The weather here has been typical Pacific Northwest weather... gray, cold, and rainy. But you can't wait for good weather to do something here - otherwise you could wait forever, so on Sunday we grabbed our raincoats and headed out to Northwest Trek.
Northwest Trek is a wildlife park featuring animals that are indigenous to this area. There are some exhibits (kind of like a zoo except they are much larger and completely "natural"). My favorite parts of the exhibits were watching two raccoons play with each other, and also hearing the bears growl and then seeing two of them lumbering around. The main feature of the wildlife park is the tram ride. There are thousands of acres for free roaming herbivores - elk, moose, deer, caribou, bighorn sheep, bison, swans, etc, and the tram takes you through the entire park in hopes that you can spot some of the animals. We actually saw at least one of every animal in the reserve!
Now before we get to the pictures there's one other thing I have to add. To our surprise, Slug Fest was going on at NW Trek the weekend we were there. Slugs are pretty darn common in this area, and the park was making an effort to teach the public about these little guys - showing that big or small, all animals in this area are "interesting." I learned that slugs move at .007 miles an hour. I also learned that if you lick a banana slug, your tongue will go numb. Who in the world ever figured that out... gross.
Time for pictures!
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| Slug races during Slug Fest |
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| A tram with slug antennae |
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| A Bighorn Sheep leading the way |
This part was actually funny. This bighorn sheep saw us coming and just got in front of the tram and followed the path for awhile veeeeery sloooowly, which meant we had to slow down and just wait for it. It's almost like he did it on purpose. :-)
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| Can you see the bison? |
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| Moose |
Ok you get the gist. Sort of like a forest safari.
Yesterday was bridesmaid dress hunt day two. After maaaaaaany stores, I actually finally found a dress that Sheena had previously suggested as a dress she would like one of us to choose. They only had one left, and thanks to several Nordstrom gift cards I had, I only had to pay $15 out of pocket. Score!!!
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| Dress for Sheena's wedding! |
It's definitely tight, but her wedding isn't until November and I am confident I will be somewhat smaller by then so the fit will be better. I'm so relieved to have that task crossed off my list. I knew my options would be much more limited when I got back so I was determined to take advantage of being in Seattle where there are more places to look.
Operation healthy has also been going well. We've been making a lot of different foods at my parent's house, and I have some new ideas to bring back with me. Last night was shrimp - I like shrimp but never make it myself, and was happy to learn how easy it is to do.
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| Cilantro/lime shrimp, quinoa w/veggies, and asparagus |
And now you're all caught up on my trip! Today my mom and I are headed to Ikea in search for potential wedding decor. Good thing I left my suitcase half empty... I have a feeling we'll be filling it up soon!
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