Greetings from the Big D

The Big D

Lisa and I go home tomorrow, but we've really had a good time in Dallas.....the weather was absolutely beautiful and we did a lot of fun stuff--IKEA, Mavs game, Dave and Busters, Dick's Last Resort, shopping, the zoo, etc, etc.... Our hotel was a very trendy type of hotel, called aLoft, and it didn't even feel like a hotel. It felt like an apartment, very hip and trendy. It was great. It was right on the freeway, but I was able to run each day behind the hotel into a corporate building area. The first day I ran, I created a 3 mile route that I ran each day. Most of the path was on wide roads without shoulders or sidewalks, but a portion of it went through a parking lot of one of the corporate buildings, and another part of it was on a dirt trail. I loved the looks I got on the second day when I ran right past the outdoor smoking area of one of the buildings. All the smokers were out there, maybe on a break, and the look on there face was like "what the heck are you doing?" It felt good to get some runs in, and I felt extra healthy running past those smokers.

The Zoo Experience

Lisa and I love going to zoos. Whenever we take a trip somewhere, we always try to go to the zoo. We have been in many zoos all over the country. So, we decided to go to the Dallas Zoo on St Patricks Day. Evidently, about half the city of Dallas also decided to go to the zoo as well. I've never seen a zoo so busy. The exit off the highway to get to the zoo was backed up about a mile, and we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for about 30 minutes just exiting the highway. Then, once we exited and went about a block to the zoo, the parking lot was full, so we were directed to the overflow lot, and we were at the very far end of that lot. We had to walk about a mile from our parking spot to the entrance. Then, when we got to the entrance, the lines were crazy busy and long. Literally we spent an hour and a half just exiting the highway, driving a block, parking the car, and walking to the front of the zoo. We almost turned around and left a couple times, but we had already invested too much time. Plus, it was a nice day to walk around at the zoo. So after spending $30 between toll charges, parking, and admission, I was really looking forward to seeing what the Dallas Zoo had to offer......but after walking around for awhile, I started noticing a trend. See if you can figure it out:

And these are just some of the exhibits that were closed due to construction or whatever. I was really disappointed that the otters were off exhibit, I love the otters. And, of the exhibits that were open, the animals were either laying in the shade taking naps or hiding in caves or underneath bushes or something. With so many people at the zoo, I was surprised that so much of it was closed. It seemed like we saw more zoo workers than animals, seriously.

Anyway, it gave me a whole new appreciation for our zoo back home, it's pretty great I think. Hope everyone is having an awesome spring break week!