Monday morning we awoke in San Diego without setting any alarms. It was a good start to a great day. After showering, Chris, Emily and I all set out for a big day at the San Diego Zoo! We parked in the Rhino section and set forth to see animals from all over the world.
The three of us decided wholeheartedly that The San Diego Zoo is where all animals in zoos aspire to end up. It's clean, huge, well-maintained, and the animals look healthy and lively. We navigated the zoo in such a way that we would loop around the entire park and then end up near the beginning to catch the Sea Lion show at 3pm. It's hard to say which animals were the most impressive but we definitely had favorites.
Seeing the gorillas close up was a very startling and mind-blowing experience. One of the gorillas was sleeping pressed up against the glass and as we stood next to him, he stretched mid-sleep and scratched his foot. I know this might not sound impressive through transcription but it struck us all as such a human thing to do. I probably made the exact same movement over the course of last night. His hands and feet looked so eerily similar to our own (hair being the mane difference) that it was hard to imagine this animal is locked up in a cage while people just roam around looking at him. Hard to explain the experience, but it was entirely fascinating. Jane Goodall would know what we're talking about.
After being stuck in the hypnotic gorilla trance we shook loose and carried on to see more animals. There was a giant peacock just roaming around the zoo and it did not fail to catch me off guard every single time we saw it. The zoo had tons of different monkeys, exotic birds, gazelles, meerkats, koalas, tigers, lions, flamingos, rhinos, elephants, pandas, polar bears, and lots of animals I'd never even heard of. I could list more animals but it would just be time consuming and I don't want to make you jealous. The weather was perfect and as we looked around, we realized we were the only people there who weren't children or the parents of children. No shame though, we probably had more fun than anyone else at the zoo.
Although all animals are awesome in their own unique way, the meerkats were definitely a fan favorite. I snapped an embarrassing amount of meerkat photos. They are just so cute and adorable! They were popping in and out of their little meerkat homes in the ground and when a helicopter flew overhead they all scurried above land and stood on their tiny hindfeet watching the helicopter, bewitched. I tried to lure them out of their cage and into my arms but they must have been too tired to crawl over... or something.
Around 3 we caught the Sea Lion Show. The trainer asked for a volunteer and my hand shot up. I don't know if she saw me or if it was just part of the speech but then she said, "Uh, a young volunteer..." and continued to scan the crowds. She picked a four year old who swore and didn't even want to touch the sea lion. (I'm not bitter, I'm just filling you in on the facts.) Afterward, Chris treated us to ice cream at the greatest ice cream place in the continental US--Maggie Moo's!
The last time Em and I had been to a Maggie Moos was in Athens, Georgia in 2006. Stumbling upon this gem of a place after a great day out was absolute perfection. We were three happiest six-year olds in town.
Just when we thought the day couldn't get any better, we drove the whole 3 or 4 minutes from the apartment to the beach. My first time touching the Pacific Ocean! Em and I rushed down to the shoreline and played around in the water and waves. This was our journey's end: We had finally made it from coast to coast. Victorious and elated, we continued to run around on the beach and toss around a football. We picked up a fourth Sandwich-er, Terese, along the way as she had just pulled in from Vegas that afternoon! We all hung around talking, relaxing, and watching the sun sink lower into the horizon. After one more lesson in cartwheels, the sun had set and we walked back to the apartment humming Brass Bonanza.
Back at the apartment, Emily's brother Jack had come home from work and basketball. The rest of us threw on a quick change of clothes and we headed out for some delicious Mexican food at Gringo's. It was Margarita Monday for some people, Water Monday for others. We sat outside on the covered deck next to a big open fire pit, talking and eating and laughing. What a wonderful end to a great day, and a wonderful day to end an amazing trip.
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