Our trip to the Oregon zoo yesterday turned out to be a serendipitous one. We walked through the gates just fifteen minutes before Packy, our beloved old elephant, received a "cake" in celebration of his 51st birthday.
His cake was of course actually a pile of alfalfa bedecked with carrots, parsnips, coconut shavings, and various other elephant-appropriate goodies. The crowd was packed so tightly up to the observation points that we didn't get a great view until the initial novelty wore off on people and they began to wander off. But we stuck around so we could get a good view, sang happy birthday with the crowd, and enjoyed a free piece of cake offered by zoo staff.
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