So after a few attempts over the past few weekends, we finally made it to the zoo with Shawn.
We picked up Shawn around 9:30ish and after getting the “we had a good week” ok from his mom, we headed over to the Oregon Zoo.
The zoo has changed quite a bit since Anthony was a kid. Joshua grew up in Salt Lake and has fond memories of the Hogle Zoo, but Anthony is a web-toed native and grew up visiting the Oregon zoo.
Shawn told us that he had been here before, so he was our cartographer and lead the way with map… sort of.
We started over in the NW habitat area. Joshua had us stop at each display and asked Shawn to read it to us (always turning fun things into an educational experience). Joshua and Shawn spent a bit of time looking in the bobcat exhibit before they found it hiding at the back of the enclosure. We could smell it but had a hard time finding it.
We wandered down the trail finding some blue bill ducks and several large bottom dwelling fish and some yummy looking salmon. However, no matter how much we tried to convince Shawn, he would not jump in the tank and grab us some fish for dinner.
The trail led us to the new and much improved petting zoo and then we walked over to the elk meadow just in time for the wolf keeper talk. Shawn loved the elk antlers hanging from the walls and thought they were definitely a cool thing.
We wandered down for lunch at the African counter service area. Hands down, the San Diego zoo was a much better dining adventure. There we had cloth tablecloths and silverware and waiters, and all for about the same price we paid for two adult meals and one kid sack meal here locally. Joshua is very much looking forward to do San Diego zoo again!
After lunch, we walked over to the grass amphitheater area and watched the birds of prey show. The best part of the show was the Bald Eagle that flew right over our heads by about 2 feet. We could feel the air blow by as it zoomed overhead.
After the show, we walked through the elephant area. Shawn got really excited telling us all about the baby elephant. We then wandered over to the train area and took the Zoo train to the Rose Garden.
We jumped off the train at the Rose Garden and spent some time wandering around looking at the roses. Much of the time was spent hunting for Blue Roses (they don’t exist unfortunately).Then we walked down the hill to the huge playground area.
We took the train back to the zoo and where just in time to watch the penguins get fed, which was great fun. Shawn got to stand right at the big window as the keeper threw fish in the water in front of him and all the penguins dived towards Shawn.
After the penguins where feed we all shared a huge elephant ear and Shawn snacked on some goldfish and an apple juice drink box that Anthony packed for him.
We then started working our way towards the exit, taking in the Africa exhibit and the fruit bats, which Shawn was really excited to see.
Shawn really liked our camera and took a ton of photos. Most of the one that were not to blurry are online now.
We are planning a special trip next weekend. It’s Sara’s birthday so we are heading to Newport Beach. Should be a blast!