I've been down in San Diego since last Sunday attending an intense training program for the Aerospace Engineering course I will teach in the fall. The training itself has been extremely enjoyable as the curriculum has been extremely hands-on. We've had a chance to build many projects (rockets, gliders, etc.) and have been able to use a windtunnel to test the aerodynamics of some of our designs. On Wednesday, we were even able to take a field trip to the Air and Space Museum in Balboa Park.
Two full weeks apart from Colleen would have been next to impossible. Colleen graciously offered to drive down to San Diego to spend the weekend with me. We were able to get a nice hotel in the Gas Lamp District of San Diego and take in what the city had to offer.
On Saturday morning we left the hotel for Balboa Park, the home of the San Diego Zoo and countless museums. Our first big stop were the Botanical Gardens. Due to the temperate climate in San Diege, they are able to grow just about anything. The gardens were filled with an array of flowers, particularly orchids. We spent about 30 minutes here just taking pictures of the beautiful flowers. Colleen's pictures all turned out beautifully while mine were mostly out of focus. :)
We spent most of Saturday at the Zoo where we were able to see some amazing animals up-close. The Pandas and the Polar Bears were my favorite, but the Austrailian animals were quite fun too. They had a great variety of Kangaroos, Koalas, and Wallabies.
Sunday was another day of adventure at Sea World. Colleen absolutely loved the dolphins and we spent most of the day watching the trainers work with them. The dolphins seemed to be having so much fun playing and seem naturally friendly and curious towards people. Sea World wouldn't be complete without seeing Shamu, so we watched the Orcas before we left the park. They've definitely geared the entire park for kids so we'll have to make a return trip when we have children of our own.
It was hard to see Colleen leave tonight. I've got one more week of training and will fly back to Sacramento on Friday. I'm used to being able to spend every minute together with Colleen. During a trip like this it makes me realize how much I enjoy being around her. I can't help but smile as I look forward to the future.
