Pier 39 Sea Lions

While on my babysitting trip to San Jose/San Francisco, we went to the Fisherman's Wharf on Saturday. Within the area, we walked over to Pier 39 (one of the piers at the Fisherman's' Wharf). Pier 39 is famous for its sea lions (seals)!! And all I have to say, is that I was EXTREMELY entertained and fascinated by all the sea lions!!! We stood there forever just watching and laughing!!! Certainly an amazing thing to see!!! Here are some pictures and history/facts about Pier 39 and its sea lions.


The sea lions camped out in PIER 39's West Marina have been endearingly coined, "Sea Lebrities." The noisy (it was funny listening to them "bark" and make so many noises!) sea lions started arriving in herds/groups, taking over the docks in January 1990 shortly after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. At first they numbered from 10-50, but due to a plentiful herring supply, available dock space and the marina’s protected environment, the population grew to more than 300 within a few months. Each winter, the population can increase up to 900 sea lions, most of which are male. The seals come and go as they please! During most of the year, there are at least 100-500 sea lions. The highest count is more than 1,000! During the summer months, there are times when no sea lions visit K-Dock (Pier 39). They migrate south to rookeries (birthing and breeding grounds) off of Southern California and Mexico. But in recent years a small group stays year-round at PIER 39's K-Dock.


These California sea lions use Pier 39 to "haul out" or come out of the water to rest. Biologists believe the sea lions stay at Pier 39 because there is plenty of food nearby, the docks are protected from storm waves and are easy to haul out on, and sea lion predators (great white sharks and orcas) do not come into the bay.


It is illegal to feed wild sea lions as well as other marine animals. These sea lions find their own food in the bay or ocean areas! Sea lions are "opportunistic" feeders, which means they will eat whatever fish are abundant in the area at the time. They mainly eat herring during the winter months.

The Adult male sea lions weigh up to 900 lbs and have a bump on their forehead. The female adult sea lions way up to 250 lbs. However, most of the sea lions at Pier 39 are males. The females stay back at the rookeries (birthing and breeding grounds) off of Southern California. Harbor seals are white with black spots or black with white rings and are silvery grey when wet! There were lost of Harbor seals here at Pier 39 when we were there!


(this sea lion was floating on his back...can you tell ??)

If you ever get the opportunity to visit San Francisco, I highly recommend checking the sea lions out!! (beware though...the smell is AWFUL, but worth it)! We had so much fun watching them!

Post-San Jose/Francisco Trip

Sorry I haven't blogged yet about my trip!! So here is a quick overview of how the trip went!

I flew out of Birmingham last Thursday (Oct 1st) EARLY morning! I arrived in San Jose around 12:00 pm California Time (PST). The wife, mom, etc., picked me up and took me back to their apartment. I got settled it, met the little boy, and then they left around 3:00 pm on their hiking trip! I kept the little boy (17 months) until Friday late night! The couple returned home late that evening (around 9:30 pm or so)! Then on Saturday, the mom (Ginny) too me around the city of San Francisco sight-seeing, touring, etc. It was SO SO MUCH FUN!!! And beautiful weather the entire time! (a little foggy and windy in San Fran, but not bad).

The babysitting was an interesting and good experience. I had never done anything like that, but was thankful for the opportunity! The couple was so sweet and really made me feel at home and very comfortable. It was a free trip. They paid for EVERYTHING, from plane tickets to food, etc. And then I got paid to babysit!

I also got to see my new 5-week old baby cousin Saturday night. Ginny took me over to their apartment, which was located about 30 minutes away in Menlo Park!! She is so precious and I was very excited to see them!!

Saturday in the city, we visited the Golden Gate Bridge (and several parks surrounding it), Fisherman's Wharf (Pier 39 with all the seals), Lombard Street, Haight Ashbury (Hippie district), and the park (can't remember name) where Full House TV Show was filmed. And then we drove around the city looking at a few other places. We definitely crammed a lot of stuff in!! I flew back home Sunday, leaving San Jose around 9:30 am PST, and arriving back in Birmingham around 8:00pm CST. I had a not so good experience with baggage returning home! Thankfully though it didn't get lost! My stop mid-way between San Jose and Birmingham was Houston, Texas. Upon arriving in Houston, there were two planes departing to Birmingham. Well, somehow my baggage got put on the 1st plane to Houston (and my flight was the 2nd plane); So went I went to get my baggage in Birmingham and it wasn't there I started to panic. Luckily one of the security guys knew that a suitcase wasn't picked up earlier and it ended up being mine! Also, TSA decided to randomly select my checked bag to inspect...LOVELY!! They ended up turning everything in my suitcase upside down, sideways, etc. I had a box of cereal in my bag, and tennis shoes. Well, they busted the cereal box, and it spilled all over the suitcase, clothes, make up bag, etc., IT was awful...SERIOUSLY! And they didn't zip up the top compartment (open to the outside) all the way either. Needless to say, I was a little PO, but thankfully nothing was missing!

Here are a few pictures from my trip! I will post more later!

Golden Gate Bridge

Park below Golden Gate Bridge; view of Alcatraz behind me!

Lombard Street! I had never heard of this...but it was so cool!!

Fisherman's Wharf!

Park from "Full House" (house known as the "Pink Ladies")
BEAUTIFUL VIEW!

Haight Ashbury (Hippie District)!

My baby cousin Louisa...PRECIOUS!!

I LOVED seeing the seals at Pier 39 and will post those pics later this weekend!!!

I'm Back

I got back from my trip late Sunday night!!! Today I volunteered and spoke at our annual Tee off for a Cure Golf Tournament for CF! It was a lot of fun and I will post more about that later! I can definitely feel the jet-lag today and are preparing for another MAJOR MAJOR anatomy lab practical on Wednesday, so will be busy with that, work and more babysitting until then!!! Hopefully on Thursday I can catch everyone up on some things!

The trip was great!! And thankfully, I actually felt REALLY good for it! YAY!!!

We had one of our CF adult patients at UAB get transplanted Sunday! As far as I know he is doing great, but please keep him in your prayers!

Also, I have an appointment this Thursday to check out that fluid around my liver!

Friday Fill-In

Here is this week's Friday Fill-In! Click here if you are interested in participating!!!

1. I have a history of not thinking before I speak sometimes.

2. How to make a kid stop screaming at the top of his lungs just for fun is something I wish I knew.

3. I'm eating (or recently ate) candy corn and cheese.

4. There are too many holes on the road on one of the interstates near by.

5. So that's it, that's all I get????

6. Anything is better than nothing!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to resting, tomorrow my plans include touring San Francisco and visiting my new baby cousin and Sunday, I want to have a smooth plan ride back home!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I know I am here!

Taking a break!

In case some of you don't know, I left this morning for San Francisco (San Jose) for a babysitting job until Sunday! I left BIRMINGHAM, AL at 6:30 am this morning, and arrived out here in San Jose at 11:30 am (PST). The couple have left on their trip...so I'm now here keeping their little boy until Friday late night or Saturday early morning!

Needless to say, I probably won't be reading blogs too much, and I apologize for not commenting on many this week! It has been a crazy and hectic week!!! I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and weekend!

Babysitting in San Francisco

I have been given the opportunity to fly to San Francisco to babysit for a couple I know! Kind of an odd job...but hey, I'm up for whatever...and you all know how much i love babysitting and kids! From Alabama to California....here I come! This will be my 3rd (well, 4th if you count the medjet flight for transplant)to California! I've never really been anywhere else (with the exception of Florida for the beach)in the United States. I think it's kind of funny, because California is practically the farthest state from where i live! (except Hawaii). I never imagined I would travel to CA the many times I have and to Mexico! And this has all just happened in the last few years!

So...I am flying out to San Fran/San Jose on October 1st through Sunday October 4th! I am keeping a little 2 yr old Thursday night through Saturday morning! The couple I'm babysitting for doesn't really have any family out there to keep their little boy, and they have been wanting to take this particular trip for a while now. The trip (hiking trip) involves staying overnight and not exactly the right settings for a 2 year old! So she asked me :)

They are paying for my flight; I'm staying at their house!! And...they are paying me to babysit! Great deal if you ask me! On Saturday, she is taking me into the city to sight see, etc. I'm really excited! As you may recall, our trip to San Fran for the CF Conference back in July got canceled. And although I'll be working part of this trip, I feel like it is almost a little blessing from God!

To make it even better, my cousin and cousin-law, who live in the San Francisco area, are having a baby the 1st week of September (if she arrives on time). So I'm hoping that I will get to see my new little baby cousin at that time as well!

So that is my good news to share with you!

Trip Canceled/Update

Well...so unfortunately, Brandi (who was going to San Fran) with me, got pretty sick over the last few days, and we had to cancel our trip to San Francisco for the CFRI Conference. She will probably be going in the hospital if not today, tomorrow. I'm so bummed...and was so excited about going!! But I didn't want to go alone, especially with no transportation and arriving at the city about midnight. UGH!!!!

So, I guess I will be hanging around then this week. I did have a dentist appointment today, and it went well..no cavities. I was actually a little worried because I don't do the best job of taking care of my teeth when I'm in the hospital. But everything looked ok, which I'm so thankful for!

I survived my 4 days of babysitting last week (Thurs, Friday, Sat, and Sunday). It was a long 4 days...3 different families; but it was good, and of course I always like earning money! I'm pretty sure I'm babysitting again tomorrow!

I have a hair cut appointment tomorrow as well, so I will post pictures when I get back. I'm just getting the usual cut and highlights. But my hair has gotten so long and I'm looking forward to getting a little chopped off :)

I still have my cruise to plan for which is August 8th-13th. But I actually think I've got everything for it, since I had planned for the San Francisco trip! Maybe I will go to the lake this weekend???

We had a CF fundraiser Saturday night with our local minor league baseball team. It went pretty good and I enjoyed visiting with other families, and watching the fireworks at the end of the game!! We have another event this weekend, and another one next Thursday that I am partly in charge of!

I'm feeling pretty good...back is better but still bothering me. And I'm still a little tired, but nothing major! I hope it continues for a good while!

I register for fall classes this weekend...yay!! And it's tax free weekend too, which I might just have to take advantage of =)

I hope everyone continues to have a good week. I'm lifting all of you up that are in need of prayers!!!! God Bless!

Lake/Week Wrap-Up

I know I haven't posted much this week...sorry! I just haven't had much to post on =)

I did finally get some lake time in today! The water is finally working. For those of you that have read my previous posts or follow me on facebook, our water pressure has been acting up at our lake house. We've tried to go down for the last 3 weekends, and each time, we haven't had any water. It's not completely fixed, but is working enough! My Mom and I went down yesterday evening! Today was such a beautiful day. The sky was clear and so blue! Very little clouds! Very hot, but a small breeze! We really enjoyed the time together too, which included a nice hour-long boat ride! I hated that we had to come back tonight, but my Uncle is having his 70th b'day part tomorrow! I definitely want to be there...and plus, I need to be at church in the morning!

This past week has been pretty layed back. I did get to visit a CF friend of mine who is currently in the hospital on Thursday for a long while. She is getting evaluated for transplant, so I had a nice visit with her and her Mom! I also ate lunch with some of my nurse friends from HTICU on Thursday! The week included one night of babysitting, a few PT appointments for my back, and running some errands. I did cancel my dentist appointment from this past Monday due to no energy and too tired to get out of bed =) It's rescheduled for the 27th!

My back is still in major pain, but I think it is on its way to getting better....at least praying that it is! I really need it to be LOTS better....basically a healing miracles before my trips coming up! I've also been really exhausted, and very little energy! I'm probably going to start on Cipro antibiotic this coming week just as a precaution! We all know that when I get really busy and "overdo" myself, the outcome isn't all that great! So we'll see!

I hope everyone has had a great week!! I will have lots more to post on next week (or that's the plan)! I have to start getting ready/prepared for San Francisco!