The Aquarium in Monterrey, California

The aquarium in Monterrey, California was closed for rebuilding and reopened to the public on Saturday, July 7, 2007. As the reopening was publicized, Ric heard about it and booked tickets for him and I to visit on that day.

During this period of time, Ric and Lawson Barnes were sky diving fairly frequently. On their last trip to Hollister Ric misjudged his landing and ended up on top of a gopher hole breaking a bone in his right foot. A cab had been booked to take us to Coliseum Station to connect with a train to San Jose. The cab was late in arriving so we hurried down the front stairs when it arrived which caused Ric - who was using crutches - to trip, fall and crack a rib. Ric being Ric, we carried on.

The train ride was fairly comfortable for him but the bus from San Jose to Monterrey was not so. When we arrived at the aquarium, a hostess asked Ric if he would like the use of a wheelchair? His response was, "Hell, YES!" and so he wheeled himself throughout the building using the elevators provided to go from one level to the next.

The bus trip from San Jose to Monterrey took two hours as it was a 'local' and stopped at every settlement that we came to along the way. In Monterrey the bus driver deposited us in the center of the city from where we caught a 'jitney' to the aquarium. This vehicle was quite comfortable and fun to ride on.

Monterrey Bay with the aquarium building on the left.

On the other side of the aquarium, scuba divers were at work - presumably looking for more specimens to exhibit.

On a large rock in front of the aquarium sea birds and sea lions were resting.

At each tank there is a large plate glass window which made the viewing easy - as you can tell from the above photo of angel fish.

A rock covered by coral and mussels

Ric's nickname is 'Otter' so he identifies with these animals. This group are North Pacific sea otters.

North Pacific sea otter at ease.

Wont you have a shrimp ready for me to eat once I wake up?

Nearby was a group of European sea otters. I apologize for the poor quality of this photo.

A sea turtle.

A jellyfish

A school of jellyfish.

More tropical fish.

Upon exiting the aquarium we were looking down a street immortalized by John Steinbeck - Cannery Row!

Our trip back to Oakland was the reverse to our trip down to Monterrey. I should add that the date of our visit to the aquarium was July 7, 2007. Therefore we saw more than the usual number of wedding cars on the road - the 'superstitious' who chose 7/7/07 for their wedding day (as did others the year before - 6/6/06).

While in Oakland this time I saw two baseball games - both with the Toronto Blue Jays as the opposition. In preparation, I took my Blue Jays ball cap and t-shirt with me. We caught a local bus to the Lake Merritt BART station and were standing on the platform waiting for a train when I was approached by another fellow who was also wearing Blue Jay regalia. He was from the northeast Toronto suburb of Markham, had been in Los Angeles for a family event then - as a diehard Blue Jays fan - came up to Oakland to see the game against the Athletics.