nature

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The Columbus Zoo

We have been to Zoo’s all over the country, but my all- time favorite is the Columbus Zoo which I grew up with. The Columbus Zoo objectively is in the top five in the country, but for sheer size and variety for me it’s the best. So, when we moved back to town it was high on our list but got bumped to the top when Lee learned they had a Red Panda Experience. Neither one of us knew what to expect from that but we knew the Zoo was a sure thing so we headed out bright and early on a Sunday and got there when it opened. Oh I should also mention that Jack Hanna ran this Zoo for many years. His contribution to putting the Zoo on the map is unparalleled and he is a local hero for what he managed to do. I’ve met him a few times and he is exactly like he is on TV !!

For those of you who don’t go to Zoo’s often I think morning is the best time. Sometimes you catch the feedings, and the animals are more active with the cooler weather. Turns out we had an absolutely gorgeous day with temps reaching 68 degrees, bright sunshine and a slight breeze.

WE had some time until the Red Panda experience, so we started walking the Zoo. By the end of the day we had over 10,000 steps and didn’t even cover it all. It’s a BIG place. First up was Africa and the lions were in fine form. One male in particular was super vocal and we watched him for a long time.

Next was Asia with awesome Asian elephants and a super chill sun bear.

They have multiple buildings also for different biomes which I enjoy particularly because for the nocturnal animals they keep them in the dark which is cool. They also had an area where you could go in and feed parrots which was super cool.

One of my favorites is a GIANT manatee tank which the Zoo uses to help rehabilitate manatees that are hurt in Florida. It was a giant project to build and funded by local businesses (many of the exhibits are) which to my mind is a great collaboration between the zoo and businesses.

Look at that smiley face

Two of my other favorite exhibits bring me back to my childhood. The giant tortoises have been there since I was small child and the first Gorilla born in captivity was born at the Columbus Zoo and I spent many visits in the gorilla area which was fantastically innovative. Now almost all Gorilla habitats are like this but at the time it was revolutionary and privately funded by a local woman who loved gorillas.

By far though the highlight of the day was the Red Panda experience. Our guide explained to us that during Covid the staff was trying to figure out a way to raise extra money and the experience was born. By design it was a very small group of 4 people, our volunteer guide, and the handler. We received a short orientation and then were taken into their habitat!! That was totally unexpected, and it was cool how fast they came over to us. That’s because we were each given a small number of treats to feed them and wow was that special. We weren’t allowed to pet them perse but when feeding them they brushed against our hands and were super soft. Lee was like a little kid with joy, and I am so glad we did this. Amazing!

We were allowed to ask any question we wanted to and we learned that Red Pandas can overheat in temps higher than 68 degrees. These guys actually have dens with ac units they can go into on hot days and few zoos in the south have them. Everyone was really nice and it truly was a once in a lifetime experience. They have more experiences available and next time I think I would like to wash an elephant!!

This picture says it all

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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First Time at Tuscon Botanical Garden

We waited until the very end of our time in Tuscon to see the botanical garden with the hope that some flowers would be in bloom. When we initially walked into the garden we went to the left and didn’t see much color but still walked around and enjoyed the beautiful sculptures. I also really liked the colorful benches and they had bee houses and a beautiful butterfly sculpture to honor the 1-1/2 million children that were killed in the holocaust.

Pretty quickly though we entered an area that was full of birds and it was really amazing. A couple were building nests and swooped very close to our heads and we got to see birds in holes in saguaro cacti which was super cool. Unfortunately, I didn’t get very good pictures of the birds but their song filled the area which was nice. We also walked around a corner and saw a VERY realistic statue of a velociraptor which made me jump a little 🙂

My favorite part though was the flower garden area which was an explosion of color. IT’s been months since we have seen flowers like this and it was beautiful. They also had several small gardens with colorful statues and various homemade flower pots which was great as well.

DeDe you should make one of these

They also had a small butterfly garden which Lee loved. It was a bit claustrophobic for me but Lee stayed in a long time. There is a HUGE moth in there, the Atlas moth, with a wingspan of over 10 inches.

By far though the best area was the train area. They have a HUGE outdoor space with multiple trains and reproductions of famous buildings. The buildings were made by engineering students at the local college and judging by the Yellowstone Lodge reproduction (I’ve been inside the original) are very accurate. Lee had a blast in this area as did other kids big and small and I highly recommend bringing your kid to this garden because it is super kid friendly.

Lee made a video of this as well! Looks best full screen in 1080!

Finally they had a lovely gift shop and we were super impressed with the entire garden. They definitely have made the most of a relatively small space and I can’t say enough about how interactive it was.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itune
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First Time with an RV Garden

When we first moved into this RV park we discovered that we were allowed to have small pet fencing and “some” plants. This was a first for us in over 10 years of traveling, and we definitely wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to give Jack a fenced in area so he could lay outside and watch the world go by. I also really wanted to have a few plants, if for nothing else than to block the large pipes next to our site, so before I left I found some pots on clearance and was excited about filling them up when I came back.

For those of you who know Lee what happened next will come as no surprise, but even after 35 years of marriage I have to say his commitment to doing something that really matters to him surprises even me. When I came back he had a beautiful little white picket fence constructed, with a front and back gate, all set up, and a handful of maybe 6 or 8 plants. That same weekend we went to a wonderful small nursery I had found, and bought a few shrubs and trees and plants.

This is what I saw when I came home!
We added these Silver Sheen, they work great to help block the pipe, grow well in pots, and are pretty in the sunlight. When they sway in the breeze the sunlight makes the leaves look silver, they’re beautiful. The pots were a lucky find at Home Goods for only $15 end of season clearance. They’re HUGE.
And we added some flowers

My other three plants were all flowering and we got hummingbirds and bees right away. The roses in particular were absolutely beautiful and will bloom here all year. When I saw my first hummingbird I bought one feeder and we got so many hummingbirds Lee bought 4 more. At times we have as many as 30 hummingbirds snacking in our yard and Jack really likes watching them through Lee’s desk window.

So in no time we had flowers, and plants, and hummingbirds. We even had a tomato plant, cilantro, green onions, and strawberries. For me it was perfect. But Lee, well Lee had other ideas 🙂

I should say at this point that Lee’s Mom and Dad have a gorgeous garden. And when I say gorgeous I mean they were on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch newspaper gorgeous. I recommend taking a moment here and clicking this link to a previous blog post about their garden. You truly have to see it to believe it. I mention that because when Lee decided he wanted to try and put a little water feature into our little space it’s not as crazy as it might initially sound. I will say though I was pretty dubious for a variety of reasons, but I should have known that when Lee wants something he generally makes it happen. He spent the next month scouring Facebook marketplace and little by little he created his pond.

Because we obviously can’t dig here and the center is twice as deep as the shelf edge, he used some wood to support the edge so it wouldn’t droop when it was full of water, and it worked perfecetly. The actual pond, pump, filter and waterfall spillway he bought used on FB marketplace from a bunch of different people, and a ton of work went into positioning it and raising and lowering the spillway until he got the perfect sound. Then we went to a specialty pond store and bought a few pond plants. The most expensive was the lily at $50 (ouch) but we only need one and it is really pretty.

Next he bought some stone pavers and then flowering plants to put all around the pond. Along the way he asked my opinion about colors and types of plants, which I appreciated but largely I stood back and tried not to get in his way lol.

I had the idea to put a couple of long hanging plants on hooks right behind the fountain to sort of frame the water fall with greenery and give it a background, and I bought the frog at a swap meet and added the spiky plant so he would look cool, and Lee just popped him into the spillway where he stands guard over the pond.

I was a bit worried that we were overdoing it and someone would say something, because some people are like that, but so far the responses from neighbors have been very positive, and the kids in the park are really fascinated. One older gentleman even stopped and told me we were the pretties site in the park, which was nice to hear. Beauty is contagious, too. Our neighbor added a bunch more plants, and some outdoor string lights, and a couple of hummingbird feeders, which was fine by me because they are greedy little buggers, and now we’re going through a lot less sugar. 🙂

Lee talking to some kids in the neighborhood. He added three of four different types of fish and somehow we even got a visiting frog, so there is lots to look at.

Since Lee likes sitting outside so much he also added some RGB LED pond lighting, a long string patio lights, and a few dozen flicker flame tiki lights hidden all over. I really like how the lights make the garden look at night. It really is beautiful, and since it’s temperate here year round we are really hoping we will be able to enjoy it in the winter months.

Knowing Lee this will be a work in progress as long as we live here, but I wanted to catch you up. Yes, we know that if we move ALL of it will have to go, but building something with that in mind is kind of freeing. I am sure there are lots of people here in the park who would be happy to buy or take various pieces of what we have done and in any event we have no plans on moving in the near future so why not enjoy it while we can? Our quality of life went up exponentially when we moved here from the previous park in the valley, and now it has shot up again, which is nice.

We very much appreciate your support of our blog.

  • You can purchase the ebook telling the story of how we became full-time RVers.
  • You can purchase our recipe book filled with 80 recipes we have cooked in our RV and taste tested by Lee himself. You can purchase the kindle or paperback version on Amazon or buy the Apple version on Itunes