One of the things that we put on our summer bucket list was to take a day trip out of town. I have decided to try to document all of our bucket list activities this summer. So any posts with asterisks in front of it, is off of the list. So the other day we woke up and decided to drive up to Flagstaff for the day. We grabbed up some snacks for the car and headed up the road. We were driving in the middle of nowhere when of course Emma announces she has to go to the bathroom. Of course there is nothing around and nothing coming up for awhile and it was urgent so we pulled off the road to find a spot in the bushes. We pull off of the road a little way and we see a small sign that says "winery and garlic." "How weird" I think to myself as I continue to look for a spot only to hear Deke say "Let's go check it out." "What?" I say as he abandons that road for a little dirt road back into the bushes that appears to lead to nowhere. Great. This is going to be interesting. We continue to wind back into brush with nothing in sight as the kids giggle about the bumpy terrain and Avery squeals "We are on an adventure!!" We drove back quite awhile. Just as I start to tell Deke that it is time for a plan B we see a painted barrel..."Winery and Garlic" then to the left a small house/store and there is a car parked in the dirt next to it. Not believing my eyes, we pull up as two people come walking out carrying slices of pizza on a plate and glasses of wine. At this point I am wondering if I am in the twilight zone. We walk up and I see a handwritten sign over the door saying "Garlic Paradise" which has me questioning the individual ideas of what paradise is. We walk up to the door where four very yippy dogs greet us and an older gentlemen ushers us in telling the dogs to settle down and apologizes saying that they don't see kids very often. Great. I took Emma to the bathroom as Deke talked with him. He was nice but definitely quirky and so was his shop. He had garlic done in lots of different ways, Italian flags hanging everywhere a small cardboard sign hanging from some string that said "Wine tasting area" written in colored pencil with an arrow. The shop was dimly lit and everything was covered in enough dust that it seemed that he probably didn't see customers often. He started telling Deke that all around his shop had been a vineyard and winery 30 years ago. I would never have thought that a vineyard would have been able to thrive there. Anyways the kids did get to see what fresh garlic looks like which none of us had ever seen. It was pretty cool and I like the flower that grows on top of it.
So we left Garlic Paradise cracking up that we never would've known that was there and headed up to Flagstaff. After grabbing some lunch we arrived at Bearizona and started the driving portion of the park.
You stay in your car and drive through the different animal areas. It is really neat because the animals get so close to the car and you can go through the park at your own pace. We could drive a little and then just park the car for awhile and watch the animals. I am pretty sure it was the kids first time seeing a bison, they thought they were pretty neat.
Emma got really afraid when we entered the wolf area. She came up by Deke and I and kept telling us she didn't like the "bad wolf." I don't think it helped that he kept baring his teeth. We saw some bison that we were able to get really close to and just sit and watch them graze.
They had other sheep and mountain goats as well. The highlight of course for all of us was watching the bears.
It is interesting that even though you are in a car as they start to get close they are so large it is still pretty intimidating. They have signs everywhere saying to keep moving if the animals start to approach you. This brown bear started heading straight for our car and got within a couple of feet before we started to slowly pull forward. The kids were all glued to the car windows, loving every second of it.
It was really cool. Animals are so amazing. Then after over an hour of doing the driving portion you park and then there is a zoo like area where you walk around and see more animals. The weather was gorgeous so we were all excited to get out and walk around. By the way did anyone else not know that porcupines climb trees? Well I was surprised, I guess they really like it though.
Obviously hanging out in a tree is the way to go because the raccoon's also were enjoying it.
These two were wrestling with each other...
One of the highlights of the day was the nursery area where they had the baby bear cubs. Oh my goodness these little guys are so stinkin cute. We spent the longest amount of time here just watching them play with each other and wrestle around. One of them was trying to get a leaf out of his water dish and couldn't get it out.
They also had a bear "kindergarten" for the bears that were two and three years of age.
And of course they had a petting area as well....
Hudson thought that the goats were hilarious. Especially when Em would chase them around trying to catch them and pet them.
Speaking of Emma she was a hoot all day. She was so excited to be there and I think being able to be outside in actual nice weather she was being a little ham....
Of course we also had to go in the shops and check out all the fun souvenirs.
It was really fun for all of us, nice to get out of the heat and take a little family trip.
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