Vacation, Vacation!

Sorry this post is so delayed!  Getting back into the swing of things is tough.  Ever feel like you need a vacation from your vacation? 

In any case, vacation was WONDERFUL!  J and I had a great time on our west coast adventure.

I've mentioned before how I'm not the greatest at remembering to take pictures.  Of course, this vacation was no exception.  I started off strong, but by the time we got to the latter half of the week, my photographic instincts petered out.

Our trip started in San Diego.  I LOVE this city!  There was so much to do and see there!  Another trip there is a necessity.  The weather was definitely not the sunny California I was expecting, but it turned out to suit our purposes really well.  The gray, overcast mornings were perfect for venturing out and about in the city, and the sunny afternoons were perfect for lounging by the pool.

Our hotel was SUH-WEET!

Our living room.

Office- you know, for all of the business needs we had in San Diego.

The bedroom.

View from our balcony.

I neglected to take a picture of the bathroom, but it was nothing terribly special.  Although, the water pressure in our shower was ah-mazing.  Like standing underneath Niagra Falls, I tell you.

Although we really enjoyed our whole San Diego experience, we had two favorite parts.  First was the world-famous San Diego Zoo.  The animals were SO active and fun to watch!  It was really the most memorable zoo experience I've ever had- and I love me some zoo!  I can see why this zoo is so famous.  We were lucky to be there on a good day!

This gorilla was awesome.  At one point she came up and pounded on the glass several times, King Kong style.

Not sure if she was playing, or telling us to back away from her cutie baby!

This monkey didn't want anyone to take any of his leaves and grass, that he oh-so-carefully wrapped around himself.

The baby didn't care.  He's moving in for the steal.  We spent a good half-hour watching the interactions of these guys.  They were great!

Hello, Mr. Hippo!

Sleepy bear.

I couldn't resist this cheesy pic.  If you look at the title on the lab coat, it says "Extraterrestrial Impact Theorist."  Sounds just like J, no?

I believe this is the only picture of the two of us from the entire trip.  I am definitely carrying a baby around with me these days!

Our other favorite part of San Diego was the food.  Yes, I took pictures of several of our meals- they were that pretty!  We used tripavisor.com to choose restaurants, and it didn't let us down.  We had some truly incredible meals!

It was a little dark in here, but check out the size of this kobe burger!  Yum.

Seared ahi tuna, mango salsa, black rice.  J loved.

Is that the prettiest eggs benedict you've ever seen?

Guess what was inside my omelet?  Mashed potatoes.  That's right. 

J's "everything beer" burger.  Tons of crap on top of this thing, all cooked, basted, or broiled in some different flavor of beer.  I could still smell it on his breath the next day.  This thing was no joke.

One more thing completely amazed me!  And that was the sea lions.  We could hear them in the bay each morning, and I was so excited to see them in the wild!  Unfortunately, we couldn't get terribly close.  But look out into the distance, and you can see tons of big lumps chilling on that dock!

A few other pics from the grounds of our resort:

Marina- big boats!  I was hoping one of them was my anniversary gift, but alas, no.

Water slides at the pool!  Loved all the lush foliage.

After we left San Diego, we met up with Frank and Linda, J's dad and step-mom.  We headed to Palm Springs for a night to visit with J's brother Josiah, his wife Rosa, and their baby Linda!

Our niece Linda.  Adorable!

Baby Linda with Frank and Linda.  These grandparents sure love their grandbaby!

Baby Linda with her mom and dad.  (Sorry for the crappy cellphone pic.  This is the point where I started sucking with the picture taking.)

After we left Palm Springs, we headed to Tecate, Mexico (yes, Tecate like the beer- this is where it's made), to stay with the in-laws for the last two nights of our trip.  Again, very few pictures here...but here's what I got!

Tecate town square.  Lots of booths to buy Mexican goods!

These old men were serious about their dominoes. 

A Mexican "garden." 

So that was the trip, in a picture-heavy nutshell!  We really had a great time.  It was hard to come home!  (And even harder to adjust from east coast time to west coast time back to east coast time!)

Already looking forward to our next vacation!