We're back!
Aug. 30th, 2004 12:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agilebritAnd I'll be madly posting here for the next few minutes, because today is the day for the much-anticipated ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fresliriafic ficathon. I'll be posting that directly after I post this.
Man, I really wish we'd gotten another day in Seattle. We didn't get to see everything we wanted to, and I didn't get in near the shopping I wanted to. That being said...
Seattle is a nice place to visit, but I don't think I'd want to live there. I like the sun way too much. However, we didn't get rained on very much. The first day (Friday), we got into town around 9:30am, got the car with no problems, and hit the road for the Woodland Park Zoo. It was quite easy to find, and all I have to say is "WOW." What a lovely place. It's definitely right up there in quality with the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. The spider exhibit was totally awesome (no glass in the Orb Weaver's enclosure--how cool is THAT?). Got some nice shots in the Butterfly House. The jaguar posed for me. They have baby Sloth Bears! The exhibit for the wolves and the elk make it look like they're in the same enclosure. And they have a lesser anteater!!! Of course, when I took the pictures in that exhibit, I found out that I hadn't closed the back of the camera completely, so how they'll come out is anyone's guess...and I won't be able to get the pix developed until we get paid again. After the zoo, we hit a bookstore, and ate at Red Robin. Then back to the room because we were pretty tired after that.
Saturday was the day for whale-watching. I spent a wee bit too much time in the bookstore in Anacortes, so we got to the dock for the 11:00 ferry a little later than we wanted to...and then I put us in the wrong line. We had to back up, get a refund, and then go thru a different place and park way the heck up on a hill. Fortunately, they had a shuttle going down to the ferry, and we made it just in time. The ferry ride out to Friday Harbor took about an hour, and then we checked in at the whale-watching place. They told us that no whales had been spotted by their spotting services yet, but they were hopeful. We grabbed some lunch to eat on the boat and then went back down to wait.
The whale-watching cruise was really neat. We saw some harbor seals hauled out on one of the island beaches, and a colony of cormorants on another. Did we see whales? Well, no. But we did get some Dall's Porpoises to play with us for a little while, which was the high point of the cruise. Justin saw them too, and he thought they were pretty cool. I shot some pictures, but God only knows how they came out. They gave us a coupon to come back for a return trip, and we definitely want to take advantage of it. Whether we will is a question for next year. We ate dinner on the island and took the ferry back to the mainland.
We had set Sunday aside for the Port Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, and it was worth the trip. They have aardvarks!!! And a lesser anteater!!! And they used them both in the animal show, along with a sloth and a beaver, among many other animals that you don't really normally see in show like that. Their new Asian Forest Sanctuary is pretty nice, with a tiger enclosure to die for. And their Rocky Shores exhibit was really nice. The Puffins in that area are completely silly birds who appear to take themselves very seriously, although no one else does. They don't fly very well. They were one of the highlights of this zoo. The walrus was pretty neat too (although I kept getting flashbacks of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
speakr2customrs's "the Key isn't a teenage girl, she's a walrus" fic), along with the Arctic foxes. And the seahorse exhibit in the Aquarium was teh kewl.
We got to the airport in time, even though traffic completely sucked...and then the flight was full. So, we had to get a hotel room for the night and try again today. The 6:15 flight this morning was apparently fairly open, so we made it in and here we are.
We didn't get to see the Space Needle or do all the shopping I wanted to do. I'd like to go back when we have more time, definitely. I envy Seattle their zoos, but not their traffic or their weather. All in all a pretty successful trip, but I'd like to go back when we can spend more time there.
fresliriafic ficathon. I'll be posting that directly after I post this.Man, I really wish we'd gotten another day in Seattle. We didn't get to see everything we wanted to, and I didn't get in near the shopping I wanted to. That being said...
Seattle is a nice place to visit, but I don't think I'd want to live there. I like the sun way too much. However, we didn't get rained on very much. The first day (Friday), we got into town around 9:30am, got the car with no problems, and hit the road for the Woodland Park Zoo. It was quite easy to find, and all I have to say is "WOW." What a lovely place. It's definitely right up there in quality with the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. The spider exhibit was totally awesome (no glass in the Orb Weaver's enclosure--how cool is THAT?). Got some nice shots in the Butterfly House. The jaguar posed for me. They have baby Sloth Bears! The exhibit for the wolves and the elk make it look like they're in the same enclosure. And they have a lesser anteater!!! Of course, when I took the pictures in that exhibit, I found out that I hadn't closed the back of the camera completely, so how they'll come out is anyone's guess...and I won't be able to get the pix developed until we get paid again. After the zoo, we hit a bookstore, and ate at Red Robin. Then back to the room because we were pretty tired after that.
Saturday was the day for whale-watching. I spent a wee bit too much time in the bookstore in Anacortes, so we got to the dock for the 11:00 ferry a little later than we wanted to...and then I put us in the wrong line. We had to back up, get a refund, and then go thru a different place and park way the heck up on a hill. Fortunately, they had a shuttle going down to the ferry, and we made it just in time. The ferry ride out to Friday Harbor took about an hour, and then we checked in at the whale-watching place. They told us that no whales had been spotted by their spotting services yet, but they were hopeful. We grabbed some lunch to eat on the boat and then went back down to wait.
The whale-watching cruise was really neat. We saw some harbor seals hauled out on one of the island beaches, and a colony of cormorants on another. Did we see whales? Well, no. But we did get some Dall's Porpoises to play with us for a little while, which was the high point of the cruise. Justin saw them too, and he thought they were pretty cool. I shot some pictures, but God only knows how they came out. They gave us a coupon to come back for a return trip, and we definitely want to take advantage of it. Whether we will is a question for next year. We ate dinner on the island and took the ferry back to the mainland.
We had set Sunday aside for the Port Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, and it was worth the trip. They have aardvarks!!! And a lesser anteater!!! And they used them both in the animal show, along with a sloth and a beaver, among many other animals that you don't really normally see in show like that. Their new Asian Forest Sanctuary is pretty nice, with a tiger enclosure to die for. And their Rocky Shores exhibit was really nice. The Puffins in that area are completely silly birds who appear to take themselves very seriously, although no one else does. They don't fly very well. They were one of the highlights of this zoo. The walrus was pretty neat too (although I kept getting flashbacks of
speakr2customrs's "the Key isn't a teenage girl, she's a walrus" fic), along with the Arctic foxes. And the seahorse exhibit in the Aquarium was teh kewl.We got to the airport in time, even though traffic completely sucked...and then the flight was full. So, we had to get a hotel room for the night and try again today. The 6:15 flight this morning was apparently fairly open, so we made it in and here we are.
We didn't get to see the Space Needle or do all the shopping I wanted to do. I'd like to go back when we have more time, definitely. I envy Seattle their zoos, but not their traffic or their weather. All in all a pretty successful trip, but I'd like to go back when we can spend more time there.
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Date: 2004-08-30 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-31 01:35 am (UTC)