August 14, 2015
Re: Letter 37 of 3
Dear Riley,
Home again home again...It's good to be home. The California trip was over in a flash and what a trip it was. Compared to Coastal Southern California, Los Angeles is a dive. More congested, more run down, more filth, and more riff raff. A good friend of Aunt Debbie's, and my Varsity Scout Coach's daughter, whom I used to babysit, first invited us to have dinner with their family in Escondido and then extended the invitation to stay the remainder of our trip in their home. It was SO nice. They're a great family and it added an element of home you just can't get any other way. Besides the insight they had into the best places to see in the few days we were there, several of our kids had counterparts in the M family that were close to the same age and they had a great time together.
We had space in the car for one extra body, so the 10 yr old boy went to the San Diego Zoo with us on Tuesday, the 8 yr old girl went to Seaworld with us on Wednesday. Thoroughly enjoyable to have along and absolutely no trouble at all.
We Spent Monday afternoon at Coronado beach on Coronado Island. What a great beach! Clean, uncongested, beautiful sand, sparkling water, (Literally sparkling with suspended mica and Iron pyrite.) The kids could have spent a lot more time there, and would have if time had allowed.
Tuesday we went to the San Diego Zoo. What a zoo! More space for the animals, more natural looking habitat, and as if to attest to the comfort of the accommodations...plenty of freeloading birds in addition to the ones intended to be housed there whom the zoo employees just got tired of chasing off. We saw many, but not all of the exhibits. The place is enormous and built on a mountain side, so we walked a lot vertically and horizontally. Honestly, I think you could spend a couple days there. Very cool!, though I got a little tired of the liberal mantra that nearly everything on the earth is endangered, threatened, or extinct because of humans, who apparently are the ONLY species on earth that doesn't have a right to be here and the ONLY species that shouldn't be left to multiply and replenish unchecked. Kind of made me wonder how any of the several thousands of former species ever became extinct before man walked the earth.
Wednesday we went to Seaworld. This is a great place to visit and definitely something to have on your bucket list if it isn't there already. Once again we were inundated with the same liberal dribble geared to make you feel guilty for living, and entice you to pay them money to fix a small portion of the damage you caused to the ecosystem. However, the sea life we saw and the great shows, made it worthwhile. My favorite animal attractions were the Dolphins, Killer Whales, Penguins, Beluga Whales, and Sharks. Many of the attractions allowed for viewing above and below the surface. The Shark Encounter was an acrylic tunnel with a moving sidewalk maybe 15 feet under the surface. Against a dark surface background and with strategic underwater lighting this was an impressive exhibit. The aquarium was filled with a wide variety of sharks of all sizes. Josie enjoyed the shows, Sesame Street Water Park and kiddie rides, and was mesmerized by the stingray feeding and petting pools. The stingers had been removed, and she eventually worked up the nerve to touch them. She was in love with the idea of feeding them, but freaked out every time they came up to take the food from her hand. I think she could have spent all day at that one location and we had to drag her away on two separate occasions.
The best shows were Dolphins (Blue Horizons), Killer Whales ( One Ocean), and the Sea Lions. Beautiful, impressive, and hilarious. Splash Zone seating means you will very likely get soaked to the skin, or at least a good dousing even 16 rows back. They warned and warned, but I got a kick out of watching the surprised looks on people's faces as they retreated from the Tsunami of 55 degree salt water. Some literally didn't have a single dry spot on them. I had done a little research before on how to get the most of your seaworld experience. They had a few theme rides, but the most popular was a fast and smooth roller coaster akin to something at Six Flags called Manta. We hit this first thing just fifteen minutes after the park opened and some of the kids rode seven times within the first forty minutes. Later in the day, the line was over an hour long, so that was a good call.
Thursday was our 24th anniversary so we went early to the San Diego Temple for a session. It was sparsely attended on a weekday morning, and we got to be the witness couple. The chapel and the endowment room was nice but we were overwhelmed by the Celestial room and the rest of the architecture. The Spirit was so strong and I was still moved by the whole experience as we walked back to the car. It was nice to be the only people in the rooms we walked through for awhile (besides an occasional worker) . This private time together in such a beautiful place with my favorite person by my side was priceless. Beautiful person, beautiful place, beautiful spirit, beautiful 24 years together, and eternity to go.
Well, your mother and I are set to go and celebrate our anniversary, so I better let her use the computer. Love you and miss you, but wouldn’t have you doing anything else right now. It’s so good to hear about your progress and see the pictures you send. Take care! Signing off till next week.
Love,
Dad
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