I found a few journal pages in my office from a camping trip I took many years ago, before I was married. I used to take off whenever I had 3 or more days off with my German Shepherd, Sparky, usually to the Eastern Sierra.
I remembered the trip as I read the short notes. it was unique in that I brought my cat, Joey. Who could forget getting peed on by a cat in a camper shell in below-freezing temps?
I do not know what year this was. The page is dated 11/27-29 with no year. (fail) I can guess that it was perhaps 1987 or 1988. The price of gas was noted as $0.90/gallon...and that was in a remote area! My goodness, I paid $4.25 this week!
Anyway, it's a silly little trip down memory lane for me. The notes end with me checking in to Red Rock Canyon State Park for $4/night and $3 for firewood. I remember that I burned the sole of my hiking boot on the fire ring that night, but there is no journal entry beyond checking in.
I've scanned the pages into a .pdf file, as I've done with other trip reports I've found on my shelves. I don't think I'd imagined that would be possible to do from my home office back then. I think I was still using a DOS system and floppy disks then!!
Last Thursday Treklet had a wonderful opportunity.
I keep in touch with the Marketing Manager of Stephen Birch Aquarium via Twitter. Birch is one of Treklet's favorite places to visit, and when we do, I always tell Jessica we are coming so I can collect a hug. Last Wednesday Jessica asked if we were available the following day to help KFMB and Executive Director Nigella Hillgarth film a segment for an upoming documentary.
Since we homeschool, our schedule is flexible. We finished our lessons in the morning, then headed to LaJolla to meet Jessica at 1:00. We were shown upstairs, where I saw the amazing view from the Conference Room.
After a very short wait on the "couch that Bill Clinton sat on" we were introduced to Director Hillgarth and headed outside. Jessica drove us down the long hill in a Scripps Institute of Oceanography truck and introduced us to the waiting TV station representative where I signed release forms.
disclaimer: She rode in the backseat with a seat belt! This was taken after we arrived.
Director Hillgarth, Treklet and I hiked across a rocky beach to the tide pools north of the Scripps Pier where we met up with Audrey from the Education Department and our cameraman, John, who fitted Nigella with a microphone pack.
For the next hour or so, we peered into tide pools looking for creatures of the intertidal zone. John filmed our knowledgeable guide teaching Treklet all about the shore crabs, anemones, mussels, limpets, and snails that they saw. Audrey and I spied a sea hare that was busily grazing on seaweed, and that was a highlight for Nigella to point out to the camera, as was the lovely large ochre star.
Birch Aquarium Executive Director Nigella Hillgarth teaching Treklet about CA Black Mussels
A Snowy Egret dropped in for a snack
Here's a cute little shore crab.
Finally, our cameraman asked Treklet a few questions, which she answered directly into the camera, and then the four of us headed back to the Jessica at the truck.
Once back up the hill at Birch, we thanked the women and browsed the gift shop (Treklet never lets me out of the aquarium without a visit to the store) before heading to La Jolla Shores beach where Treklet played at the waters' edge for a short while.
it's cold!
La Jolla Shores, looking north toward Scripps Pier
La Jolla Shores, looking south toward La Jolla Cove
It's one of our favorite places to spend an afternoon, that's what!
We've been visiting Zoomars petting zoo since Treklet was a toddler. We've seen some changes, all of them positive, over the years. First, the logistics. This link will take you to Zoomars website: http://www.zoomars.com/
As you can see from their website, there are many friendly animals to interact with, a miniature train ride, horse and pony rides, and panning for gems. It's a lot of fun for only $7 ($6 for kids).
Me &Grim
For a day trip, we have even taken the train from Oceanside up to San Juan Capistrano to visit Zoomars. It's a short walk from the train station, and a stop at Hidden House Coffee is always on my list. Also nearby are craft shops, restaurants and even the famous Mission....all within walking distance. We often enjoy a Ruby's Diner burger and milkshake after an afternoon of "heavy petting." (stop it)
The grounds are kept very clean at Zoomars, and a handwashing station and plenty of hand sanitizer dispensers are provided for the germaphobes.
Baskets of fresh veggies can be purchased for feeding to the many diverse critters. I always save the broccoli for Cookie the adorable and sweet 1000 pound cow, and the apples for the miniature horse and donkey. There used to be geese that enjoyed the lettuce, but they weren't there last week when we visited. The bunnies and guinea pigs gobble up the carrot sticks and lettuce, as do the zedonks, llamas, tortoise, emus, goats, & sheep.
Wait...what? Zedonks? Yes! They have a pair of beautiful zedonks--an unusual hybrid from the pairing of a male zebra and a female donkey.
Miner's Gulch
Our most recent visit to Zoomars was unique in several ways. Last week was the first time that Treklet did the panning at Zoomars' Miner's Gulch. We purchased at bag of sand that was poured in the sluicing pan, which she washed in the running water until only rocks remained. She sorted through those to find many small gem and mineral chunks.She was given a color pamphlet to help her identify the dozens of colorful gemstones now in her possession, and a baggie to transport them home in. It was a nice exercise for a fourth grader, having recently learned about the California Gold Rush in History class. They offer fossil bags, as well.
sorting her gemstones
Fool's Gold!
It was also the first time that met some of the marvelous staff at Zoomars. While I had "liked" their Facebook page, I did not realize they were on Twitter (where I practically live). As soon as I had checked in on Foursquare and tweeted a picture of me arriving at the farm, I got a reply from @zoomars welcoming me! After a few more tweets from @zoomars I went to the entrance booth and asked who was tweeting me. Within a short time Beverly was shaking my hand and welcoming me in person with passes to return with a friend.
While we were in the guinea pig and bunny patch we had a nice visit with Nina, the animal caretaker. We learned the names of several of the piggies and bunnies and some fun stories about them. I showed Nina a picture of Stinky, the guinea pig we bought from them about 5 years ago, and she told us of a recently deceased older cavy that was probably related to him, as they looked very similar. She also explained that they no longer allow breeding at the petting farm and that all the animals in that patch are males. My first thought was of Dr. Malcolm saying, "I'm simply saying that life, uh...finds a way."
this is Stinky
Stinky
Before we left I had the pleasure of meeting Carolyn Frank, owner of Zoomars since 2005, when she purchased the Jones Family Farm from the retiring couple that ran it for 25 years. You can read her fascinating story here: http://www.zoomars.com/carolyn_pop.html
Carolyn and I chatted about the little construction project that had a few of the animals temporarily displaced. They are going to move the bunnies into their own area, separating them from the guinea pigs. We talked about some of our favorite animals there, and I gave her some input from a visitor's point of view, especially regarding the goats, who can get very demanding when you just want to give your carrots to the miniature donkey and they want your whole basket!
Zoomars offers Groupon deals from time to time, which are package deals for admission for four and train ride tickets and/or food baskets. We love those, as it lets us take a friend along for no extra expense!
I actually considered having my 50th Birthday Bash at Zoomars. Maybe we'll have Treklet's next party there instead. There is a big corn cob pit (like a ball pit) and a play structure, and a covered party area.
In any case, we will be returning to Zoomars again and again. It's a lovely place in a lovely area, for animal lovers of all ages.
Treklet had a school assignment about bullying. She researched online and gathered facts and graphics.
I taught her how to use Publisher today, and we made a brochure.
It was so hard for me to help only with formatting/mechanics of the program and not commandeer the whole project, and expound on her bullet points!
Here is her finished project. Imagine it printed out, 2-sided, and tri-folded....
Last year, I gave out Maple Bacon and Coffee Lollyphile Lollipops as party favors at my 50th Birthday Bash, and brought some to the Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, too. I loved those gourmet lollipops. They were great for sticking in gifts baskets, too. They were a little pricey, but I always used a coupon code or Groupon.
A few months ago a sad email arrived in my inbox from Jason Darling, the owner of the company. He was closing the business, due to logistical reasons, mostly. I bought some lollies from his dwindling inventory and thought that was that.
Today I got another email from Jason. WOW! this guy's passion for what he does is amazing. His lollipop business is forged with love, blood, sweat, tears and, no doubt, tons of stress. let's help this guy get rebooted! At the end of his charming email there is a discount code.
Here's the email:
OMG Everyone!
Remember when I sent out a maudlin email saying we were basically going out of business and everyone was super sad about it? Guess what? We're still here! And better than ever! Stop crying!
(This is a medium-long email, and you can skip most of it and just go to the 20% sale down below, but I'll try to be interesting in the interim.)
Here's the deal- we were contacted by a painfully high-quality small-shop lollipop manufacturer a few months ago who heard about our predicament. And after a lot of work, tons of samples (to make sure everything tasted just so), and stress like you wouldn't believe, we are up and running again. And there's so many details that I'm going to shift to bullet points!
No more high-fructose corn syrup: it's true! the lollies are tapioca based now, which beyond being GMO free (eat it, Monsanto!) lends itself to a really silky texture.
Better packaging: remember how the wrappers were all printed weird and hard to open? That's not the case anymore! The wrappers are totes easy to tear into and while the paper labels we're currently using aren't amazing, they're a huge step up (we're talking to a designer in the next week to fancify them, tho).
Made in the USA: Everything. From the sticks to the ingredients to the lollipops themselves, there's nary a step in the process that involves scary-to-think-about labor laws. So good!
Better shipping rates: We have a new shipping company, and our rates have dropped so much from what they used to be that it will blow your mind (especially if you order a lot). Everything will be sent out USPS Priority Mail with three day guaranteed delivery from the time it gets picked up.
Fresher candy: rather than buying a bunch of inventory and letting it sit, your candy doesn't exist until you order it. Lollipops are made in batches of 54 at a time, meaning that the candy you get in the mail was made, literally, for you. So luxe, right?
All that said, the new lollipops are costing us a lot more to make, but no worries, we didn't up any prices. What would be exciting about that?
Oh and did I mention new flavors? I THINK I DID. Along with old-school favorites like Absinthe, Maple Bacon, Amaretto, Chai (check the website for the rest), we're also offering the following 10 new flavors (more bulletpoints!):
Sriracha
Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
Cactus Fruit
Horchata
Passion Fruit
Bellini
Green Tea
PARTY G1RL
Habanero Tequila
Dreamsicle
Be still your heart, I know, I know.
Two things to note: we don't offer international shipping at the moment, but we hope to be able to within the next month. And normal wait time for your order to be made once you order it is between 24-72 hours, and this initial burst of "oh, hey, Lollyphile is back up" might slow it down a a day or two past that. But the sooner you order, the sooner you get your candy. Again, small shop, quality product. Full disclosure, caveat emptor, l'chaim.
PS: I'm in the process of having models shot (with a camera, natch) with Lollyphile lollipops. I'm 100% aware that my website looks like a GeoCities page, and there are drastic steps being taken to improve the situation. Check out our facebook page for teaser pics! And join it, maybe? Why not, right? Right.
It's difficult to take pictures, take videos, take notes, and keep your breakfast down, but I did it!
Yesterday, I went on the Stephen Birch Aquarium Whale Watching Cruise with my friend Kristie and our daughters, who happen to be best friends. Despite six- to eight-foot swells, no one lost their breakfast, and everyone on board had lots to see.
We checked in at Flagship Cruises on Harbor Drive in San Diego at 9:15 a.m. Our tickets were exchanged for boarding passes, our picture was taken, and we boarded the Marietta where we were greeted by Amanda, the Birch Aquarium Naturalist, and a Birch Volunteer named Don.
As Captain Wil was preparing to set out, he warned us that the calm, flat waters of the bay were NOT the same as those of the Pacific Ocean. We were to expect sic-to eight-foot swells at 12 second intervals, and if we had seasick medicine, now was the time to take it. We were instructed on the location of life vests and seasick bags. I was already wearing a scopolomine patch (I can't go NEAR a boat without one), but Kristie thought a trip to the snack bar to purchase some Dramamine seemed like a good idea. She took her dose, and gave each girl a dose and we were on our way.
It took about 45 minutes to exit San Diego Bay, so Amanda spent that time giving us a tour of the surroundings. We learned of the tool-shaped buildings in the San Diego skyline (Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, Allen wrenches, and such), the local Naval buildings and a bit of history. Before we were completely out of the bay we saw a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins and a couple of California Sea Lions. The bay was home to scores of birds, too: Surf Scoters, Black Scoters, Double-crested and Brandt's Cormorants, Western and Heerman's Gulls, CA Brown Pelicans and an Eared Grebe.
Once we cleared the tip of Point Loma, the face of the sea changed dramatically, and the temperature dropped, too. At first, the girls thought the rocking and dipping was as fun as a ride on a roller coaster, but after a while, that darn Dramamine had them both in a stupor. That is precisely why I don't take it.
Soon we spotted a pair of blows in the distance and our Captain, while keeping a safe distance from the behemoths, began our pursuit. Amanda advised us to turn off our cell phones, as we were so close to Mexico that we might be hit with roaming charges if calls or texts came in. We followed the pair of bachelor Gray Whales southward for about an hour. Along the way we encountered a pod of Common Dolphins feeding together with several California Sea Lions and flocks of gulls, pelicans and shearwaters. We were treated to the two whales breaching three times. I was able to catch two of the breaches on my Flip video camera.
Amanda was very pleasant and informative. She taught us much about the natural history and migration of the Gray Whale. Females are about 45 feet long, about half the length of the Marietta. They mate in the shallow bays of Baja, Mexico, then swim about 12,000 miles to the cold, rich waters of Alaska where they feed and put on weight for their journey back to Mexico the following year to birth their calves. They fast during their migration, and eat very little while in the warm waters of Mexico, so when they reach Alaska they are very hungry.
Gray Whales are benthic feeders, meaning they scoop up mud and sediment from the sea floor and strain it through their baleen, swallowing the nutritious plankton, mollusks, crustaceans and small fish.
Gray Whale calves gulp down rich mother's milk 50 gallons at a time! The milk is 55% fat and helps the young whales gain about 50 pounds a day! Even I can't put on blubber that fast!
Traveling northward, we encountered another large pod of Common Dolphins. These playful cetaceans wowed the passengers with their bow-riding, and cameras were snapping furiously. Before long we were passing the tip of Point Loma again, and in calmer water. Sea lions lazed on directional buoys and docks, and we learned a bit more about our San Diego Naval Operations.
Dramamine got the best of her...
Submarine Servicing Center
Coronado Bridge
We saw where trained dolphins help the Navy by alerting them to anything that enters the bay that shouldn't be there. We saw the submarine servicing area, which had a sub inside. We saw the Aircraft Carrier Turnaraound area, and the Naval Oilers, which are huge refueling ships. We got great views of the Coronado Bridge and the USS Midway as we pulled into port just before 1:00.
Thank you Flagship and Birch for a great morning at sea!
Getting to Orlando from San Diego on New Years Day was a bit of a pain. Lindbergh Field was shrouded in fog, and had been all night. Nothing was flying in or out and travelers all over the country were delayed. Our 8:50 flight finally took off at noon! My niece, Julie, and her beau, Scott, picked us up at MCO turned over the keys to my brother's car, with the GPS preprogrammed for me with directions to our resort, their house, and Discovery Cove. We were finally checked in at 10:30 pm EST, after traveling 13 hours! Treklet was exhausted, hungry, and headachy to the point of tears. I ordered pizza delivery, which she ate in her PJs, and she was snoozing by midnight. We were up early at 7:00 ( 4 a.m. CA time!) and I called Julie after I made some coffee. Her offer to pick us up, instead of us meeting her at Discovery Cove was appreciated more than she'll ever realize! Our tiring journey was soon to be rewarded.... We checked in, had our picture taken, got a complimentary breakfast, then we're given wetsuits and snorkel gear. We changed and headed for the Tropical River where we swam through an aviary! We got out of the water and were given cups of pellets and fruit to feed the exotic birds. Treklet and I were able to get a few of them to step up onto our arms, and I even had one stay on my shoulder for a time! A beautiful tame fruit dove tolerated me stroking its back as it ate from the cup. There were spoonbills, ibis, touracos, hornbills, doves, conures, lorikeets, hammerkops, toucans and many, many others. Our next adventure was at Grand Reef, which features a white sand beach, and the opportunity to swim with bat rays and colorful tropical fish. Sometimes the rays would brush against us as they flew by. It was very cool. Finally, the event we were looking forward to--our dolphin encounter! After a short orientation in a heated cabana, our group of 9 participants followed a trainer into the saltwater lagoon where we each got lots of opportunities to touch two bottlenose dolphins, Ipanema and Yoko. We were shown hand signals, which the dolphins obeyed, we each got to kiss Ipanema on the beak, get a ride from Yoko from the deep water back to the shallows, and feed her a fish. AMAZING. After 30 minutes in the cool 72 degree water (which was warmer than the air temperature!) we were ready for a hot shower. We cleaned up, turned in our equipment, and filled up on a complimentary lunch before browsing the gift shops. After a short visit at Julie's lovely house she took us to the grocery store then back to our resort. What a grand adventure. I must add that the day was made even more sweet by the huge discount we got on our tickets thanks to Julie's friend who works there.
