Life at a "Swell's" pace

On a weekend of not doing anything, or having anything planned when you live in Oregon means, you either head to the coast, or head out on a daytrip somewhere. Most days in the summer months are taken up by time spent in our own backyard, but the zoo was calling us. The last time we went to the Oregon Zoo was when The Bean was about four-years-old. We were definitely due for a trip. Of course, it was a sweltering 98 degrees when we went, but thanks to the zoo putting up many water misters it helped take away the heat of the day a bit.

Being such a hot and humid day we headed straight to the otter, sea lion, and seal cave. It is mostly underground and the temperature of the area is a tolerable 70-75 degrees even in the dry summer heat of Oregon. The sea lions diving in and out of the water was such a treat to watch, as well as the otters crunching on ice cubes on the other side of the tank.

Such a pretty area with the blue from the lights and water. It's one of our favorite spots at the Oregon Zoo.

The Oregon Zoo's newest elephant Sampson. He sure put on a show for us and we got a lot of great shots. Elephants are such incredible beings. We loved how calm, collected, and extremely patient the trainer was. We didn't catch her name, but she is definitely living her best life right now being an elephant trainer.

Crossing over this wooden footbridge took us right to the bear's den. These are black bears that are prevalent here in Oregon. They are good swimmers, climbers, and can run upwards of 30 miles an hour.

Mountain goats where along the other side of the wooden footbridge and the babies were definitely bringing a crowd of kids. Even though it was so hot that day, close to 98 degrees, these little goats were having a ball jumping back and forth over logs, rocks, and even the older goats.

The Bean, always looking like the tourist with his camera and hat. ♥ (Go Hogs!)

Inside the Family Farm barn they had domesticated animals such as common goats, cats, pigs, and a few chickens running around.

...And a few ride ons for the kids.

The next section was the leopards, tigers, and birds of prey area. As hot as it was most of the large cats were laying down in shaded areas in their enclosures.

It's interesting to know that Condors wouldn't exist today had it not been for zoos and their conservation and recovery efforts of the birds. The Oregon Zoo has taken great strides in helping keep the Condor numbers up. These are California Condors and the Oregon Zoo has done its part in bringing the numbers up since they were the first species to be listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1973.

The enclosure to these eagles gave you a front row seat with no net, or barrier, keeping them from swooping in toward you and landing on the same walkway we were standing on. It was a great up close encounter to these birds of prey. Unfortunately, these eagles were picked up as wounded birds and can't be released back into the wild. They seemed pretty content with their living quarters and seemed to enjoy having their pictures taken.

Next up was the penguin exhibit. We just happened to have visited their enclosure during feeding time and it smelled fishy, but we had a lot of fun in this enclosure and the seagulls and penguins definitely put on a show.

By the time we were heading out a lot of the animals were going to sleep. We happened to glance into the river otter and the meerkat on the way out and they were both already snoozing.

A lot of the park benches throughout the Zoo had cute bronze sculptors on them that drew your attention in. These one of the "Lunch thief" was one of our favorites.

You can find out more about the Oregon Zoo here and also more about their animal rehabilitation programs here, as well as their conservation efforts here. One last thing, if you'd like to support the Oregon Zoo you can find out how and where your money actually goes right this way here.
Find ways to support other zoos, too. Even ones in your own area!

This post is easy to write, yet hard to put into words. Easy in the fact that a helmet while riding a bicycle should be something that comes as natural as grabbing your keys when leaving your home. My dad taught us at a young age to always wear a helmet while doing sports activities where your head could possibly be injured in some way or another. That lesson has carried over for all three of his kids as we have gotten older. And it's a good thing that is has.

On the hard aspect of writing this post is the fact that my brother could have ended up with permanent brain injuries, facial disfigurements, or even worse-It could have ended his life. But none of that happened because all in all, as the title of this blog posts says, "a helmet saved my brother's life."

My dad, my nephew, and my brother, had gone for yet another bicycle ride on a nice Arkansas afternoon. The day was a good day to grab their bikes and take off on a ride to enjoy nature, and the great things during this time of year that Arkansas has to offer. Near the end of their bike ride is a dirt track for BMX and other trick bike riders in an area called, Cedar Glades Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. My brother's main bike riding is either road bikes, or mountain biking on trails, so to him this was a fun group of hills to ride over and have a good time finishing out their ride for the day. My brother's confidence got the best of him and he decided to give the dirt/rock track a try on his mountain bike. He was riding over 20 miles an hour on a downward slope of rocks and hit a hill that he didn't see ahead of him. Taking that dirt hill too fast, he lost his balance, was thrown over the handlebars of his bicycle, and came crashing down onto the dirt ground with full force and momentum from his still traveling body. This "crash" resulted in him hitting the ground first with his head, knocking him unconscious, and with the left-side of his body having no control-after.

Our dad and my nephew, Ryan, watched helplessly as he came crashing to the ground. The fall ended up knocking my brother unconscious for about two minutes and when he woke up he had no memory of where he was, or why he was there. My dad describes the fall as something he hopes he never has to see again for the rest of his life from anyone-He thought the fall my brother took onto his head had killed him instantly.

The result of the bicycle crash left my brother with a broken collar bone, a concussion, large cuts on the left side of his face and body, scrapes, and large bruises. The doctor treating my brother told him that had he not been wearing that helmet he most certainly would have greater injuries, maybe irreparable injuries to his head and neck. And the worst part is, had he not had a helmet on the doctor told him it could have killed him.

My brother is healing up well and doesn't have any lasting impacts from his crash. His collarbone put him out of commission for awhile and he was really bummed that he couldn't go swim his laps in the community pool each week. Talking to him he is in high spirits about the wreck and we are glad to know that the helmet he was wearing protected him and did its job and took the brunt of the fall-as it's supposed to.

My brother was wearing a Trek helmet at the time of his wreck and contacted the Trek company to tell them about his wreck and that their helmet saved his life. Trek was so gracious and supportive of my brother's accident and they were so pleased to hear that it was their own product that became the barrier between good news and bad news for our family. Trek told my brother how amazing it was to hear that the helmet did its job. They were so moved by his story that they sent my brother a new helmet, some accessories, and also asked if they could share his story.

We have all decided to share his story and make it a point to tell people, "Your head, face, and brain are an important part of you. Don't risk it-Wear a helmet always!"