Day 38- May 11

The plan for today was an early-ish breakfast and Sean, Carla, Diane and I were heading for the San Diego Zoo and Jane and Ike were going to explore San Diego some more. Although the bus system would have got us there we were told it would take a couple of hours so Sean and Carla packed up their vehicle to drive there.

After a longish but very informative introduction from the helpful staff at the site we started off with a display of some of the more trained animals in the amphitheatre. A very clever sea lion was the star of the show, with guest appearances from macaws, a cheetah, and a white wolf.

We then took the half hour double decker bus tour of the site to get an idea of where we wanted to walk to. The site is simply too large to walk in a day and take anything in. There was a line up for the bus but in Disney fashion it is managed in such a way that you really don’t know how long it is until you get to the end of it. We chose to sit on the top of the bus despite the sun to get a better view. The ride was a great overview of the park but afforded little viewing of the animals due to the distance the bus keeps from most of the enclosures. In hindsight our time would have been better spent walking the site.

The animals are kept in large enclosures rather than cages. The enclosures are designed specific to the species and have activity areas designed to keep the animals engaged. These activities include swings, pools, slides and scratching poles. Many of the animals in the zoo are rescue animals, saved from some accident or endangered species that have been bred in captivity to ensure their survival perhaps until a gentler time when they can be introduced back into their native habitat.

Zoos can be an emotional and philosophical issue for some people who feel that the animals have no dignity in these settings. The staff at the zoo make every effort to emphasize the scientific nature of their work and talk of the studies that are underway on the habits and health of many of the park inhabitants. They emphasize the importance of protecting the genetic line of some species, for instance it was pointed out that there are now more tigers in captivity than in the wild due to their shrinking habitat and the pressures of civilization.

The key attraction in the park are the pandas. There is a 21 year old mother and her 9 month old cub, the most recent of 6 she has borne in captivity. One of the few animal attractions that you had to line up for, the display was worth the wait. After a thorough cleaning of the enclosure and the placement of fresh food, bamboo shoots and protein treats the bears are allowed in. The cub, like most babies was a crowd pleaser and a bit of a goof. Not yet acclimatized to eating bamboo he was more interested in playing with his mother than eating and she patiently tried to fend off his antics while she hunted for and ate her treats and then settled down to eat her bamboo. The cub took a break, climbed a tree and hung upside down, much to the pleasure of the crowd before returning to the ground to pester his mother.

Amongst all the other animals the stand outs for me were the giraffes and the single horn rhinoceros. There was a new born giraffe in the enclosure. New born for a giraffe if 6 feet tall. We all have seen giraffes in cartoons and nature shows but to see them live was amazing. The variations in the colours and patterns of their markings and their phenomenally long tongues picking leaves off the trees seemed surreal.

The only way I can describe the rhino is prehistoric. Thick textured skin folded into what looked like armour plating and stocky legs like tree stumps. As we watched from behind the substantial fence, one of the attendants came along and called the rhino by name. Notoriously poor of sight you could see the rhino locate her by turning its head and it waddled over to her. She turned on a hose and began spraying the rhino down. To his obvious pleasure. It then pressed up against the enclosure fence to allow her to reach through and rub its skin. The rhino then slowly walked along the fence until she had rubbed it right down to its substantial butt and then it moved off back into the enclosure. This must be a nightly ritual but it was amazing to watch this tiny woman interacting in such a touching fashion with an animal that could have killed her with a simple twitch.

By this time we have spent about 6 hours in the zoo and were ready to head home for a supper of barbecued fish, rice and broccoli and well aged tabbouleh salad.

Jane and Ike’s day consisted of relaxing down at Seaport Village and historic Gas Lamp District. The harbour is beautiful with every type of watercraft imaginable from an aircraft carrier to paddle boats with sails. They lunched on the waterfront and had a great lunch of scallop ceviche, guacamole and fish and chips. The buildings in the Gas Lamp district were about 100 years old with interesting architectural details. Lots of shops and restaurants; we enjoyed coffee in a cupcake bakery and carried a six pack back to the KOA for dessert. Good thing they did a lot of walking after all that eating.

Day 39 – May 12

Happy Birthday Mom, love you – Carla.

Our goal for the day was to get to the other side of LA. We all agreed that LA deserved too much time to include in our schedule and was probably a destination trip for another time. Even though it was Sunday we knew that traffic would still be bad and Jane and Ike tried to increase their chances of a less stress drive by leaving at 6:45, that’s AM, by the way.

The latter part of the armadillo headed out around 9:00. We got on the I-5 south of San Diego and headed north. Initially traffic was very light and we made good time. North of San Clemente we caught the #1, the Pacific Coast Highway. However, just like at home in June (July and August…) the coastal fog was in and we could see little of the ocean. We could see however that the beaches were packed and parking along the narrow highway, with the combination of Sunday and Mother’s Day was minimal.

At Laguna Beach we decided to stop as the fog was giving signs of clearing and there was a craft fair close to the beach. It took a while to find a spot big enough for the BRT, 1-1/2 parking stalls, and then after a quick stop at Starbucks for coffee and a free wi fi FaceTime with Laurel we headed down to the beach where Diane and Carla browsed the fair while Sean and I watched the beach volleyball. We only watched the men’s games and totally ignored the women in the green, red and blue bikinis who had nice manicures, great tans and perfect teeth – hardly noticed them at all.

By noon we were feeling the need to move on even though the fog hadn’t cleared and the chipped fingernail time out on court #1 hadn’t been sorted out yet. As we drove further along #1 we realized that the traffic congestion was not going to end as we drove through the back to back settlements along the beach road. Before we hit Long Beach where we anticipated even worse traffic we moved out to the 405 and then to the 101 as we moved through the LA traffic.

If this was typical Sunday traffic I would hate to see rush hour. Although not as bad as our traffic hour approach to San Diego this was full focus driving. Sean’s hot spot Internet connection suddenly decided to have a digital hizzy fit and it stopped talking to Carla’s Ipad so we moved into the lead trusting to my GPS to get us through the maze of off ramps and merging traffic. Luckily Sunday or possibly Mother’s Day appeared to be a day of rest for truckers so we only had to deal with the nut bars in their Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis weaving back and forth through traffic like the start of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, grabbing at any car length space that opened up as if each move made the difference between standing on top of the podium or walking the walk of shame with the other also rans.

What I did find out however is that the BRT made the pretty boys in the fancy cars very nervous. A slight unintended swerve of the beast as one of them tried to pry themselves into the postage stamp sized piece of tarmac in front of me would make their eyes bug out like they had just been served the wrong vintage of their favourite Chardonnay. You take your little pleasures in life where you can find them and move on.

As we drove further north the fog did lift and we were treated to views of the houses and beaches this coast is famous for. North of Santa Barbara was our rendezvous spot for the day, Gaviota State Beach Park. We always have a contingency plan when travelling as a group so that if we get separated or have trouble we can connect again.

Gaviota SBP was a dry camping spot i.e. no power or water but it did have washrooms and showers, of a sort. The main attraction was the beach and a large California style pier that juts far out into the Pacific. The less desirable aspect of the park is the gale force winds that seem to blow endlessly. Jane and Ike had arrived at the parka couple of hours before us and said that earlier in the afternoon the breeze had been cool off the sea but had just switched around off the land and was now a very balmy if somewhat sand filled breeze. Through strategic parking of our vehicles we managed to block the worst of the breeze and enjoy the warmth of the afternoon.

I walked down to the pier to check out the ‘fishing’. The fishing seemed to consist of hooking a small bait fish on a hook that was part way up a line with a sinker at its end and then throwing that assembly over the side and then sitting down in a chair and waiting. I don’t know what they were fishing for but based on the variety of rod sizes being used it could have been anything from tinker mackerel to blue fin tuna. There were also several people setting crab traps over the side, baited with whole fish, who seemed to be having more success than the rod fishermen.

We had a barbecued pork loin, with barbecued potatoes, bean salad and a Greek salad/tabbouleh mash up for supper. After supper Diane and I lay out on one of the picnic tables facing the beautiful star-filled sky, contemplating our good fortune to be in all these beautiful places with such good company.