I moved away from Georgia after my senior year in high school, and I’ve had limited opportunities to visit my hometown ever since.

This current stretch away from my family is by far the longest – it will be 3 years in December since I’ve visited. I’ve been lucky that my parents have been able to come to California, but I’ve been missing my sister, 3 nieces, and nephew. In fact, I’ve never even met my 1.5 year old nephew!

I cherish the opportunities I’ve had with my parents the past few years. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for my mother, she’s still working (retire already ☺)! She’s had a couple of conferences in CA this past year, and I’ve been able to take some time off to see her.

She was in San Diego at the end of September, and she didn’t have to twist my arm in the slightest to get me down there with her.

We stayed downtown for the first 2 nights, so it was easy to explore the city together. We went on a morning run/walk along the harbor, got some late breakfast, and strolled around downtown. We then ferried over to Coronado in the afternoon and walked to the beach.

Coronado

We relaxed there until sunset, and it was beautiful! We also enjoyed the city view at night on the ferry back to downtown.

Sunset from Coronado over Point Loma

San Diego at night

The following day was amazing. My family had been to the San Diego Zoo when I was a baby, but no one had been to the Zoo Safari Park. It was something that my mom has always wanted to do, and as an animal lover, I offered zero resistance.

We signed up for a van safari, which sometimes includes animal encounters, depending on the animal’s mood. I was like a giddy child waiting for the tour to start.

Our guide was Bob and the driver was George, and they were incredible. My mom and I were likely the annoying customers, curiously asking question after question, and Bob offered an incredible amount of information about the animals: from fun facts about each species, to conservation and re-population efforts.

Heaven.

Not long after we entered “Africa,” a male giraffe wandered over. My heart fluttered.

Bob had each of us come to the back of the truck one at a time to feed the giraffe pieces of grass. That was hands-down my favorite part. I was really into giraffes as a kid, and I even wrote a short story about “Georgie the Giraffe.” This encounter reignited my love for giraffes. They apparently don’t like to be touched, and I can’t tell you how impossible it was to resist giving him a hug and a pet.

Swoon 🙂

My mom and the giraffe

We then headed to “Asia,” where we met Beau the rhino. He was also a hungry fellow, and we all fed him apple slices. He didn’t mind being touched, and I gave him a nice pet.

My mom and Beau

What an incredible experience. We wandered around the rest of the park after the tour, and stayed until it closed. My heart was very happy!

Teddy the tiger

Picture day pose

Saturday was a hiking day. I hiked up Iron Mountain several years ago when I was still living in Michigan, but in San Diego on vacation. It was so cool to take my mom up that same hike! It’s about 6 miles round trip, and the trail gets pretty rocky and slick. She rocked it, though!

Summit of Iron Mountain near Poway

We headed over to Point Loma for the rest of the day to check out the lighthouse and views. Unfortunately, it was mostly cloudy, so we weren’t sure if we’d get a good sunset. We drove to Pacific Beach anyway, gave up watching after about 20 minutes, and wandered just off the boardwalk for dinner. My mom loves crab, and there seems to be plenty of it at all the beach restaurants, so she was content.

Point Loma. Check out the sun rays behind us!

As good of a sunset that we could catch before it sank into the marine layer.

The last day, we didn’t have much time. She had a flight to catch, and I had to get on the road if I wanted to make my 6 PM bedtime. After a nice morning workout, we headed to the airport.

These trips always seem to go by too fast. As we get older, time together with my parents becomes extremely precious. I may have something up my sleeve for more complete family time in the next few months, which will hopefully involve meeting my little rockstar nephew. ☺