The Great Carousel Hunt: Part the Second

My sister went with me yesterday to the Fashion Island Carousel.

I've seen it before--even taken a couple of pictures--but I've never really looked at it or ridden it.

It's a lovely little carousel, and I was amazed and amused by the number of animals: Not only were there horses, several in full armor, there was a hare, a zebra, a merhorse, an ostrich, a tiger, a pig. And, most likely, one or two others I forgot to mention.

This, of course, gave rise to a great dilemma: I knew I was going to ride, but which animal? They were all lovely; even the pig had quixotic sort of charm. Finally, my sister spoke up in favor of riding the armored horse, and I decided on the hare next to it (It's so much more fun to ride a carousel with someone), and we were off!

The music was rather softer and the motor rather louder than was ideal, but the weather was splendid, the company good, and I'd say the ride was a success.

Afterward, we paid a quick visit to the bookstore where my sister pounced on a Jan Karon book (A Continual Feast: Words of Comfort and Celebration, Collected by Father Tim, I think) which she proceeded to read while we shared gelato down in the food court.

She did surface long enough to help me navigate the roads on the way back--I went straight where I should have turned and turned where I should have gone straight, and ended up hopelessly turned around. Fortunately, she wasn't, so, although we took the long road home, we made it.

All in all, I'd call it a successful chapter of the quest.

The Great Carousel Hunt: Part the First

Let the record show that the Great Carousel Hunt has begun!

Place: The Balboa Fun Zone, a small amusement-park on the Balboa Peninsula, in place since 1936.

Time: Last Wednesday.

Note: Yes, I still have an appointment to ride it with my sister, but that is all right: The Quest Charter not only permits riding any given carousel more than once, it encourages it.

Carousel Hunting

Ok, so going to Disneyland has reminded me of how much I love carousels.

And how few of them I've ridden, even of the ones in the area--it's always "later." So, my mission this summer is to ride as many as I can.

That, of course, means I have to find them, so I'm asking folks to "donate" carousel locations, though I'm sticking to S California & primarily to Orange County.

Carousels I'm aware of and plan on visiting are:

The Disneyland & CA Adventure Carousels (of course).

I'm told there is one at the Santa Ana Zoo

There is the one in the Balboa Fun Zone

Also, there are some at:
San Diego Zoo
Fashion Island
South Coast Plaza

I know there are others, but my googling skills are failing me here. Help?

Gardening!

I was going to blog about my beautiful garden, but I spent a long time out there today, weeding, watering, and cleaning, and I'm just too tired to write coherently.

So, here are some pictures, instead.

Oh, and as a PS: I did get some writing today for The Broken Hourglass, in between trips to water and weed. Not a lot of writing, the garden was pretty demanding, but some. I hope that by Monday the current quest will be finished.