We got up early and got on the road since we wanted to avoid the worse of San Diego traffic. Our trip took us north on Interstate 15 to Escondido so we could visit theSan Diego Wild Animal Park. We hit some traffic while still in the San Diego area but once we got north of Interstate 8, we had pretty clear sailing.

      We had about an hour and a half to kill before the park opened so we got gas and I stopped at a grocery store so we could pick up a couple of things. After reading the newspaper for a few minutes we headed toward the park. The road to the park’s front entrance does not seem like a road you take to a major park but after a few curves you come to the park entrance.

      We arrived about 15-minutes before the park was scheduled to open. Like we do for most things these days we had purchased our tickets on line so we did not have to worry about standing in line when we arrived at the park. A school bus let out a large group of students who were excited to get in the park but were well behaved. There was not that many people in line when the park did open at about 10:02am.

      One thing I will say is that you need to bring some really good walking shoes when you come to this park. We spent the first couple of hours walking all over to the park before stopping for lunch. Like all parks were you are trapped the food prices were very high and the selection was poor but the quality was ok.

      After stuffing our faces we headed over to the train system that had been part of the park since opening. We had about a 15-minute late before a tram showed up to take us on our journey. I would love to say I got some awesome pictures along this section but most of the animals were sitting far away from our tram. 

      Thing were about to change at the animal park shortly after we were there. The tram is going to be replaced with trucks that will drive visitors around the complex. Hopefully these will allow people to get closer to animals so photo bugs like me can get some great pictures.

      At this point it was getting very hot at the park so my wife finished walking the areas that we missed early most of which was well shaded. I was getting thirsty by the time we got to the far end of our walk but as it turned out the concessioner stands at that side of the park were closed for winter.

       My wife and I were getting pretty tired by the time we got to the main concessioner stands so we could look at some souvenirs. After looking around for a few minutes my wife and I headed to the car after a long day at the park. As it turned out we were glad we had not ride the bus to the park since we would have waited two hours for the next bus to Escondido.

       After leaving the park we headed to Escondido before heading down Highway 78 to the Oceanside area. While here we took some pictures of the Oceanside area before heading south along old US Highway 101 back to San Diego. We got some good pictures of the sunset just north of Del Mar.

       Near La Jolla we got back onto Interstate 5 and headed toward the Chula Vista area. Traffic was bad considering we were heading toward downtown San Diego. Then once we got past the downtown area the traffic lightened up and it was clear sailing.

       Next up on the agenda was trying to find something to eat. We drove up and down the Broadway which is the main street through the city and finally decided on a Chinese Buffet. Both my wife and I love Chinese Buffets but this one was bad enough to make anyone hate them. There was a poor selection of foods, the service was beyond bad, and the food was of questionable quality. To top it all off the price was about the highest I have ever paid for a Chinese Buffet. I then stood up and headed to the cashier wanting to pay and had to wait while every employee sat eating while the customers went needing service.

      After dinner my wife and I headed back to the motel knowing we were down to only a couple of days left on our vacation.