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San Diego: Day 4

DAY 4

So day four starts off like the earlier ones, although today we decide to just chill at the hotel room until after EG's morning nap.
Eva wakes up at 7:00am which is closer to normal, but not quite there yet.
It works out well for us though, since she will take an early nap, and we can go to the zoo early in the afternoon.
We get the free buffet again, and it was wonderful again.
We head back to the room, and I look up the directions to the zoo while Nina plays with EG.
EG, and mom and me, took a great nap (2+ hours) and we head out to the zoo just before noon.

We wandered around a little bit near the entrance, and saw some monkeys.
The zoo was not super busy, so there was some room to move the stroller around.
Against my better judgement we decide to eat lunch at the zoo, and spend $20 this time for a couple burgers and fries.
We are getting thoroughly sick of burgers and fries, and pizza too, but that is all you get at these places...
We decided to get a better lay of the land with the bus tour (included in the tickets we bought).
It is a great way to see the zoo, and figure out where everything is.
It is a little easier to get pictures from up on the top deck (sit on the right side to see more animals without having to stand).
After our bus trip, EG was back to sleep, and we put her into the stroller, and hung out where the bus dropped us off, since nobody was around there.
She slept for about 30 minutes, and was back in it for the show.

Next up, we needed to check out the Elephants!
One of Eva's first words was elephant so she was quite impressed by them.
I am thinking she was a bit surprised by there size, since she really only has seen them on TV and in books.
The rest of the zoo was a cool, but not much to say about it...
Until the end of the day, when Nina was tired of walking (she was 4 months pregnant), and I hadn't seen the pandas yet.
I really wanted to see them, and finally convinced Nina to come along, with the promise that the escalator will take us back up the hill, so no up hill walking.
Apparently when the zoo says the gates close at 6:00pm and shutdown at 7:00pm, they really mean they make it impossible to get back to the front of the park after 6:00pm.
The escalator was stopped, and as we were taking the next best route, through the aviaries, the zookeeper was almost about to lock them up.  We convinced her to allow us to walk through them, as she locked them behind her.  If not, I would have been in serious trouble with Nina ;)
We headed out of the zoo, and Eva fell asleep immediately in the car.
We decided to get to Tony Roma's for dinner tonight, since we missed out on it yesterday.
It was easier to find with some light, and we had a wonderful meal there.

Of course, after dinner we went back to the hotel, and got EG ready for bed.
I looked up a few site seeing items for tomorrow, ate the rest of my cheesecake from Day 1, and went to bed.
Tomorrow is site-seeing day to hit all that we haven't seen yet, as the last full day in SD, CA!

Posted: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 10:45 PM by Dino
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Comments

The Gupster said:

I may have said this before. I am an animal lover. I will never EVER support Zoo's, Rodeo's or any even that has animals performing. It actually surprises me that it is 2006 and we still have Rodeo's.

With that said, there are two zoo's I am supportive of: San Diego and D.C. These Zoo's serve a purpose. I had the opportunity at the D.C zoo to see backstage (even play with baby lions) and it's amazing what they do for animals. On the other hand, John Ball Zoo serves no purpose other than caging animals.

There are not too many things that turn me seriously angry than the bad treatment of animals (and Delta Airlines).

I understand the need to put your children in front of these amazing creatures and zoo's are the only way to do it. I just have a hard time accepting it.

PS. Your making me miss SD.
# May 25, 2006 5:58 AM

Dino said:

I don't feel too bad for the animals though. I realize that they typically live in the wild, but they get eaten out there too, so it isn't so bad. They get treated better than my dinner in its life. Although I would certainly classify myself as an animal lover too, so I don't disagree. Overall, the SD zoo was the best I have been to.
# May 25, 2006 7:00 AM
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