things to do: Portland Zoo

That's a good zoo.
Max and I went a few weeks ago and spent four or five hours at the zoo, only getting to the Lorikeet area and the train after they'd closed. We went again with my Dad, and started with the train and the loris. We stayed til closing again, and I don't think we saw a single thing we'd seen the first time through. It's like two whole zoos.
There are still the hippos and most of the Africa exhibit to see. It's a three-day zoo.

This time we bought the whole-shebang package that includes the Butterfly Experience, the Train, and the 3D Thrill Ride!. $50 for the three of us: kid, adult and grampa.
We did the train first, since we'd missed out last time.

The train is cool. There seem to be three separate trains that run through Washington Park and the zoo, out through the trees along a narrow guage track. It's really cool when the two trains pass each other near a little park. It would be fun to have a picnic there and watch the trains go by. There's a short stopover at a station above the Rose Test Garden, and they'll let you get off and catch a later train, but I don't think anyone did. Next time maybe, just to try one of the other trains.

The thrill ride turned out to be right by the train station, so we did it, too. It was pretty fun; I laughed out loud several times as big critters poked their faces out of the screen. 3D glasses and hydraulic rumbleseats!

The butterfly experience is far more mellow. You go into a big landscaped tent and look at impressively beautiful South American butterflies up close. They land on people, and you can see banks of pupae inside a glass case. These pupae will hatch soon to make a new generation of butterflies in the exhibit.
It's like the Lorikeets, but with less wet poo.

There's one penguin that seems to really like kids. Max was up against the aquarium, moving back and forth, and the penguin would follow him, right next to the glass. He seemed to commune with the other kids, too. Maybe he's studying us.

We went into an area up behind the Tillamook Farm thing that we didn't even know was there last time. At the top of the path there are bald eagles, and there's a hollow concrete log for kids to climb through. I think the log was Max's favorite thing.

Last time we were at the zoo I noticed one of the gumball machines in a bank of ten wasn't screwed down. I thought "You could totally steal that!"
This time, there were only nine.

Max is going again today with his class.