I couldn’t help myself gawking out the window, to the slightly excited Pacific breakers, thinking about the time I saw the Pacific from the other side ..
when someone suddenly started singing on the loudspeaker.
“I love your redwood forests
Love your fields of yellow grain
I love your summer breezes
And I love your winter rain..”
It’s a wonderful say outside, folks! the cafe car attendant then continued, briefing us about the temperature and estimated time to reach San Diego.
It simply made my day, this guy singing!
Of course I found him on YouTube last week, and as it turns out he’s a sort of local legend – because he always sings and passengers simply love it!
I agree with him completely, trains are just a beautiful way of traveling!
The Pacific Surfliner takes you from L.A. to San Diego in about 2h30.
Its name gives it away: for at least half the ride, you’ll be enjoying the scenic Pacific coastline and surf.
San Diego wasn’t really part of my plans when I decided to spend an extra week in California, after our sales meeting ended.
But of course: when the opportunity presented itself, I wasn’t one to say no to it!
So I took off for an in’n out, one-day trip, triggered mostly because of SeaWorld.
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The San Diego SeaWorld
San Diego’s SeaWorld Aquarium receives between 3.5 and 4M visitors each year, and it’s a humongous place, with lots of things to see and do.
The one exhibition I liked most was, or course, the Penguin exhibit.
SeaWorld features over 300 penguins (!) from 7 different species.
This may not mean much to you not obsessed with penguins, but it’s the most you’d ever see outside of SeaWorld, and that is if you’re a very lucky tourist and you’re not a marine biologist snooping around in Antarctica.
It is also one of the few places in the world where emperor penguins are kept in captivity, boasting a successful breeding program too.
They had Emperors, Kings, Gentoos, Macaronis, Adelies, Magellanics, and Humboldts.
It’s a Penguin fiesta!
Cloudbursts, Shopping and Burritos
We only saw half of the killer whale show, because of the moody sudden cloudbursts.
Sure, the rain was quick to end, but in its short lifespan it went aaaaaaaall the way down to our socks.+
So we had to stop and buy some dry socks and jeans, in an attempt to avoid catching a cold.
(Ahem, in my book that’s a good enough excuse any given day, okay? )
Dry again, I had my first burrito encounter & it was everything I expected and more!
Come to think about it actually, too much…
Why – oh why !? – do they make food sizes so undefeatably huge in the US?
Memory is a fascinating thing..
I’ve been hooked on penguins for so long..
And yet surprisingly enough, it’s not the penguins that I remember most fondly from that trip, but rather the impromptu train recital & the way it lit up my already awesome field day.
So thank you, random person in the train, for that personal soundtrack I can attach to my San Diego memories.
What’s your fondest random travel moment ?Please share 😉
Happy wandering!