Summer Vacation Part I

I can't believe I haven't posted in the month of July.  Fear not.  I'm about to go on a Dickens-like bender.  Hopefully there is enough space on the interweb machine to store everything I plan to write.   My lack of posting should not be construed as lack of activity at the McGuirk home.  Quite the contrary, we just returned from seven days in Ventura Beach, California.  We had an awesome time.  The following posts will not be a sequential recap of our activities, but they should cover everything we did.  We stayed with my Great Aunt Eileen, and the title is appropriate.  She lives in a beach house that is literally a stone's throw (a sea-shell's throw) from the beach.

In the first photograph, you see the end of the road, and beyond that, the endless Pacific (yes, and some clouds too).  In the second picture, you see the first house directly on the beach (not Eileen's).  The green house (yes, it looks green to me, so no comments about my eyes) is Eileen's.  Beautiful views of the ocean from her windows.  Awesome location, and we can't thank her enough for putting us up for the week.

On Wednesday (I think it was Wednesday--the days all seem to run together as I look back.  I could be a forensic accountant and look at my credit card statement to see when we did what, but that would take something like three mouse-clicks and some password information, and I'm still in that lazy-beach mode where anything other than typing feels like an effort) we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo.  This was a great zoo--not as big as the Columbus Zoo in Ohio or the Omaha Zoo, but very nice.  Here's a picture of Bode, anxious to go inside.

Note the shades.  Somehow, mine are now his, and I'm back to wearing the ones I have had for years.  Funny how that happens.  Just call him Hollywood.  Next we have a cool shot of Bode and Mommy, doing some type of dance while waiting to go inside.

Once in the zoo, we saw lots of animals (shocking)--some big elephants

and a gorilla or two.

There was this neat graphic that compared the size of a gorilla to a human.  I think I'm taller than most of them, but their arm-span is over nine feet.  Plus, the males weigh 400+ pounds, so if it came to a wrestling match, the gorilla has a slight edge over Bode and me.

There were some bald eagles, which, surprisingly, taste like chicken.  Who would have thought a California zoo would have bald eagle on their lunch menu.

The Santa Barbara zoo was similar to most zoos we've been to in that it had a little kid's play area, which is usually the highlight of the trip.  There was this large mound (some would call it a hill) the kids would run up and roll down.  The more experienced parent's brought card-board boxes, which made great sleds.  Bode was lucky to have get one from someone who was leaving.  Here's are some action photo of the little dare-devil.

There was this little penguin names Lucky that was born with a problem with his leg.  The vets at the zoo designed a little boot for the fellow.  Here's a shot of him swimming.  He reminded us of Nana and her booted foot.  Not to get political, but I'm sure the cost of developing the boot for this little feathered friend was in the tens of thousands (especially when you add things like Lucky's co-payment whenever he sees a specialist).  Not to throw stones, but isn't California something like forty billion in debt?  I know, a drop in the bucket, but every little penny counts :-)

Bode really liked Lucky and the other penguins.  All in all, the day was lovely.  We headed back to Ventura in the early afternoon, but I'll talk about that during a different post.  Pleasant day to all.