California Road Trip Part 4

First of all, thank you for all the anniversary wishes...and compliments on my child prodigy little one's art.

Before I jump into the rest of our vacation story, I have a couple more things I need to mention....(And if you missed out on the previous posts, you can hop on over to:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
and check them out.)

A big thank you to my dear friend, Susie from Susie's Space, who honored me with this award:

Coming from Susie, who always brightens people's days, this was truly a compliment! Thank you, Susie! I'll try to pass it on in my next post!

Also, I just found out I won one of the two book giveaways from my other dear friend, Susanne at Living to Tell the Story!
Thank you, Susanne!



And one more thing...
So many of you asked where to find the phone calls from the Disney princesses...and if other Disney characters were available...
So, here is the link to the official Disney Princess website, which I think is so charming! You'll find the information and link for "The Enchanted Calls" in the left sidebar.
And yes, Mickey, Pooh and Tigger are available to call your youngsters, too!


So...on with our story...

The short drive from Los Angeles to San Diego flew by...and since check-in time to our new hotel wasn't until late afternoon, we decided to go to the famous zoo first.
Then later, we'd be heading to my nephew's for dinner (the one who is just three years younger than me, with children around the same age as ours) and to see his sweet family.

We were blessed with gorgeous weather this first day...not too hot, but sunny with a refreshing sea breeze to embrace us as we trotted over the zoo's many hills.

The first thing we laid eyes on were the beautiful flamingos...

You folks from Florida will not think this was so incredible, but we Oregonians were sure transfixed! We loved them...except for their aroma, that is!
But they sure were gorgeous.

After going through the children's zoo section, everyone was very anxious to ride the sky tram.

All four of us loved it!
So nice to float over the zoo with all it's greenery and palm trees...


And in another direction, the distant city skyline...



Afterwards, as we walked along, we came to the panda line...and oh, I was so excited! Not that I have always been a great lover of pandas, but for some reason, the thought of seeing this rare exhibit seemed suddenly thrilling.
We got into line, waiting only ten minutes or so...and it was so worth it!
They have several adult pandas on loan from China, as well as a baby born last August...
and this baby was so fun to watch!



Of course, after this exhibit we had to let the girls pick out a smaller, easier maintained version to each take home. No bamboo diet required...

And if all this wasn't enough, there were the gorillas...



There were actually four or five, and they all were just sitting...staring out...as if contemplating something important in life.
Maybe how soon it was until dinnertime...just not sure.

And then, who can resist these cuddly guys...

Finally, it was time to head out...but the day was still only half over!
We had yet to see if our next hotel was half way decent...yet to have an incredible visit with our relatives... nor to visit Sea World.
And believe me...there is a story for you in Sea World!

Until next time...

Blessings!