San Diego Zoo

On August 16th, Kevin and I met up with Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Frank to explore the San Diego Zoo.  This was something I wanted to make sure and see before leaving California. and it didn't disappoint!  The grounds and exhibits were beautiful and the company was great. 



Photo from the Skyride



We decided to take a short bus tour around the grounds because the zoo is so big.  This helped decide where we wanted to go and allowed us to see some animals from a unique vantage point overhead.  One of my immediate observations was that this didn't seem like a typical zoo.  The landscaping was so lush and beautiful and many of the animal exhibits were tucked away.  It was very serene.  Sometimes you forgot you were in a zoo!



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I always enjoy seeing the bears at the zoo because they are so beautiful and so dangerous to actually see in the wild.  It gives you a close-up view you could never have otherwise.  My absolute favorite is the polar bear.  I don't know how they recreated the arctic in San Diego, but the bears were very playful and seemed happy to be there!

Polar Bear Clip

I am also very fascinated with the grizzly bears.  As much as I would love to see these bears in the wild (not!), I know this is my only chance to see them up close and escape with my life.  Don't you just love those nails?!

They had quite a group of koala bears.  Many of them were very shy with their backs to us.  This one was too hungry to care!

The funniest thing had to be this sloth bear.  He was either crazy or dancing to an iPod we couldn't see!

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The hippo wasn't scaring this duck one bit.





Cool shot of the flamingo taking a drink.



Every zoo has elephants, but this exhibit was beautiful.  There were many of these "utilitrees" that provided the elephants with challenging ways to get their food.  It helped with their creativity and to keep their minds sharp.  There was a huge open building dedicated to bathing the elephants.  It was incredible and very impressive! 

Once our sightseeing was done, we headed to Albert's, a restaurant right in the zoo!  It was nice and relaxing and a nice end to a great day!

L.A. & Orange County: The Bullshit Tour

 

I had never been to Los Angeles or the southern California coast before.  We had no plans to stay in the L.A. area, but I really wanted to see it for myself.  I begged Kevin to drive through a few tourist areas just to satisfy my curiosity.  He gently reminded me that we were in a motorhome and that city driving was very stressful.  I figured if anyone could do it, he could.  Thus, the Bullshit Tour had begun.  I had to choose one or two main roads to get around Beverly Hills and Hollywood and that was it.  I begged to see Melrose and Rodeo Drive, but he quickly replied with a definitive "NO"!  Santa Monica Boulevard was the winner.

West Hollywood:  I guess they couldn't find their POW/MIA flags.



I had to be a tourist.  It was quite a feat for Kevin to slow down the motorhome every block so I could get my shot.  He's so good to me!



 

 Ahhhhh ~ The L.A. traffic!  But this was so worth it.......right?  Kevin may have a different opinion.



Coto de Caza was the last stop on the Bullshit Tour, and according to Kevin, the biggest bullshit of all.  I love the reality show "The Housewives of Orange County".  The show is set in Coto De Caza, a gated planned community for the deliriously rich.  I thought it would be fun to "swing by" on our way south (very out of the way) to catch a glimpse of the houses (and maybe a housewife).  Little did I know, you must enter a gate just to get to the houses and visitors aren't allowed without prior clearance.  So, I had Kevin take a picture of me in front of the sign while numerous Coto residents passed by in front of me to get to the gate.  It was a little embarassing, but at least I got the shot!



This was all I got to see of Coto de Caza.  Bummer!

Cabot was very unimpressed by the whole Los Angeles area.  The bedding got kicked on him and he didn't care one bit!  He would have made a good miner!

Malibu: Southern California Trip



Malibu RV Campground



Malibu is a coastal town north of Los Angeles off Route 1.  We stayed at a campground overlooking the Pacific.  This is a shot over the water at dusk.  The town wasn't very impressive.  Mostly it consisted of businesses and beach houses interspersed with stretches of highway.  The best part about it was the dolphin show early the next morning.  I looked out our back window in the RV facing the ocean.  The dolphins were feeding close to the beach.  It was really cool to watch because there were so many of them cresting the water.  You couldn't miss it!  See the video clip below:

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It's good for the dogs to get out of the RV and stretch their legs off leash.  They loved being able to run in and out of the RV at will.  Apparently, steps are a lot of fun.

Southern California: Santa Barbara Mission

For a week in the middle of August, Kevin and I drove to Southern California in the motorhome with the dogs in tow.  We took a more coastal route on the way down to San Diego, and then moved east into the Mojave Desert for a couple of days until heading back to Milpitas.  There was much to see and family to visit.  The blog entries will be broken down into sections to make it easier to view.

Our first stop was the Santa Barbara Mission.  It was established in 1786 and is the tenth of the California missions.  The original purpose of this mission was to convert the Chumash Indians to Christianity.  The architecture is influenced by African Moorish culture in contrast to the Mexican artwork and decor inside the mission.

The buildings extending beyond the church enclose the beautifully landscaped courtyards not visible from the mission front lawn.








The mission church is currently used by the Parish of Santa Barbara and services are open to the public.

This fountain was built in 1808 and originally used by the Indian women to wash clothes.

Yosemite

June 18-20, 2010 a group of us went to Yosemite National Park and Stanislaus National Forest for a "camping" trip.  We packed food for all meals to share.  Our plan was to hike in the park, but since it was Father's Day, it was the busiest any of us had ever seen in a national park.  There was hardly anywhere to park a small car let alone an RV!  We drove around Yosemite and snapped some pix, and then headed back to the campsite for a cookout.  We had such a great time relaxing, eating and shooting the breeze.  It didn't matter where we were because we had fun together.

                                                                                                          El Capitan

These gorgeous flowers were growing right out of the rock on the side of the road.  I couldn't resist snapping the photo of such an unusual bloom!

Port San Luis

In June, Kevin and I went to Fisherman's Beach in Port San Luis to kayak.  This place is just north of Pismo Beach on the Central Coast and is very RV and dog friendly.  The weather was gorgeous, just perfect for water activities!

If the Pacific wasn't so darn cold, we wouldn't have to wear these wetsuits!

When I got too close to this little guy, he made such a heinous noise that I had to quickly move away!  Kevin said I was disturbing the balance of nature.

Brown pelicans sunning themselves on the jetty.

Port San Luis Light - You could only get this view from the water.  This was as close as we could get because the Pacific Ocean was on the other side of the jetty and the water was rough against the rocks.

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After kayaking, it was the boys' turn to have some fun.  Kevin had them off leash chasing their ball in the water.  They had so much fun, it was cool to watch!

Cabot retrieves that ball like it is his only goal in life.  Ingonish's mission in life is to deny Cabot that goal.

This is one of my favorite pictures of them.  So innocent looking, and yet so not!

Video: Pups fighting in the water

Heading back home

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We ended up going back to Fisherman's Beach this past Saturday 7/10/10.  This time of year it is much cooler and foggier in the morning until the afternoon sun burns it off.  It was very pleasant in the 70's during the day, but quite chilly in the 50's at night. 

California's Central Coast

This past Memorial Weekend, Kevin and I headed to California's central coast. You never know what the weather will be like on the other side of the hills, but it was hot and sunny most of the time. We stayed on Camp Roberts, a National Guard post, the first and last nights, and near Avila Beach in Port San Luis Saturday night. It was really cool to open up the blinds in the RV and look out onto the water Sunday morning.

Morro Rock in Morro Bay just north of Pismo Beach

Sunday May 30th, was a gorgeous day. After a leisurely breakfast at Fat Cats overlooking Port San Luis, we drove down to Grover Beach, just south of Pismo Beach. We originally heard the coastal temperatures were going to be in the mid 60's, so we weren't prepared for swimming. The Pacific is freezing most of the time anyway! We just wanted to walk on the beach, put our feet in the water, and give the dogs some much needed exercise to wear them out.

The dogs had an absolute blast and I enjoyed filming them. They did drink too many gulps of salt water though......

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On the ride back to the campsite, the dogs were pretty pooped from jumping in the ocean. As per usual, Ingonish fell asleep draped over my seat while Cabot curled up between our seats. All is well and life is good!