San Diego Zoo round 2!
Today was actually the day we had to say goodbye to Nick. We dropped him off in the morning on base and they bused them all down to the ships. We were able to meet up with him for dinner at the shipyard where we had to say our final goodbyes. It was a little bit of a tough day, to say the least. I’m thankful that we had a little bit of a reprieve with a visit to zoo. This time I went with my parents.
Southern California was having unusually warm weather, like upper 80’s warm. Us, being Washingtonians, were not prepared for this! I had only packed jeans since it’s usually only about 60 in Fallbrook, where we were living, so this entire week I was melting. Now that we’re back, I miss the sunshine! Definitely ready for spring.
Anyways! We did the speed trip version of the zoo as we were chugging down water and wiping our brows.
First stop, meerkats! Sick of them yet? They’re just so cute, how could I not share? This time we saw them digging. We think they were digging for food rather than digging tunnels. They are very fascinating animals. 
It wasn’t too hot for the camels! Here they’re trying to reach the leaves on top of this little hut. I thought it was too funny. The struggle is real. 
Another day, another elephant picture. 
The jaguars needed to cool down with a swim. There was a mother and son pair in this exhibit. They had a little play time together too before laying down for a nap in the shade. 
Remember the lion with his tongue sticking out in my first zoo post? Now here’s the female with her tongue out. Gotta stay cool! 
This is a maned wolf. Which is misleading because they are neither maned nor are they a wolf. We saw them during a keeper talk where they explained more about the animal as they are extremely rare and not found in many zoos; they also demonstrated some of the behaviors they have taught the animals and why. They live in Australia and tend to be more a loner animal yet they still communicate across hundreds of miles through scent. They smell like skunks, actually. The only time you’ll really see them up and about is when the keeper is there with food. Otherwise, they typically off in the back with the greenery, our of sight. 
It was lunchtime for the leopards! Check out those teeth. Wish I got a better picture of the hunk of meat they gave them. It was huge! 
How cute is this? Red pandas are one of my favorites at the zoo yet it’s rare to get a good look at them. This little cutie fell asleep in the tree just like this. I think he was posing 🙂 
More panda pictures. Look! He’s up and walking! Momma was still asleep with her back turned towards us, like usual. I don’t have any pictures of her this time. 
Taking a snack break. Did you know pandas eat all of the bamboo? Even the wood part? They chew up straight up wood. Which is why their teeth wear our so fast. 
We went to the 100th anniversary celebration show for the zoo. They had a lot of videos of some of the main events that have happened over the years and they also included some animals. This wolf was one of them. Wolves are Nick’s favorite animal so naturally I had to include some photos. I know he would have loved to have been there and seen them so up close and personal. 
We had a little karaoke moment. They tried to get him to howl for us but he ended up just mouthing along 😀 
African penguin posing. It’s my dream to hold a penguin one day. Or even just pet one. 
Beautiful parrots. It was reaching 90 degrees at this point.
Last but not least, an action shot! These fellas always intrigue me. I wish they could talk. All the things they’ve seen over their 100+ years. I bet they have a lot of great stories to tell.
Well that concludes this post about the zoo. I’m quickly wrapping up these California Adventures. Kind of makes me sad. There’s only one left to go, the send off of Nick’s ship. Then I’m officially done talking about the time Nick and I got to spend together…it’s the first time we weren’t long distance and now we’re going through the greatest long distance of our relationship. Well I guess it’s time to make my own adventures for a while, until we can be together again.
