Toledo Zoo

Jim's boss, Todd, is taking a transfer to a course in Tennessee, and for now, he is not going to be replaced here in Michigan. Jim is going to be very busy these next few months as he does his own work, takes over Todd's responsibilities, and loses most of his seasonal staff. Knowing that he will be working many hours in the next few months, Jim decided to take a day off yesterday to do something fun with Drew and me. Todd and his wife, Sarah, live in Toledo, and Sarah works at the Toledo Zoo. They gave us tickets to the zoo, and we decided to spend the day there yesterday.
The Toledo Zoo is one of the Top Ten zoos in the country, and after spending the day there, we could see why. We loved it! Because of the threat of rain, it wasn't at all crowded yesterday, and the weather was in the low 70's. The animals were fairly active because of the mild weather, and we were amazed at how close many of them came to the windows. We were able to see these animals so well!
Our first stop was at the Arctic exhibit to see the Polar bears. We loved watching them swim around. Then we went to the African safari area to see the giraffes and zebras. There is a train that goes around this area, and we were disappointed that it wasn't running yesterday. I'm sure it would have been a neat experience.

After we got through the Arctic and African areas, we went up a ramp and across a bridge that passed over a road.

We saw penguins. It was interesting to see them outdoors.

Meercats.

This sloth bear was so funny. He was sitting propped up against the window sleeping. He was so out of it!

A huge rhino.

Elephant.

A little petting farm of goats.

A chimpanzee that was right up by the glass.

This orangutan was absolutely huge!

These guys were putting on quite a show. They were running and swinging all around. We stayed there for quite a while.

This guy was sitting right up in the window. He was sitting in the bin that his food had come in, and he was eating. Drew enjoyed watching him eat, and he kept telling us what was on the monkey's menu.

This huge gorilla was sitting up by the window too. He was enormous, and it was amazing to be able to look right into his face and study him so closely!

We went back to the Arctic exhibit again at the end, and we were able to see the seals swimming and being fed.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Toledo Zoo, and we can't wait to go back again!