158 BALBOA PARK

So, I’m certainly running out of things to do and photograph, which is a good thing since the trip is ending in a few days.  So, on a Saturday, I initially decided to go to the Museum of Natural History.  It’s indoors and helps keep me out of the sun.  Except, I had spoken to staff at the restaurant and they suggested that I should check out the pond at Balboa Park.

So, I started wandering around and found all sorts of things going on in the park.  There were entertainers and bubble blowers, festivals and other things.  It was all rather interesting and lots of photo ops.  It’s another sunny, warm day and I’m still worried about too much sun with this burn.  So, I stuck to the shade as much as I could.

During my explorations I found a fully functional and working telephone booth.  Although, it now costs 50 cents to make a phone call.  I can remember the days when a call cost 10 cents.  I think the most amazing thing about this, is that the phone wasn’t trashed and covered in graffiti.

Balboa Park is huge.  It contains the San Diego Zoo and 17 different museums including the Air and Space Museum, A Car Museum, Model Railroad Museum, The Natural History Museum and many others.  It also has a neat reflecting pond with lily pads and ducks.

After wandering around and watching some of the entertainers, I decided to continue with my original plan and see the Museum of Natural History.  There were all sorts of exhibits ranging from prehistoric times to modern days.  There are some cool animal exhibits that are so very well done, they look like they are still alive.  I got a nice shot of a cougar, that could have been in the zoo.

So, after a nice break out of the sun, but still a lot of walking, I headed back outside.  After looking around a little more, I headed towards the old carousel to look.  On the way I was intercepted by another photographer, who was also a Nikon shooter.  Things took a bit of a weird turn though.  I will say, he seemed a bit "off"'.

I have my D4s with Tamron 150-600 clipped to my chest on my imitation cotton carrier. I had some other photographer stop me and ask me about the carrier. He had his camera clipped to his chest on some kind of carrier as well. This is where it got strange. He proceeded to tell me that his setup was much superior to mine for shooting. I didn't want to get into an argument and his wife was trying to drag him away.

His setup is the D7100 with a kit lens. I have no argument with the D7100, have one myself. Debating, which is better, is kind of non-productive. Heck, they're both Nikons and it all depends on what you can afford and what kind of shooting you do. I could understand debating Canon and Nikon, but... I will give him one thing, he did it to my face and didn't play keyboard warrior. But, holy cow, I would never dream of criticizing someone else's choice of gear, well, of course, unless they had Canon, and it was someone I knew, and it would be done in jest.

Anyway, once his wife managed to pull him away, I continued to wander.  I found a miniature railway train going by, so I stopped to photograph that.  By then though, I was getting pretty worn out and decided it was time to call Uber and head back to the hotel.

When I was sitting in the Uber, I noticed that my left knee looked kind of bumpy and I thought it looked kind of strange.  I couldn’t figure out what it was.  As soon as I touched my knee and several broke open, I realized my knee was blistered.  It didn’t hurt, it wasn’t itchy.

Once I got back to the hotel, I discovered that it wasn’t just my left knee.  Both legs and both arms that had been sunburned were now blistered.  It made me kind of concerned, thinking I wasn’t going to be able to go outside for the last few days in San Diego.

However, later in the evening, almost all the blisters had mostly disappeared.  So, that’s a good thing.  Other friends on Facebook told me that they get the same thing and it is nothing to worry about.  Anyway, that out of the way, I went and had dinner and then came back to the room to edit the days shots.

157 LA JOLLA PRONOUNCED LAHOYA BEACH

So, today, I really had no idea where I was going to go or what I was going to do.  All I knew for sure is that it would be somewhere I could take photos.  I just didn’t know where.  I checked Google and saw several selections but had no idea where any of them were in relation to my hotel.  So, I went for breakfast to try and figure it out.

So, while I was having breakfast, I was asking the staff and one other customer.  I told them I liked to take photos of wildlife etc. and that friends on Facebook had suggested I go to the beach.  The waitress actually follows me on Instagram, so she has an idea of the photos I like to take.

The consensus of opinion of all of us seems to be to go to the beach.  They suggested that I go to La Jolla Beach.  It is actually pronounced La Hoya.  They told me it’s great for scenery as well as wildlife including, seals, sea lions and birds.  So off I went.

Once I arrived, I made the long trek down the stairs to the beach itself.  I knew it was going to prove difficult, especially walking on an uneven surface like sand.  While I was walking on the loose sand it was painful and I was having difficulty with balance.  I finally made it to the wet and solid sand and walking became immensely easier.  However, I had to keep an eye on the breaking waves so that I didn’t get my feet soaked.

The cove area was impressive with all the seals and sea lions around.  It was also full of stupid people.  There are signs everywhere warning that sea lions can be dangerous, and yet there were people walking out on the rocks to be close to one or two, to get selfies.  How stupid can people be.  There was one seal way up on the dry sand that had a nasty wound on the shoulder of his left flipper.  Hopefully he’ll be ok.  The stupid people all seemed to survive as well.

The one thing that was not impressive, in the cove area, is that it absolutely stinks.  Likely from all the seal and bird crap, not to mention the seals themselves.  The crap also brings flies and they swarm you.  They are annoying as hell.  They don’t bite, they just land on bare skin and I hate it.

While down below I saw up on the cliffs a section with about 100 cormorants and farther down the beach a section with a bunch of pelicans.  So, I started up the long flight of stairs, with people passing me by, since I can’t walk up stairs too quickly.  Then I started walking.  The cormorants were a lot farther away than I figured.  I would guess over a mile.

I got to them and discovered they were all nesting and there were little baby cormorants underneath their moms.  I got some great pictures and then started down the street to where the pelicans were hanging out.  This would be another mile or so.  The bonus is that the farther away from the cove I got, the more the small improved and flies disappeared.  There was quite a wind blowing and now I could smell the clean sea air.

Finally, I headed back, and after doing the 2 plus miles to my starting point, I just kept going.  Finding more things to photograph, including what appeared to be a pod of whales.  However, later in the hotel, when I downloaded and magnified the photos, I discovered them to be masses of seaweed.  Too bad.

I walked all the way to another cove; this one called the Children’s Pool.  It used to be just that, a protected cove where people could bring their kids to swim.  It has been taken over by seals and sea lions and the beach is closed because the animals are “pupping”.  I got more great photos here, including squadrons of pelicans in flight.  All in all, a productive day.

I’m back to being able to walk after three days of using the scooters.  It’s a good thing too, because there were no scooters available here.  One thing that did surprise me, is that there were no restaurants, vending machines or people selling cold drinks.  There were a few stalls selling T-shirts, but I needed to get some liquid in me.

Finally, at the point of exhaustion, and I would say about 5 miles of walking, I finally called it a day and called for my Uber.  The guy must have been right around the corner as I barely had enough time to get my gear stowed back in the backpack.  I got another driver who didn’t speak English, so conversation was at a premium and it makes for a long ride back.

156 PANIC AT THE ZOO

When I went to breakfast this morning, I had nothing planned and had absolutely no idea what I was going to do.  Just the same as yesterday.  I knew I had to make one more trip to the San Diego Zoo and I know I only have 5 days in which to do it.  I’m figuring that the weekend might be busy as hell and I’d kind of like to avoid it and Monday, I probably shouldn’t push my luck the day before departure, so today became that day.

I showed up at the zoo with the goal of catching the areas that I missed last week.  I had some priorities to accomplish.  Once I found out there are Orangutans at the zoo, I absolutely had to see them.  The polar bears were another priority.  I wanted to try and catch the tigers being active and so that was my mission for the day.

YOUNG ORANGUTAN PLOTTING

My feet and legs are still hurting me and so is the burn, so I opted to rent another scooter.  I’ve gone from being embarrassed to use one to almost dependant on them, well at least for mega-walks like these.  It’s interesting to note that it is actually slower getting around.  Partly because they don’t move too fast, but partly because you must constantly slam on the brakes as people step right in front of you, or just stop for no reason.

Certain animals I have a soft spot for, and they are hard to get photos of, so I like to make the best of it.  Yesterday was over 400 shots of elephants and babies.  Today I quickly found the Orangutans and shot 335 shots of them and another primate and her baby in their enclosure.

Moving on to the tiger enclosure, they were both fast asleep as usual.  But I was in no rush, so I parked the scooter next to the glass.  There was a tiger sleeping right against the glass.  After quite some time, he started to get active, but he was too close, so I got shots with the iPhone and then when he moved off, got more with the big camera.

From there I started touring and came to a penguin enclosure, which included a waterfall you could go behind.  I used the iPhone there to video the waterfall front and back in normal and in slow motion.  That is truly the last time I can say I had the phone.  I kept exploring and found the polar bears.  They weren’t very white anymore though as they kept rolling in a mud puddle and then in the dirt.

ONE MUDDY POLAR BEAR

When I got to the end of that segment, I reached for the iPhone to record some more video, and it was gone.  I checked all my pockets.  I checked the floor of the scooter and even checked the camera bag.  No luck at al.  The phone is missing.  A moment of panic set in.  There is a lot of sensitive info stored on the phone as well as photos.  I need it for booking Uber and I especially need it for the return trip home.

So, I started retracing my path, with no thought I would ever see the phone again.  It didn’t dawn on me that the phone is locked and can only be opened with facial recognition, but still, it was a panic-stricken time.  Normally, there are zoo employees everywhere, but of course now that I needed one, there are none to be found.

I finally made it up a huge hill.  The scooter stalled out twice and I had to turn it off and let the battery recover slightly, however, the scooter wasn’t the same after.  Just not the same speed.  At the top of the hill, I found three employees and reported the loss to them.  They immediately called guest services/lost and found for me, and discovered there had been a black iPhone X turned in.  So, before I even reported it, someone had turned it in.  Well, at least I hope it’s mine.

The quickest path to guest services was to go across a very high bridge that I had been avoiding, due to my fear of heights.  Thankfully it is very wide, and I drove right down the center of it, never looking to either side.  I finally got to guest services, they presented me with the phone that I was certain was mine.  But I had to unlock it first to prove it was mine.  That was easily done, and I had my phone back.

I was so grateful, I asked for contact info for the person who found it.  They either didn’t have it or wouldn’t tell me.  I don’t know which.  So, I purchase two general admission tickets and asked that they be given to the person who turned it in, or if they didn’t know that, then to donate them to a person in need, so that they might visit the zoo.  A pay it forward scenario.  So, being very relieved I called Uber and came back to the hotel.

155 SAN DIEGO ZOO SAFARI PARK - THE RETURN

When I got up this morning, the sunburn was sort of iffy at best.  It looks slightly better and it doesn’t hurt quite as much, but I discovered how wrong I was when I jumped into a hot shower this morning and jumped is a very relative turn.  I very carefully and slowly stepped into the shower.  If I was still asleep when I did so, I surely wasn’t when the hot water hit my legs, ouch!

I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do today, although I did pack up all the camera gear and headed over for breakfast as if I had a mission.  I had an omelet while I was reading my book and just basically a leisurely meal, with nowhere to be.

The burn is still tender, and my legs and feet are still sore.  Walking was a bit of a challenge just going from my room to the restaurant.  Breakfast over I went and sat on the bench outside the office, where Uber picks me up.  Even to this point, I had no idea where I was going.  I pulled up the screen on my phone and impulsively typed in the safari park, so the decision is made.

What a fortunate choice for an Uber driver I got.  He is a professional photographer and videographer and drivers Uber on his down days.  Helping to pay off his student loans.  Anyway, we happily discussed photography and gear for the entire 40-minute ride.  It would be kind of cool if you could order the same driver, but if there is a way, I don’t know how.  I gave him my card and he’s going to check out my Instagram postings.

Once inside the gates, I was determined that I was going to walk the park this time, again.  Despite what I know about the size of the park from the previous visit.  I had some specific targets in mind today.  Elephants are the priority, but I also want to see the Butterfly Jungle, and tigers.  I wouldn’t be opposed if time permits to get more gorilla shots.

I got about 20 minutes into the walk and realized that I was in trouble again and that there would be no way to be able to finish the walk.  So, I trekked 20 minutes back to the gates and broke down and rented another scooter.  It costs as much to rent the scooter as it does for admission, but at this point, I don’t care.

I brought along a long sleeve T-shirt to help protect my arms if need be and I am well slathered up with SPF 30 sunscreen.  However, if a fit of semi-brilliance, I pulled the shirt out of the camera bag and rigged up a shade to protect my legs, since they are the most badly burned.  It worked very well I though, but more on that later.

First stop was the Butterfly Jungle.  It was a 40-minute wait to get inside but having a place to sit made it that much easier.  Once inside, it was like entering an oven.  It’s like a greenhouse in there, but I guess these butterflies like that.  There are thousands of them inside.  They are harder to photograph than birds, because their flight is unpredictable.  There was one young girl that they seemed to particularly like and at one point she had 20 of them landed on her.  I made a point of having my photo taken by the staff photographer.  It’s a bit of a rip-off what they charge, but hey, it is a holiday and a way to get some shots of me on location.

From there I made the long “drive” to the elephant enclosure.  I never would have made it walking today.  The big bonus to this is that the elephants seem to like the heat and were active today.  There were two very cute baby elephants.  One about 8 months old, who weighs 700 pounds and a considerably smaller one who is only a few weeks old.  I guess you could say, I’m hooked on the elephants as I could not stop taking photos and ended up with over 400 shots just of them.

The next part of the mission was the tigers.  I had to drive past the lion enclosure.  One female was sitting up but had her eyes closed.  The other was completely flaked out and the male nowhere to be seen.  I also went past the gorilla enclosure, but they were all hidden away and sleeping.  Good thing they were active last week.

Finally, I got to the tiger enclosure but that was a disappointment.  Not only were they sleeping, but they were well hidden in the jungle of their enclosure and there wasn’t a photo op to be had.  I got some good photos of the bighorn sheep though.

My arms and legs were burning pretty good, despite my shade and sunscreen, or at least it felt and looked that way.  However, once I got back to the hotel, I could tell there had been no further damage done.  My Uber driver this time was a fellow named Duck, from South Korea.  He has lived here 19 years but was very quiet, so the 40-minute drive back seemed to take forever.

154 HOTEL REST DAY

Well, it had to come.  I needed to take a rest day.  I don’t know why I’m so driven to be out there, working hard at taking photos.  As someone pointed out, vacations are for relaxing too.  I guess because I don’t really consider it a vacation per se.  Each trip so far has been a mission to take photos.  I can sit around and do nothing at home, quite easily.  But, even when I was hitting the gym and playing hockey, I always made a point of taking one day to rest.

Anyway, I was pretty much forced into doing it this time.  I was still hurting big time from the huge walk that was the USS Midway exploration and then the very next day doing the SeaWorld mission.  Then I was pretty much forced to use a cart to get around.  My body was still hurting, and walking was more difficult than usual.

Unfortunately, the SeaWorld tour turned into the hottest day of the trip so far.  I’m not complaining about the good weather; I just don’t tolerate heat too well.  What happened is that, I had not put on sunscreen since I’ve been here, I haven’t need to.  But even though the cart had a sunshade, all it protected basically was my head.  With my legs and arms sitting in the same position all day, it was just like lying on the beach.

So, here I am today, with a nasty and painful burn on my legs and arms.  All things combined and discretion being the better part of valour, I decided to take a day off and catch up on the editing which was starting to fall behind.  I also wanted to stay out of the sun and give the burn a chance to settle down.  So, I just stayed in, sort of.  Between applying cold compresses and liberal applications of Solarcaine, I just rested.

OK, not totally rested.  I worked hard on editing a couple of thousand photos.  I did find time to take a snooze, even though I had no idea when housekeeping would show up.  In addition to the intermittent internet, so is the housekeeping.  I absolutely do not mean that the service was poor, just that I couldn’t predict when they would come.  Early on, they were here at 9:00 AM each day.  Lately it’s been closer to 4:00 PM.

Normally I am out until that time each day so not a big deal.  Not a big deal overall, as I just grab my camera and iPad and sit on the bench outside.  It’s well shaded, I’m out of the way and I get to watch the ongoing airshow.

So, even on a rest day, I managed to take over 500 photos.  Some of the planes, mostly F-18’s, but I also wandered around the grounds taking macro photos of the unusual flowers around here.  There is one flower that looks distinctly like a bird when viewed from a distance, but I can’t get a photo which really does it justice.

There are also a variety of birds around the hotel including a dove, which sings its mournful song.  But all of the birds are very skittish and elusive.  I guess because of the fighter jets going by all the time.  I still have not managed to get photos of any of them.  I’m having more success with the big metal birds.

As I sit here, I’m planning out my next missions.  Although, I had set 7 things to do before getting here and I have sort of accomplished all seven.  I’ve only seen half of the zoo and half of the safari park.  The secondary part of those missions though was a list of animals I wanted photos of.  I have most of them, but not all and some of the animals I only have pics of them sleeping, so it doesn’t quite count.

Anyway, day of rest accomplished and by evening the burn has sort of settled down.  It’s a new experience really as I can’t recall the last time, I have gotten a sunburn.  I’m usually pretty good about either staying out of the sun, or in liberally applying sunscreen.  But I don’t usually sit in one position either.

153 SEA WORLD SAN DIEGO

I woke up this morning and was so stiff and sore that I could hardly move.  It was a gorgeous sunny day and I was seriously considering staying inside because of it.  However, it was not an option, since I had already purchased non-refundable tickets to Sea World San Diego.  This would be kind of cool, having seen Sea World on the opposite coast just a couple of months ago.  I’d be able to compare the two.

However, I still had to be able to deal with not being able to walk.  The Uber driver dropped me off at the designated spot, and it was quite a long walk to get to the entrance gate.  I very slowly made my way there, and let me tell you, it was difficult.  Once inside, and through the second bag check in two days, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

Then it hit me.  There was a souvenir stand close to me, which also rented those little scooters for people with mobility issues.  I was very reluctant to do it, as it will really be acknowledging my disability, but it was the only way I was going to be able to see it.  So, I rented one.

SCOOTER KING

The first order of business was to try and figure out how to get my heavy backpack, and me onto this thing.  Plus, I needed to have my camera out to be able to photograph the displays and such.  I finally figured out that I could put the bag between my feet on the floor and balance the camera on the handlebars.  Holding it for dear life with my left and the strap around my neck.

Off I went.  Except, I ground very quickly to a stop.  One of the straps from the backpack was hanging over and I ran over it.  I finally got all the straps properly tucked away.  The park itself may have been open at 10:00 AM when I arrived, but none of the exhibits were open until 10:40 AM.  Oh well, on my neat little scooter, I went all around and checked out locations.

The first to open was the sea lion and otter show.  I wheeled into the spot designated for handicapped seating.  There was one other guy in a scooter as well.  But the show was going on and neither of us could see a thing.  So, we both quickly abandoned that.

I was driving around and quickly found the Killer Whale show, which was already in progress.  I pulled into the designated parking spot and had a great view.  Yes, San Diego still has Killer Whales and has no intention of bowing to the pressure to shut it down.  All their whales have been born in captivity and would not be able to survive in the wild if released.  The show was impressive and the kids and adults sitting down low got absolutely drenched.

I moved on from there to numerous other exhibits all wheelchair and scooter accessible.  Even the bathrooms, I was able to drive in and drive right into the handicapped stall.  I did notice that there were lots of souvenir and food stands that were not open during the time I was there.  It’s kind of odd, but the park was not at all crowded and the shows that I did go to there was lots of empty seats.

I couldn’t figure this out since it is spring break for the kids in San Diego, however it is Monday.  Apparently, Mondays are their least busy day at any time of the year.  I was kind of grateful for that. Maneuvering the scooter around was easy, but you really must pay attention because, as always, people are totally oblivious to their surroundings or just don’t care.  Even on this less crowded day, the number of people who would walk right in front of me was mind boggling.  I don’t know how many times I had to slam on the brakes and on a crowded day it would have been near impossible.

The other thing I started to become painfully aware of, is that this is the hottest day since I have been here.  I could feel my arms and legs burning, and I was trying to drive in the shadows as much as I could.  I didn’t bother wearing the sunscreen I brought with me to San Diego and of course it was back in the hotel.  But really, with the way the weather has been, I have not needed it until now.  Even in Florida I never needed to wear it.  Well, I’m paying for that oversight now.  My arms and legs were pretty red and stinging by the time I got back to the hotel.  But I was in for the evening and I applied generous amounts of Solarcaine.  Some cool compresses helped as well. 

After dinner I got back and the private airshow from Miramar began.  Two F-18’s were circling and they came so close that the window in my room was vibrating.  I quickly grabbed the camera and went outside to watch.  This was the closest the planes had been in the week I have been here.  I blasted off over 100 shots trying to get the two jets framed between two palm trees.  I got the shot, but it’s not particularly great due to the low light.

They must have been practicing night maneuvers as they were still flying at 10:30 PM.  Didn’t bother me though as I was sitting and editing photos and writing the Blog.  The noise however from the new people in one of the other rooms was really annoying.  It sounded like they had a heard of kids and were letting them run free.  Running back and forth on the long balcony above.

152 USS MIDWAY MUSEUM

After the aquarium visit yesterday where I didn’t do near as much walking, I’m feeling pretty good today.  So, it was off to breakfast, carrying my camera backpack as usual.  For some reason here, I keep the camera pretty much hidden away until I get onsite of my photo shoot.  In Orlando, that thing was out on view all the time.  I guess because I have no relationship with the staff like I did in Orlando.  There, I saw staff every day and had conversations with them and ended up on a first name basis with a lot of them.

Here, I have seen the front office staff once when I checked in and once a few days later when I stopped in to complain about the lack of internet.  That was a different set of staff members.  I also talked on the phone to someone again about the internet.  I think the ones I have had the most contact with is the serving staff in the restaurant, but I think that’s an independent organization.

Anyway, I digress.  An Uber ride later and I was staring up at this huge aircraft carrier.  The lady at the ticket booth seemed determined to save me money.  She asked me a series of questions.  They included, was I over 62?  Yes, discount.  Did I have AAA?  BCAA, good enough, discount.  Was I a current or retired member of the military?  No, ok.  Are you or were you a member of law enforcement?  Retired, discount.  It ended up only costing me $10 to go in.

This is the first attraction I have attended where a mandatory bag search was conducted.  Understandably so, since this is a military installation, albeit decommissioned, but it is a museum.  A quick check, and the retired sailor, who was impressed by my array of gear let me pass.  I looked up this long flight of stairs and the staff member there could see my hesitation and directed me to the elevator which took me up to the hanger deck.

Inside, there was an impressive array of aircraft, mostly from WWII.  Some hanging from the roof, others parked as if they were ready to be wheeled onto the aircraft elevator and sent into battle. There was a photo booth setup, where they take your pic in front of a green screen and then superimpose you onto various backgrounds.  It cost $39 US or translated into Canadian $51.  No matter, I’m trying to make a point of getting some photos of me.  You get one large print (5x7) and three smaller prints (2x3) and digital copies of them, emailed to you.

I continued walking, front to back of the hanger deck and I did that about 4 times and went side to side as well.  I’m not normally a shopper, but I did go into the souvenir shop and purchased some stickers for my suitcase as well as 2 baseball caps.  One is a Top Gun hat, both from movie fame, but also because the actual Top Gun school, Miramar Naval Air Station is in San Diego.  In fact, I get a private air show at the back of the hotel, every day.  The other hat is a US Navy retired cap.  I just liked the logo.

Now it was time to head up a second elevator onto the flight deck, where I was greeted by another impressive display of aircraft.  They spanned the ages from Vietnam era jets, prop planes and helicopters, right up to F-18’s.  I’m assuming they are decommissioned aircraft as the catapults have been removed from the deck and there would be no way to launch them.

Again though, I walked the deck front to back and side to side about 4 times, all the while taking photos.  It’s a beautiful day, with a breeze blowing off the water, keeping the temperature at a very pleasant level.  When I finally had seen all, I needed to see.  It was time to go up to the bridge and/or down to the engine room, I was unable to do so as there were no elevators to either level and I didn’t feel confident enough to do all those stairs.

So, off I went.  As if I didn’t have enough walking, I walked all the way to the end of the pier to take photos of the bow, then walked all the way to the stern of the ship for more photos.  From there I walked over to a park I had seen from the deck, where I could see the iconic statue of a sailor kissing a nurse marking the end of WWII.  I wanted a photo of that, since the #metoo movement is so pissed off about it and who knows if the statue will survive.

It's kind of funny, the statue is huge and the nurse’s skirt billows out, but I saw numerous men walk by and avert their eyes as if the statue was a real woman.  The funny part is how many women walked under the skirt and looked up.  I don’t know what’s under there, whether it’s anatomically correct or not, since I was one of the gentlemen who averted my eyes.

Finally, I walked all the way to the other end of the waterfront, where the maritime museum with tall ships and a submarine are located.  These I did not board.  The biggest reason is that the waters were really wavy with the wind and the ships were bounding up and down, and I had no desire to get seasick at the dock.