San Diego Zoo

Gina and Emma flew into San Diego for a weekend stay with my sister's family a few weeks after returning from the UK.

There's always been a special bond between Gina and her cousin Brooks.  They attended a Montessori School together in Santa Ana that was right between their homes.

Gina, Julie and I would often go to their house on Wednesday evenings after school for dinner that Darlene generously prepared, or occasionally Del Taco.  Gina and Brooks would play pool on a little pool table or H.O.R.S.E. in the backyard basketball goal with me, while Darlene prepared a delicious meal and humorous firebrand Wally George blabbed on TV in the background.  That was also the era when Darlene taught us Bridge, and Gina would sit on my lap and be my "Charm Luck."

All kids love Darlene, who like our late mother couldn't be sweeter to them, and of course Emma is no exception.  The love is reciprocal.

We had a great time over the weekend.  On the first afternoon, the Brookses --- father and son --- prepped their power boat for a ride to Kona Kai for lunch.  The vibe of that restaurant is very Hawaiian, and the clientele clad in Hawaiian shirts and tropical colors plays along.  With it being a glorious sunny day, it felt very much like being at a waterfront restaurant on Maui or Oahu.

Emma always enjoys playing with Teddy and Rizzo, their two little dogs that are family members themselves.  It's always pleasant taking the dogs on walks beside the bay.

As usual, Darlene made some great food, and we ate too much.

After church on Sunday, we dined outdoors at Pizza Nova, another terrific restaurant.  Gina and I walked back to Darlene's house from there, because it was another postcard California day.

While it may be increasingly crowded, and politicians seem determined to screw it up, the best of California nevertheless shines in many places, including Point Loma.

All too soon, it was time to take Gina back to the airport so she could return to work and moving to their new home, which would be completed by the time Emma returned in a couple of weeks.

Yes, we had another full week with Emma still to come, and then she would go to see some other grandparents in Laguna Woods.

Before leaving San Diego, Darlene wanted to take Emma to the world famous San Diego Zoo.

Walking past the flamingo pond by the entrance, my nephew Brooks pointed out that Jack Tripper had stood on one leg there in the opening credits for "Three's Company," which was not supposed to be set in San Diego.  We managed to take the wrong path on our way to see the ever-comical monkeys and ended up by tortoises from the Galapagos Islands.  That itself was a happy coincidence, because Darlene and Brooks spent their honeymoon in the Galapagos.

A volunteer guide happened to get there just as we arrived.  He knew all about these huge reptiles and filled us in on the fact that their hearts beat only six times a minute, allowing them to live to be well over 100 years old.  He said many weighed over 400 pounds, and asked if we thought the tortoise body or its shell weighed more, Emma thought the shell.  He let us hold a piece of tortoise shell, showing how surprisingly light it was.

We had great luck all day with timing, arriving to see tigers, cheetahs and other big cats strutting, a polar bear contemplating a plunge, and a hippo making funny faces.  The Tasmanian Devil, with a bight that locks on prey with 1200 pounds of pressure, made a mad dash around his enclosure, something the zookeeper said he rarely does, seemingly just for us.

We rode "the buckets" across the park a couple of times and took a lap on the overview bus.  About three and a half hours after we had arrived just as the Zoo opened, we were all getting hungry.

Paying for overpriced food at the Zoo made no sense when Darlene had a refrigerator packed with tasty leftovers from our Saturday banquet, we all agreed.

The Zoo had just begun to get crowded, as most families had apparently finally gotten organized to make the trip on another perfect day in San Diego, at the time we headed home, having enjoyed as much as most people experience in a full day at the San Diego Zoo.

After contemplating what was sure to be a big rush hour traffic jam on the 405 if not on the northbound 5 leading there, we decided to risk overstaying our welcome with one more night.

After a relaxing afternoon including the usual dog walk, we dined off the happy hour menu at Humphrey's By the Bay, which allows children until live music starts at 7 in order to comply with their liquor license rules.  We were a bit disappointed, because Emma hadn't attempted to drink any of my Tony Gwynn's .394 San Diego Pale Ale or anyone else's wine.  She did give two thumbs up to her lemonade (American-style, not British fizz) and French fries, and to be perfectly frank, the oldies band was playing a stale oldie --- "Kansas City"? --- when we left, so it was just as well.

The next morning, we took another walk around the bay before heading to our condo in Redondo.