California Trip - Day 1 - Air Travel & San Diego

We woke up bright and early around 5:00AM for an 8:00AM flight. Things didn't get off to the best start as I somehow missed the exit to I-85 despite the fact that I've taken this route literally hundreds of times heading downtown. We recovered though to make it to the airport in time and our flights were on time as well.

A mix up at the car rental office had me renamed to "Deion" for a bit but in the end saved me a day rental of rentals fees and the cost of a tank of gas. We quickly headed out to our first destination, San Zoo Safari park.



This park is a subsidiary of the San Diego Zoo but at a different location. It's a huge open space which houses a lot of animals in wide expansive habitats. It was really neat seeing giraffes roam relatively free across the "plains". We took a guided safari tour that gave us a close look at the grounds and animals. Expensive, but worth it.

After the Safari we went back to our hotel and met up with Mom, Elise and Sam. The San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina had beuatiful views of the city and the harbor. We ate dinner at the hotel and then drove quickly to Coronado to check out the sunset at the world famous Del Coronado Hotel and eat some ice cream.