Errett.com

After about an hour drive to Johnson City we arrived at the zoo at 2:30.  It’s just off of Highway 281 and is over 130 acres of land set aside for various animals.

We checked in and looked around a bit and then headed to the cabin.  To get to it you have to cross over a pair of cattle guards and drive through a patch of land where the animals are wandering around.  As you can see they’re used to people and cars because they were walking right up to us as we drove through.  Except for the lazy deer, they just watched us drive by.

Curious Ostrich

We're Lazy

Camels are Big

Once we got to the cabin the kids helped unload the car and we had to make our shopping list for dinner.  There was a Super S Foods just 3 miles down the road and the vote was that we’d have hamburgers for dinner and waffles for breakfast.  William was in charge of the list and after a surprisingly uneventful trip to the grocery we headed back to the cabin.

View from the Porch

With the food unloaded it was late in the day and I decided we’d go on the tour tomorrow and spend the hottest part of the day in the pool. It was the perfect size and only 4 feet deep so I didn’t need to worry about the kids. And the fact I picked the cabin directly in front of the pool was a nice feature.

Perfect for Making the Kids Fall Asleep Early

I had the kids get out of the pool while I started the grill. It was fun “roughing it” and using a rickety old charcoal grill and getting it started with no lighter fluid or chimney starter. I swear it made the burgers taste better. As I was cooking the kids found an old toy nearby and started pushing each other around the yard. It’s funny, I have a similar photo of them but they’re about 5 1/2 years younger.

Who Needs TV?

After a few minutes I finished the burgers. I decided to cook up the extra patty and make a double. Apparently I was hungrier than I thought because I actually ate the whole thing. And for a burger with no onions, pickles, tomatoes, mustard or mayo is was really good. William actually ate all of his and Katie a good 3/4.

Yummy Dinner

After dinner they each had a Ring Pop I brought along and then they both asked to go to bed. I was going to rest for just a minute but also fell asleep at 8:30.

Since we had to stop at my work and we were already downtown I decided we should try one of the cool and trendy place on South Congress.

We stopped by the food trailers but nothing looked good so we walked down to Home Slice Pizza.

I’ve never been but have heard good things about it. It’s no secret that I don’t like Gatti’s because I think they use the cardboard from the pizza boxes to make their original crust. Well, Home Slice has what Gatti’s thinks they have. It’s a large, thin crust pizza with just the right amount of crunch and it’s frigging delicious. The kids each got a slice of pizza the size of their face for $2.75 and they liked it.

They were really good sitting in my office while I finished up my work so the deal on the table right now is if they finish their pizza we’ll stop at Hey Cupcake.