Beach Art, Blooms and Bricks

While walking along the beach one afternoon Mikey spotted what appeared to be a painting in the sand.
architecture

We found a few more

Each was very unique as the water washed over the rock or other item leaving the black colored sand to paint the picture.
These are especially for my gardening friend Mary. The one place that she wanted to be sure we went was the gardens at Balboa so Mary, here are some great blooms for you.
This is obviously not a flower but the above ground roots of this tree is very interesting.
A potted arrangement inside one of the gardens
And in the Botanical garden many colors and the smell....even I, with my none working sense of smell, could enjoy the fragrant flowers.
There are tons of paths to enjoy on the grounds of Balboa Park. One of them is the Old Cactus Garden. Not that the cactus are old (some are) but it is the original cactus garden of the park.
Once again in the botanical building
Many of the other gardens were not in bloom but we did find a few.

The reflecting pond at the entrance to the Botanical Building
Balboa also has interesting architectural structures.
Lots of arches

And steeples...I could go on and on as I took a boat load of pictures but I will spare you all.
The Hyatt Hotel is 40 stories high and according to Mikey and Jan on a windy day you can feel it sway when you are on the 40th floor. The 40th floor hosts a bar and small restaurant as well as great windows from which you can view the harbor
The Coronado bridge
And gorgeous sky scrapers
With interesting roof lines
Lots of windows
And just plain cool looking
And then there is the Midway museum. The 'museum' is an aircraft carrier that was used in WW11 as well as Viet Nam and it actually started dear Mr Bush's invasion in Iraq-it was a command ship. There was an admiral running the invasion from the ship and the captain of the ship was in charge of sending out the planes. The invasion of Iraq was all done from the Midway. The Midway was the last ship run by fuel oil and diesel. The remaining 11 carries are all nuclear powered. Needles to say both Mikey and David being ex Navy men certainly enjoyed the tour. In fact they spent three or four hours touring the Midway.
Jan and I walked around the park looking at the sights with our cameras in hand.
This was a great statue.


There is a tribute to Bob Hope that was kind of moving!
Here are the boys on the ship's flight deck
Our time here is coming to a close. This is fast becoming our favorite place, one that we will spend more time in next year. We hate to leave but are anxious to get home....I miss Julia terribly!

Cancer Survivor's Park

Through the trees are the structures of the park. Within the park is the

Within the park is the 'Road To Recovery Plaza' At the center of the plaza are eight life size figures passing through a maze, the maze representing the stages of treatment.

You can see the look of concern and bewilderment on the faces of the figures just entering the maze. These are those just beginning treatment.

This figure is passing through the mid section of the maze. Her face seems more relaxed as she comes to the end of her treatments.

And the survivors coming out of the maze with looks of joy not only on their faces but in their body postures.

A meaningful structure it is.

There is also the walk of Positive Mental Attitude......

And the statement at the end.......

As you enter your maze and remember the above summary

The park was donated by the Richard and Annette Bloch foundation. The park was inspired by Richard's successful treatment and recovery from what was thought to be terminal cancer. was diagnosed with a supposed incurable cancer that was treated successfully.

The Bloch's believed that the second greatest cause of cancer mortality (smoking being the first) is relating cancer and death. Many of us have been brought up to believe that a cancer diagnosis means death and some believe that the treatments are worse. Thus if diagnosed many may then tend to give up rather than fight. This park hopes to give those diagnosed reason to hope and to fight but also give healthy people who may be diagnosed the knowledge to fight.

This survivor says that this park is pretty awesome......Thanks to Jan for taking the time to assure that I experience the park.

San Diego Zoo

Lions

And Tigers

And Bears oh my

And of course the creme de la creme of the bears are Pandas. They are adorable and are of course on loan from China. I am not sure when they have to go back but I am sure it will be way too soon in the eyes of the zoo keepers.

This is the baby of the bunch. He is still on his mother's milk and not yet ready for the bamboo diet.



Those eyes are irresistible.

And the Koolas.

Most were sleeping and all wrapped up in themselves like this one.

If you look closely you may be able to see that this momma has a joey (baby) wrapped in her arms.

Munching on greens

I think they have four elephants at the zoo. It is interesting how they care for them.

You look at this and think...cages yuck. Not so. This is where the keepers do all of the elephant care. The keepers never ever enter the elephant's area, instead they 'invite' the elephants into the care area for all touch, baths etc. The doors are always open so the elephants are able to come and go in this area as they please with the keepers separated from them by the cage. The reason for this makes so much sense....if the keepers are in the elephant's area there is often negative interaction in that the keepers need to push the elephants so that they do not get too close etc.... This takes away the need for that so the interaction is always positive and fun for both the elephants and their keepers

This Meerkat smiled and posed quite nicely for his picture

There are many deer looking animals at the zoo and this little guy was snuggled right into his spot.

While riding the tram Jan and I spotted this great steeple. As I snapped the shot a plan was coming in for a landing.

Flamings are colorful and fun to watch

It was fun to watch them scatter

This fella has a very interesting face

And lots of color in this bird and his apple

Monkeys, always monkeys

I can't remember what kind of cat this is but it has webbed feet to allow it to swim

The Rhino blends right into his surroundings

We spent the entire day here and will return again next year.

I would like to express my sympathy to my cousin's the Biehn 'clan'. Steve's wife Jennie lost her battle with cancer this week. This family has had more than it's share of struggles over the years and my deepest sympathy goes out to Steve, his family and his siblings.