This Place Stinks

Today we took the day off, and drove down to Colorado Springs to have lunch, do a little shopping, and take our daughter to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

I was thinking we would just buy a season pass to the zoo -- after all, the way zoos are priced, if you go 3 times in a year, you've more than paid for the price of your season pass. And Colorado Springs is just as close to us as downtown Denver, so it's a coin toss which zoo is closest to our home.

But this zoo was definitely NOT repeat material.

For starters, it wasn't very pretty. Everything was painted shades of brown (mostly) which wasn't very exciting.

Also, it's mostly under construction. See, most zoos are largely staffed by volunteers, and they're open 365 days a year. Why? So they can sustain themselves financially. They ahve hte same overhead every day, so might as well get some paying folks to come by and help support things. (Andy and I used to volunteer at the Aquarium/Zoo when we lived in New Orleans).

So it's not really surprising that they would remain open, despite about 50% of hte zoo being closed or inaccessible for construction.

The other odd thing is that there is a road that goes through the zoo. Not just for zoo vehicles, either. So you have to watch your step (and your kids) every second because of the motorized traffic.

But the indoor exhibits were what really shocked me.

The smell was beyond anything you can imagine.

Now, I am not sensitive to animal smells. ACtually, my father is a veterinarian. I've been in zoos, I've been on fishing boats, I think I've pretty much smelled it all. But when you feel like the smell of monkey piss is actually eating your esophagus, well, it seems to me there's a bit of a ventilation problem there.

Sadly, those weren't the parts that were being remodeled.

Needless to say, we didn't buy a season pass. But it was an adventure, and we did have an excellent lunch at Amanda's Fonda. And we got a great workout, because this mountain zoo had quite a bit of steep climbs for us to push those strollers up.

Hmmm, what QoD can I leave yuo with today?

How about this --

Have you ever played tourist in your own state? If not, why not? You just might learn something. If you can get past the smell, that is...