Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Santee, San Diego, Coronado

San Diego Zoo!
Road Trip of Sisterhood! After pampering myself with a haircut at the gorgeous Joya Salon (at the Montelucia resort), Sissy and I hit the road for California!

Along the way we stopped to see Cosanti handmade wind chimes in Paradise Valley, then drove through some incredible vistas en route to Santee, CA. There were barren deserts, cacti, sand dunes, huge pile of boulders, giant wind turbines... and about a zillion Border Patrol cars! It was interesting to find myself driving in such different environments, all in one trip. Some of the desert reminded me of Kuwait and Iraq, minus the camels.

We arrived in Santee in time for a home-cooked dinner by DR and LR, a couple we've sort of adopted as great-uncle and -aunt. (There was a strawberry pie for dessert... gorgeous!)  We had a blast catching up with them; I feel like they've watched us grow up since we were little kids. They also made us a top notch breakfast (complete with the prickly pear jelly we brought them!) before we set out for my bucket list stop: the San Diego Zoo.

I have wanted to visit the San Diego Zoo since 3rd grade. My parents had given me a CD-ROM of the zoo to explore on the computer, and I think I had the entire this memorized by heart. When Sissy suggested that we go, I was like a little kid again! I especially loved seeing the pandas, giraffes, elephants, and tigers. Sissy liked the polar bears, gorillas, and orangutans. The whole place is lush and gorgeous... but I am glad we went early, as it started to get very crowded later!


After, Sissy suggested that we eat lunch at Hotel del Coronado, not too far from the zoo. It is where the Marilyn Monroe movie 'Some Like It Hot' was filmed. The place still looks like it is out of another era, and it overlooks the gorgeous beach. We had a great view from our lunch table!

Coronado

After that, it was time to head to Los Angeles to see the Korean side of our family... in which I drove in LA traffic for the first time and put a nasty scratch on my sister's car trying to park.  I think I'd better stick to driving in the Midwest/South.  More about LA later!  :)

Dessert at Hotel del Coronado

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