California: Exploratium, Gilroy Gardens, and the SBUV3

Caiqian had an interview at Stanford. Given the amount of schoolwork I had at the time, I decided to tag along. Before we knew it, we were both at the airport where my Uncle Oreste was waiting to pick us up. Our California trip began by seeing the San Francisco seals.

Seals

After seeing the seals, we went to San Francisco's Exploratorium, where we observed lots of fascinating science experiments, including a vapor vortex that we were allowed to touch.

Twister

One of our favorite exhibits was seeing the live sea urchins, which were eating baby carrots at an astoundingly slow pace.

Om Nom Nom

Our favorite exhibit however was the Magnetic Labyrinth, captured on video below. The magnetic labyrinth consists of a ferromagnetic fluid trapped between two glass sheets, manipulated by a magnet underneath that the user holds. Caiqian loves it so much that I'm now attempting to recreate it back in Austin.

After we left the Exploratorium, Caiqian bought some turtle bread, which is apparently a thing here in California.

Turtle Bread

Later, when Caiqian was having her interviews, Uncle Oreste brought me out to a golf range, where I swung a real club for the first time. There are certain appeals abut playing golf over other sports, such as its slowness and lack of running. Maybe I'll take up golf in the future.

Swinging a golf club for the first time

One of the best parts of our California trip was seeing Gilroy Gardens, a one of a kind flora-themed amusement park.

Why is this park trying to deceive me?

The park featured many surreal trimmed bushes, which I now know is called topiary.

Word of the Day: Topiary

There were also fun vehicles around the park, like a Ferris wheel, miniature car, a train, and even a monorail.

Monorail! (Simpson's song, opens in new tab)

My favorite part of the park however were the circus trees, which were art works made of trees. The most famous one was the basket tree, which is made from 6 Sycamores grafted 42 times.

The Basket Tree

There was also the arch tree, which is made from two trees grafted into one.

The Arch Tree

A personal favorite was the Oil Rig Tree.

The Oil Rig

Currently Caiqian is playing Fire Emblem Awakening, which fits perfectly with this tree.

Emblem Tree

Caiqian and I also enjoyed the majestic four legged giant.

The Four-Legged Giant

Unfortunately, that's we began mimicing the trees.

Two two-legged giants

The sillier the shape, the more Caiqian and I tried to replicate it.

Zig-zag tree

Curvy Tree

Eventually, it started getting hot and we decided to leave the park, but not before snapping pictures of the remaining circus trees.

Ring Tree

Sideway Rope Rectangle Tree

Revolving Door Tree

My favorite part about California wasn't Gilroy Gardens though. It was riding on Uncle Oreste's Self Balancing Unicycle, Version 3 (shorthand, SBUV3). The first time I rode it, I couldn't go a yard, but by day three I had managed to make it down a whole street.

SBUV3

The SBUV3 was an incredibly useful stepping stone for learning how to ride my unicycle, which has been a project of mine for months now. I'll be sure to post when I've finally mastered the art of unicycling.