Seal Beach

As we drove up the California coast, I noticed a sign advertising a view of elephant seals.  I pulled right into the parking lot, looked down the way, and saw a couple of heads sticking out of the surf.  I haven't seen many seals in the wild, so I was impressed.

 Then we followed the crowd up the boardwalk.  On the other side of a boulder, we saw a few more.

And even more.  Apparently this beach is a favorite flopping place for elephant seals.

 Between naps, they cavort to their own vocal accompaniment.

Even though seals are important characters in many of their games, D2 and Rollo were more interested in this squirrel.  Somehow rodents beat pinnipeds.

Construction Zone

Our final big destination in Southern California was Legoland, realizing Rollo and D2's long-held wishes.  The rest of us liked it, too.  There are some rides, which I was pleased to see were geared toward active youngsters.  There was a driving test, only for those twelve and under.  (Scoot was disappointed that the cars didn't go faster.)  We pulled ourselves up a tower with ropes.  And the dragon roller coaster was, according to D2 (who hated the coaster we rode at Sea World) "awesome!"

 What I thought was really awesome was the Lego artwork.  From impressively detailed  miniatures of familiar landscapes . . .

(this one must be from our neck of the woods)

to large copies of familiar minifigures,

the creativity was amazing.  And there was room for everyone to exercise their own creativity.

 

 Scoot built this castle in a little building pavilion,

 while D2 and Rollo built this one.

 Dandelionslayer and the Caterpillar even found the right pieces

to build a favorite band.

 There was also plenty of water, on a day that never really heated up.

 We learned the construction secrets of the Pharaohs,

 and of star ship building in a galaxy far, far away.  So, it was a fun, creative, educational day.

And I can't leave you without a picture of Einstein and the buffaloes.

Squawking at Sea World

Next on our San Diego agenda was Sea World.  Naturally, a visit to the penguins was a priority.

These Magellanic penguins didn't seem to think it was too hot,

but they could always go for a swim.

We watched polar bears pace, and pinnipeds prance.

We saw belugas and orcas, with their giant babies.

We touched soft, slimy rays that weren't quite that big,

and admired merchandise.  There was plenty to squawk about, 

and three boys fell fast asleep on the short ride back to the hotel.

Adding Monkeys to the San Diego Zoo

We continued our tour of the San Diego area with a trip to the famous Zoo.  As usual, we weren't sure whether our little monkeys would be allowed out of the zoo again, but we took the chance.

It really was impressive.  I don't recall seeing baby flamingos before, but we saw a few in San Diego.  See the awkward-looking gray birds?  I guess they haven't built up their shrimp reserves yet.

Quite a few of the animals were up and moving, like this orangutan.  Even the mama panda was chewing bamboo in full view of the audience, though I seem to have forgotten to take a picture of her.

It was a hot day, for San Diego.  I'd have liked to join this bird, splashing in the water.

This shady monkey fort looked pretty good, too.

This little leopard was a busy guy,

and thankfully smaller than the saber cats that used to roam California!

Visiting the Mormon Battalion

After winding our way down from Big Bear Lake and fighting our way through Los Angeles-area traffic, we finally arrived in San Diego.  We went to the Old Town and found the Mormon Battalion Historic Site.  At least three of my direct ancestors, and some other members of the family tree, marched from Iowa to California as part of the Army of the West in 1846. 

The engaging multimedia presentation tells about the recruitment, trials on the journey, and the ways the Battalion members contributed to the development of southern California and Utah.  It was very interesting.

Among those contributions, some Battalion members helped build a certain mill where gold was discovered.  So there's a gold panning station outside where visitors can try their hand.

In a sluice stocked with pyrite and other pretty pebbles, there's something for everyone to discover.

Big Bear Lake

After the festivities in Utah, we headed for southern California.  On the way, we stopped at Big Bear Lake.

We spent the night in this cool cabin.

In the morning we took a steep little hike,

where we met some lizards,

 and a log that looked like a rhino.

It was a beautiful place,

and it would have been fun to stay longer,

but we had other plans...