There be whales here

A gray whale has been hanging out in the bay.  No, I haven't seen it.  Would love to.  Hopefully, it won't be here for long.  It needs to get north and start feeding.  Sailing again on Saturday, so there's another chance for an encounter.

Big Balloons and Little Dogs

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of riding a parade float.  I finally got to do that and in a way that was much more fun than my dreams.  Thanks to my friend Yuko, I got to help with the finals of the San Diego Weinernationals and then ride on the associated float in the Big Bay Balloon Parade.

The day started with a decent breakfast at the Holiday Inn.  Several of the Weinerschnitzel people were there, mostly marketing folks.  They were very nice, but didn't quite seem to get the spirit of the dachshund people.  This was all serious business to them.

After breakfast, it was off to the races.  Before the main event, there was a run-off between two dogs for the last spot.  Local favorite Princess Destiny won.  Then all the dogs were given their racing vests which were all different colors and had numbers on them.  These would have helped a lot in the semi-finals when nobody knew who finished where.

The race happened very quickly.  The starters, like me, were totally crammed in.  I can't be positive, but the course seemed much shorter than the one at the trials.  When the dust settled, the winner was an Orange County intruder named Sully.

Finally, it was on to the parade.  What a strange experience!  Sitting on a float seems to give one immediate celebrity status.  I expected kids to respond to waves, but lots of grown ups were excited, too.  Even though we had all practiced our best princess waves, my arms were very sore by the end.