Ten Things of Thankful Week 15 Take 2

So…I am all kinds of thankful for yesterday and the “sort of” impromptu road trip we took.

I say “sort of” impromptu, because we planned it on Thursday. In my world, that is very fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants. No judging me, Christine…I know you are the quintessential fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants girl. You’re the yin to my yang. Or something like that. It's why we work as BFFs. ;)

Anyway…I decided to tell you about our escapades through my thankfulness list. I’m so clever, right? Ok not really but here it goes:

1.  I am thankful that we finally found the opportunity to make the trek to Black Pine Animal Sanctuary up in Albion, Indiana. My mom and I had been talking about it, so the six of us (we let Mr. Always Random and my dad also accompany us) made the trip. It’s about three hours one-way, so yes, it is a trek…it’s not just me being overly-hyperbolic (I don’t think that’s a word, but I’m certain it makes my point). So that was six hours car-time…but totally worth it. The sanctuary was amazing and we learned so much! Wahoo!

2. I am thankful to know that exotic animals living in private homes is not something regulated by the great state of Indiana. As the woman leading our tour mentioned yesterday, we should probably take a lesson from Ohio and be proactive rather than reactive. Not trying to be a huge mouth-piece for anything here…I’m just sayin’.

3. To further that point, I am thankful to know that a neighbor could EASILY have (for instance) a five-foot alligator in his basement to whom he occasionally throws raw chicken or other various things…and I/we would be completely unawares, because the state doesn’t regulate such things and the neighbor would not be required by law to inform me. That’s just awesome.

4. I am thankful for places such as Black Pine Animal Sanctuary who take in and care for animals who have been house-raised, circus-raised, or road-side zoo-raised...and give them quality of life for the remainder of their days. 

Here’s a picture of my favorite guy at the sanctuary: Tarzan the chimp. He has a security blanket which is actually a large spoon. He carries it with all the time and the staff said it never leaves his side. He likes to look at his reflection in it and the many mirrors they put up in his habitat for him.

My 12yo took this picture...this is Tarzan :)

My 10yo took this picture

My dad took this one

For the record, I also took pictures but not with a fancy camera like they have...just my phone. So I'm choosing to just display their handiwork.

5. I am thankful that we didn’t get thrown out of the place for being disobedient during the tour. I shall explain, as we are not typically ones for shenanigans or mayhem, so you may be confused. During the tour, the guide informed us that as we passed by one enclosure in particular, we were not allowed to look at the animal and we needed to stay away from the cage…as this particular animal didn’t really like people (especially big groups) and would charge the fence if she felt threatened. Well, we missed the part about what kind of animal it was so that right there was enough to make us curious.

We HAD to look.

So…individually (and unbeknownst to one another) we were all sneaking furtive glances toward the cage. Except for Mr. Always Random…he was considerably bolder than the rest of us; he looked right over there like he owned the place. He's like that...

Fortunately the animal (it was a tiger, BTW) wasn’t paying attention. But we didn’t let our gaze last for too long. We didn’t want to tempt fate. Not did we want a tiger to charge at us, even with a fence between us.

6. I am thankful that when the little bobcat (I think it was a bobcat, but can’t exactly recollect for certain…a member of the feline family…we’ll leave it at that) decided to spray the fence that we were not close enough to receive it full-force. But man…it was pungent! Yikes! I would NOT have wanted to ride home the three hours in that funk.

7. I am thankful for our discovery of a little State Park we didn’t know existed: Chain O’Lakes State Park. Such a lovely little park…we ate our picnic there, walked around for a few minutes and even toured the “nature center”. It was in proportion to the size of the park. Small.

8. I am thankful for a back still without pain. Spending all that time SITTING in the car yesterday, I was a little nervous before I got up this morning. But Joy or joys: I can still stand up straight today with no pain. (Lest you be confused, you may recall from my post last week, I was struggling a bit with my back…but no more! Wahoo!).

9. I am thankful to have FINALLY enjoyed a little place called Ivanhoe’s. Yum. And yes, I am talking about food again. It probably wouldn’t be a post from me (or a thankfulness post at least) if at least one of the line items wasn’t about food. And no, we did not eat “real” food. It was the ice cream we were after. And though it was only 4pm when we ate, it was dinner. And it might have been the best dinner I have ever eaten. 

I am sorry to say that I didn’t take any pictures…I was too intent on my ice cream. You'll have to picture it in your mind. Trust me...I am picturing it right now. I think another road-trip is in order...

When you look at the menu (I’m certain you all will) on the website, my husband had Shake #97. My 12yo had Shake #41 (his father’s genes are strong…no way would anyone in MY family order that…what’s the point if there’s no chocolate?). My 10yo ordered Shake #21…Chocolate Anonymous. Yes.he.did. However, they made an error and instead gave him Sundae #22, which is also Chocolate Anonymous, but in sundae form. WOW. 

10. This leads me to my last item of thankful which is that I didn’t get a huge sundae or shake (just took it easy with only a couple scoops of ice cream...I just couldn't decide which one to choose...there are 100 sundaes and 100 shakes!...and I didn't want to "choose wrong!") because the 10yo needed help…and I was the best one for the job.

Have a fabulous week!

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