SAFARI!

Well, not a real safari - but amazing all the same. Read on my friend.

We have had such a fun week with Erin and then Lucas here - I love hanging out with my family, and wish I could do it much more often.

Yesterday we drove Lucas down to SVU. Last week we were looking online for something to do in that area that might make the day of 8 hours of driving slightly more survivable for the boys. I was looking at going trough some of the caverns in the area, but Grant found the Virginia Safari Park. I was skeptical - my experiences with privately owned zoos in the past have been less than stellar, but we decided to try it.

In the end it was hilarious/terrifying/awesome. You drive through the park with your windows rolled down and buckets of animal feed, and while that may sound tame and boring... I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. I got llama spit in my hair and our entire car was covered with animal spit and feed before we were through, but it was so worth it. I keep trying to type more about what it was like, but as they say "words can not express" so here are some pictures.

Before we went in, with no idea what we were in for...

A llama blocking our car with his "I know what you have in there and you aren't getting by until you get me some" stare

Jefferson feeding an Emu

Lucas feeding a Fallow Deer

Me feeding a bunch of Blackbucks

An Eland and a Zebra sticking their head in my window

The highlight of the day was probably Lucas wrestling with a camel for his feed bucket (Lucas won, but got thoroughly slimed in the process). Grant is working on editing the video he took of the event, and I will post the link when it is finished. While I'm somewhat unsure how they manage to keep it all safe, the animals all appeared very well cared for, and it was all very clean and well maintained, and like I said, we were all laughing so hard we could hardly talk, so I would say, if you are ever in that part of the world - go for it. But be prepared to vacuum your car out and take a shower after :)