We traveled further southwest to Plain City OH and staying at Pastime Park Campground a city park, just outside Columbus and Dublin where golfer Jack Nicholas built Muirfield Village. The area around was very new and construction was evident everywhere. As we were driving toward it Chris was reading that this was one of the best places to live in the US for starter families and professional job prospects.

One disc golf player. Seen a few and none seem to be very good at it.

The park had a large swimming pool which was very popular as the heat was sweltering, second week of 95+ degrees

Off to the zoo!!! New rules: never go to a zoo at the weekend and never go when the temperature is over 80.

As per our new modus operandi Chris left Steve at the main entrance and started looking for a parking spot. The car park covers roughly 20 acres and we arrived at about 10:30 am and the parking area was filling up quickly. She found a spot in the north forty and hoped she’d find the car again. Where were the shuttles and at the very least numbered spaces? This was no Disney.

She eventually found Steve, then had to stand in line for tickets, then had to stand in line to get inside. Where was the plan, we’re usually more organized than this, we’re professional tourists.

We found an electric scooter for Steve, took our map and we were off to join the mob

We covered Asia, Africa, Australia and everything in between

We quickly realized that at these temperatures the animals weren’t likely to be waiting by the enclosures for us to say our “Oo’s” and “Aah’s. If they could find a tree they’d be under it or better still, inside.

But we were very grateful that a few had remained outside.

Red panda lounging on and in the shade of the tree branches.

It didn’t take long to realize that we’d missed a lot in recent years having been in the safety of 55+ RV parks for so long. I think Steve lost it first being as he was at kiddy height, but as the kids got more and more tired and hot the louder they yelled and screamed. 

As you can see by the number of photos we covered a lot of territory and Chris trotted beside Steve trying to keep up with him for about 5 hours. We went down into tunnels looking for the animals that weren’t outside only to find they weren’t inside either, so trotted all the way back up. 

At some point we decided to stop for lunch. Chris stood in line and ordered from an automated machine. That sentence spells trouble and she was surprised it was so expensive. When the food arrived she’d ordered 4 fried chicken sandwiches with fries and an extra portion of fries just in case it wasn’t enough. Before she reached the table the food was covered in bees and there was nowhere to sit with shade. The food had to go.

All the penguins standing at attention for inspection 

Mom and baby

The following evening we listened to a couple a guys crooning in the grandstand, they would’ve sounded better with a good bass.

Verdict: No more sightseeing for a while when it is this hot!!

Now onward to our appointment in Iowa.