The Giraffe Whisperer

 

Today was the big day. Terry's birthday. Mallory came over fairly early and off we went into the wild. Wildlife Safari was where the birthday boy wanted to spend his day and we made that happen and we are all glad we did. 

These are photos of our adventures at the park. Terry wanted to spend his day at Wildlife Safari but he wished for another giraffe event dream come true. Our last giraffe event bombed big time as the giraffes were so small they were being kept in the barn. Nothing wrong with this except that there were several children in our group. These out of control kids were climbing fences, screaming, yelling, and trying to push lettuce through the bars to feed the terrified baby giraffes. 

At that time, the park had very young giraffes, so they were not used to the excursion of people riding up in the park rig with open sides, where their heads could come in a snag a piece of lettuce from visitor's hands. It was such a let down to see those poor young ones sitting in the corner, terrified. We were not impressed. 

I have been involved in the event a few times over the years and it is a blast. Seeing the giraffes up close as they would come into the bus to grab those pieces of lettuce was amazing. So much fun. 

Today we purchased the ticket for the extra event with the giraffes after asking if they come to the bus or if we had to go out to the barn again. They said there was one male in particular, named Raza, that could make Terry's giraffe day come to fruition. All three of us were excited to climb aboard the side-less bus to head out to the pastures, in search of a grazing giraffe or two. Not too far up the road and we located two. Turned out it was a four year old female and her partner, a five year old male. They were trying to get the two to breed. 

Neither giraffe wanted anything to do with coming to the bus to receive the lettuce as treats. The host suggested we head toward the yard to see Raza and Jack, the two young males. Terry was not happy, thinking it would turn out like last time. But birthday wishes really do come true ...

Terry tempted Raza with the piece of lettuce the staff gave him. 

Three year old Raza perked up at the thought of getting a handful of the yummy green stuff and the connection began. 

I remained in the background. Each time I moved my walker, Raza gave me the side eye. Once or twice he jumped backward. The walker was something new that such a young giraffe had not been witness to yet. 

Mallory moved to the side to get better photos of Terry and Raza.

 

Terry was able to inch forward for an even closer encounter with Raza. 

Raza was catching on that Terry was there to feed him and enjoy his company rather than hurt him in any way. 

Raza remained close to Terry. Grabbing food anywhere he could get it, Terry stayed close to Raza too. Terry has always had a love for giraffes and that sentiment was being felt by Raza. 

Apparently Mallory caught the two having a good conversation. They crack each other up. 

Then things got a little closer. Terry put the lettuce to his mouth and the fun began. It gave Raza a chance to know that Terry would not hurt him and that he would be safe up close. Our sweet man had become the "Giraffe Whisperer" in this moment. Underneath that small piece of lettuce is a giraffe tongue, slurping Terry on the lips and beard. This happened a couple of times and definitely had the group laughing. 

Sure enough, the giraffe stuck his tongue outward, reaching the lettuce, but not pulling back until he gave Terry a sweet kiss. The connection was there and it was real. 

Terry ran out of food and there was none to be found in the staff's bucket. A couple of other people in our group fed him some lettuce they had been given. After the end of the lettuce supply, Raza went into the shelter to grab some water and a quick break. 

He did return quickly, but by then we were loading into the bus again. Raza stood by the fence, almost as if he was telling Terry goodbye. He did stand for a while, watching Terry sit on the bus for a moment until everyone was loaded and the driver was in her seat. His head eventually went up and over the tall fencing to nod a sweet "goodbye" and then he walked into the shelter again. 

Sweet man was so happy. He said that made his birthday so special. From then on out, the day's drive through the park was a bit more exciting. We ran into many animals today and it left us all very happy. 

The beautiful cheetah cubs we saw last year had grown into handsome teens. Their fuzziness was still around their heads, but they were growing quickly. 

These are the same two last season. 

Five camels of various colors were laying around in the rain. 

Terry was able to zoom in even further from his side of the car, with his phone camera. 

Zebras are one of my favorites. I will spare you any more photos of them here, as I have posted so many of them in this blog as a whole. 

When we toured the park a few days ago, it was the black bear we caught napping. Today it's the beautiful brown bear lying in a hammock. 

This red wolf was laying out in the open today. Typically, we have a difficult time seeing them, as they are always in their dens or hidden behind or under something in the run. But today, he had the urge to lay outside, on top of his den, enjoying what we call "Oregon sunshine," or rain in other parts of the world. 

Come spring, the goslings roam the grounds in all corners of the park. There are typically many at this time of year. They're always adorable. 

Napping fallow deer is a pretty common sight. Still love them. They're all gorgeous. 

Even though we saw a lot of animals today, some were left out of the photos only because we have so many of them from previous visits. This ended our tour through Wildlife Safari. 

We ended the evening with a movie called The Killers, dinner, and a German chocolate cake, plus a horrible rendition of what was supposed to be the song, "Happy Birthday," sung by Mallory and me. He probably turned the hearing aid down as low as it would go. 

 I made pasta fagioli in double batch mode for dinner. The dish is one of Terry's favorites. Following the pasta, we had the German chocolate cake with homemade pecan, coconut frosting. The frosting did not live up to the hype, that's for sure. 

The recipe called for cooking the mixture over the stovetop until it thickened and then turned brown. After about 20 minutes or so of standing at the stove stirring, it eventually thickened, but never turned any sort of brown color. 

What I ended up with tasted good, but had no real frosting consistency in terms of being able to spread it out over the cake. I grabbed the hardened frosting and put it on the top of the chocolate bundt cake I made. Voila! German chocolate cake. Well, sort of. It did taste good and a hush fell over our little group while we ate it, so maybe it was fine along the taste category. 

The chocolate bundt cake came out nice and moist, fluffy, and delicious. While the frosting wasn't all that great, it did taste good. Worrying about little errors like the frosting fiasco of 2024 isn't worth my time. The following day, the actual day of Terry's birth, came out awesome. Between the animals at the safari, time spent with family, our own animals, dinner, a movie, and the dessert, the birthday was a hit. It left a smile on Terry's face and that's all that mattered.  

Wednesday night we needed to run to the store to get supplies for Terry's birthday dinner and the cake. While we were out, Terry suggested he take me out to eat and wanted me to pick the restaurant. I chose Shari's. Why? Because I miss the stuffed hashbrowns they serve and I was in the mood for some country fried steak. So off to Shari's we went. 

We picked out the food we wanted and Terry asked the waitress if we could begin our meal with a plate of stuffed hashbrowns. She brought it to the table when the dish was complete and oh, my! I forgot how good they are!

For anyone who has never tried the hashbrowns, they fry the shredded potatoes, add cream cheese, green onion, bacon pieces, and cheese, then fold it all over into one beautiful, ooey-gooey, cheesy omelet style plate of perfection. As anywhere we go, the cheese is Terry's nemesis. But this time, I was prepared with camera in hand. Poor man. I can't take him anywhere and  I've always got the camera in hand with the words, "Blog post," blurted out. 

Both of us were full after eating a fat burger with fries, and in my case the country fried steak plate, slathered in country gravy. The waitress came to see if we wanted to add any type of pie to the mix and of course, in unison, "No, thanks," was the reply. Pants were already being unhinged to allow breathing. 

She asked if we were sure. Yes, we were definitely sure. Then she informed us it was free pie night. One slice of pie is served to any customer who chooses to take it. You can even take the pie home if there is absolutely no more room in those pants you're wearing. 

We had to repeat the, "No, thank you," reply as politely as we could. Terry also informed her that we eat sugar free foods too, so pie was out of the question. Bless her heart, she let us know that they also had sugar free pies, and tonight they had marionberry. For anyone who follows the blog, marionberry is one of sweet man's favorites. Our wide eyes met across the table. Once again, in unison, we told her that we would take a piece of heavenly marionberry pie. 

With forks at the ready, the pie slices were attacked vigorously. The poor pie didn't stand a chance. We acted as though we hadn't eaten in a week as we tore open the flaky crust and devoured those tasty Oregon grown berries. Once more, I have to say, Terry is my people. 

After dinner, we shopped for our ingredients for the upcoming dinner. Spending far too much for munchies, food, and the cake ingredients, we headed home. Our bellies were far too full and breathing was difficult, but we survived another night together. The birthday dinner would be held the following day and we both had high hopes that it would be fun. It was fun. Another wonderful memory made and time spent together to create that memory we hold dear. 

The day was awesome. Fun was had by all, and especially by the birthday boy. Happy 68th birthday, Terry, and here's to many, many more.