Koalafornia

---

I apologize to my numerous fans that this blog has not been posted more often. I have simply been too busy and/or tired to post! This is our last day in San Diego. We will be leaving San Diego by plane around 2:45 PM today. Today, we plan on just hanging around the house. I haven't been able to walk the property here or see the citrus trees, but I look forward to seeing the Wrights' residence before I leave.



So, I last posted on Sunday. I forgot to mention that while we were kayaking that there were fish jumping out of the water. We believe they are mullet fish. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullet_%!f(MISSING)ish%!<(MISSING)/a> We saw some between 6-12 inches jump completely out of the water. I thought for sure that one would hit me and I would capsize our kayak. Thankfully that never happened.



On Monday, we went to La Jolla. It's a touristy beach area. We heard a lot of foreign languages spoke there--French, Italian, German, Japanese, etc. I think everyone knows that this is the spot to see harbor seals. These harbor seals live in La Jolla year round. The seals are not amused when humans approach too closely. They bark, fight with each other, and love to sunbathe. Since San Diego has some 350 sunny days a year, it can be the perfect residence for everyone, including seals. We also went down into the cave in La Jolla which was a kind of a joke. We had to pay $5 each to go down 140 steps to a small platform. We did see crabs and one tiny lobster crawling around on the rocks down there. La Jolla wasn't a great beach for swimming, it's rocky and had a small shore. You go for the harbor seals!



Tuesday was the day. DISNEYLAND! We took a hour and 21 minute train from Solana Beach to Anaheim. Then, we took a quick shuttle bus from the train station to Disneyland. I have been to Disney World before. It's hard to compare or choose a castle. Sleeping Beauty's castle was tiny compared to Cinderella's in Disney World. Disneyland's park seemed smaller as well. We rode Space Mountain, Storybook Canal, It's a Small World, Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones, Dumbo, Haunted Mansion, and the Disney Railroad. We had to be back early for the train so we didn't see any of the night time entertainment. We did see Mickey, Minnie, + Friends march down Main Street USA with friends. I also met Princess Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty, and saw the Evil Queen, who is from Snow White. We ate at Cafe Orleans and enjoyed a corn dog at the end of the night. (Perhaps one of the longest lines?) We both agreed that Indiana Jones was our favorite ride. We can't wait for Star Wars Land to open! I really look forward to going back and doing more of the park and visit California Adventure. It's truly a magicial place!



Wednesday, we rested in the morning. We were really worn out from Disneyland which was hot and sunny. We went to a Cinepolis movie theatre. It was fancy and served actual food at your seat in the theatres. It had the reclining, leather seats. We shared cheeseburger sliders and fries. We also went to Torey Pines State Park. It has some impressive views and hiking trails. I was not up for hiking, so Michael walked around. We did go down to the beach. We walked along the shoreline. It was a beautiful beach. I still prefer to swim in a pool, but it was nicer than Lake Erie!



Thursday, we went to the zoo. We only covered one-half of the zoo. It's a large zoo, I'd say a little bigger in space than Cleveland's zoo, but about the same number of animals. The zoo really impressed me since it grows a lot of the animals food. They have their own banana plantation and much of the vegetation you may see as you walk around is used for food as well. I enjoyed seeing the Asian and African Elephants mixed together. There were a ton of koalas too! We saw one panda on display. The panda was a sleeping juvenile. We also saw orangutans, polar bears, Tasmanian devils, Sun bears, snow and regular leopards, lions, tigers, birds of prey, and much more. We had a great time. We went to dinner that night at En Fuego in Del Mar with Michael's parents. It was amazing Mexican food.



Overall, the trip was great! Luckily, we will come back and see whatever we have missed or would have liked to see more of. I'm so thankful for this vacation from the Wright family. It was great to be away and see and learn new things. I am looking forward to going back to Ohio where there are forests, grass, and two little cats waiting for me.

---