I recently took a little trip down to one of my favorite weekend get aways, San Diego. I have had a love affair with San Diego since I graduated college after which I spent a summer interning at SDSU in their Cetacean Behavior Unit. This is all code for, I conducted research on the wild populations of bottlenose dolphins along the San Diego coast. It was such an adventurous time in my life as I was transitioning from college student to researcher. Each day consisted of traveling either by boat or by land, and documenting and studying dolphin behavior. A dream job I know!
Well, that was the start of the love affair and it has only grown since. Many years have passed since that lovely summer, and I have ventured back to the coastal town more times than I can recall. Other visits included going behind the scenes at Sea World and the Wild Animal Park, getting my teeth worked on by my aunt who is a dentist and orthodontist, and more recently, to spend time with family. This past weekend, my father was speaking at a conference, and just as the family did while I was growing up, we joined him and made it a vacation. This year I was able to fly down for a long weekend, my brother and his wife drove down from Los Angeles, and my uncle and aunt who live in San Diego joined in. Ahhh, family time.
Although this trip did not include a major outing to a tourist destination, or even to the beach, it was filled with quality family time, and learning from one another. We even stayed up until 1 am one night talking about religion and the formula for happiness, all the while drinking hot tea. If you know us Tajiks, we don't go long without drinking tea!
Here's some images from past trips to San Diego which perfectly depict my love for the city. Each time I look at these pictures, it reminds me of where I was in that time in my life, who I was with, and how far I've grown as a person since then. Oh San Diego, how I love thee!
Playing with the beluga whales at Sea World in 2002.
Taking Ponce & Balboa to Dog Beach in 2003.
Visiting the Midway near Seaport Village and Downtown in 2004.
And more recently, feeding giraffes at the Wild Animal Park in 2009.
