Tyger

So in regards to the vacation we are up to Tuesday and Wednesday.  Tuesday we went Se kayaking and unfortunately I do not have any pictures from the kayaking portion as I didn't want to lose another camera to the sea.  our kayak adventure was scheduled for 1pm so first we stopped by Ross so I could pick up some throw-away shoes.  Yes, I took 9 pairs of shoes on our trip and had to buy another pair because I didn't want to risk any of them in the ocean.  We got down there early and ate at a little Mexican restaurant.  On our trip we had to pass by this storefront that was decorated for Halloween.  now I LOVE Halloween but I am TERRIFIED of zombies so this place was a little creepy.  Here's from far away where they looked a little too real.  We had to walk through to follow the sidewalk and I kept worrying that one would be a real person and they would grab me to freak me out.

 

Once we put on all our safety gear (helmets and PFDs) we walked down to the beach with our guides and our group.  At the beach they recommended we leave our shoes on the concrete before going on the sand so I guess I didn't need those stupid throw-away flip-flops.  We got a little tutorial on how to paddle, how not get through the surf to deeper water without flipping over and then got in our kayaks.  When the first wave hit I started to freeze but they had said we would flip if we did that so Ikept on paddling.  We finally got to deeper water although the waves were still a little scary.  Little scary... I'll admit it - I was terrified.  I do not like being on the ocean in a tiny little boat, I can swim, I know the odds of even seeing a dangerous shark, but still I hate it, I feel out of my element and out of control.  I wanted to stay with everybody else so I had to keep telling Handsome to stop paddling and slow the hell down - this isn't a race!  He just gets in the zone and we would halfway to Hawaii if it were up to him.  It got to the point where I didn't even paddle and I STILL had to tell him to knock it off and slow down.  The guides had us group us and told us some really interesting facts about the cliff side, the sea lions, Dr.Seuss and more.  They showed us this one area where no boats are allowed because people swim this long distance- it was miles - I can't even imagine!  But I figured if a shark did come along he would probably eat the defenseless swimmer before tying to see if there were people to eat in our kayak.  Only one person fell out of her single kayak - in calm water, don't know exactly how she accomplished that.  I am proud to say that we did not tip over even on the way back in.  Although I did pick up a huge bruise on the back of my thigh - we still can't figure that out.

After our kayaking jaunt we went to the downtown area in La Jolla and went into a few of the shops there was an olive oil tasting place that we went in turned out to have wine and appetizers in the back - SCORE!!!  I had tastes of a few wines while Handsome enjoyed the beer.  I got salad caprese which is one of my favorite meals and the balsamic was delicious, I can never find good balsamic at the store.  Luckily they sold their balsamic and I bought a huge bottle (basically the size of a wine bottle). We sat out on their balcony with a little view of the waves.  We also laughed at one house that had a fake owl that is supposed to scare away birds but it had two seagull friends sitting right next to it chatting.

Wednesday we went to the zoo. 

We were laughing because, I don't know if it was the season or not, but some of the animals were very horny.  One big giraffe kept chasing a smaller one around and the big was visibly aroused then we laughed even harder when it turned out the smaller one was a boy!  Poor little guy couldn't take a break because every time he took a break the big one would start to rear up to um... mount him so he kept walking around with the big guy following him with his big head on the little one's back.  Then we saw a zebra just standing around but he was obviously having sexy daydreams or something because he was putting on a show. 

We went to eat at a fabulous award winning restaurant in the zoo called Albert's it was fantastic although we did have some issues finding it.  The weather was perfect so we sat outside.  Here is the view from our table.

 

Some funny, more PG things we saw were the Rock Hyrax which the info sign says is most closely related to the elephant but Handsome called the "Tusked Mountain Rat" because frankly that is what it looked like.  Then there were some Gerenuks (a type of antelope" that are very dainty looking with looooong thin necks.  They would chew their cud then swallow it down then bring it back up to chew on some more.  Their necks were so thin you could watch it happening - it looked like a little neck elevator with the bulge going down then 30 seconds or so and it would come back up and they would start chewing again.  I got some good pictures of the tigers and we saw leopard cubs and baby capybaras. 

 

 

 

One thing that started out as funny was this two headed king snake that got stuck on a cactus because one head wanted to go right and one wanted to go left.  At first it was funny but as it/they? struggled for longer and longer it made me sad and we left.  On our way back through the ehibit it hdd gotten out of its predicament which made me happy.

Transfer is still scheduled for Tuesday and Mom is coming up to take care of me since I am unable to drive myself home after the procedure and have to stay on bed rest.  Only new medication so far is the Methylprednisone I have to take each night for four nights starting yesterday. ttyl

The Tyger by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?