Things began to go awry when we were on the interstate, I notice a message on one of those electric signs over the interstate that says "Zoo Patrons please...." and then it switched messages! Ack! I do not do so well driving, well anywhere-but most especially in areas I am not familiar with. I was not graced with a natural sense of direction. So my hands began to sweat a bit as I worried about what the sign may have said. I went ahead and tried to get off at the regular exit. I say try, because the exit was at a dead stand still starting about .5 mile from the ramp. We finally get off the interstate and see police everywhere directing traffic. I figured something must have happened.Let me interrupt myself to tell you how I get to the zoo...by following the signs. I have no idea the name of the exit or any of the roads I turn on, I just know there are signs that lead the way. SO trouble begins when the officer won't.let.me.turn! I looked at him with fear in my eyes as he is waving me by, and I am frantically doing sign language to try to tell the cop I HAVE to turn! I don't know any other way to go!!! He stopped and talked to me, and explained which way I could go, and that I would encounter more police along the way who he assured me would also help.
So we proceed on, and turn the way he told us to (which put me back on the interstate, which made me nervous!!) eventually we saw another officer and another zoo sign, hallelujah-only again said officer was blocking the way i needed to go, and wouldn't talk to me, ack! So at this point I have no idea where we are, and Cappy says "guys everyone be quiet, Mama is lost and stressed!" Love that kid! SO things continue on like this for another good 30 minutes, crawling along passing turns I need to make, and somehow, we make it to the zoo. Where again there are 50gillion cops and barricades, etc. The parking lot is closed. Apparently we are to circle around close by parking lots and find a spot, because the zoo lot is full. What?!?!?!
So I pick a parking lot and circle for 20 minutes, and my turn comes! A car is loading up, I am next in line, the kids are so excited they could pop (we have been in the car for about 1.5 hours at this point, oh and sweet pea has to pee, love it) So this family, not unlike me, takes about 10 minutes to load into their car and when they finally pull out, a teenagery boy is standing in the spot, huh? So I roll down my window and ask what's up. He tells me this is his family's spot, wha????? He says his parents sent him to wait in the spot. His family is 3 cars back. This makes me want to cuss...for real! Ugh! I tried to appeal to him, to no avail. So we moved on-in tears. :( At this point, I was defeated. I told the kids we were leaving. Ro-dog was fuh-reaking out. Oh, well the best laid plans, right?
But wait, what is that I see? Someone leaving a spot on the side of the road. We are about 1 mile from the zoo at this point, but I decided to give it a go. I made it into the spot, thanks to my mad parallel parking skills, and off to the zoo we went.
To no one surprise, the zoo was, well, a zoo. SO many people it really wasn't even very fun. We only stayed about 2 hours, and we were just done. The kids did enjoy themselves. We fed Milunga (?) the giraffe, and saw a precious baby elephant. As we were leaving, we asked one of the police officers if it was a special day at the zoo? He said no, this is how it is every day of Spring Break. Who knew? He said it is not unusual for people to circle for 4 hours for a parking spot!?!?! Seriously? The zoo ain't that great folks! So after 4.5 hours total in the car yesterday (and the realization that we could have gone to Austin or Baton Rouge and had a heck of a lot more fun!) we learned not to go to the zoo over holiday breaks!
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