something tells me it's all happening at the zoo

 I made it to the zoo on Saturday! I feel so accomplished!!!! 

Since Blogspot and Blogger hate me and do not support non-Google based embedding, here is a link to my Flickr album with more photos, and a TikTok video or two from the trip.

I hadn't been on a soloventure like this since the pandemic started. I used to do these little trips like this often enough, less so in recent years, but I still did them. 

The trip did not go off without a hitch, and I did have one anxiety attack meltdown over the bus stop locations, but once I figured it out, I was fine. The sign for the 58 bus was just a laminated piece of paper that someone had removed, so you just had to know that they stop was there. It showed up on the Google Map, but not the pole itself. The only way I figured it out was seeing the red stain on the pole from where the sign had been. Using the bus method I chose, it actually only takes less than an hour to get to the zoo, even on a Saturday. I am going to be making this a once a month (or more) outing. 

I made it to the zoo at about 9:35, and it was already SO HOT. The San Francisco Zoo is usually cold and foggy because it's by the ocean, but today it decided to be hot, and I was #notprepared lol. The animals were either still waking up or sheltering from the heat.

I know that there are people who do not like zoos, and if this is the case, this isn't the post for you! LOL.

One of the things I love the most about the San Francisco Zoo is how much is has evolved even during my lifetime. You can tell that the team they have working for the zoo deeply respects and loves the animals they steward. Many of the animals at the zoo are rescues. They have large and beautiful habitat enclosures, and they have lots of fun enrichment programmes, like taking the penguins on walks through the zoo and having the ponies walk around and make friends with the other animals. 

On Saturday, the only the animals who have water as part of their enclosure were out and about.

I LOVED Pennie and Tinkerbelle when I was a kid. You got to feed them on special occasions. Her passing was very sad, and I still think about Pennie a lot.

Bliss.

One of the things I like the most about the San Francisco Zoo is that it's just one big garden. While I like the size of the Oakland Zoo (and their amazing habitats), it's in the barren Oakland Hills and it doesn't have the same efficient layout as the San Francisco Zoo. What's that expression, "all roads lead to Rome," or something like that? The SF Zoo's layout has everything lead back to the entrance and there are no dead ends. The San Francisco Zoo is just one big, lush garden filled with vegetation, little birdhouses, bat boxes, and other natural habitats. It's just one big, happy garden!

I was most excited to see the new Snow Leopard enclosure, but it was too hot for them, and they didn't want to come out, hee hee!

I skipped the Insect Zoo this time around and the koalas, but still saw most of the zoo. I was done in a little under two hours. It was just too hot for me, and there was some Harry Potter movie scavenger hunt event, so I was basically #overit by 11ish. I stopped on the way back to the bus stop (which I had to find) to get a Reuben from George's Zoo. I caught the 12:45 bus back to home, and  was home before 1:30. The hours on the official zoo website say "10am to 5pm," but the reservation system online says I can start at 9:30am on Saturdays and Sundays, which I might do next time, since I was there at like 9:30 anyway! I like being by myself and doing what I wanted to do. Next time, I might bring a sketchbook and some watercolours and maybe sketch and paint some of the animals! :D

I will say that I was sort of nervous about the bus stop situation and being alone for extended periods of time because of how horrible everything has been here lately. The bus stops are in residential areas, but remote--there is nothing around you for the 58 stops and it's definitely a trip I wouldn't take in the evenings. I definitely had a meltdown over finding the 58 stop going towards the zoo. Also, MUNI in one direction is now $3! what the fuck!!!!! I don't even know if you get transfers anymore! Not to date myself or anything, but when I was riding MUNI regularly, it was only 35 cents and you got a transfer! I think one minor anxiety attack with intense crying is pretty good for my first solo venture out completely by myself. 

 All in all, I made it to the zoo okay, spent a couple of hours there, and then got home before 1:30. I do get anxious about spending time doing anything on the weekends, because I literally feel like I am running out of time, which I know is a bit silly on many levels, but, you know, I only have a limited amount of time to get anything done and taking time out to do little things like this takes away from other things. :( 

See you next month, SF Zoo! :)