Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo

Whilst reading some magazines, I came across a link to a mini zoo in Palo Alto, California - The Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo. I gathered a few friends who had kids of the same age as my son and decided to check it out.

Peacock

Slithery Adventures - Bay Area

There is always a need to keep kids busy. And summer is when you have to really look around for stuff to do. 2011 was when I was searching around for toddler activities for my 2\3 year old. I landed on various websites which gave me ideas. But there was one particular activity that caught my eye. This post may have various opinions about taking children, their safety etc. It's a personal decision no doubt, every one will have their pros and cons. However, I personally wanted to experience it. This is all about an experience with lizards, snakes and pythons. You do not have to read on and can drop off here if you wish. Click on Read more to see the rest of the post.

I found a program at a library that introduced these creatures to the public: curious kids and adults alike. The owner Brian Gundy from this website ( for goodness snakes ), brought with him, reptiles, boa constrictors, alligator lizards and different kinds of snakes. He even let you hold them in your hand or put one over your neck and take pictures at the end of the program. It was a learning experience attending this public event and educational as we learnt a lot about these less talked about animals. Personally I would not keep them as a pet, but I surely got a chance to see the creatures first hand and up close. Below are some of my pictures taken in 2011. You can get adequate information by clicking on this link. 

The public invited to experience them

Albino ball python

With a  python

Alligator lizard 

Lizard

an experience!

kids experience

closeup 

Kids experience it too

Blue tongued lizard

Coincidently, 2013 has been named the Year of the Snake. 

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park

They are the widest, tallest and the oldest living trees on earth! Visiting Sequoia & Kings Canyon, brings back memories of our trip back in the summer of 2007! It is located in the Southern Sierra Nevada in East California.

Entrance via Highway 198 @ Hospital Rock 

We drove up via Hwy 198, a very curvy route as compared to driving back home on Hwy 180. No doubt it was very scenic as we were driving alongside Kings River. We camped at one of the campsites within the park. Always fun to camp under the stars and amongst silent bears that visit at night ;-). We had one that opened an unclosed dumpster just where we were camping. This is pretty common in California's parks so don't worry :-) Here are a few things we did over a weekend.