Noon photo: Saturday July 2, 2011

World famous San Francisco Cable Car.

Day 6: Saturday July 2, 2011

Weather:  cool, foggy near the bridge.
Temperature: 61º

Destination: San Francisco
Highlight: Harbor Tour and Cable Car Ride.
Scenery:    Bay, Wharf, Cityscape

Mileage:
      ~ 20 miles driving
    + 2650 miles flying  (SFO to ALT, ALT to PIT)
    + ? Steps walking

Breakfast: at Hotel
Lunch:  Meal of your choice from Voucher on Pier 39
Dinner: Rain Forrest Cafe

Revile: (time to get up!):  7:30
Curfew: PLEASE PLEASE sleep on the plane (the chaperons would like to take turns getting some sleep eye too!)

Noon Photo Day 5: Friday, July 1, 2011

We were all so excited about the aquarium we forgot to take a group photo today.  Oops!

Cannery row and Bubba Gump

On the way to Monterey our Bus Driver Mr. Ross talked about the strawberry fields along the highway. California is responsible for growing a lot of the USA supply. We saw harvesters picking food. California also grows large supplies of garlic and artichokes. They even sell garlic ice cream!

We spent the day at the aquarium.  First we walked around and later we had a behind the scenes tour.   We learned about the food they feed the fish:  krill, squid shrimp, and clam tongue.  Our tour guide talked about the 120,000 gallon shark tank. The fishes do not eat each other because they eat well everyday.  The sharks have never bit any person there. We were surprised when Traci told us how much time the workers spend time cleaning the tanks.  We also  got to see the sea otter family.  We were told the baby was found when he was one day old and was adopted by another adult otter.  She thinks it was her baby and is raising it.   The Monterey Bay aquarium has conservation programs with other zoos and aquariums.

After that, we walked along historic cannery row where they used to can fruits, vegetables and fish.  We ate at Bubba Gump, a restaurant in the movie Forrest Gump.

  

DID YOU KNOW?

Husbandry means work and help with animals.

Octopus can figure it out how an open a jar by itself. Octopus is very smart.

They put 200 pounds of seafood in storage a day.

Some fishes eat 11pounds a day.

Part of the outside aquarium have no roof they just have direct sun, some fishes can live up to 26 years.

Kelp can grow 12 feet per day!

Sheephead fish that start out as a female fish and then change into a male fish!

John Steinbeck wrote a novel called Cannery row about life in the town and its characters.

Monterey Bay is one of the most bio-diverse places in the world!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Today we went to Monterey Bay Aquarium. We saw a cute little baby otter pup that was 9 week old! Then we went to the Deep Reef and we saw a lot of random fish from Pacific Ocean.

While we waited for our interpreter, Sabine and tour guide, Traci, Michael saw a young guy who looks like Glenn Allen Guerin.  We went to meet the doppelganger and we have a picture to prove it.

            We met our tour guide and interpreter then we went to the feed room and learned about the food the feed aquarium animals: krill, anchovies, clam tongue, and shrimp. Traci dumped the krill in the tank and we ran to the other room. We watched a lot of fish eat the krill in the tank.

Traci guided us to the cleaning room and she told us how they clean the pipes that carry water. They use a special cleaning tool called the pig to clean the pipe from the tank to the main tank.  The pig looks like a bullet and is made of foam.  They clean the pipe every 6 months. Traci talked about the scuba diving and why they have to clean the tank.  She explained they used a special vacuum to clean the tank.  She said the water was very frigid like an ice water. When they finish clean the tank they can go to the hot tub!

  Traci showed us how they delivered the fish into the aquarium and there is a huge door, a large elevator, and also there a strong iron bar and stretcher that will carry a large fish into the tank. 

            We loved the aquarium! It was so beautiful, inspiring, and also we learned a lot of new things.

            We went shopping in along cannery row in Monterrey. We went into different stores so some student bought t-shirts, and other random things. Then some students went to the beach and we took quick pictures, and it was really frigid!  However we got out the water and there was sand all over our feet and legs.   It was fun to touch the ocean and learn about the organisms found in the bay.

Day 5: Friday July 1, 2011

Weather:  Sunny
Temperature: 63º

Destination: Monterey Bay
Highlight:  Aquarium
Scenery:  Ocean

Mileage:
               = 120miles driving
              + ? steps walking

Breakfast: at hotel
Lunch: healthy choices at the aquarium
Dinner: Bubba Gump

Revile: (time to get up!): 7:15
Curfew: (GO to BED!!!): 10:00

Las Vegas

We got into San Francisco late last night and still need to write the investigation.  You can check the photos while you are waiting.  Don't worry-- we didn't go into any of the casinos or other notorious Vegas places =) Just drove around to see all the lights, gaudy architecture and appreciate the incredible tackiness of it all!  Plus we had a delicious meal at Planet Hollywood.

UPDATE:

During our trip, we got to drive through the famous Sin City, Las Vegas. While driving through, we saw some pretty interesting things. Some of which were encouragements for us to go to Sin City when we become 21. One interesting thing we saw was a hotel that had a roller coaster going through it. Another one that I found interesting is that Hooters has a hotel too! We counted more than a dozen wedding chapels and lost count of the casinos. There were many things to see in Vegas but we only had a limited time.