Molly Goes To Minnesota: Part 4

Molly Goes To Minnesota: Part 4

(See Also: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

Day 3 (Friday)

Good morning, Minneapolis!

Good morning... rain. :(

Weather.com said this "liquid sunshine" (and thunder -- and lightning) would taper off by 11am, so I made plans to sleep in, and go to the zoo later in the morning.

Getting to the zoo proved to be a bit of an adventure.

I knew I needed to get to the Mall Of America transit station, where I could catch a "red line" ride to the Cedar Grove transit station, where, once an hour, I could catch a bus to the zoo.

But I left the motel at 11, and you may recall that their shuttle only goes to the MoA on even-numbered hours, darnit, so I walked a block to the nearest bus station, only to remember that that bus route only had rush-hour service, so I walked four blocks up to another bus stop/route, and by the time that bus got me to the MoA, I'd missed my connection to Cedar Grove, and by the time I got to Cedar Grove, I'd missed my bus to the zoo by 10 minutes. So I got to sit there for another 50. Luckily, the transit station is a nice enough place, with benches in the shade. A little deserted and creepy, but not too bad.

Finally, just after 1pm, I made it to the zoo!

Thanks to the zoo's reciprocal membership program (which the Oregon zoo also participates in), I was able to get in for half price by showing my OZ membership card. I also got to avoid the $7 parking fee. (Kinda made that bus trip worth it!)

And now -- on to see the animals!

(Note: I've grouped the animals by type; the photos aren't necessarily in the order in which I saw the animals.)

Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs

Amur Tigers

Canada Lynx

North American Beaver

North American Porcupine (Baby)

Brown Bears

Puma (Cougars/Mountain Lions)

Family Farm

Camels

v    Me Riding A Camel    v 



Carousel

Lunch!

Wolf

Cardinal

Bear... I mean Bear Fountain...

Butterflies!

I had a great day! It was a bit hot and very humid, but I really enjoyed seeing all the animals, especially the ones that the Oregon Zoo doesn't have, like the brown bears. I was very impressed by the tiger exhibit; it was enormous! The highlights of my day included riding the camel, seeing the tigers play together, and visiting the butterfly garden.

* * * * *

After two full days of going-going-going, I was ready to take it easy on Saturday. And I did -- sort of! Find out where I went on the last full day of my Minneapolis trip -- in Part 5!