African Safari - Texas style...

To appease Michael last Saturday after visiting the girly bling bling shop we decided to head over to "Natural Bridges Wildlife Ranch"...I threatened Dawn that if my windshield wipers got ripped off by an animal she was in deep doo doo. (I'm happy to report that my windshield wipers survived :o)...I had over 200 + photos that Dawn and I took and these are what I narrowed them down too...it wasn't easy!

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One of my favorites!
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North American Bison, not something you'd see on an African Safari but this safari was in North America and I'd say he kind of belonged here!

Wildebeest!
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I'm not fond of goats...I think it's their eyes, they just aren't right :o)
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There were a lot of animals snoozing in the shade! This guy stood out with his antlers!
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One of my favorite photos...
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Uh Oh! I really like this photo!

I think my camera might be annoying her...(evil chuckle)

Ya know what though? She knows I LOVE her!!
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Yikes!! I think I'd best turn that camera back to the animals on the outside of the vehicle, this one seems to be getting a bit HOt under the collar...

(kiss kiss Dawny Poo)
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Ekkk...Not sure I like it when this thing sticks his face in mine!
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Gulp!!

I'd hate to see what she could do with that beak!

Might be time to roll the window up! Just leave my

wiper blades alone, ya HEAR!!!
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Oh I do love the stripes!

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The Zebra's were hungry and they had us laughing!
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They'd open their mouths (not to bite) expecting someone to literally

throw a food cube in their mouth...Dawn was a pretty good shot at this and

I think the Zebra's knew this!
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Food Heaven!

Spoiled rotten!
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This is my favorite photo of the day...I just love it!
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Dawn got a photo of the young Zebra, they were cute!
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Okay lets not climb in the truck, sheesh!!

(Food! I want Food!)
Not sure Fred would like it if I brought home a living/breathing Zebra!
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A two humped camel...kind of cool!
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Awww....Look at those big brown eyes!
I think the little one there needs a trim?
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And this little guy/girl was too sweet!

I over-heard that it was 3 days old. I wouldn't doubt it, it slept a lot.

Momma was a bit worried as she wanted to go in the barn and this little one just

wanted to lay there and snooze in the sun!
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The adolescents sun-bathing!
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Ahh they had monkeys too!

This is a red-breasted monkey that loves to climb rocks!

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Then the little monkey found a friend!

Michael and Dacey!
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One was posing and the other was not! Typical!
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Friends! Good Friends!
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Giraffes are so different! But still pretty cool!
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A Mothers love...another one of my favorite photos!
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Way over there, that was Daddy! He was Huge!

I know there are different breeds of giraffes, not sure what these were

but they were Huge! And gorgeous too!

I could have sat there all day and taken photos of the giraffes :o)
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We had a great time at the Wildlife ranch, so glad we decided to go!

We might just have to check it out again!

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Bracken Village from the viewpoint of a 7 yr old...

I went and put Michael's photos from Bracken Village on a slideshow...he did pretty good!

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I love looking at his photos and he's improving...I think it may have been worth $10.

I was laughing at his cat photos...we were shopping in the girly bling bling store and he went outside and just happened to find some cats...He loves cats and leave it to him to find some and photograph them! Beats being in the girly store with the bling and girls!

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A Gripe...

I normally try to keep my blog posts positive. When I visit some place I don't like, I bite my tongue...But this time I'm NOT, I'm speaking out!

While in San Antonio/Shertz Tx. with Dawn we saw a pamphlet for Bracken village. It said it was a small village with buildings from the late 1800's to the early 1900's and lots of unique shops, we thought it sounded cool. What a joke!

We arrived and I saw a sign, if you are taking photos you must sign in at the Country gathering building...Not only did you have to sign in you had to pay $10! I told them I was not taking portraits, just on vacation snapping photos of places we had visited. It didn't matter. If you took photos you had to pay $10. Okay so I won't take any photos, well Michael had his camera and insists that he is going to take photos, grr. I told him that I really didn't want to pay $10 but he threw a fit and I gave in...Yep I paid $10.

So then Michael starts taking photos inside the Country Gathering store, which had rug making supplies. Fine with me, I just paid $10 for that purpose. The lady came up to me and said Oh you can not take photos in the store, sheesh!! I told her he's 7 yrs old and most of his photos will come out blurry anyways, sigh! Why did I pay $10 if he can't take photos?

We didn't see too much in that store so we decided to go see what other stores there were...

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Okay so in this village of approx. 20 buildings...maybe 6 of the buildings were occupied and only 4 of those were stores, hmmm? And only 3 of those shops were open! None of the buildings had information plaques as to when they were built or where they had been located, they were just empty! I like History and I was clueless...And since I paid $10 for photos I darn well got my camera out to take some. The lighting was terrible but I did try!

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This is a barn and the Country Gathering is a store for people who like to make rugs...

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Dawn, Dacey and Granny walking towards me...

I like this photo but the Christmas lights on the trees are a bit distracting!
Please people, wrap up those lights, Christmas is over with!

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Michael checking out a chicken coop...No chickens either! The pamphlet said there were animals all around the village? Not here!
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I have to say it was a beautiful day for a nice walk...
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Now this shop was cute and the only shop we spent some time in...Lots of bling and frilly things! I didn't have any money to spend though...I had to pay $10 for photos, lol.
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I loved these party hats, too cute!

I also thought my Party friend, Helen, might enjoy it too!
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Poor sweet Dacey! She shut her thumb in the truck door, Ouch!

She was hurting!
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This sign had me laughing...should have read "Cranky Photographer!". This store said "The Garden store"...but there wasn't much to do with Gardening...It still had a few interesting articles but nothing we really had to have!
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I was excited as I thought okay this might be interesting...It said "Artworks"...
Michael ran up the steps to check it out and guess what? It was closed! Well so much for that!

Once again people it's spring in South Texas lets take the Christmas decorations down!

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We finally found a few barnyard animals hidden back behind a barn. This Jack Donkey was wanting some attention...he was so lonely! Gotta love them ears :o)

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And 'Mom', 'Granny', 'Donna' learning how I am with the camera and smiling!
Love it!!

So glad she came with us!

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We won't be going back to Bracken Village and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else either...at least don't plan on taking photos! Not really worth the fuel or drive either!

I did get some photos and they do tell a story and I love that :o)

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Stay tuned as the next place we visited was one I was sort of dreading but we had fun!

All I can say is I pictured ostriches tearing off my windshield wipers, yikes!

Slideshow of Game Camera Feb 7 thru Feb 13

I left the game camera out for a week this time and had a lot of photos of deer, one cow and a coyote butt at night...

I love the yearlings and some of the does and their reaction to the camera, too funny!

Hope to work on the rest of my photos from the weekend tomorrow, stay tuned!

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Friday February 11...The Atrium, Shertz TX....

Michael and I arrived at the Hotel Friday afternoon and walked around checking it out...

Pretty sweet Pool...

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Dawn was running a bit late so we went swimming for a bit....

Yeah, they arrived...Donna (Dawn's Mom), Dawn and Me.

(Michael took the photo)
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Our together photo, lol...Every time we get together we do a together photo. I think in later years it's going to be neat to go back and see how we've changed through the years!
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After dinner we took the kids swimming!

Dacey in the Pool...
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They were very very Happy!
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Michael having a blast!
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Stay tuned for photos from our adventures on Saturday!

I've got over 200 photos to go through, ekk...

We sure had a great weekend and loved spending time with Dawn, Donna and Dacey!