My iPad’s battery drained and it had to get put on the charger, which happens to be in the kitchen so that the iPad could rest on the counter. I wanted to finish watching a YouTube video, so I poured myself a glass of water and leaned on the counter to watch. I had to lean over the running dishwasher, but that’s okay– the steam feels nice sometimes.

And then I went down the internet rabbit hole and, an hour later, realized that my arm was strangely damp and my back was slightly sore.

That’s right. I stood hunched over the dishwasher long enough to build up condensation ON MY ARM.

Oh. And I also have YouTube on my phone, and of course the computer.

*sigh*

(If this wasn’t bad enough, I forgot that I’m supposed to be doing laundry, too. Oops.)

Speaking of the internet rabbit hole, if you haven’t seen this cover of Space Oddity by astronaut Chris Hadfield yet, you should.

If that isn’t enough, here’s a closeup of Sina. ^_^

Isn’t she just too cute?? We also got to watch her getting a snack before bedtime.

She was so happy to swim around the pool with that oyster, knocking it with a rock.

We fed the bat rays, too. J found this one surprising when it swooped in for the bit of squid!

This beluga likes to play by spitting water in the air and catching it again.

And this beluga was watching all of the people watching it watching them….

It was a fun day. And as I said before, their customer service thoroughly impressed me. I’ll let you know how the tour goes once we take it.

The day after our visit to Monterey, J and I continued up the coast to San Francisco. Since we were so close and we’d both always wanted to visit, we couldn’t resist. We picked a destination (the Muir Woods, but I’ll get to that next) and headed north. In less than two hours, we found ourselves driving right across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Muir Woods is a national monument and park with some of the southern-most redwoods in California. They aren’t the massively wide variety you find way up north, but they are massively tall. It’s hard to describe the size of them, and only slightly less hard to photograph the size of them, but I did try. You’ll see J standing in the middle of the wooden trail for a reference point. Muir Woods is also where the UN met to memorialize FDR’s death; he’d used the forest as an example of the value of national parks, and to show the potential for them. Many of the trees look much the same in photos from that era as they do today.

I suppose part of the reason the trees didn’t seem all that wide was the sheer height of them by comparison, though obviously a very tall tree needs a very wide trunk to support it. This trunk is hollow in the middle, and rubbed smooth by the generations of park visitors running their hands across the bark. Because of this, it’s one of the only trees you’re actually allowed to touch.

The trees tower overhead, some of them in circles around a dead stump, the new generation of already ancient forests. I was fascinated by the bark that seemed to be folded into long strips along the trees, sometimes looking like stripes, and by the vividness of the red wood. We only did the short (two mile) round trip hike, and I’d like to go back and explore the area more.

From the Muir Woods, we drove back down to the Golden Gate Bridge National Parks area. Turns out there are a lot of national parks (and therefore a lot of places to get my passport book stamped!) It includes the bridge itself, Fort Point (a Civil War-era fort beneath the bridge), a warming hut, a wildlife area, all sorts of things. We only got a visit a few and at a very quick pace*, but it was worth it.

Fort Point was one of the best areas, and also one of the least crowded. The signage wasn’t fantastic and we weren’t even sure it was open, so were happy to discover not only could we walk around the inside of it, but it had a lot of great exhibits. The Fort is directly under one end of the Bridge (as you can see) and also has a lighthouse (which you can also see) and a nice collection of canon.

The inside of the Fort is in remarkable shape, and there are exhibits and classrooms on all of the levels, so it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. There are also nice views of Alcatraz and the coast from the top of the wall, accessible via a spiral staircase.

By this time, we were getting hungry so we headed back down to the pier area. There are several active piers (for cruise ships and fishing boats and the like) but several have become restaurant a shopping areas, including Fisherman’s Wharf. We walked a bit of the area but quickly settled on a place to eat dinner and were rewarded with awesome views of the water. After dinner we were able to walk down through the shops and see better views of Alcatraz as well as more sea lions, the Bridge in the distance, and other iconic sights.

Alcatraz sits in the middle of the bay and is a lot more colorful than I imagined. See the purple wildflowers on the hill? The day was sunny and clear and we were able to see a lot, which is unusual for this time of year.

On the way out of town, we crossed an intersection with Lombard Street, so we took a short detour to drive down the winding block that is so famous. The view from this street is gorgeous, and it’s nestled in rose gardens with the houses on either side. J and I both got a kick out of the little drive, and then hit the road toward home.

San Francisco will definitely need another visit, there was just too much to see in one day, but I feel like we gave it our best shot. We even bought a round loaf of sourdough bread for the ride home.

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*It takes SEVEN HOURS to get home from San Francisco, which is fine for a weekend, but if the day gets away from you… LONG NIGHT OF DRIVING.

Last weekend, J and I took a roadtrip north to Monterey and San Francisco. You can see all of the photos here. The main destination on Saturday was the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Housed in an old cannery, the Aquarium is now home to a huge collection of California’s native marine species, from fish and turtles to sharks and sea otters, and even shorebirds. They research and resource sustainable seafood and rehabilitate and release injured wildlife from up and down the coast. The exhibit above is their Open Sea exhibit, during their scheduled feeding time. The swarm is a school of sardines, but there are also other large and small fish, sharks and sea turtles in the exhibit, as well as native invertebrates.

The Aquarium began as a project to allow non-scuba-divers a chance to see what the Bay looks like beneath the surface. This Kelp Bed exhibit is modeled on the Bay; it contains live kelp and many species of fish, sharks and invertebrates that call the California coast home. We got to see a diver feeding some of the fish in this exhibit, too. One of the cool things about it is that the water in about 95% of the exhibits is actual bay water: they pump it and filter it and then cycle it back into the bay unaltered. This is a window into the ocean.

J and I did a behind the scenes tour to learn about how the aquarium operates, and to see some of the exhibits a little closer. This is actually the top of the Kelp Bed exhibit. Tides and waves are recreated mechanically so the kelp stays healthy, and the strings keep birds from eating the exhibit fish. The buildings in the background are part of the sea otter rescue program, housing nurseries and surrogate moms for the pups; pups raised by otters do much better in the wild and learn to stay away from people.

Speaking of otters, we saw a ton of them in the bay itself! They were hanging out in rafts, or drifting on their own, catching crabs and eating on their backs in the water. We even saw a mom and pup a little farther up the coast as we walked to Fisherman’s Wharf.

We walked down Cannery Row on the way to the Wharf, past all of the old canneries that have been turned into shops and restaurants. It’s interesting to see the old buildings, and to walk inside of them and see the skeletons of the industry. The Wharf had several offering whale watching and stands with samples of clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls. We also saw a pile of sea lions on one of the floating docks.

We ended the day with a dinner at the Fishwife restaurant on the recommendation of a friend. It was a really fun day and I learned a lot about local California (coastal) wildlife, plus ate some amazing clam chowder and then fish for dinner. I’d definitely go to Monterey again.

Today J and I went to Seaworld. They give one free admission to military and their dependents, once a year, to any AB park in the country. We decided to go to Seaworld today. Free is good, and they have otters (you’re sensing a pattern, aren’t you?) and hey, it’s only twenty minutes from home so no crazy road trip. We got there and, since admission was free for us, we signed up for a paid behind the scenes tour. It involved a beluga whale encounter, among other things, and we planned our day accordingly. When it came time, we went to the meeting place as instructed by the people at the ticket both… And no one else showed up. I mean no one, not even an employee. So we went to he nearest team member and asked for help. After ten minutes (which made us ten minutes late for our tour) she was finally able to get someone on the phone, who told her we were out of luck because we’d gone to the wrong place, and that we might be able to get a refund.

I was SO upset. We had followed instructions, done what we were asked, and then too bad, you’re out of the tour? On top of that, we’d missed other events happening in the park so that we could make the tour on time.

So we went to guest services.

When we got there, we were both very upset, and expected to be given a refund for the tour, but not much else. I did tell the person helping us right up front that the ticket booth people gave us specific instructions and that maybe, MAYBE, the ticket people should have the correct information.

And then Seaworld surprised me.

The people at customer relations not only refunded the tour, they refunded our parking, too. They then tried to get us into another tour, and when that didn’t work, they gave us passes to come back another day for free, a pass for free parking, and passes to pay for our food when we return. On top of THAT they took our information to set up the behind the scenes tour for us at some point in the near future. If we’d paid for admission today, I suspect they’d have refunded that, too.

Talk about amazing customer service.

In addition to all of that, the other employees the rest of the day were excellent. When we struck up a conversation with a keeper after the sea otter presentation, we were even invited to come meet their baby otter (keep in mind this had NOTHING to do with the above incident, it was jus a kindness) and so we met Sina. She was seriously the cutest little thing I’ve even seen. We watched her get a snack, and then play for a while, and then go to bed for a nap…. where the proceeded to groom herself and then fall asleep sucking on her paw. SO CUTE. (This photo is from my phone, I have better ones…)

It was a really good day despite the mixup in the middle, which Seaworld more than repaired. They have gained a good bit of respect from me.

Oh. And there is video of the adorable otter. I’ll get it uploaded ASAP.

This post got longer than I intended. I’ve had fun doing BEDA, but it’ll be nice to go back to posting when I have time, and not all the time. Of course, I’ve been queuing these posts a few at a time, but still. Here’s to May!

So here you are. Expect fun photos in the next couple of days.

Having about 30 samples of foods and beverages might sound overwhelming, and to an extent it was, but I collected business cards of the places I especially liked, plus a handful of them stand out in my memory. So here I offer my favorite “meal” in four tastes.

Appetizer: 100 Wines
When we saw 100 Wines on the list, we assumed a wine taste, but when we walked past them, we discovered they were serving pizza and lamb meatballs. While I didn’t try the lamb (J assures me it was very good), the pizza was some of the best I think I’ve ever had. Seriously. It had the perfect crispiness to the crust, the sauce wasn’t overpowering, and the cheese was lovely. I fully intend to go back and order an entire pizza from them sometime very soon.

Beverage: Firestone Walker Double Barrel Ale
I’m not much of a beer drinker, but there were some local craft breweries participating in the event, and this was the one I liked best. The beer itself is an English style pale ale and was served very cold, which was perfect on that hot afternoon. It didn’t leave a heavy aftertaste and was very crisp.

Main: Origano
Origano was on the southern-most loop of the walk, and also a bit of a surprise. They were serving pasta, and I was already feeling the effects of a couple of tastes involving rice (seriously, the Indian and Thai places were all beside each other on the walking map) so I wasn’t especially hungry, but the pasta was so good I finished it. They serve handmade pasta and their sauces aren’t your “traditional” marinara. I wish I’d written down the name of the pasta we tried, though I’m sure if we go for dinner, they will point me in the right direction.

Dessert: Babycakes
There weren’t many dessert places on the list, and while I really like Fiji Yogurt and the bakery place had pretty good brownies, Babycakes was a very nice surprise. Their sample was a tiny cupcake with their buttercream frosting. I’m not normally a buttercream person, but this frosting was light, fluffy, and wasn’t overpoweringly sweet. They had a nice area for seating, and a full cafe menu that I want to go back and try.

All of these places (or drink, in the case of Firestone) were new to us, and we plan on going back for table service sometime soon. To me, that’s the real test of a place, though I have to admit that it was quite a feat for each restaurant to get over 1000 sample-size bites to taste that good. Nothing tasted like it had been sitting out, and a couple of times we had to wait while the next small batch finished cooking. It was a great way to try a wide variety of local places and to get out and walk around the area on a beautiful afternoon. We’ll definitely go back next year.

I noticed because my blog host tells me what search terms people use to find the blog, and there have been consistent (if in low frequency) hits on this post I wrote almost two years ago in which I posit my personal conspiracy theory, namely that I don’t believe in North Dakota.

For years now (at least a decade) I have been telling anyone and everyone that North Dakota is just a government conspiracy to house giant secret military bases, probably to protect us from Canada. And people keep insisting that they know people from North Dakota, to which I reply “THEY’RE JUST IN ON IT! DON’T TRUST THEM!”

Personal conspiracy theories are important. Much like Shakespeare, sometimes you need them at parties.

What? Don’t tell me you’ve NEVER been to a party where someone has a Shakespeare-related problem or where someone can’t quite remember the correct quotation? Am I the only person who can’t leave a “To be or not to be” just hanging there, unfinished?

Anyway, you never know when you’re going to need a good conspiracy theory in the course of a conversation, and North Dakota fits the bill.

Incidentally, I have found that I am not the only one. Just keep digging through that Google search, and you’ll find things like this…

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DISCLAIMER: Believe me, this post and the original North Dakota post (and a good number of other things on this blog) were written in satire…. and yet people keep coming here. I love the internet.

Here are eleven things I have learned from The Doctor:

The least important things sometimes, my dear boy, lead to the greatest discoveries.
1st Doctor

Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority.
2nd Doctor

A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.
3rd Doctor

There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t act a little childish sometimes.
4th Doctor

You may disguise your features but you can never disguise your intent.
5th Doctor

What’s the use of a good quotation if you can’t change it?
6th Doctor

Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way.
7th Doctor

I love humans. Always seeing patterns in things that aren’t there.
8th Doctor

The past is another country. 1987′s just the Isle of Wight.
9th Doctor

Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It’s not the time that matters, it’s the person.
10th Doctor

My experience is that there is, you know, surprisingly, always hope.
11th Doctor

Caspian does this ALL THE TIME and no one ever gets to see, even when I try to cleverly flip a video-chat camera around. Tuesday I finally caught him on camera, so here you go. He’s been doing this his whole life, but now there are wood floors which make for better SPINNING.