Well, I got home from San Diego yesterday. It was truly an awesome 3 days. I went for business (a Campaigns & Elections Seminar), but got to do some awesome fun things, as well. Here’s a brief summary of the trip:

I stayed at the Catamaran Resort & Spa in Mission Beach. It was incredible! The lobby had this gorgeous waterfall & vegetation. There were colorful carp in the waterfall pool. The grounds were landscaped absolutely to perfection, with a little stream running in a circle around the inside. There were different species of ducks and they also had two black swans. My favorite part was the 7 or 8 birds (cockatoo, macaws, parrots) that they had sitting outside. I suppose that their wings were clipped so that they couldn’t fly far, but only one had to be in a cage outside; the others just sat happily on the perches and talked. Very cute. [Flickr photo set for the Catamaran Resort & Spa]

When I got to San Diego on Sunday, my partner (Don) and I set up for the seminar. Then we went out to do a little sightseeing and go to dinner. The sightseeing was awesome because San Diego is beautiful. I had heard that it wouldn’t be very green, but I don’t know what the hell people were talking about. The city had plenty of green and the natural vegetation was all colors of the rainbow. Plus, the blue skies were absolutely incredible! [Flickr photo set of the San Diego scenery]

The Campaigns & Elections seminar, as I said, was very interesting. They focused on technology and how blogging, podcasting, email, etc. are changing the political campaign landscape. The speakers were, on the whole, very knowledgeable and they were good orators. [Flickr photo set of the Campaigns & Elections Seminar]

I went to the zoo with Danny on Monday after the conference. It was getting dark by the time we got there, but we still got to see some awesome animals. My favorite was the leopard that was no more than 2 or 3 feet from us (I could have reached out & touched him!). We took crazy pictures of him — all flash — and I think, given the chance, he would have eaten us. Hehe. But it was a good time. [Flickr photo set of the San Diego Zoo]

Tuesday after the conference, Don & I went to SeaWorld San Diego. It was also incredible. [Yes, I realize that I'm reusing my adjectives! I'm tired. Give me a break.] We saw the Dolphin Show & the Orca Whale (Shamu) Show, which were just unbelievable. The animals are intelligent and clearly have very good relationships with their trainers. Afterwards, we walked around the park and saw the penguins, sharks, flamingos, polar bears, and — my favorite — the Beluga whales. I have never seen anything more majestic or simply beautiful in my life. [Flickr photo set of SeaWorld San Diego]

The plane trip home was definitely some sort of hell dimension. I had a 1-ish year old behind me who had the most piercing screams I have ever heard. He kicked my seat the entire night, despite my admonition to his mother. He also screamed all night. I honestly think that only certain flights should be designated a children-allowed. But that’s a rant for another day…

p.s. You also see the Flickr photo set for my entire San Diego trip.