Living Desert Reserve

So, yesterday, as promised, we took the grandson up to the Living Desert Reserve to see the trains.  Only, we got there so early, they weren't running.  The LDR has a huge miniature train exhibit, complete with cities, farms, mountains, and a Grand Canyon!  It's really incredible.  Some of the volunteers from the local miniature train club were there doing some maintenance on the trains and little buildings.  You can see the size of the exhibit from the top photo.  And, the big adventure begins!  The LDR rents out the little strollers, which come with a strap.  Unfortunately, every time we stopped, we had to unstrap Ben, let him out, and then strap him back in!  He finally learned to do it himself (he's almost 3...in February)...We stopped to look at the leopards, since they were both out.  They have a male and female and they were playing with each other.  Grandpa got some good photos of them, but I was holding the munchkin.

WHY is it that when you take your kids or grandkid to some place special, their favorite thing is some oddball object?  We used to take our children to the San Diego zoo, where they liked the free-roaming chickens and baby chicks the best!  Here, Ben liked this little statute of a wart hog.  See piggy's tail?  PULL piggy's tail!...go figure!

To be continued...

That's My World~Desert~1111009

I took these photos at the Living Desert Reserve here in Palm Desert last November. Aren't the shadows interesting? If you click on the bighorn sheep photo, you will see them on their hillside. They actually have a whole hillside where visitors can see them during the day. It is best to view them in the early morning, when they come down for their feeding. They blend in so well with the mountain, unless they move, it is sometimes hard to see them! That's My World for Tuesday, November 10, 2009. Interesting note: We used to always see them in Rancho Mirage, at the local vet's office! They would come down in the early evening and feast on their lawn. Now that area has been fenced off. Now they come down and nibble the flowers at some of the local resorts!