Lena's First Zoo Visit

Portland's famous 51 year old elephant Packy and calf Lily pace the cage together in front of Daddy, mommy, and 20 month old Lena

Oregon Zoo, meet Lena.

How in the world did Kathy and I manage to hold off on baby Lena’s first visit to our local zoo until now?  Like many essential children’s dream destinations… you know, Disneyland, Sea World, Enchanted Forest, the mini-golf course/shooting range in Yemen… it’s debatable whether or not at Lena’s age she would appreciate (or even be aware of) the kid-friendliness of it all.  So we waited.

On the exact day that Lena turned 20 months old, the wait was over.  Lena finally set foot inside of P-Town’s manmade approximation of a natural habitat.

And by set foot, I mean Lena was walking!


Readers of my two earlier Garth's Blog posts, “Breaking News: Lena’s First Steps” and this month's “Lena Gets Moving” are aware of Lena’s late but impressive physical progress.   Check out the adorable video clip of Lena strutting her stuff at the bottom of this post.

In my travels around the globe, I’ve already encountered most of the zoo’s animals in the wild... with ordinary black bears standing in for polar bears, of course.  But the thrilling part here was watching Lena see them for the first time!

Here are some photos of Lena taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the Oregon Zoo:

Lena looked like a natural sitting behind the wheel of the zoo's resident Jeep Wrangler.

But did I mention that Lena was walking?  The video below (readers using Internet Explorer will need to switch browsers to view this video) showcases just how far Lena advanced in her first week or two of mobility:

Whack the “play” button above for a video of 20 month old Lena showing off her newly discovered walking skills at the Oregon Zoo.  She’s already bursting at the seams with confidence!

Coming next Wednesday on Garth's Blog...

Part 1- This month's attempted visit to China!