DAY 2 - Included breakfast at SpringHill Suites
And here's the birthday girl!
For mom's birthday, we have driven east of Fresno to the edge of the Sequoia National Forest
The scenery at this altitude is a huge improvement over California's Central Valley
Today's destination is Project Survival's Cat Haven. This one caught mom completely by surprise because she was not familiar with it.
Valerie and I pose in the frame (Photo by Mom) #PSCatHaven
Valerie poses with the birthday girl #PSCatHaven
Cat Haven is an animal park for wild cats
I am pretty sure we will not be walking amongst or petting the cats here
Great sign
Better safe than sorry
When we step inside the Gift Shop, we are immediately greeted by a cat we can pet
While Valerie gets the tickets for our tour, I get some time with this friendly kitty
General Manager Jennifer Costales provides an informative orientation about wild cat species before leading us outside, Our first stop on the dino-er-cat tour is a Bobcat named Maytag (or was it Whirlpool?)
Bobcat
Cat Haven has a couple of outdoor dining areas for group bookings
Our tour continues
In addition to the warning signs, our guide verbally advises us to not lean over the railing to get closer to the cages with our camera gear...because we may get wet (and not from water)
Cheetahs
This is Eh, Cat Haven's Canadian Lynx
Canadian Lynx
Jennifer says the fur is soft
Even if there were no big cats here, this would be a nice place to hike...and we could not have asked for better weather today
We are approaching the jaguars
I am having a hard time photographing the jaguars because they are constantly pacing back-and-forth
Jaguar