I Need to Grown Out My Hair

When I discovered what I can do with my hair, once I let it get long again, I became excited. I'm hoping to be able to have my own Christmas Hair Tree one year. Hysterical!





I wonder if I could convince Steve to become my 'hairdresser'. Wow.

My braids aloft is the wildest hairstyle I've had, if you don't count the 80s. What fun. I'm cracking myself up.

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SeaWorld is 60 and We're Back!

For those unaware, SeaWorld San Diego, a theme park in Mission Bay Park, is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. Since it's been at least 25 years since we've been there, we took advantage of the Annual Pass Holiday Sale and bought ourselves an early Christmas present.

It was founded in 1964 by four UCLA grads who had originally set out to build an underwater restaurant and marine life show. When the underwater restaurant concept was deemed unfeasible, they scrapped those plans and decided to build a park instead, which opened on March 21, 1964. With a few dolphins, sea lions, six attractions and 22 acres, the park proved to be a success and more than 400,000 guests visited in the first 12 months. It has grown exponentially since then. Wow.

In addition to being a wonderful place to spend the day, SeaWorld has a number of conservation and educational programs, including: animal rescue and rehabilitation, scientific research, conservation education, habitat protection, and species research.
Our Christmas gift was shared with Lynne and Scott whose last visit to SeaWorld was even longer ago. We all explored like it was completely new to us.
Our timing was perfect, "Bring your family together for the eye-catching spectacles, heartwarming traditions, and joyful surprises of SeaWorld San Diego’s Christmas Celebration. The holidays are meant to be merry and bright, and that’s exactly what you’ll find as this beloved event returns with more wondrous moments than ever."
First stop was to ogle, and learn about, reindeers. What fun.


I love rides and after fracturing my neck in 2019, I was told by my orthopedist that my days of wild rollercoasters are over. What fun for me to find Rescue Riders whose promotional material reads, "Get ready to feel the wind in your hair and the rush of adventure on Rescue Riders - the ultimate experience for little heroes who dream of saving animals on the water! 48" min. height. Low Thrill." It's SeaWorld's equivalent of Disneyland's Dumbo. What's not to love?

The star of SeaWorld has always been Shamu*. We had to see Orca Encounter, a live show highlighting the park's killer whales and various aspects of their lives, biology, and adaptations. Post-2015, the show focuses less on physical entertainment with the trainers and more on showcasing the animals themselves. I thought the new focus was the right one. We were all duly impressed
That's me on the left.
*SeaWorld's main attraction is its collection of orcas, eight of which are housed in SeaWorld San Diego in a 7,000,000+ gallon pool. Shamu was the name of the first orca brought to SeaWorld San Diego in 1965. Shamu is now used as the character name for the costume character at the park entrance who we missed. Next time!

Our next show was Dolphin Adventures which explained a great deal about the whale and dolphin family while showcasing some pretty cool stunts.
There are three species of dolphins here: common dolphin hybrid, Atlantic, and Pacific bottlenose dolphins, and Pacific and Atlantic short-finned pilot whales. All of which put on a terrific show.
A perk of our new passes is food to feed the sea lions. It may seem simple but we were severely harassed by some very aggressive egrets who were hungry, too.



Next we entered into an amazing underwater viewing tunnel and watched as sharks of all shapes, colors, and sizes passed us, no doubt licking their lips if they had any.
What's extra fun about this photo is that I brought Cub Scouts here for a sleepover quite possibly the last time I was at SeaWorld. Because we were some of the first to arrive, we got to choose the best spot in which to place our sleeping bags. We were lucky enough to be on the ledge above the moving sidewalk right next to the shark tunnel (where Steve is leaning). I will admit it was a bit ooky seeing creatures swimming by all night, but how totally fascinating.
After feeding them, we had to learn more about Sea Lions at a new educational presentation featuring California sea lions and Asian small-clawed otters.



As the sun went down, the festive level rose. SeaWorld does festive well.
Although short, the All-New! Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Parade provided 'festive'. Mrs. Claus and her merry band of elves journeyed through the park delighting children of all ages.





The only ride Steve went on was the Electric Eel. Opened in 2018, the Electric Eel is a Sky Rocket II model by Premier Rides. It stands at 150 feet tall, with a track length of 853 feet, and speeds of up to 62 miles per hour. Both he and Scott loved it... once.





We loved this first visit to SeaWorld with Lynne and Scott. We all left feeling as if Christmas was really here. Steve and I are excited to share this special place with our sons and their families. It will be the first time for our grandchildren and at least one of our daughters-in-law. I'll be sharing more adventures here with photos but with less detail. You've been warned!

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LA Day Pt. 2: Autry Museum

Our day wasn't done after Walt's Barn. We did lunch and then moved on to the Autry Museum of the American West.

This Museum brings together the stories of all peoples of the American West, connecting the past with the present to inspire our shared future. The Autry features unique galleries filled with paintings, sculptures, film memorabilia, photographs, historic firearms and so much more, all related to the American West. The Autry’s more than 600,000 pieces of art and cultural objects include one of the largest and most significant collections of Native American materials in the United States.

For those who don't know the namesake of this museum, Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry, nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American actor, musician, singer, composer, rodeo performer, and baseball team owner, who largely gained fame by singing in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades, beginning in the early 1930s. He co-founded the Autry Museum of the American West in 1988.
While we didn't have quite enough energy to do this museum justice we did have an incredibly fun time exploring what we could. In the long-term exhibition Imagined Wests, visitors of all ages can explore the ways we tell stories about the American West through pop culture, clothing, toys, art, archives, and other media. The exhibition features over 250 objects from the Autry collections, as well as multimedia and hands-on activities, including the museum’s popular “green screen.” The gallery asks, as we so often do at the Autry, “What is a Western?
Oh my gosh, the green screen. We were so ripe to be thoroughly impressed by this. Just looking at these images makes me crack up as hard as I did on Sunday. HYSTERICAL.
The green backdrop means that only the subject is picked up in photography or filming, making it possible to add a different background or scene during post-production. This is achieved thanks to a technique called chroma keying. Green screens are popular in product photography, advertising, film, television and more. When can one sit happily while a great white approaches or a T-rex?
Oh man, still laughing!
The museum offered numerous hands-on activities. I enjoyed Write Your West. You spin each wheel to get two different words. The writing prompt is "What is the title of your book and what's it about?"
With only a little time, Coyote Raygun read, "He took his taloned paws, aimed the raygun at his enemy and vaporized him. That coyote has skill. The enemy had no chance. 'Who's the big dog?' coyote asks." Funny stuff.





One exhibition illuminated the sweep of American Western history through one of its definitive artifacts: the firearm. The display in the Gamble Firearms Gallery features some of the finest specimens of the gun maker’s art by iconic manufacturers such as Remington, Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Winchester, among others. Their history, provenance, and craftsmanship contribute to a museum display of nearly unmatched value.




Art of the West showcases the dynamic and evolving world of art that springs from the cultural practices of some of the many peoples who have shaped the American West. This exhibition is the first of its kind to explore how shared values and interests have inspired artists from different cultures and times to create distinctive, powerful works that speak to their experience of the West as both a destination and a home.
Here we got to 'meet' various arts and learn about them through their holograms. This is Luis Tapia.
He shares, via his Spanish Colonial Carreta, that "In Hispanic and Chicano culture, customized cars called lowriders have special meaning. Designed to cruise low and slow, lowriders sport spectacular paint jobs and handcrafted interiors."
One exhibit that really demands more time, and explanation, is Future Imaginaries. "It explores the rise of Futurism in contemporary Indigenous art as a means of enduring colonial trauma, creating alternative futures and advocating for Indigenous technologies in a more inclusive present and sustainable future. Over 50 artworks are on display, some interspersed throughout the museum, creating unexpected encounters and dialogues between contemporary Indigenous creations and historic Autry works."
Wendy Red Star places Indigenous people in surreal spacescapes wearing fantastical regalia.




Out of Site: Survey Science and the Hidden West demanded a much longer explore and maybe Steve to explain it to me. The exhibit focused on three technological revolutions to examine how visual technologies, artistic interventions, and the workings of state power have evolved in tandem with the Western landscape: wet-plate photography, used to theorize geological processes; the rise of aerial photography and pattern recognition; and the increasing use of drones, satellites, and other long-range photographic technologies to image secretive sites, military installations, and other technologically-mediated locales. The exhibition features 90 artworks, archival materials, and devices ranging from mammoth plate cameras to drones.


This image sums up our day. It was one of whimsy, discovery, perplexities, and great friendship. It was truly an exceptional LA day!

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