Spring Break Part 3: Portland

After Smith Rock, we headed for Portland.  Stuart had a meeting to attend for work and the boys and I had a date with the zoo.  On the way we passed Mt. Hood.

 Now from my perspective, zoos pictures are always a little disappointing as most of these are.  Really they just document the fact that we really did spend the day walking around the zoo in the rain.  But the real treasures of the zoo were the moments and comments and awe that is inspired by seeing animals up close. 

Here are the salmon, on display just below the bald eagle habitat showing the connection between predator and prey. 

 See the two bald eagles sitting far away on that branch.... (I know, a terrible picture.)

 At the petting zoo, we there was nothing to pet but the boys got a good pony ride.

 Now the one good photo is not this one but the next one.  Yet, I do like this one because the boys really liked seeing how they compared with the size of the different types of bears.

Now this one, I really like.  That polar bear is just two feet from the boys.  It was soooooo big. 

There is a baby elephant in this photo but the real reason I posted this photo is the great image of the rain on Dakota's head.  It literally rained every minute that we were at the zoo.  And yet there was never a single complaint.  Just happy boys excited to be exploring the zoo.

 Dakota loves Penguins and even though this exhibit was "stinky" and he wanted to leave pretty much right away.  He chose to stay because he loves these creatures so much.

 Wren loved this next exhibit.  We got to go inside a aviary where you could feed these lorakeets.  They would just fly down and land on your hand and drink nectar out of these little cups.

All in all, a fun day.  We headed back to the hotel, met up with our friends, swam in the pool, and then went over to their house for a lovely dinner. 

Spring Break Part 2: Smith Rock State Park

From Fossil, we headed south to Smith Rock State Park for some climbing.  The park is a beautiful place to just be.  And additionally, there is lots and lots of climbing which is what we came here for so....

We started our days there on a crowded Sunday.  "The most crowded I have ever seen it," said one ranger.  But we managed to escape the crowd by hiking up out of the main gorge to a wonderful little outcropping of rock called Adit.   There were perfect climbs there for us.  After a top rope of our first route, Wren jumped on lead and did an excellent lead of this climb.

The outcropping had a wonderful little summit block which we all managed to get on top of at the end of the day for a view and some exposure.

The next day was quieter in the gorge and so we headed for the main walls to climb some classics.  One of the great things about this area is the wonderful structures that lend themselves to forts and caves and great little exploring spots.  Here is Dakota in a cave right under one of our climbs.

Here wren is showing his stuff and climbing like a champ.

 This is the first trip where Dakota really like the climbing.  Here he is up high on a climbing just loving it.

 A bit of wildlife is always exciting.  Here a large "bull" snake.  That is the name someone else gave it as we watched is slither around at the base of one of the climbs.  Wren really wanted me to get a picture with it's tongue out. 

More beautiful shots of the rocks and Wren.

Spring Break Part 1: John Day Fossil Beds

We headed out for the John Day Fossil Beds, a place in Eastern Oregon where the volcanic action of the past buried plants and animals from 18-35 million years ago when Eastern Oregon was a subtropical ecosystem.  We camped outside the town of John Day.  On our morning walk, we found something I have never seen outside in nature...Owl Pellets.  We must have found the roosting tree of a fairly large owl as there were about 20 pellets strewn about under the tree.  Both Wren and I were immediately interested in finding out what was in the pellets. 

Here Wren is showing me one of the rodent skulls he found.

This is the place we found all the pellets.  We were both so psyched.

 Next we headed for the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center where we investigated the geology and fossils of the area. 

The Painted Hills are part of the cool geology of Eastern Oregon and are something not to be missed just because they are off the beaten path.  Wow they were beautiful.

Additionally, the Blue Basin is a great little hike where an amazing layer of turquoise blue rock is exposed to the surface leaving a surreal feeling as you walk past.

Next we headed to the town of Fossil where behind Walker High School, you can just go dig fossils right out of the ground.  Open to the public.  Donations accepted.  So up we went with our digging kits in hand to split open rocks and find treasures.  What a fun day!