Showing Yngvar Around, Day 4

[annathepiper]

Technically this is day 5 of ravyngyngvar's visit to the Murk, but it's only day 4 of doing touristy things, so!

On today's agenda: the Seattle Aquarium, Pike Place Market, and a bit of random wandering around downtown. The Aquarium was fun, though we saw the best stuff pretty much immediately upon going in: the river otters, the sea otters, and the harbor seals, all of whom were excruciatingly cute. The aquarium staff fed and trained both the seals and the sea otters while we were there, so we got to see them get all excited about getting treats and do various and sundry training-type behaviors that allowed the staff to check them over and make sure they were happy and healthy critters. The moral of this story is that there are few things in the world as cute as a harbor seal treading water such that its head bobs straight up and down, unless it's a sea otter playing with a big plastic hollow ball and making squeaky noises that I never knew an otter made before. It sounded like the otter was a giant mobile squeaky toy, or perhaps a bird. It was the damndest noise I'd ever heard coming out of a sizeable mammal.

At Pike Place, we got tasty salmon sandwiches and soft serve ice cream, and wandered around for a while through the shops, and finally went to Borders on our way back to the bus stop. We both made purchases--books, pretty much--though the only thing that kept me from buying chicken rosemary sausage at the market was that I didn't want to carry it all the way back to Kenmore.

Tomorrow, assuming the weather holds out: the zoo!

Thursday miles: 2.6 (as Carbon Leaf have been heard to say, 'wandrin' around')
Miles out of Hobbiton: 483.2
Miles out of Rivendell: 25.2
Miles to Lothlórien: 436.8

Comments

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

*LOVE* love love the zoo. My sister used to live right down the street. When I was very little we lived pretty close by (<5 years old). And one of the coolest things EVER was going with Dad on a surveying job, to the zoo, and he pulls out a key and we go in a locked employee entrance, into the zoo! Carrying survey instruments! I was um, in my late 20s and was giggling like a little kid and saying that man oh man, would I have ever lorded it over the kids in my class at show and tell if we'd done that when I was little. "*My* Daddy has a *key* to the ZOO!"

He doesn't have it anymore, sadly. Had to give it back when the zoo job was done. Sadness! ;)

[annathepiper]

Wow, that MUST have been bitchin' cool indeed. :)

I love zoos too. Part of me always feels a little wiggy about the bigger animals in their habitats, but I am mostly soothed because Woodland Park Zoo has done such a great job with making larger and more appropriate habitats for its bigger critters. Especially the Jaguar Run!

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

The Oregon Zoo isn't nearly as cool, but they're working on it. Pretty much constantly. It follows more or less the same pattern, though, or is attempting to, with the natural-habitat type displays and all. The thing the Oregon Zoo does better thoug... they have marine mammals, too! Woo!! Well, not that Woodland Park needs them, since the Aquarium isn't far away... whereas the only real aquarium here is all the way over in Newport which is a significant distance from Portland. But! Still.

[annathepiper]

Yay, improving zoo!

Adding the marine mammals is a cool touch, too. How close is the Oregon Zoo to the ocean? I.e., do they have close access to the ocean to improve the quality of habitats for marine critters? Or do they have to simulate the hell out of it?

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

Hmm! I have no idea if they started with trucked-in seawater or if it's simulated. The zoo's on the west side of Portland, but it's still oh... an hour from the coast or so. Depending on traffic. Heh. ;)

The summer before my senior year of high school I did a Marine Biology class through OSC at Seahurst Beach in Burien. The classroom was a building right on the beach, at the north end of the park. I did the Aquaria option and spent 6 weeks taking care of a 50-gallon saltwater aquarium... I had to identify everything in it, and if I wanted new animals I had to go pilfer them myself out of the Sound. ;) Feeding them was the same- we weren't allowed to use commercial food- so every morning once group lessons were done, I was down digging clams on the beach to feed to my starfishes and smash up to give the rock cod something to eat, etc.

The coolest thing though, was that the saltwater was piped in right off the beach, flowed through all the tanks, and then there was an outlet trough in the floor that took the water away and back out to the Sound. Like a little miniature extension of the ocean. The moon snails were always making a break for it, we'd find them creeping their way along the outlet trough in the morning. Hee.

[annathepiper]

That all does sound incredibly cool. :) I envy you having gotten the chance to do that!

(And hi, this is NOT a late LJ comment, at least not late because LJ didn't send it out yet--it's late because I only just now answered it tonight!)

[mari-mac1109.livejournal.com]

*makes damdest-er noises*

[annathepiper]

Do yours sound like a giant squeaky toy?

[mari-mac1109.livejournal.com]

They can be. ;-)

[annathepiper]

Hee! Usually I only make those noises when pounced by solarbird. ;)