Not too much exciting happened on the drive home, but one thing I thought readers might find amusing. We became part of a parade.
I kid you not. During lunch in a little nowhere town called Anderson, California, we couldn't get out of the Taco Bell parking lot because there was a parade for the local high school football team, that went right in front of the ONLY exit from the parking lot. So, we could sit there and wait (year right), or we could turn into the parade, which is what we did.
Fucking Americans will throw a parade for anything. Seriously, folks, it was 2 PM on a Friday, maybe the kids should be in school learning how to flip burgers or something? Sheesh.
We got home around 3 AM, after driving the entire way from California to Chilliwack. My wife is amazing, she drove it all except for about 3 hours. So good to be home, and not to have had to waste a night in a crappy motel.
That's about it, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the ride. I hope I was able to provide a chuckle or two along the way.
There may be blogs from 2 Vegas trips that happen in the next few months (early November, late January), but the next confirmed blog sighting is just 5 months away, as we return to Orlando for 2 weeks in another one of our timeshare resorts.
Engemoen OUT!
Saturday, 29 September 2012
Thursday, 27 September 2012
California Trip, Day 14
8:00 AM - Well that could qualify as sleeping in, I guess. Tracey is still asleep, natch, so I head down to the fitness room for a little workout. While I'm down there I smell pancakes. I had forgotten there was a pancake breakfast this morning between 8:30 and 9, so after my workout I partake in some yummy pancakes.
9:16 AM - Back up to the room and Tracey is up, so I make her breakfast while she starts to get ready. We've done a good job this trip of eating all the groceries we bought, so we won't have much to take home (and we wouldn't have any room for it anyway!) or throw away. We do have two bottles of wine to drink tonight, though.....I guess we'll just have to take one for the team and drink them both. Ah, the hardships of being on vacation.
10:15 AM - Doing the last load of laundry as Tracey finishes getting ready. We have booked a Caravan Safari Tour for 1 PM at the Safari Park....so in just a few hours, we'll be feeding rhinos and giraffes! We've done this tour a few times before and it never disappoints. We are particularly excited about the pictures we should get this time as this is the first time we've been down here with our skookum new camera and lenses.
12:15 PM - We get to the park and notice they have special parking for hybrids! Of course the unfortunate part is that we didn't notice it until we had driven by it and parked in the normal spot. Way to go, Tracey.
1:00 PM - After checking out a few smaller exhibits, we check in for our 1 PM tour. The tour vehicles hold up to 16 people, and generally they are sold out or close to it.
NOT TODAY!! IT'S A FREAKING PRIVATE TOUR!!! Unreal. we are the only two that booked this particular tour, so we get the whole vehicle to ourselves. Our tour guide and driver are fantastic and of course we get to do whatever we want. We get to feed about a half dozen giraffes and one very large (and very friendly) rhino. What an absolutely incredible experience. As if this vacation could get any better........it just did.
4:30 PM - After the tour which ran about a half hour long because we were having so much fun, the park is closing soon so we hop in the car and head back to the resort, to pack and prepare for leaving tomorrow. We also head down to the pool for one last swim. While we are there, a family with about 20 kids decides that the "ADULT ONLY" pool rules don't apply to them, and they all sit around the fire pit roasting marshmallows for chrissake. Good thing we were leaving anyway. Just to pay them back, I went and peed in the kids pool. OK not really but it was tempting.
8:00 PM - We are packed and I have got most of the stuff already in the car so we can be wheels up at 5 AM tomorrow on the drive home. We have truly had a special vacation, and this resort has been great. In terms of amenities, they don't have many, but if you aren't concerned about being able to get a drink while you are swimming, it's a terrific resort. The staff treated us with such hospitality, starting from the moment we arrived when they greeted us at the front desk with champagne. Everyone from maintenance to the cleaning staff to the staff manning the activities desk had a warm greeting and smile, and you can't put a price on that.
9:16 AM - Back up to the room and Tracey is up, so I make her breakfast while she starts to get ready. We've done a good job this trip of eating all the groceries we bought, so we won't have much to take home (and we wouldn't have any room for it anyway!) or throw away. We do have two bottles of wine to drink tonight, though.....I guess we'll just have to take one for the team and drink them both. Ah, the hardships of being on vacation.
10:15 AM - Doing the last load of laundry as Tracey finishes getting ready. We have booked a Caravan Safari Tour for 1 PM at the Safari Park....so in just a few hours, we'll be feeding rhinos and giraffes! We've done this tour a few times before and it never disappoints. We are particularly excited about the pictures we should get this time as this is the first time we've been down here with our skookum new camera and lenses.
12:15 PM - We get to the park and notice they have special parking for hybrids! Of course the unfortunate part is that we didn't notice it until we had driven by it and parked in the normal spot. Way to go, Tracey.
1:00 PM - After checking out a few smaller exhibits, we check in for our 1 PM tour. The tour vehicles hold up to 16 people, and generally they are sold out or close to it.
NOT TODAY!! IT'S A FREAKING PRIVATE TOUR!!! Unreal. we are the only two that booked this particular tour, so we get the whole vehicle to ourselves. Our tour guide and driver are fantastic and of course we get to do whatever we want. We get to feed about a half dozen giraffes and one very large (and very friendly) rhino. What an absolutely incredible experience. As if this vacation could get any better........it just did.
4:30 PM - After the tour which ran about a half hour long because we were having so much fun, the park is closing soon so we hop in the car and head back to the resort, to pack and prepare for leaving tomorrow. We also head down to the pool for one last swim. While we are there, a family with about 20 kids decides that the "ADULT ONLY" pool rules don't apply to them, and they all sit around the fire pit roasting marshmallows for chrissake. Good thing we were leaving anyway. Just to pay them back, I went and peed in the kids pool. OK not really but it was tempting.
8:00 PM - We are packed and I have got most of the stuff already in the car so we can be wheels up at 5 AM tomorrow on the drive home. We have truly had a special vacation, and this resort has been great. In terms of amenities, they don't have many, but if you aren't concerned about being able to get a drink while you are swimming, it's a terrific resort. The staff treated us with such hospitality, starting from the moment we arrived when they greeted us at the front desk with champagne. Everyone from maintenance to the cleaning staff to the staff manning the activities desk had a warm greeting and smile, and you can't put a price on that.
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
California Trip, Day 13
9:01 AM - Is it possible? Has my "sleep-in mojo" returned? I lost it so long ago I had forgotten what it was like to wake up and see the clock starting with a NINE.
10:15 AM - Tracey has never misplaced her mojo, but it's late enough that I now feel comfortable waking her up. After she is finished throwing large heavy objects at me, we have breakfast and discuss what to do on our last "non-scheduled" day of the trip.
12:00 PM - Tracey heads down to the pool while I actually doze off for another hour or so. A sleep in AND a nap? I must be on vacation.
Or sick.
Better be the former.
While at the pool, someone comes in with an "In and Out" burger. Oh great. Of course, Tracey has to ask him where he got that, and I now know what we are doing for lunch.
2:05 PM - Off to lunch. Tracey gets an In-N-Out burger, and I have a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches. I win. Those are the most overrated burgers on the planet.
4:00 PM - Tracey and I crack open a bottle of Dreaming Tree Crush, a 75/25% blend of Merlot and Zinfindel. It's a 2010, and it definitely needed to sit for a few years. Much too young, it has a bit of that bitter taste that Merlots can have until they ripen.
Dreaming Tree is the winery started by Dave Matthews, Tracey's favorite singer, so she was very excited to try it....but I think if she answered truthfully, she would agree with me that it's not a great bottle of wine. Apparently Matthews is a VERY dedicated winemaker so it might be worth keeping an eye on for the future once the winery has had a few more years to mature.
5:00 PM - Back down to the pool and hot tub for a little more R and R. It's crazy busy down there right now...there must be at least FIVE other guests!!! I'll have to talk to them about some crowd control.
Seriously, the best part about the time we've had in this resort is the complete lack of other guests. We have had the pool to ourselves more often than not.
6:45 PM - Back to the room to finish off the wine and have dinner.....a crazy complicated dinner of ham and Kraft Dinner. Not exactly the gourmet food that we've come accustomed to on this trip but a nice change of pace actually.
10:15 AM - Tracey has never misplaced her mojo, but it's late enough that I now feel comfortable waking her up. After she is finished throwing large heavy objects at me, we have breakfast and discuss what to do on our last "non-scheduled" day of the trip.
12:00 PM - Tracey heads down to the pool while I actually doze off for another hour or so. A sleep in AND a nap? I must be on vacation.
Or sick.
Better be the former.
While at the pool, someone comes in with an "In and Out" burger. Oh great. Of course, Tracey has to ask him where he got that, and I now know what we are doing for lunch.
2:05 PM - Off to lunch. Tracey gets an In-N-Out burger, and I have a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches. I win. Those are the most overrated burgers on the planet.
4:00 PM - Tracey and I crack open a bottle of Dreaming Tree Crush, a 75/25% blend of Merlot and Zinfindel. It's a 2010, and it definitely needed to sit for a few years. Much too young, it has a bit of that bitter taste that Merlots can have until they ripen.
Dreaming Tree is the winery started by Dave Matthews, Tracey's favorite singer, so she was very excited to try it....but I think if she answered truthfully, she would agree with me that it's not a great bottle of wine. Apparently Matthews is a VERY dedicated winemaker so it might be worth keeping an eye on for the future once the winery has had a few more years to mature.
5:00 PM - Back down to the pool and hot tub for a little more R and R. It's crazy busy down there right now...there must be at least FIVE other guests!!! I'll have to talk to them about some crowd control.
Seriously, the best part about the time we've had in this resort is the complete lack of other guests. We have had the pool to ourselves more often than not.
6:45 PM - Back to the room to finish off the wine and have dinner.....a crazy complicated dinner of ham and Kraft Dinner. Not exactly the gourmet food that we've come accustomed to on this trip but a nice change of pace actually.
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
California Trip, Day 12
7:55 AM - A fairly decent sleep in, but I notice that Tracey isn't in bed; apparently she had another lousy sleep so ended up on the couch for a few hours so as to not keep me up. Probably wouldn't have mattered, I was dead to the world.
8:00 AM - I hear Tracey's alarm go off and she's up to begin "the process". We have a big day ahead of us today, which is our eighth wedding anniversary!
10:00 AM - We are off, right on schedule, to Universal Studios. Just planning a short day here, a few hours, to hit the biggest attractions. It's not particulaly busy today so we are able to tackle The Mummy, Jurassic Park and the Simpsons Ride in about an hour and a half; and have lunch, as well.
2:15 PM - Leaving the park on the way back to DCA for the last time this trip. We are very excited for our dinner plans at the brand new flagship restaurant of the park, Carthay Circle Restaurant.
3:15 PM - We arrive at the park and have to park in the regular parking area.....I admit to feeling a little dirty getting on the tram with all the scumba.....er......"regular people".......but that's what happens when you aren't staying at a Disney hotel (anymore). I will have to deal.
Into the park and am once again overwhelmed with how fantastic the new entrance to this park has become. It is truly like being transported back in time. Everything that was wrong with DCA, the lack of identity, has been fixed, and this park has become nearly as special as the one across the courtyard.
We hit Soarin' over California again, our last ride of the trip, snap a few pictures and then head into the restaurant for dinner.
5:30 PM - We walk into the Carthay Circle Restaurant.
Wow.
All I can say is.....go. This has instantly become the "must do" place to eat at this resort. We order two appetizers: Biscuits filled with cheese, bacon and jalapeno, as well as their special soup, which was roasted corn and vegetables in a tomato broth. Both were absolutely wonderful. The soup was so good I was actually tempted to cancel my entree and have more soup.
I'm glad I didn't do that.
For my main course, I ordered quail, stuffed with peaches. Because, when you think quail, you automatically think peaches, right??
Well, if I didn't before, I do now. Mouthwateringly delicious. Just the right contrast of sweet with the roasted bird. Unreal.
Tracey has a pork pot roast, which was absolutely the most tender pork either of us have ever seen. Another fantastic dish.
Add to that a terrific bottle of Gewurtztraminer, and that was a fantastic dinner! And quite reasonable too, $125 including tip (with my 15% discount). Not bad at all. Will definitely be back!
After dinner a little more shopping, and then it's time to depart.
7:50 PM - It's always easy to tell when the Happiest Place on Earth becomes the saddest.....this trip, it was 7:50 PM on Tuesday, as we left the park (and the Disneyland resort) for the last time. Tracey remarks that this might have been our best Disney trip ever, and it's hard to argue with her.
9:10 PM - Back at the resort and both of us are heading to bed, it was a great (but long) day and we are both tired. Tomorrow is our last "resort" day, and we are planning a little trip to the beach and not much else!
If this trip was over and we were coming home tomorrow, I know that we would both be completely satisfied....but it's far from over, after tomorrow's very relaxing day, we have a fantastic day at the Safari Park for Thursday!
8:00 AM - I hear Tracey's alarm go off and she's up to begin "the process". We have a big day ahead of us today, which is our eighth wedding anniversary!
10:00 AM - We are off, right on schedule, to Universal Studios. Just planning a short day here, a few hours, to hit the biggest attractions. It's not particulaly busy today so we are able to tackle The Mummy, Jurassic Park and the Simpsons Ride in about an hour and a half; and have lunch, as well.
2:15 PM - Leaving the park on the way back to DCA for the last time this trip. We are very excited for our dinner plans at the brand new flagship restaurant of the park, Carthay Circle Restaurant.
3:15 PM - We arrive at the park and have to park in the regular parking area.....I admit to feeling a little dirty getting on the tram with all the scumba.....er......"regular people".......but that's what happens when you aren't staying at a Disney hotel (anymore). I will have to deal.
Into the park and am once again overwhelmed with how fantastic the new entrance to this park has become. It is truly like being transported back in time. Everything that was wrong with DCA, the lack of identity, has been fixed, and this park has become nearly as special as the one across the courtyard.
We hit Soarin' over California again, our last ride of the trip, snap a few pictures and then head into the restaurant for dinner.
5:30 PM - We walk into the Carthay Circle Restaurant.
Wow.
All I can say is.....go. This has instantly become the "must do" place to eat at this resort. We order two appetizers: Biscuits filled with cheese, bacon and jalapeno, as well as their special soup, which was roasted corn and vegetables in a tomato broth. Both were absolutely wonderful. The soup was so good I was actually tempted to cancel my entree and have more soup.
I'm glad I didn't do that.
For my main course, I ordered quail, stuffed with peaches. Because, when you think quail, you automatically think peaches, right??
Well, if I didn't before, I do now. Mouthwateringly delicious. Just the right contrast of sweet with the roasted bird. Unreal.
Tracey has a pork pot roast, which was absolutely the most tender pork either of us have ever seen. Another fantastic dish.
Add to that a terrific bottle of Gewurtztraminer, and that was a fantastic dinner! And quite reasonable too, $125 including tip (with my 15% discount). Not bad at all. Will definitely be back!
After dinner a little more shopping, and then it's time to depart.
7:50 PM - It's always easy to tell when the Happiest Place on Earth becomes the saddest.....this trip, it was 7:50 PM on Tuesday, as we left the park (and the Disneyland resort) for the last time. Tracey remarks that this might have been our best Disney trip ever, and it's hard to argue with her.
9:10 PM - Back at the resort and both of us are heading to bed, it was a great (but long) day and we are both tired. Tomorrow is our last "resort" day, and we are planning a little trip to the beach and not much else!
If this trip was over and we were coming home tomorrow, I know that we would both be completely satisfied....but it's far from over, after tomorrow's very relaxing day, we have a fantastic day at the Safari Park for Thursday!
Monday, 24 September 2012
California Trip, Day 11
9:15 AM - Well the first night in the resort didn't go so well, as Tracey couldn't sleep which pretty much meant that I couldn't sleep either. I ended up spending the bulk of the night on the couch, which, admittedly, is pretty comfortable. If I need to spend the rest of the week there, I'll be fine.
9:30 AM - Tracey is still sleeping so I think I will make some breakfast and relax for a while. Today is our first "we have no plans except to do nothing" day of this trip, which will means Tracey will be at the pool for 14 hours or so. I will probably hit up the fitness centre and see if I can work off at least one of the high number of high-caloric meals I have consumed on this trip.
10:30 AM - Tracey is up and we have breakfast, then chill out in the room for a while. The sun isn't out yet, it's covered by haze (or smog), so we are holding off on the pooling until it shows up.
We've had time to look around the resort and there really isn't much here, at least not as much as we generally find at these resorts. There is no doubt what the star of this resort is; it's the ocean, just 100 or so metres away, and the beaches that come along with it. Being born and raised in North Van, and having spent a good deal of my childhood at Ambleside Beach in West Van, the ocean isn't as big a deal to me as it would be to someone from the middle of the country. Still, it is a breathtaking view, no doubt about it. Here is a pic of last night's sunset, taken from our patio.
There are no restaurants, lounges or bars here. No food or drink of any kind, in fact, unless you count the fact that they have a Philly Cheesestake machine downstairs. I am not making that up. You can get a Philly Cheesestake from a vending machine. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit typing that.
12:30 PM - The sun has arrived, and I head down for a workout and then meet Tracey at the pool. Can't complain about being able to sit in a hot tub and stare at the ocean. Pretty sweet.
2:00 PM - Tracey is still hanging out at the pool while I head out to get some lunch/dinner at Pick Up Stix, a Chinese take-out restaurant we saw near Ralph's supermarket yesterday. When I get to the room, she has just arrived and we chow down on some quite tasty Chinese food. MMMM Kung Pao Shrimp.
3:45 PM - A little blog update while I also upload some nice pics Tracey took of the resort yesterday. Going to watch a little TV and relax a bit before heading back to the pool in a while.
5:15 PM - Back down to the pool while the sun is still up. It really is a beautiful pool, and there is hardly anyone there (actually, there are hardly any guests in the resort at all, it seems....which is really good for us, not so much for the resort!!!) so we have the pool to ourselves. For a while, anyway, until an older German lady decides to make us her new best friends. First in the pool, then in the hot tub, where Tracey and I were trying to have a private conversation. Apparently she has a friend who is so organized that she has separate bathrooms for number one and number two. That conversation actually happened. You can't make this shit up.
So, being the prick that I am, I left the hot tub and left my lovely wife to get more of this lady's life story.
I really don't like to be rude to people, she's just trying to be friendly, but c'mon....... when you see a couple sitting in the hot tub having a quiet conversation, perhaps it's not the best time to barge in and talk about your friend and her bathroom situation?!? I'm just sayin'.
6:55 PM - Back to the room after witnessing another beautiful sunset. Going to pop some popcorn and watch TV....and crack open a bottle of red wine that Tracey is really excited about.
9:30 AM - Tracey is still sleeping so I think I will make some breakfast and relax for a while. Today is our first "we have no plans except to do nothing" day of this trip, which will means Tracey will be at the pool for 14 hours or so. I will probably hit up the fitness centre and see if I can work off at least one of the high number of high-caloric meals I have consumed on this trip.
10:30 AM - Tracey is up and we have breakfast, then chill out in the room for a while. The sun isn't out yet, it's covered by haze (or smog), so we are holding off on the pooling until it shows up.
We've had time to look around the resort and there really isn't much here, at least not as much as we generally find at these resorts. There is no doubt what the star of this resort is; it's the ocean, just 100 or so metres away, and the beaches that come along with it. Being born and raised in North Van, and having spent a good deal of my childhood at Ambleside Beach in West Van, the ocean isn't as big a deal to me as it would be to someone from the middle of the country. Still, it is a breathtaking view, no doubt about it. Here is a pic of last night's sunset, taken from our patio.
There are no restaurants, lounges or bars here. No food or drink of any kind, in fact, unless you count the fact that they have a Philly Cheesestake machine downstairs. I am not making that up. You can get a Philly Cheesestake from a vending machine. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit typing that.
12:30 PM - The sun has arrived, and I head down for a workout and then meet Tracey at the pool. Can't complain about being able to sit in a hot tub and stare at the ocean. Pretty sweet.
2:00 PM - Tracey is still hanging out at the pool while I head out to get some lunch/dinner at Pick Up Stix, a Chinese take-out restaurant we saw near Ralph's supermarket yesterday. When I get to the room, she has just arrived and we chow down on some quite tasty Chinese food. MMMM Kung Pao Shrimp.
3:45 PM - A little blog update while I also upload some nice pics Tracey took of the resort yesterday. Going to watch a little TV and relax a bit before heading back to the pool in a while.
5:15 PM - Back down to the pool while the sun is still up. It really is a beautiful pool, and there is hardly anyone there (actually, there are hardly any guests in the resort at all, it seems....which is really good for us, not so much for the resort!!!) so we have the pool to ourselves. For a while, anyway, until an older German lady decides to make us her new best friends. First in the pool, then in the hot tub, where Tracey and I were trying to have a private conversation. Apparently she has a friend who is so organized that she has separate bathrooms for number one and number two. That conversation actually happened. You can't make this shit up.
So, being the prick that I am, I left the hot tub and left my lovely wife to get more of this lady's life story.
I really don't like to be rude to people, she's just trying to be friendly, but c'mon....... when you see a couple sitting in the hot tub having a quiet conversation, perhaps it's not the best time to barge in and talk about your friend and her bathroom situation?!? I'm just sayin'.
6:55 PM - Back to the room after witnessing another beautiful sunset. Going to pop some popcorn and watch TV....and crack open a bottle of red wine that Tracey is really excited about.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
California Trip, Day 10
God it's been TEN days already!?!?
7:15 AM - Up at a reasonable hour and had a very good sleep. Room is a pretty comfortable "transition" option in between the high end hotels/resorts we are in the rest of the trip.
8:15 AM - Tracey is up and dressed and we head down to the free continental breakfast that comes with the room. It's pretty standard but we did get a couple of waffles along with all the expected goodies.
9:15 AM - Uploading the blog while Tracey gets ready to head out to the Zoo. Looking forward to getting some great pictures today and also very much looking forward to getting to our resort and doing some laundry as I have just run out of clean clothes!
We have bought so much stuff that we are probably going to have to leave a piece of luggage behind and combine all the clothes into Tracey's luggage and squeeze all the souvenirs into the car in some other fashion. It's going to be a bit of a challenge but I think we can do it. Well we HAVE to do it, somehow!
11:00 AM - We arrive at the San Diego Zoo and the first thing Tracey says is "where did all the food and wine go?!??!?". Oh, that would have been nice, I would love to have some more time to sample all that food and wine! It's hot and humid today so I'm guessing we'll only have 3-4 hours here today before we get exhausted. The first thing I see is a dragonfly the size of a buzzard. Some little kid catches it in his hat, just for fun. I was hoping the little brat would have put the hat on and we could have seen how the dragonfly reacted to THAT, and I'm sure it wouldn't have been good!
Lots of great animals to see today but the animals are as hot as we are, so many of them are inactive or out of view completely. Almost all the bears are asleep...ALMOST. Check out the polar bears:
Just sitting there, right up against the glass, chewing on a carrot, seemingly oblivious to all the people just inches away.
And how about some panda bears??
Seriously, how cute is THAT?? Just sitting down, chilling, having a beer. OK it's bamboo, not a beer, but beer is funnier.
2:07 PM - Yup, 3 hours was about our limit, as we are completely spent. Luckily we've seen just about everything we wanted to see anyway, so we are heading to the resort, hoping to be able to check in early and get settled. We have the resort for the week, but we are actually expecting to stay only 5 nights and get home a tad early, so Tracey has a couple days to relax before going back to work. That's not 100% decided yet but we are going to get all our other activities done early in the week so that we have the option.
2:45 PM - We arrive at the resort in Carlsbad. This is my first visit to Carlsbad, and wow does it even look beautiful! We are within spitting distance to the beach and ocean from our room, which has a wonderful view of same. Our room is nice, although it's one of the smaller ones we have stayed in. We knew that, of course, as this is a very high-end resort town and this resort is very expensive (in other words, very high "trading points" for us to trade our weeks in Mexico for this resort).
There is one noticeable problem in our room, there are no laundry facilities!!! I cannot BELIEVE I booked a resort without in-suite laundry, but after checking the resort details on the website, there is no mention of it....so I blew it. Oh well, there is a guest laundry room about 10 feet from our room so it's not that big a deal, but it's not like me to miss such an important detail. Tracey immediately wants me dead.
3:15 PM - Off to Ralph's to pick up some groceries for the week.
4:30 PM - Back to the resort to get some laundry done, unpack and unwind a bit. Throw on some football and notice that Tracey and I did NOT have a good football day today...see what happens when we aren't around to watch the games? Our teams desert us. Now we definitely have to be home for next Sunday's games!!
6:10 PM - Finally completly unpacked, and a couple loads of laundry in. Clean clothes for tomorrow :-) Going to go check out the other amenities at this resort, including the "adult only" pool (NO KIDS!! WOO-HOO!!!!).
7:30 PM - Sitting on our patio having dinner, about 150 yards from the ocean. Doesn't get too much better than that!
8:00 PM - Off to the pool/hot tub for a little more relaxation (I'm about as relaxed as I can stand at this point), and then back to the room to crack a bottle of Ice Wine and celebrate our first night at the resort. Another terrific day!!
7:15 AM - Up at a reasonable hour and had a very good sleep. Room is a pretty comfortable "transition" option in between the high end hotels/resorts we are in the rest of the trip.
8:15 AM - Tracey is up and dressed and we head down to the free continental breakfast that comes with the room. It's pretty standard but we did get a couple of waffles along with all the expected goodies.
9:15 AM - Uploading the blog while Tracey gets ready to head out to the Zoo. Looking forward to getting some great pictures today and also very much looking forward to getting to our resort and doing some laundry as I have just run out of clean clothes!
We have bought so much stuff that we are probably going to have to leave a piece of luggage behind and combine all the clothes into Tracey's luggage and squeeze all the souvenirs into the car in some other fashion. It's going to be a bit of a challenge but I think we can do it. Well we HAVE to do it, somehow!
11:00 AM - We arrive at the San Diego Zoo and the first thing Tracey says is "where did all the food and wine go?!??!?". Oh, that would have been nice, I would love to have some more time to sample all that food and wine! It's hot and humid today so I'm guessing we'll only have 3-4 hours here today before we get exhausted. The first thing I see is a dragonfly the size of a buzzard. Some little kid catches it in his hat, just for fun. I was hoping the little brat would have put the hat on and we could have seen how the dragonfly reacted to THAT, and I'm sure it wouldn't have been good!
Lots of great animals to see today but the animals are as hot as we are, so many of them are inactive or out of view completely. Almost all the bears are asleep...ALMOST. Check out the polar bears:
Just sitting there, right up against the glass, chewing on a carrot, seemingly oblivious to all the people just inches away.
And how about some panda bears??
Seriously, how cute is THAT?? Just sitting down, chilling, having a beer. OK it's bamboo, not a beer, but beer is funnier.
2:07 PM - Yup, 3 hours was about our limit, as we are completely spent. Luckily we've seen just about everything we wanted to see anyway, so we are heading to the resort, hoping to be able to check in early and get settled. We have the resort for the week, but we are actually expecting to stay only 5 nights and get home a tad early, so Tracey has a couple days to relax before going back to work. That's not 100% decided yet but we are going to get all our other activities done early in the week so that we have the option.
2:45 PM - We arrive at the resort in Carlsbad. This is my first visit to Carlsbad, and wow does it even look beautiful! We are within spitting distance to the beach and ocean from our room, which has a wonderful view of same. Our room is nice, although it's one of the smaller ones we have stayed in. We knew that, of course, as this is a very high-end resort town and this resort is very expensive (in other words, very high "trading points" for us to trade our weeks in Mexico for this resort).
There is one noticeable problem in our room, there are no laundry facilities!!! I cannot BELIEVE I booked a resort without in-suite laundry, but after checking the resort details on the website, there is no mention of it....so I blew it. Oh well, there is a guest laundry room about 10 feet from our room so it's not that big a deal, but it's not like me to miss such an important detail. Tracey immediately wants me dead.
3:15 PM - Off to Ralph's to pick up some groceries for the week.
4:30 PM - Back to the resort to get some laundry done, unpack and unwind a bit. Throw on some football and notice that Tracey and I did NOT have a good football day today...see what happens when we aren't around to watch the games? Our teams desert us. Now we definitely have to be home for next Sunday's games!!
6:10 PM - Finally completly unpacked, and a couple loads of laundry in. Clean clothes for tomorrow :-) Going to go check out the other amenities at this resort, including the "adult only" pool (NO KIDS!! WOO-HOO!!!!).
7:30 PM - Sitting on our patio having dinner, about 150 yards from the ocean. Doesn't get too much better than that!
8:00 PM - Off to the pool/hot tub for a little more relaxation (I'm about as relaxed as I can stand at this point), and then back to the room to crack a bottle of Ice Wine and celebrate our first night at the resort. Another terrific day!!
Saturday, 22 September 2012
California Trip, Day 9
7:00 AM - I'm up and go to the door to get our bill and make sure that everything looks hunky dory. It does, so no need to riot. Tracey is still asleep so I'm trying to be quiet but that's not all that easy.
8:05 AM - She's up!!!!!! There is some whining about the time, of course, but not as much as usual. We've pre-ordered breakfast to come to our room between 9-9:30 so we are going to try to finish up the packing and get ready so we can get a jump on things after breakfast.
8:30 AM - Tried to log into my work Email address and it's disabled; so now it's OFFICIAL that I don't have to go back to work when I get home, except for one day to sign some termination papers. I still get paid until the end of my contract, October 30th, so for the next six weeks I get to realize a dream; getting paid to do NOTHING.
8:45 AM - Breakfast actually arrives early; no big deal, we are hungry so that works out well. We take it out to our patio to eat it while enjoying the silent tranquility of Downtown Disney in the morning. AH, what a beautiful way to eat breakfast.
10:30 AM - Called the bell to come and get our bags. We came in with 6, are leaving with 9. That's gonna be a problem on the drive home I suspect.....for now, we are able to squeeze everything in the car.
Oh, did I mention I got sunburned to a crisp the other day? Two days later and my chest and stomach are still lobster red. I NEVER burn. Luckily it's more irritating than painful at this point but still, I'll have to stay out of the sun for a few more days.
12:00 PM - Arrive at SeaWorld. This is a great park, and the best thing about it is that you can see everything you want in a few hours, and then go do something else.
2:45 PM - We're done, and heading to our hotel. Tonight is our "transitional" night, staying at a La Quinta Inn in San Diego, just a few minutes away from SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo.
4:30 PM - Had pizza delivered for dinner, as we are heading out to a charity event tonight called the San Diego Zoo Food and Wine Event. We know there will be food there but we're not sure how much so we don't want to be hungry all night.
7:30 PM - At the San Diego Zoo for the event. OMG it is SOOOOO much bigger and better than we imagined!! There must be 200 food and wine vendors here. So much food/wine/beer/spirits that you couldn't possibly sample it all even if you stayed all night! Also got a picture with Tonight Show legend Joan Embry, and got to feed a porcupine! Also got pictures with a hedgehog, holding an armadillo and a couple of snakes. What an absolutely FANTASTIC evening!!
10:30 PM - Back at the hotel for the evening, going to try to get a nice sleep as tomorrow we are heading back to the Zoo for the day, and then checking into the resort in Carlsbad in the evening. This has been a great vacation so far but I'm freaking exhausted!!!
8:05 AM - She's up!!!!!! There is some whining about the time, of course, but not as much as usual. We've pre-ordered breakfast to come to our room between 9-9:30 so we are going to try to finish up the packing and get ready so we can get a jump on things after breakfast.
8:30 AM - Tried to log into my work Email address and it's disabled; so now it's OFFICIAL that I don't have to go back to work when I get home, except for one day to sign some termination papers. I still get paid until the end of my contract, October 30th, so for the next six weeks I get to realize a dream; getting paid to do NOTHING.
8:45 AM - Breakfast actually arrives early; no big deal, we are hungry so that works out well. We take it out to our patio to eat it while enjoying the silent tranquility of Downtown Disney in the morning. AH, what a beautiful way to eat breakfast.
10:30 AM - Called the bell to come and get our bags. We came in with 6, are leaving with 9. That's gonna be a problem on the drive home I suspect.....for now, we are able to squeeze everything in the car.
Oh, did I mention I got sunburned to a crisp the other day? Two days later and my chest and stomach are still lobster red. I NEVER burn. Luckily it's more irritating than painful at this point but still, I'll have to stay out of the sun for a few more days.
12:00 PM - Arrive at SeaWorld. This is a great park, and the best thing about it is that you can see everything you want in a few hours, and then go do something else.
2:45 PM - We're done, and heading to our hotel. Tonight is our "transitional" night, staying at a La Quinta Inn in San Diego, just a few minutes away from SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo.
4:30 PM - Had pizza delivered for dinner, as we are heading out to a charity event tonight called the San Diego Zoo Food and Wine Event. We know there will be food there but we're not sure how much so we don't want to be hungry all night.
7:30 PM - At the San Diego Zoo for the event. OMG it is SOOOOO much bigger and better than we imagined!! There must be 200 food and wine vendors here. So much food/wine/beer/spirits that you couldn't possibly sample it all even if you stayed all night! Also got a picture with Tonight Show legend Joan Embry, and got to feed a porcupine! Also got pictures with a hedgehog, holding an armadillo and a couple of snakes. What an absolutely FANTASTIC evening!!
10:30 PM - Back at the hotel for the evening, going to try to get a nice sleep as tomorrow we are heading back to the Zoo for the day, and then checking into the resort in Carlsbad in the evening. This has been a great vacation so far but I'm freaking exhausted!!!
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