Here are some photos of our recent trip to San Diego. We stayed at the Marriott Resident Inn in La Jolla, which is real close to the San Diego Temple. Sweet suite and a beautiful temple:
Monday was rainy all day, so we did a little shopping. On Tuesday, we went to the beach for a 3 mile walk.Here is a cave carved out by the waves:
An unusual tree that reminded us of something from a Dr. Seuss story:
Pelicans on the beach:
A fun sea lion looking for an audience:
We liked stepping on the sea weed bulbs and making them "pop!"
These adorable seals were rolling in the sand, trying to get warm from the cold water and chilly air. They looked like slugs with heads from a distance!
The walk along the La Jolla Cove was spectacular, with sheer cliffs and huge waves:
Here is a lovely white egret. We didn't see many of these:
This pile of seaweed was like a mess of huge rubber bands tangled up together!
Our favorite cottage by the sea, with its lush and colorful foliage in the inner courtyard:
These bright, tropical Bird of Paradise flowers were everywhere, along with many other beautiful varieties of flowers we seldom find here in the desert Southwest:
A Poinsettia Christmas tree near the shopping center by the beach:
At the end of our walk, we went into the Sunny Jim Cave Store. For $4 a person, we were able to walk down 145 steps into the Sunny Jim Cave, "the only known land access sea cave on the California coast." The tunnel to the cave was dug out by pick and shovel by the original store owner and a Chinese employee back in 1902. This was an amazing feat in those days!
In the evening, we were able to go to the 8 pm endowment session at the San Diego Temple, where we were asked to be the witness couple. This is one of the most beautiful temples in the world with it's white granite exterior, unique architecture, multiple spires, and many stained glass windows:
On our last day in California, we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where we boarded a small open caravan with a covered top. It was the easy and relaxing way to see the animals!The adorable Meir Cats behaved like our Prairie Dogs but looked more like weasels:
Our guide, Ezekiel, told us that a rhinoceros' head can weigh up to 1,000 lbs. A male rhino can weigh in at 5,000 lbs!
We went on a behind the scenes tour of some hoofed animals, lions, and cheetahs. We learned about the care, breeding, and conservation of these animals.In this photo, a baby cheetah is being bottle fed:
Here is a large male lion weighing in at over 400 lbs. He was really beautiful and mellow:
We finished the day by watching an impressive wild bird show. The show featured an Andes Condor with a very large wing span:
There were many other birds featured, but it was difficult to take their photos while they were flying above us and swooping from one location to another.
