Scratch another zoo off my list! I felt really bad about stopping, since it was 95 degrees, but it was probably going to be my only chance at seeing a panda, so we stopped.
I loved the exterior walls (Memphis was named after the ancient Egyptian capital on the banks of the Nile).
First up: Cat Country.
Not too many were out; they probably had the right idea hanging out inside.
Next: the hippos:
And then the main reason: China
Asian Small Clawed Otter
Panda!
Said Brandon, "the panda reminds me of Jacob, all cute and cuddly...until he sits on you." Truer words were never spoken.
Forever our Hat Man.
I can't decide if this was amusing or freaky.
At the African Veldt:
we really enjoyed the misting fans :)
We swung through the Northwest Passage, which also had really good theming, but the black bear was kind of hidden, and the sea lions and the polar bear weren't out. So we trouped on to the Teton Trek, where we got to watch these guys go at it for a little while:
Unfortunately the wolves were AWOL. After that, Jacob was done, so he and I walked back to the front of the zoo and stopped in the gift shop, where as we he bought himself a cute stuffed elephant. As we were checking out, he turned a little pale and managed to get out "sit.on.potty" and we made it just in time. Really, though, it was so hot and muggy that we already looked like we took a dip in the fountain, so if he had an accident, you wouldn't have even been able to tell. Brandon and Rick went on to the Herpetarium (snakes and lizards), Penguin Rock:
and the Dragon's Lair (komodo dragon)
All in all, a very nice (and somewhat expensive) zoo that I totally loved.
After that, we drove on through 104 degree Arkansas and stayed the night in Texarkana before driving home the rest of the way the next day.
Total mileage for the trip: 2461 miles. Luckily, my van was nice enough to not lose the air conditioning until the day after we got back.
