My Life in Pictures.

Actually, that's a lie. This week, much to my readers dismay, will be picture-less. Sorry folks.


Well, clearly I have run out of things to talk about. Or, rather, run out of things I am allowed to share with you, dear blogosphere. However, I can outline some of my non-work adventures as of late:

In the last few weeks, outside of work Emily and I have taken a few trips to Eugene, and one to Newport. In Eugene, we discovered a fantastic thai food place called Ta Ra Rin (the Pad Kee Mao is SO SO good!!!), which easily trumps Hello Thai (in Winston). In fact, Hello Thai would be knocked over by Ta Ra Rin's pinky finger if it came to fisticuffs.

Moving on.

In our recent adventure to Newport, we visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium, where one of our friends/former intern's from Wildlife Safari now interns. We watched training sessions with the sea otters and the sea lions and I was just so impressed by what they do. We use clickers at Safari, and I know the zoo where Mtai and Serafina came from used whistles, but these trainers.... didn't use either. They used only their voices. I've seen this done with the elephants at Safari and it blows my mind. The amount of confidence that goes into those training sessions using only your voice as a bridge... sheesh. Needless to say I was captivated.

In Newport we had lunch at Local Ocean which is down on the waterfront. We enjoyed delicious crab po' boys that were so fresh they were probably caught that day (no, they were not still biting and clawing...not THAT fresh!). Crab is delicious. Enough said.

We also ventured out to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse where thousands of common murres were found along the cliffs (those are shorebirds incase you were wondering). I did take some pictures, but I forgot to load them onto my computer before coming to get internet (I'm a fool!), so you will have to wait to see those shots.

In the previous weeks, we spent our weekends floating the river. Since it's been so hot, this has been a fantastic way to cool off and relax. It is simply gorgeous and calming as you float down the river... until you get to the rapids and are thrown unceremoniously from your inner tube only to be amazed that you missed all the rocks and your party didn't float all the way down the river without you. Haha. That only happened once, but it was pretty hilarious, and I can only wish I'd seen it from Emily and Melissa's perspective... I also wish I had a waterproof camera to take pictures of the view as we float. Simply stunning. I love all that I've seen of Oregon so far. I just keeps getting prettier.

Only have a few more weeks at Wildlife Safari and I don't want it to end. I mean, sure I'd like to have income for once, but I just love the animals I've had the opportunity to work with, as well as the amazing view I get to see every day as we drive through the park.

As I may have mentioned in a previous post, Richard and I scored a sweet new apartment in Vancouver, WA. We were all stoked to start moving in August 3rd, when Richard gets the call that the cabinets aren't going to be finished until the 9th (that's how new it is!!). Okayyy. Fine. Can deal with that. Then today, I get the call that we can't move in until the 16th! Well, this doesn't really affect me directly, since I'm still in Winston until Sept 1st, but Richard will need a place to stay! After his rowing trip in Canada, he is going to stay at a hotel in Roseburg (near me!) until the 9th. The representative from our apartment today told me they could offer us a different apartment temporarily, free of rent until our apartment was ready to move into, or until September 1st. Unless we decide we just want to stay in this other apartment. So, since Richard is in Canada with shotty service, I can't consult him, so I went for it. A few weeks with no rent to pay? Sure! So, I hope that works out.

So that's my best update for the moment guys. Sorry to let you down with the no-pictures thing. Until next time!!!


For the next two weeks, Safari will be hosting a workshop which includes medical knockdowns on several of our animals for educational purposes. This is going to be a hectic few weeks, and I don't know what my schedule will end up being like, so I will post when I can!

Stay tuned!