I don't think I mentioned in my previous post that we opted not to return to the Space Needle as initially planned, although it's right next to the Pacific Science Center. We figured that our trip there the night before had been satisfactory, so we opted to drive 5 miles further north to the Woodland Park Zoo, our final stop for this trip before we head back to Spokane.
Here's the thing, though—our day didn't start until around 9 or 10 o'clock because Roan and his youngest sister slept in.
Naturally, our activities for the rest of the day were delayed. We didn't get to the Pacific Science Center until around noon, and we arrived at the Woodland Park Zoo just two hours before they closed. We knew we couldn't tour the entire park given the amount of time left, but we pushed through anyway.
Can you spot the elusive ring-tailed lemurs?
How about the mallards (wild ducks)?
Mini hut within the African Savanna/Village
It's kind of funny that most people were already leaving the park just as we were coming in. The weather had become more Seattle-like by the time we started exploring the park. It felt like walking into an actual rainforest when we got inside. It was wet, but not drenched. I'd say it's the perfect weather for this kind of activity.
We started off by going inside a bird sanctuary, but for some reason, it was muggy inside, so we scurried out of it as quickly as we got in.
We were given a map, but it's pointless to mind where we're headed to since we didn't have much time left. We took Roan's lead, and ended up at the African Savanna/Village where most of the wild animals are.While waiting for the hippos to turn around so I could take a better photo of them (other than their behinds), we were laughing at two kids who repeatedly blurted out, "Look, I see its butt!
A meerkat in its element
I'm usually disgusted by rats (or anything that resembles them), but this soaked baby sea otter looks cute. What do you think?
Fish don't leave footprints, but I do.
My camera's battery died shortly after I took these photos, which was a blessing in disguise because I got a chance to focus more on what's going on around me. For some reason, April (one of my sisters-in-law) and I found ourselves checking out whether the meerkat (in the above photo) was real, and not a taxidermy. It stood (or sat) still in that position for almost 5 minutes, not even moving a muscle. He must have been startled when a kid squealed, and quickly moved away from the glass.
Fact: whenever I visit a zoo, it's a must that I see a tiger (or two), and have my photo taken with them in the background. Tigers are my spirit animal (I'm born in the Year of the Tiger and I'm a Thomasian), so I feel that I'm strongly associated with their personality/characteristics. I craned forward to see clearly, but freaked out (a little) when Roan casually pointed a sleeping feline right under my nose. When the kids realized this, they soon gathered around us, uttering oohhs and aahhs in amusement.
Our visit to the zoo was short, but not entirely pointless. Highlight would've been that part when we tried a mini version of Skywalk for kids. Towards the end of the challenge, one of my sisters-in-law lost her grip from the bars, and fell butt-first on the ground! We burst into unending fits of laughter, especially that I caught it on my phone camera (per her pleading, footages had been destroyed).
We had our last dinner in Seattle at the Ramen Man Noodle House, which was less than 2 miles away from Woodland Park Zoo. It's small and not too fancy, but their ramen was really good! It was packed when we got there, thus we needed to wait for available seats, so that's telling something. Before we head back on the road, we capped our Seattle trip off by getting ice cream from Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream just a stone's throw away from the noodle house.
The drive back to Spokane was definitely one for the road. Roan, Steph, and I stayed awake the entire trip, talking mostly about issues we never would've talked about on a normal day. It helped Roan stay alert throughout the trip, and just an hour away from Spokane, we made a pit stop at Shari's Cafe and Pies to grab some late-night snacks (and pies to bring home).