Day 202: Legoland

Southern California is full of fun and worthwhile tourist attractions. My family and I have enjoyed going to Disneyland, Sea World, Knott's Berry Farm, and the San Diego Zoo. All of these places are fun, high-quality attractions that are worth the money you spend on them. However, there are a few Southern California attractions that are tourist traps that I would warn you to avoid. The first one on my list is Legoland. I know it sounds kind of exciting...cities made of legos and fun rides for the kids...how could that not be fun? However, don’t be deceived by tricky marketers who paint a picture of a blissful and enjoyable afternoon with family and friends at their park. When Sue and I went with the kids, we felt ripped off and we even had free tickets. Never pay money to go to Legoland! Trust me it isn’t worth it (okay I know one of you out there reading probably loves Legoland...Sorry).

Well yesterday reminded me of the land of the miniature as I stopped in at the Herat airport. As I wandered around wasting some time I ran into an armored vehicle unlike any I had seen before. Take a look at the picture above. I am taller than this thing--all 5’10” of me. One of the Italians saw me looking at it and offered to open it up and give me a tour on the inside. It was equally small on the inside--I don’t know how you could wear body armor and fit in this thing. Typically all of the armored vehicles around here are big and bulky. This was definitely an exception. One of the interesting things about being in Afghanistan is that we get to interact with many different nationalities and get to see the different vehicles and equipment that they use. This mini Italian up-armored vehicle looked good on the base but I don't know about riding in it “outside the wire.” Maybe we should send it out to California. I think it would fit in well at Legoland.