A Photo Tribute to MDAnderson - Houston TX

We head back to AZ tomorrow so I went thru

some recent photos of the buildings, grounds and

artwork we've seen while visiting... 

The main building is referred to as The Aquarium and
there are many tanks throughout the facility.

This "Upside Down Catfish" (dead center) swims around upside down, and
it's worth a double click on this photo to see it larger.
There are 7 different species that live in the Nile & Congo basin of
central Africa.  They can swim right side up too but prefer
to swim  belly up so they can get closer to the surface water
where there is more oxygen making it easier to breathe, which saves energy.
Pretty smart for a catfish!!!
Sorry the photo is a little blurry, but he wouldn't cooperate and be still.

Houston Sights & Sounds...

After 2 and 1/2 days of 40 degree temperatures and lots

of rain, we were anxious to get out and about again.

The MD Anderson Medical facility includes many great
views along with unique art work.  

Ahhhh, these Texas size leather  boots,
a little larger than my size 9 and 1/2's,
would be fun to wear with the cowboy hat and
belt I no longer have!!!

Then an afternoon walk took us to see a
 unique structure across the street from our hotel that
I've been admiring for the past 8 days. 

Beautiful tall pillars lined a long narrow reflecting pool.

And the view thru the park on the way back to
our hotel wasn't bad either.

This is our home away from home, the Wyndham - Houston.

Today Don was in search of a geocache  or two.

A nice "hide" but it was 75' away from the
actual coordinates.

But you know me, I'm always wandering off

looking for other interesting sites.

I'm not up to speed on the names of tropical
plants here in Houston, but hese look like they
are related to "Bleeding Hearts"...

Gave it my Best Shot...

While in Houston, we decided to see the #1 attraction in the Houston area… 

The Houston Zoo.  It is home to more than 6,000 permanent residents

 and over 2 million guests each year.  

I took a total of 217 pictures, which included some great video.  

After a thorough review on the computer, I whittled this down to 121.  

Don’t worry, you’re not going to have to view all of them,

just a few (but more than 2) of my favorite shots.

As I look at the group I selected it seems to be all

about line, shape, pattern, color & texture or

something I've never seen before.

Three Bongos

Texas longhorn... kidding.  this is a member
of the Ankole Cattle family

The Giant Anteater has huge front feet and
a 24" tongue, which it uses to gather up those yummy ants
and termites.

Zoo keepers give this pair of cougars (we called
them mountain lions in CA), a drink of water via
a spray bottle!!!

After several minutes of watching this elephant
swing it's trunk back and forth thru the hay,
she finally got just the right swing to bring it into
her mouth.

Mother Giraffe and her baby share a meal. 

We of course did see a pride of lions, but this one made the
cut... as the Zoo was preparing for it's holiday season "Zoo Lights".

Check out the feet on this Komodo Dragon.

Too cute.  This tree loving Ocelot put on quite
a show for us, hugging and scratching those
hard to reach places.

The Okapi sure looks like a cross breed don't you think?

I hate to say it, but the Reptile Exhibit
turned out to be one of our favorite stops.
Have you ever seen a Pastel Rainbow Rattlesnake
before?  Showing off his rattles, as well as
his color, texture and coil...put him high on the list.

Our ooohing and aaaahing didn't bother this
 sleeping Iguana one bit.

My favorite of the day was this West African Green Mambo, a
very alert, agile extremely venomous snake, that can be 6' 6" long.
In this photo you can see his "rope-like looking" body wrapped around
the tree branch with it's long tail dangling off the branch above it's head.

The White Rhino needs no introduction.  Hard to believe
a vegetarian diet can support this type of mass.  Must be
a case of non-stop grazing.

I took many photos of this Zebra from all angles,
but this one showed off his beautiful pattern lines
best.  Incidentally all photos were taken with my i-phone XS

AHHHH time to sit down after 4 miles
of leisurely strolling around this great Zoo.