Final days: H20 fun at the water park and beach

  Irvine, California, United States
Saturday, July 28, 2007

Yesterday was a very hot day - around 30 degrees Celsius - and we aptly spent it by giving into our inner children and taking in the utter enjoyment of frolicking with hundreds of 0-10 year olds at the "premier" water park in Southern California - Wild Rivers (www.wildrivers.com) in the city of Irvine, just a 45 minute drive away from the hotel. (wow, wasn't that a run on sentence?!)

Waterpark II

I chose this water park over several others because it seemed to be a lot of fun, and not just with water slides.  There were lots of other water "activities" to partake in there as well, as well as ample opportunity to sit in an inner tube while either relaxing in a quarter-mile "river" or speeding down a pitch black enclosed water slide lit up intermittenly with little lights inside.

When we arrived there we rented a double (2 person) inner tube for the day and the first thing we did was to plop down into the Safari River Expedition, which was a one quarter mile circular "river" that took us through the whole thing via the current.  That was a good way to get initiated and to start off with something easy and slow.  After that we went on a water slide ride for inner tubes, which I couldn't believe I was actually doing when we finally got the the top!  Here we were again, living on the edge by speeding down a scary water slide ride from a great height, and not knowing what was coming ahead!  I hadn't been on a water slide in many, many years, and that was represented by the fear I had of this unknown thing!  But when we did it, it actually wasn't that scary and was actually a lot of fun.  We did a few more water slide rides, the last one being The Abyss, for inner tubes, and it was unfortunate that, even with our pre-paid inner tubes (others who hadn't rented them had to wait even longer!), we still had to wait about a good 45 minutes minutes, out in the blazing sun, sandwiched inbetween a barrage of little kids who were also in the line up.  Not too many adults there doing the rides as well, and if they were, it was because they were going with their kids.  (I think the majority of the adults, assuming they were there, were mostly lounging in the covered cabanas that you could rent for $55 a day.)  We were really the only "elderly" people, that I could see, who were doing this for their own fun and excitement!  That's okay though - like I said, we were living on the edge for a day.  We ended off the afternoon by taking in the Monsoon Lagoon - a very large wave pool - and took in a couple of rounds there in the inner tube.  Once the waves got started, the sensation was that of a roller coaster ride - that dipping feeling you feel when it's like your heart and lungs have been left behind you in the rush of motion.  Ben was really enjoying it.  With just his hands he actually paddled us out to the very end of the pool so we got the largest waves, and then he was spinning us around, and also took pleasure in purposely knocking little kids off their tubes!  I was starting to get "sea" sick by the end of it, but it was fun!  Being exposed under the sun all afternoon had taken its toll though and we were pooped for the rest of the day.
---------------------------------------

Today was our final day of our 2 week vacation - hard to believe it was finally upon us, but also in a way it was comforting to know that reality was coming back as we were soon to head back to Vancouver by plane.  Our plane wasn't to take off until 6pm though, so we decided to spend our final time here by taking in the beach again for a few hours until we had to leave for the airport.

We went to Manhattan Beach, since it was the closest one to the hotel (just 10 minutes away), and it's also really close to the airport.  This was the beach I had visited in the evening last week, and it was nice to see it in the day, all sunny and bustling with people.

Another hot day - they all were -, with lots of people laying on the beach or swimming/surfing in the ocean.  We walked out on the pier there and I took lots of nice photos of the beach from varying locations.  One last day to enjoy the ocean and the sand in a paradise that is otherwise inaccessible to me in my normal life....  After walking on the pier, we found a spot on the sand, right in front of the the water, and sunbathed for awhile.

Manhattan Beach I

Despite the sun tan oil, I did get somewhat burnt today - although I think this was actually at the airport while sitting in front of the window for some time - and Ben got quite burnt as well, as he refused to be sunblocked for some reason.  But he looks like a native indian now, in general, especially on his face, while I actually have quite a bit of colour on me as well - it's actually noticeable.  I, who normally avoids the sun in fear of getting skin cancer, have... a tan.

One last chance to enjoy the cool, fresh ocean waves pounding upon the yellow sand, and I did.  Ben didn't want to go in the ocean because we had to get on a plane next, but I didn't care.  After frolicking in the waves for awhile, I just put my dress on again over my bathing suit and went to the airport like that.  When I went to bed later on at home, there was still sand on me and I had to get up and shake it off.  And even though Ben said he didn't want to get wet, his legs accidentally got submerged by a wave and soaked his shoes and socks, so he ended up going to the airport with soaking wet feet and also had a bed full of sand when he got home, he said.  When he was going through security at the airport and had to take his shoes off to walk through the scanner, he left behind a trail of wet footprints that surprisingly drew no alert to the security staff.

We spent a couple of relaxing hours at the beach and then headed to the airport.  The plane left around 6:30pm and I let Ben have the window seat this time, which he really enjoyed.  I think he was looking out the window during most of the flight, while I was SO tired and was just trying to sleep.

Ben and I on the beach

Anyways, it's all over now.  My itching red arms are what I have to show for it, as well as lots of good photos, some good video, and the positive experience that we both had at the AR conference.  I am really glad I went to the conference - finally, after 2 years of waiting for it! - and Ben is too, which I am very happy about.  He said he learned a lot from it, and so that makes it all worthwhile.  The 13 days went by fairly quickly, and were jammed packed with activity for the most part.  I'm glad that I was disciplined this time by recording down in writing and pictures my/our experiences, as it's the memories that are important after all is done, and it's nice to remember that we took some time out to live and enjoy life.