Lemonade is sweeter after the walk!
AHHHHH… We’re back! 2591 steps, or .81 miles walked woohooo!!!Thatta girl!
And, man o man does that lemonade taste sweet!
For the record I did bring two bottles with me, but they weren’t very cool, and then I left my pass and driver’s license in the car and I didn’t figure it out until I got to the bottom of the big hill. Yeeks. I was pretty exhausted after getting back to the top and I wasn’t sure if I should go back into the zoo. BUT, as chances and the grace of God has it … Sweetie Pie called just after I had sat down in the chair to rest and think through my next move. Oh sure … you can better believe which direction he was shooting us toward. He WAS very happy we had made it to the zoo.
It was very nice talking to Sweetie Pie on the phone. He had a great day, because he and his partner came in first of the 10 guys fishing this week. His friend on the other hand came in dead last and he wasn’t so happy about that *giggle* Poor Bob … Sweetie Pie said they started biting 10-15 minutes before they had to head in. Just gotta feel bad about that. Tonight is the big fish fry night, and now I gotta remember all he said. I think he was heading in for a shower and then dinner and then some cards and then to bed. OH YAH … he said he had deserved a beer.
Hehehe silly Rich … I know that usually he’ll take a diet coke over beer, but today he must have been really fishing his heart out. That’s our baby! He said the bugs weren’t too bad either. So, I think today was better than adequate. Oh yeah and he had to give out trophy money today too. I think they pay the top fisherman right away so he can lose his money at cards. Hehehe
Ok, stop being silly. Wooo HOOo dinner’s ready!
Hmm, you know something funny? Today three different people talked to me. Usually, no one does. That made us pretty happy. They all sorta snuck up on us. The first person was a guy … he approached me when I was sitting in front of the fountain. He wanted to know if I would take a picture of his girl and him. So, we said sure!
Nice little camera … heavier than mine. They were real happy with the picture and scaddaddled off, and then there was like a moment and then ANOTHER couple came up to me … This one had a kid … they said, we saw you took the other picture and we were wondering if you would take ours too. So, by now you know how lightening fast our mind works, we were wondering if we could make a buck on this corner, but that sounded to prostitutional, so we passed on that idea. BUT, it did make me feel good like I had some purpose for the day. So, after a while we headed out of the zoo.
At the top of the first hill – you gotta go under a tunnel below the street, we started the decline … pushing the chair of course, and a lady held out her hand and said … it looks like you need a rider, I’ll volunteer. Well you can bet that sure set us off to giggling again. So that was my big day!
Ok, ok … there’s more thoughts and I have 45 minutes to write before we do our reading. It’s about 6:15 pm.
The pictures will have to wait a while, because there are too many to develop while I have other things to be doing. I’ve still got the shots in there from Rich and our trip too. The first trip was the one we took back and forth to the car … that REALLY goes down as official. The second trip we made it to the Merry-go-round. We figured right away that we needed to be in the shade when we stopped. The next stop, we got past the upper NE corner of the fountain over toward where the stingray were. The next trip we made it past more concessions, past the noisy kid jungle gym, around the geese corner and back to the opposite side of the stingrays. I think you have to pay a couple of dollars, but they will let you put your hand in the water and touch them. It’s in a big tent with fans at the top. Then I got to the E side of the fountain and we walked around to the west side … that’s a big fountain! That’s where we learned of our photograph talent. Then we walked back to the North of the fountain and down the boulevard and rested just past the Merry-go-round up to the North gate. Then we walked down the hill, through the tunnel, and up the other hill toward the car. That’s when we had the nicest break hehehe … noooo. But, it was rewarding, because we’d been checking the clock and the pedometer and it was 5:45 15 minutes before closing – used our time wisely, and we’d crossed the 2500 mark with the steps. TWO GOALS!! WOOHOO!
The first stretch was the toughest because you are fighting traffic going the other way. AND, they like to take up the entire stretch, forgetting that there is an unspoken rule about opposite traffic being in the right lane. HMPF! Lot of times there are kids crossing your path too or you are getting in the way of someone taking pictures of their kids or sweetie sitting on the statue of a buffalo, tiger, bear, or what have you, or a gigantic kangaroo! I’ve seen them at that there zoo.
REALLY! Then when you get to the top of the second hill, you have to go through a guard who pressures you into giving up your passport … no I’m teasing, but it feels like that … they see you reaching in your bag, so why do they say … I need your ticket. Of course, you need the ticket you’re the ticket taker! I could figure that out without him saying so. And, it’s young in the season, so they are all being pretty official yet. I expect more casual at the end of the year.
The stop wasn’t so special … sometimes you get to watching people and I have this terrible habit of looking for people that are bigger than me. I don’t start off that way, but if someone big comes by … I think there’s another one! Look! She’s walking too! It’s like being in a special club. I’m amazed with the strollers … thousands of strollers. And they are all loaded down and if your kid climbs out of one before you come to a stop … some of the time those kids get swatted or pinched pretty bad. Well, it didn’t happen a lot, but a couple times. I’m so ashamed when that happens. And, I usually think the worst of them people. It’s kinda funny watching people you have stray thoughts like hmm, I never seen anyone who looked like that before. Or, Hmm, I wonder if she made that skirt out of blue jeans, Or, I wonder what she bought and put in that little bag, Or Hmm, I betcha she wished she’d brought the lighter purse. I can have a lot of fun with personalities too. Faces tell an awful lot about the person. I try to figure out the nice people from the mean people. I’ve gone as far as wishing someone would adopt me. But, we don’t usually ask. Also if its at the end of the day and the person is still in a good mood … or has oh crap written across their jaw. I don’t have very good hearing so unless its like that Mom that shrieked in my ear the last rest, I don’t pick up too much conversation. UNLESS, they are tailing you with intent to pass. The people on the other side are usually going by too quick – though parking the chair helps. I usually park her right on the edge of the sidewalk as if I were sitting on a park bench. I also look for odd relationships and to see if people match. The odd relationships are for different size groups of people … You know a mom, dad, grandson, grampa. And, then I look to see if everyone is still walking or whether they have to bring their family in a chair or stroller. As to the matcher game, I always think its funny when you have a perfect size body next to a real plump one, or whether one is refined and the other is jagged. Or, if the kid has a louder personality and the Dad is quiet. All kinds of things you think of as your walking around.
I want to establish for the record also that I did see my geese, but as it was … they were the actual only animal I’d seen during the walk. I was real close to the elephants, but by then I was looking at getting out. Oh that’s another thing I noticed. At 5:45 pm. There are hundreds and hundreds of cars still parked in the lot. One day I’m going to stay in the park until 6 pm to see what they do to you.
I have this idea that those silly little vehicles go around and rally people toward the door. I would be afraid of needing a rest while someone was excitedly holding a stun gun. Out, out! Oh, and when we were over by the stingrays, we got a picture or two of a presentation site. There were a lot of white chairs, and I guess those people were going to sit in the sun unless it was a night presentation. I saw some fancier dressed people come in one of those big zoo shuttle buses, so I thought maybe they were getting a special lift to the event. No one was sitting down though by the time I left. I’m wondering what you need to do or pay to get a special event at the zoo. I’ve heard of people getting married there, so I’m pretty sure it’s a matter of cost. And, if you’re a patron or whomever that pays $5000 a year, I’m sure they get some pretty special things happening.
Damn we’re going to need stopping in a few moments, but I want to say … DAMN CATS!
That’s twice today. They are making a game out of catching the cicadas and bringing them back into the house so they can play with them. They both take turns staring and jabbing at it. This last one was crawling towards me as if I were safety and he knew it. Either that or he was going to hide himself in the chair legs, an idea I wouldn’t be real fond of. Both times we’ve managed to save the poor creatures.
We’ve been very brave at pinching together the long wings and then hurling it off the balcony. Both times the bugs have taken wing and flown away … I hope they can still mate, because they may then be proven to be the heartiest of the species.
*Sigh*
Ok, ok … we need to follow up on our plans. It’s about 7 pm and we’re going to try the reading until 10 pm. I’m not sure if we’ll make it out on the balcony because it is exposed to the western sun, but we might give it a try. We’re too hot to be sitting on the comfy couch yet. Maybe we’ll start outside and then come in and turn on the air. But, what do you think? It’s been a pretty good day so far?
WooHOOO!!!
posted by Ann Marie @ 6/09/2007 06:57:00 PM
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