A Journey from North America to Africa and Back

Here is a little fact about me; I love the zoo.  I really like aquariums, but I love going to the zoo. This year we decided to take Smalls to the NC Zoo in Asheboro for his first trip to the zoo.  We felt he was old enough to enjoy the exhibits and seeing the animals.  I was very excited about this trip because I want Smalls to appreciate the Zoo, really, to appreciate these animals, the way I do. And even though the trip started off rough, it was ultimately a great day.

At this zoo, you can park at North America or Africa and then work your way through the zoo.  We decided to park in North America and go through the zoo from one side to the other and come back.  That was our mistake.  When we got to North America parking lot we noticed that there were more cars then there should have been for a Thursday during a school week. We pulled in a found a spot close to the entrance and I thought, "See, nothing to worry about, we will have this place to ourselves." Wrong!  As we got to the gate, I saw what I had been fearing, I could feel myself becoming more anxious by the step.  There were hundreds of children in matching T-shirts waiting to be unleashed into the park.  They were excited to be at the zoo, so they were running, screaming, bumping into everyone, it was pure chaos.  Why are we looking for better methods of birth control, standing in the middle of this is 100% effective method! The chaperones and teachers were catching up on the gossip, sharing recipes, talking about worthless husbands, etc.  Doing everything but keeping their charges from ruining my day with my son.

Well, we soldiered through the mass, bought our tickets, and went in ahead of the school.  I thought that perhaps we could stay ahead of the kids as we worked through the park.  We walked quickly to the first exhibit, some seals, puffins, and one of my favorites, the polar bears.  But alas, it was like a Friday the 13th movie, no matter how fast we tried to escape, it was inevitable that the villain would overtake us,  as we were standing at the glade watching the seals swim by, I heard it coming, the sound of the mass of children running and screaming, it was growing closer.  They came rushing down, like a swarm of locusts, surrounded me, bumped Smalls out of the way and started banging on the glass and yelling.  Smalls jumped in my arms and buried his head in my shoulder, scared.  This was not going the way I planned.  

I was getting in a bad mood, just ask my wife.  We decided to skip a few exhibits and get ahead, but nothing worked, they were everywhere!  Megan looked at me and said, "Now I remember why I changed my major from elementary education!" In one final effort, we made the decision to simply go to the other side of the park and start there and come back.  After walking the few miles over there, we were rewarded with quiet exhibits.  What we had imagined we would get when planning this.  Smalls started taking interest in the animals and enjoying the experience.  Below are some photos of his day at the zoo.  His favorites: the elephant, bears, and monkeys.