Statue Tour: Swinging through the Southwest

Posted at 12:34 pm April 7, 2009 by Rick Schwartz

Rick in St. Louis, Missouri

Yesterday we met up with the statues in Las Vegas and had a great time talking to the news crew VERY early in the morning. We then enjoyed the company of many Las Vegas locals as they came to visit us and take pictures of the statues. We even had a few people who were visiting Las Vegas from out of town that saw the early morning news coverage and came down to see the statues! (Read Rick’s previous post, Statue Tour: On the Move!)

One thing very noticeable for me was the contrast of temperatures. You may notice snow on one of the videos that shows the loading of the statues on the Elephant Odyssey Web site. You may remember from my previous post about our first stop in Milwaukee and how it was much cooler than I was accustomed to. Here’s the contrast: I got sun burned in Las Vegas. Just a couple of days after shivering in the cooler climates of Milwaukee and St Louis, I found myself breaking a sweat in Las Vegas!

Greeting folks in Phoenix, Arizona

Today in Phoenix I found myself up and ready for more news interviews long before the sun came up. In fact, while driving to the first news studio, we watched the moon set in the west; odd, I know, but very beautiful nonetheless. We finished up the first set of interviews at one TV station and were off to the next one before the sun was all the way up!

We ended the day in Phoenix after meeting and talking to many people about Elephant Odyssey and the statues that were traveling through town. Honestly, I have to say I am having a good time meeting everyone as we travel across the country.

Next stop: Los Angeles!

Rick Schwartz is the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey Ambassador.

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One Response to “Statue Tour: Swinging through the Southwest”

1. Chari Mercier says:
   April 7th, 2009 at 10:15 pm

   Hi, Rick! You are constantly on the move, aren’t you? I’m very glad that you are enjoying your new assignment as Elephant Ambassador. You have very exciting, enthusiastic articles about your trip across the country, and you love to talk to people about elephants and the new Elephant Odyssey that’s opening up next month. Keep up the good work, and looking for more new articles from you about your trip.
   Taylor, I found out on MSNBC’s website’s Animal Tracks, that Phoebe, the mother elephant from Columbus Zoo, had her baby elephant boy recently. They had a very good picture of mom and baby, and he is sooooooo cute! He looks good, too! When was he born? I’m thinking that the calf was born sometime in the last week or so. Columbus Zoo must be very proud of their new addition to the elephant herd! I’m guessing that he’s about a month younger than the baby elephant that was born to Umngani at WAP. Give us an update about Phoebe’s baby elephant and when they gave him a name, ok?
   I’m also waiting on a new update about SDZ/WAP’s newest calf, and the name the keepers gave the calf. Been trying to get on the elephant cam at certain times of the day to see the newest baby and Umngani, and I think I have spotted them once on the cam about a couple of weeks ago. Will keep trying to catch them on the cam!
   Well, gonna go. Will write back in later on!
   Chari Mercier
   St. Pete, FL

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