In December 2011, Hawk and I planned a trip to Vancouver, but he accidentally noticed it was a few hundred dollars cheaper to fly to San Diego, so we went there instead.
This out-of-focus selfie shows how gleeful we were to be leaving our apartment during a blizzard at 4:35 am on the 12th of December, 2011, mere hours before our lives would change forever.
10 hours, 20 minutes later
It seemed like a lifetime later but we made it off the airplane in San Diego. We sandwiched and coffee-ed at a Starbucks in the airport (which had surprisingly few food options), then figured out how to get to our hotel by bus. We stepped outside to this.
The actual view from the actual bus stop at the airport. It still freaks us out when we look at this photo because this is not the sort of view one gets from a bus stop in Edmonton.
Typical Edmonton bus stops. See what I mean?! Photos taken from www.takeets.com
One hour, 20 minutes later
The bus trip wasn't bad, but it didn't take us directly to our hotel. We could have transferred buses, but it was only a seven block walk and we were stiff from the plane and excited to be in a new city, so we walked. Also we got lost when we walked pretty much RIGHT PAST our hotel and went to the wrong Hilton, which was another few blocks down the street. Go us.
We walked by this lovely park several times during our too-short days in San Diego, but after the first time past, we adapted, and began walking on the opposite side of the street. It turns out it wasn't a park after all, but a sort of homeless persons' open house, where the homeless would come to enjoy the sun and the shelter of the bushes as they passed out with bottles of liquor in their hands, or stood near corners talking to no one and everyone.
This was our room in the correct hotel, the Hilton Gaslamp.
The most comfortable bed I have ever slept in in my entire life.
That afternoon we did and saw awesome things. We wandered down to the seaside to the super-tourist area via Martin Luther King Jr trail or path or something. I got a major blister. We saw a duck and a decommissioned air craft carrier, some sail boats, and, of course, this, which thrilled Hawk most of all.
We wandered back to the Gaslamp, starving and thirsty, exhausted, but delighted. We stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant so ridiculous we had to go in. It had grass shutters on the windows and a killer whale hanging from the ceiling. Happy hour drinks were fishbowls of Dos Equis the size of my face and the food was divine.
We thought we were living the life. Little did we know...
21 hours later
The next afternoon, we went to the San Diego Zoo, something I've been waiting for all my life (when I was small, we had books from the zoo and they were A-MAZE-ING).
I actually got Hawk, who doesn't like heights, up in the cross-zoo gondola.
We had fun looking at the animals and interacting with the displays that I suspect were built for children. Or short adults.
Hawk by the monkeys. There were a lot of monkeys.
Me and a fibreglass seal friend, who looks dashing in my hat.
But that wasn't why I was there.
I was there to see the prairie dogs.
You see, my favourite of those children's books from the San Diego Zoo was one about prairie dogs. It had photos of their kickass burrows and everything.
But there are no longer prairie dogs at the San Diego Zoo, if there every were (my memory of that book may not be entirely accurate.)
So, slightly disappointed, yet thrilled with each new animal, like the zebras ...
Everyone be proud of me that I didn't use the close-up of its massive shlong now kthxbai
... I began to get antsy to see the red pandas, because THERE ARE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE HOW AWESOME RED PANDAS ARE! Why do you think I chose Red Panda as my blog alias? BECAUSE THEY ARE THE BEST ANIMAL IN THE WORLD! DUH!
Finally, we made it to the red panda enclosure and all the bastards were sleeping and the best view we got was some red fluff in the trees. I was sad.
But not for long, because that is when my life took a right-angle turn. (I say right-angle, because I don't know if it was a left turn or right, just that it was sharp and direct.)
Outside the red panda enclosure was a red panda shop. And that is where I met Red Danda and took her home.
At first, she was just a stuffed toy I kept at Hawk's before I moved in. But within weeks, she began to show a startlingly strong personality.
I guess I must have left her on my pillow one day, because when Hawk awoke in the middle of the night, he found her staring at him. He snapped a picture and emailed it to me, wholly freaked out.
"Red Danda is watching me sleep!" he emailed.
There was no reason to think there was anything sinister in that, except that Red Danda clearly was a momma's girl.
Such a good cuddler, but look a the way she's glaring at Hawk!
It became clear that Red Danda was no ordinary panda. She was a trickster. She weaselled her way into our hearts, and before long, was no longer our stuffed toy, but our pretend child.
One time, she maneuvered an upside-down paper shopping bag to in front of the door and sat on it, glaring at the door. When Hawk came home, he screamed! Then, he congratulated Red Danda on her amazing trick.
Other times, she'll hide in the bed with either me or Hawk, and wait silently for the other person to come home. What usually happens is one of us says "Boy/girlfriend?" as she/he enters, and the other responds, "Girl/boyfriend!" But, when there are shoes there, but no response, it can be very creepy. A search of the house is initiated. Kitchen? Empty. Bathroom? Empty. Living room? Office? Empty. Bedroom? Empty. Wait a second ... and Red Danda and the partner will leap out of the bed with a cry of "We tricked you! Heheheheeheh!"
You can't see it, but I'm hiding under the comforter and Hawk is looking for me plaintively.
But don't get the wrong impression of Red Danda, please. She's not a jerk, just a trickster. She has lots of really sweet qualities that make me proud to be her pretend mama. For example, when Cobrastarshine was still wee, he was visiting here and needed a nap. Because Red Danda quickly became a leader in our stuffed animals community, she enlisted Chops' help, and together they watched over Cobrastarshine to make sure he slept safely.
Cobrastarshine was asleep in moments.
Red Danda keeps me company when Hawk goes to the gym early, or comes to bed late.
I'm sure there's nothing suspicious in that she's taken his spot.
And, Red Danda loves to discuss my books or magazines with me over my morning coffee in bed.
She likes it best when I read mysteries and I'm sure the fact that she identifies with the criminals is nothing to worry about.
Finally, she takes after her mama and HATES getting up in the mornings. Luckily, she doesn't actually have to!
"Oh my god Mum, turn out the damn light!"
She even has a song. It goes mostly to the tune of Moon River.
Red Danda, my favourite panda,
wherever you're going, you're going with me.
Stripey tail, you're not a male*
forever and ever best friends we will be.
Oh yes, our lives have been so different since that fateful trip to San Diego. Thank you, seat sale, not just for an amazing trip in the sun, but for our baby!*
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*The second verse is because Hawk kept calling her "him", which is probably a large part of why she likes to play pranks on him.
*Note: we do talk about Red Danda as our pretend child to our friends and tell them Red Danda stories, as outlined in this blog. Our friends are concerned about us.
