Zoos, Pictures and Museums: 101 in 1001 Update!
I hope every one had a fantastic Thanksgiving week and that preparations for Christmas are going well! Dustin, Rosie and I got to spend our Thanksgiving break in beautiful, sunny, warm California and it was wonderful. I spent a few hours in my in-laws’ backyard on their trampoline, reading a book in the sunshine and I really thought I was in heaven!
Dustin and I got to check off a few things on our 101 in 1001 list while we were on break and had a blast doing it. We first were able to work on Number 56: Go to three different Zoos.
Just outside Chico, CA is a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary called the Barry R. Kirshner Wildlife Sanctuary and Educational center. This place is SO MUCH better then a zoo! Not only do they locate and save exotic animals that have injuries or health issues, the enclosures allow you to get super close to the animals. We headed out to the sanctuary around 4:00 in the afternoon, right when all the animals were getting active. As we parked in the parking lot, we could hear lions and tigers roaring and growling. We were the only ones there (apparently the day before a holiday is really quiet) and got to spend our time walking around the enclosures and looking at all the animals. There were about 15 big cats alone (Tigers, Lions, Leopards, Ligers) and even a five month old tiger cub! The enclosures allowed us to be about ten feet away from all the animals. The cats were so active and they loved stalking my baby niece, Kara. They kept trying to pounce at her and run at the cage. One lion rolled around on her back and played with a giant rubber ball! It was super cool. The sanctuary also had bears, severals, coyotes, exotic foxes, lemurs, parrots, and a wallaby! They were all awake and active and we had an awesome volunteer who walked around with us and told us about how the animals came to the sanctuary and how they were being helped.
We were able to work on number 66 on our list: Go to five museums. Dustin and I went with our nieces to the Chico Exploratory Gateway Center on our last day in California. It was a small museum but we had a lot of fun doing the interactive activities that promoted heath and local geography!
