All Animalled Out

We had a great time and are just about animalled out. And walked out.

The first day, after we arrived at 8:30 am, we checked into our hotel in Balboa Park (the Balboa Park Inn...and very unique little inn with theme rooms) and then went next door to the S.D. Zoo. TOTALLY awesome zoo. One of the best zoos, if not THE best zoo, we've ever seen. And we've been to a lot of zoos, including the Berlin zoo and several in Holland that let you get pretty up close and personal with the animals. Walked and walked and walked all over that zoo. The plant life and scenery was as wonderful as the selection of animals. It really is an awesome zoo, and it was overcast most of the day, so there wasn't a hot sun beating down on us.

Second day was Sea World. We wanted to hit those two before the weekend rush. There were still plenty of people there, but it wasn't a fiasco. Walked and walked there, but it wasn't as huge as the zoo. Weather was about the same, but even though it was overcast, Corey got a bit sunburned. My make-up saved me, but my nose got a tad burnt. The animal shows were really great and very entertaining. There was one chick that did pantomime gags before the sealion show...when she imitated Mick Jagger and then came out and did Mick Jagger with a walker, we laughed. When she imitated Jessica Simpson in that "boots are made for walking" video and then got a big sponge and started sponging down herself and the stage, I about busted a gut. Too bad I was laughing too hard to remember to take photos.

Third day, we moved over to Coronado Island and stayed in a hotel (the Glorietta Bay Inn) across the street from the Hotel Del Coronado. Spent the morning walking on the beach and enjoying the outdoors and the ocean, even if it was overcast. Then went back to the room in the afternoon so Corey could watch the Mavs game he was supposed to be at. He had bought tickets to the 3rd and 4th games of that series, not thinking straight about when they were going to be held. Thankfully, he was able to sell those tickets on eBay for good prices, but he was still disappointed he didn't get to go. Hopefully the Mavs will advance and we can go to the next series if he hasn't left for China by then. I really liked that inn. GREAT customer service, and our room was quite large, even if it was located in Grand Central station.

Sunday we went the S.D. Wild Animal Park. Very cool place. Lots to do and again we walked and walked and walked and walked...I don't have a a lot of guilt over all my missed workouts on vacation, LOL! The bird show there was really nice...even got to see an Andean condor flying over our heads and right in front of us. Very cool. Saw an elephant show. Saw animals wandering the plains. Got up close to a fox and a porcupine. Got inches away (through glass) from a pair of lions.

Monday...well, yesterday was an eclectic day. Went to the Scripps Aquarium, saw the Cabrillo National Monument (apparently the second most visited national monument after the Statue of Liberty, but I'd never heard of it until last Thursday), and then toured the U.S.S. Midway in San Diego harbor. Then went back to the room to watch the Mavs win again. THEN we went out onto the beach at 10:30pm to watch the grunion run until midnight. Man, was that hard to photograph, LOL! I took about twenty photos and only got two kinda/sorta good ones.Today we were kinda pooped. We'd wined, we'd dined, we'd walked, we'd seen 10,000 animals, and so we went down to the Old Town State Park, ate Mexican food and then turned in our car and flew out.

I took about 6-700 photos, but many of the repetitive ones or more "useless" ones got deleted in the interest of Flash card space....especially those taken with the Rebel. I really needed that camera for the "action shots" at the Seaworld shows, but had already taken most of the photos at the zoo on that camera. Note to self: get second huge Flash card for Rebel... I really enjoyed having my second little camera there. I used it for a lot of shots that didn't require quick timing or lots of digital zooming. I'll deal with photos tomorrow or Thursday. :D