Blogging in the USA- TOLEDO, OH

Ohio,
17th State in the US
The Buckeye State.
State Flower: The Carnation
State Song: Beautiful Ohio
State Beverage: Tomato Juice

                                 Map courtesy of  EnchantedLearning.com
Toledo, Ohio
Home of the Toledo Rockets
the future home of  Lishes & Broham,
and our mini-get away destination.

We traveled to Ohio because our sister Lishes had a job interview there.  Lishes' husband, Broham, got accepted to the University of Toledo (YAY BROHAM!) and so the two of them will be moving to Ohio sometime this spring-summer (insert sad face here).

We had a long road ahead of us- three hours of road ahead to be exact, so caffeine was definitely in order.  We stopped by Mickey D's from some Moca Frappes and apple pies before starting our journey. 

The Moca Frappes started a long discussion on the "fluffiness" of the whipped cream and many other topics that included, but were not limited to:
stupid practice interview questions with Chicken (none of which were actually asked in the real interview)
funeral services for dogs (we got really specific and pretty ridiculous)  - this was a very long discussion
politics and current legislative bills
really gross animal stories
keeping in touch after Lishes moves to Ohio
memories of our Papaw
and how BoBo couldn't stay quiet for 5 minutes (she lasted less than two in the quiet game)

When we finally arrived in Toledo, Lishes drove us around downtown and showed us some of the sights. 

Then it was time for us to make ourselves scarce while Lishes had her interview; so we went to the Toledo Zoo. 

It was currently under some major renovations and it was hard to find where things were.  Since we went during the week and it was only 40 degrees outside (colder when the wind was blowing) we were two of about 20 people (including zoo keepers and security) who were in the zoo. 

We had the whole place to ourselves. 

By the way, walking through the zoo when it's quiet like that is very erie. 
Bo thinks the animals were more responsive and came right up to us because we were the only ones there.  Most of the time it was quiet, a little too quiet, except for the song that kept playing on the loud speakers called I love my zoo!

All the negatives behind, we actually had a pretty good time.  We saw some snow leopards up-close.  The female, Malenka, was very playful and kept chewing on her tail.  One of the zoo keepers stopped by to check on them while we were there and informed us it was breeding season.

Chicken visited some old friends and they had a nice chat.  BoBo doesn't speak parseltongue so she felt left out.
*(parseltongue is spelled correctly. . .we looked it up on the Harry Potter Wikipedia page)

BoBo: You're a wizard Chicken!

Chicken: A what?

BoBo: A wizard.

Chicken:  Really?  I always thought I was a Sagittarius.



After we checked out the Reptila House, we visited the POLAR BEARS!   Chicken loves polar bears, but she didn't love the fact that for the first time since we had been in the zoo there were 2 other small groups of people in there with us.  Arrg!

There was a baby polar bear, who was simply adorable!  He kept playing with a pine cone that he'd found.

Due to the insane crowds of five people, Chicken found herself trapped in the Arctic,
but since she is a true nature survivalist she made it through. 

Here are Chicken's Tips for Surviving the Arctic:

0. DO NOT go to the Arctic.
1. Caribou and polar bear skin can provide great warmth. 
    (You can attract a polar bear by flopping around in the snow -like a seal-
    and making "eh-eh-eh-eh" noise.)
2. Quickly fashion a weapon out of snow and ice cubes
    (use it to kill the caribou and/or polar bear).
3. If you see any bright lights. . . run like hell the other way.
4. Create a secure snow fortress. 
     (Keep in mind you just killed a caribou or polar bear so
     make it animal proof or fashion more snow-ice cube weapons.)
5. As appetizing as it looks, DO NOT eat the yellow snow.
6. Emergency fishing gear can be used to fish in open waters
    (Keep in mind you need to bring you're emergency fishing gear
      or you'll be up the Arctic creek without a popsicle stick.)
7. DO NOT go to the Arctic. 
     There's nothing there that you can't see in a zoo.
8. If you are on an all-banana diet you are in trouble,
     because bananas do not grow in the Arctic.
9. SERIOUSLY, did you go to the Arctic!?! 
     I just told you in steps 0 and 7 not to go.
10. If all else fails, leave the Arctic exhibit and head over to see
       Sigfried and Roy's white lions in the African exhibit
       (remember it's being renovated.)

In the African exhibit,

 it was nice to see the Bull Elephants in their native habitat.

There were a lot of statues around the zoo that were really life-like. 

BoBo really had a lot of fun posing with them. . .

. . .throughout the entire zoo . . .

. . .and Chicken had fun when she caught a lion by the tail.

Sadly, our  time at the zoo was soon over and we met up with Lishes for lunch.
We had a hard time picking a place to eat, there were a LOT of small town diners around as well as the famous Packos.  After much discussion we decided to go to a place that Lishes had tried the last time she came out to Toledo- Grumpy's.

Grumpy's was a nice, tiny, family owned and operated place.  The staff, despite the name, was very friendly and acted just like family.  Their menu was very comical and provided just the right amount of laughter.

A look inside Grumpy's menu:

There food was moderately priced. 
Bo give them 1/2 a dirty napkin for not having french fries,
but she also gives them 4 and 1/2 sporks for delicious food and a friendly atmosphere.
Chicken gives them 4 sporks because the waitress re-asked our order after it was given once, she didn't like their knives, and didn't like their soda.

Here is the unadorned burger:

Overall Toledo was a great place to visit for the day,

but we had a lot of WTF Toledo moments. 

Stay tuned for our next blog in which we will share all of our WTF Toledo moments. 

And remember folks,

being able to speak parseltongue is not a good thing;

if you don't believe us ask Harry Potter.