If I Could Talk to the Animals

Since we were able to spend time in the zoo other people free today, it meant I could try to get video clips for our Reach the World articles.  I love it when I can sit and talk to the animals because it makes the whole zoo thing so much more fun.  Normally the animals just ignore humans.  Today they interacted with us some.

For example, I was talking to that big bear trying to talk him into swimming.  He was pretty stubborn.  After he sat up, he looked over at us like...yeah, this is all you're getting from me.

 The highlight of my day was when this lovely lady actually talked to me.  I was telling her how gorgeous she was and how she was the prettiest big cat I've ever seen in a zoo and she stopped, looked right at me and made a kitten like noise.  I talked back to her, and she responded again.  We went back and forth and had a little conversation.  Nathan tried to get it on video and she stopped.  As soon as he stops trying to record, she of course starts talking to me again.  It was pretty awesome!

Since my animal whisperer skills seemed to be in top form today, when we got to this guy, I tried again.  He was in the log, poking his head out.

I let him know that I would love it if he'd go and climb since the sign said he was a great climber.

Then I pleaded with him to get closer, so I could get a really good picture of him.  I told him if he'd come right in front of me on this log, that would be great.  I kid you not, he did it.  Then he looked at me with his oh so adorable face like, "is this good?".

In my next chapter of life, I'm going to work with animals.  I had no idea they were easier to work with than humans!  Seriously though, they made my day.  I went into the zoo in a complete funk and went out walking on air thanks to them.

Living the life in Pennsylvania where the animals speak human!

Robertsdale AL to Abita Springs LA

We said goodbye to Alabama and headed to Louisiana today, landing in Abita Springs. We are very excited to be able to visit New Orleans! We also ate our first taste of a Louisiana food item which was King Cake. We are not huge cake eaters and weren't sure exactly what this was, but I can safely say we all love it and will be adding this to the list of sweet things we adore. Yummy!

Dauphin Island, Alabama

Today we ventured over to a beautiful place, Dauphin Island. This island was originally called Massacre Island, but I guess that didn't sound appealing so they changed it to Dauphin Island.

Dauphin Island Sea Lab

We visited this neat place first, an Estuarium on the island. We watched an informative movie about Dauphin Island and the estuary and we learned that Mobile competes with Seattle for the city that gets the most rain each year. There were turtles in almost every tank, much to Austin's delight. He likes turtles.
We also learned that there are 32 kinds of seahorses and they are all endangered right now.We really like this guy (or girl) and spent a lot of time watching him move around:A rare picture of Auburn, where she not only allowed the shot, she posed for it!The kids cracked up at the schooling tank, so this is what schooling is:Austin has decided he wants a jelly fish instead of a lava lamp. I agree with him.

Fort Gaines in Dauphin AL

Afterwards, we headed across the street to this cool fort, the Historic Fort Gaines:After living in Florida for so long and dealing with tourists, Austin thinks it's a hoot to play the tourist now.Here's Nathan, reading one of the informative plaques that they had. I thought I liked to read these things, but I've got nothing on Nathan. He reads every word on every single one. When we hit the museum part, we were finished and he was still in the first room. No wonder he's filled with tons of facts!Austin pretending to fire a cannon. Then we sat and did some math while waiting for Nathan because what else can you do when chatting about heavy objects and distance?Sadly, this was one of our favorite parts. Mine because it was self cleaning, Austin's because he'd have people to chat with while taking care of business and Nathan thought we were both nuts. (Click on the picture to read the sign)Mom, no females allowed! Only soldiers are supposed to be in this part!All joking aside, this place was so interesting to us and the brickwork alone made it worth our time. I've rarely seen such incredible brickwork throughout a whole place as we did here today.Living the life in Alabama!

Friendly People of Alabama

I didn't take any pictures today, because I was just too lazy. The saddest part is I lugged the heavy thing around all day, and still didn't take pictures. I did want to share what I did encounter though and that is the friendliness of the people here. Everywhere we go, people are just so nice. And chatty.

For example, at one of the stores we visited, the girl at the check out asked me about my wallet. Then she proceeded to tell me she was getting married. Then she went on to tell me when she was getting married, where she was getting married, when they decided to get married, what she had done already and what she still had to do and how she didn't get the date she wanted and why. And she shared the most interesting tid bit that I've ever heard about a wedding. Her colors are camo. As in camouflage. I was speechless. She didn't even notice that I was speechless. Which I thought was adorable.

It really was so sweet to me that this cute girl who knew me all of 3 minutes would be so comfortable to share all of that with me. I honestly think if we were here during that time, I'd have to drive over to the park just to see this wedding. And to see what exactly a camo wedding looks like. It showed me how safe this area must be that people are that trusting with complete strangers. Which just endeared me to this area even more. I'm still not sure about the camo....for a wedding....but I admire a girl who makes a wedding what she wants it to instead of following the pack so more power to her.

Live Oak, FL to Robertsdale, AL

We headed towards our second stop on our journey and landed in Robertsdale, AL where it is cold again. Before we left, Mike and Linda gifted us with two touching items. First, Mike noticed we were missing a bike tire cap when he was chatting with us and brought a replacement one over for us. Then they gave Austin some seasonings for popcorn which I'm very much excited about. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to receive such thoughtful gifts from them. It truly brightened my week and reminded me of the goodness to be found in the world in everyday things. They are really neat people and I hope we cross paths with them again. If you two happen to read this, thank you and I'd love a picture of you to add to the blog if possible.We just got our bikes back this past week and have a bike rack to carry them with now, so that is a treat to us. We used to bike ride together quite a bit and loved riding the Rails to Trails paths together so it's nice to have them back and hopefully we will ride together again.I have to share this, because it cracked me up so much. I know it isn't funny when you are the one being attacked by them, but given our encounters with the little buggers, I loved the humor in this: