Beach and San Diego Zoo

On Monday

we went to the beach for breakfast.

We got a table with a view of the ocean, nice!

Of course we walked on the beach...but we were headed

to the zoo right after that so I said, "Don't get wet."

They found lots of cool stuff on the beach..shells, sand

dollars,

lots of seaweed.

Ruth, Drew and Vince hunting

Hmm, yes, he got a little wet, or a lot wet!

Vince bought him some shorts at a beach

store, nice brother in law!

The family, minus Vince who was taking the photo,

at the zoo.

Drew and Lorissa looking ferocious!

Watching the apes.

They are huge!!

These chimps

were being fed so they were all

riled up making lots of noise!

One jumped right at the window and banged

on it freeking out a little girl!

Drew thought it was cool.

The handler said she was the alpha female

and felt she should have had first

pick of the food so she was mad.

Sounds logical to me!!

Being this close to a tiger was very amazing,

If not for the glass between us we could have touched it!!

I love hippos, especially when they are swimming!

We watched an exciting bird show.

At the end you could give this bird money and he

would stuff it in his box.

I think the dollar being put in was Drew's.

You can see Drew on the left side.

Pandamonium!

This shot was for April, she likes Pandas.

Me, I like elephants!!

Bop the seal!!

Balboa Park through the polar bear display.

Safari Steve

That's a lot of stripes.

They must use it to make predators dizzy.

Yes, the pachyderms.

Hey! not me! The big grey thing with tusks!!

Ruth getting a ride

Drew taking flight.

All that I could get at first of the elephants

was rear ends, then they came and fed them

so I got some good shots!

Aren't they cute, in a large sort of way?

Why is it that I like the BIG animals?

Hmm, not sure.

The "kids" playing.

Meerkats are so small, and cute...

in Lion King Timon seems a

lot bigger, just saying!

One of the other many wild animals found

in the zoo!! Got a good

shot of him too!! Seems as though

he will eat most anything, he

especially likes mexican food, go figure!

This one's for Lyndsie, she likes

giraffes.

Drew lost his flip-flop in the koala exhibit.

Yes, I knew that was going to happen sooner or later!

Good thing about him? He's not shy!

He went to the nearby gift shop and got some help!!!

The guy thought it was funny, happens all the

time he said!

The peacock

Just one more shot! Yes, you guessed it.

Another elephant! I could take this one home.

Oh yeah! How about that in the front yard?

Took a drive up Mt. Soledad, where Lorissa lived when

she first got out of college.

Lot's of nice views!

Steve and Lorissa at Mount Soledad

cross and war memorial.

View of San Diego

That is a lot of bird poop!

This is La Jolla.

Seals enjoying the sun.

I love the ocean for so many reasons...

...tide pools...

...the splash of the waves as they crash against the rocks...

....the sound of the waves crashing on the shore

that drowns out everything else...

...the way the sun comes through

the clouds and reflects on the water...

...turning the waves into a beautiful, shining blue...

the beach is a place to reflect and be

refreshed. Wish I lived near a beach

with mountains and snow too!

Seals reflecting! I'm pretty sure that is what

they are doing!

Vince, Drew and Ruth on the beach for

a closer view!

Tuesday morning bright and early we were on

the road again. Leaving the land of freeways and

overpasses.

To the desert again. I think this was a view into

Mexico.

Maybe my mom liked the desert for its

large saguaro cactus.

Or the cactus forest!!

Wow!

This is the view of Flagstaff, now maybe this is why

she liked the desert.

Flagstaff is beautiful, wouldn't be such a

bad place to live if you had to

live in the desert.

More views on the way home through a dust storm.