For the last week, my parents have been in town visiting.  I was able to sneak away from work on Friday and take a three-day weekend, so we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.  Driving down there, our two-year-old repeated “Amnal Pak” about 500 times, so we knew it was a good way to spend the day.  At the park, all of the usual suspects were out, and I got some interesting abstract shots of a few different animals.  My real hope, however would be that the Epiphyllums in the botanic garden would be be in bloom, but we were a little too early (save for one flower, below).  Such is life; their annual butterfly exhibit opened on Saturday, so it gives me an excuse to go back!

Desert Bighorn Sheep, March 2010

The lone blooming Epiphyllum, March 2010

On Saturday, our local airport hosted an air show, and in the afternoon several F-18 Hornets flew over our house; I was able to catch one as it made a low pass.

F-18 Hornet in flight

On the way to San Diego, I had a chance to look for more wildflowers, and as others have reported, it doesn’t look like much is happening this year.  There are a few small patches of poppies and other flowers here and there, but for the most part, things simply didn’t happen this year.  My wife and I went for a hike locally Sunday morning, and we noted that things are definitely past peak, even with the grass.

This week is my spring break, so I’m planning on getting caught up on my blog posts, as well as taking a couple of short trips–one to Joshua Tree National Park, and one to Channel Islands National Park–I’m excited to share some new images on here!