What a Bunch of Animals! - Mon., May 12

First, happy anniversary, Bob. Twenty-four years has gone by fast. I'm happy we live our lives for adventure. I love you.

Even though today's forecast called for a 40% chance of thunderstorms and rain, Laura and I braved the heat and humidity this morning for a visit to the San Antonio Zoo. Laura loves all animals. She visits zoos everywhere she goes.

Laura at San Antonio Zoo entrance.

The San Antonio Zoo is unique in its collection of animals. I've seen weird birds and beasts here that I've never seen before. Laura and I each ended up going our own way soon after entering the zoo. She was into monkeys, bats, armadillos, lions and tigers. I was into taking photos and looking at the cats and exotics. We had a snack together part-way through, then met up again when we finished. It sprinkled lightly a couple of times, but we didn't get wet.

Babirusa (Pig deer) from Indonesia

Yellow-backed duiker from Africa

Red River hog from Africa

Hamerkop

It is worth noting that the hamerkop above builds a nest over five feet across, containing over 10,000 sticks. A large nesting chamber, big enough for both adults and up to seven eggs, connects to the outside world with a snake-proof entrance up to two feet long.

Okapi from Ituri Forest of Central Africa

Bush dog from northern Africa.

Nubian Ibex from Africa

Secretary bird

Blue-bellied roller (western to central Africa)

Spectacled owl (Central & northern South America)

I do know a hippo when I see one!

Rhino viper (western to central Africa)

Violet-backed starling (sub-Saharan Africa)

Racket-tailed roller (Angola to Tanzania)

Fossa (Madagascar)

Lemur

As I was nearing the end of my animal viewing, I stopped to watch people feeding the koi. You will notice right away that one of those in the photo is not like the others. See below.

After the zoo, we picked up Louise and went to lunch at the Guenther House at the old Pioneer Flour Mill. Good choice of restaurant! Be sure to save room for the strudel.

There is also a small museum in the former Guenther House where the restaurant is located. If you visit San Antonio, make it a point to eat here for breakfast or lunch, but not on a weekend or you'll have a one to 1-1/2 hour wait!

Louise and Laura at The Guenther House

From the Guenther House, we started to drive through the King William Historic District, saw the Steves Homestead Museum, and decided to take the self-guided tour ($7.50 adults, $5 seniors 65+).

Steves Homestead Museum

The tour was quite interesting. My favorite piece in the museum was the table below. It looks like there are painted scenes on the table top. However, those inlays are made with tiny tiles. The magnifying glasses on the tabletop allow you to see the little tiles that make up the pictures.

We had time to go home and get ready for dinner at Susan and Darren's house, then headed over at 5:30 p.m. Traffic was terrible and we were 20 minutes late. Susan made a wonderful salad and stromboli. Darren whipped up homemade hummus which was served with summer squash slices. It was a very good meal. We brought the dessert: sponge cake layered with whipped cream and topped with sliced strawberries. Louise and Susan talked quilts. We learned all the places Susan and Darren were stationed in the Navy/Army. Susan and Darren were so thoughtful to invite us all over for dinner.

The Blazers/Spurs game was going to start soon after dinner and conversation, but it wouldn't be until 9:30 p.m. too late to watch it at Susan and Darren's house. We made our way back home. I am pleased to say, Portland played extremely well and won!! It wasn't a sweep. Now all Portland has to do is beat all the odds and win the next three games. It's never been done before to have a team come back from a 3-1 deficit and win a seven-game series. But there's always a first time.

As we were driving home, lightning flashed all around us. Once we were safely ensconced in our 5th wheel, the lightning, thunder and rain really showed up. My goodness, the thunder shook the trailer and my chair. Rain has been dumping for four hours and the thunder and lightning haven't taken much of a break. San Antonio is under a flash flood warning. This is reminiscent of the storms and flooding we had Memorial Day weekend 2013, just about one year ago.

Tomorrow there is still a 60% chance of thunderstorms and more rain until noon. Laura, Louise and I had planned to do the riverboat ride on the San Antonio River tomorrow. We will see what the weather is doing in the morning and re-think our plan. Quilt fabric shops are in our future, I think.

With the heavy rains, we have rain leaking in around our bedroom fan cover onto our bed. We put out a couple of pans and thick towels. Should be interesting trying to sleep around a box and with pans and two cats. Maybe the cats will opt to sleep elsewhere.

Travel Bug out.