our next stop on our tourist-de-force tour of oregon's hippie city was the zoo. oregon's zoo is a strange case study of old and new. we began our trek through the very spiffy and interpretively designed northern forest section. treats here included the salmon exhibit shown in the photo and all sorts of clever signage (yes yes, i took a TON of photos for work related ideas and brian totally climbed around the signs to try to see if he could dismantle them in his head and later rebuild them for the preserves). i got to see the white mountain goats and pikas which was pretty nifty along with gigantical elks (who knew they were so BIG???). the penguin home and other sections were a bit more run down, but nonetheless well loved. the entire place was designed with a nod to the animals' privacy while giving the viewer the opportunity to get super close to the animals.

this was one of those (many) times that i wish we'd had a better camera! brian did get some really great shots though like the penguin below. clicky on the "misha in the bubble" for a better look at some of his shots!





...penguins, almost as dangerous as pandas!...