Fall Vacation- Day 7

Northwest Trek Day:

We had a few things planned for today.  But first we over slept and missed the free hotel breakfast.  Then we drove all the way out to Pioneer farms only to find out that someone (who shall remain nameless) hadn't read the brochure carefully enough and they are only open on the weekends after labor day.  We were out by Northwest Trek and that was one of our back up plans so that is where we went next.  It turned out to be such a great time that we bought an annual pass.  If our family goes more than once a year it is cheaper to buy a pass and we only got to see about half of it so we are going back soon.

When you arrive you get a time assigned to ride the tram.  Then you can walk through the trails and see some animals up close and learn about each one and their environment while you wait for the tram.  It is really very pretty and peaceful and we practically had the place to ourselves.

This is a cutaway view of the beaver dam.  You can see one of the beavers working on removing the bark from a stick up in the top middle of the picture.

One of the other beavers was really interactive.  At first I thought it was a coincedence.  But after awhile it was obvious he was really playing with the children through the glass.

This wasn't a great shot but this was a wolverine.  I had never seen one up close.  He had a really cute face once you got past the 2 inch long claws.

This squirrel was coming and going on this stump.  Making nice neat piles of leftover pine cone pieces and chewing on this leaf between pine cone nibbles.  I just had to get a picture of his handiwork. 

Kylie and Jacob waiting for the tram.  It was a really spectacular view.

The Tram ride begins.

Elayna loved it!

These elk were hanging out watching us watch them.

The bull was farther away but keeping an eye out for danger while the Elk cows and young rested in the grass.

Anna spotted this big Bison from a distance.  

 A couple of deer near the end of the tram ride.

Next we headed to the trailside animal encounter.  We didn't know what animal would be coming to show off for us.  It turned out to be the beaver again!  It was our family and just one other person at the encounter.  We got to sit just about a foot away from this guy and he was so fun to watch! But I think the poor zoo keepers ended up with more than they bargained for when they asked a family of homeschoolers to ask any questions that they had.  Hey, we already knew a beaver was a rodent and that their teeth constantly grow.  You gotta answer the big questions now.  We want to know how long their gestation is?  How many kits in an average litter?  Will they steal another beavers home?.....

Wait, the beaver is leaving?  We weren't done asking questions.....

While the older kids shopped in the gift shop mommy and the little girls went to do a craft project.  Turns out some moose needed little girl hands to give them some antlers.  Again, we were the only ones there.  

Elayna's Moose.  We thought she did a great job for 3!

Anna's moose.  Always the artist.  She wanted to take more time than we had so we took it home to finish.

One last look around before it was time to leave.

A tuckered out Stephanie.

It was really a fun day.  We learned a lot and saw some really neat animals.  There were so few people it really felt like we had the whole park to ourselves.  Looking forward to returning on another weekday soon.