San Diego Wild Animal Park

We visited the San Diego Wild Animal Park with the Harveys. It is double the size of the San Diego Zoo. They had been to the zoo, so we opted to visit the Wild Animal Park. Both the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park are owned and operated by the San Diego Zoo. The Park is located north of metro city of San Diego, but is still in the county of San Diego. It is a loooooong 46 mile drive from my house. The whole way there Son1 kept asking if we were still in San Diego, OVER and OVER. He was so sincere. The Harveys and I cracked up each time. The park is also a ways off the freeway, around and around through some desert areas of Escondido. Finally, we arrived, piled out of the car, and were through the entrance. Many of these pictures are courtesy of the Harveys. We were blessed the weather was in the 60s. Escondido can be one of the hottest spots in the whole county during the warmer months, into the triple digits. See all of the gorgeous landscaping at the park? You literally feel like you are walking through the jungle.
Many people come to the Wild Animal Park just to enjoy the beauty of the different gardens. The Wild Animal Park displays plants used with special permits from all over the world, including endangered plant species. Both the SD Zoo and the SD Wild Animal Park are also rescue centers for endangered plants. There are different elevations all around the park, so the plants are varied and truly their own eye candy. San Diego keeps a mild Mediterranean climate, so that is why almost anything grows here! The SD Zoo and SD Wild Animal Park have expert horticulturists. The healthy plants and gardens are vital to keeping the animals healthy. J and K kept commenting on the different plants and species all around the park. I told them that there are plenty of people that hold season passes to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park (like my parents) that come and enjoy the landscaping as much as they enjoy the animals. The plant collection at the Wild Animal Park cannot be replicated hardly anywhere in one spot in the world.

One of my favorite spots in the Park was Lorikeet Landing. Lorikeets are colorful little parrots from rainforests in Australia and New Guinea. We walked into this spacious aviary, where over 80 birds live. The birds were super friendly. They landed right on different people's shoulders. My kids were somewhat timid, but little A was not. The birds sensed this and came right up to her. The birds were loud and chattery, and quite friendly. The excitement of the other guests caught on to my children soon enough. The bird noises were beautiful, their colors were vibrant, and their friendliness was mesmerizing. The Wild Animal Park is unique because the animals are kept in free range exhibits. In other words, the animals have free roam within large open spaces, but they are still somewhat confined. See this pelican?J and A watched the pelican from this extensive pathway that encircled the lengthy pond, that was bordered on one end by a large waterfall. We also watched the pelican take off and soar high above the pond. We felt like we watched the pelican in a natural habitat. That is what makes the Wild Animal Park special!We walked a two mile trail that wound us through distinct habitats. We spiraled through the rain forest, open savananna, and along shaded trails. The cool thing about the Wild Animal Park is that you can choose different ways to see the animals. At one point in our journey, we came to the viewing deck at The Great Rift Lift, and we had an inspiring view high in the air. The deck wraps around for many, many feet.
We rode the elevators down to the bottom, and boarded the open sided African Express cars at Simba Station. Our guide took us on another 2 mile excursion through the African desert, where we saw the animals up close, roaming in mass open spaces. The cheetahs were lazing in the sun, the giraffes were grazing on leaves, and the rhinos were enjoying family time.


We departed Journey into Africa and wandered up to Lion Camp. The big cats were asleep, but the kids loved watching them. See those rocks? They are heated in the winter for the lions.
At Lion Camp (and most exhibits throughout the park) the information surrounding the lions is available at different reading levels. It is a noticeable difference from exhibits at other zoos. The SD Zoo is uniquely committed to both conservation and education. Around the corner are more lengthy information boards mounted higher for adults. For children, there are interactive learning aids with shorter questions and answers about the lions.The Harveys generously treated our family to a ride on the Conservation Carousel. The animals on the carousel are purchased in memory of loved ones or as donations to conservation efforts by the Wild Animal Park. Many animals on the carousel are endangered animals. Son1 and A loved their animals, unlike Son2. He is usually my fearless super action kid, but he was too afraid he was going to fall from the carousel.
Instead Son2 and I chose a bird's nest that spun like a tea cup. Apparently speed doesn't frighten him, just heights!
The Harveys shopped a bit while we entertained ourselves like frogs at the entrance to Nairobi Village. The waterfall behind us was designed after the ceremonial chamber of a Ugandan king.
We packed a lot into four hours at the Wild Animal Park. We mounted a replica of a bronzed life sized white rhino for one last goodbye.

We finally got back to my house....and have I mentioned how great the Harveys are every time they come? After a long day at the Wild Animal Park they made our family dinner! They pulled spices from their suitcases, shopped for food, and made dinner! Hooray!

In the Same Boat: San Diego Maritime Museum

We met the Harveys nine years ago on the East Coast, when J started her law degree. The last time we saw the Harveys we lived in Hawaii, and our house was for sale. We were clueless about our timeline for a San Diego move. But one thing J promised me before they left was that they were going to visit us in San Diego in 2009. And they did!They graciously visited during an unpredictable week at our house. They are fabulous and considerate house guests every time they come.

The kids were thrilled to see this arrive at 6:30am after the first night the Harveys arrived.

Yes, I did say 6:30am. They were not at all phased. Aren't they great friends? The cement truck pump arrived and our concrete was poured that morning. The crane dipped into our yard, not pictured.

The next day, we visited the San Diego Maritime Museum. It is in an outdoor museum, on the east side of the San Diego Bay, at the Embarcadero. We boarded the Star Of India first. It is the oldest regularly sailing ship, and the oldest iron hulled merchant ship.

The Harvey Four! J is expecting a little boy.
The Farmer Five

I was surprised how much the kids loved all of the ships, and how much they touched and interacted! They rang the bells, ran up and down the decks, and checked out the wooden paneled captain quarters and dining areas. Below they investigated the cargo hold and passenger areas. Small model ships were displayed below and Son1 loved the teeny model life boats that hung from the decks of the ships. Quickly, Son1 picked up on so much nautical vocabulary.


In one of the cargo areas a small scale ship allowed more climbing, more ringing, and some washing of the deck.


Next we boarded the H.M.S. Surprise. "H.M.S." refers to "Her Majesty's Ship." This was built as a replica ship, once called the H.M.S. Rose. In 2001 it was sold to make the movie Master and Commander, and called the Surprise. It is now registered as H.M.S. Surprise in honor of the movie. This is a view of the stern.

While on the ship, I grabbed a big, fat, plastic rat from an exhibit and jiggled it in Son1's face and said, "WOOOOO!!!!" This passerby looked at me in shock and awe and belted out a loud laugh. I assured her it was fine; Son1 laughed gleefully. After all, I am a mom of boys. But then I had a girly moment with J when we took our picture with Russel Crowe.
We boarded the former B-39 Soviet Navy attack submarine. It was designed to kill American and NATO Navy ships and submarines. It is over 300 feet long, making it one of the longest submarines, but it sure felt small to me! We climbed through many low small openings, and checked out the control room, torpedo room, and all of the quarters in between.

And Son2 checked out the USS Midway from the periscope.Our last stop was The Berkeley. It is steam ferryboat that is over 100 years old, and operated on San Fransisco Bay for over 60 years. By this time, the Farmer family was near expiration, so I have no pictures to show you. But you can check out The Berkeley here. We told the Harveys we would meet them at home, after they dined at the Embarcadero.

The First Stake Out Births the Marshmallow Roast Ten Years Later

Ten and a half years ago, we were very newlyweds. I was the first of my friends to marry and then I moved an hour and a half away to a quiet suburb in the next county. Our new town was small and a family oriented community, different than when we lived on the west side of Los Angeles, in YUPpyville (young, urban, professionals). In our new town, Hubs and I wanted married friends, but it didn't happen. He was traveling over 50% of the year, and it was hard to make couple friends as half a couple. One Sunday we visited a church, and right in the bulletin there was an announcement for a marriage study that Wednesday night.

We pulled in front of the house, just a few minutes late, and noticed three cars parked in front. All three were minivans. Uh oh. At this point in life, Hubs and I both drove sports cars. Two doors, that was our limit. I will cut the story short and tell you how it was a very painful evening for us. The three couples were old enough to be our parents. One couple had grown children our age, and let us know that. But at prayer time, they were so thankful that God finally brought another couple to their study. Their exuberance and thankfulness was enough to make us squirm. Maybe we were just unthankful. Still resolved to make married friends, the next week we attempted the study again. Well, not really. We parked on the cross street, and waited and watched for 15 minutes past the start time. The same three minivans were parked in front of the house. Yep, we drove away. Newly married, we did not want to hang out with people old enough to be our folks. We have often laughed about that night, and dubbed it "The Stake Out."

Two years later, Hubs landed a job inside the D.C. Beltway. I had never lived anywhere except three cities in Southern California. This was no small move for me. This was a coast to coast move for a California girl. And I did not want my life to change. I was used to Hubby traveling 50% of the year. I still wished for married friends, though I had none. I was used to life. I loved my workplace. I loved our rental house a few blocks from the beach. On the weekends we drove to see family in San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Luis Obispo areas. I traveled every now and then on business trips with Hubby. I had no desire for change. None. But it was inevitable. When the final news came that our move was definite, we had four months to prepare for our move. At night for nearly four months we prayed for our new life. And one consistent prayer request was to make married couple friends in our new place to call home, Northern Virginia.

Well, the story is a long one. I shared some of the story before. But the short story is that we found ourselves at a church with a class called Teammates, and first were greeted by LL and her husband. Yes, we knew them B.K., before kids. However, the majority of the class was moving out of the transient Northern Virginia area. New couples were moving in. The people that attended this class were other DINKs (double income, no kids) like ourselves. And these people were active! In February 2001, Hubs dreamed up the idea of a Hearts Tournament. We sponsored an event for the Teammates class, without really knowing anyone, except our friends, J and K. I was SO NERVOUS no one would show up. Ha ha, an answer to our four months of praying, our house was full of card players! We made so many great married couple friends from Teammates that continue to be our friends, no matter that almost none of us live in the Northern Virginia area anymore.

An hour before the tournament, Rebekah called for directions. We had never met. I told her there was no way I could give directions to our house "because I am from San Diego," which became my excuse for everything unfamiliar in Virginia. We lived not too far from the "Mixing Bowl" where the highways split into seven directions. Some go clockwise, and some go counter clockwise, and some are inner loops and outer loops. This was totally different than San Diego, where signs north point toward Los Angeles, south point toward Mexico, east point toward the mountains and dessert, and west point toward the ocean. Freeways did not make loops or circles, they were straight shots. She laughed. I couldn't tell if she was laughing at me or if she was laughing with me. Later I learned she too grew up in San Diego! So that was the start of the friendship between the Eekhoffs and the Farmers. A desire in our hearts from nearly eleven years ago to make married peers, that ended in "The Stake Out," remained with us two years later, when we moved. When we met the Eekhoffs back in 2001 we never dreamt we would live in San Diego in 2009, and our eldest children, just seven days apart, would pretend to roast marshmallows in our pool room. And if you know our mutual friend, Michelle, then you know that those marshmallow skewers are actually bamboo sticks she once gave me. And those marshmallows are actually cotton balls.

The Eekhoffs stopped by for just a few hours while in town. We had not seen them since they visited us in Hawaii a few years ago. But this time, they pulled up in a minivan alongside ours. Gone are the days of sports cars, and full are our days of loud little voices and unfinished adult sentences.

Coronado Bridge Race

This weekend our family walked the Navy's 23rd San Diego Bay Bridge Run/Walk over the Coronado Bay Bridge with eight thousand other people. The sold out event benefited the Navy's Qualify of Life programs for service members and their families. Hubs and I have run in races, but never with our children. Son1 was so thrilled to wear an event bib. He talked about the race for a couple of weeks before the event, but we had not really practiced long walks. The kids and I practiced two longer walks the week of the race, but that was the extent of Son1's "training."

The four mile course began in San Diego's historic Gaslamp Quarter. This is a historic Victorian neighborhood in the heart of downtown San Diego lined with gaslamps.


We walked a few blocks to the start line, at the edge of the Gaslamp Quarter, to the convention center, right on San Diego Bay. We were grouped with the walkers and strollers. It was a new experience for us, walking in an event with wall to wall people. Most people brought cameras. The people that stopped on the course did so long enough to take pictures. The Coronado Bridge does not have a pedestrian walkway, so this is the only day of the year when people can run, walk, and take pictures on the bridge.


Just after the first mile, we left San Diego's waterfront, and wound our way to Chicano Park. The park is located in central San Diego, in the Mexican immigrant community of Logan Heights, just under the Coronado Bridge. There are nearly 70 murals under the bridge expressing many cultural and political views, making it the largest collection of outdoor murals in the world.

About this time Hubs needed to "use the facilities." Oh boy. The pack was moving right along. He promised he would catch up with us on the bridge. I was really nervous, since I did not have my cell phone with me, and the crowd was thick. How was he going to find us? I seized any opportunity to slow down with the kids, hoping to stall for time. Just before the entrance to the bridge (a traffic off ramp in the opposite direction) was a water station. Just above the kids you can see the folks above us, already on the bridge.

The three of us ascended the bridge with the pack, camera around my wrist, pushing the stroller with one hand, and snatching Son1 from his constant desire to peer over the bridge with my other hand.

One one side of the bridge we saw many San Diego trolley cars sitting quietly on the tracks, alongside some tank cars. My kids are dying to ride the trolley. It runs on a light rail system in the metro San Diego area. It is the real deal. Black and white striped railroad gates drop, with red flashing lights, and railroad horns blow. The trolley often crosses through major intersections all over metro San Diego, and along the freeways, and is cheap entertainment from our car windows. So the sight of these multiple trolleys from the bridge was eye candy for Son1.We continued to climb the bridge, and soon the naval ships came into view. This was enough to tantalize Son1 and nearly give me heart failure as he pointed to the airstrip on a ship below. We were standing right at the bridge barrier. I am afraid of heights but he clearly is not. He was just doing what most everyone else around us was doing, gaping at the views below, from the edge of the bridge.
Many people commented on my pregnancy as we walked. They probably secretly thought I was crazy to keep grabbing my 4 year old from peering over the bridge, and pushing my two year old in the stroller, with a popping belly, by myself. But while pregnancy is a miracle in a multitude of ways, my own pregnancies do not make me a hero. The most inspiring person that day was this marine, walking with his friend and his wife. I watched them closely, as I walked behind, quietly smiling at the way she gently touched him as they climbed the bridge. They were deep in conversation, laughing and joking. I wanted to thank him for his service to our country, but I did not get the chance. So, thank you, sir, for serving our country. His shirt read, "The only way to find the limits of the possible is by going beyond them to the impossible." -Aruthur C. ClarkeA girl ahead of us stood a few feet from her family so she could take their picture on the bridge. I stopped and offered to take their family picture, and then asked her to take ours. Just as I posed the kids, guess who jumped right in the photo? Hubs was back!


We climbed the bridge until we were over 200 feet in the air. Since the bridge is so high naval ships can pass under the bridge. It is also the third highest suicide bridge in the United States. These signs line the bridge:Many people thought it was funny to take their picture under these signs, but I settled for a picture minus my family members.

Looking across the bay, there is a nice view of the San Diego skyline. This is also a great picture of the morning marine layer that hangs over the city this time of year. It is called "May Gray and June Gloom" by locals. A thick cloud cover keeps the coast damp and cold, but about 5 miles inland it is totally sunny. Just about here we could see the finish line at Tidelands Park in Coronado. We could also see the sailboats in the harbor.
We began our descent and I noticed a man on the ground. Soon after he got up I took the same shot on the ground.The Coronado Bridge is a prestressed steel bridge. There are grates in the middle of the bridge. Through the grates, you can see the water in the harbor.
Finally, we reached the city of Coronado while still on the bridge. The bridge connects the San Diego metro area to the peninsula of Coronado. The word Coronado means "the crowned one" in Spanish, and that is why Coronado's nickname is "the crowned city." It is one of the most affluent cities in San Diego, and even California.


We came off the bridge for the last mile of the race course. We passed around the old toll booths. The Coronado Bridge stopped collecting a toll in 2002. We came through the finish line, and rounded the sponsor booths. Son1 walked the entire way!!! We were so proud our four year old walked all four miles!

Soon, the emcee announced different prizes. Son1 was one of three children that won a Sea World prize pack for youngest entrant. The other two children were five years old. He was such a ham on the microphone that the emcee asked for his microphone back or he was going to be out of a job.

I won my own little prize pack to the Wild Animal Park for my pregnant participation.
The event was over, and it was time to get back to metro San Diego. Hubs and I decided the free bus shuttles were not the way to go. With our race bibs we could take the Coronado Ferry across the harbor for free. We walked from Tidelands Park to the ferry landing. The line must have been over 400 people. It wound around and around the ferry landing, and we were at the end of the line. We all needed "to go" and the lines for the restrooms were horrendous. Then we spotted this little boat sitting in the harbor. Hubs whipped out his cell phone, and I asked the guy on the other end for rates. It was $7 for each adult and the kids were free. The fare was music to our ears. I told him we would be right down. The line was still growing behind us, and a lady I passed asked me the price. I leaned over, informed her, and started running. Then our whole family was running. No more answers for anyone!! I asked Hubs for his cell phone again. I called the water taxi man again, as I noticed other people were running out of line behind us. "Hi, I just called. I am pregnant, and I have a FULL BLADDER." Please DO NOT give away our spots on your boat!!!" He offered for me to take the next boat, and I said NO NO NO. I told him to HOLD THAT BOAT. We were on our way down the ramp.We jumped on the boat. I settled onto the cushion, and the man in this picture asked me if I was the pregnant lady with the full bladder. Everyone on the boat heard I was coming! Goodbye Coronado, goodbye bridge!Soon enough the engines started up, and the skyline ahead of us was beautiful. The marine layer was lifting.
We docked, found clean facilities, and grabbed our car from the parking valet. It was time for lunch. We were all starved. With our bib numbers, we ate lunch free at Chipotle. They were amongst the race sponsors. Enjoy our "before" sad little hungry faces....
...and this "happy I finally have food" shot!