Thursday, February 18, 2010
Today we went to the aquarium before we left Denver. The Downtown Aquarium is a fantastic place. Marissa would love it, there are a few steampunk aspects to the museum that I think would delight her – combine that with the obvious aquatic part, and – well. I think the Downtown Aquarium would probably be one of her favorite places in Denver. In the Aquarium, we saw the Archer fish feeding. Archer fish are awesome because they shoot water out of their mouths at their prey (insects), which then fall into the water. If they don’t, the Archer fish can jump up to a foot out of the water. It was fun to watch.
We also touched a starfish and a shark egg, and also stingrays. The former two were crusty, as one has an exoskeleton and the other has a shell, but the stingrays were slimy and velvety and had an altogether suprising texture. It was great fun, I definitely recommend going.
Additionally, they have tigers. The rainforest part of the aquarium features tigers – awesome. We even got to see one of them swim! I got a couple pictures, but I’m not sure if they’re any good. We’ll see when I get back.
Now we’re driving back to Casper. I drove for a little bit, and I have to say, speed limit 75? Awesome.
It’s great looking out around you, it’s all white, with yellow prairie grass sticking up, and the occasional oil pump or snow fence. I’d forgotten all about snow fences, but they’re a common sight out here – I’d not imagine many New Yorkers even know what they are. Basically, they’re fences that you put parallel to the highway so that the snow piles up in the lee of the fence, instead of blowing across the road so you can’t see. Snow still blows, but the fences help a lot.
When we stopped to get gas, the guy across from us had an enormous pickup truck, the kind with two exhaust pipes, and he had a bumper sticker on his windshield that said, “BADASS REDNECK.” Not to stereotype or anything, but he looked the type to ride bulls in the summer – judging from his vehicle, he probably worked on a ranch, at least.
Oo! First yucca plants of the drive ^_^ I’m writing this as we go, that’s unclear. Earlier we saw a cool rock formation, a scattering of boulders that would be great fun to climb around in/on. Had it been warmer, I would have asked to stop – as it is, it’s hovering around the freezing point, and the weather is much too miserable.
At my dad’s house, there are seven networks that I could, if people were reasonable, steal internet from. However, due to the work of darkness, people password their internet and thus make it un-stealable. This is a terrible evil that may prove too big for one woman to battle.
Before we arrived, Dad said, “I should warn you – my house is a mess.” I should not have doubted him at all. Once my camera is charged, I’ll take some pictures. This is the messiest home in which I’ve been in a while. However, a vast majority of this mess is books, so the likelihood of my being able to find a book report book for APUSH is high.
