"One's destination is never a place ..."

"One's destination is never a place, 

but rather a new way of looking at things." 

Henry Miller, Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch 

About two months ago I posted an update that was long overdue, mentioned two upcoming trips, and finished the post with "we shall see what else God sends our way this year."  Well, since it has now been two months since I last posted, I hoped you assumed good things were keeping me away, and you would be correct.  

I had mentioned a trip over Easter weekend to Los Angeles while AC works, one that would include getting to spend time with family, a visit to Disneyland, and time on the beach.  We also were able to drive down to San Diego and spend a few hours at the amazing San Diego Zoo, plus visit the Aquarium of the Pacific, one of our favorite Long Beach haunts.

At Disney this year we brought our camera, but we actually only took a few pictures at the end, when SC decided to stand in line to see the princesses.  

She has been to Disneyland a number of times already, and we really wanted  to just relax and have a good time, and no one had to be "on" for the camera.  Also, she is finally tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides.  Last time we went (she was 3 1/2) she was able to ride the Matterhorn, which is a bobsled-style ride, sitting on my lap.  It has since been renovated and riders sit individually and the seats are apparently very uncomfortable.  Also, she is still so small (even meeting the height requirement) and I feel better if I can somehow hold her head still so it doesn't bobble around.  So we didn't do the Matterhorn, but she did do Space Mountain (which she loved and asked immediately to do again), as well as the Star Tours ride (which has been closed every other time we have been since having SC).  She had recently seen the Star Wars movies, so she was very familiar with the characters and what was going on.  We stayed until the fireworks for the first time, but SC passed out in the car before we even left the parking garage.  All in all, it was a great day.

We drove down to San Diego on a spur-of-the-moment trip to visit the San Diego Zoo.  We were able to stay until the late evening due to the later sunset, and after hours of walking through this amazing zoo, I don't think we crossed any area twice.  I loved that there were animals we had not been able to see in any of the other zoos we had been to (like koalas), and that it took up a large enough area that even with the large number of people who were there (it was Good Friday) it didn't feel that crowded.  We were also very excited that we were able to see the baby panda, which had been born only months before.

Of course no trip to California would be complete without some time spent on the beach, even though the water is always cold, and even more so at the end of March.  We went to the "Dog Beach" at Huntington Beach, because it affords SC the opportunity to spend time with two of her favorite things, dogs and beaches.  We were there for just over an hour and the day was beautiful.  We could see across the coast clearly to Long Beach, and all the way out to Catalina Island.  We also saw a small pod of dolphins come very close to the shore.

Finally, the best part of the trip was getting to see all the family we miss so much when we are at home in Texas.

So, of course, one weekend away couldn't have kept me from the computer for two whole months, so what else was going on?  Well, I did get to travel with AC to London, which was a fabulous trip, but I also got to travel with him to New York City on a last minute trip between the one to CA and the one to the UK.  Though he had to do work during both of these trips, the ability to get some time for just us was wonderful, and I was able to see one city that I have only seen briefly and another country I had never been to.  We didn't take many pictures in NY, but the best sight we saw was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and their exhibit called "Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity."  They had impressionist paintings displayed, and then many of the actual dresses/costumes that were worn by the women during the sitting for the painting.  It was phenomenal.

 

In London I was able to spend a couple of days traveling around on my own while AC worked and saw so much, but have so much left to see in another trip.  Of course I saw Buckingham Palace, walked through Hyde Park and Mayfair, went to the British Museum (though I only got to see half of it!), had high tea at Fortnam & Mason, and ate so much delicious food.  I cannot wait to go back again and take SC with us next time, and hopefully it will be relatively soon.

I am so thankful that I was able to tag along with AC to London and NYC, and that both SC and I were able to tag along to Los Angeles.  Now that we are home from almost a month on the road (and having spent the last month trying to get back to reality), I will hopefully be able to get back on track with blogging and sharing our journey in life and the pursuit of wisdom.