Costco

Costco always creates a mixed experience for me. When I walk into Costco the first thing I look at are all the enormous televisions they have on display. I'm always mesmerized by their size and how bright the picture looks.  Then as I walk down the same path every time I walk by the clothes towards the food section. In the food area, the first thing I do is look for samples. I always try all of them especially if I'm hungry. Having samples there is a great idea and improves the Costco experience. There have been many times that after I try something I buy it then or on another visit. Even if I don't like the sample it still makes shopping more fun when you can try something new. After looking through all the food and getting every sample possible I head for the lines. This is when the experience changes. The lines are always enormously long! Then comes the challenge of trying to chose the shortest and fastest line. Sometimes my husband and I get competitive and we see who can pick the best line. Then we each stand in a different line to see who can get to the register first. Once we get to the register we stand there and watch the cashier ring up our bill. For some reason the bill is always more expensive than we expect. After leaving the register we head for the exit door. As we get close to the door every one starts to slow down because we have to get our receipt checked. For some reason though people always stop and make one line for one person at the door even though there's two people checking receipts. So then we always walk to the second door checker and then others will follow. After leaving Costco we head to the parking lot and try to remember where we parked.  Sometimes we stay and eat at the snack bar too. I always love going to Costco. Despite the frustrating long lines the workers are always happy and helpful. 

Koala Sanctuary

In January I got the opportunity to go to Brisbane, Australia for a few days. When we were there we went to a Koala Sanctuary. After arriving at the sanctuary we saw many different animals such as birds, fruit bats, iguanas, kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, platypus, dingos, and many beautiful birds.  There were multiple koalas sleeping on Eucalyptus trees when we first entered. I learned that they are nocturnal animals which explains why they were so sleepy. They had over 100 koalas there and were able to keep them living a few years longer than koalas living in the wild. Currently Koalas are losing their habitat and are considered to be at a vulnerable status in Australia. This means that they are not officially endangered yet but they are decreasing fast.

Some other animals we got to interact with were kangaroos and wallabies. We got to feed and pet them. I was surprised at how calm and friendly they were. I couldn't believe how muscular the kangaroos back legs were. My favorite thing we saw was when the mom kangaroo would hop around with the little Joey in her pouch. It was so different than what I pictured. They don't actually sit perfectly inside. Their legs stick out and look like they almost don't fit.

This experience was extremely fun and informative. There wasn't really any technology used because everything was mainly outside and all about interacting with the animals. The sanctuary workers were readily available to ask questions and tell us facts about the animals. You could tell they cared a lot about the them. The most helpful experience was when the workers would do shows.  They had scheduled show times which consisted of feedings that we were able to watch. As they fed them they would teach us about the animals. The most interesting animal to watch eat was the Tasmanian Devil. I learned that they eat everything like small whole animals, including bones and all! I definitely lost my appetite after watching them eat. Overall, the koala sanctuary was an experience I will never forget.