We made it
We came back very tired, but we had a good time, which we rather needed.
Sometimes I think Heavenly Father gives us help even if the matters involved aren't earthshaking, because we were able to do the things we had really planned, and just not add new ones. We had wanted to go to the zoo, popping over the border to British Columbia was one of the reasons we had run off to this spot, that and the fact that there were no vacancies at our membership-system's place at the coast. Other spots were just too far away, and we were looking for a last-minute quick trip, cheap, not easy to find.
We hadn't seriously contemplated making the trip all the way into Vancouver this time, almost an hour of increasingly horrible traffic west once you crossed the border at Lynden. We didn't have energy, funds, or gasoline; we had done some wonderful stuff two years ago when we took Jonathan and Carole with us to the Vancouver Temple open house, and then spent a day farther east in the city. There are places we didn't get to, and would love to see sometime, but right now we just wanted a quieter escape.
The zoo, a straight shot north, just cross over and keep going about ten minutes on the same highway, fit that bill. Something for fun, no timetable, maybe wander somewhere else after by car. With a wrenched knee (him) and a newly injured back (me), in the ordinary course of things it wasn't a good bet. But we decided, once we were in Lynden, that it was worth a try--we weren't doing too badly. He remembered that there was a tram that ran around one section, so we could arrange it so that the walking was lessened, and there was a little train that circled inside the boundaries. (He had been there that last trip, I hadn't.)
So, sure, let's go.
When we arrived, we found that the tram was not operating for the season because of construction. He claimed he could push me in a rented wheelchair and I said no way, not with that knee. We stepped out of the line to discuss the matter, and he reluctantly agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea. (At the end of the day, he agreed that he would never had made it.) So we bought regular admission, added the train in 90 minutes, and paid for our parking.
Discovering that the lions would be fed in 20 minutes, we headed in that direction, getting our bearings and finding the bleachers for the show. Now bleachers are not my greatest thing, but they beat standing. The Greater Vancouver Zoo has three lions and a Siberian tiger, who are publicly fed at 1 p.m. daily, while you listen to all kinds of big-cat facts. The tiger apparently doesn't always come out where she's visible, unless she's being fed. Then we took a leisurely pace around the section, stopping to eat our lunch. We couldn't walk very fast, so we took a desultory pace (look, Ma, a big word!) and made sure we made it back to the train on time, which took us on a guided trip around the inside perimeter, and got a peek, with narration, at lots of animals, then it delivered us back to the beginning. It was starting to rain; we wandered over to the nearby raptors--they have a snowy owl named Hagrid which was awake--and agreed that we were done. I was wiped. It was raining pretty hard, and we didn't have any more walking in us, but we had had a good time.
Now, I would guess that I walked, stood, and moved about four times as much as I would been able to the day before. Going to the zoo is not on the list of world-altering events. But life has been pretty stressful lately, especially for Hubby, and we had looked forward to this break. The Lord, in his kindness, answered the need and gave me more strength than I was certain I would have, and I am grateful. We were able to have a good time together.
Hubby did bag a big-game shirt, which was one of the things he hoped for. Starting way back at San Diego before Carole was born, he got hooked on striking animal t-shirts, which they had developed to make money for their endangered species conservation efforts. So struck was he with the ones we found here that we went on a slight binge (our grandchildren don't read this, right?) and he went and changed into one of the two he bought for himself right then and there, to wear out of the park.
I forgot to take my camera--foolish me--because the fact that I own a camera is not yet an automatic thing in my brain, but here is a dramatic big cat shirt at home, waiting for Saturday. Fierce, isn't it? But its wearer is really just a pussycat, I promise.
Sometimes I think Heavenly Father gives us help even if the matters involved aren't earthshaking, because we were able to do the things we had really planned, and just not add new ones. We had wanted to go to the zoo, popping over the border to British Columbia was one of the reasons we had run off to this spot, that and the fact that there were no vacancies at our membership-system's place at the coast. Other spots were just too far away, and we were looking for a last-minute quick trip, cheap, not easy to find.
We hadn't seriously contemplated making the trip all the way into Vancouver this time, almost an hour of increasingly horrible traffic west once you crossed the border at Lynden. We didn't have energy, funds, or gasoline; we had done some wonderful stuff two years ago when we took Jonathan and Carole with us to the Vancouver Temple open house, and then spent a day farther east in the city. There are places we didn't get to, and would love to see sometime, but right now we just wanted a quieter escape.
The zoo, a straight shot north, just cross over and keep going about ten minutes on the same highway, fit that bill. Something for fun, no timetable, maybe wander somewhere else after by car. With a wrenched knee (him) and a newly injured back (me), in the ordinary course of things it wasn't a good bet. But we decided, once we were in Lynden, that it was worth a try--we weren't doing too badly. He remembered that there was a tram that ran around one section, so we could arrange it so that the walking was lessened, and there was a little train that circled inside the boundaries. (He had been there that last trip, I hadn't.)
So, sure, let's go.
When we arrived, we found that the tram was not operating for the season because of construction. He claimed he could push me in a rented wheelchair and I said no way, not with that knee. We stepped out of the line to discuss the matter, and he reluctantly agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea. (At the end of the day, he agreed that he would never had made it.) So we bought regular admission, added the train in 90 minutes, and paid for our parking.
Discovering that the lions would be fed in 20 minutes, we headed in that direction, getting our bearings and finding the bleachers for the show. Now bleachers are not my greatest thing, but they beat standing. The Greater Vancouver Zoo has three lions and a Siberian tiger, who are publicly fed at 1 p.m. daily, while you listen to all kinds of big-cat facts. The tiger apparently doesn't always come out where she's visible, unless she's being fed. Then we took a leisurely pace around the section, stopping to eat our lunch. We couldn't walk very fast, so we took a desultory pace (look, Ma, a big word!) and made sure we made it back to the train on time, which took us on a guided trip around the inside perimeter, and got a peek, with narration, at lots of animals, then it delivered us back to the beginning. It was starting to rain; we wandered over to the nearby raptors--they have a snowy owl named Hagrid which was awake--and agreed that we were done. I was wiped. It was raining pretty hard, and we didn't have any more walking in us, but we had had a good time.
Now, I would guess that I walked, stood, and moved about four times as much as I would been able to the day before. Going to the zoo is not on the list of world-altering events. But life has been pretty stressful lately, especially for Hubby, and we had looked forward to this break. The Lord, in his kindness, answered the need and gave me more strength than I was certain I would have, and I am grateful. We were able to have a good time together.
Hubby did bag a big-game shirt, which was one of the things he hoped for. Starting way back at San Diego before Carole was born, he got hooked on striking animal t-shirts, which they had developed to make money for their endangered species conservation efforts. So struck was he with the ones we found here that we went on a slight binge (our grandchildren don't read this, right?) and he went and changed into one of the two he bought for himself right then and there, to wear out of the park.
I forgot to take my camera--foolish me--because the fact that I own a camera is not yet an automatic thing in my brain, but here is a dramatic big cat shirt at home, waiting for Saturday. Fierce, isn't it? But its wearer is really just a pussycat, I promise.
Oh, so good that you had a great time! My late wife and I saw the Vancouver zoo many decades ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it.
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