A few days we went to the MWR office on the 32nd Street Naval Base and purchased two tickets for the zoo. Having gone to the zoo many times in the past when we lived here, it was a huge shock to me when the bill wound up costing $120. Amazing. But it included a bus tour of the entire zoo, and a trip on the aerial tram, whether or not you want to do those things.

This is us going over the Bay Bridge on our way to the zoo. The fog has become the morning event lately.

Our memories involved a slow walk around the zoo with the kids, looking at all the displays on the way. It was a lot of fun. A quick look at the zillions of people who were wandering all over the place. Really! Zillions of them! This prompted us to take the bus tour right away and see what was changed. Turns out the hills are steeper and the canyons deeper so walking anywhere in the zoo was not optimal for us old folks.

Amy was our driver and tour guide, full of information about anything you might want to know about the displays. It was very informative and validated our choice to ride vs. walk.

But we wanted to see the panda bears before going home and the bus ride ended where it started – at the top of the hill. We know Max would want to know about the panda bears because he’s seen them on the news, so there was no way we could NOT go back down that hill. That was going to require a lot of walking, mostly downhill. Fortunately, one end of the tram was near the panda exhibit, so we had a way to get back to the entrance without walking all the way back up. Knowing Diane’s knees wouldn’t last for that trip down, I parked her on the edge of a planter and went to get her a wheelchair. Fortunately, I remembered where I left her and was able to get her situated for the ride.

Going down was pretty easy except for a couple spots where it got very steep. There was danger of my feet slipping but I was wearing a grippy pair of sneakers so that didn’t happen. I was concerned that if I slipped, she was pretty much on her own, at the mercy of whoever got in her way. In my defense, I asked her specifically if she could stop it by herself if necessary and she said yes. That gave me a little relief, but it was still a concern. All the way down. We made it just fine, by the way. In all, I walked just under 4 miles today. Diane had a nice ride and was very grateful for my help. I was totally honored to be able to help her without mishap. That’s my job and I take it seriously.

Here’s the best photo I got of one of the pandas. The other options for photos were through a glass barrier that mainly showed the reflection of whoever was taking the photo and all the people around them. But I’ll put them in anyway.

Diane got nuzzled by a leopard.

On the tram.

On the way out.

On the way home we stopped at a small theater in downtown Coronado to pick up tickets for a play we’ll be seeing at a matinée on next Sunday afternoon. Diane saw it advertised and thought it would be fun. I’m sure it will be and I’ll be sure to recap it for you. Or, at least, to let you know how much we enjoyed it. I hope they have popcorn.

This is Max poised on the stairs to pounce as soon as someone opens the screen door.

Now it’s getting late, and Max is asking for another walk before it gets dark. He’s bored and a bit depressed due to lack of activity, so we have to fix that.