arieljasmine
04-18-2008, 04:03 PM
Laur’s, Andy and bump do LA and Vegas, baby – Day 2
Laur’s – 29
Andy – 29
Bump – 12 weeks
Saturday 22 March 2008
Jetlag struck me and bump on our first morning and we were awake at 5 am. We laid in bed awake until 7 am when we knew that Andy couldn't stop us getting up! Andy is very lucky and doesn't get jetlag at all so I got ready to go out and woke up him at 7.30 am.
We went downstairs to the MaryJanes café for breakfast. I had a cup of tea and an omelette with spicy jack cheese, ham and mushrooms which came with hash brown, watermelon and a biscuit (yuk, didn't eat that). Andy had a coffee and scrambled egg and bacon which came with the same sides. The breakfast was very good - you can't beat spicy cheese for breakfast! Me and bump are wanting spicy food all the time, the spicier the better!
We set out for the San Diego Zoo at 9.15 am and arrived at 9.30 am, the hotel was in a very convenient location. We got to the ticket queue when we realised we had left our passports in the car, so we left the line and Andy went back for them whilst I called my mum. We then bought Southern California city passes and got a map. The city passes were a great deal - included is one day admission to Seaworld, Universal and either the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park, and three day park hopper passes for Disneyland - all for $247.
We spent the morning visiting tapirs,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08005.jpg
zebra, hippos, polar bears and takins (we had not heard of these before and I am having trouble convincing people that I didn't make that up!)
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08009.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08010.jpg
We also visited the panda enclosure. Because of its popularity, there was a line to get in, and you had to keep moving through the exhibit, you couldn't stop and watch for a while which we would have much preferred. Still, it was amazing to see pandas for the first time.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08014.jpg
We stopped for lunch at the Canyon Café. I would have preferred to be inside for lunch as it had turned into a hot day but none of the eating places seemed to offer this option. We shared a huge plate of super nachos which was covered in jalapeno peppers so bump was happy. We couldn't get through the plate between us, I don't know how anyone could finish it on their own. We also had a sprite in a refillable cup we had bought earlier. The cup is a nice souvenir and refills were pretty cheap.
In the afternoon we visited the koalas,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08024.jpg
monkeys, gorillas, Galapagos tortoises,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08033.jpg
the reptile house,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08029.jpg
sun, spectacled and grizzly bears, ant eaters, tree kangaroos,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08020.jpg
wallabies, camels (we were amazed at how huge they were - and how firm their humps were!),
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08019.jpg
llamas, iguanas,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08031.jpg
meerkats and elephants.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08028.jpg
We shared some rainbow dipping dots whilst we stopped to watch the elephants - these weren't in the usual bowl but in a packet so they were kinda difficult to eat. We both liked seeing the koalas best, and visited them twice. Another animal we had never seen before and they are super cute though I daresay they have a temper on them.
Before leaving the park we stopped at the gift shop and bought a panda magnet for my gran, a panda notebook for a friend and a park pen for us.
Overall, we really enjoyed the zoo - it was great seeing so many unusual animals. I also loved that the parking was free! I can imagine you would struggle to get around it all in a day if you have a young family or mobility problems as it is huge and not only very spread out, but spread out in a confusing manner as well. My only other complaints were that they could have done with somewhere to eat inside and the buses that they have going round the park - these are actual double decker buses and look very out of place - also it's not very relaxing walking around as you have to be careful not to get run over!
We left the zoo at 4.30 pm and decided to have a drive round and look for the Steve and Barrys store we had spotted the night before when we were driving round in circles! With a little help from the sat nav we found the mall in question and parked up at about 5.15 pm. I liked that you could have 3 hours free parking with validation - and all you had to do to get your ticket validated was put it in a machine in the mall before you left. Can't see my local council bringing that in.
We went to Steve and Barrys and Andy was able to get the sweater he's had his eye on - they didn't have his size when we were at the store in Orlando last year. I got a very cute Miffy t-shirt in Hot Topic and two tops for bump in Victorias Secret to cope with my ever expanding belly.
We headed back to the hotel and stopped in at MaryJanes to pick up a coffee for Andy and tea for me which we took up to our room. We had our drinks and showered. Housekeeping arrived with turndown items whilst we were in the room - a bucket of ice, two bottles of water and two lollipops which was a nice touch.
Neither of us were very hungry, we were mostly just tired, but I thought bump might wake me up in the middle of the night if I didn't eat something, so we headed back to MaryJanes for tea avoiding the Saturday night revellers as much as possible. I had a sprite and a tuna melt with fries and Andy had a beer and a club sandwich with fruit. It must have been around 10.30 pm by the time we finished eating, so we had a quick look round the shop and then headed back to the room. I have noted that Andy had a beer and I had some pop which seems reasonable, though I have no idea where he got the beer from! I do know that I was exhausted and fell asleep and Andy had to wake me up and put me to bed around midnight.
Laur's princess:
Laur’s – 29
Andy – 29
Bump – 12 weeks
Saturday 22 March 2008
Jetlag struck me and bump on our first morning and we were awake at 5 am. We laid in bed awake until 7 am when we knew that Andy couldn't stop us getting up! Andy is very lucky and doesn't get jetlag at all so I got ready to go out and woke up him at 7.30 am.
We went downstairs to the MaryJanes café for breakfast. I had a cup of tea and an omelette with spicy jack cheese, ham and mushrooms which came with hash brown, watermelon and a biscuit (yuk, didn't eat that). Andy had a coffee and scrambled egg and bacon which came with the same sides. The breakfast was very good - you can't beat spicy cheese for breakfast! Me and bump are wanting spicy food all the time, the spicier the better!
We set out for the San Diego Zoo at 9.15 am and arrived at 9.30 am, the hotel was in a very convenient location. We got to the ticket queue when we realised we had left our passports in the car, so we left the line and Andy went back for them whilst I called my mum. We then bought Southern California city passes and got a map. The city passes were a great deal - included is one day admission to Seaworld, Universal and either the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park, and three day park hopper passes for Disneyland - all for $247.
We spent the morning visiting tapirs,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08005.jpg
zebra, hippos, polar bears and takins (we had not heard of these before and I am having trouble convincing people that I didn't make that up!)
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08009.jpg
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08010.jpg
We also visited the panda enclosure. Because of its popularity, there was a line to get in, and you had to keep moving through the exhibit, you couldn't stop and watch for a while which we would have much preferred. Still, it was amazing to see pandas for the first time.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08014.jpg
We stopped for lunch at the Canyon Café. I would have preferred to be inside for lunch as it had turned into a hot day but none of the eating places seemed to offer this option. We shared a huge plate of super nachos which was covered in jalapeno peppers so bump was happy. We couldn't get through the plate between us, I don't know how anyone could finish it on their own. We also had a sprite in a refillable cup we had bought earlier. The cup is a nice souvenir and refills were pretty cheap.
In the afternoon we visited the koalas,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08024.jpg
monkeys, gorillas, Galapagos tortoises,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08033.jpg
the reptile house,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08029.jpg
sun, spectacled and grizzly bears, ant eaters, tree kangaroos,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08020.jpg
wallabies, camels (we were amazed at how huge they were - and how firm their humps were!),
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08019.jpg
llamas, iguanas,
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08031.jpg
meerkats and elephants.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f168/andlaur23/CaliforniaApril08028.jpg
We shared some rainbow dipping dots whilst we stopped to watch the elephants - these weren't in the usual bowl but in a packet so they were kinda difficult to eat. We both liked seeing the koalas best, and visited them twice. Another animal we had never seen before and they are super cute though I daresay they have a temper on them.
Before leaving the park we stopped at the gift shop and bought a panda magnet for my gran, a panda notebook for a friend and a park pen for us.
Overall, we really enjoyed the zoo - it was great seeing so many unusual animals. I also loved that the parking was free! I can imagine you would struggle to get around it all in a day if you have a young family or mobility problems as it is huge and not only very spread out, but spread out in a confusing manner as well. My only other complaints were that they could have done with somewhere to eat inside and the buses that they have going round the park - these are actual double decker buses and look very out of place - also it's not very relaxing walking around as you have to be careful not to get run over!
We left the zoo at 4.30 pm and decided to have a drive round and look for the Steve and Barrys store we had spotted the night before when we were driving round in circles! With a little help from the sat nav we found the mall in question and parked up at about 5.15 pm. I liked that you could have 3 hours free parking with validation - and all you had to do to get your ticket validated was put it in a machine in the mall before you left. Can't see my local council bringing that in.
We went to Steve and Barrys and Andy was able to get the sweater he's had his eye on - they didn't have his size when we were at the store in Orlando last year. I got a very cute Miffy t-shirt in Hot Topic and two tops for bump in Victorias Secret to cope with my ever expanding belly.
We headed back to the hotel and stopped in at MaryJanes to pick up a coffee for Andy and tea for me which we took up to our room. We had our drinks and showered. Housekeeping arrived with turndown items whilst we were in the room - a bucket of ice, two bottles of water and two lollipops which was a nice touch.
Neither of us were very hungry, we were mostly just tired, but I thought bump might wake me up in the middle of the night if I didn't eat something, so we headed back to MaryJanes for tea avoiding the Saturday night revellers as much as possible. I had a sprite and a tuna melt with fries and Andy had a beer and a club sandwich with fruit. It must have been around 10.30 pm by the time we finished eating, so we had a quick look round the shop and then headed back to the room. I have noted that Andy had a beer and I had some pop which seems reasonable, though I have no idea where he got the beer from! I do know that I was exhausted and fell asleep and Andy had to wake me up and put me to bed around midnight.
Laur's princess: