I’ve decided to start a new series for the upcoming Tuesday posts while this pandemic continues to happen. I used to do the food tour posts on Tuesdays but even though they’ve re-opened restaurants, my doctor told me to stay away from eating in them until this is over due to my heart condition to be safe. I’m in a high risk group when it comes to this virus, so I really have to watch it.
So I’ve decided that I’d start a series of social distancing trips you can take in Peoria where you’re not near people but can still have a day out doing something on a Sunday afternoon.
The Peoria Zoo recently re-opened and I thought that would be a place where you could keep your distance from people while being outside and enjoying a day observing the animals.
So let’s head over to the Peoria Zoo for the debut of this Social Distance Sunday series!
Here we are at the Peoria Zoo on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
The entrance is right over here, so let’s go in and start the first Social Distance Sunday afternoon!
These two friendly and pretty women were behind the counter and they had good news and bad news to tell me.
The good news was that they weren’t charging admission to enter the zoo today. The bad news was that because it had rained so hard earlier in the morning, most of the animals weren’t going to be out and about.
Well, I didn’t have time to think of something else to do, so I thanked them and decided to take a tour of what might be a flashback to this sad zoo post from the past.
Okay, it’s off we go for the debut of Social Distance Sunday here at MBIP!
You have to follow the arrows to tour the zoo now. The first stop is the Asian Trail. Hmmm, well there’s not much to see here, so we’ll just keep moving along.
Next stop is the Australian Walk About.
And…well…there’s nothing here either. I had to keep telling myself that I didn’t pay anything to enter the zoo and this does really hammer home the age-old rule that you get what you pay for.
We’ll head down here and see what’s down the road.
Oh look…a couple of rocks!
Oh look…another rock. Oh boy, this series is really off to a rocky beginning! Maybe we’ll see Bullwinkle soon and we can salvage this day!
As I continued on I saw some people leaning into the fence and thought there must be an exotic animal over there. I waited till they moved on to go and take a look for myself.
When I got there I discovered they were looking at this giant turtle.
After watching him move in slow motion for about five minutes I discovered one thing. Giant turtles are boring as fuck! Let’s keep moving along here.
As I traveled along I came upon this wooden bridge that kind of goes up pretty high. I hate bridges and have a fear of heights so this was not good.
I couldn’t turn back because you have to keep moving forward due to the new rules. Hopefully this is a short bridge because I feel an anxiety attack coming on!
Motherfucker, this bridge never ends and I’m in the middle of a full-blown anxiety attack! I’m sweating like crazy and hanging on to the railing like that’s going to help. Aaaaahhhh!
Okay, I’ve hit a section of the bridge that has walls and it’s a little better, but I’m moving swiftly to get the fuck off of this thing. I hate bridges and now I’m even cursing the thought of Lloyd Bridges!
Finally we start descending and we’re back on pavement and ground level! I have to remember to bring my anxiety medicine on my next trip here!
Let’s see what’s around the corner…
Oh for the sweet love of fuck…I hate these squiggly things! They give me the creeps and they’re usually stationed in front of insurance agencies and car dealerships.
They’re creepy as fuck and I certainly didn’t need to experience this after the frightening bridge experience.
This trip is turning into a buffet of exploiting every weird phobia I have. Fuck!
Okay, there’s an Animal Adventure Center, maybe we can finally have some fun over there, it certainly sounds exciting!
Well, there’s nothing too adventurous happening here today.
But there is a garbage can stuffed with hay. Hay now!
Let’s see what’s over behind this gate…son of a fucking bitch, it’s another fucking turtle and this one moves even slower because he’s made of stone!
If I wanted to spend the afternoon with a turtle, I could’ve just called Bill Molleck! (Inside joke alert!)
I think it’s time to exit, stage right!
In all fairness to the Peoria Zoo, I was forewarned about this, there was no admission charge and I’ve had some fun times here in the past, see the links below.
I bought a ticket online and they told me that it’s good till the end of this year, so we will return in the future for hopefully a better day out here. And I’ll bring my anxiety medication to take before getting on that fucking wooden bridge!
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Glen Oak Park
2320 N. Prospect Road
Peoria
309-686-3365
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Related Posts: A Birthday Trip To The Peoria Zoo, Starring Scott Turley—Or—You Can’t Hide Those Lion Eyes…Ha!, The Second Annual Birthday Trip To The Peoria Zoo, Starring Scott Turley and Zoo Brew and Wine Too @ The Peoria Zoo.