06.04 - Day 82 - Mission Viejo
Saturday 6th April - Mission Viejo (Day 82)
After a quiet morning at Chez Webb - Daniels parents Anne and Laurie pooping over, they themselves beginning their own Grand Tour, heading to Europe having left Australia behind for a series of house sits across England, Belgium, Italy and possibly more to come. Their taxi driver here is Jason, their other son whom they are staying with. He moved out here 20 years ago and lives just 20 minutes up the road from Daniel and Maggie with his family.
We head out to a play park in or near Santa Margarita - we know this because there is a flock of junior cheerleaders in Santa Margarita t-shirts beginning their practices. Next to them there are some stands / stalls for the football (American Football) team itself. This is for ages 5-14 and pre-season starts now, in April, ahead of the official season starting in August. The cheerleaders start at 3.5 yrs old.
Seb is intrigued by a birthday party in another area playing a game of (American) “football” though is quick to turn down the opportunity to join them - he’s never seen a play or a game before.
After a picnic lunch there is a snap decision to head to Irvine Regional Park containing Orange County Zoo. The road up into the hills soon leaves the housing developments behind and is replaced by dusty shrubs.
Surprisingly we round a bend and can clearly see snow capped mountains off in the distance. Surprising for the snow, but also the visibility which was rarely this clear in SE Asia. Black kites soar and swoop beside the curving road.
The popular weekend family attraction of OC Zoo is great and compact, containing animals I’m not sure we’ve ever seen before as well as goat petting and then some larger animals like Mountain Lions and Jaguars. In an expensive part of the world it’s also a snip at $2.
To round out the American family day we stop off at In ‘n’ Out, a burger joint that has maintained its core menu (and staff with paper hats from the 1970’s). It’s all a tasty treat, especially the chocolate thickshake, just one is enough for four of us for dessert.
Back at home we benefit from home, rather than a homestay or hostel living - being able to put the kids to bed and then chat downstairs over a glass of wine.