I only spent one night at home before it was time for Joe's and my anniversary trip! Joe surprised me a few weeks ago by setting up a photo tour at the San Diego Wild Animal Park. We went on that tour together for our one year dating anniversary, so it was really special to be able to share that experience with him again. The second awesome surprise was the hotel he booked for us to stay at while I was on my road trip... a beautiful resort and spa, fairly close to the animal park. I couldn't have been more excited! As if Joe wasn't already the coolest, he also put in a special request for foam pillows and comforters since I'm allergic to down. I love how thoughtful he is!

Several winding and remote roads led us to the spa itself, tucked away in the hills of Escondido. As we walked toward the office, we passed the word, "Welcome," written in cursive with light yellow paint on the sidewalk. The office had nice cushy chairs and a large desk, and the receptionist was this friendly lady with a lovely smile.

Once we had our key, Joe and I walked up the wooden stairs to our room. It was large and airy, with a cute comforter, blue and white, with embroidered flowers. There was a couch, t.v., a nice bathroom, and let's not forget the best perk of all... free broadband connection!

I loved how quiet it was, how peaceful the place felt, and how beautiful every view was. We were surrounded by trees and flowers and peace and quiet. It was simply enchanting.

Later, Joe and I headed down to the soaking pools, and as we walked to the office to get the key, a rabbit ran right across our path!

The soaking pools were in a gated area, and all flowed into each other. Since the air was cool outside, and the water was so hot, we could see the steam floating around us as we relaxed in the water. We took turns sitting under the little waterfall, which felt awesome on my shoulders! It was so nice just relaxing with Joe as we watched the stars come out.

After a while, the water felt too hot. When we left the soaking pools, Joe headed up to the room while I returned the key. I decided to cool off in the swimming pool before going back to the room. When I stepped into the water, I wasn't sure if it was a mistake or not. The water felt both icy and extremely refreshing. I ventured in further, and eventually plunged underwater. It was exhilerating and a little overwhelming. I didn't spend too much time in there! I dried off and walked back to the room, glancing up at the clear night sky speckled with so many twinkling stars. Everything felt magical.

* * *

The next day, Joe and I got up bright and early to head on over to the Wild Animal Park. It was very windy that day, so Joe let me wear his hat, since his had a strap and mine did not. Joe bought himself a cap and both of us a pair of sunglasses and then we were ready to go!

Being in the truck as it drove through the park was incredible. I love being so close to the animals, and getting to see the awesome living space they have. It is wonderful that they have so much room, and can just spend time in their herds, grazing wherever they want.

There was one obnoxious guy on the truck, who felt the need to talk incessantly about a variety of subjects, including the animals (sometimes) as well as real estate pricing, California (he and his wife and kids were all visiting from Washington state), and Uganda, for well, no reason at all. "I really respect Uganda as a country," he said. "They've been able to reduce their AIDS growth rates by really emphasizing the importance of abstinence. I don't know why the studies that show how successful promoting abstinence can be aren't being talked about! That's what they should teach everywhere!"

I found myself sighing at him on a regular basis, but never spoke up, for fear of not being able to keep myself from calling him an idiot right to his face. It seemed like that might put a damper in everyone's day.

I did actually love the moment when someone was trying to be a smartypants and asked in a very serious, sophisticated tone about the bird flying overhead, "So tell me, is that a falcon or a hawk?"

"That's a turkey vulture," said the guide.

"Oh."

Then there was the weird Clinton joke told by our driver, which got two replies, each person revealing their severe attachment to their political party, one a Democrat, the other a Republican. It was pretty bizarre.

But the annoying parts still made for some fun comedy later. (Joe and I nicknamed the first guy, "Professor Abstinence.") And the annoying parts couldn't possibly compete with the rabidly awesome parts of the tour!

Feeding giraffes is super cool! I forgot how impressive it is to see their massive heads only inches away from my own. I love their pretty eyelashes, and their long purple tongues. I think it's funny how they drool when they get excited over the treats. They have such inquisitive expressions that it's hard to keep from laughing at them. And it's funny to watch one or two linger even after we've given them the signal to leave. It's like they're convinced if they just wait long enough, they might get the really special treats! Giraffes are also funny, because they don't like to be touched. They look so soft that you feel tempted to think differently, but they really just don't like it.

The rhinoceri, on the other hand, don't mind pats and scratches at all. In fact, I think they prefer it! I got to feed two adult rhinos and a baby, which was really cool. I love how they'd take your whole hand into their mouth when you feed them apple pieces. Their upper lip is prehensile and moves like a hand. It was neat to hold onto it, to feel their horns, to pat their smooth heads. They are great animals, so incredibly adorable and sweet. I love them so much!

It was also cool hearing some funny animal stories that our guide told us. One is that a rhino once looked like it was going to charge, and he told the riders, "Don't worry, they never actually charge." Right after the words left his mouth, the rhino rammed the truck! No one was hurt, and in fact, they all loved it. I would have thought that was pretty awesome if it had happened to us! Apparently, there's another rhino that likes to run up to the truck and stop the instant before she hits. That would be pretty funny to experience, too! Another time, a giraffe didn't think it was being fed fast enough and swung its head into the woman. Their heads can weight 200 lbs, and the woman went flying six feet from where she started. Crazy! (Amazingly enough, that story did not stop Professor Abstinence from petting all of the giraffes and scaring me when they jerked their heads away from him.)

Another story was that one of the male goats was impaling things with his horns. The workers put garden hose pieces on the ends of his horns to protect the other animals from him. Because of his horn extensions, the females suddenly found him irresistable (long horns is a sign of high testosterone levels, which is super sexy to the lady goats), and he became the main breeding male of the herd!

Last but not least, they needed to extend the fences inward because the goats used to like to hop over the fence every day when the keepers would leave the park. They'd hop right over, and hop on back at 6am, when the keepers would return to feed them. Since no one wanted any permanently escaping goats, the fences were entended so that they bend inward and now the goats stay inside.

The winds were still blowing strong as we left, and I think it must have spooked at least one animal. We saw a small herd of gazelles running across the plains, and suddenly, everyone was running the same direction. It was so cool to see a bunch of separate herds of goats, gazelles, giraffes, and others all running at top speed across the wide expanse of land. The guide told us it would likely have a chain reaction across the rest of the acres of the park. I think that's so fascinating. Makes me wonder what other kinds of actions in the world create reactions that travel for miles...

Soon, the tour was over, and Joe and I made our way out of the park and back to the hotel.

* * *

Another amazing anniversary gift Joe gave me was a full body massage at the spa. I showered after returning home from the park, then headed right down to the spa for my massage. My massage therapist was a really nice lady, with all grey hair and a super skinny frame. My first impression of her was that she'd probably been doing yoga for years. She had a lovely smile and a nice voice, and when we entered the massage room, she had Enya playing on the CD player. I love Enya, so that was perfect. I told her about the lower back pain I'd been having, and we talked about some reasons that might be there. She is a body-mind therapist, so believes that different parts of the body stand for different areas of our life. I believe that, too, and have discussed that before with Misti. (I discussed the back pain with Misti, too, and got some great tips for stretches I can do to help heal myself.) The massage therapist said we can treat those areas in our lives first and it can heal our bodies, or we can take care of our bodies through massage and yoga, and let the things we need to heal emotionally come up in our minds as we do so. I thought that was pretty cool.

I nearly fell asleep as she was rubbing me, since it had been such a full day, and we'd been in the sun for hours (thank god I remembered sunscreen, or else the massage would have been downright painful - hooray for no sunburns!). The massage felt incredible and relaxing, and I was reminded once again of what a special and beautiful thing massage really is. It won't be another six months before I get my next one; I can tell you that much right now!

When I got back to the room, Joe was already napping. I joined him and slept for two and a half hours! When I woke up, I still felt awesome and like my muscles were all liquified. Joe and I spent the evening cuddling and watching t.v.

The next morning, I awoke all by myself, simply because I was rested. I suddenly realized it was the first time in a long time that I woke up from being rested and not from my back being in pain. How awful that I'd let myself be in pain for so long. I'd written it off as "not that big of a deal" since I was only achey in the mornings. I'd accepted it as part of my life, until it wasn't there anymore. The excitement I felt at being pain-free was phenomenal, and I felt more inspired than ever to take care of myself and be aware of my body's needs so that chronic pain is not a regular part of my life. Feeling healthy is awesome!

* * *

Soon, it was time to check out, and Joe and I headed north. We decided to stop at Disneyland on the way home! We renewed our Annual Passports, so we're good for another year. While we were in line for the passports, a woman and her very young daughter were in front of us in line. The little girl apparently needed a nap, according to her mom. The girl was playing and running around and at one point, looked up at me. I smiled at her, as I tend to do with young kids. She just glared at me, narrowing her eyes into the toddler death stare. She looked away, and when she looked back up at me, I glared at her, just to see what she'd do, and because I thought it was funny (I know, be quiet! Let me have my fun!). When she looked back at me again, I narrowed my eyes at her again, but raised one eyebrow, in more of a questioning look. I don't think she knew what to make of me. She looked at Joe, who had missed the whole interchange between her and I. He smiled at her and received the death glare too. He looked at me like, "What'd I do?" and I mimed to him the conversation I'd just had with her. We laughed about it as she ran off to entertain herself with something else. Clearly, we just sucked. I thought about sticking my tongue out at her if she came back, but she busied herself playing with the line divider ropes instead. What a crazy kid!

Joe and I got our pictures and new passports, then walked around the park a bit. We were excited to see that the Tiki Room is now open again after a nine month hiatus. They were fixing it up for this year (the 50th anniversary), and it looks good. Joe and I cuddled on the bench and watched the cute singing birds and plants while we ate pineapple ice cream. Super fun!

* * *

Later on, we headed home and hung out with the kitties. I pretty much slept all day today. It was a lazy, restful day. I guess all the friend-visiting, animal feeding, and getting pampered at the spa exhausted me! Ha! Anyway, it's nice just to chill out with Joe before the new quarter at school starts. This has been such a fun vacation. I'm so incredibly glad that Joe and I could get away, just the two of us, for a couple of days. That is always so nice! This was such a fun anniversary trip! I love Joe so very much. These past three years have been amazingly wonderful, and I look forward to many more years of happiness with my awesome husband!

Vacation pictures are here