It's All Happening at the Zoo

Good morning, my friends. To quote Paul Simon, "something tells me it's all happening at the zoo." For sure everything that happened yesterday happened there. We had a beautiful day for it. I purchased tickets for timed entry the day before, and we were supposed to enter the zoo at 1:00 p.m. I wish I'd thought of it before I decided on that time because I realized later the baby elephant would only be open for viewing between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Not knowing what we'd encounter on our arrival, I worried we might miss out.

When we arrived, there were signs indicating the parking lots were full, and suggesting we drive back the way we came about five miles to park at the light rail station. From there, we could take light rail to the zoo. And that would all be fine and dandy, except I was worried about getting there too late to see the baby. Happily, Mike with his sharp eyes, saw someone pulling out of a spot. We hurried our way there, only mowing down three people in the process (kidding, of course), and we got into that spot. It was even close to the entrance. I'm telling you...we must be living right. Or maybe having our water and heat go out all in a single week, the universe smiled on us and gave us that parking spot.

So I took dozens of pictures. They aren't the best pictures because I was often shooting through a fence or a net or a window, but I'll show you the best of them. And we hurried to the elephant enclosure, walking past this first grouping of animals as quickly as the crowd would allow. These are mountain goats.

There were several inside this enclosure.

A little farther on, we spotted this sleepy black bear. And you probably know that zoo animals don't concern themselves with the pictures you're trying to take. They just continue on sleeping or eating or whatever else they feel like doing.

Here's a bald eagle. I expect we'll see lots of bald eagles in Alaska.

And we hurried, hurried, hurried to see the baby elephant. And SQUEE!! THERE SHE IS!!! Her name is Tula-Tu, and that's her mom, Rose-Tu.

As you might guess, there was a crowd of people in this shelter. I was having to hold my camera over my head to get an unobstructed view of her.

There were nets holding what appears to be alfalfa over their heads, and the adult elephants were reaching up high for this treat.

She's so tiny compared to her mom.

Back outside, we enjoyed the sweet, sweet fragrance of the blooming daphne. Our daphne at home doesn't even have buds yet, so it was nice to see this...and to smell it.

And whatever this is...it was blooming in abundance.

After seeing the elephants, we stood in line for some elephant ears. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Food of the gods, I tell you. That and a shared bottle of water stood in for lunch. So healthy and nutritious! And delicious!

Walking on, we saw the chimpanzees.

This next one was sitting right next to the window of his enclosure, and seemed to be enjoying all the attention he was generating from the crowd on the other side of the glass. Eventually, he turned his head and then turned his back, still sitting in the same spot, as if to say, "Be off with you. You are boring me now."

It's a little hard to see in this next image, but this is a mama orangutan holding a baby. The baby is on the left with its back to us, resting its head on her shoulder.

Continuing on, we came to the outdoor elephant enclosure where we saw this immense bull.

This next little guy was in the enclosure with the lemurs. Apparently, they come in more colors than just gray. The round yellow eyes are definitely all lemur.

Here's another one in the color we're more accustomed to seeing. They are so danged cute.

This one came right up next to the window, not two feet away. It sat down, and then wrapped its long tail up over its shoulder...to keep warm, one assumes. Later a friend joined him, and they both wrapped their tails over their shoulders and over one another.

And you might remember how much I love the lemurs. I purchased this fabric at a quilt shop in Lawrence, Kansas, on our Eclipse Trip last year.

And I swear one day I'm going to make a quilt from this image. We saw these lemurs at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Florida.

Moving on, these are hyenas. They couldn't be bothered showing off for the crowd.

This next one is one of those big monitor lizards. This one was about five feet long from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail.

This is a mongoose. These little guys keep Hawaii free of snakes.

We saw some pretty birds inside the aviary. I believe this next one is a hadada ibis.

These next ones are marbled teals.

This is a spur-winged lapwing. It had long skinny legs that looked too wimpy to support its weight.

This pretty goose is an African pygmy goose. There were several of them swimming in the water feature there, but this was the only one I could get a clear view for a picture.

And, finally, this pretty guy flew up and perched right next to us, clearly wanting me to take its picture. It's a golden-breasted starling. 

Back outside, we saw three black rhinos.

Moving on, we saw two giraffes.

These birds were inside the enclosure with the giraffes. They seemed to be buddies. I'm not sure what they are...vultures, maybe? Condors? Not sure.

There's the other giraffe.

Also inside the giraffe enclosure, we saw this young gazelle.

Moving on, we saw this giant porcupine. Sorry it isn't a very good picture. I was picking up reflections in the glass. This guy was surprisingly large...maybe the size of a large dog.

And whatever this is...it was about three feet long.

There were flamingos and roseate spoonbills.

This was the best image I could get of one of the bats. It was dark in there, and I was shooting without flash. These guys hang upside-down from a fencing material. It's interesting watching them use their clawed wings to move about their enclosure. And they are large like a squirrel.

A sleeping tiger. There was one other in this shelter.

And this is a red panda. Sorry it isn't a better picture.

And that was our day. On the way out, we stopped off at the gift shop, and I picked up a refrigerator magnet. It was just a happy thing that it has an elephant on it.

So, we had fun at the zoo. Seeing the baby elephant was a thrill. 

It's been two full days without sewing. I'm getting weird, nervous, and thirsty from the lack of time in the sewing room. I'll remedy that today. There are just a couple of easy chores on my to-do list, and I want to get in a Bowflex workout. Aside from that, I'll get some sewing done. I'm hoping to get a good start on the applique for the Merry, Merry Snowmen. First, though...slow stitching.