Time in Tyler

Today we celebrated the first weekday of Spring Break by driving to Tyler, Texas to visit Kara.    We started the day together at Caldwell Zoo.  It was a cold morning, but we braved the temperatures in order to beat the crowds.  Naturally, we were at the front of the line to get into the zoo!

This truck was in the children's play area.  They loaded in like a bunch of hillbillies.

It seems that we always find an unusual animal at the zoo.  This penguin was molting.

I can't remember if this was an anaconda or a boa.  Either way, I am glad we were separated by a layer of glass.

Cheetahs resting.

People resting.

After the zoo, Kara directed us to Jucys for hamburgers.  We learned that the junior burger is plenty of burger for one person.  While you are waiting for your food to cook, try the complimentary beans.  They were very good.  For those familiar with hometown's very own CB's, the hamburger meat was comparable, but the buns were not nearly as greasy.  While we were there we spied another Jucys patron that was eating a large bowl of bacon cheese fries.  Perhaps those will have to be ordered if we make a return trip.  No one in our group was disappointed with their meal. 

I am not sure why my burger was upside-down for this picture.

How do you finish a trip to Tyler?  After a quick trip to the mall to walk off some of our lunch, we had to make one last stop at Andy's Frozen Custard.  We have never ordered anything that disappointed us.  Today's treats were a thin mint concrete (thin mint cookies mixed into vanilla frozen custard) and a concrete almonds concrete (almonds and coconut mixed into vanilla frozen custard).

CHARACTER: EK and Safari Mickey

Walt Disney World - 2009

CHARACTER: The Goofs

Walt Disney World - 2004

CHARACTER: Mrs. Mil10 and Mulan

2010 - Disneyland

CHARACTER: EK with Hook and Smee

It has been some time since the mil10s have participated in the Nablopomo challenge.  Now that we are at the first day of the month we are starting the February Nablopomo challenge to post every day for the month.  Since the topic is CHARACTER we will be going through the photo archives to find a daily photo with the mil10s posing with different Disney characters.  To quote the current Disney Parks promotion, "Let the memories begin!"

2004 - Walt Disney World

"A Yabba Dabba-Doo Time"

During this summer's road trip to California we stopped at many new places.  One of the helpful websites we used to plan our trip was Roadside America.  This website bills itself as a guide to uniquely odd tourist attractions.  We saw several things on our trip that other guides would have considered too weird to list. 

Just outside of the Grand Canyon, we pulled into the parking lot of Flintstones Bedrock City. Inside the park were cement recreations of the cartoon, including a general store, police station, post office, jail, beauty parlor, the Flintstone and Rubble houses .  We called the day before our arrival to double check the hours and someone named Betty answered the phone!  I wonder if that was really her name.  Being the early birds that we are, we sat out on the road early that morning.  Unfortunately the timing of our visit didn't allow us to stop for more than a picture in the parking lot since Bedrock City had not yet opened to the public.  After all, we had to get to the Hoover Dam! 

In honor of the Flintstone's fiftieth birthday, let's revisit Flintstones Bedrock City.  Well, at least their parking lot.

  

See those Flintstone-style buildings in the background?  We didn't get to go in those!

A Lesson Learned, Again

Now that I am at a point in life where I have been driving longer than I haven't, you would think accidental near-misses with family members in the driveway with the front or back end of a vehicle wouldn't be happening.  You would think.

Earlier this weekend we decided to make a quick Friday night run to the mall that I won't mention by name (but I will let you know that we affectionately call it "the gangster mall") to purchase a gift and eat at El Chico.  Excited to be home, I suppose, mrs. mil10 went to the back of the car to get the package.  Surprisingly the back door would not open.  EK was getting out of the vehicle.  He, too, realized something wasn't quite right.  Where was mr. mil10?  Standing in the grass.  mrs. mil10 quickly realized the car was actually rolling towards her and not just settling into place like a car sometimes will when it is put into park.  mr. mil10's quick reflexes enabled him to jump back into the driver's seat and properly put it in park.  mrs. mil10 was now out of harm's way.  Modie, who had been sitting in the back, was now saying, "Just turn it off.  Just turn it off."  All was safe and thankfully no one was hurt in the mil10 driveway.  Yes, you should always put the car in park before getting out of the car.

Although the event only lasted a few seconds, it kept us laughing for a significantly longer period of time.  Probably because we should already know the importance of first putting the car in park before getting out of the car. You see, this is not the first time such an incident has occurred.

Several years ago, when EK was just a small baby, the mil10s were in the truck and needed to quickly run into the house to get something. It should have been a simple task.  However, as mr. mil10 walked in front of the truck, he realized that it was actually coming towards him.  I could say that it narrowly missed crushing him between the the other car that was parked in the garage, but that would be a little dramatic.  I could say that mr. mil10 lunged towards the oncoming truck and stopped it in its tracks with a hearty body block, but that would also be a little dramatic.  I could say that mrs. mil10, being alert as she sat in the backseat with the small babe, quickly leaned over the driver's seat and threw the truck into park.  I could say that because it was true! 

That is twice that mr. mil10 has gotten out of the vehicle without putting it in park.  Thankfully, no one was hurt either time.  However, you should still learn from the bad examples and make sure you put your car in the correct gear! 

EK attempts a handstand at the hotel pool...

NOW: Home, Sweet Home

As fun as it is to travel, it is always good to be home.  Tonight mr. mil10 returned from a work trip in Austin, Texas.  Upon his return, the mil10s went to see The Karate Kid.  It was a good movie, and in some ways improved upon the original.  However, in some ways, you just can't beat a classic.  We finished the night with a meal on On The Border's patio.

It is good to be home with the family!

NOW: Sights on the Road

It is always fun to travel.  Hitting the open road can help one to experience new sights and adventures. These are two sights from today's ride in the front passenger seat.

Driving in the rain really makes it dificult to take in any new sights.  In addition, it can make it hard to appreciate those things that are more familiar. The Czech Stop, for example, should have been a destination this morning, but concentrating on driving in the rain was more important.  Maybe we'll have fresh baked goods on the way home.

The second picture is of a man that shows us how to multitask. Driving.  Smoking.  Reading.  Breathing quasi-fresh air through the hole that used to be a back window.  My cell phone doesn't have a zoom lens and I didn't want to be really obvious that I was taking his picture. Hopefully you can see all that he was doing.

Enjoy the open road and take time to enjoy the sights!

NOW: Almost There

The mess that is spreading in the Gulf of Mexico has been on my mind today.  Before I left for work today I saw where the journalist on Good Morning America was broadcasting only a short stretch from the pier on Pensacola Beach.  Just about a year ago the mil10s spent summer break resting on that very beach.  In fact it was because we liked our visit in 2008 so much that we decided we would return again in 2009.  Oil could soon begin washing ashore.  Reports say that the oil sheen is only 4 to six miles offshore at this time.

Right now I'll have to remember our visits to Pensacola Beach before the oil came ashore.  The fun we had.  The beautiful beaches.  The friendly people.  Eating out. 

I can even look at the sand and shell collection that we made with what we found on the beach and brought home.

Right now I will have to think about how nice this destination was and hope for the best for the "world's whitest beaches."

BIG: Looking Back

In 2008 we made our first visit to Pensacola Beach.  Along our way we stopped in New Orleans, also known as The BIG Easy, and then at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola.  We had such a good time at the beach that we decided to return the very next summer.

Saint Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter of New Orleans

Going to Cafe Du Monde for beignets.

EK stands beside a very BIG aircraft carrier anchor at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.

A BIG view of the beach from the hotel window.

Joy to the Small World

The mil10s are very excited about their upcoming trip!  Enjoy this little video from Disney Parks.



If you can look past the fact that children from around the world are flying around the world in a ship, casting pixie dust and sparkling lights on all of the buildings below, you will see that they have ended up in a park made up of the castle from Florida's Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and "it's a small world" and Main Street, USA from California's Disneyland all rolled into the same park.  Artistic license, right?

One of the fun things about going to WDW now is that the parks, like our home, will already be decorated for Christmas!  We can't wait.

The Toys are Back in Town

Today we ventured over to the Studio Movie Grill to see the Toy Story 1 & 2 3D Double Feature.  Good movies, good food, and a good time.  It was great to see how a movie that is almost fifteen years old can still be so enjoyable!  We were not the only people laughing out loud at the antics of Buzz, Woody, and the others.  Intermission was fun with the trivia and treats (mini adventures of the toy box gang) making it hard not to leave between the two shows.

Now the mil10s are ready to see Toy Story 3.  Did we really need another chapter in this story?  If we judge by the fun we had watching 1 and 2, why not?  June 18, 2010--save the date!

Practically Perfect!

We are at the State Fair of Texas to see Mary Poppins - Broadway's perfectly magical musical. Although the fair is a must for many, today has reminded us why we have not been here for five years. Anyway, on with the show! I think it will be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Bird Watching at the Dallas Zoo

Don't miss the exciting tale of R&R at the zoo.  Until next time, enjoy these pictures of our feathered friends.

Sunrise

Sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy the view.

A Little "R & R" at the Dallas Zoo

Yesterday was ExxonMobil Science Day at the Dallas Zoo.  mr. and mrs. mil10 were there for professional development opportunities and EK was able to attend as well.  Fun for the whole family!  Clearly the best part of the day was our visit to the gorilla habitat.  We looked and looked, stopping by each viewing area, until we finally found a view of a gorilla.  We were lucky to see one very close to the glass viewing area.  As we walked closer we could tell that it was eating. 

A hungry gorilla.

How lucky we were! There were hardly any other people around.  We were able to get really close to the window.

It is sitting up and looking around now. I guess it is full.

Wait a minute. Look. Oh, no. Now the gorilla is bending over.  What will it do next?

Vomit!  Is the gorilla sick?

Wait a minute. Look. Yes, it is now eating its own vomit. Yum.  It does not look sick or unhappy though.

It is sitting up and looking around now. I guess it is full. Oh, no. Now it is bending over.

Vomit again. Yuck!  This time it started picking out the big chunks by hand and eating those first.

Is that normal?  According to zoo.org, the website for the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington:

Although not seen in wild gorillas, regurgitation and reingestion (R & R) of food is common in zoos. It doesn’t cause any medical problems, and it isn’t a sign of poor health. In the wild, gorillas eat large quantities of high-fiber, relatively low-calorie foods such as fruits, leaves, herbs and bark, which are difficult to duplicate in zoos... Because zoo diets are more nutritious (concentrated), the amount of food in a zoo diet is less. Due to this, zoo gorillas may still “feel” hungry and develop the habit of re-eating their food. R & R has never been observed in the wild. Though all our gorillas do some R & R, it is infrequent... WPZ and other zoos are working to provide zoo gorillas with more food like their natural diet. Zookeepers call this food “browse,” and it includes cut branches and herbaceous vegetation. Browse, hay and food puzzles are just some of the ways in which keepers try to discourage R & R.

A quick search on youtube.com resulted in almost thirty videos when searching for gorilla eat vomit.  Go ahead, click one.  You will laugh.  You will be disgusted.  You probably won't be hungry for tomato soup.

The next time you are at the zoo, look to see if the gorillas are having their version of R & R.  We all deserve a little every now and then, don't we?  As for the mil10s, having made two trips to the zoo in one year, we are ready for "R & R" in Florida. Fewer than sixty days of waiting!