Wildlife Safari Park in Winston, OR

I grew up watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Wouldn’t miss it.

There he is, our host Marlin Perkins, riding through the plains of Africa. He and his crew are following a herd of wild buffalo whose water source is quickly drying up. The herd must be relocated. Marlin and his group of biologists move in. But wait, the largest female is indicating a readiness to charge. She is protecting her young. Marlin is no match for this 2,000 pound beast. Insert dramatic superhero-like music.

At that age it was hard not to notice that looking at a (usually motionless) anaconda through a glass window at the zoo was a far different experience than seeing how one of those snakes could wrestle down an antelope for dinner. I wanted to jump into the tv and ride along with Marlin. Then many years later I learned that even people who don’t have tv shows could actually travel to these far off places and head out onto the plain to see native animals in their own habitat. My dreams of  being on a safari quickly took root and quite honestly have never completely disappeared.  I don’t imagine I will find myself in Africa anytime soon, but I did enjoy a scaled down version not long ago on the plains of Interstate 5.

A bit south of the town of Roseberg, OR is the smaller town of Winston. Here lies Wildlife Safari, the largest animal park I have ever been to. There are two components to it, one is the “Village” where you’ll find the store, food, a petting zoo, a place where kids can ride a camel, and a few reptiles on display.

The second component to the park is the drive-thru safari. It takes about an hour to complete your route, which stretches through sections of the park labeled as various continents. For example, in Asia you can watch Sika deer, camel, emu, and more  just walking about nearby. In Africa you can drive near giraffe, elephants and a hippo. We were lucky to be in the park about a week after a baby zebra was born. The zebra mom was focused on the foal, unconcerned about the onlookers driving through her territory. Some of the park’s residents are within a fenced location, such as the lions and cheetahs. Most of the other animals we were able to slowly drive past.

Taking a drive through acres of land while the deer and the antelope play was far more safari-esque than walking through a zoo. But if you really want to go Marlin Perkins style you can go from this:

   to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife Safari offers many opportunities to get up close with the animals.  You can ride a camel, feed a giraffe, even have your car washed by an elephant. There is no guarantee how much attention you will get from the animals. Having a bucket of yummy fruit available was incentive enough for this giraffe to come closer to the safari vehicle. We were advised, though, they will leave whenever they feel like it. Sure enough, when our friend’s favorite goodies were gone he moseyed his way back to his shaded area. 

We also had the pleasure to meet some of the elephants close-up with their trainer. One of the elephants produced some artwork right in front of us. His trainer gave him some sponges with paint on them, and he covered a canvas to his liking using his trunk. The artwork was put on sale in the gift shop. According to the trainer, each of the three elephants have their own unique style of painting; one uses long broad strokes while another has a more short but meticulous technique.

There are quite a few kinds of encounters you can sign up for, both free and up to $10 per person extra. I personally really enjoyed, as did the kids, feeding the giraffe. Of the guests I talked with, most of whom happened to be locals, the elephant car wash seemed to be the favorite animal encounter. It seems worth it to me, if you are spending several hours here anyway, to be able to talk with the trainers in a small group setting and learn and connect with any particular animal. If, however, the budget is tight, the Village offers a way for young kids to run around and enjoy animal encounters of a different kind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey, every good buffalo-relocator has to start somewhere.

 

 

 

Today’s post is part of “Mondays are for Dreaming” at Mother of All Trips. Check out the site for more travel dreams.

Wildlife Safari provided my family with tickets in exchange for a review of our own experience there.

Sandland Adventures in Florence, Oregon

Yes, I do love talking about our trips. (Or haven’t you noticed?)

Luckily this summer we had quite a few. Here is the one I have been itching to tell you about. All you have to do is say, “So what was one of your favorite parts of your trip through the northwest?”  Or perhaps you’d rather ask, “What excursion surprised you the most?”  Go ahead,  ask me.

Now pull up a chair and let me tell you about our dune buggy trip. We were heading down the coast of Oregon and approaching an area known for its sand dunes. I ask you, who could pass by these hills of sand and not want to skid around on them a bit? Granted, I have never taken a dune buggy trip before. As much as I enjoy doing what the locals do, I wasn’t sure what we might be getting into. When I think of a dune buggy trip, I think of this:

 

And this:

 

 

 

 

 

So I researched a few places in search of the most little-kid friendly kind of trip.  Luckily for me my kids are still young enough to use this excuse.

What I found was this:

I call her Bertha. Don’t all cars need a name? She lives in Florence, Oregon at a place called Sandland Adventures.  Bertha will take groups out for an hour-long tour of the dunes and beach. I seriously debated whether the tour might be too tame. (Are those ALL senior citizens in the picture on their website?) While Sandland also offers high-speed sand rail tours, I had no idea how my three-year old would react. Following the better-safe-than-sorry logic, I opted for Bertha. After all, no one wants to be part of a tour where someone is screaming to get off.  (Besides, my screaming would embarrass my kids.)

 The two kids and I were seated in the front, directly across from the driver. Though it got chilly at times, I would say this was the best seat in the house. The trip started out at a very gentle pace; a good opportunity for the kids to get used to the bumpiness and feel of being in a dune buggy. As we were cruising, our driver told us about the area’s background and natural history. It turns out much of the grass that grows on the sand is not native. The fast-growing grass was introduced as a way to keep the sand out of the water channels. Now the grass has taken over and naturalists are working on a way to restore the area back to sand. How ironic that the cost to unfix what we did is probably much higher than what we spent to fix an issue in the first place. But I digress.

After about fifteen minutes we left the flat lands and entered the big dunes. Though it wasn’t high speed, there were certainly several hills that took us up and down practically vertically. I found it nearly impossible to capture the essence of the slope on film. This is as close as I can get to showing our descent. Best of all my kids, who avoid roller coasters at all costs, absolutely loved the ride. Our guide stopped a few times to give us tips on how to identify your location while on the dunes should you need help, how to tell if a hill is safe or not, and to show us a few small lakes that seemed to appear out of nowhere within the dunes.

I’ll be the first to admit, I was surprised at how much fun this trip was. The price was reasonable, paraticularly since I had no idea if we would love it or hate it. Our guide was terrific and really helped me appreciate the magnificence of the area. If you care to hang out a while, Sandland Adventures also has bumper boat rides, go carts, a miniature golf area and more.  All in all, we each voted it a big thumbs up.

 That reminds me of the trip we took back in….. what leaving so soon?

 

Photo credit for top two pictures: USA Today and 4x4offroads.com

Exploring Ashland with Kids

Ashland is best known for its Shakespeare Festival. The plays put on here are absolutely fantastic, but not something I would dream of taking young kids to. I had already planned to stay at a farm near Ashland for several days. Not knowing if we could fill the entire day gazing at goats, I hoped that we could find some additional  fun activities in town. Honestly, I was skeptical, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Ashland has the biggest rope climbing structure I have ever seen, a place to make bubbles larger than my kids, and the longest public park I have ever heard of. It is a town that already I can’t wait to return to. Here are a few of our favorite places.

  

 

ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum

Think a science museum is too complex for a toddler? The ScienceWorks Museum may in fact be a museum, but to young kids this is simply a great place to play.  Parents who love science may feel compelled to point out the system of weights, counterweights, pulleys and springs that are behind the exhibits. Or not. You can just as easily hang out while your little one explores water features, drives a mini crane, makes balls disappear into vacuum tubes, and explores the ship-shaped playhouse. Bring a book, the rooms in this museum can keep little hands  (and minds) busy for long periods of time.

The bubble-ology room is not to be missed. Standing in the middle of a bubble is much harder than it looks. It took a lot of persistence for my little one to hold still so as not to pop the bubble as it went over his head. Finally his persistence paid off. 

The flight room was equally fun. At different stations kids can make paper airplanes or helicopters. These creations can then take flight either by throwing them or with the assistance of small fans pointed skyward. Another exhibit in this room offers kids the ability to drive a jet that is placed in a wind tunnel.  You can control the speed of the wind and the slope of the plane and watch the effect on the plane’s stability.

Surprisingly, one thing that stood out for me were the snack options. Having stayed longer than I had expected, we needed a snack and I was coming up empty. The museum has a small refrigerated cooler with a few shelves. I don’t  expect healthy options from a snack machine, but inside were items such as string cheese, nuts,  and sandwiches. It was not gourmet, but a welcome selection when I figured I’d have to take whatever was available.

 

 

Lithia Park

This park stretches out from downtown plaza for 93 acres. (That’s right, 93!)  In the early 1900′s land bordering Ashland Creek was designated as city-owned for use as a park. A water spring containing high amounts of lithia was also discovered at Emigrant Creek. The city decided to invest in plumbing to pump the “healthful” minerals into the park grounds.  Today the park also features two duck ponds, many beautiful bridges, a musical stage, a playground, tennis courts, an ice rink during winter, and miles of hiking trails.

The playground is large enough to accommodate the amount of kids a bustling Saturday can bring. We spent a fair amount of time there, particularly at the rope tower. Once my kids discovered the nearby stream, where you can kick off your shoes and play in the water, there was no moving on any further. This section of the stream is paved with aggregate so that walking around is not dangerous for the little kids. I would still recommend having waterproof shoes on, as you never know what objects can find their way to the bottom of a popular stream.  

 

Downtown Plaza Stores

I don’t generally enjoy shopping. Add kids in tow, and I pretty much avoid any store I can. Particularly ones with cute or colorful toys that I will have to pry away from whichever kid has grabbed them off the shelf.  You have to know this about me to understand how taken back I was with some of the stores here. It should probably come as no surprise that an artistic community such as Ashland would offer plenty of costumes and imaginative play accessories. I believe it was the Hemporium that also sold wigs of all shapes and sizes. Children’s books were a’plenty as well, a personal weakness of mine. Tree House Books is conveniently located across the street from Lithia Park. Another great downtown find is The Northwest Nature Shop. This outdoor store offers a variety of kids’ activities, even things that can be used while traveling.

Two restaurants we tried were both excellent and very kid-friendly. Munchies is central to the plaza (59 Main Street). The front door is below street level so be sure not to miss it. We also stopped in Zoey’s Cafe, an ice-cream parlor with great soup and sandwiches.

 

For older kids 

Additional activities that might be fun to try when my little ones are a bit bigger include riding the two 280 foot flume water slides at Emigrant Lake. Only six miles SE of Ashland, the lake also has many hiking trails, a marina, RV and tent sites, boat access, swimming and fishing.

Older kids might also enjoy the skateboard park that is close to downtown. It is easily three times the area that this picture shows. Bikes are also welcome here.

This post is part of Mondays are for Dreaming series hosted by Mara at Mother of All Trips. Check out her site to see more travel dreams.

The Tale of the Snail

Once upon a time there was a snail who wanted to see the world. This was hard to do, as he traveled quite slowly. 

One morning when he began his walk, he felt many footsteps pass him by. He thought he must be near a very special place. He hoped he would be able to reach this special place and see it for himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then a very kind boy, who saw the snail stretched out along the path, decided to show the snail the view. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a spectacular view.

 

 

 

 

 

Then the boy’s brother came over
and he thought something was missing.

 

 

 

He came back with
a friend. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the spectacular view
became a very special place.

 

 

This post is part of Photo Friday hosted by Debbie at Delicious Baby. Check out her site to see more travel photos.

Willow-Witt Farms

This summer we took about a month to explore northern California, Oregon and Washington. I knew there would be plenty of museums along the way to stop and see, but I also wanted to make sure that we got plenty of outside time too. After a little research, I found a great farm stay along our route and booked us for a few nights at Willow-Witt in Ashland, OR. 

Not knowing much about farming, and goat farms in particular, I had no idea what to expect. After we arrived, the owners Suzanne and Lanita greeted us and Lanita gave us a tour of the farm. We were introduced to the animals; milking goats, packing goats, many baby goats, and also chickens, pigs, a horse and several dogs. The tour also included a run-down of the vegetables growing in their garden which we were invited to pick. Frozen foods and milk (yes, goat milk) were available in their single-room store. Having arrived right around dinner time, we went ahead and picked out a package of home-made sausages and a half dozen fresh eggs. The kids helped me pick some fresh veggies. Thus we began our first farm stay with a fabulous dinner. 

Willow-Witt offers several lodging options to the overnight guest. There is a small apartment built directly next to the farm owners’ house. It has two queen beds in an upstairs loft (the stairs are quite steep!) and a pull-out couch downstairs. This guest house has a full kitchen and everything you need to cook with. Also on the property is a canvas tent with a queen bed, and other campsites where you can pitch your own tent. This tent area has a communal kitchen nearby. It is a bit of a trek to and from the main farm, probably about a ten minute walk. 

What I most looked forward to was being able to participate in some of the farm chores. Directly after dinner we were able to catch up with Jake, one of the employees, milking some of the goats. Chores are done once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. They include feeding the animals, moving pens (which allows the animals to feed on fresh grass), gathering eggs (and chicks who have managed to get out of their enclosure), and goat milking. Though I had in mind to come out for chores each day, the kids were not quite as enthusiastic. I tried to engage them even in watching others doing chores, but aside from the first night, they preferred playing together with some of the sticks they found on the ground. During part of our stay I watched other families who included older kids participate in the chores. They helped scoop food into buckets, gathered eggs, and one boy got very good at catching stray chickens. Though I had hoped my kids would jump at the chance at new responsibilities, I don’t mind at all that at this age they simply enjoyed the open space to play.

As guests we were given access to roam the farm whenever we wanted. One of my favorite parts was visiting the goats. The uncovered part of their living area was a large field. If you wandered through the field, a majority of the herd would follow you around the field. Again, this was far more fun for me than it was for my three-year old, who was about the same height as most of the goats. For the most part the goats were friendly, but some didn’t think much of what we consider “personal space”. Their tendency to crowd and natural inclination to taste your clothing was a bit much for Josh’s comfort level. In a few years he may fall in love with those big eyes as much as I did.

I couldn’t have asked for more from our stay at Willow-Witt. Lanita and Suzanne are obviously passionate about what they have built at Willow-Witt, and immediately I felt welcomed to enjoy and partake in it. I have since learned that the owners also bring local school groups and church groups onto their farm and teach them not only about how to care for the animals, but also how to care for the land. Part of the 40 acres is being restored as a wetlands and they have discontinued the practice of allowing cattle to graze on their land, in order to allow the native plants to thrive. This was a great experience for our family, one I hope to repeat in the next few years.

 

Our stay was partially compensated in exchange for an article on our experience at the farm. This article is an accurate reflection of our stay.