Gainesville, TX (USA)

Weather was clear and crisp - seemed like a good day to explore the area north of town... We had seen signs in Gainesville on previous trips that said there was a zoo in Gainesville - about 45 minutes north of our home. Drive up was pretty easy and we arrived in the little town (near the Red River) around 1030. The zoo was located in Leonard Park - right off the Interstate. What a nice little place! The park itself had a huge playground and a pool (unfilled in the off-season) and the Frank Buck Zoo was located on the edge of the park. We got our tickets and then hurried inside so we could feed the giraffes. It was cool to give them carrots from a balcony - we were just above eye level. After that, we explored the rest of the place - they had bears, deer, racoons, coyotes, camels, zebras, kangaroos and several other unusual animals. There were also lots of cool birds. The zoo wasn't very big, but the walking path was good and went all the way around the place. We took a break around noon and the kids played on the playground. We drove around nearby - stopping to check out the little outlet mall and then heading over to eat lunch at Rumpy's German Deli (see APR and JUN 2010). We all had sausage sandwiches and a coconut cream kolache (mmm...). Went back to the zoo around 1230 and walked around again - taking a little more time to watch the animals. We saw a few funny things: the giraffes were trying to scratch each other with their little horns; some squirrels were harassing a bison, who kept bumping them off a stump they wanted to stand on; the bears were pacing around and around after we first saw them snuggling together. Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves! Started back towards Fort Worth around 1400. We stopped for a short time just south of Sanger to visit the Smith Brothers (S-B) tack shop. The kids enjoyed looking at the pre-fab barns, saddles and other equipment - and started to dream of the day we could have a horse... Home by 1530.