San Diego Zoo

At the end of our visit Owen fell into his customary sleep.

With the sun shining on Saturday morning we set out for the brief 30 minute drive to the San Diego Zoo. While neither of us are zoo experts, this zoo seemed to be nicely condensed with no down-time between exhibits. All the exhibits or habitats are open-air which is nice, particularly when navigating crowds with a stroller.

Owen enjoying the fishies.

Some of the exhibits truly capture the native habitat.  Definitely cheaper than a flight to another continent -- although there seems to be a 2:1 ratio of people to strollers -- aka lots of strollers!

One of Ron's favourite exhibits was mama and baby hippo.  Baby hippo kept trying to elude mama but she never left his/her side.  They often were wedged together in a corner pressed up against the display glass.  We didn't get a photo of this since every kid in the part was busy inspecting them.

Owen's adapting well to the West coast culture preferring to wear his hat with some attitude.

Wuddup Dawg

The cool and sunny climate seems to keep most animals happy.  Many were busy running around or performing some act for the visitors.

The leopard was showing off running across fallen trees and climbing to the very top of trees.  It wasn't the most graceful climber often slipping and making viewers think it would plummet to the ground but the tree provided no match for its sheer strength as it made its way to the top.

The polar bear reminded everyone of its dominance on the food chain.

Then quickly realized it was too nice of a day to be rude.

The prized exhibits at the zoo are the Giant Pandas -- one a few zoos in the world to have the species on display.  It's also been the most successful are panda reproduction in captivity. Another useless fact,  the zoo grows over 40 varieties of bamboo for the pandas who are on long-term loan from China.

Red Panda

I bet you didn't know about the Red Panda who is slightly larger than your house cat.  They mostly resemble a furry-fox if you were to ask me.

Bai Yun is the mother of all giant pandas born in captivity at the zoo.  At birth they weigh 100g - 200g and grow to weigh 175-280lbs.

The zoo also grows 18 varieties of eucalyptus for the resident koalas.  They didn't seem to want to be bothered.

And we had to stop by the Urban Jungle for Julie ..

At long last, Julie's favourites the giraffes.

All in all a great day at the zoo.  We finished the day by heading back up the coast and staying at the Fairmont Newport Beach.  We only needed one more night to reach top-level at in the Fairmont which includes complimentary nights and suite upgrades -- which will be handy for our trip out West next spring. It's the oddest location for a Fairmont that we've ever seen.  Which probably contributes to its Holiday Inn rates -- perfect.

Of course before making it to the hotel we stopped for some more shopping.

Taking a breather.

We tried to sneak on the patio at R+D Kitchens, where we ate the other day, only to be told that there was a 45 minute wait.  Unfortunately Owen isn't so patient and we headed to the hotel.

Fashion Island at night

With the forecast calling for rain most of tomorrow we figured the desert would be the best chance at escaping the downfall.  Off the Palm Springs!