Prospect Park - Redlands

Since the weather cooled down a bit this weekend, we decided to get out. We ended up driving around looking at houses in Redlands (which is the town next to Loma Linda). Thought how funny it was how we didn't consider that kind of thing entertaining when we were little but really enjoyed ourselves today! We headed to a park in Redlands that Clark knew about called Prospect Park. They hold weddings etc. there and it was quite a nice walk amongst all the vegetation and fresh air:) They even had a plant growing there that is indigenous to South Africa:) forget what it's called!

Here is a little garden that we spotted in Redlands which we thought looked very cute:) We don't know what building it belongs to but we suspect it might be a library or book store of some sort. Just reminded us a little of the restaurants in Stellenbosch.

Idyllwild

About an hour away from us is a little mountain town called Idyllwild. We took a drive out there last weekend and enjoyed the lovely scenery.


In the town itself - Sara still sporting her sun-burn from Sea World!

Watching a beautiful sunset at one of the look-out points along the route.

Sea World - San Diego

We spent a day at Sea World San Diego on Friday. It was a really hot day so the cooler San Diego weather really did us some good!

Walking through the "Shark Tunnel" exhibit one sees yourself surrounded by all the sharks...like this one that Clark snapped a picture of as it came swimming over us! Look at those razers! Much safer for Sara who would never want to go shark-cage diving at Gansbaai!

At the Shamu "Believe" show one can see the awesome killer whales perform a variety of maneuvers with their trainers. Here's one of a trainer on the tip of the killer whale, about to take a 15 foot dive back into the water!

And of course there is the "Soak Zone"! The whales are trained to give the audience a good splash down - not a bad place to sit considering that it was such a hot day!

At the dolphin show that had some great acrobatics going. Check how high this dolphin leaps out of the water for the flag at the end of the pole.

4th of July

We went out to La Quinta to watch fireworks with Jacques and Natasa. It really was an awesome display and we enjoyed the evening picnicking under the stars:) The evening temperature was a cool 32 degrees celcius!!!!

Brunch with SA friends

We had a lovely Sunday morning brunch with some South African friends to celebrate Independence Day. Vaughn and Larissa Grant just got their green cards so they were kind enough to invite us out to their lovely home today.

Jenny Joy with her lovely little girl Bianca who fell asleep after her daddy pushed her around a bit in her toy wheel-barrow - precious!!!

We celebrated Indepedence Day but Bianca was actually the only TRUE American among us since she was born here! Isn't she cute?

Jennifer's Wedding

Jennifer, one of the pharmacy technicians that works with Clark got married this weekend. It was a lovely wedding held in the apple orchards among the hills behind Yucaipa.

Here comes the bride...

The minister announces the new Mr. and Mrs. Shaw

We finally attend a wedding knowing what it's like to be the main attraction!!! It was good to feel MARRIED!!! Old married couple that we are.... (we celebrated 6 months this previous week). Sara felt so excited for Jennifer now that the stress is over and they are heading off on their honeymoon - a cruise:)

With the happy bride...

Clark and his women! Just kidding - he's a one-woman guy! These are some of the pharmacy staff Clark manages. Ester (the lady on the left with the pink skirt) is the other pharmacist at Yucaipa and she's also an Adventist.

Oasis Townhomes

The other evening we decided to take the camera with us on our usual evening walk so that we could take a couple of pics of the place where we live. Pictures of the interior of our little housie will have to wait until Sara is finished feathering the nest:)

This pic is a little dark but there is a water feature behind where Sara stands on the corner of our street near the entrance to Oasis Townhomes.

The electrical gates to our little community.

Sara in front of the club house.

Totsiens Sidney

On the last day of Sidney's visit we went for a drive down to the south beaches of LA and also made a stop at a SA food shop called "The African Hut"...they had all of our SA favourites for sale like Ouma beskuit, Mrs Balls chutney, Pronutro, Tempo chocolate, Appletiser, etc! So Clark and Sara really dug in and bought most of the shop!!! Then we went for lunch at an exotic restaurant called Mozambique coastal lounge in Laguna Beach.

Here we are "lounging" at the Mozambique which is owned and operated by South Africans. Sidney and Clark were more taken up with the soccer - Portugal vs Sweden in the round of 16 that was decided on a penalty shootout.

After travelling quite a strecth of the Pacific Coast Highway we stopped at Manhattan Beach, took a walk on the pier and watched the sun go down on Sidney's last day in USA. Many famous movies have been shot right here and what the picture doesn't show is that either side of the pier are literally hundreds of volley ball "courts" - this is where they play the annual US beach volley ball championships.

Outside the car garage at LAX on our way to check Sidney into his flight. It was already 10pm, yet there were so many people checking in and the traffic was really bad. We only got home at 1:30am on Tuesday morning!

Big Bear Lake

Here we are at the top after our gruelling climb to 8000 feet altitude - the air is pretty thin! Notice the ski-lift on the left - funny to think that on the hot day that during the winter time this entire area is covered in snow and with skiiers! That's Big Bear Lake at the bottom.

Here are the brave souls coming down the hill - it was worse coming down than going up!!!

Then for a relaxing 2 hr boat ride on the lake, we had to stop for pictures of this one - a floating longdrop in the middle of the lake! Only in America...

Here Jacques is at the helm steering our 16ft boat. The "waves" were pretty choppy and we all got a bit wet!

USS Midway - more pics

Here are some more thumbnails (click on them for a larger view) - from top to bottom -
1) Clark & Sidney inside the cockpit of one of the aircraft in the hanger (like true little boys they pressed all the buttons to their heart's content!).
2) Sidney walking on the almost 5 acre flight deck!
3) Captain Sidney posing at the back of a military helicopter.
4) Captain Sidney this time in the hanger with one of the jets.
5) Here in the engine room with the massive turbines and pistons - amazing to think that the aircraft carrier needs to refuel every ten days while at sea!!!

Sidney's Visit Vol 2 - San Diego

We spent one day in San Diego driving around doing a bit of sight-seeing. We spent most of the day at the USS Midway an aircraft carrier that is permanently docked in the San Diego harbour. It served in WWII and in the Gulf War and was retired shortly after. It was a fascinating tour much enjoyed by Clark and Sidney - it was like a walk-through National Geographic episode!

Here is Sidney about to go on board.

Inside the ship's tight sleeping quarters. Sidney tried to maneuver himself onto one of the bunks but we found that he was about 5 inches too tall and 10 inches too wide! :)

Here Clark finds himself on the other side! He checks out the ship's pharmacy. The Midway has a fully equiped sick-bay for 22 patients together with 2 operating theatres and a radiography room.

Here we are inside the main hanger that is below flight deck. Sidney and Sara are sitting in pilot ejector seats and watching a presentation on the big screen on some real-life situations where pilots had to eject from their aircraft.

After visiting the USS Midway we went for a late lunch at the Fish Market situated on the water next to the ship.