It rained hard over night, but was mostly sunny in the morning, so we decided to visit the zoo today.
The hostel had a free pancake breakfast (unlimited batter at your disposal). I made some choc chip pancakes. Wendy made some eggs with onion, tomato, asparagus, and cheese (I had some too). A very filling breakfast. Nice big kitchen at this hostel...
Wendy poses next to some birds...
San Diego is one of only 4 zoos in the US to have pandas. The others are D.C., Atlanta, and Memphis...
There were tons of flamingos around, and lots of ducklings on the sidewalk. We made way for duckings many times...
Wendy is a big panda fan, and took this pic of the child panda lying on a hammock...
The larger pando eats some bamboo...
We spent the most time in the koala bear exhibit, which conveniently had some shelter during a brief rainstorm in the afternoon. There was a fairly active child koala that was adorable (they all are). The guy on the right looks like a grandpa...
Somehow I managed to catch this guy in mid air, as he jumped back to the branch his momma's on...
More koala...
This baby was the youngest, and only showed his face for a minute during the hour we were around (spread out on 3 trips). Got lucky to get a pic. They sleep over half the day...
Before dropping Wendy off for her flight to Denver, we went to a seafood cafe right next to the airport...
After dropping Wendy off at the airport ~7:15pm, I started heading towards Death Valley to begin my southern California adventure, culminating with a summit attempt on Mt Whitney on the 17th. I got stuck in traffic for 20 minutes trying to leave S.D., and then drove north on I-15. I needed to buy some stove fuel, get a new battery for my watch, buy a water bladder, stock up on bottled water, and find a place to spend the night (maybe in my car). I had looked up Walmart's along I-15, and stopped at one, but they were out of fuel, and didn't have my watch battery. I stopped at the next Walmart, a few miles up the highway, and found some fuel, but no watch battery. The Target didn't carry it either, so I bought a new watch, in case I couldn't find a battery tomorrow.
A ways past San Bernardino, I decided to look for a cheap place to spend the night, rather than drive all night to Death Valley. I stopped at a Motel 6 in Victorsville for the night ($43 with internet), and looked up nearby Radio Shack's. Fortunately there was one on my route tomorrow, which opened at 9am. I'd try to time my arrival when they open. Weather looks good for the rest of the week! Adventure time awaits!