TRIFECTA!

Two weeks ago I crossed off not one, not two, but three more things from my Operation 30 list.  I planned a trip to beautiful San Diego, California to visit my friends, Laura and Dave, who moved there a few years ago.  The trip was overdue since I hadn't been out to visit them since their move.  It worked out great as both are huge supporters of my Operation 30 journey and were more than willing to help me check off a few items during my visit.  Which ones specifically?  I'll tackle them one at a time...

#1.  Add four more stadiums to my baseball stadium total - check!

As a recap, my goal was four additional stadiums during my Operation 30 journey.  Therefore between Chase Field in Arizona last May, Safeco Field in Seattle last July, and Fenway Park in Boston last September, this one has been 75% complete for a while.

While I had been to San Diego before, the Padres were out of town so I didn't have the opportunity to take in a game at Petco Park.  So when planning my trip to visit Laura and Dave, I was sure to pick a weekend the Padres were playing at home.  Luckily, Laura and Dave are huge baseball fans (and like me are also on their way to visiting all 30 stadiums).  They happen to have season tickets to the Padres, live within walking distance (and have an awesome view from their apartment of) Petco Park, and even a blog and twitter account dedicated to the team.  (Follow them: @tenthandisland!)  So to say I was in good hands for some baseball fun would be an understatement.

Not long after I arrived on Friday afternoon, Laura and Dave were already giving me a tour of their home stadium.  Pretty neat!  What differentiated Petco Park from the other 15 stadiums I've been to would be:  1)  Their great beer selection...I got a Leffe Brune!, 2)  The Western Metal Supply Building as historic backdrop to the outfield, and 3) the beautiful sandstone design (which is a nice departure from the red brick of most stadiums I've visited).  We were there for the Dodgers series, which was a bit crazy because I think I may have seen more Dodgers fans than Padres fans throughout the weekend.  All-in-all we took in three games and were able to see the Padres win the last one.  Woohoo!  Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the churros.  The churros were good, and will be a part of my ballpark experience at Petco during my next visit.

On Saturday Laura had us set-up to visit Safari Park, which is a part of the San Diego Zoo. We were going there specifically to check another item off the Operation 30 list:

#24.  Ride a segway - check!

For whatever reason, segways have always made me laugh.  Especially when I see airport security or any other authority figure on them, I can't help but chuckle.  There's just something innately awkward and unnecessary about them, which is why I had to have it as a part of my Operation 30 list.  

I was glad both Laura and Dave were up for the adventure and recommended Safari Park, because it was a great experience.  After a short training session, our tour group left for a ride around the park where we saw rhinos, giraffes, and other safari wildlife.  Learning to ride a segway went about as expected.  The balance of leaning toward the front to go forward was a snap, but the leaning back to stop part took a bit of getting used to.  (It felt like I might tip over backward at first!)  But after a little practice it was no sweat, and I loved being able to turn on a dime.  We stopped a few times along the tour to take pictures and get additional information from our tour guides.  My favorite part was the up close view we had of the giraffes at the end of our hour-plus tour.  Well, that, plus feeling like a bad ass riding a segway.  (Think I'm qualified to be a mall cop now?  Haha.)  Such a fun time!  

Last but not least, it was time for take two of another Operation 30 adventure.  In May of last year I attempted this one in Sedona, Arizona but it was cancelled due to high winds, so I was more than a little nervous that this attempt might suffer the same fate.  Luckily, at about 2pm on Easter Sunday I received a call confirming that this time the weather was cooperating and I'd be able to cross yet another item off my Operation 30 list.  

#27.  Ride in a hot air balloon - check!  

I wanted to be able to have a view I'd remember when checking this one off, and a view of the fabulous homes and golf courses in La Jolla, California, along with a sunset over the Pacific Ocean was even better than I had anticipated.  It was lit-er-al-ly, one of the most spectacular views I've had in my life.  We went up to 5400ft (that's a little over a mile!), which made me hold on for dear life to the handle inside the basket.  As someone who is a teenie bit afraid of heights, it made me feel better to have something "secure" to hold on to in case anything happened while we were up there.  It took a full half hour before I got comfortable enough to loosen my death grip.  

I'm not sure why I was so concerned, as the ride was extremely peaceful.  There were fourteen of us in the basket total, including our pilot.  We all had a spectacular view, as the balloon was purposely rotated so that everyone could have a front row view in every direction.  What surprised me the most was how warm it was in the balloon.  Due to the intensity of the flame, it was about ten degrees warmer in the basket than on the ground.  

I wish I had some crazy story about how rough our landing was or how someone dropped their sunglasses and we watched as it took a full minute for them to hit the ground, but the fact of the matter is that it was a non-eventful yet beautiful, peaceful experience.  Better said - it was everything I hoped it would be, and $200 well spent!   

Rounding out the weekend on Monday after brunch, Laura, Dave and I went to Hotel del Coronado and the Coronado Beach where I was able to commemorate my trifecta weekend in San Diego with some sand writing...

It was the perfect trip and I'm grateful to have such great friends to support me on my journey.  Only a couple more weeks to go!  

Timestamp:

A side note - today I learned to french braid!  Woot woot!  But I'll blog about that later...