Travel Tales and Pictures

Travel Stories and Photographs by John.

Sunday

San Diego, California - San Diego Zoo - Part III

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.
A closeup of a peacock in the Flamingo Lagoon near the entrance to the San Diego Zoo.




Catherine in front of the Flamingo Lagoon

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.
Polar bear in San Diego Zoo’s "Polar Bear Plunge".

A bougainvillea plant in the San Diego zoo.


Queensland Koala






Catherine and I rode the "Skyfari Aerial Tram" that provided a view of the zoo from the air.

View of downtown San Diego from the Tram.

The roof of the "Museum of Man" in Balboa Park.


You can see the low flying plane over San Diego.





Use the search box at the bottom of this page to find previous postings on London, Amsterdam, Japan, Germany, Austria, Yellowstone, New York, Boston, Switzerland, Alps, Plymouth Mass., Washington DC, San Francisco, Manila, San Diego or Quebec.

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Google

Friday

San Diego, California - San Diego Zoo - Part II

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.
Giant Panda
While Catherine and I were in San Diego, we visited the Giant Panda Research Station in the San Diego Zoo

The Giant Panda is an endangered animal. According to the latest report, China has 239 giant pandas in captivity by Nov 2007, The giant panda is a mammal classified in the bear family. Despite its classification as a carnivore (meat eater), the panda has a diet that is primarily herbivorous, which consists almost exclusively of bamboo. However, pandas still have the digestive system of a carnivore and do not have the ability to digest cellulose efficiently, and thus derive little energy and little protein from consumption of bamboo. The average Giant Panda eats as much as 20 to 30 pounds of bamboo shoots a day. Because pandas consume a diet low in nutrition, it is important that they keep their digestive tract full.Giant Panda Research Station.


The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.













The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.

Use the search box at the bottom of this page to find previous postings on London, Amsterdam, Japan, Germany, Austria, Yellowstone, New York, Boston, Switzerland, Alps, Plymouth Mass., Washington DC, San Francisco, Manila, San Diego or Quebec.



Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Google

Saturday

San Diego, California - San Diego Zoo

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.
A peacock in the Flamingo Lagoon near the entrance to the San Diego Zoo.

When people go to San Diego, they almost always visit the San Diego Zoo, so of course while Catherine and I were in San Diego we also went there.

The Flamingo Lagoon.


Queensland Koala


A Giant Panda in the Giant Panda Research Station.

We loved seeing the Giant Pandas.

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.




A polar bear in the Polar Bear Plunge.

We rode the "Skyfari Aerial Tram" that provided a view of the zoo from the air.  From the tram we could see the roof of the "Museum of Man" in Balboa Park.



Use the search box at the bottom of this page to find previous postings on London, Amsterdam, Japan, Germany, Austria, Yellowstone, New York, Boston, Switzerland, Alps, Plymouth Mass., Washington DC, San Francisco, Manila, San Diego or Quebec.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Google

Monday

San Diego, California - Aircraft Carrier - USS Midway - Part II

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.
The USS Midway. The nose of A-6 Intruder (built by Grumman).

My father served as an officer on the Midway and as a boy, I was able to sail on her for a day cruise as part of a "Dependent's Day Cruise".

In August 1991,Midway sailed to San Diego where she was decommissioned at Naval Air Station North Island on 11 April 1992. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 March 1997. During the decommissioning process, she was used to film portions of the movie At Sea, a documentary on carrier life shown only at the Navy Museum in Washington D.C. Sailors and their families participated in the filming or the homecoming scenes.

On 30 September 2003, Midway began her journey from the Navy Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Bremerton, Washington, to San Diego, California in preparation for use as a museum and memorial. She was docked at the Charles P. Howard Terminal in Oakland, California, during the first week in October while the construction of her pier in San Diego was completed. Then, on 10 January 2004 the ship was moored at her final location at the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego, where she was opened to the public on 7 June 2004. In its first year of operation, the museum doubled attendance projections by welcoming 879,281 guests aboard.

Visitors may tour the ship's flight deck, hangar bay, mess hall, bridge, primary flight control area, enlisted and junior officer quarters, sickbay, and portions of the engine rooms. Additionally, several restored aircraft are on display in the hangar and on the flight deck. Self-guided audio tours are provided with admission. Events and meetings are held on board as well. Five to six evening events are held aboard Midway every week. Midway now books events three years in advance.


The flight deck of the USS Midway.


An A-6 Intruder with the side number 082 and S-3 Viking built by Lockheed.

The pictures ENLARGE if you click on them.

1. A-6 Intruder
2. F-9 Panther (swept wing model)
3. A-5 Vigilante
4. A-4 Skyhawk
5. A-3 Skywarrior


On the Starboard catapult is a F-8 Crusader built by Chance Vought.








1. Aircraft side# 301 is an A-4 Skyhawk built by Douglas.
2. Aircraft side # 612 is an A-5 Vigalante built by North America.
3. Center of flight deck aircraft is a F-4 Phantom built by McDonnell.
4. Aircraft on port side is an S-2 built by Grumman.
5. Aircraft forward of S-2 is an S-3 built by Lockheed.

F-14 Tom Cat ( Grumman).
Use the search box at the bottom of this page to find previous postings on London, Amsterdam, Japan, Germany, Austria, Yellowstone, New York, Boston, Switzerland, Alps, Plymouth Mass., Washington DC, San Francisco, Manila, San Diego or Quebec.


Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Google