Giraffe Kisses (with tongue) and Elephant Poo

Wow, that will get me a lot of weird Google search responses! I’m working on a post about what kind of searches lead people to my blog. Can’t really post about that when we’ve got vacation to talk about, right? Especially when it comes to kissing giraffes…

 

As you might have guessed we did make it to the zoo today. This zoo is one of the more natural I’ve seen. And it seems small because you don’t have to walk very far to get anywhere. This is the first zoo I’ve been to that’s on the side of a mountain. So, you’re zig-zagging up the mountain as you’re visiting different exhibits.

 (looking up the mountain)

As with the Olympic Training Center (and every other money making venture) the first thing you enter as you go into the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is the gift shop. Reagan, Du and I get hats because as opposed to yesterday, today is hot and sunny. I’m also sporting a new pair of sunglasses when it’s all said and done. But my most favorite purchase, and pretty cool to boot, is elephant poo. In the form of a notepad. No kidding. Someone has come up with the clever idea to take elephant dung and rice paddy, boil them until the poo’s not gross anymore (really, is that ever? Unless it’s cute–see below), produce paper pulp, and make little notebooks. Now I have some elephant crap to write all my crappy blog ideas on once my Hello Kitty notebook is crapped out. Yes, I keep a little notebook in my purse to write spontaneous ideas on when I’m on the move (read, all the time).

 (Hello Kitty to be replaced by elephant poo) 

Enough of elephant poo. The next area you’re ushered to is the giraffe feeding exhibit. You get to feed specially made “giraffe crackers” to the giraffes. Please, tell me what’s cooler than this. The platform you’re on is up in the air, because you know, giraffe necks are llloooonnnnngggg. And giraffes are ttttaaaaallllll. They’re so used to this they’re up at the railings begging to be fed the crackers. 

Here are some things I learned today about giraffes:

• Giraffe eyelashes are super long.  (click to enlarge)
• Giraffe eyes are super big.
• Giraffe tongues are about the longest thing you’re ever seen to move around like that. They’re considered “prehensile” and can wrap around and grasp things.  
• Giraffe tongues feel like sandpaper. How do I know? You’ll find out.
• Giraffes don’t like to be petted. Even if you’re feeding them yummy snacks.

We spend all our cash on giraffe crackers and so must move on. This is the way out of the zoo, so we’ll be back… Throughout the rest of the zoo we got to see all the requisite animals.

Even a monkey with ADHD who apparently was really excited that trainer person was there to give him his mid-day snack. Click to play.

 And we even saw something you don’t normally expect to see at a zoo. Someone from our past. We ran into a friend from Germany who now lives in the Springs. We weren’t going to be able to get together with her this trip, so God gave us this meeting. Even before we liked kids we knew enough to study the way our friend and her husband were raising their kids.

 

After our jaunt around the zoo the time came to leave. And we were heading back through the giraffe feeding grounds. Let’s feed them again! This is where the tongue comes in. I love animals. I love crazy pictures. Put the two together and sometimes there’s mayhem:

So, how do I know his tongue feels like sandpaper? I touched it, people, with my finger. And for those of you who are following me on Twitter you know I mentioned I had pink in my hair this morning. 

 

See it! That tiny sliver of pink! I know, I’m a rebel. It’s not permanent, although it is real human hair, just not mine. That’s the best way to get your rebel on. Make sure it’s not permanent. And not sure what’s up with the right side of my hair. Maybe Melody cut my hair into layers the other day.