Tag: San Diego

  • Lego skeletons are cool

    We had a great spring break trip to San Diego last week, and while we took a bunch of pictures, there are three especially that I couldn’t resist posting here. Mostly because they’re so messed up and random.

    The first two are from Legoland. That place is like the Lego Disneyland—lots of rides and fun things, with Lego sculptures everywhere. Pretty straightforward concept, right? That’s why it’s totally awesome to run across something like this:

    Lego skeletons are cool

    I wants me a Lego Skeleton Kit™ bloody well right now.

    And among the various other Lego sculpture decor, most of which was themed and made sense, there was this:

    Lego rabbit with a chainsaw. WTF?

    What. The. Hell??

    Best. Themepark. Ever.

    Earlier in the week, we visited the Fleet Science Center, and they have a section especially for kids there called “Grossology.” While most of the Grossology exhibits are pretty much what you’d expect, there was no way I could pass up taking a photo of this genuine video game:

    Urine The Game. Really.

    Yep. Played it. Need a PlayStation version.

  • Spring break: San Diego

    Next week is spring break around here, and this year we decided to pack up and head down to San Diego for the week, to visit my brother and his wife.

    We’re driving down, spreading it out over two days each way. It’s roughly 1000 miles from Bend to San Diego, so that’s a lot of driving. But hey, that’s the Jack Kerouac experience, right? Sort of. Though I’m pretty sure Kerouac didn’t have a family along with him.

    It’s been awhile since I’ve taken this much time off from work. I wonder if I’ll be able to go back.

  • Mission Beach

    When we were in San Diego, we of course had to visit the beach. So on one of our “off” days we packed up a picnic lunch and headed over to Mission Beach.

    It was a nice, sunny, hot day, pretty much what you’d expect for Southern California (even in late September), but you know what? The water was cold, which was a total surprise to me. Not Oregon beach cold, nothing quite like that, but much colder than I would have thought. Cold enough to shock you when you first hit it, and make your feet a little numb.

    You get used to it, though, and the kids and I were having a great time playing in the water. There were some nice waves too—I wish I’d had a bodyboard or something to try out. Not that I’m all that surfer-inclined, you understand—I love the ocean but the Oregon Coast is no place for that kind of stuff. I’ve seen guys in full-body wetsuits trying to make a go of it, but well…

    Interestingly, Mission Beach is also home to the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster, a wooden coaster built in 1925 that’s still operating. Only “one of two original oceanfront roller coasters still operating on the west coast,” according to the website. We didn’t ride it, though; the kids are still too small. My brother swears that every time he’s ridden the thing, he’s seen bolts flying off. That’s comforting.

    After we cleaned up from the beach, we wandered around the shops a bit, and my wife and the kids got temporary tattoos from a corner shop on the boardwalk. We didn’t stay long after that, as the kids were tired and cranky. But we had a good time.

    Later, I told my brother we’d gone there, his response was, “Did you see anyone smoking crack?” Huh? My sister-in-law recommended the place; she reaffirmed that it wasn’t that bad, but then my wife chimed in and mentioned she saw someone dig a chicken leg out of a garbage can and eat it.

    Eh, whatever. It was a nice beach, no one hassled us or anything. I’d go there again. Might even ride the roller coaster of death. We’ll see.

  • Back to it

    Yes, we’re back from our vacation to SoCal. Actually, we got back yesterday and today was back to work and routine, but I just wasn’t quite ready to “return” to the blog, as it were.

    It was a good trip, but tiring. San Diego is a neat city, but in general I wouldn’t want to live in Southern California; there’s too many people and too much traffic and it’s just too big… I’d go nuts. And it’s too damn expensive. I’m glad to be back in Bend.

    I’ll dole out travel stories gradually, rather than writing everything up in one giant blog entry. It’s easier on everybody that way :)

  • San Diego or bust

    We’ll be on the road all next week—well, starting this week, really, since we’re leaving Friday night—on our way to visit my brother in San Diego. Road trip!

    From Bend, San Diego is about a 16 or 17 hour drive. Since the kids are little, we’re spreading that over three days each way, taking it easier than just plowing on through. Of course, the portable DVD player we bought for the car should help out, too.

    Needless to say, I’ll be mostly offline for nine or ten days, starting Friday afternoon. I have a slightly older laptop computer that I’m taking, but I just got it and it doesn’t have network access, either Ethernet or wireless (has the slots for them, though). I may be able to get it set up for network before we go, otherwise I’ll just rely on the modem in a pinch.

    Or not. We’ll just see.