Exploring SD - Zoo! (Family Visit - from Alaska)

Last weekend Eric's aunt flew all the way down from Alaska to stay with us for a long weekend. On Saturday we met up with Alison's family at the zoo. I had never been before but I've heard so much about it and it was definitely on our SD bucket list.



We had been going through a heat wave so it was a pretty hot day (especially for someone visiting from Alaska), but comfortable for me - it actually felt like summer!







The place is huge. You could easily spend multiple days there.











They had a SkyTram much like the one at SeaWorld where you can get a view of the whole zoo and Balboa Park. We skipped out on this as we had a few people afraid of heights, but if we ever go back I would definitely take advantage.





They even had a polar bear, which SeaWorld didn't even have. You can't help but feel a little bad when you see an animal created for the Arctic in 90 degree heat..





We saw some reindeer, which Eric's aunt taught us were just domesticated caribou.



By this point the girls were getting pretty hot and tired and ready for lunch. We started picking up the pace so we could all rest and eat.







We ended up getting a little turned around but eventually got back on track.





Everyone was ready for a break when we finally found a place for lunch!



Once we were all re-energized it was time to figure out our next route.









We got to see a few more exhibits and then decided to call it a day.



I would definitely recommend not trying to do it all in one day, especially if you have small children. Or try to go on a weekday. We picked out the exhibits we were most interested in and were able to see most of it but not everything. Even still, we were all pretty exhausted by about 3 PM (especially the little girls that didn't get naps). Overall it was a great day and I'm so thankful we got the chance to go!