Jo's Wildlife Safari 1

We heard about this place and had to check it out. It's in Winston, Oregon and hosts an average of 150,000 visitors a year. For more info: www.wildlifesafari.net

The signs along the entrance to the park caught my eye. It says: "You are captive, they roam free"

This one says "They are wataching you"

This one: "Any closer You'll be lunch"

Cute don't you think?

Here are some Damara Zebra and Watusi Cattle or Wildebeest 

Some of the animals had to be inside fenced areas-here the lions roam their territory (also keeps them from having one of the other occupants of the sanctuary for lunch, etc.) 

An East African Crown Crane decided to come by the say hello

Here are some Turkeys just hanging around the edge of the road

A view from atop one of the hills of some of the park and watering holes

This Common Cape Eland was sitting on the side of the road just resting and greeting folks as they passed by. You can see he only has one horn (don't know what happened to the other one)

Unfortuntely NO ONE had signed up for the Elephant Car Wash on this day while we were at the park. Also, they were working inside the area at the time so we couldn't see the elephants in action.

A Scimitar Oryx grazing

One of the feeding stations in the park. Here we have a Giraffe and either an Emu or Ostrich (can't tell from behind) or maybe one of each

It took me a while before I realized that this was a bear taking a nap up on top of the logs. He definately appeared to be "out for the count"

Another feeding station with an assortment of animals. I was really pleased to see how most of them seem to get along with each other despite their being different species.

A couple of ducks hanging around the lake

A Crane perched on the tree above the watering hole

Shasta to Oregon

Here is a shot of Mount Lassen (this is August and you can still see some patches of SNOW up there).

Just another view of Lassen.

Couldn't help myself--we saw logging trucks going north AND logging trucks going south (?????)

Does anyone need any bales of hay or straw?  This guy has some for sale.

Road construction-here we were approaching another hill (one of many we not only have started encountering but as we find out many many more to come).

Some of the Oregon countryside

They too were encountering smoky skies (a large fire was buring east of here in Idaho)

Skies clearing somewhat and seeing some green grass, etc.

No, we did not take a wrong turn and end up in Arizona--there is a Phoenix, Oregon (for our family down south)

The entrance to Seven Feathers RV Resort (rated 10-10-10 by the Good Sam & Woodalls folks) 

This huge eagle stands at the entrance to the casino and convention/hotel resort area.

It's a really nice RV Park/Casino/Hotel resort (they have several restaurants and also have a huge truck stop/gas station, etc.)

Couldn't resist another shot-it really is a beautiful statute.

North CA to Oregon

As we left home heading north we could see (or here not see) the mountain range far off in the background. The smoke in the area was from one of the fires CA has been suffering with.

More smoky skies. You can see how DRY the fields are; doesn't take much to set them off.

Scene from Lake Shasta (one of the major reservoirs we depend on not only for recreation but for water). 

You can see how low the water is from the banks; theres still water for boating but we all need and should conserve our water usage.

More shots of the lake, couldn't resist and restrain myself. It was still a beautiful site.

Part of the back upper bay

There should be water down at the bottom of this canyon; none can be seen from this stop at a rest area.

We did encounter one of the local wildlife (here's Mr. Crested Bluejay). We don't have any down in the valley, just the ones with curved head which are called scrub jays I believe.

Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center.

 The new Alsea Bay Bridge was completed in 1991 and is located in Seal Rock, OR. The bridge has a clearance of 70 feet, and pilings that reach 100 feet into the bedrock below.

 The new bridge replaced the Old bridge, which was built in 1936.

 As usual we went into the Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center, which offered historic transportation and coastal bridge displays. Here we go again learning about our country, good example of one of their displays.

 It seems as thou there were no roads at this time in history, so here is how the folks got from point a to point b.

 Here we have an ingenious way to use old saws, pretty don't you think?

I never mastered the chain saw to be able to carve like this, heck I had a hard time making a straight cut.

Snaddunes Sandrail ride

 We chose the Sandland Tours for our 2-hour Sandrail ride, this is the sister to the rail we rode. I can tell you this Old Man really had a blast on the ride, 2-hour was too short for me.

 Jo is buckled up, has her goggles on and is taking her own picture, she said she enjoyed the ride, may have yelled a couple of times, not sure I was behind her next to a sceaming Chevy engine.

 Doesn't this look beautifull, and a little challenging, these are the highest dunes on the Oregon coast.

 We just blew by these little guys, we topped out around 60MPH, that was on the flat surface, in the dunes we were in the 20MPH range, that is my guess.

 As you can see we had a perfect day for picture taking, nice blue sky with some white clouds.

 The driver was really good and he had a handle on that buggy, he kept that Chevy hollering, said he wears out the second and third gears of the tranny about every six weeks, he did punish it that was for sure.

 Our drive took us to the beach, we went down the beach in a hurry, did stop for a photo opp.

 Jo shot this one over her shoulder as we where getting ready to take off.

 Remember earlier I told you she took her own picture, well heres the proof.

 Our first Photo Op, Here Jo is all smiles, she likes it so far.

 Take a look at the tires, they are not paddle tires, the paddle tires would not hold up, side walls could not take the punishment.

 Jo is still smiling as we stopped on the beach for another photo Opp.

There we are on a sandrail with the ocean in the back ground, what a great day, old folks still know how to have fun.