With the wind blowing between 15 and 20 mph today under low hanging rain clouds and temperatures hanging at about 62 degrees, it was a good day for indoor activities. After a nice lunch at a restaurant in Long Beach, we - and eight bus loads of school kids - spent a few hours in the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Of course that didn't include the regular visitors with their little ones. There was a mess of kids, that's for sure. It was quite busy and quite loud with school groups. I kept seeing the chaperones counting heads and trying to herd their little group among the other little groups. I have no idea how they managed not to lose anyone.
It's a nice aquarium and the exhibits are well done. It's small in comparison to others we've visited and I would rate it as "average." We saw some fish we had never seen before, so it made it worthwhile.
We followed the GPS instructions to get there and drove through some interesting neighborhoods. Little Cambodia was one area where all the signs were in the Cambodian language. We drove through several areas with stores and homes sporting bars on the windows. The route we took was not exactly through the nicer parts of Seal Beach and Long Beach! Interesting, though. There was a museum of "Asian Pacific Ethnic Art" and one of Latin American art across the street. It was a real mixture of people and cultures. Traffic wasn't bad and it only took about 20 minutes to get there.
Speaking of neighborhoods, there is a neighborhood just outside the base here that looks as if they are high priced homes in a gated community. At the gate are several large pumps that look like grasshoppers (the kind you see in Texas) and interspersed among the homes are more. I suspect they are pumping natural gas since I saw some signs elsewhere that said that. It really looks strange and quite incongruous. If I owned a million dollar place in a gated community I don't think I would want to look out my window and have a view (or smell) of the machinery. Although, if that rig is what's allowing me to live there, maybe the view isn't so bad.
We stopped at a Ralph's grocery store to pick up a few things for our lunches on the road. It seems that if you want a bag for your groceries and you don't bring in one of your own, then there is a ten cent charge per bag for them to load your groceries into one. We didn't have our bags with us, so we just put the groceries back into the cart and rolled them out to the truck with Roger saying, "I don't need no stinking bags." The other day we were at the Target and were not charged for plastic bags. I don't think. I didn't look at the receipt now that I am thinking about it. Anyway, this is the new world order, I guess, and I need to remember when we are traveling to move my bags from the car to the truck before we leave. I have no issues with using my own - in fact, I prefer it - and at home I am rarely without them.
Not exactly sure what we will do tomorrow - Saturday of a three day weekend. I do have a book I started and need to finish right away and my crochet project is in need of some attention. I also currently have five "Friends" playing multiple games each of "Words with Friends." If they are home tomorrow they will be playing off and on all day so that gives my brain a workout. Roger has two books going - one on Audible and one on the Kindle - so, that and some Sudoku should entertain him most of the day and keep his brain from atrophying!! He's also got some woodworking magazines here - he needs to find a project for when we get home. Of course, the Maggster will be hunting squirrels and acting like the little terrier she is.
Will check back in tomorrow, but it will probably be a short note.
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