Andrew Acomb

Last Saturday, Jennifer and I went to the Point Defiance Zoo with Kurt, Wendy, Adele, and Sullivan. It’s a smaller zoo located in Point Defiance Park which is just north of downtown Tacoma, Washington.

The big news at the zoo was the birth of four baby meerkats back in September. It’s hard to see them in the above picture. I took all these photos with my iPhone, so they’re not very detailed. Plus, the adult meerkats are hiding the babies underneath them. You can see a couple of the babies poking their heads out on the side.

One of my favorite parts of the zoo was the Asian Forest Sanctuary. We walked through an area filled with giant bamboo and many different types of exotic plants.

On the way out of the sanctuary, we watched the zoo keepers feed the elephants and give them a little something to drink.

Just before leaving, I walked by many more strange plants. One in particular was a tree that I had been trying to figure out the name to for awhile now. Luckily at the zoo there were little labels on everything. It was a monkey puzzle tree. It’s has a cone shape like a normal evergreen but its branches are covered in spikes. Most of the ones in Chile only have branches at the top. I ended up purchasing a small one at a local nursey that I will keep in a pot outside.

It’s that time of the year again. Blueberries are in season here in the state of Washington. So, I started on a quest to find a berry farm that was reasonably close. I found Greysmarsh Farm in Sequim. The drive is just over an hour, but a beautiful one. We crossed the Hood Canal Bridge and drove right next to the Olympic National Park all the way to Sequim.

Once your arrive, you will see a couple U-Pick stands. Here, you can purchase buckets if you didn’t bring your own. We bought a few buckets so we could reuse them when we go pack. Make sure you get the lids when you pay for your berries.

In addition to blueberries, Graysmarsh has lavender, raspberries, loganberries, and even artichokes. Yesterday when we went, the blueberries and raspberries were ready for picking, but the loganberries looked like they were just getting ready to start. So, we decided to pick the blueberries. We ended up with over a gallon. Their prices were very reasonable: just $2.00 per pound for the blueberries and only $1.75 per pound for the raspberries and loganberries.

I’ve already made a batch of blueberry sauce. It’s perfect over vanilla bean ice cream. We are definitely going back for more!

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When I was a bit more mobile, long story, Jennifer and I went to the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival. This year the festival was held on May 2nd through the 4th in Hoquiam, Washington. Each year thousands upon thousands of shorebirds stop here at the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge for a bite to eat and a chance to rest on their long journey north. Many of these birds travel over 15,000 miles to their northern breeding grounds. The muddy tideflats of the Grays Harbor Estuary is “one of 4 major staging areas for shorebirds in North America and one of the largest concetrations of shorebirds on the west coast south of Alaska“.

The best veiwing times are at high tide, so plan your trip accordingly. The high tide will cover most of the mud flats so the shorebirds will be concetrated closer to the viewing areas. We timed our trip just right. We arrived just before high tide. That day they recorded nearly 40,000 birds. Some of the most abundant birds out there were the Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Semipalmated Plover, and the Green-winged Teal duck.

At the main viewing area, there were employees from the Wildlife Refuge with professional scopes spotting birds and helping other spectators find some of the rare birds hidden among the thousands.  The rare birds we saw that day were the Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone, and the Caspian Tern.

The highlight of the day for me was when a few thousand birds flew in that unique cloud-like formation maybe 10 feet above my head then landing in the mud flats just beyond the viewing area.

So I’ve been in Guam for a little while now, but I’m still trying to get used to the time change. Since I’m 18 hours further ahead in time, I sometimes find myself getting tired around 4 pm in the afternoon where it would be 10 pm (the day before) back home.

The weather is hot and humid. December through June is supposed to be the dry season, called “fanumnangan”. The remaining months are the rainy season, called “fanuchanan”. December through February are supposed to be the coolest and least humid months. If they are, I’m not looking forward to the hot months!

I was in the food court at one of the exchanges using the wi-fi so I could download the new 1.1.3 update for my iPhone. (Okay, maybe a little geeky!) I went to get a drink with my food when I noticed that instead of Hiawiian Punch, it’s called Chamorro Punch here in Guam. Pretty funny. The locals here are called Chamorros. I’m not sure in they have something against Hawaiians.

I’m taking my iPhone with me everywhere trying to snap quick photos of most everything. Check out my tumblr site to follow along.

I love being in a place where it is so quiet, all you can hear is the earth crunching under your feet.

After checking out of our hotel, we bought a few souvenirs from Wall Drug. We then drove through the Badlands National Park on Highway 240 also known as the Badlands Loop. Just like last time we were here, we stopped at many of the look outs to take in the views. This was our last stop before leaving South Dakota. Next state, Wyoming.