Haven't been posting much. Frankly, things are so familiar here that we feel much less like we're on vacation. I did manage to score some very good surf in our first week here. San Clemente State Park and Cottons have both been good to me. Still, we're spending less time walking and more driving and there's a TV now. Not very novel sitting in traffic on the I-5 or waiting in line at a crowded Trader Joe's. Funny how our perception of time has changed. In Costa Rica time slowed down without the TV and with the feeling of awe and discovery we experienced every day. Now it's speeded up again. Soon we leave for Australia, however, and the adventure begins again.
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| Orange County Zoo; Note the black bear behind the tree! |
One highlight was our visit last week to the Orange County Zoo, in Irvine Regional Park. This was a great discovery. The regional park is excellent, despite being surrounded by cookie-cutter McMansions and townhomes. Lots of grass, picnic tables, biking trails, playgrounds, and surrounded by coastal sage scrub. Most importantly there a little zoo in the middle that costs $2 a person and focuses on animals of Western North America. There's a great big cougar, two big bears, coyotes, mule deer, rattlesnakes, etc... All are in large, clean cages and seem well taken-care-of.
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| Sydney's Wingspan |
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| Catalina's Wingspan |
Catalina worked on a fill-in-the-blank "scavenger hunt" about the animals and plants that was provided by the zoo for kids. She did a great job and it became her science lesson for that day.
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| Peacocks are noisy. Ca-Caww! |
We also had a great visit from the Leaver family. The little girls, especially the three older girls, were inseparable. Catalina is already wondering when they get to play again. Darren, of course, showed up with some great wines. Thanks for sharing that amazing Arrowood Special Reserve 2005 Cabernet. Best wine I've had in a long time!
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| San Clemente Pier after greasy snack shop lunch. |
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| Ice Cream! |
Finally, we booked our camper for 21 days of beach cruising in New South Wales. The cost was shocking, but it's what we've been planning to do so, money be damned, we're going!
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