San Diego Zoo Safari Park

Jill's Journal: After nearly two years on this RV journey, there’s a few things I’m pretty confident have been burned into our girls’ memories:

--camping among the wild ponies on Assateague Island
--touring the replica of the Mayflower in Plymouth
--fishing in Maine
--seeing the stars at Crater Lake
--hiking a six-mile portion of the Oregon Trail in blazing heat

--and now our day at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park).

However, they’re not going to remember the Safari Park for all the gorgeous wild animals in recreated “natural” habitats. Oh no. They’re going to remember it because we went with April and Cat (who were here from Orange County), plus Aunt Kristi and Adam (who were here from the Central Coast)…and we got drenched.

We knew it was going to rain and we were able to walk much of the park before the showers started, thinking we were pretty clever to save the tram tour of the park for last because it is covered. Well, the tram may be covered, but it’s open on all four sides...and moments after we boarded, the storm kicked in. The wind started blowing, the rain started driving, and we got soaked. Completely and utterly soaked. Rob, Adam, and April survived somewhat unscathed, but all four kids plus Kristi and I were so, so, so very wet! We then had a long, cold, wet walk to the exit in the rain, complete with one little girl in tears because she was so miserable.

By the time we got home, the girls and I were walking prunes and were still soaked to the skin. Now that we’re warm and dry, it was quite the adventure. But yes, they’re going to remember this one for a long time to come. Their misery factor ranked up there pretty close to the Oregon Trail! We didn’t come on this trip with the intent to torture our children, but how funny that the situations where they’re the most miserable are sometimes the ones most established in their memories.

I don’t think we quite got the full Safari Park experience because of the rain, but it was great to see nonetheless and certainly memorable, rain and all. Opened to the public since 1972, the Safari Park was developed as a supplementary breeding program for the San Diego Zoo as well as a place of animal conservation. (The Safari Park is particularly noted for its work in saving California Condors from extinction and reintroducing the bird to the wild). The animals at the park are on display in more of a recreation of their natural environments than in a typical zoo setting. The park is on 1,800 acres in Escondido (just north of San Diego) and features over 3,000 animals (of more than 400 species) from six of the seven continents.

This one may need some explanation…Victoria and Adam were testing their wing span.

A northern white rhinoceros, one of only seven left in the world. Two of the seven are here at the Safari Park.

Goodbye Cat! My girls have SO enjoyed our three fantastic days with you (and I sure have enjoyed my time with your Mom!). What fun to experience amazing places like the Safari Park and the zoo with friends.

San Diego Zoo

Jill's Journal: It’s an elephant pedicure! Seriously.

For nearly a century, the San Diego Zoo has enthralled visitors to Southern California with a stunning array of wildlife. Consistently ranked at the very top of zoos in the U.S., the San Diego Zoo covers 100 acres and boasts over 4,000 animals of over 800 species. It’s also one of the most progressive zoos in the world, having pioneered such innovations as cageless exhibits. It is also one of only four U.S. zoos approved to loan giant pandas from China and has a successful panda breeding program (all surviving baby pandas must eventually be sent back to China).

April and Cat joined the girls and me yesterday for an absolutely wonderful day at the Zoo. And actually, they didn’t just join us…April has annual passes to the Zoo and had free tickets for all four of us! That was an amazing and fantastic treat and surprise; needless to say, we bought lunch. We were there from opening until closing, making it a long day, but we had such a great time together.

I’m convinced April missed her calling and should ditch her travel career for a new life as a zookeeper. Now I love animals and our girls love animals, but April brings a love of wild animals to a whole ‘nother level. To the average person (me included!), a dozen different types of antelope all start to look alike. The same goes for bears that are black. Not to April. She could rattle off the names and many specifics of each species we passed without batting an eye. It was impressive, to say the least.

Our girls absolutely love Cat. My only complaint is that there’s only one of her. My girls displayed plenty of good, old-fashioned sibling rivalry as they all wanted her attention. Cat never has to doubt her popularity as long as these sisters are around!

Humorously, one of the highlights for all four of the little girls was baby ducks. Giant pandas, elephants, giraffes, meerkats, tapirs? Nah. Baby ducks. April and I got a good laugh out of that.

Exquisite animals, beautiful weather, fantastic company. It doesn’t get much better than that.

April

Jill's Journal: Me and April, Paris, March 1993

I think once you travel with someone, especially internationally, you’re either friends for life or you never want to speak to that person again. Happily, with April, it’s the former and not the latter! We were both top producers at a company we worked for many moons ago right here in Orange County’s Anaheim Hills, and we were both rewarded with a very memorable trip to France. Spoiled with luxury, we were treated to some of the best of Paris, including the equivalent of a state dinner and a picnic with a real, live prince. Ahhhh, Paris…but I digress.

April and I have seen each other several times over the years, including multiple times in Kentucky, where, oddly enough, her grandparents lived. She was kind enough to have me and the girls over to play at her home in Foothill Ranch this week and we had a ball. I know this is off-topic, but I just love her hair. She asked how I dealt without a regular stylist on the road and I just had to laugh. I told her this is my “casual time in life”…no make-up and hair thrown into a ponytail because I haven’t had a truly good haircut in two years. It just suits the lifestyle and that’s okay. I’ll take the trade-off!

The little one on the left is April’s adorable daughter, Cat. She and my girls played together in Lexington a few years ago, but none of them remember it. No matter, because they were all fast friends all over again.

After spending the day before with boy playmates, the girls switched gears completely as Cat generously shared her princess dress-up clothes with them. Look at those smiles! These were some happy, happy little ladies. The grown-ups were happy too -- what a huge treat it was to see April again.