San Diego Get Away

 On Friday afternoon we braved the crazy LA traffic and drove from Santa Barbara to San Diego. We stayed at a hip hotel in the Gaslamp district. I loved the heated pool and sunlight. They also had free coffee in the lobby and a complimentary wine hour. Woohoo.

Andrew was at a science conference (still is) so I had time to chill. I work with people in kind of an intense way, if you count 28 five-and six-year-olds consuming and excessive company.  I really do appreciate moments solitude. Am I an introvert? Or, am I an overspent extravert? Not sure.

Meerkats remind me a lot of chihuahuas. Oh, and I went on the skyfari pod thing across the park even though I was a big baby about it being scary (it wasn't so bad).

 We also braved the San Diego zoo. I am not a zoo person, really. I like animals as individuals or from afar in nature or as a pretty detail in the landscape. Think: smiley little chihuahuas, whale watching, sad-faced cows in golden pasture lands. This sound like an unfriendly statement but I am more of a plant person than an animal person; with the exception of people, most of the time. 

This zoo had beautiful landscaping and was cool and lush with bountiful shade. I didn't feel overly-sorry for trapped-looking animals: it felt like their space, we were the ones crowded into the corridor. There were a lot of strollers to dodge. I forgot my memory card so all the pictures are courtesy of my iPhone 4 and the PicFrames app.

 Mama panda bear eating bamboo and Papa panda bear passed out. There was a separate line to view these Chinese citizens. They were under high security with their own narrator. . I felt like Papa Bear's body language was a bit uninviting.

 I wish I knew what these creatures were. It was better than the ballet! First rate performers. I wasn't sure if it was sibling rivalry or a romantic encounter.

The fashion inspiration of many fancy ladies...giraffes and zebras. And, meerkats piled like puppies in the sunshine.

I drove back solo which made me feel like an empowered independent woman. It was four hours and through crazy LA during the Oscars. And, I grew up on an island that only takes a couple hours to drive around (at 30 mph).  But I did it just fine. I love the bluetooth radio--I chatted with family members and listened to my fairytale (A Game of Thrones, Book 2). This is the first audiobook, well second, I've ever listened too. I read the book version in bed before I sleep. 

Oh, and I took a couple of pee-breaks and back-hurting-prevention breaks. One break was at a dusty gas station and the other was in Calabasas. Which is really quite pretty and swanky... On google maps, I saw the Kardashian store DASH was a block away from the Barnes and Noble I peed at. Their show is on Netflix so I am finally hip to who they are.