Christmas comes to Chula Vista

Chula Vista RV welcomes in the holiday season with wonderful festivities! The main events always occur the second weekend in December. Many people show up just for this special event. The park was full of campers and their visitors. During the afternoon Santa's sleigh bells ring up and down the streets of the resort as Mr. and Mrs. Santa, Rudolph and a complement of elves parade by. Candy canes are given out to parade watchers and doggy bones to man's best friends.

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The Happy Campers Camping Club shows the week of the event. They decorate an entire street. Sometimes they even spill on to adjoining areas. Each site includes matching baby fences which provides continuity for all the displays. Here are some photos I captured this year.

Derrille and I really liked the displays all in white.

Many displays have the blow up figures.

Most of the RVs have blocked off their front windows and used that for displays too.

This year two rigs were celebrating Hanukkah.

San Diego Zoo

What a wonderful day! Jason took Thanksgiving Week off work. On Monday he treated Derrille and I with a trip to the San Diego Zoo. Jason maintains an annual membership to the zoo which helped us get in. We headed to the tram station first.

The boardwalk to the tram station winds between the tall vegetation. Like so many tourist attractions we've visited the path to the tram passes through a photo shoot stop. We smiled our best and continued on to the switch back waiting lanes. It didn't take long to move to the front. A worker stamped our hand so we could hop on the Express Buses if we wanted to move around the park that way. The stamp offers free trips all day. The open double decker buses that serve as today's tram have two loading docks. We chose the upper deck. Luckily the seats by the entry gate were ours for the taking and gave my guys room for their long legs.

Our bus driver and guide ranks as one of their best. Chris, aka Zoo Man, extended our 35 minute trip to 45 minutes or more. His knowledge of the flora and fauna were offered with facts and humor. One of his skills includes being able to mimic the noise almost every zoo animal makes! He offered sample sounds throughout the trip. One of the first facts he shared was the name of the zoo has been changed. The former San Diego Zoo, is now the San Diego Zoo and Botanical Gardens. The zoo grows its own bamboo to feed the panda, eucalyptus to feed the koalas and the acacia to feed the giraffes. The current estimates show that the zoo vegetation is worth more than the animals! Lush green trees and shrubs isolate some parts of the zoo enclosures. Zoo Man says flowers bloom here all year round. Another fact he shared was the discovery of a full whale fossil. Workmen found it while digging new water runoff terraces. The fossil goes on display next month in the Museum of Natural History.

The weather temperatures ranged around a pleasant mid-seventies; a comfortable day for riding the bus or walking the paths and hills wearing shorts and tee shirts.

Many animals were visible from the bus as we passed by. The polar bear chose to lounge on a slab in his habitat. He hadn't moved much when we stopped by later to see him again. Zoo Man informed us that the polar bear can live in this climate because the keepers have changed his diet. The new diet reduces the thickness of his fur. Between that and the cold pool, the bear lives a comfortable life.

Check out his paw!

The lion lounged by the edge of the cage and watched us go by.

We also saw a pair of baby leapords.

The elephant habitat includes a lot of space. The zoo also created a "pinata" tube. The pinata holds food that the elephants get by banging it around. The act of knocking down food also acts as an exercise event for the pachyderms. Other zoos have copied the pinata idea, but didn't take the pinata name. What else would a San Deigo that hangs from a tree to batted be called?

Between the rolling hills of two large elephant areas stands a heavily barred care center. This section looks several jail cells with oversized bars and gates. Inside this structure the elephants get showers, manicures and pedicures.

Zoo Man says they love their pedicures. Look at the size of those elephant nails!

The zoo houses several condors. The ones here are rescued, helped and if possible returned to the wild. Zoo Man gave us some stats, which I don't remember, but showed how this program has really helped increase the wild condor population.

We saw a big resident condor's cage, but only got to see this head sticking out of a rock cave.

The black and brown bears looked pretty lazy as they lolled around their pens.

The giraffe remains another favorite animal. A couple of juveniles moved through their yard as we passed.

We checked with the photo people at the end of our tour. I thought the photo was great, so we bought them. I almost didn't get to share this with you. After 36 hours dealing with India techs, and much frustration, we discovered a new printer was needed. I'm delighted to have scanning ability back.

We stopped by the flamingos to take a couple of photos for possible use on our Christmas cards.

The tram ride begins and ends near the entrance at the top of the hill. So after disembarking, we begin to move down the hill on foot. Nine trails wind among the enclosures. They intersect the four main streets and provide short cuts to various parts of the zoo. We took the Fern Canyon Trail for the quickest way to the Pandas. Jason said that exhibit is often crowded, and we wanted to see the black and white bears. Fern Canyon connects Easy Street and Center Street. The wide cement trail, nearly hidden from view by towering vegetation,crisscrosses a stream down the hillside. Waterfalls drop down the incline here and there.

Several monkey populations are housed at the end of the Fern Canyon Trail.

We were pleased to see no long lines outside the panda exhibit. Today we moved into it fairly easily. The exhibit begins with the red pandas who look more like members of the racoon family. What cute faces and bushy tails!

We saw the Asian Pandas next. A couple of panda sat on the rocks chowing down on bamboo. This one photographed the best.The new baby panda can be viewed on a closed circuit monitor since it isn't big enough to come outside yet.

The Harpy Eagle happened to be out and active as we walked by. The bird is HUGE! Visitor watch in awe as he or she flew around its equally huge cage.

I did learn about the three kinds of zebra. I like zebra too. The Plains Zebra display broad stripes that touch under the belly. The Mountain Zebra show thin stripes on the front and broad stripes on the rump, and none meet under the belly. Grevy's Zebra have narrow stripes and a white belly. At first glance in the zebra enclosure, I thought Yipes! Stripes! After checking the reader board I noticed that all three zebra types were represented.

We made our on foot visit to the polar bear next. Then we passed a variety of hoofed critters.

From here a steep, short walk up the road took us to the Skyfari Aerial Tram. This ride offers a spectacular view of the park.

Looking SW we got a view of downtown San Diego. Off to the south the Globe theater rose up on the horizon.

Below us the vegetation created a canopy of green for as far as we could see. It was impossible to get a good look at any animals. The Skyfari also brings visitors back up the hill and near the exit.

We took a couple of photo ops at the exit.

We concluded this wonderful day with dinner in Old Town. Jason chose the Barra Saloon for us.

Our patio table sat under heaters. As day turned to night the heaters created a soft light source for the diners. The ambiance invited patrons to enjoy a leisurely meal of excellently prepared foods.

The lights shining out of the Old Town Square market shops beckon visitors inside.

A lady and young boy in traditional dress danced for the pleasure of the audience. What a memory making day!