Amazing Trip Day 5

Ok I'm a little behind on getting the post up this week, it's been a little busy the past couple of days. But day five of our vacation was our last real vacation day. Mom and I had made plans to go to the San Diego Zoo since it is supposed to be one of the best zoos in the world. I was a little worn down from Sea World the day before and not sleeping well so I wasn't as thrilled as I normally would be going to the zoo.

We got there a little before two and got our tickets, on the way into the zoo we saw that they too had a backstage tour. Mom asked me if I wanted to do it, and I told her only if she'd do it with me. She relented, some what reluctantly, and we signed on. We had to head back to the area because the tour was actually starting soon. So while we were waiting we looked at the giant anteater and her baby on her back and took pictures of each other with our backstage tour badges on.

The tour started soon after we got there. First thing we got to see was a little hedgehog, they brought this out while we were filling in a little quiz to see how many famous logo animals we knew. We got most of them, but some we didn't have a clue. Mom's knowledge helped a lot. After we got to touch the hedgehog we were introduced to their little cheetah cub, who was only going to be there for the summer, since she is being relocated this fall. We watched her chase one of her balls and bounce around on the props they had on the small stage for her. We were able to get up really close to her, mere inches away, but were asked not to touch since they didn't want her used to too many people. Her long tail would often whip out, and came close to touching a couple of the other people on the tour since there weren't that many, but everyone kept their distance. Mom thought she was really pretty.

After that they took us back to the rhinos. We all got to take a bit of grain and carrot and each had a turn to feed them. Mom even did it, but she wasn't happy when she got slobbered on. The rhinos had been rolling in the dirt to help keep them cool so even their top lips were dirty. Mom wanted to see what they felt like so she petted the side of one of their faces. She said that if anyone needs lotion, they do. We got to scrub them with brushes after that, one of them really likes that and we were told that he even rolls on his back so we can do his tummy properly, but he didn't do that for us. Then we gave them showers with the hose, they liked this a lot too since it was really warm.

We washed our hands in the buckets just along the fence and followed our tour guides through the park back to the kangaroo exibit, there we were joined with the Make A Wish Foundation kids. They brought out an emu for us to see. She has actually been on several TV talk shows, and has met a lot of celebrities. We each got to go up and pet her. She didn't really feel like a bird because she didn't feel feathery. In fact her wings are very oily, it was really interesting. Mom kept telling her how pretty she was, and how she could easily see her wearing mascarra with her long eyelashes.

Then they brought out a couple of young kangaroos. We got to pet the female, but her brother hasn't had enough interactions with strangers so he was kept away, which is probably a good thing because he got in a fight with his trainers, kicking and clawing at them as they tried to put him away. The female was really soft though, and we all got to feed her a bit of carrot as well as she walked past our feet.

They took us back to the main area after that where we were given a lunch and got to watch a show of many different animals that they brought out. They had ocelots, a full grown cheetah, an animal that looked like part bear and part cat - but is actually closer to the meerkat and mongoose, but I can't remember its name, and an Arctic wolf. We were told a lot of interesting things, most of which I already knew. But I loved the show anyway, we even got to howl with the wolf, and I really enjoyed that.

After that we went exploring, we took the tour bus so we could see most of the park, and it was included with our backstage tour price. Then we went on the skyride to get across the park where we looked at most of the deer, zebras, polar bears, Asian cats, and then went to the elephant odyssey which was really cool. It started off with fossils of a bunch of animals buried in the earth or on display, and then a whole wall of what the pictures looked like. Mom wouldn't stand by the wall for me to take a picture so I just took a picture of the wall.

After that we grabbed the bus to the bird show because mom wanted to see it. Since we had reserved seating, another bonus of the backstage tour, we went and looked at all the big cats like the cougar,lions, black leopard, bobcat, and snow leopards. I didn't get to see the tigers so I was a little disappointed, but mom was really happy we got to see the bird show. We also got to see the hyenas since they were down there as well. I've always thought it interesting that hyenas have the strongest bite per square inch of any land mammal. Over six hundred pounds per square inch. And their stomach acid is so strong the can devour everything on a carcas including the hair, horns, hooves, and bone. They are like the garbage disposals of Africa.

After the bird show it was time to go home. But when we got in the car it wouldn't start. Mom swore a lot as she cleaned the battery a little, and with a little coaxing, and a lot of praying, the car started. We got to Paul and Angela's and told them about our day. Angela said that the girls would be jealous because mom and I do all the fun stuff at the parks, where they only do the normal. Paul looked at mom's car the next morning, found the problem and told mom how to fix it. But we left around 11:30am or so on Wednesday and came back to Utah. I had a great time on the vacation with mom, it was so much fun.

Amazing Trip Day 4

Ok I'm going to have another shot at this post. On the fouth day we woke up early because we were going to get off the ship and we needed to be out of our rooms by 8:30am. Mom woke me up around 7:40 or so and I was in and out of the shower and had my hair done long before she was even close to being ready. So she sent me down to try and find our pirate picture, even though I couldn't and then she sent me to the main theater to wait for her and wait for our number to be called so we could leave. I entertained myself by playing solitare, which I had to end short because our number was 11 and it was called fairly fast. After we got off the ship we dragged our suitcases back to the car and got out the map as we had already planned on going to Sea World that day.

We waved good-bye to the ship as we passed it. It was sad to leave, I'm especially going to miss our cruise director Stu. He was so funny that morning, getting on the overhead and whispering into it for us to wake up. He was really cute - Mom and I both really enjoyed him.

It didn't take us long to get to Sea World from the dock. Maybe twenty minutes or so. Mom bought our tickets and got us the backstage tour and we were informed upon buying the tickets that we would get to see the baby dolphins so we were excited about that. When we got inside the gates I saw the other backstage tours where you actually got to interact with the animals and I signed up for the Arctic Adventure Tour and finished signing up just in time to join our group for the backstage tour.

Our tour guide took us back to see the dolphins and their babies first. One was less then a week old and it was so cute. The moms were teaching their calves how to swim and how to come up for air. Then we got to see the eels, some rescued sea lions, and then he took us back to see their flamingos and the endangered parrots they have there. They take their flamingos out for a walk every morning - so that was quite fun to learn about - all of the flamingos at the park were nesting, and we got to see a few chicks as well, some of them only a couple of days old.

After that we stopped at the pizza place to have lunch. I was quite entertained by a little duck that kept wandering about snatching up pieces of breadstick that people were dropping for it.

We decided to go to the Shamu show first, which was really neat. Despite some annoying lady who kept standing up in front of me and the people on the bench in front of us leaving in the middle, after talking the whole time they'd been there. But it was fun to watch the killer whales do flips and give their trainers rides.

We had to rush to the sea lion show after that and made it with a few minutes to spare, just long enough to see one of the "crew" members entertain the audience with quite a collection of old TV show theme songs while he put on different costumes and wigs. My favorites were Batman and Sponge Bob Squarepants, just because all the kids knew that one well so they screamed it really loud.

The sea lion show was probably my favorite show of all the shows we saw that day. They were so funny, and very entertaining. I didn't stop laughing the whole time, and the little otter they had helping was so cute. They did all kinds of shows too - from Superman to American Idol, to a cooking show, to Survivor. It was a lot of fun.

We went to the shark encounter after that - I had fun standing in front of the great white shark jaws because it looks like I'm being eaten. Mom did too - although she said she felt like she was being eaten by jaws. We went to the penguins after that and they were so fun to watch, they look like they are flying under water they are so funny.

After the penguins we decided to go see the clydesdales horses. They are the biggest horses I've ever seen in my life. I didn't even come up to their shoulders. I got to pet them and have my picture taken with them, but mom didn't want to.

By that time it was getting close to when I needed to be at the Arctic giftshop to sign in and get ready for my tour. So mom and I went over and I signed in and pretty soon had to leave mom behind while I went backstage with our tour guide.

We went to see the walrus first and that thing was so big. His head was huge - I don't think I imagined it to be that big, but it was like three or four times the size of my head. The trainer had him roar and everyone but me jumped, I kind of laughed at that. Then we got to feed him fish one at a time and then he'd kiss us as a thank you on the hand. I got a hicky from him - my hand was pink for three days. We also got to touch his whiskers and they are really rough, I hadn't expected that.

Then we got to see where the polar bears sleep, we couldn't go in because only 18 specially trained trainers are even allowed to go back there, if you aren't trained you aren't allowed because polar bears will eat anything, humans included. We watched while one of the trainers went back and got the male to stand on his back feet - he was easily nine feet tall and his paws were the size of dinner plates, he was huge. They took us over to the side and passed around some polar bear fur for us to feel, showed us the size of their skull because they had one over there, showed us the length of their teeth and talked a little bit more about what makes a polar bear so special it was really interesting.

Then it was time to get suited up and join the trainers in the pool for the beluga whale experience. We got in the pool and were split into two groups because there were eight of us. One of the first things we did was got kissed by a beluga whale on the cheek, then we had them dance, sing, shake our hand, roll onto their backs so we could hold their tails, pulled them onto the ledge then pushed them back into the pool, got in a water fight - which I lost badly, and had them wave. It was so fun and the beluga whales were so cute. They look like giant marshmallow men with beady black eyes. And for their size they are surprisingly gentle - it was an experience I'll never forget and one I'm so happy I took. Mike was quite jealous :).

After I got out and showered Mom and I went to the dolphin show and that was a lot of fun to watch as well. There was a woman there that was supposedly the mother of this little boy and the wife to the little boy's dad but it turned out she was a trainer. She was pretty clumsy - falling off her bench. One of the other trainers couldn't stop laughing, I guess that wasn't part of the act. We later discovered that she was a trainer when she "fell" into the pool and was "rescued" by one of the dolphins. But it was a trainer so that was hoax. But the show was fun anyway - I loved the dolphins.

After that we decided to get some dinner and head back to Paul's. I was tired and it had been a long day for both of us. When we got down to Paul's and I told him about my adventure with the beluga whales the first thing he said was..."Do you know how many germs and bacteria are in that pool?" When I told him I'd had a shower he seemed more at ease with the fact I was sitting on his couch. I went to bed soon after that, started a movie on my iPod and was asleep before it even began - lights on and everything.

Frustrating!

I just spent the last two hours working on today's blog and then my internet connection stopped working and closed on me. Grrr...I'll try and regather my thoughts for what I wrote about day four and post it within the next few days. :P

Amazing Trip Day 3

The third day of our vacation Mom and I had probelms getting up and going. When we finally did we realized that we had already gotten to the port in Mexico. So we got ready, and got off the boat to go exploring in Ensenada. We got on one of the tour guide buses which took us down to the flea market and the blow hole.

The blow hole is sort of like a gyser except it shoots water higher and more frequently. There are only three in the world. One in Australia, one in Hawaii and one in Mexico. So that was neat to be able to watch. We watched the blow hole for about ten minutes and then stared out at the coast for another few minutes before exploring the flea market.

A woman there was actually painting pictures on plates with her fingers. And she was very fast at it too. Mom got both of us a plate of our choice, it was so fun to watch her do it - it was fascinating. I got the purple one - the other one is Mom's.

After that we just wandered about the little shops, not going into most stores. We did however go into the glass blowing store and got the topper for my wedding cake - and as you can see it is even personalized for us. We also got Mom a single purple rose, and Melinda some red roses to match the ones she had for her wedding.

We did a little bit more shopping after that, Mom got a purse made out of gum wrappers which was pretty cool and a new dress. After that we made our way back to the bus. We decided to go back to the bus instead of going to downtown Ensenada because we were both very tired. As we were waiting in line to get back on the Elation (our ship) I wanted to take a picture of the view of Ensenada and these two guys jumped in front of my camera and posed for me.

Mom and I ordered room service instead of going to the dining room because neither of us had eaten all day and we were starved. I got the cheese sandwich and she got the bacon, lettuce, and tomato. She went to the departation meeting and kept falling asleep while she was there, when she got back she ate (because the food had come while she was at the meeting), and fell asleep with her tray on her lap. I played canasta by myself and watched the end of Horton Hear's A Who with Jim Carrey.

We didn't get a towel animal that night because we stayed in our room so our beds were never turned down for us. Mom was disappointed, but the book for how to do towel animals got there that night so I can do them for when Mike and I have kids of our own. Mom had fun looking at all the pictures.

We played canasta that night and Mom was kicking my butt until the last round where I went out with quite a few canastas. We both went over 5,000 points that time but she beat me by five. So she beat me. We went to bed soon after that knowing that the next day was going to be a long one.

Amazing Trip - Day 2

Day two was kind of a just laid back relaxing day. We spent the whole day at sea - although Mom and I later came up with the theory that the captain was just taking us around in circles so we could spend the day at sea since it wouldn't take us that long to get to Mexico.


Mom was still sleeping when I went up on deck to look at the ocean again. It was pretty foggy outside but it was beautiful - the only thing I was worried about was accidentally dropping my camera overboard.





I accidentally woke Mom up when I got back to the room, but she wanted to go do some things so she got up and got ready. We got some late lunch and then went up on the deck to read. Mom went back to the room shortly after to get my sunglasses and to change into her swimming suit. While she was gone two girls from our dining room table came up and sat in the deck chairs next to ours. We talked for a few minutes before going back to our reading and sun bathing.


After a couple hours we went back to the room so Mom could change and we could go to the hypnotist show. We recognized Charlene up on the stage - and she acted the part well, even though I could tell it was fake. Mom thought it was real until Charlene admitted that they'd been faking. I nudged Mom and told her I told you so.


It was fancy night in the dining room that night, so Mom and I dressed in the dresses we got for Melinda's wedding reception, pulled our hair up fancy and went to the dining room. Katie and Ivy were already there, along with Vanessa and her grandmother who we hadn't met the night before. Charlene and Jo soon joined us and we all got talking about how we were enjoying the cruise and Charlene and I got talking about weddings. Charlene is engaged as well and told me she is waiting for October, 10 2010 to get married. That way they can tell people 10/10/10 is their wedding date. She doesn't like wearing jewelry so she doesn't wear her ring - and in fact lost it once because one of her cats stole it. She found it, and put it away safely so it wouldn't happen again.


After dinner Mom and I promised the girls we'd meet them for the Vegas show in the main theater at 8:45 and went off to do pictures and change. We took pictures in front of the Titanic stairs scenery and by the piano. My fast was all red from being out in the sun so it matched my dress perfectly.




Afterwards we went and changed and sat next to Charlene and Jo for the Vegas show. Afterwards Jo and Charlene invited me to go watch the comedian with them. Mom didn't want to go so while she went shopping in the ten dollar store and e-mailed Stephen I hung out with Charlene and Jo. They took me up to the display of pictures and pointed out Katie and Ivy's pictures and the two pervert guys that had jumped into their pictures along with them. We all had a good laugh over it because Katie made a funny face when the older man had wrapped an arm around her neck in one of them. Jo and Charlene told me to keep a look out for them, and if I saw them to run away. They gave me a hint that the guys always had a cocktail in their hands pretending to be cool. Fortunately for me I didn't see them until we were getting off the boat.


After the comedian I went back to the room and fell asleep before Mom got back from the internet cafe. We had an elephant towel that night that we both liked a lot.






Some of the most memorable things about the cruise were...


1. Our cruise director Stu from Australia - he was such a hoot and always told us that if we went up to a stranger and said "Good day, mate" we'd make new friends.


2. Mom can't keep track of card keys to get into rooms, every time we went to our room she could never find her card key - and could never seem to find it when we were going to the dining room either.


3. No matter how foggy it is - put suntan lotion on anyway.


4. Cruises are much more fun when the table you are sitting at in the dining room has fun people there. Ivy, Katie, Jo, and Charlene were all so fun. There were people at the table next to us that did nothing but complain.



5. I've got a lot of practicing to do with my towel folding book if I'm ever going to master it.

6. Going on a cruise means you eat 6 BIG meals a day and don't gain any weight.



7. You aren't going to sleep on the cruise - that is what work the next week is for.


8. Don't wear a jacket while sunbathing on the deck - or else Mom will laugh at you.


9. Doesn't matter how many cards you have someone will always get Bingo before you.

10. If someone tries to hypnotize you and tells you that you are in a deep sleep at least fifteen times he is a phony.