balboa park

Before we toured Balboa Park this morning Darren and I made an executive decision to ditch our hotel. We tried to grin and bear it the first night but when we realized that the stink was stemming from the wet spot on the floor next to the bathroom we asked to change rooms. The next night was just as miserable, made possible by the extremely loud and watery air conditioner that didn't manage to condition the air at all, but instead added more moisture to the already extreme humid conditions. I'm glad we booked through hotels.com because we got a full refund on our last two nights of our reservation. We took advantage of the free wi-fi and booked ourselves a room at a Hilton in Del Mar. When we checked in this afternoon it was as if we had walked into a real hotel, as opposed to Darren's proposed tagline to the previous hotel, "Quality Inn and Suites: by third-world standards".

So Balboa Park was nice. We had a lot of fun at the Fleet Science center which was pretty much like the OMSI in Portland (which we miss very much!). We also went to the model railroad museum which both kids loved. It was fascinating to watch the old guys (not tryingto be rude, just stating the fact that noone under 60 worked at the museum) keep the trains running and so well maintained. Balboa Park is filled with beautiful buildings and gardens, it made for a relaxing day since we were still recovering from Legoland. We went swimming this afternoon (in the awesome Hilton pool) and had dinner at Chevy's (kids eat free on Tuesdays!). Chevy's is a happy place for Darren, I think it was the highlight of his vacation! OK, I can't wait to try out this new comfy bed (probably no bedbugs tonight!).