Today we went to another zoo! Sadly, there were no pandas. But it was still fun. We went to the Reid Park Zoo, which is in Tucson. It’s pretty small (only ~25 exhibits), but it’s well laid out and nice and shady. They also have particularly advanced medical facilities at the zoo; apparently they’re (one of?) the only zoo in the country with an oncology department. They work with folks at the University of Arizona to treat cancer in animals with radiation therapy. Critters from all over the place come here for treatment.
That poor elephant has to stand with so many dummies who want their pictures taken.
The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the lions. Four cubs had been born within the last few months and they just recently reached the stage at which they were able to join the main exhibit with their parents. The cubs mostly just wrestled with/slept on one another in the shade, but every once in awhile one of them got up to attack Mom’s tail or drag some sticks around. They were REALLY cute. In addition to the lions, we also got to see the spectacled bears and giant anteaters up and walkin’ around. I don’t know that I’ve ever witnessed either of these animals not snoozin’, so that was pretty neat. All in all, we wandered around the zoo for about two and a half hours. Then we go hungry. Because neither of us was particularly interested in eating hot dogs for lunch, we took off.
The Reid Park Zoo is known for their work with giant anteaters.
We went and got lunch at 1702. We sat at the bar while we were eating and watched a little college basketball. None of the games were very close/exciting, but we did get a broccoli/mushroom pizza which was delicious! We also indulged in some happy hour drinks (they had 46 different beers on tap!). After lunch, we went to Target (Stephanie bought a pair of sunglasses) and then back to Stephanie’s parents’ house where we played some HORSE and hung out until it was time for MORE food.
For dinner, we went and met Stephanie’s sister and her three kids and had some Chinese food. We all split a bunch of stuff, so I ended up eating some Mongolian beef and some orange chicken (meat #17!) along with the rice and veggie dishes we also ordered. The food was outstandingly mediocre, but it was still fun because those kids are ridiculous. I witnessed a German zombie vs. US army man battle (in crayon, on a place mat), had tea spilled all over my lap, and was lectured about the various merits/shortcomings of some new iPhone game/application that featured a bunch of knights and wizards and monsters. I love kids.
After we ate, we went over to Stephanie’s friend’s house and played Apples to Apples. I don’t generally LOVE that game, but we had a good, small group so it was fun. While we were there, I also got to hang out with a couple of puppies. They were wild and crazy, but they were so friendly and lovable that it didn’t really matter how rambunctious they were. I don’t get to see dogs very often at home, so that was really nice.
So far, Tucson has been a lot of fun. Tomorrow we get to go watch baseball in Phoenix! Woo!
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Miles run in 2014: 96.4
Books read in 2014: 22