A few weeks ago I wrote about our experience at the Children's Museum during the Christmas holidays. We were all on vacation, and wanted to get out of the house. It seemed like a good idea and we made the best of it, but it was a little busy. This past Monday was the MLK holiday. We were all off again, so we were looking for another family activity. Last fall, Jen thought that it would be a good idea to become members of the Houston Zoo. A2 absolutely loves animals and joining the zoo would give us the opportunity to take her frequently. So, we joined and have been to the zoo a few times. The weather on Monday was supposed to be very nice as well, so it seemed like a good day to enjoy the outdoors at the zoo. Monday morning arrived and once again we were off like a herd of turtles. For some reason (kids) it can be difficult and time consuming to leave the house. On the way to the zoo, the freeway traffic was very light. We exited and tried to take our familiar route to the parking area. First, we encountered a road closed for construction. Then another road was closed by the police. This closure left us in a one lane line that stretched all of the way around Hermann park to the zoo entrance. Maybe this was not the best day to go to the zoo. As we inched our way closer to the zoo, we noticed lots of families crossing the road in front of us walking in the direction of the zoo. This should have served as a clue that the regular parking area was full. We finally made it into the vast zoo parking lot, and yup, it was completely full. I decided to drop off Jen and the kids at the entrance and then I went in search of parking. There were a few people already leaving the zoo and heading to their cars. They all were being stalked by numerous cars trying to get in position to get their vacated parking space. I did not try the stalking method. I left the zoo parking area and went to other nearby parking lots. After circling in two other lots with no luck, I thought that Jen and the kids were going to enjoy the zoo without me. As I was pulling out in search of another parking lot, I noticed a couple of HPD officers directing traffic by the Natural Science Museum. I pulled up to them and showed them my ID. I asked them if they had any idea where I could find a parking space. They said sure, pull straight ahead to those cones behind those cars, and then just move the cones to behind your car. They also wanted me to put some kind of police ID on the dashboard. I pulled up and parked, and I got a few strange looks from nearby citizens as I moved the cones. I thanked the officers and began the trek to the zoo. As I was walking, Jen sent me a text message saying that the zoo was not charging an entrance fee today. That at least partially explained the extremely high number of people at the zoo. I knew Courtney was off, so I called her to vent about the traffic and parking nightmare that I had just experienced. Shortly after our conversation, she sent me a text message that made me laugh out loud. It read: Apparently MLK had a dream...and that dream was that the Houston Zoo would be free on his day. That was funny.
Once inside, I found Jen and the kids. We quickly decided that we would not be spending all day with the thousands of people at the zoo. I decided to ask A and A2 which one type of animal they really wanted to see today. A quickly decided on the reptiles and A2 on the elephants. So, we set out in search of those particular animals. We wound our way past the giraffes, elephants, big cats, primates, and finally the reptiles. Along the way, there was only one really bizarre incident. We were all standing by the leopard exhibit. There was one leopard way up high on the rocks, awake but just hanging out. There was another one, a black panther, asleep on top of a small platform. All of the sudden, a middle aged man carrying a small girl, decided to throw something at the panther. Within seconds, there was a zoo employee confronting the man. The zoo employee was very polite, but he firmly asked the man to refrain from throwing things at the animals. The man's response was, "It is a lazy cat, it needs to get up and do something." The zoo employee did not have a response for that. After seeing the elephants and reptiles as promised, we decided that we would prefer to eat a nice lunch away from the zoo. We walked back to the car and I moved the cones from behind the car. As we were loading up the kids, I noticed a truck pull in behind us waiting for the parking space. I did not want their vehicle to get towed and I did not want any problems for the officers that let me park there. So, I went up the truck and said, "Sorry, but this is police parking only." They did not look very happy, and I could not blame them. Sometimes, it helps to be the Po-Po.
Once inside, I found Jen and the kids. We quickly decided that we would not be spending all day with the thousands of people at the zoo. I decided to ask A and A2 which one type of animal they really wanted to see today. A quickly decided on the reptiles and A2 on the elephants. So, we set out in search of those particular animals. We wound our way past the giraffes, elephants, big cats, primates, and finally the reptiles. Along the way, there was only one really bizarre incident. We were all standing by the leopard exhibit. There was one leopard way up high on the rocks, awake but just hanging out. There was another one, a black panther, asleep on top of a small platform. All of the sudden, a middle aged man carrying a small girl, decided to throw something at the panther. Within seconds, there was a zoo employee confronting the man. The zoo employee was very polite, but he firmly asked the man to refrain from throwing things at the animals. The man's response was, "It is a lazy cat, it needs to get up and do something." The zoo employee did not have a response for that. After seeing the elephants and reptiles as promised, we decided that we would prefer to eat a nice lunch away from the zoo. We walked back to the car and I moved the cones from behind the car. As we were loading up the kids, I noticed a truck pull in behind us waiting for the parking space. I did not want their vehicle to get towed and I did not want any problems for the officers that let me park there. So, I went up the truck and said, "Sorry, but this is police parking only." They did not look very happy, and I could not blame them. Sometimes, it helps to be the Po-Po.
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