Cajun Encounters Swamp Tour

 Slidell, LA

Having Fun on the Bayou

Today we did the drive north to Slidell.  We booked a Cajun Encounters Swamp Tour.  We wanted to find a Swamp / Bayou Tour that didn't have an air boat doing doughnuts on the swamp.  We were looking for more of a nature guide experience and we found just that.  It was a really great tour and we all highly recommend it.   The Guide / Captain was awesome and pointed out some great birds, alligators, racoons, and snakes to us.  The boat was big enough but not too big.  

Kitty petting upon arrival

I was a little worried about what we were getting into when I saw some of the merch

But once we walked the boardwalks and saw all of the birds my worries went away.

It was a perfect day to be out on the water.  Not too hot and not too cold

People live right on the water here

Gators came up to us because they get fed protein pellets

There is a Limpkin in there.  It's a bird we saw for the first time today

This is the Danziger Bridge, the oldest operating Vertical Lift Bridge in Louisiana.  It is a part of US90 but it's closed to traffic until they decide about repairs.  It does lift for boats.

The racoons knew about the protein pellets and were ready to do their part to get them.

The Diamondback Watersnake didn't want protein pellets

Road Trip!

After the Cajun encounter we headed east on I-10 and crossed the Mississippi State Line so Josh and Sophie could count Mississippi among the states they have been in.  After that we turned around and headed back to Slidell and picked up drive through daiquiris and then struggled to not drink them as we crossed the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.  

We documented our experience

When you are in the middle of the bridge you can't see land in any direction.  It's a big lake was once the longest bridge over water.

Here I demonstrate the difference between a container that is legal to drive with and an open container.  I did this once we got back.

It was a really fun day.  If you missed the last post you can find it here.

Perot Museum of Nature and Science

 Dallas, TX

The entrance to The Perot Museum is awesome

Dallas County and The Perot Museum

Today we picked up Erika and headed into the big city, The Big D!  We were visiting The Perot Museum of Nature and Science.  In 2008, $50 million dollars donated by The Perot Heirs (Ross and Margot Perot's kids) sealed the deal on the name change from The Museum of Nature & Science at Fair Park to The Perot Museum of Nature and Science.  The building is amazingly cool.  You start out by heading to the top and then you work your way down.  Each floor as an overlook looking down on the floor you are headed to so you can get a preview of what is in store.  Erika has a membership and we have our ASTC reciprocal pass so we all got in for free.  We tried to go later in the day but it was still packed with children.  We did are best to distance ourselves and saw as much as we could for as long as we could hang in there.  It was a very hot day and they had the air conditioning blaring so I don't blame families for going there to cool off.  I guess we will steer clear of Science and Nature museums until school is in again and stick to art museums.

We ascended to the top floor

The last escalator was along the edge of the building with a glass wall that offered great views of The Big D.

The Great Views

Looking down on the world

This Golden Eagle was going to be eaten by a T-Rex

An actual spine dug up in Big Bend TX.

There was someone working on some fossils and they displayed their work on a monitor above.

We excitedly went up to see the birds

Erika told me I could make my own bird so I did.  You had to visit various stations and choose different characteristics.  One of the kiosks was broken so you couldn't finish your bird.  On the way out we saw a girl at the first kiosk just starting her journey to disappointment.  

I can't believe it took me until 2022 to see something so obviously perfect and genius as this Banana Peel Caution Cone.

The Dallas Skyline

I want one!

This leopard is failing hard at hunting and the gazelle is rubbing it in.

A real Nobel Prize!

A real human Brain!

Robots in the early stages of conquering humans

The lobby from above

Kids were loving this!

A tornado trying to form

In the end we needed to get away from people and I saw this appropriate hoodie

Hey kids!  Look at the fun leap frogs!

Do Not have fun with the frogs.  Feel free to count them and sing to them though.

It was a fun trip but the crowds were there in force.  It's also amazing how far Dallas is from McKinney TX.  I spent the first part of our trip saying we are going to Dallas but that isn't really true.  Also there is no public transit connecting McKinney to Dallas.  You have to drive 20 minutes to the closest Red Line station stop which we will do later this week.

If you didn't read about our day of doing not much yesterday, you can read about it here.