Privately, I was absolutely determined to go. I don't know why, just one of those things. I tried to get the Ridgecrest tortoise club to go, as a field trip, but they decided to go look at a tortoise installation in Bakersfield next week instead. No matter. Our family would go.
Part of my interest in the show had to do with the fact that it was in Redlands. I had visited Redlands once before, a year ago, for a reunion with two old friends from grad school, one of whom lives in Redlands. It is truly a charming town, full of gorgeous old mansions and many other attractive old buildings. I had been looking for an excuse to return ever since.
We took 395 to I-15 to 215 to I-10 -- a little over 2 hours driving. When we reached Redlands, we headed downtown and parked in a (free!) parking garage across the street from a delightful restaurant called The Eating Room, where I had eaten with my friends last year. I wasn't sure how the twins would do, but it worked out fine. Rocket Boy and I both had utterly delicious salads (mine had butter lettuce, chicken, apples, pears, onion, currants, feta cheese, and walnuts) and I ordered blueberry pancakes for the boos. They didn't pay much attention to their pancakes -- Baby B stole handfuls of my salad and Baby A mostly ate butter -- but that was OK. After our lunch we visited the adjoining bakery and picked out some cookies and challah.
Then we walked around the corner to a nice children's bookstore called the Frugal Frigate and picked out some books. I was a little disappointed, though -- I'm quite sure that last year when I went to the store, it had a lot more books. The "toddler room," where they keep the board books, didn't have nearly the selection that it did last year. I have a feeling that the terrible economy has taken its toll on the Frugal Frigate.
Finally it was time to go to the turtle show. We drove about a mile north to a senior center where it was being held. There was a big banner outside: "Turtle Show Today!" and crowds of people going in. Seriously! It was a popular event! I was so glad. I had been afraid they would have no attendees. That's part of the reason I drove 125 miles to attend it.
We pushed the boos in their stroller and that was a mistake. The room was way too crowded for the stroller, plus many of the turtles and tortoises were too high off the ground for them to see. If we'd had them wear their backpack leashes instead, we could have held them up to look in the various boxes and cages. But Rocket Boy might not have felt up to that, so maybe the stroller was best. Here we are at the show:
I'm not sure what kind of turtles or tortoises we're looking at here. There were many varieties represented at the show. We saw a pig-nosed turtle and a turtle with a long neck like a snake. There was also a giant 90-lb sulcata tortoise in a box along with a little one -- the size you'd buy in a pet store, not knowing it was going to get really really big.
I've been having some moments of thinking I might like to have a sulcata. Then I remind myself that a 90-lb tortoise that doesn't hibernate and needs to be kept inside in the winter and smells bad is in fact the LAST thing I need.
There were desert tortoises of all ages and sizes, including an enormous male that kept trying to climb out of its box. I asked the club member sitting near him why he was so big, and the club member told me it was because the tortoise had been fed so much protein, including tuna. This went against every single thing I have been taught about how to feed tortoises, but I just didn't feel I could argue the point.
I had a flash of insight that people don't really have any idea how to take care of desert tortoises. That includes me. Somehow the tortoises just keep cruising along, outliving their adoptive parents.
We drove home in time to feed our own desert tortoises their dinner. Turnip greens were on the menu tonight. The tortoises ate them greedily, plotting all the while how to get me to serve them tuna tomorrow.
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