SAN DIEGO A GO GO!!!!!!!!

After having survived imminent doom on 5/21/11 we were ready for some vacation time. Enter Memorial Day!  With an extended weekend we decided we should go down to San Diego and get some multi-day passes for Sea World, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (the Park formerly known as the San Diego Wild Animal Park) and the World Famous San Diego Zoo.

I had never been to Sea World before and Andrea had never been to the Zoo, so we were prepared to be dazzled.

We started out with Sea World, first stop - PENGUINS!!

Not a great picture, but you can't use your flash and I couldn't find anything to steady the camera on :(

We then waddled over to get on the Wild Arctic Ride to see other Arctic animals such as Polar Bears, Beluga Whales, and a Walrus.  (Just in case you find yourself debating on whether you should wait in line for this ride or just go on to the animals, I suggest skipping it)

The Polar Bears were off to a disappointing start as far as entertainment value was concerned.

After we were done freezing we made our way over to the Sharks!  It was REALLY cool and there was even a small koi pond-ish aquarium that had clown fish in them (or as many parents referred them: "nemos").  I had no idea how tiny they were!  I can only blame nature documentaries for zooming in so much on the little fish so that I can't do anything but be shocked when I see one in real life.

These are sharks, not clown fish

Having massive sharks swim all around you can be pretty intense so we relaxed a little bit with a "skyride" over part of Mission Bay.

And finally the piece de resistance, the Killer Whale show!

A few months ago Andrea and I went to the aquarium at the end of the pier at Manhattan Beach and I found out that Killer Whales eat other whales and sharks!  I knew that they ate seals and loads of fish, but I was unaware that whales and sharks were a part of their diet.  I thought that was cool and immediately placed them on my list of favorite animals.  That added to the fact that these are HUGE creatures that jump completely out of the water and do flips made this a very impressive and entertaining show.

When the show was over it was now closing time; all the fishies, mammals, reptiles, etc. had to get ready for bed.  Andrea and I, on the other hand, were far from ready to end the festivities.  Since we weren't too far from Old Town San Diego we cruised on over and found some parking by the Mormon Battalion Historic Site.  Since it was still open we decided on checking it out; it was very, VERY different from what I was expecting!

Along the way we were outfitted in the gear the soldiers wore (we split it up because Andrea wasn't going to stay behind/go to Utah when I was going to be going to Sunny San Diego!)

 and even became honorary members of the Battalion.

Not a bad way to start the holiday.

How I spent my last day on Earth

I wish I knew a lot sooner that the world was supposed to end on Saturday (May 21st) ; I would have made a better plan to spend the day.

Luckily we had a quite pleasant day for no reason other than it was Saturday, and we ALWAYS*** party on Saturday!!!!!!

Andrea made plans to hang out with some of her work friends and get some hiking in.

We began the day bright and early at 10:30 am and gathered the troops to get on down to the Santa Monica Farmers Market - home to very expensive and tasty food.  We got some flavored honey sticks and some baked goods before we all decided we needed real food.  At first there was some talk of crepes, but as no one really wanted to wait a half an hour for a table we made our way to the fabulous Wahoo's.  None of Andrea's friends had been there before but were glad they had after their delicious food came.

For those of you keeping score, different city, different Wahoo's location, different friends, different hair cuts, different year, different marital status.  This is stock footage.

After we got our grub on we were ready to go hiking and made our way to Escondido Falls in Malibu.  I was glad we were going back because apparently we didn't make it as far as we were supposed to in order to see the "good falls" the last time we went.  The "hiking" to the first and less impressive falls was little more than a hilly stroll, but the next part was much more intense - you had to hold onto a rope so you didn't slide off the side of a mountain in one part and had to climb rocks - but worth it.

We even saw this crazy bird on the way back.

hawk? falcon? don't know, not a Ornithologist.

Since we were already there in Malibu we stopped by the beach.

It was cold!

All that exercise was making us hungry, so we grabbed some Japanese food and came back to the apartment to play Loaded Questions before turning in for the night.

It was a great way to spend the last day of Earth, something to keep in mind for next time the world is supposed to end.

***well, not ALWAY, but almost always

with so much trouble in the LBC

For some reason you build up a real desire to leave LA, or at least I do.  To scratch this itch we went on down to good ol' Long Beach.

Aided by the interweb we found quite a few fun things to check out in addition to what we already knew about (shopping, Yogurtland, and of course cupcakes).

First up on our new things to do list - drive through a wormhole to arrive in Chicago to check out FERRIS BUELLER'S HOUSE!!!!!

skip to 20 seconds for the first glimpse of the house

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is possibly the greatest movie ever made, so when I found out that his house is not but a short drive away I knew we'd have to stop by.

Next up, the skinniest house in America.

this is regrettably a terrible picture that doesn't show the house very well

Then, to Belmont Shores where we HAD to get Yogurtland!

One of the reasons for coming to Long Beach was the 2nd Saturday Art Walk.  It was quite a bit of fun (free Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!!!!!) and if we were granola we would be in heaven because maybe half of the vendors we very hippy-dippy.

this guy's stuff was my favorite, I think I'm going to find him again and get some of his stuff when I actually have some cash

We were a little early to festivities so we went on a little walk and checked out a little bit of downtown

and ShoreLine Aquatic Park - home to a very cool and educational fountain and a ship's wheel (or helm if you're down) on the beach...

Why on the sand? Why not?!

Sadly when we found Snoop Dogg's favorite eatery we had already eaten :(  Maybe next time Snoop.

Last, but certainly not least, Andrea got some new babies!

Oh Long Beach, you're so wonderful!