She's Baaaaaack....

I wish I could make up some sort of fabulous excuse for the long absence of blogs, but, alas, I cannot. Sometimes live -and living life- just gets in the way of remembering to do something you really enjoy. Like hearing yourself talk, or n this case, reading yourself as you write.

So much has happened, new job, working in a new city, all new people, all new streets and all new experiences.

Luckily my job includes some travel, this past fall we visited Los Angeles, San Diego and Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs. Each location had its own charm and own sense of place, totally different from the other. We visited during the horrible forest fires, which displaced tens of thousands of people the week we were there.

Our favorite day trip was to the San Diego Zoo. I adore the Giant Pandas and was dying to take my son to see them, Sadly, seeing them was uneventful. They slept. In fact we watched for some time and not a hint of movement. We joked that the zoo had placed plush toys in the trees to fool the guests into paying the $30 admission!! We were there during the fires, and not many people were willing to risk the air quality, so we were alone in the exhibit. Usually guests wait 2-3 hours to catch a glimpse of these beautiful bears.

My favorite exhibit was the Lowland Gorillas. They are truely amazing. A couple next to us in the glass-front viewing area had a book full of gorilla pictures and a mirror. One of the baby gorillas came right up to the glass and began staring intently at the photos in the book. As each pasge was turned the baby was more and more interested. Suddenly, from across the habitat, a HUGE silverback male came bounding our way, the baby ran and the patriarch placed his back against the glass and sat down. He never once looked at us. Clearly he was not happy about what was going on, and evrey other primate knew it. HE was awe-imspiring and powerful. I was never so glad to have a 2" thick piece of glass in front of me in my life.

The last of the totally amazing animals we saw were the polar bears. Do you know they love Romaine lettuce? These gentle looking giants are slow and walk with their feet inverted, so they have a comical air to them, but supposedly they are really mean! No matter, We enjoyed watching them swim and play together. Their habitat is really super, lots of space and a wonderful viewing area, with a huge plate of glass where you can see them above and below the water.

Rancho Mirage, right in the middle of the desert. The Santa Ana winds were really blowing and sand was streaking across the highway with such force that many of the cars pulled over to the side of the road. We visited the Living Desert, where I fell in love with Meerkats. Those funny little animals that stand up to look around...they look so cute and friendly, I was hooked. The center has all sorts of exhibits of native animals, flowers, plants and a super aviary, featuring rehabilitated and rescued birds.

One of the unusual sights was the Coachella Valley Preserve, the home of 1100 palms. Literally an oasis on the cusp of the San Andreas Fault, in the middle of what seems to be miles and miles of sand, bright green palm trees erupt from the earth. The preserve is home to many endangered species, including the fringe-toed lizard. Fringe-toed lizards are among those that thrive on the dunes. They get their name from elongate scales on the toes of their hind feet that look like fringes. These fringes act like miniature snowshoes, giving the lizards extra traction to speed away from predators on the loose sand surface. The lizards' head is perfectly shaped to allow them to dive head first into the soft sand, actually "swimming" below the sand surface. This allows the lizards to disappear , leaving no trace behind and effectively evading all predators. The lizards' nose allows them to continue to breathe air, without bringing sand into their lungs.

We also made a pilgrimage to Disney Land and California Adventure, where we enjoyed the Finding Nemo ride and Mickey's Trick Or Treat party. Sadly, it was not the same for us, not as Magical as when we visit the World. This year has been the "Year of A Million Dreams" and the goal was to give away 1-million wishes/experiences. We had seen the castmembers in blue vests bestow all sorts of gifts and prizes to other people each of the three times we visited the Parks last year, I could not believe the odds of us not getting one gosh-darned thing. I mean, we go to the parks, I wear a crown or mouse ears EVERY day, we all dress in theme for the day (one day Pirates of the Caribbean, one day Mickey Mouse....and so on....) we are great tourists. Yet nothing. Not one little overnight in Cinderella Castle.....

Not one offer of lunch in Mickey's Penthouse....

But on our last hour at Disney's California Adventure a castmember came up to my sone and gave him a Year of a Million Dreams pin for his collection!!! FINALLY all of those THOUSANDS of dollars paid off. We were part of the few, the selected, the FOTM (friends of the mouse). The pin was a two-piece set. We kept one, and we had to find someone else to give the other pin to...but who would be worthy of such a prize? It had to be someone who needed some magic...we finally settled upon this young girl, 10-years-old. It was her first trip to Disney and she was a pin collector, her lanyard almost full. We went up to her and explained that we were a part of the Year of A Million Dreams program and we had selected her for this fabulous prize. She was so happy, she began to cry! Her mother was thrilled and began taking zillions of pictures of my son presenting her with the pin.

So now we will always remember being a real part of the Magic and Wonder of Disney.

I forgot to mention we stayed in some INCREDIBLE places. Rancho Las Palmas, in Rancho Mirage and the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego.......but that is another post............