Cameron Park Zoo

GIBBONS! Y'all, I love animals! You know this. There's a zoo in Waco (the Cameron Park Zoo), and since we've moved here I've been scheming to go, but somehow it never worked out. BUT, Saturday, we went! And it was awesome! I thought it might be a little pokey zoo, but it's actually a decent size with lots of animals. The Fort Worth Zoo is, in my opinion, the best zoo in Texas. But, this one was pretty good! Especially for being just up the road!

I have this fascination with Waco. I'd driven through it about a billion times, but I'd never really stopped and explored until we moved here. It's just a short drive from Temple, and it's actually a really neat city! Almost a little hip. I think it's grown a lot in the past five years or so. Anyway, I love it. And keep finding excuses to go. And it's within my travel restrictions for this last month or so of pregnancy so I'm loving that.

This parrot was all about talking to us and doing some borderline obscene movements against the fence.

Brendon in a slide, through the otter pool!

So many of the animals were snoozing in the sun. I guess it would have been better to see them active and awake, but I thought they were all so cute sunbathing so I didn't mind! It was a sorta chilly day, but when you were in the sun it felt fantastic. And we got there pretty early, so the zoo was pretty much empty! It was awesome.

Awkward pregnant girl stance. Waddling around the zoo. And the rest of these photos were taken by Brendon! I am usually the camera queen, it's nice when he takes over every now and then.

Seriously fun morning! I'm so glad we were able to go. This zoo was awesome, and really the perfect place to take a kid! It's not huuuuge like some zoo's are, so you could probably tackle it all with a little one before they got over it. In fact, I think we were the only folks there without kids. Well, a kid outside the body anyway.

As soon as we got into the car I almost died from hunger. I'm at this awesome point these days where if I go to long without eating I feel super sick, and it hits me out of nowhere. Before I even recognize that I'm hungry I'll feel like I'm going to puke/pass out. So we've gotten kind of good at just watching the clock and saying, "Well, it's been about two hours since we've eaten, lets get a snack." I'm like a damn baby, feed me every few hours okay?

We found this really fantastic Mediterranean place, D's Mediterranean Grill, right down the road from the zoo, very veggie friendly! And I ate A TON. Seriously, shoveled that food into my face. We will have to go back, it was super good and I'm still thinking about it.

California 2015 - San Diego Zoo!

California, part three. Monday was zoo day! I think I mentioned that it rained while we were in California? Basically on and off all day Sunday and Monday. We were supposed to go to the zoo Sunday, but rain happened, so we postponed it until Monday. And rain still happened! But we went anyway and it was actually a blast. We bought cheapo parkas from CVS (my dad and Lynne came prepared with actual raincoats) and made the best of it!

I think it worked out well, because the zoo wasn't nearly as full as it would have been had the weather been nice. And there were definite periods of sunshine and warmth, so we were able to peel our rain gear off and dry for a bit before tugging it all back on. And although some animals were hiding, we still saw all the major stuff!

Pardon my terrible photos that I am sharing with you anyway because I loooove animals. I brought my big camera but was too scared to bust it out in the rain, so iPhone photos had to do. And to whoever says, "my phone takes better photos than a real camera", you are a fool. They are not better. But they will do in a pinch. 

This flamingo gave us a serious stink eye. He walked right up to the edge and followed us down his fence. I don't think he liked us much. Probably our terrible ponchos.

This is not an ad for Southwest (although, we swear by them!). The airport is right in the middle of the city, so planes were constantly zooming around us. I caught two planes in my photos.

We look fairly awful in this photo, but check out the polar bear yawning in the background! Also, holla at them ponchos. They actually did an excellent job, for being so cheesy.We stayed nice and dry underneath. We just looked like fools. Pregnant in a poncho? I felt whale-ish. Appropriate for a zoo.

REINDEER! WHERE IS SANTA!?

The pandas immediately made me think of Anchorman.

We rode the little sky tram thing, and it gives the most excellent views of the zoo. That place is huuuuge. And all those trees! It really is an amazing place. Next year the zoo celebrates it's 100th anniversary. 100 years! No wonder those trees are so big. Also, look at these cuties:

They were such good sports for toughing it out in the rain with us. I guess they're used to it as they are fishing extraordinaires and will fish it out in any condition. Next time we plan on visiting a place in the rain, we'll take a page out of their book and bring real rain gear.

Rain! We rode the tram through the zoo one way and then needed to ride it back the other way. But almost as soon as we got on for our return trip, it started pouring! That was okay though, we got to see some excellent rain covered views.

We wrapped up the day by taking the guided doubledecker bus tour around the zoo. If you're at the San Diego Zoo and are on the fence about taking the bus tour, do it! We rode on the top, thankfully the rain let up for this part and it was perfect. You see so many animals and the tour guides are great. And you go through areas you can't get to on foot! Perfect way to end the day.

Slowly but surely the big guy was drying off. I feel you, buddy!

It was a good day. Even with the rain. This was my second trip to the San Diego Zoo, but Brendon's first! He had a good time. I hope! I think the last time we went it was kinda rainy too. Nothing like this, but I distinctly remember having to wear a jacket. I was like 15 though so my memory is questionable.

This is the coolest zoo, y'all! I really haven't been to that many zoos, but this one is such a winner. And they have a Safari Park a bit out of town you can visit too! I've never done that, but it sounds intriguing. They do a lot of breeding endangered animals for releasing into the wild there. Very cool, save all the animals. One day I'd like to check that place out. If there are animals, I'm in!

Lions, Tigers, and dams, oh my!

Yesterday Brendon and I visited the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary. We were a little skeptical when we pulled up, but it turned out to be really awesome. All the animals are rescued, so it isn't a typical zoo. Most of the animals were pets or circus animals that had to be surrendered. Some of them had sad stories but it was great to see them in a happier home. It was a quiet little place and you get to get really close to the animals. Plus the weather was b-e-a-utiful! All the animals were out enjoying the sun, it was the perfect day to go. The zoo is out in the hill country outside of town. I love the hill country! Home sweet home. Unfortunately the hill country is full of cedar, so our allergies were a tad out of control, especially poor Brendon. But we had a blast!

You could feed some of the animals! It was a lot of fun, minus the slobber. I got to feed bambi! All the animals were very ready to get a snack, they knew how it worked and were showing off their cuteness.

 This is Bobo, he was so sweet! He loved getting attention. And he was beautiful! All the birds at the zoo were super friendly, it made me sad because they used to be peoples pets and probably miss having human interaction. Fortunately all the employees/volunteers seemed to really care about the animals! We are going to look into volunteering there!

Baby Mr. H in the hill country dying via allergies.

After we left the zoo, we went on a little drive and checked out the Lake Travis dam. You couldn't walk across it (I guess that makes sense since it's a hydroelectric dam, danger zone!) which was a bummer but it was very impressive! Not as big as the Hoover dam, but it makes the Canyon Lake dam look like a baby.

 

 

           

It was a great day. I feel like we hadn't had a day off together in forever! Today, the weather did a flip flop and it got really cold and windy. Felt like winter again. Yesterday it was like 75 degrees and tonight it's going to freeze. Texas you are weird.