California Dreamin' - July Road Trip

FunkyGibbon said:
At the moment it's just a twinkle in my eye but I have California on my list of future zoo-trip destinations. AirAsia is going to start offering a budget long-haul flight to undisclosed destinations in the US, and hard to imagine there won't be a KL-LA route.
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I got an email from them yesterday which said they will be flying into Honolulu at least, later this year. Keep a good eye on it because they usually do exceptionally cheap promo flights when starting up a major new route.

I'm not sure I'm that keen on going anywhere near the USA for the next, let's say, four years.

They are also talking about restarting the KL to London route (which they stopped in 2012).
 
and just further to the above, I saw this just now (from 6 days ago):
AirAsia announces $99 fares for first-ever U.S. destination
Asian budget carrier AirAsia X announced its first-ever route to the United States on Friday.

The airline – the long-haul unit of Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia – will begin flying from Honolulu on June 28. AirAsia X will fly non-stop from Honolulu to Osaka/Kansai, Japan, with continuing service to its main hub in Kuala Lumpur. Passengers traveling between Honolulu and Kuala Lumpur will have a stopover in Osaka of about two hours.

Introductory fares on the new route were on sale for as little as $99 one way to Japan and $149 to Malaysia, though regular fares will be higher.

AirAsia X’s Honolulu-Oaska-Kuala Lumpur service will operate four times a week on 377-seat Airbus A330-300 widebody jets. The planes include 12 lie-flat seats and 365 economy seats. Fares for the flatbed seats begin at $699 one way during the introductory period, though typical fares will be higher.
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http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2012/09/26/airasia-x-child-quiet-zone/1594289/
 
FunkyGibbon said:
Thanks! I hope that advice will prove very useful one day. Cat Haven is the facility that often imports into America, right?...
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Yes that is correct, though "often" may be an exaggeration. I would say occasionally. They imported a pair of jaguarundis from Central or South America a few years back (I forget the exact country). They imported a pair of jaguars from I think a Central American country (I forget that one also). They have some pending small cat imports (plus another jaguar) from that part of the world also, but as they are pending I cannot be more specific. They also imported three or four cheetahs from South Africa. All their other cats are from US facilities or (in the case of the bobcats) orphaned animals.
 
@DavidBrown : The EcoVivarium sounds like it would qualify as a zoo as there are approximately 200 animals and almost 40 terrariums. Alas, I don't think that I can squeeze it into my road trip schedule due to the fact that it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I can't see them all. :)

@FunkyGibbon : I'm definitely going to the Gibbon Conservation Center. It will be one of at least 6 zoos where I'll have a public tour and at some of the facilities I'll even have to pre-book ahead of time.
 
Well, I am still due to depart on my 7th "Snowleopard Road Trip" on July 1st; therefore, I'm at exactly 100 days to go before I head south to a warmer environment. In southern British Columbia we usually only get a few days of snow each year (making a mockery of what most of my international acquaintances think of when they consider a true Canadian winter) but this year was a harsh one indeed. On at least 4 occasions there was a big dump of snow, to the point where in one week there ended up being 3 "Snow Days" where my wife and I (both schoolteachers) stayed home with full pay while all the local schools and universities were closed due to the excessive snowfall. In the past month the rain has been incessant, meaning that my dreams of California have taken on greater urgency. Bring on the summer!

Things that I'm excited about in regards to the trip:

- San Diego Zoo's $70 million Africa Rocks project has a lot riding on it. Will it be another underwhelming Elephant Odyssey or will this complex be a wonderful addition to what is America's best zoo? Only time will tell. Since my last jaunt down to San Diego (in 2011) the zoo has finished off Panda Trek, opened a large Australian zone, erected two reptile/amphibian buildings called Reptile Walk, and made a number of smaller changes that include Maned Wolves, Mountain Lions, Amur Leopards and Snow Leopards. One thing about San Diego is that the zoo is ALWAYS partially under construction and consistently improving each and every year.

- San Diego Zoo Safari Park opened a $20 million tiger complex that has 3 exhibits and is supposedly world-class.

- Los Angeles Zoo has added a large elephant exhibit, LAIR (Reptile Houses), Rainforest of the Americas and other delights since my solitary visit in 2008.

- Fresno Chaffee Zoo has doubled in popularity, adding Sea Lion Cove and African Adventure to see attendance almost hit 1 million visitors last year.

- Then there is Morro Bay Aquarium, a candidate for the worst of the 140+ public aquariums in the United States. The lease is up in 2018 and so I'll tour this small facility before it shuts its doors for good next year. If the funding arrives then a brand-new aquarium will take its place with new owners and hopefully a new perspective on captive animal welfare.
 
Interesting that the potentially worst aquarium (Morro Bay) is so close to arguably the best aquarium (Monterey Bay) - they even have similar sounding names!

You mention rain and as you probably heard California had record rains recently. This should make everything green and lush in summer. Anza Borrego Desert (just east of San Diego) is supposedly experiencing a "superbloom" right now - a record year for desert wildflowers. This will be a great summer to visit the Golden State.

I will be joining Snowleopard at San Diego Zoo on Monday, July 10. I hope other ZooChatters can meet us as well.
 
I just came back from Anza Borrego and it is indeed lush with flowers; also large sphinx moth caterpillars everywhere!

It turns out that I will be here over the summer and I hope to join you on at least one visit, hopefully more.
 
Our tentative plan for a ZooChat group meetup is to have dinner at Albert's (inside San Diego Zoo) on Sunday night, July 9. As the time gets closer I will be looking for confirmations so I can reserve a table.
 
Hey SL, glad you'll be coming down to California again. I might join you at one the San Diego parks, but you had to pick the zoo on my wedding anniversary!
 
Arizona Docent said:
Our tentative plan for a ZooChat group meetup is to have dinner at Albert's (inside San Diego Zoo) on Sunday night, July 9. As the time gets closer I will be looking for confirmations so I can reserve a table.
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How would you rate Albert's, AD? Is it a genuinely good restaurant, or it just "good for a zoo restaurant"?
 
sooty mangabey said:
How would you rate Albert's, AD? Is it a genuinely good restaurant, or it just "good for a zoo restaurant"?
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I only ate there once, it was several years ago with my cousin. I think I had a fish dinner and it was quite good. However my cousin had a chicken dinner and his chicken was cold in the middle. He pointed it out to the server who offered either a discount or a free dessert, but did not offer to fix the chicken. My meal I had no complaints and it is a genuine dinner restaurant. Probably not the best meal of your life, but certainly good, assuming my cousin's experience was an aberration and they have long since fixed issues like this.
 
I have received an advance copy of Snowleopard's entire itinerary, which includes some bizarre backtracking (to fit in facilities with limited hours and to avoid weekends at the biggies like San Diego Zoo and Los Angeles Zoo).

All I have to say is if you ever decide to enter The Amazing Race and you want someone who will help you choose the fastest and most direct way to get from start to destination, do not choose Snowleopard as your race partner! :p
 
We are inching closer to July and I am looking forward to the trip (which on my end will be five days). I have made most of my hotel reservations, betting on the fact that I will be able to have coworkers do a shift trade for the first two days (which are unavailable on my work leave calendar). My path will converge and diverge with Snowleopard over this time. I will only be adding one new zoo, which will also be new to him. Any guesses which one it will be?
 
Arizona Docent said:
We are inching closer to July and I am looking forward to the trip (which on my end will be five days). I have made most of my hotel reservations, betting on the fact that I will be able to have coworkers do a shift trade for the first two days (which are unavailable on my work leave calendar). My path will converge and diverge with Snowleopard over this time. I will only be adding one new zoo, which will also be new to him. Any guesses which one it will be?
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Which ones are you repeating besides San Diego?
 
I'm 44 days away from leaving on Saturday, July 1st, on my latest jaunt to the USA. I probably won't encounter many Trump fans as the Washington, Oregon and California states were all pro-Clinton in the last election...but I will still report back on what I see in terms of political signs, fast food restaurants, highway police officers :cool:, zoos, aquariums and the usual odds n' ends as I've done on my 6 previous road trips.

One MAJOR disappointment is that San Diego Zoo's $68 million, 8-acre Africa Rocks area has been delayed and so it seems as if I will not be able to view the complex in its entirety. The only good news is that of the announced 6 habitats, the Kopje habitat is essentially the same set of exhibits that have been there for more than 20 years (meerkat, klipspringer, Bateleur eagle aviary) and the Cape Fynbos area (penguins, sharks) will also surely be open by the time I'm there on Monday, July 10th...a full month after the original June 10th grand opening date. That means those two end habitats will be ones that I'll personally have seen before or will see this July, leaving the central 4 habitats probably unfinished while I am in San Diego. It seems as if the immense pedestrian bridge that will open this summer will allow visitors a birds-eye view of a good chunk of the zoo and so technically I'll be able to say that I've seen all of Africa Rocks from a distance. Alas, viewing a not-quite-finished project from a bridge isn't the same thing as walking around on ground level. :(
 
snowleopard said:
One MAJOR disappointment is that San Diego Zoo's $68 million, 8-acre Africa Rocks area has been delayed
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A disappointment I wholly share! However, I'm hoping that the rest of the zoo will more than make up for this, and, of course, it gives a very good reason to return again in the not-too-distant future.....
 
Just a reminder to the locals (or anyone who will be coming from out of the area) that we will have a group dinner at Albert's Restaurant: Albert's Restaurant .

This is located inside San Diego Zoo, so you will need to have a membership or pay admission to dine there. It will be Sunday night, July 9, time to be determined. The zoo itself is open until 9pm in summer (and the front area usually until 9:30pm).

I will be notifying the San Diego members via private conversation and also creating a new thread in the meetup section in a couple weeks. I just wanted to remind people so they can save the date.
 
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