During December, whilst browsing the time-suck known as Facebook, I noticed our friend Holly posting about her “experiences not stuff” Christmas. It’s a beautiful idea, one that I wish we could figure out how to get around to. But what really caught my eye was that one of her family’s experiences was going to be visiting a nearby elephant preserve. What? I didn’t know we had a nearby elephant preserve. Then once they went, she posted photos. If I wasn’t already itching to go, those photos sealed the deal.
Maya and Ian snuggling Tai the elephant
I didn’t make the decision right away, but maybe a week before my birthday in February, I happened to notice that the weather the following weekend was going to be great – the kind of 70-degree winter weekend that makes me like living in Texas. I got the impression that no one else in the house had really given much thought to it, so I just did what I wanted and let everyone know. I reserved a visit time at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. I booked a night at a hotel in Fredericksburg that had a heated outdoor pool and a slide for the kids to enjoy. And I purchased our family a slot to experience the elephants at The Preserve.
We had group music classes that morning, and because I asked her so nicely and it was my birthday weekend, Maya tried extra hard to behave in her classes (it’s a challenge). After that, we hastily took music things into the house and brought trip things out to the car and set off to Enchanted Rock.
Watching fairy shrimp at Enchanted Rock
The kids, who are highly interested in the magical properties of things (wands, beans, confetti, etc) quizzed me at length about what exactly made this rock so enchanted. The magic is that we made it to the damn top without anyone dying. Or maybe the real magic is that we made it back down again with only one skinned knee (Maya). Enchanted Rock is a giant granite dome poking out of the Texas hill country. The hike up was a bit tough on us two pudgy office types, but we did it. The kids, other than minor (and easily ignored) complaining did great. We made it to the top and had a little snack and a drink of water and watched the fairy shrimp dart around in the seasonal pools left in hollows in the granite. Maya brought her camera along and snapped away every few feet all the way up. Once we stopped hiking, it was a bit chilly in the breeze, but the day was gorgeous.
We headed into Fredericksburg after that, checked into our hotel, and wandered into town for a walk and some dinner. We stopped by a candy shop for the kids. We visited the Fredericksburg Winery for the grown-ups. And after an unremarkable dinner, we headed back to the hotel to suit up for a swim. The water was very nice, as long as you stayed in it. Otherwise, the night was pretty brisk. The kids – especially Maya who I’m not sure even feels the cold before hypothermia sets in – climbed out of the pool and went down the slide over and over again. It was so, so much fun.
Move over Rockettes
The next morning, we had an excellent breakfast taco and chocolate muffin breakfast before heading out to meet the elephants. Five Asian elephants paraded down, trunk-to-tail, to where we were sitting. They were beautiful and so full of character. We learned their names and unique features. Rosie, Tai, Kitty, Dixie, and Becky – yes, all female – lined up and showed us what they could do. Tai made lots of racket whacking her trunk against building’s cross-beam. Rosie did lots of honking and trumpeting. All of them raised their trunks and feet and waggled their heads.
It was Becky’s turn to get a bath that day, so we all took turns giving her tough hide and wiry hair a good scrubbing. Ian was in love. I’m pretty sure he would have just laid down on her and hugged her if we had let him. Maya was having fun taking gobs of photos. She took a delightful one of an elephant’s rear end, of which she was very proud (not included below – you’re welcome).
Giving Becky a bath
We got to snuggle up to Tai to have our photos taken. Surprising no one, we had to remind the kids that this was a living creature who could squash them beneath one foot if they kept running under her trunk where she couldn’t keep an eye on them.
We got to watch the elephants’ feet get a bit of a trimming. Apparently in the wild, an elephant’s weight and general walking about are enough to keep the dead skin and build-up cleaned from their feet. But not at The Preserve. There the elephant’s don’t have to work too hard to find their next meal or drink of water, so their feet need to be “manicured” every so often to keep them healthy.
The elephants!
The elephants were wonderful. We got to see them paint, work a hula hoop, pick up a person. We got to watch as they ate carrots. Their mouths are so strange to look at in action. At the end, much to the kids’ delight, they called all the birthday people to the front and the elephants serenaded us with their own version of happy birthday.
We lined up for our family photo with all five of those glorious elephants before buying a few souvenirs and hopping in the car to head home. I suspect it will make very little difference, but I hope that I showed the kids that experiences do make really fantastic gifts. We all had a really nice time. And I certainly don’t need any more stuff.
