Big Fun in the Big Easy: Part 1

Tessie's Mom had a conference to attend in New Orleans, so just as we did in Copenhagen, Tessie and I chose to tag along and extend the trip into a family adventure. Experienced traveler that she is, Tessie has got waiting in the airport lounge while wearing a jaded expression down pat:

We arrived  in the Crescent City on a very pleasant St. Patrick's Day in the early evening and, after checking into our official conference-approved lodging, set out to find a late dinner in the French Quarter.

As we walked, we began to notice a larger crowd than we had anticipated, which grew as we approached Jackson Square, the heart of the French Quarter. We had no idea that New Orleans hosts a St. Patrick's Day parade; I guess we shouldn't have been surprised since the city has a well-deserved reputation for taking any excuse to party. Because of the crowds, most restaurants had long waits for tables, but we did eventually find a place off the parade route. We finished our meals in time to catch the tail end of the slow-moving parade.

For those not familiar with New Orleans' parades, they feature gifts tossed from the participants to the observers. Called "throws," these items are usually cheap plastic trinkets or beaded necklaces purchased in bulk from factories in China. (I recommend the documentary "Mardi Gras: Made in China.") Tessie scored quite a haul in the short time we followed the parade down Bourbon Street before we returned to the hotel for the night.

Day 1
With Tessie's Mom engaged in her conference, Tessie and I set out to explore on our own. Back to the French Quarter! Tessie took this photo of yours truly:

As I mentioned previously, Tessie has a National Parks Passport woefully in need of stamps. The French Quarter has two National Park visitor centers, both of which feature free admission. The first one we came to was part of the Jean Laffitte National Historic Park and housed displays of New Orleans' history, culture, music, wildlife and cuisine. There was plenty of information to absorb, but Tessie's not much for standing around reading when there are things to do. So she pushed all the buttons at the music listening station and we headed off again. The other sites of the Jean Laffitte NHP are scattered far and wide throughout the Mississippi River delta, but without a car at our disposal, we wouldn't have the opportunity to visit them.

Leaving the NHP, we continued along Decatur Street to Jackson Square, named in honor of the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and the seventh President of the United States, General Andrew Jackson. The square is the focus of non-debauched activities in the French Quarter, filled with buskers, artists selling their works, and people simply looking for green space. We passed through, with Tessie commenting on the art as we passed. Fortunately her critiques did not inspire any hostile rejoinders.

Pressing on, we wandered through the French Market, dismayed to find nothing but Chinese-made trinkets and locally-produced alligator heads, none of which we thought suitable as souvenirs. Just south of that, though, we entered the Quarter's other NPS Visitor Center, at the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park.  Nothing to do with the NBA franchise now known - however improbably - as the Utah Jazz, this micro-park celebrates the role of New Orleans in the development of Jazz music, that most American of musical genres. Regrettably, the park is an opportunity missed; while there are occasional live performances, when those aren't scheduled there is little more to see than non-functional interactive displays of various jazz instruments and a gift shop. Still, Tessie enjoyed the "Jazz Christmas" selections at the listening station:

Walking back along the riverfront, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Jax Brewery, a former brewery now housing a shopping mall, then boarded the steamboat Natchez for a cruise on the Mississippi. Tessie had recently learned about steamboats from a library book, and was looking forward to this trip. There was time for a quick snack along the riverbank as we waited:

We boarded and found excellent seats near the port bow for the downstream leg of the trip. We watched the landscape slide by, and Tessie seemed to be enjoying things right up until we turned around to head back upstream. The wind, which had been blocked by the bulk of the ship, was now directly in our faces and I hadn't thought to bring warm clothes along. Tessie, chilled, huddled against me as I moved about the boat looking for leeward shelter. Still, on the occasions when the wind died down, we enjoyed the scenery and the feeling of motion, as well as the busy workings of an authentic steam-powered sternwheeler.

That's Jackson Square below, with the spires of the Saint Louis Cathedral forming a backdrop. Right along the water are the steps on which we had our snack (above):

After the cruise, we walked back to our hotel along the Moonwalk (which, to my surprise, was named after a person, not a planetary satellite). Since Tessie's Mom was still busy with a conference dinner that night, Tessie and I were still on our own. We had dinner at Daisy Dukes, again in the French Quarter, with Tessie's rapt attention held by the "World's Strongest Man" competition on ESPN 2 showing on the restaurant's big screen. How's a doting father supposed to compete with that?

Horsing Around

There's a veterinary college in the San Fernando Valley.

Who knew?

Pierce College, in Woodland Hills, holds an annual Farm Walk event. The campus is opened to the public, and visitors get to experience a bit of farm life. Farm life apparently includes fire trucks:

Actually, the LAFD had representatives at this event to encourage us to follow their guidelines on brush clearance. This event takes place in a part of the valley that all too often is in the news for being on fire. Believe it or not, there are areas of Los Angeles County which are not yet paved and instead resemble stereotypical western-movie ranch land, replete with highly combustible dessicated vegetation.

After the fire truck, Tessie patted a heifer. She passed - as did her parents - on milking the heifer's mother.

And she's always willing to take time out for a sno-cone:

But then it was time to enjoy some of the equestrian events. First, barrel racing:

Then, for reasons that remained unexplained, a mounted musical interpretation of "The Wizard of Oz." No, really. This is the scarecrow:

There were also these little carts pulled by miniature horses, but we didn't stick around to see them race...

... because we were off to the crafts area!

Although they were certainly well-represented, horses weren't the only animals on display. There were sheep being sheared:

And even a tiger to ride:

We also saw a large insect display, goats (including one that did tricks), pigs, chickens and others. There were also educational videos. (Rooney's "Guide to Lameness." I kid you not.)

And from the cruelty to latex department, violence against balloons:

You can just make out the yellow shards of the dearly departed balloon just beyond the horse's muzzle. (And before anyone panics: they were shooting blanks. The pressure from the exploding gases is enough to pop the balloons, and no actual ammunition was flying through the air.) Tessie was aghast. "Why are they shooting balloons? Balloons are nice!"

Poppies! Poppies! Poppies!

So we have this state flower out here, the California Poppy. And it blooms from time to time. So we get in our cars and drive off to go see entire hillsides covered in the things. We drive and drive, because the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve isn't all that close to any actual population centers. (Which is not to say that there aren't a lot of residences nearby, just that many of those residences have big signs out front that say things like 'Reduced!' 'Make an Offer!' or 'Help Me Burn it Down and We Can Split the Insurance Money!' O.K., I might be kidding about that last one.)

This is California, so even the plants are in rehab. (And no, you can't make opium out of these poppies.)

Anyway, when the poppies bloom, the poppy peepers come out. Much like the leaf peepers of autumnal New England, these poppy peepers will park just about anywhere if they see those golden hillsides, drag their cameras and their tripods and their children out of the car (not necessarily in that order) and begin trampling some of the poppies in order to photograph the rest.

So, with the Canadian Grandparents visiting, we decided to become poppy peepers ourselves. Tessie seemed more interested in the dark beetles along the trail than in the actual flowers, but she did like the bright orange color and the crisp fresh air, even if it was a bit breezy.

(That's right: we have a bear on our flag. Our flag can beat up your flag!)

But before long, the bracing winds got the better of us, and we decided to move along (via In-N-Out Burger) to our next destination, the planet Cestus III, er, Vasquez Rocks, the former cattle rustlers' hideout turned filming location for about a bazillion productions, perhaps most notably 'The Arena,' an episode of the original Star Trek television series. (That's the one where Kirk makes a bamboo cannon and blasts a big, bad lizard thing called a 'Gorn' to save the Enterprise and all humanity... you know, the usual.) You've seen this place on TV. Trust me.

Tessie loves the desert, probably because she thinks of it as a giant sandbox. Sure enough, no matter what the scenery, she can be found scanning the ground for dirt to scoop up, bugs to watch, sticks with which to scratch in the dirt, etc.

Until she comes upon a rock that must be climbed.

Or possibly a press conference about climbing said rock.

Olympic Dreamer

Tessie's pre-school held another Olympics-inspired fundraising event today, just as they did two years ago. Tessie donned her "50% American, 50% Canadian, 100% CUTE" t-shirt, and strove to represent both of her countries to the best of her ability. Since NBC wasn't there, we got to see it all!

The Opening Ceremonies went off without a hitch, mostly because nothing needed to rise up out of the floor; toilet paper-roll faux torches don't have a lot of moving parts to break down.

The four events were based - very loosely - on events from the recently-completed Vancouver Games. The first was "Speed Skating," but since this was being contested in southern California, there was no ice. Without ice, skates were deemed superfluous. So what we really had was a sprint.

The Travels with Tessie media pool assembled alongside the course...

... while Tessie lined up at the start and waved to the crowd...

... and got off to a great start...

... and won her heat!

And then it was off to the "Luge." Again, no ice, and this competition more closely resembled skeleton, anyway, as the competitors navigated the course while riding wheeled boards on their bellies. They pulled themselves along with their arms, and Tessie rocketed around the track several times.

The "Downhill" was next, and it was contested in a giant bouncer slide. With no ski lift to the top, the kids had to climb up under their own power before letting gravity take them back down. So much more challenging than the "real" Olympics!

The day's final event was the "Giant Slalom," a bouncer obstacle course. There were tunnels to climb through, barriers to scale, bollards, hoops and a big slide at the end. Tessie loved it, even after she went down the slide head first and belly-flopped - hard - on the finish mat.

Lastly, the medal ceremony. It was the culmination of a lifelong dream Tessie's had for almost a month as she received her shiny "gold" medal.

She beamed, and so did we.

"You Do Know She's Fearless, Don't You?"

While making our weekend plans, Tessie asked to visit a natural history museum. Really; she specified natural history. So, as part of our ongoing efforts to thoroughly explore the Inland Empire, and because it's on the way to the outlet mall in Cabazon -- and because they were holding a free-admission 'Family Fun Day' event -- we visited the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands, California.

One of the features of the event was a museum docent reading stories to the kids. Tessie used her considerable charms to make the poor guy read "The Ugly Duckling" twice in a row. I tried to get her to pick a different story, but she had walked in during the first reading and wanted to hear it again from the beginning. The docent never had a chance.

The stories were being read in the mammal hall, so Tessie took a quick spin past the taxidermy exhibits, but before long we were off to see real live critters in the museum's Exploration Station.

Breezing past the rosy boa constrictor (snake) at the entrance, Tessie headed for the real action -- the insect table. There, unbidden, she reached out to a mantis and let it crawl onto her hand:

She did this in front of a pair of Cub Scouts, one of whom had been reluctant to touch the big green bug. The Scoutmaster-chaperon, in a moment of pure unadulterated sexism, asked him if he was going to allow himself to be shown up "by a girl!" The young lad, in a triumph of gender equality, replied, "I don't care if she's a girl! I'm not touching it!" Tessie, unfazed, then moved on to the giant cockroach:

At this point, the table docent turned to me and said, "You do know she's fearless, don't you? I mean, some parents are very surprised to see what their kids will do." I assured him that we were well aware of Tessie's daredevil nature. Even so, she declined the opportunity to touch the tarantula:

The museum's collections are not limited to natural history. There are displays of local interest, especially the mining and hydroelectric industries, as well as a fenced-in steam train on static display. The museum's primary claim to fame is the world's fifth-largest avian oological collection. (Go ahead; look it up. I'll wait.)

That's right, bird eggs. Thousands of them. No exact number was available, and I'm not about to count them, but if I had to guess, I'd put it in the 80 to 100,000 neighborhood. (That's a heck of an omelet.)

The egg rooms were also the scene of some craft projects for the youngsters. Tessie first made (with a bit of help from Mommy) a flip-book showing a bird in flight:

then she colored in a drawing of a barn owl:

This is one of her better coloring efforts. She seems to have grasped what the lines are for. Also, note that she wrote her name atop the page: T-E-squiggle-squiggle-I-E spells 'Tessie':