The San Diego Zoo is often considered the finest in the world. I don’t know what criteria is involved in making that assessment, so I’ll just pass on the statement without making judgement. As far as I know it is. It certainly is a very nice zoo.
We arrived shortly after they opened and even on a Tuesday, it was busy.
Michelle is very interested in seeing the animals, but at the same time has the attention span of a gnat, so she was constantly cruising ahead. James, on the other hand, was stuck mostly in his stroller. The zoo is steep – very steep in places. The kind of steep that would make for a very funny Benny Hill gag with an old man in a wheelchair. (Assuming you find gags of helpless people whizzing in wheelchairs to a crashing fate amusing. Personally, I do, if it also makes some insightful social commentary along the way.)
Where was I? Oh yes, steep hills. And buses, lots of buses. So James didn’t want to stay in his stroller, but he refused to hold hands and wanted to chase me. (I, in turn, was chasing Michelle.) Finally, at one point, on a steep hill he kept stepping on my heels. I warned him that was a mistake, so he did it again. This time he took a tumble, which left him with a goose egg-sized bump on his forehead. (Seen pictured here.)
I got a good few pictures of animals. (See my flickr account for more.)
Then we had lunch. $25 for three hot dogs!
It was still early, and we apparently hadn’t worn out the kids, so we walked around Balboa park for a while and visited the Natural History Museum.
We drove around town aimlessly, trying to find a place to eat that didn’t look like a bar with prostitutes hanging around outside and finally settled on KFC. Here we encountered the 50-year old man with the purple hair, who spent a lot of time playing games across the room with James. James was amused, but I couldn’t help thinking this guy was creepy.
Later than night I managed to locate the nearest Round Table Pizza. A treat, since none seem to still exist in Arizona.
Sea World tomorrow.
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