The Wakeman Family: San Diego Vacation!

Friday, January 30, 2009

San Diego Vacation!

Laura and I just got back from a vacation to San Diego. Laura had the week off and wanted to head south out of the snow. Jeremy knew I needed a break, so he took a few days off work so I could go! He and Nathan had some quality father/son time together.

Neither Laura or I had ever been to California before! We took a flight out of Spokane to Las Vegas (another place neither of us had been). We found the slot machines in the airport quite entertaining. From there, we got on an empty flight to San Diego. We each had our own empty row of seats to stretch out in.

When we got to San Diego, we were delighted to see blue sky and palm trees! In January, the temperatures are only in the 70's but we didn't care. That's still really warm! We stayed at a hotel on Mission Bay a short walk from the beach. Our first afternoon there, we spent hanging out around the beach. Laura loved the palm trees as she had never seen one in real life before.

The next day, we spent the day at Sea World! That was SO MUCH FUN!! There were so many animals and exhibits to see. Whales, dolphins, sharks, penguins, turtles, all kinds of cool fish, and the Clydesdale horses. We got to see the Dolphin Show and the world famous Shamu show. There were fun rides and beautiful plants. The only downside to the day was the gross food. Laura ordered a veggie wrap. It turned out to be olives and 1 tomato in a wrap. Olives. That's it. She could barely choke it down. I ordered chicken and it was this disgusting fried chicken stuff that I could also barely eat. Then, since we were still hungry, we went and bought a Shamu Chocolate Bar. It was the worst chocolate I'd ever had in my life. I couldn't even eat a little piece of it. Laura somehow managed to choke it down.

We were absolutely exhausted at the end of the day and spent a long time in the hot tub relaxing.

The San Diego Zoo was our next stop. We got to figure out how to maneuver the San Diego Transit System. We impressed with ourselves and did quite well! We also LOVED the zoo. It was neat to see all kinds of animals that you don't see at "regular" zoos like koalas, kangaroos, polar bears, zebras, and pandas! There was even a baby koala. I could barely tear myself away from watching. The koalas were definitely my favorite exhibit. I also really liked the elephants and giraffes. They're just spectacular!We rode the Sky Gondola back and forth several times because the view was so spectacular. The food (cheeseburgers) was good this trip!

Our next outing was Old Town San Diego. This was the original settlement of San Diego dating from the 1700's. None of those original buildings were there, but there were several old buildings there. We spend a long time going through museums, gift shops, etc. I of course enjoyed seeing San Diego's first public schoolhouse. Laura was more interested in an old dental/doctor office. We had dinner at a neat outdoor Mexican restaurant. It was the Old Town State Park. Very cool. Another night of hot tubbing commenced as we were so tired! Thankfully, our hotel had VERY comfortable beds! We slept well every night.

Our last day, we decided to spend at the beach. In the morning, we rented bikes and rode up and down the boardwalk on Mission Beach. I'm not sure how far we rode, but it was SO beautiful just to see the ocean right there. There were such neat houses right next to the beach. Lucky people! We then spent all afternoon just sitting on the beach doing nothing!! The sand was warm and the sun was bright. There wasn't a cloud in the sky! I even got a little sunburn. It was worth it!!