How could we not take a winter road trip to San Diego after visiting Mexico when it only takes another 3 hours to get there? We love road trips and this seems to be the perfect fit!
We left Yuma, AZ and headed west on Interstate 8 as the sun was starting to set. We knew we wanted to be by the water and close to all the attractions. So after doing some research, we booked a room at the Bahia Resort Hotel on Mission Bay.
The peninsula has tropical gardens, views of the ocean, and warm breezes which made the Bahia Resort Hotel a perfect destination. The Bahia Resort has been an icon in San Diego for 50 
years. It has great accommodations – although some areas could be updated, superb customer service, and an affordable rate that included breakfast. The hotel has beach access, a large pool, hot tub and a restaurant with a happy hour and good food.
One of the attractions that we cannot miss while visiting San Diego is the world famous San Diego Zoo. Through our hotel, we received discounted admission tickets which included a 35 minute Double Decker bus tour around most of the zoo.
We arrived early and took the first bus tour. This oriented us to the different areas and helped plan our day on this one hundred acre zoo.
The zoo houses over 3,700 animals of more than 650 species/sub-species. San Diego’s mild climate allows it to be the pioneer in open-air cages and cage-less exhibits that recreate a natural habitat. The zoo is very active in conservation and species – preservation efforts as well.
The San Diego Zoo is one of the few in the world that successfully breeds the Giant Panda bears. Its institute for Conservation Research actively raises California Condors, tigers, African Black Rhinos and a 145 other endangered species.
The Zoo, through its Institute has reintroduced over 30 endangered species back into the wild, and has preserved fifty natural habitat field sites.
The major exhibits included Absolutely Apes, Children’s Zoo, Elephant Odyssey, and the Panda Trek to mention a few.
We tried to take in as much as we could, but you would easily need to spend a couple days just to see everything! The Elephant Odyssey and the Panda Trek were our favorites and a must see.
I personally loved the bamboo forest! It reminded me of our trip to China – which can be found on You, Me and The Dock’s Travel Site. They grow their own bamboo (pictured below – right) to feed the pandas, who do have 
voracious appetites.
Another way to see this beautiful zoo is to take the Skyfari. This is an aerial tram that travels over the park with tremendous views! This ride (pictured below – left) is similar to Disneyland’s once popular skyway. We would highly suggest to take the Skyfari in the morning to the other side of the zoo and slowly work you way back to the exit. A clever suggestion to future zoo goers – from very weary “zoo goers”!
I’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg on things to do at this magnificent zoo! There are constant children’s activities that include movies, summer camps, wild night sleep overs, birthday parties and more. We ended our day with some excellent food at one of the several restaurants on the zoo’s premises. Albert’s Restaurant is unique in that it’s called “The Restaurant in a Treehouse” and overlooks a waterfall.
After a long, but fulfilling day of walking around and experiencing the wonders of the overwhelming attractions, we headed back to the Bahia Resort where we decided to order room service and chill!
I want to thank everyone for following along with us on our journey to the San Diego Zoo. Tomorrow we will be visiting The USS Midway museum. Stay tuned!
Author: Gay Isis
Photography: Gay Isis
Associate Editor: Maureen Scopel
Article Layout: Anthony Scopel
Technical Mastering & Support: Matt Kemper
Publisher: YMATD
Visit Gay’s guest appearance on “Gray is the New Blonde”
