Since I took absolutely no pictures during our 2 day start to finish extravaganza at Sea World, I thought I would just list a few things we have been learning along the way. I would also like to dedicate this to all those in the line of education – you do nothing in vain.
Things we have learned so far:
There are 25 dry lakes mapped in the Mojave Desert.
The Imperial Valley (Yuma) grows 75% of all the lettuce in North America.
An estimated 8 million horses died in WWI.
If it wasn't for the forethought of a few very smart men many years ago, who created dams, canals and aqueducts, the vast majority of what is now the world's 9th largest economy (the state of California) would be little more than a desert.
However, the mighty Colorado River has so much water removed from it between its source and its mouth to "water" the cities from L.A., south, that it's barely a creek running into the Sea of Cortez.
The Salton Sea (Indio, CA) has 20% more salinity than the ocean.
Most seniors are lovely by nature – some are not!
Needles is in California – finally.
The Los Angeles/Colorado Aqueduct is tunnelled under the San Jacinto Mountain range.
Before WWII the United States supplied Japan with 90% of their Aviation fuel, three quarters of their scrap metal, and two thirds of their machine tools.
Of the death toll at Pearl Harbor, almost half was the navy crew on the ship U.S.S. Arizona. This was the only ship hit that did not return to combat.
The aluminum shell for the B.17 is the thickness of a credit card.
The prickles on a prickly pear are invisible to the eye, but very apparent to the touch!
There are 45 standard logging truck loads of wood in the General Sherman Sequoia tree alone.
Monarch Butterflies break cluster at 55 degrees Celsius. They also migrate approximately 2000 miles in four generations following the milk weed bloom which is the only plant their caterpillars will eat.
Eli can dig a 122 ft ditch in two and a half hours.
Cowboy church is way more fun than it sounds!
The law of gravity has not been repealed – a particularly serious matter to consider while scaling a 1500 ft vertical climb, clinging only to a chain.
Climbing up and then climbing down is a much better way to hike than walking down and then having the arduous task of climbing up at the end of the day.
The temperature differential in the Grand Canyon from top to bottom can be as much as 25 degrees Fahrenheit (a little known fact that leads to many heat exhaustion cases of those eagerly attempting the roundtrip).
Elvis and his identical twin midget brother are alive and well in Vegas!
In 1945 Blacks and women were considered unworthy of combat. However, the Tuskegee Airmen (an all black air division) never lost a bomber that they escorted into combat.
White Sands National Monument is North America's largest gypsum desert.
You can slide on sand, but the Smith vote is unanimous – snow is still better!
A bat eats half its weight in bugs per night.
Stalactites 'grow' from the ceiling, Stalagmites 'grow' from the ground. When they connect they are called columns.
The formation of the Carlsbad Caverns began with the natural mixing of H2S and H2O which in turn dissolved subsurface limestone.
Catfish are ugly, but taste good.
It is very difficult for a dog to kill a turtle.
Grandma's sister is just like Grandma!
Dad can detect a live bunny in the trailer before he even opens the door!
The 1900 hurricane in Galveston is considered the worst natural disaster in U.S. history with over 6000 deaths.
Every day since November 2001, there has been an American Astronaut in space.
During the Space Shuttle Program, missions were launched in Florida, controlled in Texas, and landed in California.
Eden weighs 65 pounds on the moon.
The Saturn 5 Rocket burned 500 thousand gallons of fuel in the first eight and a half minutes after takeoff. Since "Allison" (our truck) only burns three quarters of a gallon of diesel in eight and a half minutes at freeway speed, we don't feel so bad.
The colours of Mardi Gras are: Gold, for power, Green, for faith, and Purple for justice.
The state of Louisiana epitomizes the American melting pot having first been Indian Territory, then French, then Spanish, then French again, before finally becoming American territory. It was then colonized by the West Indians, American Indians, French Canadians (Acadians), Africans, and multiple European ethnic groups.
Jazz music is the creation of an eclectic community of early blues, folk, and soul musicians.
The Louisiana Purchase will probably stand for all time as the smartest real estate deal ever made. It encompassed 40% of the continental U.S. at a cost of approximately 5 cents per acre.
Had Louis Armstrong never been arrested for firing his dad's gun one New Year's Eve, he himself believed he never would have pursued music. Consequently he was sent to the Black Waifs House for Boys where a music teacher saw his potential. His first instrument was the triangle!
Manatees are lovely. (They have no natural predators, weigh up to 4000 pounds, consume up to 15 percent of their body weight a day, which is perhaps why they swim only 3 miles an hour unless disturbed, at which point they can swim up to 20 miles an hour.)
Alligators have stubby, round snouts, while crocodiles have long skinny snouts and their teeth show even with their mouths closed. Both have very shifty eyes!
Snakes are just down-right disgusting!
The Florida Keys are not made of rock or other mineral material, they are islands of coral that used to be submerged reefs.
Key West, Florida, is in fact further south than the Bahamas, and is closer to Cuba than it is to Miami.
Killer whales, dolphins, and false killer whales, are all part of the same dolphin family.
Feeding Sting Rays is like having your hand sucked up by a slimy vacuum cleaner.