Getting Up Close and Personal With a Really Wild Bunch!

The past few days have been sunny and hot--quite a change from the gray, wet skies we've seen all winter. It's been so nice that we were inspired to take a trip to the Oregon Zoo today to check in on our friends, the animals. I'm sorry to say it had been at least a couple of years since we'd said hello, and we figured it was time.


Not surprisingly, many other Portland-area folks had the same idea! The parking lot was completely full by the time we arrived (about 1:00pm) and we were directed to the overflow parking lot.

We joined a long line of other sun-starved Oregonians in tank tops, shorts and sundresses to wait for one of the yellow school buses that were serving as zoo shuttles. It was a good thing they were available, because otherwise we would have been hoofing it for nearly a mile just to get to the zoo gates!


Michael and I got a seat in the very back of the bus; this proved to be hilarious because our driver thought it would be a good idea to hit the gas as we approached one of several speed bumps, then brake abruptly as we cleared the bump, then speed up again on our way to the next one. We got jolted and bumped all the way to the zoo and I couldn't stop laughing!

We waited in a super-slow line to buy tickets and when it was finally our turn, we could see that the zoo's digital reader board said the temperature was 78 degrees. It sure felt much hotter than that! I could feel the top of my head burning--it was the only place I hadn't slathered with sunscreen. We were very, very glad we'd worn shorts!

We said hello to the animals--the seals and penguins, the monkeys and a giraffe who showed great determination to reach a leafy branch just over his head. Did you know that a giraffe's tongue is super long and blackish-purple? We didn't either but it is!

Michael's friend, the penguin

Me feeding the little parrots juice that you buy for $1

The giraffe with the really long tongue

What has 12 legs and 6 horns? I'm not sure either, but they like to follow each other...

Does this fence make my butt look big?

M's favorite animals were the penguins, but a close second was the sea otter that was engaging in some very interesting self-grooming, if-you-know-what-I-mean.

My favorite animal experience was being right in front of the plexiglass window when Pachy the elephant was brought in for his lunch--some hay and brown pellets (yummy!) which was on the floor directly in front of me. When the zookeeper let him in, and he stood for one very brief moment framed in the doorway, I had to remind myself that there was a barrier between us. He was enormous, or, as the zookeeper put it, "a mountain with legs." He was very glad to see his lunch waiting for him, and trotted right up to it--straight at me. It's the closest I ever hope to come to being charged by a bull elephant. He was absolutely breathtaking!

Sadly, we could not find the rhinos or the hippos that used to be at the zoo, but we saw every other animal there, even the bats and the naked molerats. We left 3 hours after we arrived, tired but very happy.

It was a great day!