Monday, October 22, 2012

 Monday morning!!  Up at 8, shower and out the door for our massages!!!  Once we arrive, however, we have disappointing news. One of the massage therapists has called in sick and one of either needs to give up our appointment or take an appointment AFTER the other, rather than simultaneously.  I feel that this will just eat up too much of our day (and it is an overcast but warm day out....a perfect zoo day), so I let go of my appointment so that Kathi can get a massage.  It has been a bit of a rough morning for Kathi because Ridley is having a very rough morning and has been on the phone with Kathi much of the morning, so I feel that Kathi could use the massage and relaxation much more than I.  So I leave Kathi and the massage place and I go to put gas in the car and do a little solo exploring.  I was hoping to come across a mall or a Starbuck's or something along those lines where I could go and kill some time browsing stores or reading and having a cup of coffee.  I drove around for most of an hour and pretty much came up with NOTHING, so I just headed back to the massage place and waited until Kathi was done.

Kathi needed a few more supplies from the local Michael's store for her wedding album, so we found Michael's and she made her purchases then went in search of something to eat before the zoo, because, in our experience, the food and the zoo, ANY zoo, generally consists of pizza, hamburger, hot dogs and fries, is expensive and just doesn't sound very appealing! On the path to the zoo we see an place called Chapada that we decide to check out.  Turns out it serves Brazilian food, which I have not experienced before.  The menu is mainly meat dishes and mainly beef dishes.  Kathi chooses a chicken sandwich and I choose steak tacos.  All of it is quite tasty and leaves us very satisfied.  Next stop, the zoo!

The zoo turned out to be quite delightful and, as I said earlier, the weather was perfect for a zoo day.  Warm enough to wear just a light jacket, but not so hot that the animals were all too hot to be active.  We arrived around 2pm and only had 3 hours until closing so we never really made it out of Africa (the zoo is arranged by continents) but we really enjoyed watching the animals that we did see.  We first encountered the giraffes, who were lazily munching on their lunch, then moved on to the rhinos, hippos and elephants.  One of the elephants was very entertaining and we spent quite a bit of time watching him.  There was a chain in the enclosure that was connected to a log at one end and a large umbrella/canopy type structure at the other.  He had lifted the loose part of the chain up over his head where it was resting when we came upon him and he was eating hay from the piles that had been strewn about the enclosure.  He also had one pile of hay up on his back.  After munching for a while he backed up and allowed the chain to slide off of his head, then he picked it back up with his trunk and stuck it in his mouth and chewed on it for a while.  Dental floss, maybe???  Then he shook all over, like a dog, knocking the pile of straw that had been on his back to the ground which he then promptly went to, picked up and ate.  Dessert, perhaps??  From the entertainment of the elephant we moved on to zebras, Red River hogs, meer kats (who stunk to high heaven, by the way!) and a few other that I am not remembering.  Then on to the gorillas, which are definitely my favorite.   

We must have spent at least an hour, if not more, watching the gorillas.  There were 4 gorillas in the enclosure and the were not only active, but were very interactive with those of us who were watching them through the plexiglass windows.  They would come and sit right by the windows close to someone who was sitting on the other side and peer in at us curiously.  Some, I would swear, would sit and pose for pictures.  Occasionally, one would run around the enclosure, beat on his or her chest then run up to the window, slap it, spin around and run away.  I found them to be quite charming.

We stayed with the gorillas until it was time to leave, then we headed back to the hotel.  We snacked on cheese and crackers and salami once back in the room along with finishing up the bottle of Bailey's and most of the wine.  Kathi continued working on her wedding album, but did turn on the WBNA finals on the TV because the Indiana Fever were playing and she wanted to watch.  THEY WON!!!  I called my mom and chatted with her for a while like I do every year at some point or another while on Girls Weekend, just to catch up and let her know what were doing.

After the game was over and before we went to bed, we pulled one state out of the last three left to determine next year's destination.  Kathi let me do the drawing.  I shook the pitcher up well before drawing and pulled out.............................

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!  Finally, a state that I can drive to!!  Washington!!  Lots of opportunities here for cool places to go.  Will probably do a little of Seattle as well as spending some time at the WorldMark Resort in Leavenworth, Washington, which is cute little Bavarian-themed town that I have been wanting to check out for a long time.

Kathi actually turned in a bit earlier tonight than I did.  I think the stress and worry over Ridley took a bit of a toll on her and she was pretty tired.  I stayed up and watched the most current episode of Homeland on my computer (my latest TV addiction) before turning in myself.


Good night!