Critters and Planes: A Day Full of Kira Stuff

So, here is the update from day two of my sister and I’s road trip to and through Southern California. Since Lisa works during the day it is up to Kira and me to find a way to entertain ourselves for the majority of our time. Yesterday, we started the day off by going to the most famous thing in San Diego: the Zoo. Now I have been to the zoo before, back when I came down here to tour colleges. I was impressed with it at the time. I really never had seen such a large collection of animals. However, last year we had the good fortune to go on our ultimate family vacation, which consisted of a two week safari in Botswana and South Africa. So I have seen a lot of animals. Still, Kira had never been to the San Diego Zoo, and, while I have seen many animals, I find I can always see more. But I am getting ahead of myself. As we approached the entrance of the Zoo we saw the most impressive police car ever.

And also the most exotic looking squirrel

The zoo cost $21. However, I was willing to pay it. After seeing the Himeiji Zoo, I will never again begrudge a zoo for charging high admission provided they care for their animals well, and the San Diego Zoo has a reputation for caring for its animals very well. The first thing we saw were the pink flamingos.

Now, we walked around for a long time and saw many things. But I already have so many pictures of wildlife from last year that I just didn’t care to take any more. After about your 400^th picture of an elephant, you start to think that it may be time to stop. So I only took pictures that, to me, represented the zoo experience. And this was the best. The creatures on both sides of the glass were equally curious.

And I see this species a lot, basically everywhere I go.

Now, the most famous critter in the San Diego Zoo is the giant panda. The female just gave birth, apparently. However, I am not a huge fan of pandas. They just sit and eat. It is like a tree sloth, but cute and from China. That is all. While I appreciate them, there are other animals that are much more, well, interactive.

Like this Kudu. Now by the time Kira and I got to the Kudu exhibit it was nearing lunchtime. When we went to South Africa we had Kudu, and let me be the first to tell you that it tastes SOOOO good. I don’t particularly like red meat, but I love Kudu. It is like taking the best characteristics of venison and mixing it with the best characteristics of beef. So when we saw this beautiful specimen, we both had a deeply submerged desire to, er, be interactive with it.

And I think this pig looks like me! Look at the white moustache! Just like mine. What a stylish guy.

When we saw these snakes we thought of you, mom and dad. They were cuddling. Happy 29^th anniversary!

This was probably the most beautiful reptile I have ever seen. This python looked like it was made out of ivory and gold. Stupendous. But it would have never survived in the wild.

So basically, yesterday we did everything that Kira would conceivably want to do. After the Zoo we went to the IMAX theater to see “Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag”. She enjoyed it immensely, I believe, and I sat there moderately interested. But, since the IMAX was in a science museum, after the show we walked around a bit. This museum was not nearly as good as the Exploratorium in San Francisco, but that is hard to do. Still, decent.

And here is another picture of Kira.

This is some building in Balboa Park, where all of the museums are.

Next, we went to the Aerospace Museum.

Again, I mostly wandered thinking “Oh, well this is sure interesting.” While Kira ran around and closely inspected all the aircraft for “wear patterns”, whatever those are. Planes just aren’t my thing, I’m afraid. But this way when I want to stop by Japantown on the way back to Davis to pick up the next volume of “Slam Dunk” no one can say that we only ever do what I want to do. Haha!

And this was nice church near the Hillcrest neighborhood. Greek Orthodox.

So today’s plan is to hang out in San Diego until this evening, and leave tonight. We will drive up the coast to either Santa Barbra, Monterey or basically as far as I can go before I get tired, then stop for the night and continue driving the next day. We will stop in SF for a while, then go to Napa to get Kira’s car. Afterwards, I’ll be back in Davis. Wish me luck on the drive, by the way. This time, I’m going through downtown L.A.