Last week I recapped my half marathon PR, but now it’s time to start a recap of everything else on my vacation. In summary, we had a great time. We had booked the vacation to San Diego before we realized there was a race. While the race was a nice addition; we did plenty of other things.
We began our journey in San Diego. One thing I was excited to do was go to the zoo and the safari. The San Diego Zoo is one of the best in the country. The animals were active, but it is clear they are very well taken care of.
We arrived early because it was a weekend. The zoo wasn’t crowded and we easily walked around and saw the animals.
While staying in San Diego, the majority of trip was spent hiking and exploring. It was fun to have no plan or itinerary but just to find a trail or an area to explore. We stumbled upon beautiful views in La Jolla, Coronado, Point Loma and even into the mountains East. We skipped places like Universal Studios and Disney because those really weren’t our interest.
My dad gave us the recommendation to go east to the town of Julian which is 4000 above sea level. It turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the trip.
We also drove up to La Jolla Cove and enjoyed the beach. There is a famous beach that seals hang out at. There were dozens of them laying around napping. At first glance, they look like rocks.
We also traveled to Los Angeles, which I’ll recap another day. It was a gorgeous drive and a lot of fun.
As most people know, parts of the East coast including the greater Philadelphia region were hit with snow. Our flight was the first to be canceled last Friday (the earlier flight from San Diego made before the storm. I’m not a cold weather person, and I was happy to avoid the storm all together.
The storm gave us a few more days of hiking, exploring and driving. We put over 1000 miles on our rental car. I had a great time and there wasn’t a part of the trip I didn’t enjoy. We truly enjoyed exploring with no plans.
Questions for you:
Do you like the zoo?
My husband craves warm weather around February – he hates the cold. I love zoos, and the one in San Diego is really nice. Looks like a ton of fun 🙂
I love San Diego! My sister and brother in law used to live there and I took every opportunity to visit them. I do like the zoo and love when there are baby animals :-). Glad you had such a great trip!
I haven’t been to San Diego since I was a tiny little thing, but I seriously love that part of the country. And the drives you can take along the coast are absolutely gorgeous. So glad you had a good time, Hollie!
I was just in the San Diego area over Christmas and had a similar vacation. It is gorgeous there!
i loved the san diego zoo there really is no other zoo like it. i also really enjoyed coronado when my uncle took me years ago. although i think its pretty hard to find a coastal park of california that isnt beautiful. you got some really wonderful pictures and how lucky you missed the snow storm! this looks like a much better use of your time 😉
This trip looks so fun! I’ve never been to San Diego but would love to go. The trips where you don’t have anything planned and can just go exploring are always the best.
Your trip looks so fun! I’ve never been to California but I really want to visit – there’s so much to explore there!
Glad you enjoyed San Diego (I’ve lived here 14 years!)! Did you make it to Torrey Pines? It’s the best! Also I read your Carlsbad recap and thought it was funny that you said Carlsbad Half was hilly because it’s basically San Diego’s flattest half marathon. So many hills here (as I’m sure you discovered during all your driving)! I guess it makes me realize I need to seek out some flat races elsewhere for some good PRs!
Ha, that’s funny. Yeah I was not expecting the rolling hills at all since it’s so “flat and fast” but I guess from San Diego standards it is!
We actually went to Torrey Pines twice and loved it!
Beautiful pics!! Sounds like a great time!!
We like zoos! We went to the National Zoo in DC when we were there a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Like you guys, we like travelling aimlessly without a real itinerary. We always find fun things that way. You picked a great week to travel too with the storm because you avoided it!
What a fun vacation! I’m so glad you and Tim had a nice time. Those seals totally do look like rocks at first glance, haha. Your pictures are gorgeous, too! Yay for the zoo! I do like going 🙂
I like the zoo a lot, but it’s not like a must-see for me. I always get worried when I travel that I’ll be stranded wherever I’m going, but it sounds like you guys had a great time and really made the most of it.
That looks amazing! I’ve only been to San Diego for work so I didn’t get to see much. I would love to go to their zoo and it sounds like you guys saw some beautiful spots. Thanks for sharing your vacuum highlights! 🙂
That looks amazing! I’ve only been to San Diego for work so I didn’t get to see much. I would love to go to their zoo and it sounds like you guys saw some beautiful spots. Thanks for sharing your vacation highlights! 🙂
Ha, I wish I got yo go to San Diego for work though. That’s awesome.
Talk about perfect timing! So happy you were able to extend your trip. The farthest west I’ve been in New Mexico. I’ll make it to CA one day!
You guys are the cutest. I loved seeing all of your pictures on FB of your trip! I’m so happy you guys were able to get away together – I know sometimes your hubby travels so it was great to read about your vacay! xo