Some time in January or February of this year Jon got offered a second internship at Google. Since we found out that we'd be headed to California for the summer we had a lot more time to plan and prep for the move. We both finished the semester in April and I even graduated! It was a little surreal... a couple things changed in the last year and I found out I could be done earlier than planned. After being in school so long and the grueling work load of the illustration program I just decided I needed to be done... for now. Since we were completely moving out of our apartment this time we decided to have a later start date for Jon's internship. We had a little over 2 weeks in between the time school ended and his internship began.

During that two week time frame southwest was having a sale, we snatched up some tickets and headed down to San Diego to visit my brother Cody. Originally we had planned to go from San Diego to Tuscon. My sister in law was expecting and the baby was supposed to arrive that week. Little baby Bennett just wasn't ready to come so we ended up changing out plans and staying in for a week. We arrived fairly late on Thursday night and Cody took work off on Friday. So we spent the day at the San Diego Zoo! Jon's becoming a bit of a photographer and snatched some really great shots!

Our admission included a ride on the "Skyfare" which gave you a birds eye view of the park and lets you see Balboa park a little better. While up there we saw some beautiful architecture, some gorillas and a peacock hanging out on the top of a building.

The Skyfari aerial tram station structure at the San Diego Zoo viewed from below, with gondola cables and distant tram cars visible against a blue sky, palm trees and a red-roofed building in the background

Aerial view from the Skyfari tram looking out over lush green Balboa Park, with the ornate California Tower rising above the treetops against a clear blue sky
View of Balboa Park while on the Skyfare

A young striped antelope grazing on sandy ground in the foreground, with a second antelope and a log visible in the background

A smew duck with striking black-and-white plumage floating calmly on rippling green water

A large tusked elephant facing the camera head-on behind a wire fence, a circular overhead structure visible above it and blue sky in the background

A koala with fluffy grey fur walking along a wooden branch, surrounded by green eucalyptus leaves

A leopard with vivid spotted coat resting in dappled shade and looking directly at the camera, a chain-link fence and trees visible behind it

A giant panda sitting upright against large grey rocks, holding and eating bamboo stalks, its black-and-white markings clearly visible in bright sunlight

A giant panda sitting in dappled shade and chewing on a bamboo stalk, facing slightly to the left

Two meerkats standing upright on their hind legs on sandy ground near a dark burrow entrance, both facing the same direction

A red panda with white and rust-colored fur sleeping curled up on a tree branch, nearly hidden among dense green foliage

We were extremely grateful that Cody let us crash at his place. He's great company to have around and both Jon and I are always happy to spend time with him. After we finished up at the Zoo we met with one of Cody's good friends and had dinner at a hip little joint. We got Polenta which none of us had ever had and it was delicious! The food was good and it was a great way to end a sun filled day of walking around in the sun... Now mind you this was only day one and there's even more awesomeness to come!