Day 12 - Zoo

Another beautiful day in paradise. With the exception of a few downpours during our stay at Kalahari - we have has postcard perfect weather during the entire trip.

Motorcycle Cop: Do you know what the penalty for animal cruelty is in this state?

Clark: No, sir, I don't.

Motorcycle Cop: Well... it's probably pretty stiff.

We picked up my Mom early in the day and headed South to the Minnesota Zoo. A good zoo has to perform a delicate balancing act between having visitors be able to actually see the animals and the animals being in a natural expansive habitat. When I was a kid the animals were kept in empty cages smaller than my freshman year dorm room. This lead to great viewing of the animals but caused the animals to essentially go insane and pace back in forth for 10 hours per day. Not unlike me during an ASU game.

We all thought that the MN Zoo was awesome and contained many animals that we had never seen at visits to other Zoos. I was most impressed by the bald eagle - as they had rescued it with a broken wing and it was unable to fly - so it was majestic without having to do much (a quality that I attempt to replicate at work). We were also impressed with the Grizzly. Overall we spent close to 7 hours at the zoo and could have spent more - so it was a great day.

We had dinner at my Mom's place and ended a long day with a bonfire in the backyard and toasted marshmallows.