We drove up Monday morning and arrived in Mesa around 3:30 pm. We stopped for lunch at Cheba Hut.. Which we hadn't had since we lived in San Diego. Still an interesting and fun sandwich place.. And mine we deeeelish
After saying hello and chatting with Pat and Cindy for awhile, I learned something new about Cindy that I didn't know.. She shares my love of true crime!!!! Cor and I were trying to find the address of the Jodi Arias murder house, because it's in Mesa
So we all started searching and finally found the address.. Only 11 minutes from Pat and Cindy's house
So of courseeee we had to make a drive-by
Me sandwiched between two 6'3+ males..
And there it is... The house where an unimaginable tragedy took place. It was so eery to think of her walking out that front door after she killed him, driving down that street..it was very creepy to me. Personally, I could never live in a house where something like that happened
We grabbed a pizza for dinner and headed to bed pretty early.. We had to get up really early to head to Out of Africa!!!
We've been volunteering at Out of Aftica with Pat about once a year for the last three years and we've always had the most incredible time there.. This time was no different
Pat and Cor got some good chatting time on the ~2 hr drive up there
First up was saying hello to the 2 new donkeys that arrived since the last time we were there
Pete and Freedom
They were very sweet and loved the affection we gave them
Across from the donkeys this girl was hanging out
Then we went and said hello to our buddy Jericho the rhino
Love his feet bc they look like elephant feet!
He's such a sweet boy and lovesss for us to rub on him! He's way more active than Boom-Boom was (their previous rhino, RIP) so he's fun to watch and interact with
Then we drove by the new wildebeests that arrived at the park about a month a half ago.. Very cool and very Africa authentic
Last stop before we were off to do some actual work.. We went in with a baby sable who they have bottle fed since birth. Sables are known for being very mean but he was such a sweet baby and loved to lick our hands. He is actually kept in an area with his best friend, a stray dog that wandered into the park and hasn't left.. His name is Avalance and he's beautiful!
He lovedddd Cor
We had to say hello to our friend Kibo real quick!
He wanted some cookies.. So we obliged
We went back to the trailer to wait for a ride to the area where we were going to work and got to spend some time with Calihara, a beautiful serval that we actually went in with the first time we volunteered
Her health is deteriorating (she's 24 and servals only usually live to 20 max) so she's been staying in the trailer and hanging out
Still a sweet girl
She likes to Headbutt when greeting so we obliged
She happily played with that tennis ball before she got tired
No face selfie with a serval
Finally we were off to shovel some buffalo poo!
The Asian water buffalos were not happy about us 'messing up' their area.. But it had to be cleaned
Slightly intimidating
Kibo watching
After poo shoveling we went to say hello to Pat's favorite friend, Limbuka the elan
We twisted his arm and convinced him to take some cookies
Baby zebra ... I didn't know this before but baby zebras have brown stripes for about the first year of life.. Then they then black
Baby and a grown zebra.. See the color difference?
Last stop.. Some of my personal faves.. The big cats!
So massive and so amazing.. I could watch him all day
The females are ALMOST as big as the makes and much much larger than the Bengal tigers .. Equally as beautiful
Rough life
Chalet the white tiger
Hanging out
Another sweet bear
Jaguar and another female lion
Such a wonderful day.. And well worth the little bit of labor we do in order to experience the majestic animals up close and personal
I'm always so thankful every time we go.. Huge thank you to the staff at Out of Africa for giving us lasting memories every single time!
After a nap on the way home we took much needed showers, rested a bit and
then Cindy made us a very yummy 'breakfast for dinner' or 'binner'!
Yummmm!!!
Relaxing with my boo thing
Then we headed off to go bowling. Another tradition every time we visit Pat and Cindy
Cor was on fire and smoked us all the first two games
Then we played teams... Pat and I vs. Cor and Cindy ... We smoked them
Cute!
The bowling crew =]
After a great time bowling we stopped by Pat and Cindy's favorite place, Gus's, to grab some pizzas
We came home.. Ate and played catch phrase until 1 am! I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time... It was such a great time... Loren's faces are priceless
Finally it was bedtime for us! We woke up this morning.. Said our goodbyes and stopped by Corner Cafe (another tradition) before our drive home
Thank you Pat and Cindy for being wonderful hosts as always.. We had the best time and can't wait to see you guys again soon!
Back to CA for us
Vacation number 2 of the summer was a success =]
Until next time
XO!
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