San Diego 3Day...finally

Howdy there neighbor. It’s me. The long lost blogger…sheesh I can’t believe how long it’s been and frankly I couldn’t even tell you what’s been going on. So let’s start with something I know I haven’t blogged about…the San Diego 3Day.

 

The first impression I had of the San Diego 3day was, unfortunately, shock.  They call this 3Day the “Boob Crawl” and for very good reason. The amount of alcohol up and down the route was astounding.  One of our team members said that in one day (or maybe before lunch one day) she counted 48 places along the route that were handing out alcohol of some sort. Right out of the camp on day two the walkers are greeted with mimosas or bloody marys. Then throughout the route they get jell-o shots, shots of tequila, lemonade with vodka, vodka soaked gummy bears and more.  

 

I was a bit bummed about this part of it.  It seemed to really be counter to what the 3day message was all about.  And the number of walkers that we saw “stumble” into camp each night was higher than I think it should be. 

 

Still, the 3day Walker Stalker part was a blast.  Stalking in a different city is very different. Not knowing the roads threw us a few challenges and caused us to break a few traffic laws. But laws don’t count on the 3Day.

 

 

 

Opening was a bit outside San Diego, not far, (nothing seems to be far there) and was the standard 3Day rah-rah opening. I'm not a huge fan of the new way they are doing the Survivor Circle these days. They used to showcase 8 Survivors in a raised platform in the center of all the walkers. When the Survivors walk in and climb the stairs to the platform it's pretty powerful stuff. Now they have the Survivors up on stage and it's just not as powerful. 

 

 

 

 

I didn't get a Mustang from the car rental place. Got a crappy Eclipse, but it was still a convertible.  Blueberry and I decorated it and we were off.

 

 

 

The walkers walked primarily along the water, which made it extra hard to stalk them. So many beach houses that we couldn't every really see the walkers. So we found places to park and cheer.

The MomUnit and QueenPopUp were also on the route with us occasionally.  They slept in and joined us later in the morning usually. It worked out well - up until they asked where we were.  I had no idea half the time. 

 

Here are some of my favorite 3Day people we saw on the route.

The Hooker Mobile followed us everywhere I swear. They had a minivan and were blasting the tunes.  Then they'd hop out and start dancing for the walkers. They were awesome.

Jello-o shots anyone?

 

This gal was hilarious.  She was dancing like a crazy person then kept saying things like her back hurt...gee I wonder why.

And lastly, here are some of our team. We picked up two new team members along the way. Seattle SIL had a tent mate she hadn't met until the 3Day (her name was also Jennifer so we knew she'd be way cool) and then a gal they picked up during Opening (I believe her name was Tammy).

Here they come!

Princess Lori, me, Seattle SIL and Blueberry

Seattle SIL at closing. Think she was glad it's over?

Left to Right: Tammy, Queen PopUp (kneeling), Princess Lori, Seattle SIL, Jennifer (kneeling), Princess Carla, Blueberry, me and the MomUnit.



San Diego Wild Safari Park...or whatever it's called

I'm just finishing up blogging about my San Diego trip that now seems like a lifetime ago. 

On the last day of actual vacation time (we really went to San Diego so Seattle SIL, and other princesses could walk in the San Diego 3 day - I'll get to that shortly) we went out to Ramona.  Why Ramona? Good question. Other than it was yet another Diner, Drive-Ins and Dives cafe out there we wanted to try. And oh boy am I glad we did.

Not only did we have a massive cinnamon roll, but we had a fantastic breakfast.

 

 

After gorging ourselves on unhealthy items, we hopped back in the van and headed the short distance to the Safari park.

I have vague memories of going to the park a hundred years ago with Grandma and Grandpa Wraspir. I remembered the tram and seeing animals in their natural (ish) environment, but really didn't remember much more than that.

The Safari Park has really done a great job, I think, at maintaining a lot of room for the animals to roam free. Most do. Some are still pinned up, but their pins seem quite large and comfy.

I LOVED the lions.  They were sleeping, of course, except Mr. King Lion glanced my way. And I swear he was thinking I'd make a good hearty lunch.

 

We saw gorillas and a baby gorilla - so dang cute.

We saw Cheetas.

 

We saw Flamingos!!!

 

We saw giraffes.

 

 

We saw rhinos!

 

 

We saw zebras!

 

We saw elephants, and an elephant baby. Though in typical elephant / Jenn fashion, all I really got were photos of elephant asses.

But my favorite of all were the tigers! 

One tiger was just hanging out resting, minding his own business. (Note, not sure if it was a boy or girl tiger, so we'll just call it a him for simplicity).

Brother Tiger decided to come out and see what was going on.

He started stalking the other tiger who was minding his own business.

And eventually bothering brother tiger..

The brother tiger was all, "I was sleeping here!"

And then he was all, "And now I'm gonna kick your ass."

It was all so exciting to see big cats actually moving and not just sleeping.

The park was awesome. I loved seeing all the animals and seeing them thrive in a zoo environment. I'll leave you with a couple of my favorites.