RYAN'S FIRST VISIT TO SAN DIEGO

We were finally about to organize our schedules (and get straight in our heads which weekend was the American Thanksgiving and therefore NOT a good one to travel, since they all become raving lunatics when confronted with mass crowds of tired, cranky people just like themselves) and Ryan came for a visit the first weekend in Dec.

It was busy, and far too short, but we managed to pack quite a bit of sightseeing into the days he was here. And I've got pictures to prove it (minus the kayaking ones, which I have yet to develop, but promise I will in the near future)

Our first stop on Friday morning was La Jolla, where we spent the afternoon exploring the caves in our kayaks. The sea lions were out in full force, swimming around the boats and playing on the rocks. I tried to get a picture of the one who thought it was fun to pop up randomly around my kayak and then splash around and disappear again, but my heart nearly stopped the first time he did it. I never managed to get my camera out quick enough after that. Those things are huge up close!

It was a warm day....until the sun went down behind the cliff. After that, it was a race to the shore, because our fingers and toes were so numb we could barely hold onto the paddles any more.

That night we went out for sushi, which was delicious. There is something about being on the west coast that makes it taste that much better....or the "Left Coast" as my cousin Jamie calls it.

Our first stop on Sat morning was the ZOO where we lucked out and found the pandas, giraffes and the jaguar out on exhibit. It was even "snow day" and the polar bears got to play in the fresh snow that had been brought in especially for them.

Too bad they were more interested in playing in the water than in the snow.

In front of the panda exhibit

The apes and orangutans were the most interactive of the animals that day. They liked to show off in front of the humans by rolling around and showing off their bums.

That part made me giggle.

We also explored Seaport Village, a tourist attraction downtown just east of the main marina. There was a hot sauce store there that sold stuff so hot there was a warning label on the bottle and they kept it locked up. Probably to prevent drunken sailors from purchasing the stuff and destroying their intestines in a vain attempt at proving their manhood.

Okay, so this sand sculpture is gorgeous and totally cool to look at. But....look closely....what exactly is in his mouth?

He he....dirty minded, aren't you?

Later that same day, I took Kendrah and Ryan to an Aztec football game. It was held at Quaalcom stadium, the same place where the Chargers play. It's literally just down the street from my house and when they set off fireworks, they're so loud they sometimes make me jump out of bed. Unless I've had a couple of cocktails (read: ceasers and sleeping pills in one gigantic, delicious, mind-numbing combination) and then I can usually sleep through anything.

For those of you who like football (don't count me among the obsessed fans) the Chargers are good and the Aztecs suck. Hence the 1/2 empty stadium. But they were the only team playing that game and hey, a football game is a football game. Give people enough beer and they'll watch just about anything.

The half-time show. It was the highlight of the game for me, as I hardly paid attention to anything else that was going on.

That night, we went out to Shout, a piano bar I've been to before. There are dueling baby grand pianos and the pianists (can we call them that?) will play just about anything, if you tip them enough. Everybody sings (even if they can't carry a tune, like the 3 of us) and no one cares how bad you sound. It's probably one of my favourite places in the city to visit.

Sadly, I don't have any decent pictures from the bar itself...probably because I spent the entire night with a drink in my hand, singing my heart out.