On Sunday, we headed out to this amazing preserve that was the home to so many tigers, lions, and other huge cats that I lost count! Tigers for Tomorrow!! If you ever near Gadsden or taking a drive to Chattanooga, you have got to take a detour and stop here. I wish I could have taken pictures, but, unfortunately, there are signs everywhere stating "not allowed." So, boo. But, these cats are here to relax, I suppose. :)
It was such an amazing place!! They are housed in huge cages, not like at a zoo. They are not stuck behind glass. They are not alone. You can actually tell that they are happy where they are!! And, around each cage, there is fence about 5 feet away. So, we get to stand at the fence and they are there. About 5 feet away from you. We heard Boris the Great, a gorgeous lion with an awesome mane, roar a little. He was so funny. He rolled all around and laid out in the sunshine to warm his tummy! We also saw some bears, Basil and Sage. They were the party bears for the weekend (there was a special admission fee B1G1 for Valentine's). Andrew loved the tigers and the cougars the most. He pointed and whispered "wow!" the entire time we were there.
The best part was that we came at a really great time - lunch time. These animals know exactly when it is time to get their meat and veggies! There are anywhere from 2-4 of the same animal in one home and they were getting hungry - fast! Some were polite and waiting patiently. Others were highly annoyed that lunch wasn't happening fast enough so they were loud and starting little fights with one another. We watched the Shakira, one of the larger tigers eat her lunch close up. Very cool. But, those cougars...nope...we were told to back away from the fence because they do NOT like people watching. They are not the sharing type. It was a really cool thing to watch. They all eat 1 lunch that is equal to maybe a week or a week and a half of dinners for us. WOW. And, they eat pretty well. One of the keepers told us that they get chicken breast and various cuts of beef including fillet mignon! WHAT?!
As we were heading out, we checked out the little farm they had. There were a lot of goats, chickens, and pigs. But this one llama...ugh! So, I like llamas. I did anyway. He was cool at first. I was talking to him and telling him how nice he was, but no. He didn't care. He was about to (gasp!) spit at me! ARE YOU KIDDING?! Stinky llama. I bolted away from him! Andrew was laughing...so was Jason...and a few other random people out there. Nice. Mr. Llama, you are are a stinker.
Anyway, we headed home and grabbed lunch on the way. And this was the next animal noise I heard:
In one of it's natural habitats, the cute Stinkapotamus can be heard quietly snoring. Haha!
This is what the place looks like driving in or out. See? Untamed Mountain. They weren't kidding!
On Valentine's Day - the actual day - Andrew and I went out to get the mail. And he got a letter!! A letter from Ma & Dave!! He loves getting mail. But, he was more excited to see a duck in the card! Very cute!!
Later that day, I started making dinner. Andrew had dinner just as Jason was coming home and then we both gave him his valentine heart filled with m&m's (his favorite!). Once he was all snuggly in bed, Jason and I had our dinner. I made my fabulous Cheesy Chicken (a spinoff of Chicken Kiev) and we had chocolate fondue with strawberries and pound cake for dessert. YUM! We even watch a chick flick! I told him to get whatever movie and he got "You Again" Best chick flick I've seen in a while! It was pretty funny!!
What a wonderful Valentine's!! Hope everyone had a great one, too!
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