But the thought of staying inside yet another day was more than we could bear. So we decided to head for the real zoo. We would just have to put up with the drizzles.
When we arrived we saw we were not the only ones with this idea and with the Vietnam memorial, Zoo, and Children's Museum all sharing one parking lot you can guess how packed it was. So Andy had the brilliant idea to drive up over the hill, through Washington Park to the Rose Garden, park there and take the Zoo train into the zoo. It was perfect.
To our great joy and relief the sun made an appearance! The sun, the REAL SUN! We had packed rain coats and never had to wear them.
We had hot dogs for lunch a caught an upclose and personal Birds of Prey landing not 10 feet from where we were waiting for our order. We went to visit the elephants and saw how fast the baby is growing. Then we went to see Conrad, the Polar Bear. Our faithful, playful friend Conrad was in good form today and we stood and watched as he swam under water and then swam on his back brushing the glass leaving a trail of swirling bubbles.
We caught the train back to the Rose Garden where we got off and said good-bye to the zoo. It's Rose Festival right now in Portland and the Rose test Garden is one of the largest on the West Coast. It's been so wet the last month that the garden isn't quite in full bloom, but there were some beauties there to greet us. We drank in the scent of the roses and the brilliant colors and felt the soft pettles on our faces. We were reminded that Portland only sparkles more brilliantly after the rain, and boy is she ready to shine. We are soggy, and sun deprived and today was a much needed sun break.
