San Diego... first impressions

So we made it to the Embassy Suites, right across from Seaport Village, and it's hard to believe that just hours ago we were in Austin. (I think we saw the Grand Canyon on the way here, which was kind of cool -- and I always forget how much desert there is out there.)

Anyway, highlights of the day include a long discussion of the emergency procedures card in the airplane with my son ("I hope we land in the mountains so we can use the emergency exits!"), followed by consumption of six bags of Doritos and some kind of crunchy mixed dried fruit.

We landed -- not in the mountains, to my relief and Ian's disappointment -- and after a brief but stressful ride from the airport (they have Birds of Paradise just growing on street corners here, and also that kind of dry papery purple flower you buy at the florist -- cool!), we arrived at Embassy Suites. Which has a little river running through the lobby (and a long snake of people bellying up to the bar for free booze) but no free internet access. So this is a rather pricey blog entry, but what the hey.

Anyway, in the little river downstairs, there are monster koi, turtles, and a bird-poop-spattered turtle house. The sign calls it "Turtle Town" -- it's a little stone enclosure with an arched entry and a heat lamp -- but Ian looked at it and said, "Look! It's Turtle Church!" Thank God we've made some progress with our haphazard approach to his religious upbringing. At least he thinks reptiles have churches, too.

We ate dinner on the harbor (I had Mahi Mahi on wilted greenery), and now I'm in my room blogging and listening to the sounds of 40s music from a party on the aircraft carrier across the street, punctuated by Ian rushing in and saying, "There's a trolley!" every time one jingles by. Which is approximately every five minutes. I hope he doesn't figure out how to fall out the window.

He's now doing flips on my bed, so I'm going to retire before my laptop crashes to the floor. Which would be most annoying, particularly since I just paid for 4 days of Internet access. In the event that he falls asleep before I do, I'll be back to read all those fabulous comments.

Oh -- one more thing -- it's so jarring seeing the Mexican tiles and style here -- I associate that with inland Texas, not coastal California. But I guess that would explain the name: San Diego.

Tomorrow is zoo day. I'll check back if we make it through without being eaten by lions.

Ta for now!

And one more thing... I do have my camera, but no iPhoto, so I'll post my pics when I get home.