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2023 Arkzooforce

Lunch at Packo’s

Left home on time at 7:30am. Stopped for coffee in Comber, ON at 9:30am.

Crossed border into Detroit, very little wait around 10:38am. Arrived at Packo’s in Toledo, OH at 11:40am

Tony Packo’s gained world-wide fame when M*A*S*H™ character Corporal Maxwell Klinger, played by Jamie Farr, also a Toledo native, made mention of the Packo’s restaurant in six episodes of the show.
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2023 Arkzooforce

Indiana

I can now add another state to my states visited list. Earlier this year I added Maryland and today I get to add Indiana. We made a short detour on our way to Kentucky just to pass through Indiana.

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2023 Arkzooforce

Hampton Inn – Walton, KY

Skipped the front desk. We went directly to our room and used our phones to open our room door. Pretty nice

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2023 Arkzooforce

Maggie was hogging the bed

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2023 Arkzooforce

The Ark

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2023 Arkzooforce

Playground at the Ark Encounter

Rainbow maze
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2023 Arkzooforce

Kangaroo Walkabout

We had to stay on the path and not touch the kangaroos unless they approached us. But we got pretty close!

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2023 Arkzooforce

Carousel at the Ark Encounter

The kids loved riding the carousel before we left the Ark Encounter!

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2023 Arkzooforce

Lunch at Emzara’s kitchen

It was an interesting experience. You pay before you go in. Then you sit wherever you want. Grab a disposable plate and head up to the buffets. You also get your own drinks. Absolutely no wait-staff. Food was OK and the price wasn’t too bad especially when compared with the Ark Encounter base admission price.

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2023 Arkzooforce

Ararat Ridge Zoo

Children’s petting zoo (just goats)

We watched an interesting and informative show about predators and prey. There was a porcupine, a tortoise, a tegu lizard, and a snake. It was neat to hear the keeper tell us animal facts in a biblical context.

Contrary to the sign, this is a red tegu (lizard).
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2023 Arkzooforce

Poppy was a little tired

I guess running around in 35C weather will make you a little sleepy.

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2023 Arkzooforce

We may have misplaced Poppy for a few minutes

We assumed she would be crying outside the door but no, she was busy down the hall looking through the window.

Falling is funny
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2023 Arkzooforce

Swimming Pool

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2023 Arkzooforce

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens

We parked under giant solar panels, which power the zoo train and provide shade to the vehicles (nice to return to a vehicle that is not an oven).
Poppy was SO excited to ride the train!

We bought the rides package which allowed us to enter the zoo early before it opened at 10am, and gave us unlimited rides on the train and carousel.

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2023 Arkzooforce

Manatees and Hippos

I loved watching the manatees AKA “sea cows” swim and eat their lettuce. They’re so adorable. A zoo guide chatted with our kids about them and let them touch a bone from a manatee skeleton.

Fiona is a famous hippo who was born prematurely but survived. The library has books about her. We got to see her cuddling with the other hippos. Another adorable underwater giant!

Look closely. There are 4 hippos cuddled up together.
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2023 Arkzooforce

Riding the Carousel

The older three kids and I rode the carousel over and over while Poppy napped in her stroller. It was by far their favourite zoo attraction.

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2023 Arkzooforce

Birds, Monkeys and Insects

Poppy loves birds of all kinds. She said they were “so cute!”
This was another creature which Poppy deemed “so cute!”
Poppy was pretending to be a monkey
Pollinators: Daisy and Maggie enjoyed looking at all the dead butterflies on display (not the live ones in the hot humid butterfly room).
They had a really cool tunnel for ants that went all the way from one room to another. The ants were busy carrying leaf pieces from that plant in the display case back and forth.
They could see how many insects they weighed.

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2023 Arkzooforce

Kangaroos and Penguins

Another kangaroo walk-through exhibit similar to the one at the Ark Encounter
Blue penguins
They look bluer when they’re swimming underwater!
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2023 Arkzooforce

Galapagos tortoise

This photo doesn’t capture how big these really are and how slowly they walk, but it was neat to see! Especially since we just learned about them last year.

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2023 Arkzooforce

Flowers

I regret not taking photos of the gardens at the Cincinnati Zoo. They were beautiful! My favourite was the butterfly garden with plants that attract pollinators.