There & Back Again: Brooks to Key Largo to Kachemak Bay

[snowleopard]

As much as I'm enjoying these little snapshots of your trip, I'd love to read longer reviews when you are settled back home in Alaska. In the past 24 hours, both @Pleistocene891 and @Moebelle raved about Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo on other threads, calling it better than San Diego Zoo, and you appear to have had two great days in Omaha. How does it stack up when compared to other zoos?

I'm also really intrigued to read your thoughts on Denver Zoo, a facility that I've visited twice and I'm a big fan of some of the exhibits.

Safe travels!

 

[TinoPup]

As much as I'm enjoying these little snapshots of your trip, I'd love to read longer reviews when you are settled back home in Alaska. In the past 24 hours, both @Pleistocene891 and @Moebelle raved about Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo on other threads, calling it better than San Diego Zoo, and you appear to have had two great days in Omaha. How does it stack up when compared to other zoos?

I'm also really intrigued to read your thoughts on Denver Zoo, a facility that I've visited twice and I'm a big fan of some of the exhibits.

Safe travels!

I've never been to SDZ (or California, even), but Omaha is my #1.

 

[Pleistocene891]

As much as I'm enjoying these little snapshots of your trip, I'd love to read longer reviews when you are settled back home in Alaska. In the past 24 hours, both @Pleistocene891 and @Moebelle raved about Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo on other threads, calling it better than San Diego Zoo, and you appear to have had two great days in Omaha. How does it stack up when compared to other zoos?

I'm also really intrigued to read your thoughts on Denver Zoo, a facility that I've visited twice and I'm a big fan of some of the exhibits.

Safe travels!

As much as I love Omaha, I still don't think it's number one. For me, it's Bronx, but it's close. Considering how fast Omaha seems to be developing new exhibits, I have no doubt in my mind that it will move up to my number 1 spot in a few years.

 

[PSO]

Having just visited SD I put Omaha ahead of it. Bronx is also very close but I give SD the edge

 

[Pleistohorse]

As much as I'm enjoying these little snapshots of your trip, I'd love to read longer reviews when you are settled back home in Alaska. In the past 24 hours, both @Pleistocene891 and @Moebelle raved about Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo on other threads, calling it better than San Diego Zoo, and you appear to have had two great days in Omaha. How does it stack up when compared to other zoos?

I'm also really intrigued to read your thoughts on Denver Zoo, a facility that I've visited twice and I'm a big fan of some of the exhibits.

Safe travels!

@snowleopard I certainly will and maybe sooner than that. I am hoping to limit my driving in Canada to strictly daylight hours (conditions permitting) and will have a few long nights to get some of the work done…

 

[Pleistohorse]

Departure: Denver, Colorado. 0931 hours. Light / Weather ~ mostly clear skies. 46F. Distance to nearest ocean: Gulf of Mexico off the Atlantic Ocean. 1028 miles southeast. Elevation: 5279.

This morning the Denver Zoo, followed by the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.



Yesterday afternoon I visited the Denver Museum of Natural History (calls itself the museum of science and nature or some such). It was spectacular. Overrun by poorly behaved children and exasperated parents…but still all were having a great time.

As I was departing…I stopped to take a picture of the Plesiosaurs suspended above the main hall and caught out of the corner of my eye…a museum staffer smiling at me.

“I see one and I’m immediately eight years old again.”

“That’s ok,” she said, “I’m just happy to see you enjoying the museum. Take all the pictures you want.”



And I did.

 

[ZooElephantMan]

View attachment 589848 View attachment 589847 View attachment 589846 View attachment 589845 Departure: Denver, Colorado. 0931 hours. Light / Weather ~ mostly clear skies. 46F. Distance to nearest ocean: Gulf of Mexico off the Atlantic Ocean. 1028 miles southeast. Elevation: 5279.

This morning the Denver Zoo, followed by the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

View attachment 589839

Yesterday afternoon I visited the Denver Museum of Natural History (calls itself the museum of science and nature or some such). It was spectacular. Overrun by poorly behaved children and exasperated parents…but still all were having a great time.

As I was departing…I stopped to take a picture of the Plesiosaurs suspended above the main hall and caught out of the corner of my eye…a museum staffer smiling at me.

“I see one and I’m immediately eight years old again.”

“That’s ok,” she said, “I’m just happy to see you enjoying the museum. Take all the pictures you want.”

View attachment 589840

And I did.

Glad you enjoyed the museum! Was the dinosaur hall open when you went? It was closed during my visit.

Seeing your photos of the taxidermy displays reminds me of how great they were. I remember being particularly impressed with the enormous size of some of the pinnipeds and bears.

 

[Pleistohorse]

Departure: Cheyenne, Wyoming. 0844 hours. Light / Weather - Mostly cloudy, some sun and blustery winds. 30F. Distance from nearest ocean ~ Almost equidistant between the North America’s coasts. 1128 miles southeast to the Gulf of Mexico, off the Atlantic and 1278 miles due west to the Pacific Ocean. Elevation 6063 feet.

About 4000 road miles since I began this trip, but a mile closer to the moon…

Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge was a nice diversion. Saw a couple dozen Whitetail Deer, a few Mule Deer, Prairie Dogs, and about a hundred Bison. Interesting place…maybe less husbandry and human intervention regarding the interspecies relationships between its residents…but it kind of reminded me of a drive through Safari Park.

I’d recommend a visit if you are ever in Denver. Seems to be a real special place amongst the “terrifying” sprawl covering. Colorado’s front range.

Denver Zoo was awesome. It’s somewhere between Brookfield and North Carolina.

Today. Thanksgiving Day here in the USA. I’ve decided to forego the dogleg to Rapid City and press directly to Great Falls, Montana. Tomorrow my maternal family’s ancestral homeland…Canada…Maine’s biggest County. . Although my home county of Aroostock is but just a bit smaller.

Onward. North to the future. Setting aside my Pat Conroy memoir and pulling out the volume of Robert Service.

The Yukon and Alaska beyond…safe travels everyone and Happy Thanksgiving.

 

[Pleistohorse]

Wyoming.

 

[TinoPup]

Wyoming.View attachment 590143

Wow!

 

[DavidBrown]

Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge was a nice diversion. Saw a couple dozen Whitetail Deer, a few Mule Deer, Prairie Dogs, and about a hundred Bison. Interesting place…maybe less husbandry and human intervention regarding the interspecies relationships between its residents…but it kind of reminded me of a drive through Safari Park.

Did you see the black-footed ferret exhibit? If so, was it cool?

 

[Pleistohorse]

Departure: Billings, Montana. 1216 hours. Light / Weather: blue skies, with high intermittent clouds. 55F.
Distance to nearest ocean - 819 miles west / north west to Puget Sound off the Pacific Ocean. Elevation: 3123 feet.

Well we have left the orbit of the Atlantic Ocean and crossed enough of the continent to find ourselves back in the embrace of the Pacific Ocean.

I visited Cabela’s Billings this morning and Zoo Montana after that. Enjoyable visits to both places. If you have any interest in viewing taxidermy or North American Wildlife and native fishes…and you are not visiting your local Bass Pro or Cabela’s store you are missing out. I have visited six this trip and have “catalogued” dozens of natural history “specimens.”

Zoo Montana was very pleasant. I look forward to writing up a review.

I am six hours out of Lethbridge, Alberta. After a few hours trying to reset ArriveCAN to document my pending land crossing into Canada…I noticed the paragraph stating that ArriveCAN and proof of vaccination was no longer required….

hmmmmm….

Back to the good old days…I can’t wait to ask the Canadian Border Agent if he knows my cousins Luke and Vanessa back in Frederic, New Brunswick.

Off we go…

 

[Pleistohorse]

The photos I’ve shared so far are all cellphone pictures (pretty amazing technology we have gotten used too, eh?).

Here is a glimpse of what I’ve captured on my camera (I’ll avoid the sad details, previously shared, of the loss of my old camera).



Montana was better for Pronghorn than even Wyoming was…

 

[Pleistohorse]

Did you see the black-footed ferret exhibit? If so, was it cool?

@DavidBrown , I did see a taxidermy Black-footed Ferret in the Prairie Dog display, but I did not see a live animal.

 

[Pleistohorse]

Departure: Lethbridge, Alberta. 0815 hours. Light / Weather: clear skies with ominous clouds on the horizon. 33F. Distance to the nearest ocean - 461 miles due west and across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. Elevation ~ 2986 feet.

Today I’ll make it to Edmonton by way of the Calgary Zoo. Tomorrow my hope is to visit both the Royal Alberta Museum and the Edmonton Zoo. The two facilities are only open about six hours so it’ll be tight.
Maybe an extra night in Edmonton and I can make up the time further north. I have to be back in Alaska no later than a week from Monday…so probably not. The time for dawdling has passed.

Could always quit my job…..

Better not.

Standby for some zoo reviews and posting of pictures tonight!

 

[Pleistohorse]

Departure: Grande Prairie Alberta. 0853 hours.
Light / Weather: overcast with light snow. 11F. Nearest ocean: the Pacific on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains and the Coast Ranges.

Missed yesterdays departure from Edmonton. Weather and light concerns mean know more dawdling with hobbies and conceits…still why the hell else am I doing this?

Visited Edmonton Zoo and Royal Alberta Museum yesterday. I enjoyed them both, although I was surprised neither the Amur Tiger or the Snow Leopard were out…but the Grevy Zebra and the Emu were.

Oh, Canada…

You know I love this country. With the exception of an Irish woman in Massachusetts, on my mother’s side all my ancestors spent time (usually three generations) in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia after arriving from England or Scotland. And even Annie met a French-Canadian gentleman while working in the fabric mills of Lowell…and after marriage moved back to St. John before her son crossed over to Maine.

Hell, the DeMerchant family in New Brunswick was founded by my ancestor John Cufman (Kaufman) when he landed there following his service in the loyalist regiments of New Jersey during the American Revolution (or rebellion in his mind). 100 years later his descendants second and third sons crossed into Aroostock County, Maine to meet the railroad and a chance of a farm if their own.

Long history with Canada…from my earliest memories camping at Grand Falls, NB…to being six years old and watching 4th of July Fireworks fired off by the city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario when the Independence Day Celebration in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan had ended…and from the wire of Mogadishu International Airport with the Canadian Army…and benefiting from the absolute charity and aid of the Royal Canadian Air Force in Mombasa. Welcoming her soldiers in Bishkek Kyrgyzstan as they processed back from Kandahar and having the opportunity to pay for a Canadian Forces (assigned to the Alaska Command) Officer’s lunch in Anchorage.

These aren’t my people…although I’ve cousins here…but they have been fast (if slightly disapproving) friends for my entire life. But, I’m an hour from the Alaska Highway, three wintery days from home and I find myself wanting to get there.

oh and I saw a Wolf yesterday. Hoping for Caribou and Stone Sheep and maybe more today and tomorrow. Wood Bison are probable and maybe more Wolves…just with my camera at the ready today.

Off we go. Let the weather hold.

 

[Pleistohorse]

At a mechanic’s shop in Fort St John.

let’s post some pictures while I wait. Will finish up on Calgary Zoo and begin Edmonton Zoo.

 

[Pleistohorse]

Departure: Fort Nelson, British Columbia. 0935 hours.

Light / Weather: Dark / -10 F. Nearest Ocean - The Pacific. 454 miles west. Elevation: 1345 feet.

I’m going for Whitehorse today. On a good day it’s about an 11 hour drive. We will see. Minor engine issues seem to be abated. Weather is supposed to be cold but clear headed west.

Saw very little wildlife yesterday. A couple of dozen Ravens, a few Magpies, and a single Coyote. Passed two Elk farms and a Bison farm. Horses seem to be the most common livestock at this point.

Today I really do expect Caribou, Stone Sheep, and Bison. I’ve seen Moose tracks on the side if the road…but just as 17 years ago…no Moose. Back then the first one I encountered was about 10 miles on this side of the Alaska border.

Anticipating a few hours if night driving today. So let’s get moving.

Here we go.

 

[Pleistohorse]

Well…made it a little more than halfway. Quite a bit of mountain travel and very icy roads…now here at 1500 hours the sun is getting low…so Watson Lake it is.

Today I saw….a few Ravens, a pair of Canada Jays, about seven Snow Buntings, and large flocks of Redpolls, Juncos, and Chickadees gathering gravel or salt (?) from the roads.

I spotted no Stone Sheep, four Moose, two Caribou, a Coyote, and about 112 Wood Bison (in multiple groups from not too far outside Fort Nelson to just before Watson Lake. 99.3% of these animals were between Muncho Lake and the Firsts Nations Community east of Watson Lake. The Bison were mostly resting or grazing along the meadow-like shoulders of the highway.

Tomorrow…Whitehorse and hopefully the Yukon Wildlife Preserve (seems to be similar to the AWCC except they have Sheep and Goats rather than Bears and Wolves).

The Yukon Berengia Interpretive Centre looks that it will be closed until this weekend…but I’ll swing by to peer in the windows and photograph the exterior displays…maybe if I’m lucky someone doing admin work will let me in.

 

[Pleistohorse]

Thankfully the Canadian Highway Department (?) put up a sign…