Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Today - it was the ocean. However, playing in the sand wasn't our primary goal, it was visiting West Coast Game Park Safari just south of Bandon. It's a drive - over three hours, and with us getting a late start due to John's dad being admitted for his SEVENTH bout of pneumonia this year, we were all quite anxious to get there by the time we'd arrived. But, once again, the experience was SO worth it (we visited sans our husbands two years ago). I just can't recommend this very-humble "hole in the wall" off of Highway 101 enough.

Right as you walk in the gate, you are bombarded with free-roaming animals (goats, deer, mules, geese) who all want a piece of your cone filled with animal food.



We then gathered the family up and took pictures with "Dahlia", a rare black panther who was 10 weeks old. Just awesome that we could all go up and pet her.



Next in the photo parade, we were able to take pictures with "Delilah", a 9 week old African lion cub - oh man, was she adorable. She sat on our lap and then we were allowed to play a bit with her.


On to the Animal Nursery demonstration - opossums (baby and the adult cross-eyed one!), white skunk, ferrets, and we can't remember the name of the last one.....








Finally, some of the more impressive animals that we weren't able to pet or hold. However, we were really only four feet away from them - just so different from a zoo.



Okay, this last guy isn't exotic, and we were definitely close enough to touch him. This was John's favorite picture, so he insisted we include it. He kind of sums up the great fun of the whole experience!