The Hansens of Cloverside: San Diego Trip, August 2008

On the evening of Sunday, August 3, 2008, Kasey, Anne, and I flew to San Diego, California. Kasey went for work - to attend the worldwide GIS (Geographic Information Systems) conference, which Kasey described as the largest assemblage of nerds... ever. Period. Anne and I went to have fun.:) Kasey got to have a lot of fun, too, but not until each workday was over. Fortunately for him, the days were much shorter than any average work day.

DAY ONE

Well, the first day we didn't do much, except fly and settle into our motel room. Anne did very well on the flight and loved that she was on an airplane.

DAY TWO

The second day of our trip was Monday, the fourth of August. Anne and I got up early, went to breakfast at a nearby restaurant, then drove to the San Diego Zoo!

Anne and I spent six hours together before Kasey could take the train from his conference to join us at the zoo. There isn't much to tell you, except that it was hot, we saw a lot of animals, ate expensive zoo food, rode a zoo tour bus, and had a lot of fun! Apparently San Diego was experiencing and unusual heat wave of reaching the mid to upper-eighties in the afternoons. To me that is hot, but maybe to some of you it isn't... I was amazed at how much water Anne and I drank.

My favorite zoo exhibit included three panda bears. :) We learned that there are only one dozen panda bears in the United States, meaning 1/4 of them reside at the San Diego zoo. We caught one of the panda bears pooping a bunch of bamboo, so now when Anne sees a picture of a panda bear anywhere, she says "Panda bear is pooping!" Just as long as she doesn't scream that in public... :)

DAY THREE

Anne and I drove to Coronado. The drive along the sand spit was gorgeous! Coronado is definitely prettier that the San Diego area! San Diego has beautiful beaches, but the rest of it is pretty much a desert with palm trees. I was bummed that it was drier, more brown, and less tropical than I expected. I think people play up San Diego as better than it is in reality. I like the area because of the beaches and the myriads of things for vacationers to do, but I prefer greener territory.

After that, I drove around downtown San Diego and took a lot of pictures.

Later that evening when Kasey finished work, we went to Old Town. Old Town is the original settlement site of San Diego. It has been turned into a pedestrian friendly park, filled with original structures, shops, and restaurants. Also located in Old Town is the Mormon Battalion site. Unfortunately for us, the battalion grounds and site were under renovation and therefore currently close.

For dinner in Old Town, we ate at a Mexican Restaurant called "Coyote Cafe." It served excellent food. Kasey was thrilled that the tortillas were handmade in the same fashion as those he ate on his mission to Mexico eleven to thirteen years ago. He hasn't had authentic tortillas since that time and really enjoyed eating them! Following is a picture of Kasey's dinner. If you can't tell, I like to take pictures of the food we eat.

DAY FOUR

Instead of venturing far away, Anne and I visited two malls nearby our motel. One was a strip mall that we drove around quickly, and the other was a mall with such expensive stores that I was afraid to be there. I felt really out of place, so we walked the perimeter of the mall, went into Bloomingdale's, then left. Being curious, I looked at the price of a suit jacket (not a suit, just a jacket!) in Bloomingdale's. It wasn't a showy one on display, it was out of the way on a rack with a hundred other jackets. It was $900! I about died! I also saw a transvestite, which was interesting. So, the two things I will remember about that mall are the expensive clothes and the transvestite. Geesh.

Anyway, after visiting the malls, Anne and I returned to Old Town. The previous evening, we did not see everything, so I thought it would be fun to look at what we missed.

That evening, we went to Mission Beach. It was spectacular! I thought it was superior to Waikiki Beach in Hawaii, which is the only other pretty beach that I've been to as an adult. Anne loved how the waves approached her and Kasey as they stood in the shallow parts of the water. After swimming, Kasey rode a small roller coaster located at Mission Beach, and we ate dinner.

DAY FIVE

On our last full day in San Diego, we went to Sea World. We saw most everything in the park, including the killer whale, dolphin, and sea lion shows. Kasey rode a roller coaster/water ride called "Journey to Atlantis" and two kiddie ride with Anne: the Elmo Fish ride and the Oscar's Boat ride. After Sea World, we drove past the San Diego LDS Temple. To say it was beautiful is a flagitious (if I may use that word, please) understatement!