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Jul. 29th, 2004 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckThe zoo trip that I ranted about back in May finally happened this month. It had been repeatedly delayed and rescheduled because trying to get 20+ people in the same place at the same time is not easy.
Sunday, July 11th, was very hot and very humid. It was a day for sitting in the shade and watching crazy people run around and exhaust themselves. Sadly, we were committed. We set out for Battle Creek at about noon, right when I was expecting Delia to nap. The trip wasn't bad except for the phone call from Scott's father who was already at the zoo and wondering why we weren't there yet (the plan was to meet at 1:00, so we weren't even late yet). Since we hadn't quite reached the highway yet, we felt a little embarrassed.
We took the big stroller because it has the best carrying capacity. We were taking a small cooler, the one Scott uses for his lunches, to keep Delia's dinner and her bottles cold, and we wanted to be able to carry that and the diaper bag in the stroller while Delia was riding. Scott's father pushed Delia around all afternoon. She only objected when she couldn't see me or Scott nearby.
We arrived at the zoo as the rest of the extended family was finishing a picnic that we hadn't been told about. Knowing about it probably wouldn't have changed our plans since we were timing things to make sure Delia napped, but it would have been nice to be told. Right after we arrived, everyone headed for the zoo entrance.
Once we got in, Scott and I ended up delayed because all of the wheelchairs available were too small. They had bigger ones, just not there. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the zoo staff to find one and bring it over. That delay meant that we lost the opportunity to show Delia the part of the zoo I think she'd have enjoyed-- the children's zoo. By the time we reached it, the rest of the family was just leaving. We had time to show Delia the miniature goats. They were available for petting, and Scott took Delia into the pen. Delia became a bigger draw for the older children than the goats were. The children all wanted to give Delia food pellets so they could see her feed them to the goats. Delia was not at all sure that any of this was a good idea and stayed very close to Scott's legs. Eventually, one of the kids (goat not human) started trying to eat her skirted onesie, and that was the last straw. She cried and demanded to leave.
From there, the whole family proceeded to take a train ride to the "African village." That part of the zoo is basically a nature preserve with a trail through it. It starts and ends at a cluster of gift shops and refreshment stands done up to look kind of African. The tape played on the train and all of the informational postings pretended that we were in a park in Africa somewhere (I forget where exactly). There was a warning posted that the trail ahead would be hilly, but that understated things a bit. The sign also didn't mention that large portions of the trail were unpaved.
Once we'd started, there was no way to go but forward. Poor Scott had to work so hard pushing me forward that he ended up with heat exhaustion and had to call in sick to work the next day.
The highlight of the trail was an overlook where they sold food to be given to the giraffes. From there, we could also see zebras, vultures and some horned antelope-like critters (I forget which type). All them were in a large (by zoo standards) enclosure. We couldn't see the far edge of it. There were other enclosures along the way with monkeys, birds and wild dogs. There were also an assortment of little tableaux intended to imply the presence of park rangers and poachers.
After we finished that trail, the whole family went to a Lone Star Steakhouse. As expected, I had a hard time getting food that was safe. I had to specify that they weren't to use butter on my steak. The waitress was surprised even though I'd said "No dairy" half a dozen times before that. She kept saying there wasn't any until I asked about the butter, and then she said, "Oh, we use lemon butter on the meat." Since when is butter not included under the heading of "dairy?"
Apart from that, dinner was okay. We got to talk to Scott's brother and his wife a bit, and the restaurant was a lot cooler than anywhere else we'd been all day. After we'd all eaten, we did a group photo. Squeezing that many people into the frame wasn't easy, and nobody'd remembered to bring a tripod, so people improvised using parked cars.
Sunday, July 11th, was very hot and very humid. It was a day for sitting in the shade and watching crazy people run around and exhaust themselves. Sadly, we were committed. We set out for Battle Creek at about noon, right when I was expecting Delia to nap. The trip wasn't bad except for the phone call from Scott's father who was already at the zoo and wondering why we weren't there yet (the plan was to meet at 1:00, so we weren't even late yet). Since we hadn't quite reached the highway yet, we felt a little embarrassed.
We took the big stroller because it has the best carrying capacity. We were taking a small cooler, the one Scott uses for his lunches, to keep Delia's dinner and her bottles cold, and we wanted to be able to carry that and the diaper bag in the stroller while Delia was riding. Scott's father pushed Delia around all afternoon. She only objected when she couldn't see me or Scott nearby.
We arrived at the zoo as the rest of the extended family was finishing a picnic that we hadn't been told about. Knowing about it probably wouldn't have changed our plans since we were timing things to make sure Delia napped, but it would have been nice to be told. Right after we arrived, everyone headed for the zoo entrance.
Once we got in, Scott and I ended up delayed because all of the wheelchairs available were too small. They had bigger ones, just not there. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the zoo staff to find one and bring it over. That delay meant that we lost the opportunity to show Delia the part of the zoo I think she'd have enjoyed-- the children's zoo. By the time we reached it, the rest of the family was just leaving. We had time to show Delia the miniature goats. They were available for petting, and Scott took Delia into the pen. Delia became a bigger draw for the older children than the goats were. The children all wanted to give Delia food pellets so they could see her feed them to the goats. Delia was not at all sure that any of this was a good idea and stayed very close to Scott's legs. Eventually, one of the kids (goat not human) started trying to eat her skirted onesie, and that was the last straw. She cried and demanded to leave.
From there, the whole family proceeded to take a train ride to the "African village." That part of the zoo is basically a nature preserve with a trail through it. It starts and ends at a cluster of gift shops and refreshment stands done up to look kind of African. The tape played on the train and all of the informational postings pretended that we were in a park in Africa somewhere (I forget where exactly). There was a warning posted that the trail ahead would be hilly, but that understated things a bit. The sign also didn't mention that large portions of the trail were unpaved.
Once we'd started, there was no way to go but forward. Poor Scott had to work so hard pushing me forward that he ended up with heat exhaustion and had to call in sick to work the next day.
The highlight of the trail was an overlook where they sold food to be given to the giraffes. From there, we could also see zebras, vultures and some horned antelope-like critters (I forget which type). All them were in a large (by zoo standards) enclosure. We couldn't see the far edge of it. There were other enclosures along the way with monkeys, birds and wild dogs. There were also an assortment of little tableaux intended to imply the presence of park rangers and poachers.
After we finished that trail, the whole family went to a Lone Star Steakhouse. As expected, I had a hard time getting food that was safe. I had to specify that they weren't to use butter on my steak. The waitress was surprised even though I'd said "No dairy" half a dozen times before that. She kept saying there wasn't any until I asked about the butter, and then she said, "Oh, we use lemon butter on the meat." Since when is butter not included under the heading of "dairy?"
Apart from that, dinner was okay. We got to talk to Scott's brother and his wife a bit, and the restaurant was a lot cooler than anywhere else we'd been all day. After we'd all eaten, we did a group photo. Squeezing that many people into the frame wasn't easy, and nobody'd remembered to bring a tripod, so people improvised using parked cars.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 03:14 pm (UTC)Much argh over the steak thing...people can be so clueless, no matter how well meaning they are. If you say "no dairy", that means no dairy, no milk, no butter, no dairy. Anyway, argh. You don't have to go to the restaurant again, do you?
no subject
Date: 2004-07-31 03:00 pm (UTC)I don't expect we'll go to a Lone Star Steakhouse again (It's a chain). Scott's allergic to beef, so it's not exactly generally welcoming. The family just didn't have many options given the size of the group.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-29 06:11 pm (UTC)As for the Steakhouse - it amazes me that in this day and age with a generally widespread understanding of differing dietary requirements that someone should be so clueless as to what "dairy" means!!
no subject
Date: 2004-07-31 03:09 pm (UTC)I find that more than half of the people I encounter have no clue at all about differing dietary requirements, apart from those imposed by the latest fad diets. Often, they have no concept what the words mean. It's especially true of younger folks, teenagers working waiting tables.