Snowleopard's 2017 Road Trip

m30t said:
Regarding the zoo keeper question, that is an interesting observation, I wonder if it is also due to the fact that while keepers are passionate about animals, it is also their profession. As a result, when they are on vacation going to other zoos would in some way be similar to going to work. An intriguing observation though.
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This was exactly what I was thinking. When I'm on vacation, the very last thing I want to think about it is the stuff I have to do at work. I take a vacation to get away from work.

But this observation of SL's is not entirely true. I've know zoo employees (especially directors) who have been to many other zoos. Sedgwick County Zoo's longtime director, Mark Reed, has been to hundreds of zoos worldwide.
 
I've found that a lot of zoo-keepers actually have little interest in animals at all. It's bizarre I'll admit, because what other reason for working in a zoo is there other than because you love animals? But a lot of keepers I've met and worked with are only interested in the specific animals they work with at their zoo. They have zero interest in learning about other animals, or visiting zoos, or seeing animals in the wild. I even met a manager at one small place who had literally never been to another zoo in her life, which was just flabbergasting.

Obviously this isn't the case for all zoo-keepers, but I do find it to be common.
 
MUSIC:


On past road trip threads, I've often mentioned what music I listen to while I'm speeding around the United States visiting every zoo and aquarium in my path. I'm a little bit stuck in time as in the past I attended exactly 54 concerts but I have not seen any shows since late 2005 when I watched the Rolling Stones in back-to-back gigs in Seattle and Portland. Also, at one point I owned more than 800 CD's and I still have 300 or so but I've never even operated an I-pod. Each time I venture on a summer road trip I feel that I'm taking the same lineup of musical artists along for the ride...not that there is anything wrong with that! I veer towards choosing the same group of my favourite CD's, including many Greatest Hits compilations, and typed out below is a full listing of all the CD's that I had with me on this particular trip.

In alphabetical order (by band name or solo artist's last name):

The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion (their best record)

Blue Rodeo - Nowhere to Here (legendary Canadian country/rock band)

Bon Jovi - Greatest Hits (Cross Road)

CCR - Greatest Hits (Chronicle)

David Bowie - Greatest Hits

Def Leppard - Greatest Hits (Vault 1980-1995)

Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind

Steve Earle - 2 albums: The Revolution Starts Now; Jerusalem

54-40 - Greatest Hits (popular Vancouver band that has been around 35 years)

Green Day - American Idiot (their best record)

Guns n' Roses - 2 albums: Use Your Illusion I; Use Your Illusion II

INXS - Kick (I grew up obsessed with this 1987 album and it is full of hit singles)

Led Zeppelin - IV (technically their "untitled" record)

Lenny Kravitz - Greatest Hits

Bob Marley - Legend (Greatest Hits)

Dave Matthews Band - Live in Chicago 12.19.1998 (2-disc live set worth it just for All Along the Watchtower)

John Mellencamp - Human Wheels (one of my favourite records by anyone)

Midnight Oil - The Real Thing (pseudo Greatest Hits and live record)

Alanis Morissette - Greatest Hits (The Collection)

Nirvana - In Utero

Pearl Jam - 3 albums: Live at Benaroyal Hall 10.22.2003 (2-disc live set); Pearl Jam; Vs.

Radiohead - The Bends (their best record)

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Greatest Hits

R.E.M. - 2 albums: Automatic for the People (their best and most melodic); Accelerate (their hardest-rocking album)

Keith Richards - 2 solo albums: Main Offender; Cross-eyed Heart

The Rolling Stones - 2 albums: Beggars Banquet; Exile on Main Street

Paul Simon - Greatest Hits (one of my Top 10 CD's of all-time) - no Garfunkel to be found anywhere

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (definitive '90's mega-album)

Bruce Springsteen - His 3 best records, in this order: The Rising; Born to Run; Born in the USA

The Tea Party - Greatest Hits (Canadian band)

Tears for Fears - Greatest Hits

Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog (a Pearl Jam/Soundgarden band)

U2 - Their 3 best records, in this order: The Joshua Tree; Rattle & Hum; Achtung Baby

Neil Young - 2 albums: Freedom; Silver & Gold

Lastly, a pair of compilation CD's that a friendly ZooChatter made for me and shipped overseas from the U.K. Aren't zoo enthusiasts just wonderful people?
 
Good choice on the DMB. Not their most well known live album, but it ranks as my all time favorite setlist.
 
Moebelle said:
Good choice on the DMB. Not their most well known live album, but it ranks as my all time favorite setlist.
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I once had the misfortune to see the Dave Matthews Band supporting Bruce Springsteen. It ranks as one of the dullest hours of my life: there were songs which appeared to go on for several days each.
 
Quite a decent selection there SL but I have to take issue with American Idiot, in my opinion it was extremely over rated and, whilst great, doesn't live up to previous albums.

Nice to see Alanis in there, a true Canadian choice... ;)
 
I enjoyed reading about your adventures in California!

Moorpark: I figured you wouldn't be a fan of this place; I visited in 2012, and the only exhibit I can think of that was not poor quality was for American alligator (is that still standing?), but even that one was maybe average at best. One aspect I did like, though, was the informative and neat animal presentations that students and workers give; I thought the facility did well in preparing them for future careers in that regard. I wouldn't put it in my personal rankings as it does have a specific focus in providing a general work environment for college students going into the field, which it does succeed in, and exhibit quality is probably not among the biggest priorities/goals.

Funny thing about Sacramento is when I first heard about you heading to California for the next road trip, I actually foreshadowed a potential return to the facility. Happy to see you had a better visit this time compared to 2011!

Well done on another road trip in the books, and look forward to what's next!
 
Arizona Docent said:
Even though I grew up in Los Angeles, I have never heard of this last place (number 40 on your list).

As for motel prices, they are crazy because you are visiting the California coast in summer. In San Diego, hotel prices literally double in summer (opposite of my city of Tucson, where hotel prices are halved in summer due to heat and lack of tourists).
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Also, using various travel websites like hotwire, hotels.com, hotel tonight, etc makes it pretty easy to find decent enough hotels/motels for under $75.
 
mweb08 said:
Also, using various travel websites like hotwire, hotels.com, hotel tonight, etc makes it pretty easy to find decent enough hotels/motels for under $75.
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Not in summer along the coast. In San Diego, even Motel 6 is a hundred bucks in summer. Days Inn or Travelodge are $150-175.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Not in summer along the coast. In San Diego, even Motel 6 is a hundred bucks in summer. Days Inn or Travelodge are $150-175.
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Depends on what you mean by the coast, but other than being literally on the coast, you can absolutely find cheaper places. I'll be out in LA, Orange County, and San Diego next month, just as I was two summers ago, and stayed/will stay in places for well below that cost.

These prices include taxes:
$77 for the Days Inn, Newport Beach
$106 for a pretty nice airbnb in San Diego (South Park neighborhood), which was a 7 minute drive to the zoo
$84 at the Motel 6 Escondido

So my under $75 comment was referring to prior to taxes. Adding taxes, $75-$90 is very realistic. I went with a nicer placer for my SD stay though.
 
I'd concur with @Arizona Docent. I found accommodation in California to be expensive. However, on my small sample of places stayed at, the difference between nice places and dodgy places was not so great - I paid roughly the same for a lovely hotel in Glendale, close to the L.A. zoo, as for a horrible motel in Long Beach.

As a comparison, I've just booked a pretty decent hotel in Wroclaw, Poland, for three nights in September; the total cost is the same as for one night in a California motel.
 
But yes, SoCal is expensive, and not just when it comes to hotels. At the same time, the prices I mentioned are very realistic if you know where to look.
 
@mweb08 I appreciate you listing the hotel prices for your upcoming stay ($77, $106, $84) but in Canadian dollars that means I'd be paying $97, $133 and $105...FAR too expensive for someone like me that regularly travels in the USA for 16 nights like my most recent zoo trip or even 50+ nights when my wife and I traveled many years ago. I believe your prices, they are definitely realistic, and perfect for a few nights. However, if you are like me and go to California/Arizona for 30 days in 2011 or even 17 days this year then paying those dollars each night doubles my daily spending. On average for this trip I'd spend $50 per day on gas, $20 on food (super cheap!) and $30 average amount on entrance fees. I'd be at $100 US per day ($130 Canadian per day) and that is fairly average for this trip. However, if I got a motel then I would literally DOUBLE my total expenses every single day. Yikes! I think the whole trip cost $120 per day US and so $150 Canadian daily.

Some folks were totally perplexed that I spent 75% of my nights in the back of my minivan (on a full-size, comfortable mattress) but the alternative is to pay $100 or more Canadian for potentially crappy motels. When you add up all of the nights that I spend on the road, then just on this past trip I saved at least $1,500 Canadian by bunking in the minivan. Incidentally, my wife much prefers me being in motels as she thinks it is safer and worth the cost but I simply could not justify the exorbitant amount of money for a bed and a shower and hit-and-miss internet. She says that it is only worth me sleeping in the minivan if nothing bad ever happens, but if something awful occurred then obviously me trying to save money and budget my finances would be meaningless. She is obviously correct and is more concerned with my safety than anything else, but I was aware of that and I deliberately chose well-lit parking lots (for example a number of Home Depots) where there would likely be someone around if I needed assistance. The reason why I went to McDonald's every single day (and sometimes twice a day) is because their Wi-Fi is free and speedier than any motel. At one of the Motel 6's that I was at I had to pay $4.99 for internet and it was slower than a Partula Snail inching across its terrarium!
 
Oh, I'm not saying you should have stayed in hotels more often. I'm just setting the record straight regarding the costs / giving some tips on finding better deals than the prices being mentioned.
 
I am surprised you were allowed to park overnight at shopping mall lots and big box store lots. Most (if not all) have their own security guards and I would have thought they would tell you that you cannot stay overnight. Glad it worked out for you (and yes I am sure places like that are quite safe unless it's in a really seedy neighborhod).
 
So I just booked my lodging for Escondido and San Diego in mid August.

$56 for Super 8 Wild Animal Park.

$76/ night for a nice Airbnb in North Park, SD (close to the zoo).

Those prices include taxes and any other fees.
 
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