Hello Friends,

Well, my daughter and I visited “Turtle Bay Exploration Park” the other day.  It was a nice cool October day which I was very thankful for!  Yes, this is me, at our first stop in the park, The Parrot House.  They currently have about 30 Lorikeets, an Australian type of parrot, which are very colorful… and friendly!! As soon as we walked in, one lighted on my hat and another on my shoulder.  They stayed there the whole time until the one on my shoulder flew off and its feathered friend followed.  I used to own Cockatiels so this was a treat for me.  My daughter was glad none landed on her, however.

We did get to see many turtles on this trip which has never happened before.  And no, “Turtle Bay” isn’t named so because they have lots of turtles.  That section of the Sacramento river where they built their facility used to be called Turtle Bay, and it may still be, but I am not sure about that.  They are also under a lot of added construction right now, revamping the playground where I used to take my kids when they were little, and adding a hotel!  Supposedly, it is to be finished by December or January.  So we’ll see!

So here are more pictures AND a couple of short videos from our little adventure.  Enjoy!  By the way, they had a tarantula, but I didn’t take any pictures of it…not my favorite animal.  Also, I am not including everything we saw either.

Here’s a red-eared slider turtle who tried, tried, and kept trying to get up onto this rock…alas, it never made it.  I guess it was just too slippery for it.  😦

Here are three Western Pond Turtles which are native here in Northern California.  They were in an aquarium inside the museum.

“Hey, do ya mind? I’m tryin’ to sleep here.”

“Yeah, I ain’t even comin’ outta my shell today folks.”

“HEY, I’m awake!  Watch me swim!”

This is “Virginia” the Box Turtle… She says, “Hey!  Watch this, but be patient!”  

These are the Red-eared Sliders that were in another aquarium.  My daughter took this picture.  Awesome, huh?

“Awww…look at our beautiful reflections, Melva!”  

This is perhaps the most amazing thing I saw.  Unfortunately, it is only the shell, but this is a Hawksbill Sea Turtle Shell!!!  Isn’t it amazing?  I thought so.  I didn’t even know they had one there years ago when we were members.  I forgot to ask how long they have had it.  And yes, even though I paint my sea turtles the colors I do, it is because when they are in the water, reflections of the sun down in the water depending on where they are, make their shells look like those brilliant colors!

Later this week I will have another post about our trip to Turtle Bay and show you the other wonderful animals we saw.  I didn’t want to make this post way too long.  Plus, I wanted to share the turtles mostly.  Until then…

Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug!  🙂