In which our heroes encounter some exotic wildlife.

We arose at 8am so we could have breakfast, which was served at 8:30am. There were three other couples at the table, including a really nice older couple from North Carolina. They spent most of breakfast talking about driving directions, and the like. The breakfast was really nice, and after packing everything back up, we were on the road by 10am, to head to the wildlife safari down the road in Bandon.

We got and had just enough time to watch the chimpanzees for a few minutes before they brought out the baby animals in the petting area. The girl who was running the show was pretty funny, and started off by bringing out a couple ferrets, and entertained us by practically juggling them, and literally throwing them to people to hold. She also brought out some opossums, Pixie and Peter. She told us that when possums’ body temperature drops while they sleep, and when they wake up, they shiver to raise it, so the possums would look pretty pathetic. Sure enough, even wrapped in their little blankets, they were shaking like leaves. Peter had a face that looked just like an R.O.U.S. from the Princess Bride movie. Pixie was a burrower, and ended up buried in Annie’s elbow for the next twenty minutes or so. The girl also brought out a skunk (de-scented, luckily) and a fox.

After they finished the baby animals, we wandered around and looked at the other animals, who were in cages, like a zoo, but with one difference. The cages were just cyclone fences, so you were just a couple feet away from black bears, tigers, lions, ostriches, and all kinds of deer and elk.

After awhile, the girl came back out to show off the baby puma they had in the back, and a baby Siberian Tiger after that. Both of them behaved exactly like normal playful kittens, and kept trying to run at the baby goats (who never figured out what was going on, and kept wandering back by the cats). After the puma and tiger, she brought out a baby black bear, who drank two bottles just long enough for everyone to get to pet him, and then she had to take him away because he didn’t want to be there, and you don’t argue with a bear, even a baby. She also told us that the momma bear in the park has had 44 cubs over 15 years (mostly triplets).

After the (larger) baby animals, we wandered around the park some more, and Annie won a staring contest with a Lion. The lion didn’t do much except sit there and glare at the goats and deer who kept wandering past his cage, and occaisonally roar, which would cause all the other animals to shut up for about 10 seconds, then the normal noise level would resume.

We left around noon, and went to go find some lunch (at Subway), and then drove north, stopping at Strawberry Hill. We stopped because of the name, and it turned out to be a sea lion habitat. There were some big rocks right on the coast, and the sea lions hunt in the water and sun on the rocks. There were at least 10 sea lions right in the water, and we stayed there for awhile watching their little heads pop out of the water. When they look around, they look just like dogs!

Finally, we got back in the car to finish the drive to the lovely Yachats Inn, where we discovered that the “Rustic Charm” in their brochure means “the rooms are beat to hell.” Still, they had a pool and a hot tub, which were quite nice. They were inside a large building with steamed-up glass walls, so you had a partial view of the ocean from the pool.

After lounging for awhile, we got dressed and went to the Drift Inn for dinner, which was a really nice pub. We got burgers and fried mushrooms, and listened to the folk musician, who played a wide variety of stuff (all of which Annie knew), before we headed back to the hotel, where we fell asleep watching The Princess Bride on cable.