Day trip to Tucson

            Last Friday we got to take a day trip down to Tucson. Our good friend, Brad Mills, plays AAA baseball for the Las Vegas 51’s and was the starting pitcher against the Tucson Padres. His beautiful, sweet, and hilarious wife, Annie, is our friend too and we got to hang out with her a bit at the game.  Because we are spoiled and we do not work on Fridays we decided to make a day of it and head down to Tucson in the morning. 

            After starting the day right by reading our Bibles getting some Sonic breakfast burritos, we were on our way. Our first stop was at an ostrich farm.

We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. For 5$ they give you a large cup of alfalfa pellets and a small cup of nectar to feel all of the animals they have. The had deer, goats, miniature donkeys, lorikeets, and of course, ostrich.  We started with the deer; they were the most calm and evoked the least amount of fear.

 This is me feeding my favorite.

Then we moved on to the goats. To make it interesting, they cut holes in a wall and made the beasts poke their heads through to get food. To add to it, these goats seemed like they had been hyped up on some steroids! I am not sure who thought of this idea but it was an outlandish experience, lets just say they did not get many of my pellets.

            

 Next we met the most bizarre creatures and the ones that steal the show, our acquaintance, the ostrich:

 

The entire time we spent looking at these massive birds I kept wondering “What was God thinking?” They are huge creatures that, from our experience, are not very bright.

        Next came the miniature donkeys, they really are very sullen creatures…

Now isn’t that one of the nicest looking assess you have ever seen?

With all of our pellets gone, the last animals to visit were the rainbow Lorikeets.  I did not know what to expect but the moment I walked into the exhibit those things were all over me; on my head, shoulders and arms.  I had the cup of nectar in my hand and it felt like they just swarmed at me. Letting out shrills of terror and trying to shake them off did nothing to startle these little things. Kyle was lovingly trying to encourage me by laughing at me. We did not stay long in there and when I found out I had gotten pooped on, I was really glad I brought a change of clothes…

After hand washing and sanitizing gel we got back into our trusty wagon and made the rest of the journey to Tucson. We stopped at the San Xavier Mission and wished we knew more about Catholicism. The building was built in the late 1700’s and had so much detailed artwork it was all beautiful.

We spent the rest of the day driving around town, looking at the University of Arizona, spending time at a park and going out to dinner before we headed to the ballpark.

I only got one photo of at the game that night and Brad isn’t even in it. 

There were about 40 family members and friends that came to watch Brad pitch; needless to say he had a huge cheering section. The 51’s won the game and Brad pitched great. Kyle and I had to work hard to keep each other awake as we drove back home that night. We had a great day, it is really nice that we enjoy one another's company so much.