Seattle: Day 4 Grizzly Bears and the Miracle of Public Transportation

It's not that there aren't buses and trains in Los Angeles, it's just that they don't make any sense. If you happen to live along one spine of the metro system and work along another, it might work for you; if not, you're out of luck. The biggest problem, though is the culture. People in L.A. drive to get where they're going, and that's the bottom line. Things are different in the rest of the world. We had thought about renting a car for our stay in Seattle, but were assured it wouldn't be necessary. We stayed with friends who lived two blocks from a bus stop, and from there we were able to get anywhere in the city, as if by magic. On Friday we met a friend of Leslie's at the Woodland Park Zoo. The zoo was small, quaint, and covered with shade trees, making for a relaxing day in spite of the unseasonably warm weather. We saw penguins, elephants, and Komodo dragons and wandered the African Savanna Trail (zebras, lions, giraffes), but my favorite were the grizzly bears. There were two grizzlies, and we watched them through a glass as they stalked back and forth in a pond chasing fish. They were enormous and majestic, and I could've watched them for hours. Henry was still not quite a hundred percent, so we kept our day short. We hopped back on the same bus that had brought us. Kate spent much of the ride home sleeping on Alison's lap, but soon enough we were back at our friends' house, safe and sound.