Alaska Zoo & Point Woronzof to see Mt. McKinley

After lunch we drove down to the Alaska Zoo. We used our Garmin GPS and the directions indicated to drive south on Elmore Road which was a dead end. We quickly turned around and took a different road to get to the Zoo. There was a car and a pickup truck driving ahead of us on Elmore Road and they had to stop & turn around – apparently their GPSs gave them the wrong directions, also.

We arrived at the Zoo a little after 1:00 and paid $9 each (senior discount) admittance.

Our first stop was at the polar bear exhibit. There were 2 polar bears – 1 was taking a nap and the other one was playing with a large black plastic tube in the water. It really put on quite a show and it was hard to leave and explore the rest of the zoo.

From Alaska Zoo

At each of the different animal enclosures there was a sign giving information about each animal and there was another sign giving the history of the specific animals in the enclosures. A lot of the animals in the zoo were either orphans or injured animals who could no longer survive in the wild. One example was this snowy owl who could no longer fly.

From Alaska Zoo

Today there was an organization having a picnic for families.

From Alaska Zoo

We saw a herd of caribou, actually a reindeer herd since reindeer are the domesticated species of caribou.

From Alaska Zoo

We got to see a couple of Dall Sheep up close since most of the ones we've seen are so high up on the mountains that they are large white specks.

From Alaska Zoo

We stopped at the grey wolf enclosure and got to hear one bark and howl - Mike was taking a video of the wolf just as he started barking - great timing!

From Alaska Zoo

We saw brown bears including this one taking a dip in his water trough

From Alaska Zoo

and a couple of black bears that had been orphaned.

From Alaska Zoo

We stopped back by the polar bears before we left the zoo, but both of them were having their after lunch naps. We enjoyed our visit to the Zoo and liked the signs giving the history of each animal. We made a mental note to visit the next zoo in the early morning and not at the animals' lunchtime, since the animals all seemed to take naps after lunch.

After leaving the Alaska Zoo we drove out to Point Woronzof next to the airport to see Mt. McKinley. I had previously located a webcam that is on a building in Anchorage that was pointed toward Mt. McKinley and I checked it before we left for the Zoo. The weather had cleared up enough today that Mt. McKinley was visible.

When we got out to Point Woronzof Mt. McKinley was visible, but it was still somewhat hazy so the mountain wasn't as clear as we had hoped.

From Anchorage

We saw this RV parked at Point Woronzof and Mike talked with the owner who is taking a year to tour the United States and Canada. He was from the Netherlands and had had the RV shipped from Hamburg, Germany to Baltimore.

From Anchorage

We were right under the flight path for planes taking off from the airport and got some great photos.

From Anchorage

Assiniboine Park Zoo

This morning we went to the Assiniboine Park Zoo located on the west side of Winnipeg about 15 miles (24 km) from the campground. We arrived a few minutes after the zoo opened at 9:00. The admission for seniors was $4.25.

We decided to start our tour with the bear range. There was no polar bear at the zoo. We learned that Debby, the resident polar bear, had died last November at the age of 42 (the oldest living polar bear in the world). Besides the grizzly bear and black bear, we saw a rare white black bear. The white color is due to lack of a black hair pigment called melanin. 

From Manitoba

We continued on our tour of the zoo to the Australian Exhibit, Monkey House, owls, American Bison and much, much more.

At the American Bison exhibit we saw 2 young white calves. As in the white black bear, a white buffalo occurs as the result of a recessive mutation that leaves the hair follicles without the dark pigment melanin.

From Manitoba

We spent about 3 hours at the zoo enjoying the animal exhibits and the great weather. As we were leaving, we saw the sculpture Winnie-the-Bear and Harry Colebourne. Here we learned about the true story that Winnie the Pooh stories are based on.

From Manitoba

After leaving the zoo, we started looking for a place to have lunch before going back to the RV park.  We found an Olive Garden and decided to have their All-You-Can-Eat soup and salad - always a good meal.

Once we got back to the RV I fixed a pot of coffee and turned it on. Nothing!! The coffee pot was DEAD. It was a Black & Decker undercounter coffee maker that we just had sitting on the counter. I like it because the water and coffee can be filled from the front of the coffee maker and not from the top. I had seen a Delonghi coffee maker in a Sam's some time ago that was similar, but what are the odds that I can find one today?

Symphony and I were going to wifi at a Fyxx Espresso coffee shop this afternoon and I told her we needed to go shopping for a coffee pot. We drove up to the Sears at St. Vital Centre and imagine my surprise and delight to find the Delonghi coffee maker that I wanted at Sears!! Of course, it was more expensive there than it would have been at Sam's, but it was the one I wanted and I wouldn't have to spend a lot of time shopping for a coffee maker. Afterwards Symphony and I stopped at Fyxx Espresso to wifi and have iced cappuccino, before going back to the RV park.