Scott, Megan and I went to the Gulf Breeze Zoo on Thursday. Since Thursday had the greatest chance of rain, we thought it would be a good opportunity to get off of the beach for a little bit. Sure enough, we were half way through the exhibits and Megan felt a couple of rain drops. We hurried to the animal hospital area and ducked under the porch. Ten minutes later, we were back on the path to see more animals. Before we arrived at the zoo, Megan kept saying that she wanted to ride the train. Once the rain stopped, we figured we'd better go ride the train before we missed our chance. The train runs every hour on the hour. At 11:40, we got a snack and waited for the train ride to start. I noticed the sign and read it aloud, " Your driver is Karen." At 12:02, everyone started getting antsy.
"Maybe they decided not to run because of the rain."
"Did anyone ask if they were still running the train?"
And my favorite... Megan asks, "Where is Aunt Karen?"
I am laughing while I explain that Aunt Karen is not the train driver. The train driver just happens to have the same name.
Karen shows up and explains that she was caught in the last shower and had to go home to change clothes. At 12:09, we board the train. Usually the train ride is the most exciting part of the visit. Scott and I like that you enter a "preserve" area where the animals run free. Sometimes you actually have to wait for the animals to get off the track before you can continue. This time it was like the beginning of Jurassic Park where Jeff Goldblum's character asks, "Are there any dinosaurs in your dinosaur park?"
As we reach the end of the fenced area, Karen is trying to open the gate with a garage door opener, but it just won't work. She explains that it got wet on the last ride and that it needs to dry out, so she uses the walkie talkie and asks someone to open the gate manually. While we are waiting (with the animals freely roaming around), I am secretly glad that most of them were MIA. All of a sudden the gate opens! Karen radios back "all clear" and decides to drive on through only to find that about 5 feet out of the gate that the door starts closing again. Bang! This fence hits the train. Scott is laughing as he points out the red paint that has transferred to the fence. A couple of people behind us are trying to tell Karen that the gate won't open or close because it was knocked off the track. So here is this woman, in her late 50's, trying to fix the fence. Scott goes back to help her and I see him trying to use a stick to pry the fence back up to the track. It is no use. Karen uses the walkie talkie again and calls for help. While Scott is back there, Karen tells him that some of the animals will run out if they see an opening, so she is trying to block the opening with her body. This means we are stuck. Luckily we were in between fenced areas and Scott found an opening between some bushes. Everyone just kind of meandered off the train and back into the general population. It was a very weird feeling. People were looking at us like, "Where did you come from?" I wanted to start making animal noises and chase them.
"Did anyone ask if they were still running the train?"
And my favorite... Megan asks, "Where is Aunt Karen?"
I am laughing while I explain that Aunt Karen is not the train driver. The train driver just happens to have the same name.
Karen shows up and explains that she was caught in the last shower and had to go home to change clothes. At 12:09, we board the train. Usually the train ride is the most exciting part of the visit. Scott and I like that you enter a "preserve" area where the animals run free. Sometimes you actually have to wait for the animals to get off the track before you can continue. This time it was like the beginning of Jurassic Park where Jeff Goldblum's character asks, "Are there any dinosaurs in your dinosaur park?"
As we reach the end of the fenced area, Karen is trying to open the gate with a garage door opener, but it just won't work. She explains that it got wet on the last ride and that it needs to dry out, so she uses the walkie talkie and asks someone to open the gate manually. While we are waiting (with the animals freely roaming around), I am secretly glad that most of them were MIA. All of a sudden the gate opens! Karen radios back "all clear" and decides to drive on through only to find that about 5 feet out of the gate that the door starts closing again. Bang! This fence hits the train. Scott is laughing as he points out the red paint that has transferred to the fence. A couple of people behind us are trying to tell Karen that the gate won't open or close because it was knocked off the track. So here is this woman, in her late 50's, trying to fix the fence. Scott goes back to help her and I see him trying to use a stick to pry the fence back up to the track. It is no use. Karen uses the walkie talkie again and calls for help. While Scott is back there, Karen tells him that some of the animals will run out if they see an opening, so she is trying to block the opening with her body. This means we are stuck. Luckily we were in between fenced areas and Scott found an opening between some bushes. Everyone just kind of meandered off the train and back into the general population. It was a very weird feeling. People were looking at us like, "Where did you come from?" I wanted to start making animal noises and chase them.
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