CoSprings: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Everyone who knows us also knows that we love animals of all kinds. Well, except for the creepy crawly and slithery kind. We especially love seeing animals in the wild ... where they belong. But it’s not always possible to see critters in their native habitats. So, sometimes we go to a ‘reputable’ zoo to see animals, too. That’s what we did today. Taking advantage of a glorious blue-sky day that was plenty comfortable temperature-wise, we headed to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with mom.

The zoo has an interesting conservation program. When admission is purchased, each visitor is given tokens equaling 75 cents. Just inside the entrance are “Quarters for Conservation” kiosks where visitors “vote with their tokens” on the program(s) they want to support. Since this program started in 2008, it has raised more than $2.5 million for field conservation. Today we added to that amount by choosing to support conservation efforts for orangutans, giraffes, and elephants and rhinos.

Our good deed done, we then wandered the various exhibits, watching the antics of the animals. The zoo lives up to its nickname — America’s Mountain Zoo. The terrain is very hilly, with steady climbs to reach the exhibits on the slopes. There is a gondola to help people get around, but it wasn’t operational today. I suppose we could have used the shuttle — $2pp for rides all day long — but we opted to get around under our own steam instead. A bit of exercise as we enjoyed ourselves.

After our visit to the zoo, we got a bite of lunch at Shangri-La, a Chinese restaurant recommended by our neighbors. They did not steer us wrong. While the ambiance of the place is nothing to write home about, the food is tasty. Mom ordered the sweet and sour chicken; Mui went for his favorite ... General Tso chicken ... avoiding the red hot peppers; and I got the beef lo-mein. We wrapped up by sharing a bananas supreme ... deep fried bananas served with vanilla ice cream ... yummy!

Looks like there is snow in the forecast for Monday. In the meantime, we have a delightful weekend forecast, so we’re going to try and make the most of it with a couple more outings. Our home projects can wait 🤪.

For more photos from our day at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, click this link for my online gallery: https://eenusa.smugmug.com/North-America-US-Can…もっと詳しく