Trip Report: a desert rat gets drenched

Monday, March 26 (part two)

It is a five minute drive to my next destination, located on the same peninsula. Hatfield Marine Science Center is a mini aquarium and science center run by Oregon State University. It was closed for remodeling and reopened two days before my visit. It is just as crowded as the aquarium I came from, which is not surprising since admission is by voluntary donation only. The star attraction is a Pacific giant octopus in a tank just inside. He or she is much more visible and active than the recluse I failed to see earlier. However this may not be by choice. The tank is a large clear block, visible on all sides with no place to hide.
octopus tank

octopus tank

March 26, 2018

There are a handful of other tanks, but not many. Due to the crowds and my time constraints, I don't get a good look at much. The one unusual fish I stop to photograph is a monkeyface prickleback. With a name like that you know it's weird looking! A lot of the displays are static, museum type displays. It is nice to see one on sustainable fishing practices. There are also hands-on activities for kids. One is a tsunami simulator where they can build a house out of Legos and see if the wave knocks it over. Another lets them crank a wheel to make waves. I think these are great tools that are both fun and educational.

As I said, limited time and large crowds prevent me from seeing all of the displays (though the small center would be easy to digest in an hour or so). I spend just over half an hour and begin my long drive north on Highway 101.
 
Monday, March 26 (part three)

Highway 101: the Pacific Coast Highway. If Route 66 is the Mother Road, Highway 101 is the Fairytale Princess of roads. It is almost certainly the most scenic drive in the entire USA. Hugging the west coast from southern California to northern Washington, it is hundreds of miles of quaint seaside towns and jaw-dropping scenery. This is America at it's best folks.

Today is my longest drive, from Newport (Oregon) to Lake Quinault (Washington). It is five hours drive time, but that doesn't include a lunch stop or the third aquarium of the day. As I said in the opening post, three facilities in one day is a record for me. Passing several picture postcard towns, the ocean goes in and out of view (sometimes hidden by forested hillsides). At about the halfway point, I stop for a late lunch at Denny's in Tillamook (still in Oregon). The town is situated in a large rural valley known for it's dairy farms and cheese. Some of my fellow Americans will recognize the name because they see Tillamook cheese at their grocery store.

Service is a bit slow because the waitress is attending a large group with several tables pushed together. If I remember correctly, it is around 3:30pm when I am back on the road. It will be a tight fit to make Seaside Aquarium by 5pm closing. I find myself at the admission window at five minutes before five. They let me in and say they will not kick me out when the front door closes at 5pm. The small aquarium consists of one large room, so it won't take long to see. Initially I had no plans to stop here, but snowleopard persuaded me to see it for the history, if nothing else (it's one of the oldest aquariums in the country).

The main attraction is a harbor seal pool at the front of the building. And by pool I mean bathtub. It is the smallest, blandest, most deplorable pinniped pool I have ever seen (or perhaps it ties with the one I saw at a mall in Ontario, California). There are seven or eight seals and one small rock to rest on (plus the cement slab by the transfer gate). Visitors can buy fish to feed for two bucks, which I actually favor because it may be the only enrichment these poor creatures get. I decline because I don't want to juggle my expensive camera with fishy fingers, but I do enjoy watching another guest feed them. One seal splashes the water crazily in an attempt to garner attention. I must confess the activity is fun to watch and somewhat mesmerizing. At the end of the day, however, there is no getting around the fact that it is seals in a tub.
harbor seal pool (small)

harbor seal pool (small)

March 26, 2018

The rest of the aquarium is one large room, with tanks along the walls and one tank in the middle. There is also a small touch tank. I don't have time to examine things very closely, but I think the exhibits are all animals native to the local ocean? (Someone correct me if I am wrong). One I find unusually beautiful is a basket star, with tentacles unlike any starfish I have seen. I buy a postcard at the small gift shop and head out.
basket star

basket star

March 26, 2018
 
My oh my, that has to be the most brutal pinniped pool I have ever seen! Not to mention with seven to eight seals stuck in there it must also be one of the most cramped. I thought it couldn't get any worse than the (Soon to be closed) Morro Bay Aquarium, but it looks like I was woefully wrong.
 
Tuesday, March 27

I arrived last night at the historic and utterly charming Lake Quinault Lodge (Washington). Thankfully the desk clerk convinced the restaurant to seat me after my 8:35pm check-in, even though dinner seating ends at 8pm. I am here tonight as well, due to an online special to get a second night free. It's a beautiful old wood building with a lovely central lobby sporting a large fireplace and equally large bull elk mounted above. There are no televisions (for which I am grateful since I don't even have one at home) and the lodge motto is “where the rest comes easy.” The lobby has a few tables with board games and large leather chairs and sofas for reading. And you know what – guests actually use them! Couples and families settle in for an old-fashioned game of scrabble or cards while others sit by the fire and read. No one is on a cell phone and no one is using an X-Box. It is delightfully refreshing.

The lodge is on the south shore drive of the large Lake Quinault, the side in Olympic National Forest. The north shore drive is on the side in Olympic National Park. Eyeballing the map, I would guess the park covers about half of the entire Olympic Peninsula. It is also known as the Olympic Rainforest because it gets more rain than any place else in the continental United States (over 100 inches a year). Needless to say it was raining when I arrived last night and still raining now. However it's not a heavy rain, but a constant drizzle that keeps the trees dangled in moss.

With my body covered in a rain-proof jacket and my camera covered in a rain-proof sleeve, I am out to explore the Hoh Rainforest (a little under two hours from the lodge). The greenery is enchanting, but I find it hard to frame a good photo. Eventually my gloves are soaked and so are the lens cloths I am using to wipe off the protective filter on my lens. I retreat to the safety of the car, whose demonic warning flashes I am learning to ignore. Driving back towards my lodge, I stop at their sister lodge for lunch.
Hoh Rainforest (Olympic N.P.)

Hoh Rainforest (Olympic N.P.)

March 27, 2018. Non-zoo photo uploaded to embed in trip report.

Kalaloch Lodge is on the short section of highway that parallels the ocean. I am on a bluff overlooking rough and stormy seas with washed up trees on a rocky beach. The scene is both beautiful and terrifying all at once. This is not the kind of beach to lay out a blanket and have a picnic, but from the safety of the restaurant it's a lovely view. The food is delicious (as it is at my own lodge), with a pricetag to match.

After a rest back at Lake Quinault Lodge, I take a short drive to a trail on the north shore. Along the short loop I see a large herd of elk walking parallel to me across a pond. There is no way for me to get to them and the photos I take are mere record shots. Still it's fun to see. I drop my camera back at the room and squeak into the dining room just as seating ends for the night.
 
Loving this thread!
Especially the introduction of @Arizona Docent to new driving technologies... and the reviews as well.
Sorry you were not able to see the caracal at Oregon. Based on your comments I feel fortunate to have gotten a couple shots of it, albeit while it was sleeping, during my visit in the fall.

A slightly more technical question for you AD, what type of rain cover do you use for your camera gear?
 
m30t said:
...A slightly more technical question for you AD, what type of rain cover do you use for your camera gear?
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It's called Storm Jacket by Vortex Media and based on my research is the simplest and most cost effective option. There are lots of fancier and more expensive models, but this one is easy to use and I love it (had it for just over a year). They come in different sizes and I think mine is the Large, but not positive. I just measured it and it is 17 inches long. It has a large opening on the camera end and a smaller opening on the lens end (each with a drawstring). The entire bottom length can be opened at any point, as it is held together with Velcro. The purpose of this is if you are using a tripod or monopod and a longer lens with a lens collar (as on my 70-200 f2.8), you can open it at the point where your tripod collar needs to stick out. I think it was less than fifty bucks?
 
Wednesday, March 28 (part one)

I normally try to get to a zoo when it opens, but there is no way I am getting up in the middle of the night to make the three hour plus drive from Lake Quinault to Seattle. I have never been a morning person and I am proud of myself for waking up at dawn (without an alarm clock no less) and being checked out and on the road by 7:30am. Since breakfast seating starts at 7:30am, I am skipping breakfast today (something I rarely do). It has finally stopped raining and it's a pleasant enough drive. When I get to highway 8, the most scenic stretch of the day, I see something I haven't seen since I left Arizona: the sun.

The drive is pleasant, I should say, until I hit Tacoma (the major city just south of Seattle). Traffic is a nightmare and reminds me why I don't miss living in my hometown of Los Angeles. Eventually I grind my way through Seattle and find the exit for Woodland Park Zoo. The sun has been replaced by cloud cover which I am happy about because soft light is better for photography. As I pull into the lot I see a dreaded sight: self-pay kiosks. The sign clearly states that cars are $6. So I punch in my space number and the electronic readout says amount due $7.36. I have no choice but to give in to their extortion.

Once inside I make a beeline for the snow leopard exhibit, which reportedly has a mother and older cub. The zoo website provides the very helpful information that mom and cub are out on even numbered dates and dad is out on odd numbered dates (which is why I reversed my original plan to see Point Defiance today and Woodland Park tomorrow). Another photographer is already there with a tripod and a large Nikon 200-500 lens. For once my setup is not the biggest kit on the block, with a comparatively modest monopod and Canon 70-200 f2.8. The juvenile cub is eating a rabbit put out by keepers. The photographer moves away and I notice in my peripheral vision another guy take his place. I also notice the stranger starts staring at me, but I try to ignore him and keep shooting. As I wonder what this guy's problem is he speaks up and says “fancy meeting you here.” It is not a stranger after all, but my old friend Snowleopard. And yes I am fully aware of the irony of meeting Snowleopard the person in front of snow leopard the cat.
juvenile snow leopard

juvenile snow leopard

March 28, 2018

This is our fourth time meeting and tonight will be our third time spending the night together (in the Platonic sense with separate beds, lest any rumors get started). I was not expecting him yet because he told me he would leave his home late and arrive at lunch time. In fact he left early and arrived at the zoo at opening. He has spent a large part of the morning bouncing back and forth between the snow leopard and tiger exhibits because he knows that's the best place to find me. After shooting the snow leopards a bit longer, it is time to move on and let a local show me the rest of the zoo.
 
Batto said:
Some are, but the quality is also declining (*cough* SEA LIFE centres*cough*).
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I am happy to say I have never set foot inside a Sea Life Center (even though one is an hour and half from my home) and I am sure I never will.
 
I went to the Blackpool Sea Life Centre once, when I was around 16 years old, but I don’t remember much about it. I don’t think any part of it was particularly remarkable, the gift shop included.
 
Wednesday, March 28 (part two)

As we tour the zoo throughout the day, Snowleopard makes an assessment that I agree with: the zoo is solid all around with no really bad exhibits. This is a rarity in the zoo world and they are to be commended. I will not detail all the exhibits (in fact I didn't even see all of them, missing most of the Africa section as well as the indoor tropical house). I will just mention some highlights of the day.

The new tiger exhibit is quite nice and I am surprised how lush the planting still is after being open for over two years. I am also surprised at how lush it is at the end of winter (I have the same shock throughout the zoo). Unfortunately the tiger is pacing along a fence on our first visit and not visible at all on our later visit. I get no tiger photos today, just a couple record shots of the exhibit, which includes a nice covered educational display.
tiger educational displays

tiger educational displays

March 28, 2018

When we have lunch at the cafe the place is packed but we get a table because a lot of people are just leaving (we enter around 1:20pm and most people eat between 12noon and 1pm). One of my pet peeves is bad zoo restaurants and sadly this zoo is among them. In an otherwise stellar zoo, the cafe is a huge black eye.

The Northern Trail features animals from the region and is quite nice. A pack of four white wolves are extremely active and we spend quite a bit of time watching them (as do other guests). Snowleopard has been to the zoo many times and says this is the most active he has seen them (likely due to cool weather since he usually visits in summer). Below them is one of the best grizzly bear exhibits I have seen and the two bears are awake and start moving about the exhibit. They are not as active as the wolves, but they are up and about. An indoor viewing area features underwater viewing of the bears, plus otters on an opposite side.
wolf pack

wolf pack

March 28, 2018

In another part of the zoo a walk-thru aviary features a combination of free flying birds and enclosed birds. Birds in general make good exhibit animals because they are (mostly) active during the day, even in the middle of the day when most mammals are resting. They can also be quite colorful, making for great photos. I zero in on a blue magpie.

Before I arrived at the zoo, Snowleopard had gone by the jaguar exhibit and said the cats were off exhibit with a staff person inside painting. I was expecting this as the website warned the jaguars would be periodically off display for maintenance. Imagine my delight when we check and there is a stunning male jaguar resting on a log. He is awake and soon he gets up and starts walking around. I quickly change cameras from the one with the wide angle lens attached (16-35 f4) to the one with the telephoto lens attached (70-200 f2.8). I am glad I had purchased a second body just prior to the trip so that I don't have to fumble with lens changes. I get several shots of the cat walking towards me and when we check back later I get more shots of him standing in thick greenery. It's a beautiful exhibit, one of the best I have seen (maybe even the best). This is great stuff. To see what else we saw that day, check my uploads in the gallery. We leave the zoo and head off for our boys night out (much thanks to Mrs Snowleopard and the cubs for letting me borrow husband and father for the night).
jaguar in the jungle

jaguar in the jungle

March 28, 2018
 
Wednesday, March 28 (part three)

Confession time: I am a pseudo-Luddite. I use a computer (which is how I access ZooChat and edit photos and other stuff), but I do not have a host of gadgets. My telephone is a land line model that I bought in 1997 at Radio Shack (or was it Target?) that still works as well today as the day I bought it. Two months ago I reluctantly bought a cell phone only because I will need it if I want to take advantage of travel opportunities and promotions in my fairly new government job. But I still don't know how to use it and to be honest am afraid of it. Snowleopard called me when he arrived at the zoo this morning but I think the phone was turned off because I never heard it. In fact I still have not listened to his message, even though I've been home for a week.

Another gadget I have never used is a GPS for driving. Last summer, when we met up in southern California, I showed Snowleopard my navigation system for road trips which gave him no end of amusement. I draw a hand-written map for each day of the trip. I just lay it on the seat next to me and it works great. As we are leaving Woodland Park Zoo, Snowleopard needs to know how to get to our hotel in Gig Harbor, Tacoma. He takes a picture of my map with his phone, though I suspect this is just to humor me and he secretly types in the hotel name to use the online navigation on his phone.

The hotel is a nice business hotel across the harbor from Point Defiance Park, home of tomorrow's zoo visit. I have stayed at my share of Motel 6's in my life, but I find that now that I am in my fifties my tastes are becoming more snobbish. Across the street from our hotel is a nice looking restaurant called Tanglewood Grill which we walk to for dinner. The décor is reminiscent of a mountain lodge, complete with taxidermy (including a full body juvenile mountain lion). We chat about life and all things zoo related while we enjoy a tasty meal, though the portion is a bit small. Due to this I order dessert, which I rarely do but Snowleopard is buying, so why not? :D

Back in the room we both sleep soundly and if I interpret his breathing patterns correctly I think Snowleopard fell sound asleep literally in one minute! Unbelievable. I am excited to see what my final day in the great Northwest will bring.
 
Thursday, March 29 (part one)

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we head out for the short drive across the bay to our final destination: Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. When we were driving to the hotel last night I noticed a troubling sign on the freeway as I approached the bay bridge. It said “no toll in this direction.” Does that mean there is a toll in the other direction? I inquire at the hotel and yes, it will cost six dollars to get back across to Tacoma. If I think paid parking is unacceptable, imagine how I feel about being forced to pay money to drive across a public bridge on a public road. It is highway robbery in the most literal sense of the term and a moral outrage. Take me back to Arizona, where the roads and bridges are free all the time, and never is heard a discouraging word, and the skies are not cloudy all day. (Younger readers will not understand this reference). My wallet has exactly thirteen dollars remaining and now almost half of it will be “donated” to the Washington Department of Transportation. I mean it's a fine bridge with a nice view, but not six dollars worth of nice.

As we approach Point Defiance Park, I am trying to be optimistic and shake off the ignominy of the recent extortion. As we pull into our spots, things are looking up. What is this: free parking! Blessings on the Tacoma Parks Commission and their descendants to the third generation. The parking lot is on a hill overlooking the zoo entrance and the bay beyond. This is certainly one of the most beautiful “first impressions” of any zoo entrance. A downward path to the entrance takes us past a new gorilla statue that Snowleopard wants me to see. Does the zoo have gorillas? No. Did the zoo ever have gorillas? No. The statue and accompanying sign pay homage to an infamous gorilla who spent most of his pathetic life living in a tiny cement and glass room in a Tacoma department store. Near the end of his life he was transferred to Zoo Atlanta where he experienced grass and sunshine for the first time since his capture as an infant.

I have never been to Point Defiance Zoo, but a decade and a half ago I visited their sister facility: Northwest Trek. At that time I experienced something that rarely happens: a zoo far exceeds my expectations. At the time I thought (and still think) Northwest Trek is one of the best zoos in the country, maybe even the best. I realize most of you would not rate it that highly, but it's how I feel. As my visit today progresses, I have a similar experience. Point Defiance is far better than I expected. Perhaps a more accurate way to put it is that I enjoy it more than I expected. If I step back and rate them objectively, then both Oregon Zoo and Woodland Park Zoo have a lot more to offer. Both are bigger, both have a lot more animals, and both have the keystone species (there are no great apes, no lions, no giraffes, no reptile house at Point Defiance). And yet, I am having a grand time.

Although our first stop at the clouded leopard exhibit yields no cats (other than a quick peek out the holding area before retreating), I am optimistic about the possibilities. A quick talk with two passing staff members reveals this fact: the zoo currently houses nine clouded leopards and five Sumatran tigers. Any zoo with this number of cats is ok in my book. We then hit the Sumatran tiger exhibit, which is magnificent. I knew I would like it from photos on ZooChat and it does not disappoint. There are several smaller enclosures nearby, but these are only mediocre. Several Asian species rotate through them, though this morning one holds a pair of tigers (in addition to the one in the main exhibit) and yet another holds a lone tiger. So four of the five are now visible. However the main exhibit is the only one worth photographing, with an impressive male. All tigers are visually stunning, but Sumatrans are the most beautiful of the races, with the deepest orange coloration, most abundant stripes, and thick facial ruff. After several shots of him posing on the hillside, we move on but I note that there is a 12:30pm keeper talk for which we will return. And boy am I glad we did, but that is a story for part two...
Sumatran tiger exhibit (pano composite)

Sumatran tiger exhibit (pano composite)

March 29, 2018
 
Arizona Docent said:
If I think paid parking is unacceptable, imagine how I feel about being forced to pay money to drive across a public bridge on a public road. It is highway robbery in the most literal sense of the term and a moral outrage.
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I can relate to this completely! Where I live, you have to pay a toll to leave this town and cross over into the city. It’s very frustrating!
 
Arizona Docent said:
I am a true desert rat, a term for Americans who enjoy being in a hot desert (see the fourth definition on this list: Desert rat - Wikipedia ). Why would I leave the sunny Southwest in late winter for the bleak rain and cold of the Pacific Northwest? Zoos and photography, of course.

Here is the itinerary, which includes a first for me: three aquariums in one day. The latter is at the advice of my friend @snowleopard , who lives for these kind of mad dashes in between long drives.

March 24: fly to Portland (overnight Portland)
March 25: Oregon Zoo (overnight Newport)
March 26: Oregon Coast Aquarium, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Seaside Aquarium (overnight Lake Quinault)
March 27: Olympic Rainforest (overnight Lake Quinault)
March 28: Woodland Park Zoo (overnight Tacoma)
March 29: Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (fly home)

Five of the six facilities are new to me (as is Olympic National Park). The only facility I have visited before is Woodland Park Zoo in 2002.
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Desert rat just doesn't have the same ring as a snowbird. Sounds like a fun trip. Too bad you couldn't make it to Wildlife Safari. I'm definitely jealous of you going to Olympic National Park. I'd like to see that someday.
 
To add onto the discussion of road toll: I'm not totally opposed to them, but what frustrates me is the increasing reliance on electronic tolling (where your license plate is scanned and you get a bill in the mail). Why? Well for the zoo road trips I'm on, we rent a vehicle and thus if we end up in one of those tolls we get stuck paying the toll and an extra fee for the rental agency having to collect the toll. It takes some creative route planning to avoid those tolls; another chapter in the guide to zoo road tripping.
 
elefante said:
Desert rat just doesn't have the same ring as a snowbird. Sounds like a fun trip. Too bad you couldn't make it to Wildlife Safari. I'm definitely jealous of you going to Olympic National Park. I'd like to see that someday.
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Snowbird is the term we use for people who live in Arizona in the winter and live in northern/cooler states in the summer. (There are a lot of these, mostly of retirement age). Desert Rat is for those of us who willingly choose to stay here in the summer.
 
Thursday, March 29 (part two)

Now we are off to see Red Wolf Woods, which for me is love at first sight. I think I have only seen red wolves at two other zoos (Lowry Park and Fort Worth) and have never gotten a really good look at them (or a good photo). As I stand at the Point Defiance exhibit, that all changes. The first and larger of the two large yards features a very active sibling pair. It is on a gentle slope going up away from visitors, which I always like because it puts the fence out of the photo unless the animals are at the very top/back. Multiple viewing angles include a large covered area with no barriers as well as a glass fronted viewing area. A natural looking (but artificial) mud bank, stream, huge fallen logs, and live trees fill out a stunning view. The second exhibit is slightly smaller, but not much (still generous in zoo terms). It also features a natural mud bank and lots of grass (but less trees). The mother of the pair is on exhibit here (the father died two days before our visit). She is more subdued than her offspring but is still walking around.
red wolf exhibit

red wolf exhibit

March 29, 2018
red wolf on log

red wolf on log

March 29, 2018

A small building allows for glass viewing of the second habitat and also features many nice educational displays. If I am not mistaken this is the zoo that started the red wolf recovery program, so it is fitting that they have displays detailing their recovery. I was surprised to learn from Snowleopard that their sister park (Northwest Trek) maintains a massive off-exhibit breeding area for red wolves with up to 40 individuals. Red Wolf Woods is everything a zoo exhibit should be and in my mind one of the best carnivore exhibits in the country.
red wolf information graphics

red wolf information graphics

March 29, 2018

I am going to skip over most of the exhibits that follow this area, except to say it is one of the few places in the country to see walrus and musk ox. Three female walrus (with no tusks) are swimming about. A large male with tusks, here on breeding loan, is a sight we both want to see, but he makes no appearance. I find out later in the day (after Snowleopard leaves) that he is off exhibit for a blood draw, which isn't going well because his mind is more focused on breeding with the ladies than obeying the keepers. We see the 12noon animal show (in an impressive amphitheater), which is apparently more low key in the off season as it is in summer. Now it is time to head back to tigers for the 12:30pm keeper talk.
 
m30t said:
To add onto the discussion of road toll: I'm not totally opposed to them, but what frustrates me is the increasing reliance on electronic tolling (where your license plate is scanned and you get a bill in the mail). Why? Well for the zoo road trips I'm on, we rent a vehicle and thus if we end up in one of those tolls we get stuck paying the toll and an extra fee for the rental agency having to collect the toll. It takes some creative route planning to avoid those tolls; another chapter in the guide to zoo road tripping.
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I haven’t heard of this one before! That sounds nasty!
 
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