PART I
Our first stop was the Natural Bridge Zoo (
http://www.naturalbridgezoo.net/). Many of you who have traveled up and down I-81 have seen the signs for it. The Zoo has the largest animal petting area in Virginia, and from my experience, it had the most animals in one place I've ever been able to pet and feed (excluding the mountain lions, Bengal tigers, etc., of course). It's not a fancy zoo like those found in large cities because it is actually a wildlife propagation facility that is also a functioning zoo and education facility. Daddy's only rule for the zoo: "DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE AFTER YOU TOUCH THE ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY NOT YOUR MOUTH! I DON'T CARE HOW BADLY YOU ITCH!" Needless to say, I kept a bottle of hand sanitizer in the little pocket on my shorts where I usually keep my cell phone.
My parents used to raise a lot of goats on their farm in Tennessee, but theirs certainly weren't as "friendly" as these. It reminds me of the time in Florida when we had a "hurricane proof," tinted film put on the windows just after moving into our new house. The man doing the work saw Cora watching him and asked, "so, what do you want to be when you grow up?" Cora, four at the time and fondly remembering her trip to the farm two months earlier, responded very matter-of-factly, "I want to be a mother and raiser of goats." She still wants to be a mother, but I'm not sure goats remain part of her life master plan.
The pig pen was right next door to the goat yard. How does something as cute as these piglets turn into such an ugly beast?! One whiff of the pigs and you can understand why it takes a very "special" person to raise pigs.
One animal you don't find in most zoos is the guinea pig. They had three big wash/feed tubs full of guinea pigs. Even better, there were at least a dozen babies. The tubs were located under the overhang for the snake exhibit. Convenient, perhaps? This was definitely the kids' favorite exhibit as it required a return trip before we left the zoo. There was a for sale sign over the tubs, and the kids did ask if we could buy one to take home. Recalling the marital strife barely averted when I brought home Prince Caspian the beta fish, I chose to honor my better half's wishes to limit the number of pets we'd have to find temporary homes for when we take trips.
In spite of the camel's poor reputation, these juvenile camels were quite docile and seemed to enjoy being fed and pet.
The adult camel, on the other hand, did not appreciate being ignored and decided to use Shiloh's skirt as a hanky when it blew it's nose. Needless to say, this camel did not receive as much attention as the other animals!
The zoo brochure shows a picture of and advertises riding an elephant. Unfortunately, the day of our visit they were not doing rides, so we had to settle for a group photo instead.
I think this particular buck in the fallow deer pen could sense I was less than a month away from my annual hunting trip to my parents' farm. He didn't mind the kids trying to feed him, but when I got close, he tried to gut me through the fence with his rather large rack. I could certainly understand his anxiety as I was day dreaming about monster, multi-point racks. Then again, his species is native to Europe, and while he may have been able to strut and posture while behind the fence, were the fence removed he would have had to raise a white flag and surrender (ah, fond memories of our time living in the UK where they fondly refer to the French as the cheese eating surrender monkeys...) . This also reminds me of my "successful" hunt three years ago when I returned home with a 7-point rack. The kids were excited to see it, but when I showed it to them, one of them responded with, "it's not very big, Daddy..." What do kids know anyway, right?! Man, it still smarts a little after all these years...
It's a good thing I had that bottle of hand sanitizer after we feed the giraffe. Do you have any idea how big their tongues are?!?
This particular llama had issues with "personal space." Thankfully, in spite of its size and need for instant gratification (i.e., "FEED ME."), the llama was quite gentle and content to be pet.
The miniature donkeys were pretty much the most docile of all the animals. I briefly thought about sticking one of them in the back of the van. I really hate mowing our half acre with a push mower, and this guy would have a great life tethered in our front yard!
To cap off the first leg of the day, we had a nice picnic lunch in front of the Bengal tiger exhibit. You can barely see the tigers because they were a pretty lazy lot. There are three of them, and they spent the entire time we were at the zoo sleeping - two of them on their backs!
PART II
Our next stop was Lexington, home of The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) as well as the historic house of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson (United States Military Academy Class of 1846 and the man for whom our Jackson is named); this was his home when he taught at VMI.
We parked next to the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery on Main Street and walked down to the end of the Downtown Central Business District (a registered national landmark) and back, enjoying the beautiful Fall weather. Unfortunately, the way back was all up hill and the Fall weather was more like Summer with the sun beating down on us, but the children were troopers. Halfway down the street is the County Courthouse, and I could not resist taking a picture of the kids on the old piece of towed artillery.
When we got back to our starting point, we wandered around the cemetery, reading the old headstones. The girls were particularly taken be the number of ladies named Elsie since we've been reading the 19th century Elsie Dinsmore series for some time now. At Stonewall Jackson's burial site the girls were aghast seeing the lemons someone had thrown at the foot of his statue. I then explained to them that this was actually a sign of respect. During the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-48, Jackson was introduced to citrus fruits and acquired a taste for them that remained with him the rest of his life.
After the museum we then headed over to VMI (the nation's first state-supported military college dating to November 11, 1839) to get a parking space and good seats to watch the cadets' Friday dress parade. It turned out to be Parents' Weekend, so there were a lot of folks watching the parade. We sat next to a gentlemen who was a graduate who explained some of the things we saw. He, along with his son, was there to see his grandson who is a first year student and member of the Rat Line. There were several things they do differently than we did (do) at West Point. The first thing you notice is that their Rats (what we call Plebes) are not integrated into the Corps of Cadets but are part of their own battalion during the first year; they aren't even allowed to wear the shako "hat" (we called it a "tar bucket") or the full dress coat (you can see this in the picture below; the cadets on the far right of each line are upperclassmen).
The next thing you notice is the Brigade Band which is made up of Cadets (at West Point, the "Hell Cats" are all active duty soldiers), and even better, they have a Pipes and Drums Corps as part of the band. It really added to the pomp and circumstance of the parade. 
The final difference I appreciated the most was the entire Corps fixing bayonets on the parade field; I was quite impressed watching them. My pride in my alma mater was restored, however, when I noticed that at VMI they did not have the courage to attempt the wheeling maneuvers we did at USMA. Ah, the not so fond memories of the multiple passes and reviews on Drill Days ... The kids thoroughly enjoyed watching the parade, and we all agreed we'd have to go back and see another one and definitely bring mommy with us. I know Casey too has fond memories of Drill and Ceremony at West Point. After all, unlike her husband, Casey had the added bonus of having to walk area tours a couple of weekends for missing class. Area tours were (are still?) USMA's way of taking away the only thing you already didn't have enough of - time. She got to parade around in Dress Gray under arms for 10 hours over two weekends. Did I mention I never walked any area tours? Oh, yeah, I did, didn't I.
We capped off the day with dinner out. And where do you think we went? Why Cracker Barrel of course; where else?! It was even Friday night fish fry, so I got to have fish and chips (it's not like Barney's Plaice - get it, "Plaice?" - back in Huntingdon, England, but it'll do). I think we cleaned the place out of popcorn shrimp and lemonade. Shiloh and Adah got to have their cornbread, so all was right in the world.
It's not often that Casey's away, and I have all the kids to myself. Believe it or not, I didn't have to use the entire bottle of hand sanitizer, and no one (including me) had to use the extra change of clothes we brought. We're all looking forward to Mommy's next outing with the ladies to see what kind of road trip Daddy can put together. Until then ....
-Daniel
Adah with her best bud. Next to Shiloh, Roscoe likes Adah best. I think he could take or leave any of the others, unless they were being attacked and then he'd protect them. :) The picture below is the way I first found them. It looks like Adah is hypnotized by Roscoe's ears. It's entirely possible - they are strangely soothing.
(In the picture above he's actually wearing Daniel's dad's uniform along with his grandfather's helmet - do you think we can sign him up for West Point now?)
My four daughters - I am so blessed!
Playing in the Cacapon River, a tributary of the Potomac. See all those big rocks? Those big rocks that the kids could hit and then get a concussion? Yeah, my right eye was twitching a little watching them hop from rock to rock. It's all fun and games until someone pokes an eye out.
On the way back home. This was called the "Panorama Outlook" where you can see four states. Don't ask me where the boundaries are.
