🐘🐘🐘2010 February 1,Monday, Waiting and Watching the Elephants

I took Lora and her kids to Huntsville, and we parked next to the Train Depot. We had to bundle up because it was a cold February morning.

The streets near the train depot of Huntsville were lined with people of all ages waiting for the elephant.s

Waiting for the elephants

People lining the streets 

We went there to watch the Barnum Bailey Circus Elephants embark from the gray railway cars onto the streets and Parade down to the VBCC. 

The parade of elephants and their handler was escorted by the Huntsville Police Department.

Parade of Elephants

Parade of Elephants

The Box Cars that the elephants arrived in

Parade of Elephants

The Elephants wore leather headsets that encircled their head and down the front of their noses with a blue sign that read "The Greatest Show on Earth.

The elephants held each other's tails as they paraded down the streets.

There were at least ten elephants, each of a different size.

It felt perfect to be inside a warm restaurant after standing in the cold for over an hour.

We ate lunch at Cracker Barrel in South Huntsville. 

Waiting for food

Marcus and the Red Caboose

Taking time out for a picture after the parade

Breakfast All Day

Cracker Barrel Huntsville

1969~ Summer 1969 Killeen, Texas

A new adventure for the family was a trip to Killeen, Texas. 

A total of 13 people are traveling in a pickup truck with a camper shell mounted on the truck bed.

These included the mother, father, their eight children, two grandchildren, and a son-in-law. 

The family was taking their daughter and granddaughter to be with her husband, who was stationed at Fort Hood in the Army.

The truck was full of everything the family needed for the trip: food & clothing.

The daughter had brought several boxes with her.

A full-size mattress was placed on the truck's bed. The father and son-in-law took turns driving, stopping only to eat and use the restrooms.  

The women took care of the children and food. 

Killeen is a city in Bell County, Texas, southwest of Waco. Killeen is a ranching village in a cotton-growing region that is home to Fort Hood Military Base. 

It is 759 miles, which will take about twelve hours. The family left late in the afternoon, which meant driving all night. 

The family had been riding for hours, and when it became too dark to see, they all fell asleep on the mattress. 

The father was doing the driving, but he felt himself drift off to sleep.

The father was awakened by a loud horn honking, which alerted him that he was swaying on the interstate. He was so frightened that he stayed awake the rest of the night. 

There were no video games during this time, and the kids had to make up things to do. 

The kids would look at the tags on cars and trucks to see which state they were from.

Another fun thing was reading billboards. 

Texas is a big state, and when the father said we are in Texas, the family rejoiced, but needless to say, they still had to ride several more hours.

The family did not care much for the flat state of Texas, with its oil wells everywhere.

After several long hours on the road, the family finally arrived at the son-in-law's home. 

He lived in a three-bedroom trailer outside the army base. 

The kids could not wait to get out of the truck and stretch their legs.

The food and clothing had to be unloaded and taken inside.

The kids played outside until dark, when the mosquitoes started to bite. 

That night, the smaller kids slept on the floor. The mother and father had one bedroom to sleep in. The two couples with their six-month-old babies also had a bedroom to sleep in.

They were not kidding when they said the mosquitoes swarm like flies, and they are as big as elephants in the state of Texas.

The next day, the family spent a relaxing day swimming in the lake near Belton.

That afternoon, the women went shopping, checking out all the small shops nearby.

The next day, the family loaded into the truck, leaving behind one daughter and one granddaughter.

They started their twelve-hour journey home. No one fell asleep.

The family had a great trip, even though they rode hundreds of miles in the back of a pickup truck, and they were bitten by mosquitoes.

Their father almost wrecked the truck on the interstate. Taking a trip to the big state of Texas. 

None of this mattered to the family because it was a family vacation, so much like the Vacation movies that Chevy Chase made. 

2008 ~ Friday, April 18, Spent the day at Grassmere Zoo, with grandkids in Nashville, Tennessee

Friday afternoon at 12:00 P.M., Lora called and said she and the kids were going to the Grassmere Zoo in Nashville, and she asked if I wanted to go with them.

She came by, picked me up, and we rode to Nashville. Santana was with them.

At  Grassmere Zoo, I had my camera with me, so I was taking pictures while Bucko pushed Meadow in her wheelchair. 

We went to the Grassmere Zoo at 3777 Nolensville Road, Nashville, TN 37211, 615-833-1534.

In the Savannah loop, we saw three brown African Elephants, Hadari, Sukari, and Kiba. They were standing next to a giant boulder, one of the elephants was holding a large stick with his trunk, and a Zookeeper was standing with them.
We saw one giraffe bending down to eat the lush green grass, while another stood straight and tall. There are six different types of giraffes at the Grassmere Zoo: reticulated and Masai giraffes.
We also saw a couple of Red River Hogs. They are very sociable animals; they can weigh up to 250 pounds and get up to three feet tall.

African Elephants 

Giraffe

Red River Hogs

At the Central Zoo, we saw the beautiful blue Macaw, gibbons at Gibbon Island, the dens of the meerkats, seahorses, and many other reptiles and fish in the unseen New World. 

The kids climbed inside the glass that leads into the middle of the meerkat's dens to get an up-close view of the meerkats.

Visiting the Meerkats

The kids stopped to play in the jungle gym, and we watched a bird show at the amphitheater.

Bird show

In the Jungle, we saw a white tiger, lynx, red-ruffed lemur, ring-tailed lemur, cougars, red-crowned crane, red panda, porcupines, and tapir. We stopped at Alligator Cove to watch the alligators. The flamingo lagoon was filled with pink flamingos, and the kids could touch the animals at critter encounters and Kangaroos Kickabout.

Critter Encounter 

Alligator Cove

We left Grassmere Zoo and rode down I-40 to Opry Mills Mall, which took about 12 minutes and was about 8 miles.

Lora parked near the entrance of the Rainforest Cafe at Opry Mills.

At the Rainforest Cafe, we were seated in the Tuki section, where the amusing and curious baby elephant, Meadow, was mimicking.

Lora and I split a tomato-basil wrap layered with portabella mushrooms, red onions, roasted red peppers, and spinach, rolled and tossed in roasted garlic balsamic dressing.

We all shared an excellent appetizer adventure: two or more featuring Chimi-Cha-Chas, Spinach & artichoke dip with tri-color chips and cheese sticks, served with chicken tenders and fresh guacamole, marinara, and coconut curry sauce, and for dessert, we ordered an out-of-this-world Sparkling Volcano.

We walked around the mall looking inside many of the shops; it had been an inspiring day.

We started the two-hour ride home, all the kids fell asleep, and we were home by 12 P.M.

2008 ~ Friday, April 18, Grassmere Zoo with grandkids Nashville, Tennessee

Kids at Petting Zoo

Friday afternoon at 12:00 P.M. my daughter called, said she and the kids were going to Grassmere Zoo in Nashville and ask if I wanted to go with them.

She came to pick me up and we rode to Nashville, Santana was with them.

At the zoo, I had my camera with me, so I was taking pictures while my grandson was pushing his little sister in her wheelchair. 

We went to the Grassmere Zoo at 3777 Nolensville Road Nashville, Tn 37211 615-833-1534.

In the Savannah loop, we saw three African Elephants, giraffes bending down to eat grass, red river hogs, we walked inside the birdhouse at Lorikeet Landing to pet the parrots and to pet the farm animals.

Giraffe eating grass

African Elephants 

In the Central zoo, we saw the beautiful blue Macaw, we saw gibbons at gibbon island, we saw the dens of the meerkats, we visited the seahorses, many other reptiles, and fish at the Unseen New World. 

The kids climbed inside the glass that leads into the middle of the meerkat's dens to get an up-close view of the meerkats. 

The kids stopped to play on the jungle gym and we watched a bird show at the amphitheater

Kids with Meerkats

In the Jungle loop along the bamboo trail we saw a white tiger, a lynx, a red ruffed lemur, a ring-tailed lemur, cougars, a red-crowned crane, a red panda, a porcupines, and tapir, we stopped at alligator cove to watch the alligators, flamingo lagoon was filled with pink flamingo’s where the kids could touch the animals at critter encounters and Kangaroos Kickabout.

White Tiger

We left Grassmere Zoo rode down  I-40 to Opry Mills Mall which took about twelve minutes it was a little over eight miles.

We were all very hungry my daughter parked near the entrance of the Rainforest Cafe at Opry Mills.

We were seated in the Tuki section with the amusing and curious baby elephant which my granddaughter loved, she was mimicking the elephant.

Rainforest Cafe 

My daughter and I split a portabella wrap with tomato basil wrap layered, rolled with spinach, red onions, roasted red peppers, grilled portabella mushrooms, tossed in roster garlic balsamic dressing.

We all shared an awesome appetizer adventure, the idea of two or more featuring Chimi-Cha-Chas, Spinach, & artichoke dip, with tri-color chips, cheese sticks, chicken tenders, served with fresh guacamole, marinara, and coconut curry sauce and for dessert, we ordered an out-of-this-world Sparkling Volcano.

Elephant at the Rainforest 

We walked around the mall looking inside many of the shops, after a very exciting day we started the two-hour ride home, all the kids fell asleep and we were home by 12:P.M.