After three days of driving, we found a cute little hotel called, Wildlife Inn, six minutes away from Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon. The rooms were comfortable enough and close to places to eat Saturday evening. Tony used the impressively stock gym; great for back days.
We got a Groupon to visit the Wildlife Safari and headed there Sunday morning by 10:15 a.m. With our Groupon we could travel through the 600 acres to view animals twice and one feed cup. We went slowly around once to enjoy the animals at close range. One of the coolest views was a brown bear just feet away from Lyra's head. There was also a large ostrich which we had to drive around; it did not move an inch to get away from our vehicle. There was a large lion resting among the tall grass behind extra fencing. We had a unique experience observing these wild animals living off the land as we view them from our car. We even got to drive slowly around a herd of buffalo meandering along the road. Half way through there was a feeding area. Several times we had to "fight off" various flightless birds from sticking their heads into the car by rolling up the windows to keep the birds out. We watched one of the birds stick its head into the car in front of us and pull out a full cup of food. We fed ducks and deer and try to feed the yaks who were a fair distance from the car. At the end of our trek we view cheetahs behind fencing and a lazy tiger. Wildlife Safari has the most successful captive cheetah breeding programs in America. Over 160 babies have been born there. Lyra really wanted the tiger to stand up but he wish was not his command. We missed the rhino this trip; we hope there will be a next opportunity to visit this magical place again.
Once we finished our safari ride we went to check out the other parts of Wildlife Safari that hosts home to a cheetah living with a boxer, lots of little primates, reptiles, alligators, and petting zoo. It was a really great morning with everyone leaving happy. I encouraged us all to depart by noon so we could get to Seaside to meet up with the Murray's at a decent hour. Once in Seaside we joined Becky, Justin, and Cece at the Seaside Inn for a few days of fun. We enjoyed dinner and lots of hugging between Cece and Lyra. Tony and Becky took the girls for a ride on the carousal before we headed in for the night.
Late Sunday night Lyra enjoyed the late sunset view from our hotel window (with the screen conveniently missing).
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| Late nights and Curious Toddler |
