Always

I have always loved the zoo. The Houston Zoo used to have this awesome aquarium tunnel, so you could walk under all the fish. I was so sad when that went away. What is really cool at the Houston Zoo now is that they have monkeys that run about wild, not in cages. Volunteers follow the monkeys around watching them to make sure they don't get hurt or harassed. A while back we went to the Houston Zoo and got to see a live bald eagle up close. She had been injured too badly to return to the wild, and they got a waiver to keep her at the zoo. We were standing there just in awe, watching her sun herself, when she stretched out her wings, and just floored us. She was HUGE, and so beautiful. She let out this ear shattering cry, fluffed her wings, and nestled back down to sun herself. We got the hint and left... we wanted to see her for longer, but we didn't want to upset her or cause her distress.

I loved the Henry Dorley Zoo in Omaha. They have a desert dome there, with exhibits from deserts all over the world. A lot of the creatures are not in cages, they are just running about. They also have a huge outdoor aviary, and an indoor one, with more monkeys and pygmy hippos and all sorts of things. My favorite things there, though, were the gorillas. First, they has newborn gorillas nursing, and they are so adorable. Second, there was a huge silverback just sitting under a tree picking his nose, and an adolescent who was so excited to see people that he jumped around and pretty much dances. he would start at one end and run the full length entertaining a group of people as they walked through, and when they got to the end, he would turn and sprint back to the beginning for a new group. We stood and watched him do that 3 times before the silverback got up and popped him in the head. The adolescent sulked for a few minutes, but as soon as the silverback went back to sitting under his tree, he was back at it again, racing about entertaining people.

I never smile so much as when I am at the zoo.