Going on a Safari

We took a week off and went on vacation in July. It was fun to get away and the girls did great on the drive. We went to the western part of South Carolina, in the rolling hills near Lake Hartwell. It was quiet and peaceful which is what we wanted out of a vacation this year. For normal families this would've been a day trip of around 9 hours, for us we broke it up in two days, traveling a lot of it at night so the girls would sleep. It was nice to break it up, but still took forever to get there because of all the stops we took along the way. Potty breaks, feedings, more potty breaks, more feedings it's amazing how it all adds time to your traveling.

Along the way to Carolina we stopped at the Virgina Animal Safari Park, here we got to drive through the safari while the animals come up to you for food. You weren't allowed to get out of your car but you were allowed to open your doors on your minivan and they allowed your children to sit on your lap up in the front. I have to admit I was more freaked out by the animals then I thought I would be. They come right up to you and stare at you, it's really creepy but it was also really cool to see them up close. We had so much fun here we spend over 2 hours here and would've stayed longer if we had the time.

They also have a zoo area where they have a lot of unusual animals. There was a kangaroo walk where you walked down a path and could see the kangaroo's up close, so close in fact that we had to walk around one of them because he was in the middle of the path! Apparently he is a domesticated kangaroo, the rest were behind a wired fence. They had giraffes (you could feed we didn't have time so we just saw them from a distance), spider monkey's, Galapagos turtles, reptiles, and these little monkey-like creatures that would stick out their tongues at us (don't remember the name of the little critters)

I would recommend this experience to any one, we really had a great time. It's located right next to a KOA campground if you wanted to camp in the area. Also there is a natural bridge that you could hike to in the area. So it would be worth a trip down for the weekend for all my Virginia friends.

Oh and I should mention that there isn't a whole lot on conveniences in the area, we were hungry so went to the only restaurant that was nearby. I really enjoyed eating here, the food was good, cheap and the atmosphere was unique. When you eat at a place with the name The Pink Cadillac Diner, you know it's going to be an experience!

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Animal peeking in the window

Here's a view from our window, it felt like we would run into the animals but they moved away as you drove by. We saw baby buffalo and ostriches, those were the cutest animals we saw. We were fascinated by the zebra's they were so cool to see up close and such beautiful animals

Animals come right up to you for food

At the Pink Cadillac Diner

Lydia giving us a silly grin at the restaurant