August 23, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Bert the Hippopotamus has a Birthday

I, Zeb the Duck, visited the Denver Zoo Friday.

Back to the Denver Zoo

Bert the hippopotamus celebrated his 58^th birthday Thursday, August 21. In the wild, hippos live 30-40 years and in captivity, they live about 10 years longer. Bert is way past that.

First mom and I went to the Pachyderm Habitat.

Bert and other hippos live here

Bert was there, eating.

Happy Birthday Bert

He sure is big. This sign explains much of Bert’s life.

This is Bert’s story

Bert is the oldest hippo in North America and perhaps in the entire world. That is amazing!

Bert is watching me!

Bert has some geriatric problems, including arthritis, stiffness and dental issues.

Bert spends much of his time in the water.

Bert has his own pool

The water helps alleviate the pressure of carrying his 5,000 pounds.

After leaving Bert’s home, we spotted this statue.

Zeb’s first time on a hippo

I think I look good with the hippopotamus.

I hope you visit the Denver Zoo soon. If you visit Denver Zoo this weekend and your name has Bert in it, you get in free. That’s for RoBERTa, RoBERT, and so many more names. If not, visit a zoo near you. Other zoos may not have Bert, but zoos are wonderful places and so much fun. You will have a great day at a zoo.

Bert is eating while watching me watch him

August 18, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Woof Fest 2014

Woof Fest 2014 was yesterday, August 17, 2014.

We loved Woof Fest 2014

This event for dogs and humans, and two of the Colorado Traveling Ducks, was held at Denver’s Civic Center Park. I, Zeb the Duck, went with Soapy Smith Duck and our moms. Soapy’s dog, Steve, went also. Bands were performing in the Greek Theater.

Music everywhere

Several dogs were here also. Here are two of them.

Lounging and happy

This is dog is her baby

Steve and Soapy’s mom went shopping here. Steve (she is a girl) got a pink fluffy collar with pearls and another collar with a pink bandana. There is so much stuff for dogs at Woof Fest. This, Joyful Bling Dog Gear, was our favorite store.

Steve shopping at Joyful Bling Dog Gear

The storeowner, Connie, said the store is on Facebook. Check them out! Your dog will love you for it.

Next stop was a tattoo for Steve. She is not sure about this during the process,

What are you doing????

but here she is, very happy with her new heart tattoo.

Steve strutting her stuff!

Woof Fest is a benefit concert for underprivileged pets. Live music was performed on two stages. Here was the merchandise for Woof Fest.

Help PetAid Colorado

Steve has so many things already, so we did not purchase more, but each of the moms gave a donation for pets.

Ducks want to help pets also

Soapy and I were happy they did—we like dogs and all pets.

Steve is in the off leash pet area now.

No leashes here, but many frisbees and tennis balls

We saw this Dalmatian Duck.

Dalmatian Duck

He is so cute, but he already has an owner. We just took this photo. This is a great idea and booth.

Ask the vet and help your pet!

Pet owners can Ask a Veterinarian questions about pets here. There were several dishes with cold water, some with ice, for the dogs.

Several dishes with ice water for dogs at Woof Fest

Ducks were not allowed in the water bowls.

We had great food from this Manna from Heaven Food Truck.

Yum!

One mom had a sandwich and one mom had a wrap. Steve had a little grilled pork and grilled chicken.

Denver’s Civic Center Park is between the Capitol building and the City and County Building. It is very nice. Here are a couple statues.

Bucking horse

Denver’s Civic Center Park

We hope you come to Woof Fest next year. If there is one in your city, visit and you will have a good time. For more information, visit www.wooffest.org

July 21, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Dragon Boat Festival

I, Zeb the Duck, Soapy Smith Duck and our moms went to Colorado’s 14^th annual Dragon Boat Festival at Sloan’s Lake Park in Denver.

Dragon boats!

We had so much fun!

There were 3 stages with live entertainment. First we saw Saving Avery perform on the Band Stage.

Saving Avery is a great group

Then we headed to Sloan’s Lake to watch the dragon boats. This is where the teams must register for their race.

We are trying to reach the sign

We watched the team get on this boat and head to the starting place for the race.

Ready to race

Four boats competed in this race.

Fast rowing

You can see that it was a close race. Fans cheer their team during the race.

A new instrument. We liked it

When the race ended, the dragon boats head back to shore.

Coming back to shore

There were dragon boat races all day Saturday and all day Sunday. As ducks, we love water activities.

We watched the popular group, Hype 303 on the main stage.

Hype 303

Very talented! Next was Halau Kalama, a hula group.

Halau Kalama

WOW!! This is a great place for entertainment.

Walking around the park we admired the official poster.

We are here

These umbrellas were displayed on the grass.

This red one is our favorite

Very colorful. A lady purchased one while we were there. Another store was selling these dolls.

Aren’t these beautiful?

We liked them also.

Next we enjoyed this group from Filipino-American Community of Colorado.

All the entertainment is great

This is the Explore Asia stage. This group is preparing for the next act.

Zeb and Soapy can do this!

I think they are the duck duo.

We really liked the Dragon Boat Festival. Great food also! I hope we see you there next year.

July 9, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Cherry Creek Arts Festival

Zeb the Duck here again. Last Saturday, July 5, Soapy Smith Duck and I went with our moms to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver. There was so much to see. This festival has been an annual event since 1991 and features visual, culinary and performing arts.

Dolan Geiman of Chicago, Illinois designed this official poster, “Colorado Blue Jay”.

Colorado Blue Jay is the official poster

We liked the ceramics by Linda Lewis.

Very nice Linda

Linda is from West Des Moines, Iowa.

The photographs were wonderful.

What a sky!

The photographer is David Mayhew.

Love these, David

David is from the UK, but now David lives in Colorado.

The sculpture by Harold Siefert of Houston, Texas is great.

Watch your tail Soapy

Visit www.hsartonline.com

We saw this sign for the Art Institute of Colorado.

Soapy’s mom and her money went here

The Art Institute is a sponsor of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Soapy’s mom graduated from the Art Institute of Colorado.

This is by Dakota Pratt of D. Redington Design of Austin, Texas. Dakota makes contemporary sculpture and furniture.

Something new for Soapy and Zeb

If you look closely, you will see this is made from bottle tops.

This one was already sold

It really looks nice.

Our moms like wood, so we all really liked these by Gary Burditt.

We love wood

Gary is from Loveland, Colorado. This is Gary with another of his creations.

We like Gary and he is so talented.

Visit www.gbfinewoodworking.com

We liked this statue. It is permanent in the Cherry Creek area of Denver. The plaque on the statue says “I Too Know the Eagle.”

In Cherry Creek

Very unusual and very nice.

The Cherry Creek Arts Festival, in Denver, Colorado featured 260 exhibitors, selected from over 2,000 applications. We hope you visited the art festival. If not, plan to come next year. Also visit other art festivals this summer. They have so much!!

July 2, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Cherry Blossom Festival in Denver

Last Saturday, June 28 we visited Sakura Square in Denver for Cherry Blossom Festival.

Cherry Blossom Festival in June

This was a Japanese festival and we saw this painting.

Beautiful

Such bright colors.

I, Zeb the Duck and mom saw this Bonsai tree.

We love this Bonsai

As you can see, little pink horned duck was with us. These flower arrangements were so attractive.

Several attractive flower arrangements

Denver Buddhist Temple is located in this area.

Buddhist Temple in Denver

We really liked this bell or gong.

At Buddhist Temple

On the main stage, in the street, we enjoyed a martial arts demonstration.

The young humans are good. They practice a lot

Later some members of Pi Delta Psi fraternity from University of Colorado, Boulder Campus, performed hip hop dancing.

Pi Delta Psi stepping

They called it stepping. These young men are talented.

Next the Japanese drummers performed. Taiko is Japanese drumming and this Taiko Junior group was great.

Very synchronized and very energetic performers

You will love to hear this drumming. Then the adult Taiko group performed for us. WOW!!! These people really beat the drums

Great performers

and they are so active on stage. We loved this fantastic group.

High energy performance

You will love seeing and hearing a Taiko performance. For more information on Taiko in Denver, visit www.DenverTaiko.org I, Zeb the Duck, hope you visit festivals this summer and I hope you enjoy a Taiko performance.

This cherry Blossom Festival was informative and fun!

Cherry Blossom Festival

June 16, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Highlands Street Fair in Denver, Colorado

Zeb the Duck and Soapy Smith Duck went to a street fair. Our moms took us to the Highland neighborhood in Denver and we loved it.

We are at the Highlands Street Fair in Denver

The weather was perfect and we want to show you what we saw.

The street was lined with venders,

So many choices

over 150 showing clothing, art and accessories. There was a special section for rides, slides and fun for all ages. Here big kids and adults could safely battle each other.

Fun to battle

Kids could fly high here.

Flying high

The slide looks like fun, too.

We like slides

We had never seen this mechanical bull for all ages before. Looks great!

A bull rider

There were many places to eat.

Funnel cakes and more

You may remember we love funnel cakes. Look at all this food.

Yum!

It looks so pretty and makes us hungry. Drinks in coconuts seem refreshing.

Coconut drinks

We posed for beer photos, but ducks do not drink beer.

More beverages

Flower pots here.

Time to plant

Great for summer flowers. So many colorful bags to admire here.

So colorful

This lady is the artist and she just finished this picture. Wow!

She did this piece of art while we watched!

She could produce this while so many people watched her.

This booth features so many bright paintings.

We love bright colors

You would love all the colors at this street fair.

You could even get an airbrush tattoo today.

Airbrush tattoos Which is your favorite?

The street fair is great for people, but dogs like it here also.

Dogs have fun too

And ducks, of course.

As we walked back to our car, we passed this garden.

Vegetables growing

You would love it here. A great street fair and this is a real neighborhood.

You will enjoy festivals and street fairs this summer. Try to visit some and you will have a great day.

June 2, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Chalk Art Festival in Denver

I, Zeb the Duck, saw so much chalk this weekend.

I was at the Chalk Art Festival in Denver

Mom and I went to Larimer Square in Denver Saturday and Sunday to see chalk art.

Chalk Art

Over 200 artists submitted designs and were chosen for this contest. Saturday, we watched artists work

200 artists at work

and Sunday we returned to view the finished art. This stuff is great. You will be amazed by this art.

Sunday

Saturday

Chalk painting originated in the 16^th century in Italy. Some artists call this a performance art, as they enjoy talking to the spectators.

Saturday

As beautiful as the art is, late Sunday night, a special street sweeper sweeps, or picks up over 175 pounds of chalk and the art is just a memory.

Sunday with Zeb

So much chalk

This chalk is properly disposed of to protect the nearby Cherry Creek. We want to keep Cherry Creek water clean and wildlife safe.

Larimer Square is a great place in Denver. We love the many restaurants, and especially love to eat outside.

We love to eat outside

The small shops have so many things that we don’t see elsewhere. Larimer Square has many festivals, but it is fun just as it is.

At the Chalk Art Festival there were vendors selling wonderful food. The crepes and these huge pieces of candy caught my attention.

So big. Can I have one mom?

Some are giant Rice Krispy Treats.

All from chalk

It was pretty crowded at the festival, so not many photos of me. Also, artists did not appreciate a duck on their art. I was there and I loved it! I hope you go to a chalk art festival near you. You will have a good time.

Sunday. WOW

Saturday. The entire family can participate

Art, refreshments and stage for performers

May 9, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Bird World at Denver Zoo

Zeb the Duck here. We are at the Denver Zoo again.

The Denver Zoo

This time we head for Bird World.

I love birds!

We will see many of my kind of creatures. Penguins greet us in front of the building.

Penguin greeters

These are warm weather penguins.

These penguins live in warm climates

I love them!

My friends

Here is our first greeter.

Welcome!!

So colorful. Heading into the rain forest area.

Warm and humid here

Look at the bright red head of this green winged macaw.

Macaws

His friend is the blue and gold macaw. These macaws eat clay from the riverbanks. This neutralizes toxins in some of the poisonous plants they eat. They use their large, strong beaks to crack nuts and crush seeds and also as a third leg to grab branches while climbing trees.

The Hotttentot Teal is my relative. This is the smallest African duck

My little African cousins

and he lives in freshwater marshes in sub Sahara Africa. He feds by putting his bill under water feeling for, and eating, seeds, invertebrates and plants. He takes cover in shoreline vegetation. This little duck grows to 11 inches.

This Elegant Crested Tinamou is a secretive bird. You will hear him more often that see him.

Regal crest

His feathers provide a great camouflage in the dense vegetation he calls home. This tinamou lives in the low dry shrub land of Argentina and Southern Chile.

Another relative. This African Pygmy Goose is not really a goose.

A duck called goose

He is one of Africa’s small ducks. This guy grows to 13 inches. He lives in freshwater lakes and streams of sub Sahara African and Madagascar. The African Pygmy Goose (a duck relative) hides in floating vegetation.

Between rooms in Bird World we delighted in seeing this Rhinoceros Hornbill.

Hornbill

Rhinoceros Hornbill information

He moves real fast!

White-faced Whistling Ducks certainly are curious.

information

The sign says they are attentive to each other. That is only partially true.

I am the new duck in town

Best friends now

We became good friends.

This Tawny Frogmouth hunts like an owl at night and during the day he perches motionless on a branch.

It’s Tawny

This Tawny Frogmouth is alive. No dead stuffed birds in Bird World.

I like the blue-breasted kingfisher.

He is alive also

This kingfisher lives in tropical Africa and prefers wooded habitats where insects are plentiful.

Love the colors!

He grows to 10 inches and is related to our local belted kingfisher.

Green Aracari is a type of toucan. His large, but lightweight bill, is perfect for feeding on tropical fruit

Toucan type here

and caring for those beautiful feathers. He is about 10 inches and lives in the lowland forests of northeast South America.

These birds, some are my relatives, are magnificent. You will love seeing them. Mom and I spent a long time at Bird World. Hope to see you at the Denver soon, but if you don’t live here, visit your local zoo. You will have a great day there!

He is waiting for you

May 5, 2014 by coloradotravelingducks

Cinco de mayo in Denver

I, Zeb the Duck, went to Denver’s Cinco de mayo festival Sunday. Mom and her friend went with me. We listened to music from 3 different stages. The Cinco de mayo celebration is held at Civic Center park in downtown Denver.

Some Denver streets were closed and filled with venders.

Many visitors, many venders

We did a lot of looking,

Like the hat

some shopping

Another hat and whistles

and some eating.

Lots of food and it was good!

But, let me explain a little about cinco de mayo. On May 5, 1862, France was ruled by Napoleon II. About 8,000 French soldiers attacked the city of Puebla, Mexico. The Mexico soldiers were outnumbered, but the Mexican soldiers, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Sequin, defeated Napoleon’s French Army. This French army had not suffered a significant defeat for almost 50 years. That is why cinco de mayo is celebrated today.

However, within one year, Napoleon II sent more soldiers to Mexico and the French captured Mexico City and French Emperor Maximilian I ruled Mexico for three years.

After eating, we watched the Chihuahua races.

Yes! Chihuahua races. Top prize is $500.

These little dogs raced in groups of 4 and were so cute.

Ready to race

It was difficult to get good photos because of the crowds, but you would love seeing these little dogs run. The racing area had glass on each side of race lanes to guide and protect the little dogs.

Racing

The race was sponsored by Jammin 101.5 radio. The radio mascot watches the races.

Radio mascot watching races

Walking around the park I saw more Chihuahuas than I had seen in my whole life.

So cute

This festival was fun.

Chihuahua with hat

I want to go again next year and we hope you will go to a cinco de mayo festival in Denver or wherever you will be next year. It was fun.

Colorado Traveling Ducks and the humans wish you a very happy Cinco do Mayo today and hope you had fun celebrating this weekend.

Happy cinco de mayo

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