A drive through zoo! (very pic heavy)

ncblondie · #1 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008, 06:20 AM

Ever heard of this concept?! It's fantastic when the temperature outside is 95 degrees and you have your 65 yr old parents and your 17 month old with you!! (Steve was in Charleston for the weekend)

The Lazy 5 Ranch is about 30 minutes from my house. It is a drive through open pasture where you take your own car on a dirt path around the ranch, seeing all of the animals without enclosures. These things walk right up to your car and stick their heads in!!!! (except for the very large ones like the Texas Longhorn Cattle, giraffes and the rhino, thank goodness!)

At first, Chase was strapped into his carseat and this is what he saw:

Up close and personal..and he did NOT like it!

Wow, emus were everywhere!! Here is a mama with 10 babies (sorry it's blurry)

This is kind of the idea when you are driving around. (very slowly! as there are tons of babies piglets, goats, deer, gazelles, ibex, pot bellied pigs, emu, pygmy goats......)

Here are some water buffalo. They had a huge nasty watering hole to cool off in. One of them had just given birth! The calf was still wet and one of the mud puddles contained the afterbirth.

Texas Longhorn cattle...holy cow, look at those HORNS!!!!!!!!! (and a yak on the left)

So glad they could care less about the little buckets of feed. I did not need those big horns near my car!!

Huh, a real zoo....it had zebras!

So at some point, Chase finally gets the concept. He is standing on my mom's lap in the backseat. (You can only drive about 2 miles an hour)

He decides to be brave and reach for the ram!

Wanna goldfish, sir?

See how un-shy these emus are?! I did not stop at the ostriches. Those scared me! They towered over the car and are just HUGE. Talk about intimidating, lol. One of them marched right up to the window and all of us in the car just gasped. Time to move! (this is my Dad with yet another emu in the window)

After the drive, we enjoyed a picnic lunch in their shaded park. It was freaking hot as blazes, but Chase loved the playground.

Here is my mom with him:

Mommy had to help him up the gangplank:

And after a long hot midday tour of the zoo, here's what happened

:

Thanks for checking out our Saturday at the drive through zoo!