Ping Pong, Bingo and a Jittery Day at the Zoo

So I met my friends at their hotel for a day of fun. After relaxing poolside for a few hours, we decided to head to the zoo. It’s walking distance from their hotel and seemed like a truly interesting thing to do. What would a Mexican zoo be like?

Before heading out on our adventure though, we had to play a few rounds of Bingo! The tension was running high as the numbers were called out. Was he ever going to call a number on my card? It certainly didn’t seem like it.

Now Bingo is a little different here in Mexico, at least at the Barcelo Resort it was played differently. The first game, you had to get four corners to win. The Traveling Hillbilly got one corner, before my friend Mike shouted Bingo! Well actually, he shouted Viva Le Mexico! That was the rule. He won a wonderful Mexican calendar/plaque. We think he plans on wearing it as a necklace. The next round, we just had to get one line of numbers. It got more difficult as the rounds continued. The final game, we had to get two rows of numbers to win! After a few more exciting rounds, Bingo was over and it was time to head to the zoo.

Now as many of you know, when you go to the zoo one of the main rules is “Don’t Feed the Animals.” Well that’s not the case here. They will actually sell you a back of food so you can feed the animals. Given my friends had heard a woman from their hotel got bit trying to feed a bear; we decided to pass on the food.

The first thing we see as we walk in is a monkey handing out on top of a red tent. We stop to watch the monkey and then realize that inside the tent are baby tigers and someone is actually petting them. We stand and watch this amazing spectacle until little Dylan, calls out, “look it’s a snake!” At first I didn’t see it, and then suddenly I realized where he was pointing. There in a tree, just above us, perched a snake coiled around a tree branch! Ok, most of you may not know this, but the Traveling Hillbilly, HATES snakes. They really freak me out. So this is how our visit to the Puerto Vallarta Zoo starts off, with a snake hanging out in the tree above us, not in cage, not in glassed in case, just lounging in the tree. So my day of jitters begins! Needless to say, I spent the rest of our walk through the zoo, looking up, checking for snakes constantly!

But I was not surprised to discover the snake was not the only scary thing in the zoo. A lot of the animals are not really in a cage and there isn’t much, if any, barrier between you and a lot of what I would consider dangerous animals. Now the bears, the jaguars, lions, tigers and some mean monkeys were behind fencing but you could actually reach out and touch a lot of the animals. I have never been so close to a camel, a giraffe and zebras! I was even a little too close for comfort to a few alligators! Just avoid looking them in the eye. I hear they can move and jump very quickly. We moved past the alligators in their low concrete wall, quickly. But we stopped to for a while to hang with the pink flamingos. They truly are beautiful creatures. We also had fun with the Zebras. Oh, and the baby pigs were so cute! My friends even got to pet a baby tiger! All in all it was a very fun and exciting adventure. Once we were outside the zoo, safe and sound, my jitters subsided and I had to admit, it was a cool experience! One you would never get to have in the states, or most countries for that matter!

Things I Learned on a Southwest Flight

Given I had a few hours to kill on the flight to Kansas City; I decided to pick up Southwest Spirit, the in-flight magazine. I figured I’d kill a half hour or so of the trip. Let me tell you, the Traveling Hillbilly was amazed by what a wealth of information the magazine was.


Things the Traveling Hillbilly learned on the way to Kansas City

• A great Bourbon Slush recipe – can’t wait to try it out at the next cocktail party
• Cows that get personal attention produce more milk. This one seems like common sense to me, given we all just want a little love and attention
• Barry Manilow has a show in Vegas
• The eggplant and bell peppers I eat frequently could be aggravating my sore knees
• Chili on cucumbers? Hhhhhmmm sounds worth trying
• I need to be more adventurous when making my own sandwiches, although a simple grilled cheese will always be a great thing
• The future is here, and it looks scary, and it’s called CENEGENICS (Dr. Rosenstein, creepy)
• The Traveling Hillbilly needs to go to Beantown
• How to make a chair out of a dollar bill (although honestly it didn’t look quite as good as the one in the magazine)
• Maybe the Traveling Hillbilly should travel the globe in search of the best pizza

The Big Chill - 21st Century

Some of my friends decided they wanted to spend their birthday with good friends by renting a house in Sonoma for a long weekend. So here we are, eight of us, renting this beautiful house in wine country. We all arrived late yesterday and we have a private wine tour scheduled for today. After introductions, a few cocktails and a very late dinner it was time to call it a night.

Ahhhh, a full night’s sleep. I can’t remember the last time I actually slept several hours in a row without waking up! The Traveling Hillbilly must admit it was nice to wake up in such a calm and peaceful place. It was time to put on the running shoes, grab the ipod and go exploring. There’s nothing like being on the road in the early morning hours when all is still quiet. A few good tunes, make it even better. It truly is one of the best ways to clear your head.

I think it’s going to be a great weekend. As someone said last night, it’s kind of like the movie, The Big Chill. Except we are here for a celebration. We’ll see if that holds true as the weekend progresses.

An Amazing Morning in New York

What better way to play tourist in New York than to stop by the Plaza to watch the Today Show being taped? So despite getting no sleep on the red eye flight out and going all day yesterday, we decided to get up at 6:15am this morning to and take a taxi over to the plaza. Given it's a Friday, there was also a concert on the plaza today. We were treated to a concert by Enrique Iglesias. What energy he brought to the plaza. Women everywhere were screaming and we know of at least one person that passed out! The Traveling Hillbilly has to say he put on a great show. We got to see him, Pit Bull, Meredith, Al, Ann and of course Matt up close. After the show, we headed across the street and went to "The Top of the Rock." While the view is amazing from up there, it was a bit of a hazy day so not as nice as I'm sure it can be. All in all a great start to a Friday morning.

Did I mention it was 85+ Degrees Today?

After an amazing start to the morning, my friend and I decided to head out to Central Park. We started to walk through the park when my friend suggested we rent some bikes. Thinking it was a great idea, I readily agreed. While it wasn't cheap, it was not as expensive as I expected. We hopped on the bikes and began our ride. What a beautiful place Central Park is. Here you are in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the city, surrounded by skyscrapers but you don't even notice it. It's such a green, calm and beautiful place you feel like you've truly escaped any hassles of the city. There are trees, green lawns, rocks, lakes and baseball fields. It really is an amazing place. People gather to read, relax, nap, play, work out and sunbathe. Every city needs a park like this. After an hour or so, We stopped for a nice ice cream treat. We sat on the Great Lawn and watched a softball while we ate our ice cream. Unfortunately, after just a few bites, my Good Humor Chocolate Eclair treat, split in half and fell off the stick onto the grass. Bummer! All in all a nice ride, except for the heat! Did I mention it was over 85 degrees today? Maybe an evening ride around the park would have been an even better idea!

A Night at the Cemetary

We all like to look for fun, new and interesting things to do in our own backyard. So in the spirit of "not letting the summer fly by" my friend and I decided to try some new things over the 4th of July weekend. Well in Los Angeles during the summer they show movies at the cemetery in Hollywood on Saturday nights. I heard about this last summer and really wanted to go, but never made it. So my friend and I decided this was the weekend to go. What a very cool experience. You can bring food and beer/wine to enjoy while you watch the film. They project the screen on to Valentino's crypt and it's basically thousands of people picnicking in the cemetery while watching a movie. Pretty dang cool! This evening's movie was Easy Rider, in tribute to Dennis Hopper. I have to admit, it was not exactly my kind of film. However, I can appreciate seeing greats like Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda. The saddest part is that kind of intolerance still exists today in so many places in this country and around the world! All in all, a great experience. The Traveling Hillbilly highly recommends. Upcoming films this month include, Saturday Night Fever and Airplane! For more details/directions check it out at cinespia.org A few tips, get there early. The movie doesn't start until 9pm, but there was already a huge line to get in before 7:30pm.

A Summer of Fun

The Traveling Hillbilly has decided not to let this summer fly by without taking the time to enjoy it! Living in Los Angeles makes it easy to do some great weekend get aways. So last Sunday, a friend and I decided to go on at least one weekend getaway each month now through September. Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, San Diego, San Francisco, Yosemite, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Taos, Tucson, New York maybe even a long road trip to see great sites like Mt. Rushmore, the Grand Canyon? So many options how does one choose? We're each making a list of places we'd like to visit. Each of our list will include cool fun/nightlife, spa/relaxation, and outdoor/hiking destinations. Then we'll drop them all in a hat and randomly select our destinations!

Any suggestions? Email them ASAP to worldtraverler@travelinghillbilly.com

The summer is already ticking away!!!!