San Diego Zoo
Things of this week include a few places since I was traveling. When I left off last week, I was just heading out to the San Diego Zoo. One of the highlights there was getting to watch the leopard feed. The zoo puts their food in an area that is right in front of a glass viewing area which made for a great up-close experience. Some of the little monkeys were also fun to watch.
Torrey Pines State Preserve
Before taking off from San Diego, we went to visit the Torrey Pines State Preserve- hills and cliffs by the ocean covered with Torrey pines, the rarest pine tree on earth. I really enjoyed the hike down to the beach and then walking along the ocean. There was a large rock in the ocean that we climbed up on and it had pools of water filled with little sea creatures. We found lots of little sea anemones and one larger one (pictured below) and got a kick out of gently touching them and then watching them close up. I was a little slow to join in on this ‘game’, but I sometimes try to remind myself that I only get to live once. It’s easy sometimes to stand by and watch life from the sidelines, but it’s so much better to venture out and really engage. This was followed by a gorgeous sunset leaving me feeling like I definitely got my beach experience in for my visit to the coast.
Torrey Pines State Preserve
Click on a thumbnail to view the larger version
Mojave National Preserve
We stopped at the Mojave National Preserve on our way out of California. It was a fairly desolate area. Temperatures were fairly pleasant- it was a little cool at night and in the early morning, but during the day it was warm. When someplace feels like the perfect temperature in mid-December it definitely makes me think I don’t want to be there during the summer.
There were also Joshua trees there. They are very distinct (funny) looking desert trees. We had thought about stopping by Joshua Tree National Park, but heard that it’s a little hyped up since there are Joshua trees in many areas around there. I definitely felt like I got to experience enough of them at Mojave National Preserve.
Best Year Ever Blueprint
The Best Year Ever Blueprint was fun and I’m thinking a lot about my plans and goals for 2017. I’ll probably write more about this in another post at some point.
Word of the week
While it’s been an overall great week, my word of the week has been YUCK. It seems to so accurately describe so many things. Traffic is YUCK. Crowds are YUCK. Coming down with a cold while on a trip is definitely YUCK. The weather has been YUCK lately- high winds are YUCK, sleet is YUCK, cold is YUCK. This just seems to be the perfect word for so many things, plus it’s fun to say.
Artwork arrived!
When I got home, I was greeted by several large boxes of the canvas prints of photos that I ordered last month. I was so excited, I opened them before unpacking the car. They turned out so gorgeous!! I was worried about how they would come out, but I am so pleased with the results.
I will be working on getting these up for sale soon, so if you have any interest in one stay tuned! I am both excited and nervous about trying to sell these. I definitely have some fears and doubts, but you never know unless you try, right?
