That's a newer zoo, located in the south part of the metro area, in Apple Valley. We had visited the older Como Park Zoo several times before. After looking over the Minnesota Zoo's website while planning the trip, one message became pretty clear: Wear comfortable shoes.
The weather forecast on Thursday night promised the best weather for the trip: just a 20% chance of rain Friday. That's fine. Somehow neither my wife nor I grabbed our jackets as we were leaving on our trip. Standing joke: We ask each other what are we going to forget this time. An hour into the drive, we realized that the jackets were back home. Oh well. Let's hope for the best.
So would I need the sunscreen? No! Friday morning turned out to be cloudy--banks of clouds coming in from the Dakotas. The storms from the last two days seemed to be gone, at least.
First things first, however. We had to
We found it with little trouble, parked and looked at the schedule. They had an IMAX movie that we wanted to see, about Bugs. In 3D, no less. They also had a dolphin show; since I had never seen one, I wanted to take that in. Plus a bird show. I had it all planned out.
First, though, the zoo itself. It was a sprawling place, with the critters in their native habitat (more or less). The first area we saw had some of our favorite wild animals: tigers ...
These tigers were lying around at first but then got up and walked around. They seemed to be paying special attention to a certain gate in the fence at the back of the compound. Near the gate, though, there seemed to be the carcass of a water buffalo lying on the ground. Some of the people nearly called it a moose ...
In fact, it's a water buffalo made of plastic--with a hole in the stomach cavity where zookeepers put meat and other treats for the tigers to eat. It's in keeping with the "natural habitat" emphasis.
OK, now we had to make a big decision: take the path clockwise or counter-clockwise around the compound. We opted for clockwise. The next critters we saw were meerkats.
Remember that little guy from the "Ice Age" movies? The one was the comic relief as he went with the mastodon and the saber-toothed tiger? That was supposed to be a meerkat, and this guy was doing a pretty good impersonation of him ...
On we went. They had a few bison; these were a lot closer than the ones we saw on that bison ranch just after crossing over from Wisconsin ...
We visited prairie dog city, where the inhabitants are always ready to pose for the camera ...
And camels. Camels in Minnesota? The camera doesn't lie. Give us a kiss, sweetie ...
Musk oxen, which didn't come within 100 yards of the fence. Camera shy?
Caribou lying in the grassy field ...
A moose. They had two, neither with antlers. Bullwinkle, as you may remember, hails from Frostbite Falls, Minn. ...
All the animals were in their own habitats, created for them by the zookeepers--spectators could get so close but no closer.
But we suddenly encountered one of the wild, native inhabitants of Minnesota, and this one was roaming the park on his own.
In the wild.
On the loose.
On the trail right in front of us!
May I introduce ... the native Minnesota chipmunk ...
We saw some Canada geese and turtles (of various sizes) and carp in a pool nearby. But we had to run, because we had to get to the IMAX movie.
It was called "Bugs 3D." They gave you special glasses as you entered, with grayish lenses. When you looked at the screen without the glasses, you got a double image. When I put the glasses on, I got the usual for me. A 2D picture.
Let me explain. I only have vision in my right eye. My left eye can make out light and patterns, but that's about all. It's been that way all my life. Since I only see out of one eye, I have no depth perception. So for me, the movie was "Bugs 2D."
But my wife (sitting next to me) was oohing and aahing at the closeups of the bugs of various types. She's got normal vision, and so does my son. The story focused on a mantis and a caterpillar that grew to become a butterfly--and was eventually eaten by the mantis. Nature's way. The butterfly had already mated and laid her eggs, so the next generation wasn't impacted. It was an interesting film. Even in 2D.
As the movie ended, we had to make tracks for the dolphin theater. That show, we were told, usually is at capacity, so get there early. We hustled our bustles as fast as we could--even though it was now raining outside. And us without our jackets!
We hustled to the lines entering the theater and were the next to go up the steps when word came down that the theater was filled, and nobody else could get in. No dolphin show for us. We sat down by a large aquarium nearby to catch our breath.
As I suspected (due to its location) that was a perfect place to rest--because this was the dolphins' tank. (I chose it on porpoise, of course!) As the show went on, we could watch the dolphins swimming and jumping and chasing balls. We could only see the part below the water; but that's where the dolphins were. So they got their pictures taken, after all ...
And plenty of kids were right with us, also enjoying the show they thought they had missed ...
I kept thinking: "So long, and thanks for all the fish!"
After the show, we went to another tank nearby, where tropical fishes swam. Including some big, menacing sharks ...
It was an interesting display, and I wasn't the only one who felt that way ...
Then it was time for the bird show, so we walked to that area despite the rain. No luck, though. No show, due to the weather. We walked to our car and left.
By now it was mid afternoon, and despite the rain, we decided to check out a Minneapolis park and garden my wife had discovered while websurfing. The central feature was a peace garden and a 17-part course on how to make an origami peace crane ...
It had fountains ...
... and gardens of roses, fresh from the rain ...
It also had a nature trail that we started down--partly in hopes of finding a bathroom. We walked and walked and walked, following the path through the woods as it twisted and turned. Eventually my wife dropped behind for a minute or two, and the bathroom was no longer needed.
We were getting tired of walking. But the trail had to loop around back to the beginning, Right? ...
We were not lost. I wasn't, anyway, only because of the never-ending parade of low-flying jets passing directly overhead (from the northwest) on their way to the Twin Cities airport. Ironically, a sign near the entrance told people to turn off their cell phones so everyone could enjoy the sounds of nature. So there were no cell phones drowning out the roar of the jets, which were passing overhead at least once every minute ...
Eventually we gave up on the path and doubled back. Retraced our steps until I came upon a path we hadn't tried before, and it led us right back to the start.
All through that walk, I was thinking to myself, if it starts raining again, we're getting soaked. The clouds were low and there was plenty of moisture in the air, but the rain never came back.
OK, that was enough excitement for one day. We got back in the car, made it back to the freeway, back to the beltway and then down the highway leading to the motel in Hastings. Yes, they had our reservation.
But when I hooked up my laptop, the promised free wireless internet wasn't there. I eventually checked at the office, and they said it was knocked out by the hailstorm a day earlier. But don't worry, they assured me. The guy who takes over the desk at 9 p.m. would get it going again.
So I tried again at 10 p.m. No go. I tried at 11. Nothin' doin'. I went to bed. I'll have internet again tomorrow night--back home.
Most of the vacation trip was over. The major stops had all been made. The only bits of unfinished business were set aside for the trip home: to visit my aunt and uncle's graves (the aunt who died in January) and then at stop at my father-in-law's place.
(we're almost done; just a little bit to go)
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