Did I mention we went to the zoo?

It's been a while since we were there but I might as well share a few photos. We hit the Phoenix Zoo right after coming back from Hawai'i. What do I remember most about it?

It had the highest admission fee I've ever paid for a zoo. It was unreal. It was so high that I didn't even buy a souvenir magnet in the gift shop on the way out. I figured they'd already gotten more than enough money from us, especially considering that it doesn't even have anything that's particularly out of the ordinary. I mean, a Watusi cow? Big deal. It was kind of nice that it was hanging out with a giraffe, and, yes, that is an impressive set of horns . . . but a cow?

Well, maybe the California condors would count. They really are humongous, remarkably ugly birds. I have a fair amount of respect for scavengers, but have to admit condors make turkey buzzards look like movie stars on the attractiveness scale.

They also had a good-sized herd of bighorn sheep. Ignore the fact there's only one in this photo -- he had a lot of friends hanging out in the same enclosure. The zoo does have a captive population of various native to the American southwest critters: big horn sheep, javelinas, various snakes and lizards, coyotes, Mexican red wolves, and so on. The usual suspects, so to speak, including the Gila monster pictured below. For some reason the beast reminds me of some the really ugly purses I see occasionally being proudly toted around by women who apparently are either blind or have no taste. Put a handle and a price tag on him and some Walmart shopper will snap him right up.

The zoo did have one kind of nifty exhibit. They'd apparently done some sort of art project with LEGOS because various creatures constructed from LEGOS were scattered throughout the grounds. Some were were neat, some were just sort of strange. The spider at the top was the first one we saw; I was impressed.

Overall I'm not sure what to think of the zoo. The layout wasn't bad, the informational signage was decent, but I don't think we'll ever go back. My wallet is still feeling the pain from that admission fee.