It seems as though we’ve become full-time sightseers. Travis is a full-time-sightseer/incognito-business-owner. While we get ready to go in the mornings, he sits in the van on his conference calls. While we drive to or from our destination he puts on his headset and makes his calls - my kids have become very good at being quiet in the van while Dad is on the phone. While we take our bathroom breaks at the parks, museums or zoo he returns calls. But as you can tell from previous blogs, with pictures to prove it, when Travis is with us he, is with us. Nobody can turn business on and off quite like Travis. To the credit of the people he works with, many of them are incredible leaders and are more than capable of handling matters in his absence.
Saturday, while Travis' team finished one of their best sales weeks ever, we were galavanting around the U.S. Olympic Training Center. This center, located in Chula Vista, is one of 3 U.S. Olympic Training Centers around the country - the other two in Colorado and New York. In Chula Vista athletes train for any of ten different sports. We saw where they practice archery, BMX biking, canoeing/kayaking, cycling, field hockey, rowing, rugby, soccer, track and field, and beach volleyball. It was picturesque and quiet. Taite, an obvious athlete, enjoys every sport. Upon arrival at the track, Travis and Taite raced the quarter mile lap. Even while we walked around Seaworld he practiced his imaginary archery. Lincoln is the one, however, we could imagine training at this facility. I’m quite sure he’ll be a BMX bike olympian. One must be 16 years old to train for the Olympics. We’ve got 12 more years to prepare. We’ll keep you posted.
Chula Vista was the home to Jim and Linda (Travis’ parents) when Jim was stationed there for the Navy. In 1970 Chula Vista’s population was 68,000. Today - 40 years later - 268,000 people reside in Chula Vista. Talk about growth! After the Olympic Training Center we were looking for a deli to eat lunch. Our favorite places to eat are the local non-chain eaterys. Urbanspoon.com recommended Hungry Hank’s Deli. We give it two thumbs up. The Wild Turkey sandwich was incredible.
Before heading home we stopped at the mall to buy some tennis shoes for Parker. Travis and Parker went inside. The rest of us drove around the busy parking lot looking for a place to park. Along our drive we saw license plates from Hawaii and Virginia. Yes, we have been playing the license plate game. It was one of the many fun games Linda printed from www.momsminivan.com. We started the game in Oklahoma before Christmas. We are still playing today, determined to find all 50 states. Hawaii was a big deal.
Instead of parking, we decided to slowly drive up and down the rows until Travis and Parker returned. From the back row I hear, “Mom! I see a Gamecocks sign in the next row! Do you know what state that is?!” I’m sure Taite was testing me to see how well I know my college mascots. I had no idea. “It’s South Carolina! Drive that way!” Sure enough, South Carolina can now be checked off the list. We all did our best ‘excited dance’ seated in the van. Then I hear Taite say, “We don’t like the Gamecocks because they beat us in our bowl game last year.” If it’s about football, that information goes into the vault.
The rest of the day was dedicated to ping pong, swimming, playing, cleaning the RV (it only takes about 20 minutes to clean the Flyer’s interior ;-)), and one music lesson. We had to have a lesson on hearing the beat of the music. We brought our iHome with us and my children love to dance and clap the songs - except they can’t seem to clap to the beat and it’s driving me nuts. We had our first lesson about the 8-count today. They are starting to hear it...starting...trying. (If anyone has tips on how to teach someone to hear the beat, I'll take them.)
Sundays are one of our favorite days. In Minnesota we attend an incredible church. It is certainly one of many things we miss. We are truly a part of the body of Christ. While we are away we want to remain faithful in gathering to focus on God. My friend Cheryl sent me a comprehensive list of Bible-based churches in the San Diego area, but we have enjoyed taking our Sunday mornings to be a family together in the Word. Travis named it the Nautica Flyer Community Church (NFCC). We turn on our iTunes Christian playlist and sing three or four songs, dancing and trying to clap to the beat. Then we pray. This week’s passage was Genesis 1:1-2:4 (the creation story). I read the passage then Travis broke the passage out by day. We talked about each day in comparison to all the things we’ve seen on this trip. After our discussions we always sing a few more songs, pray again, and end our ‘service.’ By the end of the NFCC service there is usually at least two children laying upside down on the couch or doing somersaults on the floor. For the NFCC, that’s fine. It’s how we do school, too. Sometimes our children learn best while doing gymnastics.
After church we headed to San Diego’s famous Balboa Park. We are members at the Science Museum of Minnesota. This membership allows us to visit many other museums at no charge. The Natural History Museum (or the NAT) located in Balboa Park is one of them. I forgot my membership card at the RV so I had to phone a friend at the SMM. Soon we were wandering around a great horse exhibit within the NAT. Like many little girls, both Calla and Parker are huge fans of horses. This exhibit was a highlight for them. We also went to Ms. Fizzle’s Magic School Bus lesson about germs. We left inspired to wash our hands and make sure our white blood cells work right. ;-)
The NAT, lunch, then the San Diego Junior Theater. There we saw a hilarious play called “The Stinky Cheese Man.” It was a paradoxical interpretation (Travis’ $10 words) of several children’s nursery rhymes. “Run, run, run as fast as you can. You can’t catch me. I’m the stinky cheese man!” We all loved it. How fun that we got to incorporate theatrical arts into our travels. We’ll return to the Junior Theater next time we are in San Diego.
Today was Seaworld. High/low is a ‘game’ we play regularly. Each person gets to share a highlight from the day and the worst part of their day. Taite’s high was the Shamu show, no low today. Calla’s high was the dolphin show. Her low was leaving the park. Lincoln’s high was petting the bat rays (in the stingray family). His low was also coming home. Parker concurs with Taite - the whale show was best. She concurs with Calla and Lincoln for her low. My favorite part was the sea lion show. It was supposed to be like SNL (Saturday Night Live), but was SLL (Sea Lions Live). They used four popular TV series to show off the sea lion skills. I laughed out loud often. Travis’ high was watching the walrus eat its dinner, regurgitate it, then eat it again. Not my highlight, but to each his own.
The walrus is an animal comprised of lots of blubber. Because I’m starting to feel a bit like a walrus I’ve managed to commit to a form of exercise here - walking. I get up before the fam and walk along the sidewalks in view of the ocean. The locals say they are having an extreme cold spell right now. We wake up in the mornings to 40 degrees. It’s colder than I had hoped, but it’s still warmer than Minnesota. It’s the kind of weather I’d go walking in if I was at home. The views along my morning walks are fabulous. I’ll miss these when we leave.
Tomorrow is our last full day in San Diego. I’ll be sad to go but we'll get to visit more friends once we leave. I hope we do this type of trip again next year - and maybe spend more time in southern California. Besides missing our family and friends, we feel right at home here.
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