Each day of Spring Break we have tried to take an "excellent adventure." We started this tradition last fall with our first two week break and had such a great time exploring local attractions that we new we wanted to do it again. There were several places we just never got around to last October. So we made our list of places to go and things to do and started on our way.Some of the places we went to were the Stockton Children's Museum, the San Jose Discovery Children's Museum, the Stockton Ice Arena, a visit to see our beloved Miss Flo, a hike at Round Hill, going out to breakfast and riding the carousel in Tracy, the movies, and a trip to Micke's Grove Zoo and Park. Each outing has been lots of fun and we even got Sam to go with us one day as our tour guide at the San Jose museum.
But today when we went to Micke's Grove I was filled with so many memories of the hundreds of times I went there as I was growing up. So much has changed, not the least being that you now have to pay to get in the park and then the zoo. But it is a pretty low cost compared to other places and it is still such a beautiful place. The oak trees are amazing and the lawns are still as green as I remember. A trip through the Chinese Tea Garden brought back so many thoughts of the times I played hide-and-seek in there and watched the koi in the ponds or ran with my sisters and friends across the stepping stones (and of course fell in the water my fair share of times!).
The zoo, however, was such a disappointment. We had originally planned to go to the Sacramento zoo but we decided we wanted a shorter drive so we headed for Lodi. I think they should just change the name to the Lemur Zoo because that is the predominate animal. Gone are the seals, lions, polar bear, sun bear, dingo dogs, gorillas and even the flamingos. To the zoo's credit, there is construction going on to build a new enclosure for a snow leopard and something is going on in the former seal pool area.
But today when we went to Micke's Grove I was filled with so many memories of the hundreds of times I went there as I was growing up. So much has changed, not the least being that you now have to pay to get in the park and then the zoo. But it is a pretty low cost compared to other places and it is still such a beautiful place. The oak trees are amazing and the lawns are still as green as I remember. A trip through the Chinese Tea Garden brought back so many thoughts of the times I played hide-and-seek in there and watched the koi in the ponds or ran with my sisters and friends across the stepping stones (and of course fell in the water my fair share of times!).
The zoo, however, was such a disappointment. We had originally planned to go to the Sacramento zoo but we decided we wanted a shorter drive so we headed for Lodi. I think they should just change the name to the Lemur Zoo because that is the predominate animal. Gone are the seals, lions, polar bear, sun bear, dingo dogs, gorillas and even the flamingos. To the zoo's credit, there is construction going on to build a new enclosure for a snow leopard and something is going on in the former seal pool area.
Our favorite animals were the red lemurs who were pretty active in their area (the once busy Monkey Island). They share their location with about ten turtles, a koi and some bullfrogs. We also liked looking at the tortoises. There were five of them and they were pretty active.
The funniest moment came when Terry was afraid of a giant iguana who was safely behind glass. He didn't want to stand by the window so I could take a picture. Then the iguana started nodding it's head yes. We both were laughing so hard.
Terry's favorite part of the whole trip was the time we spent at one of the many playgrounds in the park. He had a blast there climbing, swinging and sliding. There were two other children there and he enjoyed playing with them.
It was a beautiful day and the weather was just perfect for a trip to the zoo, even a small one. We decided that we would definately be coming back to this lovely spot and next time we'll bring a picnic.
