pandas

The Calgary Zoo was the hook for an extended long-weekend trip that also happened to be our sixth honeymoon. I’m honestly loving that tradition. The corresponding anniversary gift this year would have been wood… I think a trip is better than that. We had planned a large part of one of our Calgary days for the zoo, but Mother Nature had other ideas and the morning’s biblical rains made me wonder if we’d see any animals at all. Seeing a possible break in the weather later in the day, we held off on our visit.

It seems like most of Calgary decided against the zoo and changed their day’s plans because once the clouds cleared mid afternoon, it felt like we had the place mostly to ourselves. How often, without waiting in a line, can you get extended, uninterrupted panda time?

Continue reading →

My wife and I have a travel agreement in place – wherever we travel in a calendar year, she can pick one (and only one) zoo to visit. It’s not that I don’t like zoos, but usually the idea of dedicating a day to wander around looking at animals isn’t normally on the top of my list. I love animals, but for me, once I’ve seen a giraffe, I don’t really need to see more giraffes for a while.

On our trip to San Diego, the rule about zoos went out the window. It’s arguably the finest zoo in the world, and I was just as excited as my wife to visit. We planned to make a full day of it, so we arrived just as the zoo was opening. My wife had mapped out all of the stops she wanted to make during the day, and her itinerary had us taking the aerial cable car to the far end of the zoo to start our exploring. Not only was it a smart logistical decision, but it gave a great view of the zoo and also of the city of San Diego to the south.