children. I had never before realized that jays and crows were closely related, but this bird makes that connection. It moves and behaves like a crow, but has the comb and striking colors of a jay.

We then proceeded to Pfeiffer beach, which, despite being billed as a favorite beach in the area, has a narrow, windy, and poorly paved road leading down to it. But indeed it was an awesome beach. It is a sand beach, which is C shaped around two rock arches, which almost touch, forming an M. The water rushes in through the arches throwing up spray. While we were there we saw some interesting animals. In the rocks among the left side arch we found sea squirts, crabs, and a starfish. There were also some interesting people on the beach. 2 youngish girls in bathing suits screaming whenever they dared to touch their toes to the cold water, surfers protected from the cold by their wet suits, and a couple of naked children, running about. I always heard California was more free.

Following that we went to Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP (I know! Who are these Pfeiffer people?), which has a beautiful waterfall that pours onto the beach. However, you can not actually get down to the falls, but you do get a great view. Here we saw some ground squirrels and a couple more Stellar Jays, as well as a some interesting purple wildflowers. All of the vegetation here is strange, from the trees, to the flowers, even some of the grasses.

From there it was on to Jade Cove. True to its name, there is jade to be found here, and what's more, it's legal to collect. So collect we did, at our own risk. Jake found a pocket of rocks higher up away from the water, but I, after cautiously setting down the backpack, climbed down the rocks right level with the breaking waves. My goal was a small pool of smaller rocks, polished by the crashing waves. I had observed carefully before hand, and was certain none of the waves were coming in that far. After I had collected half a dozen really good specimens, Jake decided to join me. The water apparently liked him more that it liked me. Until he came down, I had only one wave come in far enough to send a wash of water around my feet. As soon as I was joined, however, by him, the waves began to surround my ankles. I was wearing carpi's, so this was OK. Jake, however, was wearing pants. Then a good one came in, with an even bigger one behind it. I, using my fantastic rock climbing abilities, learned in college climbing a wall with mostly 2x4 squares screwed onto it, latched Velcro like, horizontally to the rock behind me. My husband having taken the same class, but, unfortunately, lacking my cat like reflexes, was suddenly up to his knees in water. After that we returned to higher ground to search for rocks.

After the cove, we headed to salmon falls. This waterfall is really fantastic. The photos really cant do justice to its size and beauty. It is nestled down in a small green valley among large some boulders.

Finally, having completed our busy day outdoors, we were ready for something fancy. So we went to Hearst Mansion, where we had tickets for the evening tour. This is a house built when rich people knew what to do with their money. The house is ornate, but the rooms are mostly small and friendly. The best part of the tour was the many costumed people about the house, chatting, playing pool, reading in the library, etc., which is done for the evening tour only. If only my pictures had come out better. Unfortunately, the outdoor pool, which appears in Spartacus, had been drained due to a leak, but, on the upshot, as our guide pointed out, its a unique shot. The indoor pool was really incredible, but didn't photograph that well at all, being even more dimly lit than the rest of the house.

Thus concluded our first of many days of great adventure in California. For more, stay tuned.