Southern California Honeymoon and Caching (Part Four: San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Home)

So here it is, finally the final chapter of our honeymoon and geocaching adventure in Southern California.  I am sorry it took so long to get these written and published.  You all waited so diligently and I appreciate that.

Well we left off getting back to our hotel after a long cold and wet day of caching in San Diego.  Of our trip that was the only horrible weather day we had.  But it left us cold to bone, and before turning in for the night we had to get warmed up.  So an order of pizza, hot drinks and hot hot showers did the trick.  So we turned in and got ready for another long day on our feet.

The next morning we got up and had our breakfast at the hotel, got ready for a warm yet exhausting day at the San Diego Zoo.  We had the hotel call us another Taxi (if you read the last post you will know how displeased we were with this), and we got there just before opening.  When the ticket booths opened we headed to the one that seemed to be taking vouchers, and presented ours.
Of our entire trip this was the first place to seem to not understand the vouchers we had.  Eventually they let the issue go, and we got our tickets and started walking in the direction of the Virtual Cache that I wanted to do in the park.  This was the first of two that I wanted while here at the zoo, but the other one was located outside the gates.. So that one would have to wait until later when we left.

On the way to the Virtual Cache we wandered through a section
showcasing beautiful birds of Australia and Africa.  We even got to spy us some Kookaburras, and heard their famous call that sounds like laughter.
Rounding a corner we made a slight detour and walked through a section that had African and Australian mammals.  Just Leafy Sqee'ed in delight to see Rhinoceroses, Giraffes, and Koala Bears up close.
after that we rounded another corner and we were right where the Virtual was located.  Here we had to identify an animal that is depicted in stone in a open square, and I think the name of the donor that founded the new enclosure for that animal.  Well we collected that data very quickly, snapped a no-spoiler picture in front of a nearby sign and were on our way, and that was one of two caches done for the day.

We had a fantastic time wandering the park!  It was amazing to have seen so many interesting animals, some of which we never knew existed.  It was especially cool to have seen the Gorillas and the Giant Galapagos Turtles.  I word from us to you all if you go, walking around all day really does a number on your feet.  There are these foot massage chairs located around the park and only cost a quarter... USE THEM!!  They really make a difference, trust us!
Soon the day came to an end and we had to leave, so we exited out the front and made our way to the Traditional Cache that was located nearby.  But as we arrived there were muggles sitting on the bench where it was.  We sat on a nearby bench and tried waiting them out, but they were just not leaving.  30 minutes later and when the guy working the taxi lineup called that all taxis would
be departing, we had to give up.  But we logged it anyway, because we could see it.  So we took picture proof with Just Leafy sitting on the bench next to the muggles pointing to the hide.  Contacted the CO later via email, and they were fine with that as proof.

That night we had a fantastic dinner at the Ricky's that was in our hotel parking lot, and turned in to rest up for Sea World in the morning.

It was another bright and sunny morning when Just Leafy and I hopped in the taxi to take us to Sea World.  Our one and only cache of the day would be another Virtual Cache, and this one didn't require us to even be inside.  It could be nailed right from the parking lot, since that was where GZ (Ground Zero) was posted.  All we had to do was post a picture of us with the observation tower in the background.  So that was easy enough for sure.


With that out of the way it was time for the park.  Sea world has a ton of attractions, from shows with the sea mammals to observation tanks, and even some rides.  Sadly here I couldn't ride any of the rides except for one... Turns out I am too fat, and so I had to do the fatman's walk of shame from every attempt I made.  But an upside is that there were a few munzees in the park, and I was able to scan them for a few points.  If you want to learn about munzees check out their website at www.munzee.com.

Besides that, we had a great time.  We wandered around all day going in and out of the exhibits and
checking out all the sea life that we could.  It was an amazing experience for Leafy, she loved it.  She would get all excited and would be pointing out things to me like the size of a giant sea turtle, to how pink the flamingos were, or even how colourful the fish were, and oh those rays look like they are smiling.  In the end it was a fantastic day, and we enjoyed every minute of it.


We returned back to the hotel that night to another dinner at Ricky's and to pack up our stuff.  For this would be our last night in Southern California.  But the nice thing is we would not be leaving until the evening, so we finally had another sleep-in and relaxing day before heading to the airport.  And then it was done, and in a short few hours we were back at home talking about our memories of the trip and reliving our favorite moments.

Thank you to all my readers for waiting so long to learn about our trip.  Again I am so sorry it took me this long to bring you the details.  Also thank you for being you, and for reading my stories.  It really means a lot to me, and I am honored to share them with you!