Date Day: Oregon Zoo, Mio Sushi, and Salt & Straw

Brandt's mom treated us to a date day to help us get out of our stuffy apartment. We decided to make a long-awaited trip to the zoo. The building and surroundings looked fairly old. When later found out that the zoo had recently had its 125th anniversary. I was impressed with the first exhibit: The Great Northwest. I think it had been redone recently and I loved the educational aspects. The first signage we came across encouraged visitors to use their eyes, ears, etc. to observe everything around them. Signage throughout the zoo had images telling people what to observe: what could be camouflaged in the hills? What do those sounds mean? Plus they had "logs" to crawl through, "nests" to climb in, and other ways to experience life as the animals do.

I loved the way the zoo encourages observations and I thought it enhanced the visit even more. It helped me to think about the animals (on display and living in the area naturally) rather than just observing them. It's easy to forget how close we come to nature every day. For example, Brandt and I have each seen garter snakes where we take the dogs to potty. I almost missed one because it was so well camouflaged, and was perfectly still. Back to the zoo, as we went through the the exhibits they became more like normal zoos. This made me realize the Sedgwick County Zoo is really a quality establishment. While I would like to see more interactive signage, the exhibits are well made and well presented to the public. Of the zoos we've visited, SCZ is still our top choice!

Now for pictures of the Oregon Zoo. I took some with my cell and Brandt used his camera for better close ups. He was much better about taking pictures than I was. I think he got one of almost every animal (excluding creepy ones like the naked mole rats, those make chills run up my spine!)

The Great Northwest

Mountain goat

A small replica bridge leading into the exhibit.

They incorporated the natural beauty of Oregon in the exhibit. 

Some of the great signage. This explains the importance of water to various ecosystems.

Life cycle of the salmon.

Waterfall demonstrating salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

The path warped back around the waterfall.

Turtle!

Eagles.

Eagles.

River otters! One of my favorites!!

They're quick little guys. None of the underwater pictures turned out.

This little guy was rolling around in the den.

I love wood ducks. Their coloring is beautiful.

Mountain lion! My favorite big cat.

She was pacing around and looked beautiful.

California condor.

Interesting facts about the California condor. They were reintroduced into Oregon "after nearly a century, in 2003," according to the Oregon Zoo's website. The condors on display at the zoo are unable to be returned to the wild. Yay for conservation!!

Sad news: I was very exvited to see beavers for the first time but in my excitement at seeing the otter exhibit, we missed the beavers. Brandt and I just looked over the map and their habitat was near the otters. I completely forgot to look around and see if there was anything else nearby. We'll have to make sure to see them next time.

Pacific Shores

Sleepy bear.

Really sleepy polar bear.

The sea lion was swimming laps. He was beautiful.

He was great to watch.

Penguins!!!

Not as good as SCZ's exhibit but it looked much older. Still fun to watch!

Penguin meeting.

Pretty bird.

Such a cutie.

Tigers and leopards were sleepy by the time we made it to their exhibit. They were the last exhibits on our route and it was starting to get really warm.

Fragile Forests

The hot weather didn't bother the chimps.

Nor the baboons!

 

Elephants and Concert Lawn

The Oregon Zoo is rebuilding their elephant exhibit (same as SCZ!) so their exhibit was partially closed. We were able to see them across the concert lawn though. They were also doing a presentation on various birds for the campers and visitors.

Africa

Such graceful creatures.

Lionesses. The Mr. was nowhere to be seen.

Plenty of shade for the lines.

No underwater viewing of the hippos. Made me miss SCZ.

African wild dogs snoozing in their den.

Sad story: Their zebra died so the zebra exhibit was sans zebra.
Gazelles were cute though!

It was feeding time for the giraffes.

This story melted my heart! Quick synopsis: all the flamingos are males
and one wanted to be a dad so he made his own next and used a rock.

Pretty sweet bachelor pad!

We learned something new: This is how bats poop! It was being adorable and
moving around then flipped over and pooped before curling back up.

Cute onsie!!

Sushi time!
We attempted to go to bamboo sushi but it's only open in the evenings. I really wanted to eat there since they only serve sustainably attained fish but not for us. Great this is that 23rd Street is literally packed full of businesses and restaurants so we had no trouble finding another place.

Just around the corner was Mio Sushi. It was in an adorable house, which seems common for this shopping area. There was even a shop in the basement/lower level. We tried a few new wraps and our favorites. We always got the eel in Wichita, at Wasabi and Ninza, and it was amazing. Of course we ordered it at Mio but I thought it tasted fishy. Ironically, I don't like fishy sushi. Not as odd as the girl that came in as we were leaving. She was allergic to fish but could eat shellfish. The staff was OK with using clean boards and knives. I had to keep from staring when the lady she came with asked if she'd brought her epi pen. She said no and it shouldn't be a problem. I guess I'm too cautious to leave my life-saving device at home when eating a restaurant that serves mainly the one food that will kill me.

Salt & Straw
We finished off our lovely day with a trip to the infamous Salt & Straw. They serve unique ice cream and I'd recommend a visit to anyone visiting the area. We tried stopping by before but parking on 23rd is almost impossible and the line around the ice cream join wraps around the building.

We lucked out on our visit yesterday though, the line didn't extend out of the building! The most recently available staff member goes to the next person(s) in line and begins helping before you even get to the counter. He asked us which two samples we'd like to start with (each) and Brandt was daring enough to ask to be "surprised." He ended up getting one with olive oil that was quite good. The tasting spoons are metal, rather than plastic, and they also offer vegan and gluten free ice creams. Many of their ingredients are local and some are just odd. Brandt was curious about the Bone Marrow and Smoked Bourbon Cherries but didn't want to ask. He told me later that he'd hoped the guy would have surprised him with it. I almost got the Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Pepper because it was amazing and local! However, on a whim, I tried the Coconut with Petunia's Salted Caramel Bars and was sold. Brandt got the Coffee and Bourbon with a scoop of Sea Salt Ice Cream with Caramel Ribbon.

We sat outside and enjoyed our cones in the shade. After my first scoop, I realized that it was much too rich and the second one was going to be a challenge. I never turn down ice cream so I destroyed the rest of my cone, but not without remorse. Brandt was OK with both of his scoops but wished he'd put the Coffee and Bourbon on top since it was very coffee-y.


Overall it was a perfect day and I'm thankful to have spent it with my love. We've gotten back to real life now and are looking forward to the cooler weather this weekend!