San Diego Zoo

Hi friends!

It’s a been a gloomy, rainy Thursday so far in our neck of the woods. Happy Spring!

I decided to take a break from packing to sort through and answer emails instead this morning. Why I continue to manage four separate emails accounts is still beyond me. Anyways, now that I feel somewhat back on track and caught up there, I thought it would be a great time to finish recapping our recent trip out west here.

 

Need to catch up?

San Diego: Downtown & La Jolla

San Diego Weekend Snapshots

A Day In Los Angeles

 

San Diego Zoo

Even though I woke up still recovering from a nasty bug I caught a few days before, I wanted to make the most out of our last day in San Diego. Scott and I walked over to a nearby coffee shop in Little Italy when we woke up and spent the morning planning what to do that day.

As soon as our friend, Kylee, joined us, all signs pointed towards the San Diego Zoo!

Voted the #1 zoo in the world (!!!), visiting this place had been on both Scott and I’s bucket lists for quite some time. We were excited to have the opportunity to simply take a drive over to the property and thankful that the rain clouds disappeared to allow a sunny and breezy afternoon outside.

We started our animal adventure on the bus tour close to the entrance. There was about a thirty minute wait, but it was worth it. The three of us stood in line for an extra few minutes in order to get seats on the top level, too. It was gorgeous out, so again … worth it!

I would recommend the bus tour to anyone who visits the zoo. It’s free to do and takes you on a guided loop through the property that makes it less overwhelming to decide where to start and map out the day.

I’m so glad that we were able to see the polar bears on the tour because they went in for the night by the time we made it all the way over to that side later on!

After the tour, we grabbed a quick lunch (they had turkey burgers – woot!) and started walking to see as many animals as we could before the 5 p.m. close time. Our group of three took way too many photos, so I’ve condensed them down to a dozen or so to share on the blog.

You’re welcome.

One stop definitely worth making is at the zebra and donkey cage. There was a trainer inside that led them to perform tricks and play with toys. We saw the zebra stand on things and pose, kick things, and listen to cues from the zookeeper. Who knew you could train a zebra?

The monkeys and otters are always my favorite to watch because there is always so much action! We easily sat and watched that exhibit for at least thirty minutes.

Other not-so-active animals like the koalas still stole my heart. Isn’t he adorable just napping away in the tree? I need one.

We made our way down the path towards the grizzly bears and heard a commotion. They were wrestling! And then, well, let’s just say wrestling. It happens.

Days at the zoo always race by too fast. We tried to use our last hour on the grounds wisely and hopped on the skyway ride in order to get all they over to the other side.

My favorite moment(s) from the day all took place by the gorilla exhibit. One gorilla in particular kept coming close enough to interact with us!

I mean, how cool is that? Gorillas always amaze me. They’re so human-like.

We were sad to find out that the polar bear exhibit closed, but made it over to the big cats just in time to hear the loudest lion roars. They were deafening. Scott caught the end of it on video, but his roars were much, much louder before we ran over to see for ourselves!

And then there were these guys who are the definition of cuddle buddies. I can’t handle the cuteness.

The zoo closed soon after. We were surprised, however, that there wasn’t an army of workers hurrying us out. We casually strolled through exhibits on the way back to the exit and could have taken much more time.

With important dinner plans ahead (it was Joel’s birthday!), we eventually made our way back to the car and rushed to pack our bags for our flight home. We took the red eye flight back to Detroit that night, but first … dinner at El Camino!

If you’re ever near Little Italy in San Diego, I highly recommend that you check this restaurant out. The theme and decorations inside are awesome, and they have a great outdoor seating area as well. At first glance, we didn’t realize that it was outside until we saw a plane fly right over us. The patio is enclosed, but it has an open roof to view the sky, stars, and planes. It was loud, but very cool!

We said our goodbyes close to 9 p.m. and were sad to also say farewell to our friends and sunny California. We love it there!
 

***

 
I’m sure many of you are guessing where our next adventure in life will take us, and while I’m not quite ready to write about it … I can say that it’s not San Deigo, or anywhere in California for that matter.

While it would be dreamy, a move out to the west coast isn’t in the cards for us right now. Maybe one day, but not today.

I actually had an interview while we were in San Diego (while I was sick as a dog, by the way), and it went really well, but it didn’t offer enough for me to accept and move there. That on top of the lack of entertainment opportunities for Scott basically made that decision for us.

So … we are waiting on a few current opportunities to pan out and have a pretty awesome “just in case” destination and plan if they don’t.

I promise to share more as soon as I can!

 

See you back in the morning with Friday Favorites!