Thursday, October 12, 2017

Finally After Forty Years, We Find the Zoo

   I have wanted to go to the St. Louis Zoo since 1980. We made several futile attempts to find it, but never did. It is almost unbelievable considering we drove 9,967 miles to Alaska and only made one wrong turn in the Yukon. That drive was exciting and wonderful. Trying to find the zoo nearly caused us to divorce the first time we tried. We were going to surprise the girls and wanted to make sure we knew how to get there.  Every time we tried to find the zoo we were close but not close enough. We didn't have a navigation guide, or Sirri, but we did have me and a map. After going to the zoo on Sunday, I still could not find the zoo again if I had too.   However, I know I could find my way back to Alaska without a problem. Go figure. . .
   We had a wonderful day. Melodi, Lacey, Rowan, Logan, Tami and Jake plus the two of us, simply had good ole family fun. Rowan got to see her elephants.  She was a perfect joy. She loves life with a passion and she is only about 18 months old. The look on her face when she saw the elephants was priceless.  

    I could not wait to see the  Giraffes. They are my favorite wild animal.  Wouldn't you know the giraffes and the elephants were on opposite sides of the zoo.  It was a beautiful trek and we saw all sorts of animals as we walked.  Logan our grandson spent a lot of time with us and that was a pleasure.    


       Since I was a young girl and read my first story about giraffes; I have been fascinated with them.  I have often said, 'God was  showing off  when He created giraffes, because nothing about a giraffe is considered normal.' They are the tallest mammal  in the world.  The male's height ranges from  16 to 20 feet. The female is about 15 feet tall. I thought it was cruel that a giraffe's neck is almost too short to reach the ground. That makes them vulnerable when they spread their legs or kneel to eat or drink water. Usually they only drink water two or three times a week. They get most of their moisture from the plants they eat.
      Giraffes spend most of their time standing up. They even sleep standing up. To me that seems unfair. To make matters worse they also give birth standing up. That is a heck of a wake up call for a newborn giraffe.  I was not disappointed at all when I finally saw the giraffes. I had seen them once before when we went to the zoo with Tami after she was out of basic training in South Carolina.
               

   One of my favorite photos was of Logan after he climbed up a band of rocks.







It was a good day in our part of the world.




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