Snowleopard's 2011 Road Trip

I also cannot wait for a 2012 trip! I probably will enjoy it even more than this year's, as you will be going to some zoos I'm more familiar with. Maybe you could even stop by Kansas City again and see the polar bear exhibit. I don't think I could put it better than AnaheimZoo has, even if I tried.

The only worry I have is that the zoos won't be as exciting this time around. You saw pretty much all of the country's best zoos in 2008 and 2010. I am sure there are some gems in these small zoos, but as you are an "exhibit guy," these zoos probably don't have the outstanding exhibits that some of the huge zoos do. I am sure you are well aware of this though.

I wish you the best of luck on this road trip, and your future beyond this. A Master's degree would be a very useful tool, especially for the money :) I can see you are trying to create as many future ZooChatters as you can. But it sounds like you truly enjoy your children so I also wish you good luck with this as well
 
@snowleopard: I have a couple suggestions for your 2012 trip. There are two Wisconsin zoos that are small and thus perfect for your family.

The first is called the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, WI. An awesome Amur tiger exhibit and an excellent Rainforest Aviary are the two best exhibits there. In addtion, a new Children's Zoo opened there a couple years ago, and I think it would be an excellent area for your kids to spend some time. There are a few outdated areas, but the zoo is going through a master plan, which should hopefully take care of these areas. One of these plans is a new polar bear exhibit called "Arctic Passage", housing seals, caribou, snowy owls, and, of course, the bears. It should be open by next year. And the last important note - it's free admission!

The other zoo is located an hour away from the Milwaukee Zoo. It's called the Racine Zoo. It's very cheap admission, and most of the exhibits are modern and naturalistic. A few examples are the Australian exhibit, called Walkabout Creek, and Bear Ridge, a grassy, hilly exhibit for spectacled bears.

There's more information on both of these zoos' websites. Hope you take these zoos into consideration! ;)
 
I would add to Milwaukee Man's recommendation that an ever prettier small zoo in Wisconsin is the NEW Zoo in Green Bay, with "NEW" being an acronymn for "NorthEastern Wisconsin". This small zoo is built into a Wisconsin conifer forest, so it is very pretty. It has a nice collection of North American animals, and a not bad collection of African animals.
 
I checked out the website of all 3 of those Wiconsin zoos, and I like the look of the cool kiddie treehouse at Henry Vilas Zoo (amongst other things), but I doubt that we'll be trekking through that state in 2012.

Thanks for the input guys, and I've already got a tentative itinerary for next summer as with my current time off I've been excited enough to plan for next year! The plan is for at least 45 zoos/aquariums (30 zoos and 15 aquariums) in approximately 60 days. We will likely be driving across Canada to Winnipeg (Assiniboine Park Zoo), then heading south to Minneapolis, driving beneath the Great Lakes ticking off many smaller zoos, spending 3 days in Michigan, landing in Boston for a couple of days (Franklin Park Zoo, New England Aquarium) and then basically driving down the entire east coast from Boston to Miami. There are about a dozen aquariums between Boston and Miami that might be worthwhile to see, as well as the odd zoo. After that we'll head north to Tennessee to spend a few days in that state and then make our way west to Oklahoma, and then head through Kansas, Colorado and onwards to our northern home.
 
snowleopard said:
Thanks for the input guys, and I've already got a tentative itinerary for next summer as with my current time off I've been excited enough to plan for next year! The plan is for at least 45 zoos/aquariums (30 zoos and 15 aquariums) in approximately 60 days. We will likely be driving across Canada to Winnipeg (Assiniboine Park Zoo), then heading south to Minneapolis, driving beneath the Great Lakes ticking off many smaller zoos, spending 3 days in Michigan, landing in Boston for a couple of days (Franklin Park Zoo, New England Aquarium) and then basically driving down the entire east coast from Boston to Miami. There are about a dozen aquariums between Boston and Miami that might be worthwhile to see, as well as the odd zoo. After that we'll head north to Tennessee to spend a few days in that state and then make our way west to Oklahoma, and then head through Kansas, Colorado and onwards to our northern home.
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We should have an International Zoo Critics Convention in Vancouver and then rent a fleet of RVs and take a mass trek reviewing the great zoos of North America. We can call it "snowleopardpalooza". The zoo world would tremble before us as we roam from zoo to zoo sampling their cuisine, rummaging through their gift shops, and critiquing the adequacy of their exhibits.
 
DavidBrown said:
We should have an International Zoo Critics Convention in Vancouver and then rent a fleet of RVs and take a mass trek reviewing the great zoos of North America. We can call it "snowleopardpalooza". The zoo world would tremble before us as we roam from zoo to zoo sampling their cuisine, rummaging through their gift shops, and critiquing the adequacy of their exhibits.
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Haha, funny. Every now and again the zoo would have bulletins posted everywhere reading, "Welcome snowleopardpalooza members!" And they'd prepare tons of things specifically for our arrival, making sure every staff member was being extra-polite and in a good mood, etc, etc. Then they stampede to the nearest computer to read the reviews of their zoo. Who knows? Maybe they'd even hire a maid to Swiffer-dust the exhibits prior to our visit! :D
 
Oh my god guys, I love it!:D, another amazing roadtrip snowleopard road trip that continues to keep me entertained throught my summer break:D, I'd love the idea of a massive roadtrip;), surely would make the news across the usa, maybe even the world!:D, I'd definatly be there with you all;)
 
snowleopard said:
POST-SCRIPT:

We’ll visit Busch Gardens and Lowry Park,
QUOTE]

Definately make the trip to Busch Gardens and Lowry Park. Both are great zoos with great collections. Busch Gardens has much bigger exhibits than Lowry Park, but Lowry Park has a more diverse array of species (Busch Gardens focuses on African animals, along with several Asian species, kangaroos and wallabies, and American Alligators. Lowry Park has African, Asian, North American, South American, and Australian animals.) Both institutions also have great kid stuff, like feeding animals such as birds, giraffes, and kangaroos, riding camels, playgrounds, and other stuff I'm sure your kids would like.
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avian83 said:
I live in Baltimore and would be happy to meet up with you at Baltimore Zoo, National Aquarium, National Zoo and/or Philadelphia Zoo!
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As would I if you happen to stop by the Kansas City Zoo again, or possibly when you go to Topeka.
 
snowleopard said:
...and then basically driving down the entire east coast from Boston to Miami. There are about a dozen aquariums between Boston and Miami that might be worthwhile to see, as well as the odd zoo.
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Any plans for the Bronx squeezed in that East Coast swing there?? ;)
 
Snowleopard,

I'm not sure how your schedule works, however, I wholeheartedly recommend any Florida zoo trip be done either in October or Mid-March. If you do it in the summer, then the heat will ultimately get to your kids and yourself. I don't care about Arizona/Southern California, the humidity in Florida trumps all.

All the kids are back in schools by October and the weather is still great by snow bird standards, and Mid-March is when kids are taking the standardized tests and the flowers will start blooming.
 
Santa Ana Zoo at Prentice Park is pure junk! I have visited 23 zoos/aquaria, and SA is probably at the bottom somewhere. I did like the farm and the pampas. Two species that I have always wanted to see- margays and owl monkeys- were off exhibit. Great.
 
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