Northwest Trek and Wildlife Park

I seriously am LOVING Seattle! Its really new and still like a vacation, but its been a lot of fun! We’ve met a lot of really nice people at church and through the preschool. The scenery is top notch! I love looking out my windows and being outside. Its like a dream! So different from what I was used to in Arizona.

I think part of the reason I love it so much is we do so much! We are still somewhat in vacation mode and its a lot of fun! During the week we are busy. Work and school keep us busy. But when the weekend comes we do a lot of fun things! There really is so much to do! When the weather is nice we try to do something in the out doors. If the weather is going to be poor we’ll do something indoors. Regardless there is a ton to do!

I’m working on a bucket list of things to do around here so that we will always have some idea of what we want to do! (if anyone has suggestions of fun things to do in Seattle or close to Seattle let me know!!!)

When we left Chandler we got ALMOST everything to fit in our trailer, my dad’s truck, or our van. There were things we left that we knew we just wouldn’t use and either were going to let my family or Chris’ family or the dump. There was one thing we wanted, but we just didn’t get to fit, and that was our bike trailer for the kids. In hindsight we could have unfolded it and probably made it fit, but it was so last minute and we were ready to go that we left it. (One of my siblings can have it.) It was a great bike trailer and we got a lot of use out of it in Chandler. Coming here I wasn’t sure how much we’d use it because the hills. (Pulling the bike trailer in Chandler was hard enough for me. I know the trailer would be pulling me down these hills here.) But Chris really wanted to go on family bike rides. So we got a cheaper one on Craig’s List. We took it on one family bike ride and Chris didn’t love it. So back to Craig’s List he went. He found one he really liked but it would be in Tacoma (about 45 minutes away) on Saturday.

We had an idea of something to do this weekend in Seattle, but I could tell Chris really wanted the trailer so we looked up ideas of things to do near Tacoma. Now there really are a TON of things to do near Tacoma and we will spend more time there I am sure, but Saturday we decided on going to the Northwest Trek and Wildlife Park. I love zoos that are a little bit more laid back and you get a closer look at the animals. This park had that. They specialized in animals that are native to the Northwest, which I thought was cool.

The first thing we did there was ride the tram. The tram takes you in a certain area of the park where the animals just roam. You get to see them in more of their natural habitat. Its like driving through the forest and seeing a deer or elk from your car. The downside to this is, you may not get to see everything. We were lucky because I think we got to see all the animals. We saw moose, (One of my dreams is to see one in the wild. I think they are  one of my favorite animals…weird…) bison, long horned sheep, mountain goats, deer, elk, geese, and swans. Most of the animals were fairly close to us and didn’t run off when the tram approached.

They also have an area where you walk around which is more of a typical zoo set up. We didn’t stay too long because we had to meet the guy for the bike trailer. We were able to see some mountain lions, coyotes, wolves, and lynx. Sadly the bears were sleeping. There were several other sections that we didn’t look at due to time. One of my favorite things about the park was the scenery of it all. It was SO pretty! It felt like we were in the forest somewhere! Huge trees everywhere and there were a few ponds around. It really was so neat being there.

Like most places, especially in the Seattle area the season pass pays for itself if you go more than one time. We decided to get a season pass there and we will be back for sure. I feel like the spring, summer, and fall  will all uniquely have a lot to offer! This season pass also covers the zoo in Tacoma so we will be doing that for sure as well!

After we left we went to grab a quick bite. The guy texted us saying that he was going to be late. We decided to drive around for a bit. We came across a really pretty suspension bridge. It is called the Tacoma Narrow’s Bridge. It goes across the Puget Sound. We decided that it would be fun to drive across. So we did. Then we found out it is a toll bridge that costs $6.00. I’m glad we didn’t know before hand because I know we wouldn’t have gone, but I am glad we did it! Ryan asked if it was the Golden Bridge. (Golden Gate Bridge) It looks like a smaller, greener version of that!

After that we were going to go to the Tacoma zoo for a bit, but we would have only had about 20 minutes to spend there so we decided to call it a day and head over to where we were meeting the guy with the bike trailer.

We picked up the bike trailer and headed towards home. The day was nice so we decided to go down town Seattle and maybe walk around Pike Place Market. We drove by Chris’ work and showed it to the kids, then walked around the market. After the market we went home and stopped by for some teriyaki for dinner.

Sunday after church we decided to go back to Discovery Park and play for a bit. I got the kids rain boots not too long ago and they were dying to jump in puddles and try them out. It was a really cold windy day so we didn’t last long, but it was still a lot of fun!

This weekend was a blast and I can’t wait to see what the next weekend has in store for us!

View from Tacoma Narrow’s Bridge

 

Crossing the Tacoma Narrow’s Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love that the Wildlife Park was in a forest!

 

 

 

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