Today is a new day. We checked into our hotel last night, and although it is newer and fancier than the last, Cornelia liked Boothill Inn over this Holiday Inn. She wasn’t impressed by the stains on the new carpet and the chips in the brand new tub.
But this hotel is new. And pretty. It has some convenience, like a table that pulls up to the bed to eat our food to. No breakfast at this hotel, but we came prepared. We decide to turn on a movie and relax in bed for the morning, after our long day yesterday. Since we don’t have to check out until noon, we head to the pool for a morning swim before checkout.
This big, beautiful, new pool is covered – absolutely littered – in bugs. Not a problem we noticed in our swim last night, we call to see if they can bring a net to capture them, but after 30 minutes nobody comes.
Not to be deterred, we make a game of swooshing the bugs out of our path as we swim back and forth, Cornelia even saves a moth from his peril. Her laughter echoes around us and fills me with joy.
We pack our belongings and a lunch and head to Idaho Falls Zoo at Tautphaus Park. We see camels before we even realize we’re there. The zoo is sweet, small, and lush. Mostly shaded, the staff are friendly and we donate to a few good causes.
Cornelia immediately spots the alligator, and, being obsessed with Crikey! It’s the Irwins, she tries to snap it’s picture. A rather small alligator, but adorable nevertheless.
The zoo is easy to navigate, and we start with primates. The lemurs and gibbons are adorable, playing around and messing with one another. We stop briefly at the flamingoes, one of Cornelia’s favorite animals, for her to ooh and aaah.
Then we see them, OTTERS. A clear favorite for me, but Cornelia’s face is lit up with the biggest smile as one otter shows off and swims back and forth in front of her. We stay to watch him play for a few minutes before we see the rest of the Australian part of the zoo.
Cornelia is “navigating us” using the map, pointing out when she sees a picture of an animal and then sees it in real life. “Look! Zebras are in here, too!”
We get a beautiful view of the lions sleeping, snap a pic of her on a lion, and check out the Asian animals. On our way out, she loves the serval and the little fox. We consider getting our faces painted but instead do a photo booth and head to the gift shop.
We stop to appreciate the macaws – an animal Cornelia has been asking if we’d see on this trip. We feed the ducks, peek at the owl, snap a few photos, and head to leave.
The gift shop is crazy crowded and it is nearly devoid of any stuffed animals, the shelves lined with bats, lizards, and unicorns. None of which we saw today. I also wasn’t able to find a bumper sticker – my own collectible. We breathed through our disappointments, Cornelia decided on a sweet little bat, and we packed up our car.
A few miles down the road, we hit 1,000 miles on this road trip. Idaho Falls Zoo was absolutely adorable. Worth a stop. Onto our next adventure…
daniellerene 