San Diego Museums

San Diego is full of museums, many located in Balboa Park.  We visited two, the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the San Diego Natural History Museum (one for me and one for Lee).  We did not visit the San Diego Zoo on this trip, which I love, primarily because of cost.  Admission is now $42 per adult.  Even the discount packages are expensive.  We will visit the zoo another time, since I am sure we will return again. 

I will start with the aerospace museum.  We learned that this museum was largely destroyed by fire in 1978, and had to be rebuilt from scratch.  Most of the airplanes in the museum today have been donated since 1978, or are reproductions of originals.  It is a colorful place.  The first two photos are of WWI planes.  The red airplane in the background is a reproduction of the plane flown by the infamous Red Baron:

Included with the newer jets is a Blue Angels aircraft:

 

I apologize for the lack of detail in my exposé.  I am better at identifying birds than airplanes.

Okay, on to the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM).  I found the museum interesting because it was evident that it faces the same issues as the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia (ANS).  How do you draw people into exhibits?  How do you explain the current research of the scientists that work there?  What is the relevance of their work to today's society?  How do you let visitors see what goes on behind the scenes? 

First off, the SDNHM has a transparent entrance, a modern feature turned into an integral part of an older structure.  Planners came up with a similar idea for the Academy in a recent project, although it has not yet been applied:

 

Inside, the entrance opens up into a large atrium.  A grand stairway at one end leads upstairs:

 There had been talk of exposing behind-the-scenes activities at ANS by putting up glass walls in the research areas, so visitors could watch scientists at work.  At the SDMNH,one glass window has been installed in the Entomology Department, so the concept has been applied on a very small scale:

Many items are exhibited in small display cases in a traditional manner.

Large skulls:

Tiny skulls (from lizard and snakes).  I like the horny toad skull the best, in the center:

Here is a simple activity that kids (and adult kids) seem to love:

On the top floor are the entries for an annual photography competition.  I'm glad I wasn't a judge - too hard!  There are some truly spectacular entries.  Sorry - visitors are not allowed to photograph the photographs, so this is as close as I dared to get: 

 

There is an exhibit case of live beetle larvae cleaning a specimen.  (Young boys would love this one!)

There is the obligatory dinosaur section, which included models that can be touched by little hands:

Dioramas are not behind glass.  How do they keep these free of dust??

Everyone likes fossilized nautili, right??

In the basement is a mineralogy exhibit which relates extensively to the geology of southern California and especially the area around San Diego.  There are some beautiful specimens.

The egg below, à la Fabergé, is perhaps 20" high.  In the center is a reproduction of San Diego's Balboa Park carousel, built in 1910.  The music box that is the base of the piece plays the carousel's music.

Look at these - fossilized shells replaced by the components of opals.  Aren't they beautiful?  Isn't nature amazing?

The next post will be of Tucson, Arizona, and spring in the desert.  It was 86 degrees today, perhaps hotter tomorrow.  But no worries - it isn't humid, so is not uncomfortable. : )

San Diego

Driving through LA and San Diego in an RV has been an experience.  We counted as many as 10 lanes going in one direction!  Can you believe it?  It is for this reason that Lee chose to drive through the San Fernando Valley on a weekend rather than a weekday.  The photo below is Hwy 15 in San Diego.  On the right is a wall which separates the regular traffic from the "express" traffic (a toll is charged for going express).  There are three more lanes on the other side of that wall going the same direction.

Lee and I walked on Mission Beach a couple of days ago.  Lee lived in Mission Beach when he was enrolled at UCSD.  He said it was difficult to study, because the views and weather are so beautiful.  Not surprising! 

On the other side of the main drag through Mission Beach is Mission Bay.  This sliver of land is not too wide - one main street, and a depth of one block of homes on each side.  Lee lived on the bay side:

On the south side of Mission Bay is Point Loma.  We drove towards the end of the point, and looked back on the U.S. Navy Base, and across to downtown San Diego.

A lighthouse stands at the end, up high on a bluff:

Also on the point leading up to the light house is Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  It is on both sides of the road, and easily accessible.

I stopped and contemplated one gravestone, of a young marine killed in Iraq.  I didn't know him, but seeing the gravestone saddened me.  I think it is true that because the current wars are on other continents, Americans feel separated from those wars.  Wars become more abstract than real.  Jorge's gravestone reminded me it is important to stop and remember our soldiers, and pray for them often.

Along the same lines, we visited the USS Midway, whose home is now on the San Diego waterfront.  The Midway was built between the years 1943 to 1945, and commissioned just after the end of  WWII.  She served in several wars, including the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm.  She was decommissioned in 1992 and opened to the public as a museum in 2004.  The exhibits are exceptional, and the tour lets visitors see the areas where daily activities took place. Because she is an aircraft carrier, she is also a museum of aircraft used through the years on carriers. 

Lee in the brig!

 

 Sailors' quarters:

The engine room:

The dentist's chair!

Steep stairways everywhere:

The biggest soup kettles I have ever seen:

Industrial irons for all those uniforms:

The chapel:

Instructions for trimming mustaches in the barber shop:

The point is, it's amazing how much it takes to keep a crew of 2000 and a huge ship functioning properly.  I had never thought of all the details.  Sick bay; ICU; Captain's Quarters, Chaplains' quarters; post office; pilots' "ready rooms"; a "store" of supplies like toothbrushes, tooth paste, and other personal items; and much, much more.

There are stories, too.  For example, the USS Midway was involved in the massive airlift of refugees following the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnamese War.  3,000 evacuees were on board that ship.  One small airplane flew over the aircraft carrier late that first day, wishing to land.  The deck was cleared, and when the plane landed and came to a stop, a husband, wife, and three children emerged.  This is a reproduction of that airplane, nothing like your typical aircraft carrier jet:

To move on, below:  Lee is in seventh heaven, at the controls in a jet's cockpit.

I took these photos for my dad, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War:

From the flight deck, visitors can view the San Diego skyline:

 

Thank you, Veterans.

Signing off,

Eileen

Eastward Bound

Yesterday, Saturday, we finally turned east.  We left San Diego and the Pacific Ocean behind, taking I-8 to Yuma, Arizona.  Why Yuma, you may ask?  Well, actually it's because the fantastic mechanic who fixed the hydraulics on our Winnebago in Ennis, Montana, winters in Yuma.  We wanted to stop and take Don (the mechanic) and his wife Bonnie to dinner.  Which we did last night, to a place with tons of character, a one-of-a-kind sort of place.  It was fun.

I have never been to Yuma.  I don't think I have ever been to Arizona, or even east of San Diego.  So this is all new territory to me.  The first thing that strikes me about Yuma is that there are a LOT of RV's here.  Snowbirds from the Northwest and Canada seem to relocate to Arizona for the winter.  Also, did you know that 80% of our winter supply of lettuce comes from Yuma?  Who knew??  All I can say is this place must be dead during the summer.  Except for rattlesnakes, that is.

When we checked in yesterday, the guard was dealing with a bee nest problem.  I don't know the details, but I suspect a queen bee and her subjects had bunched in a nearby tree or some such.  The guard told us he would much rather deal with rattlesnakes than with bees.  I said to him, "Do you shoot 'em?"  And he said no, he grabs a snake by the neck and sticks it in a bucket, then relocates it to the desert.  The desert happens to be on the other side of the wall around the park, but I would hope he takes them a little farther out.

 

We visited the San Diego Museum of Natural History last week (I do plan to write a post about it), and learned that many different minerals and gemstones are to be found in the hills just to the east of San Diego.  Driving on I-8, I could believe it.  The hills are full of rocks of all sizes.  Geologists must love this area.  This photo was taken of a hill next to a rest stop:

 

What I didn't know, but quickly learned, was that as we drove farther east we saw more and more rock piles.  I wouldn't call them hills or mountains, I would call them giant piles of rock, as if the gods were playing with and sorting rocks in some unknown pattern.

I even took a video of the area as we drove along.  Some might consider it barren and boring, but it was fascinating to me as I had never seen the area before.   If you have sound, you will hear the parakeets chattering in the background, competing with the radio.

Click here for video 

 The mountains eventually dwindled away and we hit the desert:

 

and then sand dunes that seemed to stretch on forever:

Today we are not doing much.  The winds are howling outside, and the sand is blowing.  It's not a full-blown dust storm, but as the day goes on the winds are supposed to increase, and already visibility is limited.  The mountains to the west are beautiful, and were quite clear yesterday.  Unfortunately I didn't take any photos then.  I took a couple today though - one this morning, and one this afternoon.  You will be able to see the difference in clarity.  

Tomorrow we head for Tucson.  We had hoped to cross the southern U.S. in a leisurely fashion, but this is not going to happen because of all the unanticipated time we spent in California.  So we pretty much have to scoot across, with no more than 1 to 3 nights in any one place.  We want to be home by the last week of April, so have one month to get there.  Why?  Mostly to do gardening, but also for a program I would like to attend at ANS (Academy of Natural Sciences) at the end of the month.  Philadelphia has had one of the warmest winters on record, and my garden will be totally out of control in no time at all!