When Not To Go To The Zoo....
When my kids were young we practically lived at the zoo. We only live a few short blocks from it so it made it rather convenient after work to gather up stuff and head off to the zoo. Back then I'd buy a season pass for thirty five bucks and you could get in a couple additional kids and two adults. Afterwords there was the picnic area by the pond and we'd grill something to eat and the kids would fish in the pond for awhile, if they were lucky they'd find a turtle or two, I remember quite a few times paying other kids at the pond a quarter for their turtles so I could release them back into the pond. Now you go to the zoo and a season pass cost around seventy five bucks, we didn't have a season pass handy this year, my oldest son usually gets one but they were busy this year. I was running a bit behind because it was a spur of the moment decision by my son and his family to go, I got a quick invite and decided to hop along. When I got there I told them if you had just waited for me we could have gotten the season pass for what we paid all together to get in, which was seventy two fifty. Seems the zoo now a days is out of reach for most families at that price. They don't have free days anymore like when my kids were young, now they do half price days, or four dollar days. By the time we bought some soda, ice cream and cookies we had another twenty two fifty invested into our day.
It's was ninety degrees outside that day and most the animals weren't out or were asleep under some tree or rock. I will have to remember next time to think about that considering how much we had invested in this trip. It must have been dinner time for this Lion, he was the only large animal right up front in view.
I think the real highlight of our trip was the giant bird cage where people could buy bird food on a popsicle stick, there went another ten bucks easily as everyone was into the birds. This is the queen mom of three of my grandchildren pictured here with her dad. I don't think she'll get real mad at me for posting her picture since she came out a bit blurred, plus what she don't know won't hurt her....lol.
There's grandpa again, he's really into this. He can be a bit of a birdbrain at times.
The birds seems to have some sort of penchants for hanging out on the backs of people. That's my son, at one point he had several birds on the back of his neck, he must have tasted good to them.
That's my oldest grandson, that's what the bird should be doing...eating the bird seed off the stick. I thought it was sort of cool that the bird actually looks more like a shadow on the ground.
Here he is again playing the drummer boy. He was giving that his all out.
They have a pretty cool play area for kids. They can can bounce around on a giant rope suspended into the air, or run across a rope bridge.
On our way towards the petting area we came upon this alligator at the bottom of a waterfall, being attached to a chain floating around he was actually more active then the majority of the animals at the zoo that day. Have to admit whoever designed him was pretty creative.
The goats at the petting area were out, I think I'd be out to if I had people rubbing my back all day.
Outside the petting area they have another interactive play area for the kids.
Then there was the gorilla, he wasn't outside either, must have thought it was just a good day to stay indoors and think. I'd asked him a penny for his thoughts but being the zoo he'd probably wanted way more than that. Yeah I'll be doing some thinking next year too on how not to spend over a hundred bucks to watch a bunch of animals hibernate from the heat.
Check the public library, our library has all sorts of zoo and museum passes and/or coupons. If you are a AAA member they have discount movie and amusement park passes and such. I used to take my son to Cabela's to see the animals, they have a great selection and they don't move around.
Lol, you cheap skate...taking your kid to Cabela's, that's pretty funny. I never thought to call the library. Tripe AAA insurance is for people who have money to waste on insurance, they are expensive.
their insurance is not the best I had it for a while but discounts and passes to various things are available with your AAA membership which is a fantastic bargain in general and pays for itself practically every time you use it. A single free tow covers the cost of membership, a single car battery, delivered anywhere anytime and installed, is so much cheaper than any other source that every time you use that service it pays for your membership. The travel agency can occasionally save you a few hundred bucks if you book through them. I drive old cars so it saves me hundreds of dollars a year on towing and such.
I had them many years ago upon the recommendation of someone else, mostly along the same lines as you stated. When my kids were young we were always going out of town somewhere...but I bought new to newer used cars back then so breaking down usually wasn't a issue. For the many miles I drove I only had two instances where I had car problems, one going about fifty miles away my car didn't want to do more than thirty five miles a hour...it took me forever it seemed to get back home driving a route along the highway, we were all geeked if we hit the top of a hill that sped us up. Another time was down in Florida going over the Sunshine or Sky Bridge...I forget what name it was called, was going to go hydro planing in the everglades. The car started shaking so I turned around and went back to my friends house, her husband came home and was surprised he knew quite a bit about cars since he was a corporate headquarters type dude, it was just the battery.
I save over $150 every time they replace my battery and they even have a warranty on their batteries so when I got the last one I even got a discount over their normal price. Last year a piece of debris flew up in my engine and trashed it. I had to stop on the Mass Pike, when you break down on the Mass Pike you actually need two tows, the first tow truck will only tow you off the Mass Pike, they won't take you any further than just off the nearest exit, then you need another tow truck to tow you home or to the shop. It would have cost something like $300-500 dollars, with AAA it cost me nothing. That paid for itself for like a decade. I also leave my lights on from time to time, even one jump start pays for the year of AAA. My son was locked in a car a few years ago, AAA got there and had the car unlocked before the police or fire department came. They have bailed me out so many times, $30 or $50 or whatever it costs a year is a bargain.
I don't remember how much I ended up saving when I quit them, it was probably better than thirty bucks a month. It's not just the membership fee they overall were pricier than places like Liberty who I switched to at that time. It depends on the state you live in to. Michigan has some of the highest insurance rates in the country because of the unlimited medical coverage provision everyone must carry. If someone is injured it's covered even if that injury is for life whereas they will always have to have medical visits/supplies. Funny part is that the people of the state have never seen the payouts on those claims and there has consistently been complaints that medicals providers are gouging the system. Right now I carry AT&T roadside assist for three bucks a month. They will tow a person up to four times a year and/or jump start your car, fix a flat and one time my car wouldn't start at a gas station, I remember that day it was cold and we were having a major snow storm, all the tow drivers were backed up for two hours, Speedway let me sit on a stack of empty Pepsi containers in the front window waiting for them, when they got there the guy discovered it was a fuse and he happen to carry extra fuses with him so I didn't end up having to get towed that day. They won't come though if something happens at your home, like you car won't start or in case a couple years ago when someone smashed into the front of my car while drunk when it was parked in the street. They were able though to get me the same discounted rate they get from tow drivers.
that's rough, I have been towed to and from my driveway and jump started in my driveway in the last year, I no longer have their insurance either I don't think, I have the platinum AAA because with that you get 4 100 mile tows for free. I had a friend who had his car towed from another state 100 miles at a time for free.
Found another funny for you....
lol
A good zoo is such a great thing for kids. I know a lot of people think it is cruel to animals but most of the animals now are well cared for. Pampered, actually. There is just nothing else like it. I grew up in Cincinnati and they have an awesome zoo. In the winter, they take the penguins on a walk and you can walk around with them, or at least they used to. The kids LOVED that!
Adorable grandbabies too!
I went to the Cleveland Zoo when my kids were young. We went to Cedar Point, we camped down there for a week, my kids weren't that big on Cedar Point outside of the wave pool so one day we drove over and saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which they thought was the bomb then skipped on over to the Cleveland Zoo, which we really enjoyed, especially all the giraffes they had. The Detroit Zoo is also worth the visit but the most awesome thing I ever experienced was the first time I ever went to Bush Gardens in Florida, they had a expansive area where the wildlife just ran free, sort of like a "mini' Africa Safari experience. Years later though when I went back a lot of that area had gotten filled in with other attractions. Funny that they built a sky train over the area where the animals were which is basically what they needed the first time I was there because some of the animals you had to view at a distance for the area they had to roam. I'd say the weirdest thing I ever saw was there to, they had post (just like the wooden post you see lined on highways or around rest stops) about three feet above ground in a circle and there were alligators in the interior, not that someone would but they were so close you could touch them.
howdy there sunlit7! zoos are wonderful I think, in the heat of the summer they may not be my first choice but they're close. hey did you ever watch Fear yet?
No I forgot to reset the record on the DVR. I did hear a bit of news though. I guess they won't be staying in that mansion for to long, rumor has it that eventually somehow Morgan will talk them all into heading towards his old digs, they won't all make it I guess but what the rumor is is that Fear with merge with WD at that point, then supposedly the creators will continue on this path developing another show, wash, rinse, repeat....like I said it's all speculation and rumors I read in a article posted a few days ago. Bad news is John and what's her name may be on the not make it list, some said he might but she won't, and supposedly that girls brother who got killed may not really be dead and he will reappear. (I think they were talking about her brother, someone who got killed last season is supposedly not really dead)
howdy this fine Saturday sunlit7! wow well all this is very interesting speculation..I haven't had time to read up on either show but wouldn't that be something to merge the two shows?
and someone we thought was dead is being brought back, that's one lucky actor! lol.