Day 1: San Diego, Sea World & Driving
We started out early and drove through a rain storm for about an hour. A short cut that would have saved us 30 minutes was blocked off due to flooding. But the drive seemed quick regardless. The boys did so well in the car. Gid started to lose it about an hour in so we turned on the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban book recording. We listened to that all the way into San Diego!
I bought M&Ms at a gas station and googled where their name came from. They are named after the founders of the company Forrest Mars and William Murrie. The more you know.
We couldn't believe how confusing the roads were in San Diego. Holy cow. I don't know how anyone finds their way without a GPS. The roads are so bizarre and so many bridges! Our La Quinta hotel was up on a hill and right next to a cannabis kitchen. Welcome to California! We dropped off our suitcases and set off straight for the beach.
Owen was so excited to see the ocean. He doesn't remember from last time we came. And neither did Gideon, but he was just a little guy. There were so many crowds at the beach that we couldn't find parking anywhere! We decided a Sunday afternoon probably isn't the best time to try and see the beach so we went to Sea World instead. We stayed for a good four hours since they were open until 8pm that day. Usually they close at 5.
We saw the Dolphin Show first. The pilot whale splashed us a teeny bit. We were a little disappointed that the show had changed. There was so much talking by the caretakers and very little of the dolphins jumping and doing fun tricks. Same with the killer whale show. Hardly any performing and lots of conservation talk. Blah. I think the documentary Black Fish kinda killed Sea World and made them change their approach. But the Sea Lion Show was still really cute! I think the boys liked that one the most.
We ended up in the arcade. We played an racing carnival game and won each of the boys a stuffed orca! Owen and Luke won theirs fair and square. I paid the lady $2 for Gid's. $2 was the cost to play the game. ;) Turns out the killer whales actually cost $15 in the shops so we really lucked out there!
Gideon loved petting these brown-banded sharks. The tide pool attraction was closed and we were so bummed. The boys spent an entire HOUR at it last time we came so I was really looking forward to them being able to hold star fish and feel anemones and such. Since they were closed we found another interactive area. Gideon loved petting these little sharks and we had a time getting him to stop! We thought about staying for the Halloween parade, but decided to beat the crowds and leave.
Back to the hotel for a late dinner and watching drone racing on ESPN. The cooler weather is dreamy.
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