Then we met the new dog, Elly, an extremely cute, affectionate, little basset mix rescued from Puerto Rico (!!!) last Fall and good old Murphy, the very friendly, lick you to death, 13 year old pit bull mix, who, it seems, has been re-energized by Elly's arrival!
The Sprinter was parked in front of their house running on its solar-powered electric system and didn't move until we left. The kids all got an RV tour and thought it was "cool!" On Saturday morning, we'd all agreed that a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo would be fun for the kids, as well as the adults so off we went! It was a beautiful, warm day out. Rick and Megan had recently joined the Zoo as a family member so there was no separate admission to pay, not even the close-by ( and expensive) Zoo parking garage! We saw about 2/3rds of the zoo's exhibits and animals before we all pooped out! Reilly's favorites were the flamingos and Shaffer seemed to like everything but was pretty impressed with larger animals like big cats, polar bears, hippos and we all liked seeing the giraffes!
The Philly Zoo has installed a first in the world system of overhead passages for some of the animals so you see them cross over top of you in many areas. We saw a tiger, a mountain lion, and monkeys in these mesh passageways set up so you can see them and they can see you below. The tiger seemed to stop and crouch while peering closely at us. I suspect we looked like a very tasty lunch! The Zoo brochure states "So now as you move around the Zoo, the Zoo will be moving around you!"
We were all fascinated by an enclosure of very large tortoises from the Galapagos and Indonesia munching away on grassy areas. Some peacocks are allowed to be outside on the walkways close to visitors, making a more interesting experience. We had a couple of colorful characters after a stop at the Zoo Face Painting booth. Reilly had turned into a cute bunny and Shaffer was Spider Hero (Spiderman is (c) so it's Spider Hero!)
We moved back through heavy traffic and headed off to a very good authentic Mexican restaurant for dinner which we definitely enjoyed. They even served Lin's favorite Mexican beer, Negro Modelo! Sunday noon time, we jumped in the car headed for Shaffer's T-Ball game in a local park. 9 kids on a team and all 4-6 years old. Some kids could bat fairly well, others could not! Some could throw, others were pretty wild throwers! All could run! Little problem here and there with attention spans and kids looking the wrong way when a ball was hit to them but they'll learn! Great exercise in teamwork and coordination and practice makes perfect week after week! The four Dads coaching, including Rick, were really patient and encouraging with the boys. It was a lot of fun watching their games and we appreciated being included!.
Monday morning it was time to leave and we were really sorry to leave and we miss everyone already but hope we'll be able to see them all again on the way heading south from Maine in 2-3 weeks. We had the Sprinter's oil changed at Megan and her Mom's business, Central Tire and Auto and got a brief chance to see Megan, her Mom Deb and Elly, on duty as the tire store's cute little basset greeter! Then we were on our way to Gettysburg National Military Park, coming in our next exciting episode!
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