I have been begging Patrick to take me to the Hogle Zoo for many months. A few weeks ago(August 22, 2007), he surprised me by taking me. I was a little worried because I had heard that the zoo had really gone down hill since I was little. I remember getting so excited to be able to go to the zoo. We would walk around, what seemed like a huge place back then, for hours. My favorite animals were always the monkeys, the polar bears and the seals, although I would have to say that I liked all of them.

I always thought it was great to drink out of the 'huge' lion drinking fountain. We were in luck this trip because they still had the fountain, it was much smaller to me know though.As we walked around the park, we saw black bears that just kept pacing back and forth. It was really funny. They didn't have one of my favorites, the polar bear. They said that it kept getting sick and they had to move it to another zoo until they have a better place for it with more water for it to swim in.

We saw some really cute gorillas that were lounging around. One of them just kept looking at us. As we were leaving the gorillas, we came upon this great gorilla statue that we had to be a part of. "Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery." ~Dwight Shute, The Office.

We also saw elephants which were Patrick's very favorite. They were really playful, I think it was because it was lunch time. There was a white alligator. It was really crazy and I thought it was fake, but it was definately real. They are extremely rare because if they are in the sun, they will die. It was not albino, but has some sort of skin disease that causes it to have no pigmant. We also saw rhinos, monkeys, giraffes and so many other animals. It was a wonderful day and so much fun to be able to remember being a kid. I would love to go to the zoo again soon, especially if they bring back the polar bear.