Somehow this winter and spring our family has been bitten by the travel bug. In late February and early March, our youngest daughter and I discovered a flight credit she had that was due to expire. We got the bright idea of flying to explore a place she had never been before. We have had a lot of fun over the years as a family on ski trips to the mountains of Colorado and Montana. We have even enjoyed a few trips east out to the beaches near Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. The question we were both asking was, where should we go?
After doing some quick research we decided to go explore San Diego, Calif. We would be arriving right around the time the flower festival weekends would start out there. We flew into the airport and picked up a small rental car. Our hope was to pack as much into three days as possible.
The beaches of California are stunning. We made sure we made it somewhere to sit and watch the sunset each day of our trip. We took long walks to enjoy all the beautiful gardens in the neighborhoods near our rental cottage. The weather was beautiful. The succulent plants thriving and flowering were something we enjoyed. We spent time exploring different beaches and liked seeing otters and sea lions in their natural environment in several places. They are very cute and very smelly. We even took time to explore a cave that opened up into the Pacific Ocean.
One of our favorite adventures was the San Diego Zoo. We spent an entire day taking in all the beautiful scenery making up each habitat. We took the train ride all around the zoo when we first arrived so we could decide how and where to hit some of the most popular exhibits throughout the day. We enjoyed watching the elephants, hippos and rhinoceroses. My daughter was astonished at how large the gorillas were when we were able to get up close and watch them. They were some of the funniest characters in the zoo. The San Diego Zoo is home to two Giant Panda Bears. We could not see the Red Panda during our visit. The Giant Pandas were very popular. We had to get a “timed ticket” for the afternoon and were fortunate to be able to catch them awake and active. They were so adorable.
Another exhibit we relished was the koala bears. There were several of them hiding in trees. We watched them for quite a while to see them occasionally peeking a head or ear out toward the enthralled audience. We took in zebras, giraffes, flamingos along our journey through this lovely place.
We really enjoyed the sunny weather and the people we met during our stay were very nice. We decided it was a great place to visit but would not be where we would want to live. Paid parking was normal everywhere – even stopping at the grocery store. Gasoline was pricey and we were glad we had walked to a lot of places when it was possible. We enjoyed some good food and pretty scenery during our trip.
Our youngest son and I made a quick trip to Missouri to celebrate a great nephew’s first birthday near the end of March. We had to get home to finish up the last week of school before spring break. This year, our entire family is spending spring break together. I am pinching myself! All four of our children are going with us on another adventure. We have a friend lined up to watch over the animals and take care of chores. I am feeling very thankful. Spring has sprung! I hope you are looking forward to making memories with your family too, neighbor.
Jody Harris is a freelance communications specialist, gardener, ranch wife and mother of four. She and her family raise Angus beef cattle and other critters on their northwest Arkansas ranch. She is a graduate of Missouri State University. To contact Jody, go to ozarksfn.com and click on ‘Contact Us.’
