Last Day

Here are the final photos and final post for this blog. Thanks for reading and enjoying my photos. You can continue to follow me at lseastorm.blogspot.com.

Day Twenty Five and Six

Well---I can't believe it's been four weeks already and I still can't believe I am in Oregon. I think it might hit right when I take off tomorrow morning.
I am going to miss Chimps Inc.---the people, and especially, the chimps! They have been incredibly interesting to observe. I love watching them interact with each other and I always wonder what they are thinking about---don't want to anthropomorphize in any way though!
I'll have memories to last a lifetime and even though the chimps probably don't understand I am leaving, I hope they will miss me just a little bit.

You are all wondering: which one is my favorite? I am going to have to give that one to Mr. Herbie! He is the kindest chimp here...yesterday was so hot, yet he offered his water to Maggie because she was thirsty. What a great guy!

I am glad that I can leave tomorrow knowing the chimps are being well taken care of.

Day Twenty Four

It was a hot day out here in Bend and the chimps cooled off with frozen treats and swimming pools! Emma rehydrating.
Kimie enjoying a fruit pop we made her.

Day Twenty Three

Kayaking adventure with my high school teacher at Hosmer Lake. Deschutes River and volcanic rock.There's still snow!

Day Twenty One and Twenty Two

Chimps Inc. interns enjoying an ice cream at a downtown Bend shop.

Rachel infront of Soba. We had lunch here and I ate the tequila lime chicken with noodles. I can't say I have ever had better Asian food!!! Highly recommended.

Goody's Ice Cream Shop...Styled like a 50s diner with great service. And who could forget the delicious sundaes!

Day Nineteen and Twenty

Jackson being still for a moment and then he'll be back to swinging and playing.

Herbie loves baseball hats!! He gave several people, including me, the tops of baseball caps as presents today.
Topo is the alpha male. He protects the group by using all of his senses. He was on full alert when a truck drove up the driveway.

Thiele and Jackson play with a t-shirt.

Day Seventeen and Eighteen

A can be with B.
B can be with C.
A and B can be with C.
C can be with B, but not at the same time as D.
C can be with B and E.
E can be with A, but not with B.
This is just an example of the Chimps Inc. social structure. There is definitely a system to memorize because different personalities, when coming together, can either create harmony or havoc. It’s extremely interesting.

Today, all of the interns blew bubbles with Emma and Jackson (the youngest chimps here). They LOVED eating the bubbles that made it through the bars. Sticking out their tongues, they would beg us to keep blowing bubbles!

Day Fifteen and Sixteen

Mondays and Tuesdays are our designated “no cleaning” days so we were able to relax….until one of the other interns decided it would be a good idea to walk to town at 8 p.m. Let me make this clear, Bend is at least a 10 minute car drive, it’s a highway with a small shoulder and cougars roam the area. This particular intern did not tell anyone he was going to town and therefore, until midnight, Rachel, Kate and I drove around the nearby trails in our crappy truck looking for him, figuring he was eaten by a cougar. Eventually, he walked in the door, but we were mad. The plus side was that there are almost no lights around the sanctuary at night which means the stars were incredibly visible. It was breath-taking to see the Milky Way clearly and many of the constellations I learned about in astronomy class.


Today, Bonnie, one of the care-givers, took us to Deschutes National Park which houses Tumalo Falls. We hiked three miles to the falls and three back. It seem like Oregonians are extremely outdoorsy---as well as lovers of Subaru. Also, I have never seen such clear freshwater before---Iowa’s rivers are usually tainted with brown mud or something, but here, I could see every pebble on the bottom of the river.
Kate, me, Bonnie and Rachel at the Tumalo Falls in Deschutes National Park.
Tumalo Falls.

Deschutes National Park.

Tumbleweed on a nearby trail.

On a walk.

Day Fourteen

Jackson likes to play with shoes.

Patti enjoys a blue ice-pop. Rachel (the other intern) spends time with Herbie.
Patti plays with a rubber ball.

Herbie is quite the model.

Day Thirteen

Herbie enjoys laying around and reading magazines. He is probably my favorite. We bonded today---he chewed up a paper cup for me as a present!
Herbie again.

Kimie loves the enrichment we put out for her to play with. She loves clothes and wearing them! How cute!!

Today, it was my job to weed and plant some corn...like a good Iowan. It also entailed climbing a ten-foot tall compost pile to pick out the best horse poop. Love it.

Day Twelve

I can’t say I did anything overly interesting today. Basically, we cleaned the enclosures and then weeded the strawberry patches.

I felt the temperature drop considerably and then the winds started picked up speed. We decided a massive storm was coming so we rushed to collect all of tools and ran inside. The power went out a few times, but it looks like the sun is peaking through now.

The chimps were good today. They were pretty calm and took a lot of naps.

Day Eleven

A list of today’s interesting activities:
1) Pissed off a bunch of ants while weeding---They angrily marched up my arm until I flicked them.
2) Learned how to drive a Kia stick-shift truck. Let me just say, manual driving is not my thing. There is too much to think about including trying not to hit the dog.
3) Stepped in mounds of chimp poop multiple times.
4) Weeded the tallest, fuzziest plants I have ever seen which weigh roughly 20 pounds each.
5) Talked to Mr. Herbie, the beta chimp. He really likes to suck his thumb which is so cute, but apparently blowing bubbles doesn’t interest him at all.
6) Watched two female chimps groom each other---an act of social bonding that establishes hierarachy.

Day Nine and Ten

The chimps decided to be my personal wake-up call this morning. I’m not sure what is happening, but I think Herbie is not a happy guy right now.

What happened yesterday is something I never thought I would see. Patti, the alpha female, was examined by her veterinarian and two vet. techs from the Portland Zoo. I can’t go into what all she had done, but we got to watch everything from behind the Play House window---looking into the exam room which was the converted Chimp Kitchen. What an experience!

Afterwards, all Chimps Inc. staff and the vet staff had dinner in the intern house---around our picnic table---and stuffed ourselves with vegetarian lasagna, salad and brownies. It was a long day---suppose to be the intern’s day off too, but I didn’t mind helping out because this was such an important day.

Today will be another full day of work and from the looks of the sky, perhaps a rainy day too.

Day Eight

The arid climate has finally shown its hot colors in Oregon. The morning started out freezing and then by midday, we were sweating like crazy.

Patti, the alpha female, is having some medical issues that are causing quite the stir here. Veterinarians will be coming by tomorrow to further analyze.

Rachel and I wanted to display our Jackson Pollock talents so we painted pictures for the chimps’ enrichment. I did a portrait of Herbie you can see below. I must say, the similarity is uncanny.

After we did our daily weeding, we went on a walk around the nearby ranches and trails. It felt like we were in the Southwest---I still can’t believe Oregon looks like this.

Day Seven

Today was all about bonding with the chimps.

After the morning cleaning, Greg and I drove the old truck to a barn on the ranch. We loaded up an old couch and brought it back to Chimps Inc. Then, we placed it in the playhouse for enrichment. Within a couple of hours, that couch had definitely enriched the chimps!

Later, Rachel and I were weeding in the garden closest to Herbie’s enclosure. We stopped to play with him for awhile. We blew bubbles and talked to him. He was tired though and left us. He climbed up on a platform and started leisurely reading a magazine, stopping, of course, to look at pictures of landscaping.

Last night, all the interns had a night on the town! Essentially, meaning we went into Tumolo and ate at a restaurant…but it was nice to see something new. We dined at Tumolo Feed Co. and were greeted with a good ol’ “Howdy.” Men in cowboy hats sat around wheel-tables and some were square dancing with their lovely ladies to a live country singer behind saloon doors. I really had no idea I was in Texas!

Tomorrow is our half day and then Tuesday, it’s free. What shall I do?