After checking the weather forecast last night before going to bed,
Guylaine and I decided to make a Plan B. 70 – 80% chance of thunderstorms all
day. Not only was it raining intermittently after we got home last night, a
severe thunderstorm woke us at about 5:30am. It is a miracle after such a storm
that none of our stuff got wet, because when I went to bed last night, I forgot
to close the rear window on the Cadillac. Nothing wet, nothing stolen. Amazing.
I did set the clock for 7:00, but we really didn’t think we’d
be going anywhere, so I hit the snooze a few times. Then Guylaine got up and
saw sun, and lo and behold, we had an hour and a half to get ready, make our
lunch and meet Chris and Dan at the zoo.
The GPS got us lost and made us about 10 minutes late, but
we still managed to get ready in a hurry. Once again the threatening weather
has kept the crowds away. I’ve got no problem with that. Dan and Chris came
down yesterday and are staying at the Chateau Bromont.
The zoo has changed a bit since we were here last. They have
a new aquarium for starters. It was really well done. I was surprised that the
kids enjoyed it as much as they did seeing as how we were at the aquarium
earlier in the week.
We made our way to the amusement park in the middle of the
zoo and spent a good hour and a half in there. The kids loved it, They went
from ride to ride and entertained themselves while the four adults sat and
watched, and rested.
Dan and Chris were getting hungry and they decided they were
buying their lunch today. We had already eaten, but we went into the building
with them and ended up spending close to $60 on food and slush puppies. We told
the kids that they were getting this instead of the gift shop. (Yes – I finally
get to skip a gift shop!)
When we looked outside after lunch it was pouring outside.
My wife, always prepared whipped out some umbrellas and ponchos, then she went
up to the cash and bought ponchos for those we were missing and one for our
wagon to cover our stuff, then she had everyone change out of their running
shoes and into their crocs to keep our shoes dry. Rain? No problem. Everyone
headed for the exits. We headed into the heart of Africa to see the lions,
elephants, giraffes and zebras. The rain subsided after a bit, and while it was
steady on and off for the rest of the day, we had no more downpours. We were
pretty much finished at the zoo anyway. We headed towards the parking lot when
all of a sudden we had a fecal emergency. After watching the animals answer the
call of the wild all day, two of mine decided that they couldn’t get past the
gate without stopping by the facilities. Guylaine brought Xavier and Alex went
also. I took the others to pack up the truck. A guy at the gate was giving away
free veggie chips and he kept putting them in our wagon, so the kids snacked on
those while I loaded the truck. Guylaine, Alex and Xavier met us at the truck.
Guylaine changed Xavier into his bathing suit because his pants were soaked
from jumping in the puddles all afternoon. We drove to the other end of the
parking lot and went into the water park that is part of the zoo. It rained most
of the time we were there, but who cares? We were wet anyways and we had the
place to ourselves. The weather was exactly the same last time we came here. We
caught up to Chris and Dan in the lazy river, then we headed up to the big wave pool. They left about 6:30, but we stayed right until close at 7:00. We
headed back to the trailer which was about a 15 minute drive. Everyone took
their showers to warm up and we actually turned the furnace on in the trailer
for the first time ever.We made a nice supper while the kids played, then we
decided to have a game of SkipBo. Even Xavier wanted to try and convinced he
could play by counting to 30 in english and french. He did ok (with some help
from mom and Katrina, but in the end he quit so he could play with Katrina’s
iPod. Our game went on until almost 11:00!. No problem getting them to bed
tonight. Guylaine took her shower and turned in early. Last night on the road.
It’s always bittersweet for me. I love being on the road, but I look forward to
having the truck and the trailer clean and organised again. We did manage to
squeeze in a lot of vacation in a little time and I think we all need a rest.
One day and one blog to go……..till next weekend in our triumphant return to Niagara
Falls.
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