Wildlife Safari
We began driving down to southern Oregon and stopped off at the Wildlife Safari. It was neat because the animals were allowed to roam the refuge, and people were the ones caged in cars. Only the carnivores were behind fences.
A one-year old Elk was roaming the park and decided to use our side mirror as a scratching post for his head. He also left quite a bit of slobber. It was fun seeing an elk up that close. He was quite friendly.
They even had a section where you were allowed to feed the deer. Pretty cool!
The park is also a cheetah breeding ground.
They had one fenced off area where we were able to get out and wander around. There was a little fish pond, and a petting area. They also had Wallaroos, which were like mini kangaroos
Tara also really wanted to go for a camel ride, so I grudging coughed up the change. :)
Shakespeare Festival
We then joined my parents down in Ashland. the first night I watched "Odysseus" with my brother Derek and my folks, and the next night Tara, Kari, Derek, and my folks watched "Beauty and the Beast."
We also enjoyed going for a walk through Lithia park.
There was also a fun science factory we checked out:
We also checked out an old town nearby called Jacksonville, which apparently was the hometown of Bozo the Clown.
Oregon Caves
We next swung by the Oregon Caves, which were beautiful.
Afterwards Zade and Ryzen completed a pamphlet and became "Junior Rangers", which our tour guide awarded to them.
Redwoods
We then headed down to the Redwoods in northern California. On the drive we enjoyed listening to a book on tape called "The Land of Stories."
Some of the trees had lived through a wildfire, despite having their insides burned out.
Trees of Mystery
We also dropped by the Trees of Mystery, with giant statues of Paul Bunyan and Blue the Ox.
There were a lot of cool, unique trees on the hike there.
While we were there I was taking a picture of the family by the Catheral Trees. As you can see in the first photo, Ryzen was sitting on the fence. The next photo captures him falling.
I put him on my lap to comfort him, and then he lost all bladder control and peed his pants.
Since he was sitting on my lap facing me, his pee got all over me and made it look like I'd peed my pants too. I couldn't believe it. They were the only pants I'd brought on the trip. It was too bizarre for me to even get upset about. We all just laughed about it.
Pacific Ocean
On the way home we were driving along the ocean and stopped by to let the kids play. They enjoyed the waves crashing up onto the shore and getting their feet wet, and also looking for sea life in the tide pools.
Camping
Although we stayed in a hotel while we were in Ashland, we went camping at a KOA campground in the Redwoods.
The Vortex
On the drive back home we stopped off at the Vortex in southern Oregon. While I enjoyed it, the kids didn't seem to appreciate it as much.
