Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Breakfast at home: I prepared for myself two eggs scrambled with butter and leftover short ribs from yesterday's lunch; hot water. I continued research for purchasing a new kitchen faucet. I began building a table of possibilities listing their overall heights, spout heights, and spout reaches. Most kitchen faucet vendor websites have terrible filtering abilities, and nearly all don't understand my website needs. For example, it would be useful to see all faucets with a spout reach greater than 8.5 inches and less than 10.5 inches and order them largest to smallest (or smallest to largest), but I have found no website that can do this. Sam came over midmorning and Sam, Patrick, and I went to Oakland Zoo in Sam's car. It was the first time at this zoo for all of us. The zoo was not crowded at all, and the weather was sunny but not too hot for Patrick. We first rode the gondola to the upper section and explored the California Conservation Habitarium. Then outside we saw bald eagles, gray wolves, and California condors. We double-backed to the wolves to hear them howl, which occurs only on Wednesdays at noon when the emergency siren sounds. Next we saw jaguars, mountain lions, grizzly bears, black bears, bison, and the San Francisco Bay outlook. We rode the gondola back down. Lunch at Tusker's Grill. Sam had a cola Icee and a burger and fries. Patrick had a cola Icee and three chicken strips with fries. I had a cherry Icee and a burger and fries. Some (yellowjackets?) swarmed us, but I covered each of our Icees with a paper napkin with a hole for the straw and they seemed to go away. A nearby woman with a small child dealt with them differently; she laid a few pieces of chicken tenders a bit away from their seats and let them swarm that instead, and this method I thought was less effective because it drew more of them. Next we saw camels, flamingoes, sun bears, parrots, tamarins, chimpanzees, squirrel monkeys, the rainforest aviary, tortoises, reptile and amphibian room, goat and sheep petting yard, alligators, river otters, lemurs, the House of Bugs, warthogs, and giraffes. Patrick was too tired to explore the last section: African savanna. We did not ride the train which explored the wild Australia region with emus and wallaroos. The Sky Ride was closed, but it seemed short and did not seem very interesting. The gondola goes farther and higher and is more fully enclosed. The Sky Ride is open-air seating like a simple ski lift. Patrick wanted coffee, but the cafe did not have espresso—only drip. We exited the zoo without intention to same-day return. This zoo experience was good but not great. To connect to their wifi you had to give up a lot of personal info, so I didn't bother and just did without. Our cellular connection was poor. I guess due to the low traffic many refreshment stations were closed. Some animals were mentioned on the map but not visible anywhere we could find. In one or maybe two cases we saw a sign explaining an animal's absence. The food was reasonably good, though predictable for a zoo restaurant menu. Tusker's Grill had no salads—perhaps few or no people order them? The paper map was simple to use and easy to understand. The parking and ticketing process was easy except it was hard to figure out the best place to park because you can't see the entrance location easily and there are no signs telling you which way to walk. The next time we return, I would try eating at The Landing Cafe for the amazing view, and we should see the regions we missed today: Wild Australia and African Savanna. We did not visit the Rides Area since it looked like it was for kids and since we didn't take the train. Afterwards we drove to the nearest Starbucks where we got pumpkin-flavored drinks. Sam drove us home, and we said goodbye. Patrick napped. Later Patrick and I walked about 20 minutes to dinner at Nopa for a small milestone celebration. Cocktails: Nopaloma for Patrick, Pisco Punch for me. We shared: little gems salad, tomato bisque, fried fish (on the salty side), ham flatbread. Our server comped us a full order of fries with two dipping sauces saying something about delayed water. We didn't feel there had been any great delay, but we accepted them anyway. Dessert: warm peach crumble. Patrick also had a glass of barbera with the meal and an espresso at the end. All food, drink, and service by Zach O (who wore a pin saying "Ru Paul for President") were excellent. Walked home. Patrick read from his Kindle in bed before going to sleep. I continued research for purchasing a new kitchen faucet.