Bear World

Okay, this post is a little out of sync, but we had too many pics and stories from our trip to Utah to show and tell them all at once. On the way home from Utah, we spent a few days in Idaho falls to visit with Amy's Grandma and here Aunt, Uncle, and cousin.

While we were down there we decided to make a little trip to a place that is simply called "Bear World" This is a great little animal refuge north of Idaho falls. They have bears, elk, a rare albino elk, baby bear cubs, and a petting zoo.

To see most of the animals, you drive your car right through their paddocks. The bears walk right across the road in front of the cars and there are no fences between you and them. The park staff reminds you, in a loud and repetitive fashion , to keep you windows rolled up at all times.

However, despite the admonishment of the staff to keep your windows up and don't feed the bears, you can pay to ride around in a big truck and throw hunks of meat at the bears instead!!

We didn't do this, but the bears really love that truck. We just happened to be right behind it in our small, low to the ground car, with rolled up windows and no meat. Greeeeaaaaaat!!

The baby bear cubs are REALLY cute, and they run around and wrestle and climb on things. They MUST be boys. The one in this picture loved to play with a stick.

I just loved the baby fawns. I nearly had my Man Card revoked for making silly voices and cooing at the baby deer. If you have never touched a deer, the grown ones have fairly coarse fur. The baby fawn was the opposite - its fur was wonderfully soft.

More animals from the petting zoo - clockwise we have some goats, a ginormous rooster, turkey, a guinea hen, a midget (Bantam) Rooster, and a tiny baby duckling. The midget rooster was really funny - he seemed to think he was ten feet tall and bulletproof. He had one heck of a strut on him for a creature that stands about 8 inches tall.

The deer would eat grain right out of your hands. I don't mean to sound morbid, but the only deer I have ever touched were dead ones after I shot them during hunting season. I have always had a lot of respect for deer, so it was a real treat to get to pet a live one.

Bear world is a cool place, and ironically, the grown man was the one who seemed to enjoy the petting zoo far more than any of the kids that day. Go figure.

I must be getting Old.....

WARNING: This may be a boring post.

I hear that as you get older, you start to realize how many boring stories you end up telling people. Here's one from me:

So we went to the store today to get a few groceries and thing s we needed for the apartment.
Well, I ended up in the housewares section of our local Wal Mart (I know, I'm a bad person for shopping there) staring at the giant wall of light bulbs.

As I stood there, I got to thinking, "You know, the bulb I'm replacing was a 150 watt bulb. I bet I could save a lot of money on my electrical bill if I got one of those energy saving fluorescent bulbs."

And like that, I suddenly discovered that I was 65 years old. I remember when we were kids, and the household fluorescent bulbs first became available, my father went and spent a bunch of money on these newfangled fluorescent bulbs and put them in all the lamps in our house. He too was trying to save a little money on the electrical bill. They gave off that cold, greenish white industrial glow, and I remember how much we hated them - we would actually cheer with joy when one would die and we could replace it with a normal 75 watt bulb.

I'm not sure if Dad ever knew this, but we would occasionally try to give the bulbs a little extra nudge to help them shuffle off this mortal coil a little faster. I guess you could refer to it as some type of electrical euthanasia...... we might knock over a lamp by "accident" or know into the ceiling bulb with a broom handle as we went by.

And now, here I am, 28 years old, standing in the housewares section, and doing exactly what my dad did. Crap!!

I used to be cool.... I swear!! My mom says I'm cool!!

Trailer Park Moment of the Week (8-8-08)

Ok, so this "Trailer Park Moment of the Week" thing should probably be a weekly occurrence. At least that's what the title implies. However, I am lazy and forgetful, so these little golden moments will probably only occur when I remember to do them. In this case, I was shocked into memory by the sight of something so wonderfully trashy that I HAD to post it up here!!

I suppose it's a bad sign that I would give give my right arm (or other things) to own this fantastic item!! I hope you all enjoy this one!! If those two great men by the names of Smith and Wesson were looking down from heaven right now, I think they'd be grinning from ear to ear!

I don't think I need to say anything else. If you don't understand it, you never will. Wives, please support your husbands in making the necessary sacrifices so your family can obtain one of these fine, stainless steel, beauties. I guarantee that they'll only go up in value, and your home just won't be complete until you have one!