UK August-October 2013- LAX to Heathrow

We began our trip to the UK by trying a new taxi service for our transportation to LAX. We used a company called Uber, which allows you to book everything online, so that no money is exchanged between you and the driver.

I love the no money concept. It eliminates that awkward transaction at the end of the ride and saves time. You can set up an account with Uber, so that you can still use if you find yourself somewhere without cash or your credit cards.

Admittedly, we were a little hesitant to try something new when it was so important to get to the airport on time, but we went for it and with excellent results.

Uber works off on an app for Smart phones and as soon as you enter your location and choose a type of car (sedan, SUV, et), the vehicle that is coming to pick you up is tracked via GPS and you can watch its arrival on the app.

We were picked up in less than five minutes from when we ordered our SUV. It was so quick, that we didn't really have time to watch gps tracked arrival on the app. The driver, Sam, was exceedingly polite and professional. He got us to the airport quickly and safely. The cost was ninety-two dollars from Glendale to LAX and the drivers are not allowed to accept tips.

We will definitely use Uber on our trip home and we thought that it would be a great option for going out drinking in Los Angeles, especially if the cost of the Uber Car could be shared amongst friends.

Check them out..

Uber Car Official Site

Our nine-plus hour British Airways flight was made nicer by the best flight attendant ever, Kelly. She was very cheery and a complete turn around from the miserable attendant that we had on our United Airlines flight home from Portland.

I know that people always complain about airline food being bad, but I really enjoyed it the last time and was looking forward to dinner on the flight to London. Unfortunately, they did not have the curry dishes that were so yummy in March.

I picked the pasta dish for dinner, which was cheese filled mini ravioli with a marinara sauce. It was gloopy. I enjoyed the side salad with creamy Italian dressing and the raspberry cheesecake. Dan just ate his cheesecake.

Breakfast was marginally better. I ate a croissant with strawberry jam, a granola bar and some craisins. On the March trip, the breakfast had included a really delicious yogurt based fruit smoothie.

Just prior to landing, we saw some really pretty and very fluffy clouds.

We finally arrived in London, where our excitement eclipsed our need to take a nap.

Portland August 2013- Oregon Zoo

One of my favorite things to visit while traveling are the local zoos. I spent many years volunteering at the Greater Los Angeles Zoo, first as a teenage volunteer and later as an adult in the Behavioral Research Department. Not only do I love animals, but I have a general interest in the layout and exhibits.

The Oregon Zoo does a great job at playing up the natural beauty of the area. It's located in the hills and the exhibits are nestled in the crevices and surrounded by canopies of trees. Even though it is very close to the high rises of downtown Portland, you feel like you are a million miles away and in the middle of nature. It's beautiful.

In addition to the natural beauty, the zoo has tons of sculptures are art sprinkled throughout the grounds.

I started my day in The Great Northwest, home to mountain goats and the coolest bald eagle exhibit ever. The eagles were close enough to touch. This section of the zoo featured a beautiful bridge, waterfalls and bat boxes to attract the local population. It felt like actually being in the forest with tall trees and lush greenery.

I really liked the children's barn that was maintained by student volunteers. If they had a similar thing in at the LA Zoo when I was a teenager, I would have definitely participated.

The Oregon Zoo had a very cool train and although I didn't ride it, an employee told me that it takes visitors over to a nearby rose garden.

In the early 2000's, I spent several years gathering date on stereotypy or repetitive behaviors in Polar Bears at the LA Zoo. I'm always interested in checking out Polar Bears at zoos.

The Polar Bear exhibit even had several informational placards explaining repetitive behavior and trying to prevent it through behavioral enrichment. I'm sure that it's a problem, but I didn't observe any obvious behavioral issues with any of the animals at the Oregon Zoo. In fact, I observed many cases of the animals enjoying their behavioral enrichment items, even late in the day. The lions were going nuts over some boxes and I saw two hippos bouncing a ball back and forth in the water!

One of my biggest zoo pet-peeves occurred while visiting The Fragile Forests.

This section of the zoo houses many primates, including chimpanzees and orangutans. It's bad enough hearing people call them monkeys, but it drives me absolutely batty when people (and they nearly all do) tack a G to the end of orangutan. It's not orangutanG.

Just for good measure, I heard several people point to monkeys and tell their children to look at the apes. The ape/monkey confusion needs to be clarified. This being said, most zoos have signs explaining the differences, just people don't take the time to read them.

These are the same people who approach an exhibit and loudly complain that "The (fill in the blank) isn't doing anything". Maybe you should trying being quiet, as the resident is trying to take a nap.

These are the same people who go to the zoo to see "Simba", "Timon" and "Bambi".

Going to the zoo would be perfect, if I could eliminate all human interaction.

Stepping off my soap-box now.

Home to various monkeys, snakes and an ocelot

I tried hard to find the ocelot in the flooded forest, but it remained well concealed! I love the entrance to this section of the zoo. It was through a cave that really gave it a separate feel from the other exhibits.

The cave to the Fragile Forest and Flooded Amazon exhibits.

The most popular resident at the Oregon Zoo, is its new baby elephant, Lily. The elephant area is broken up into three sections. When I visited, Lily and her mother were in the interior of the exhibit. Lily trailed right after her mom, nursing and playful running around her legs.

I caught the first presentation of Wildlife Live , which is an outdoor show. My favorite part was when they had the Bald Eagle fly over the audience and the eagle decided to perch on top of the stage and not come down. They had to end the show with the bird on the loose. If you go to the show, be prepared to bring extra cash to give to the vulture!

The stage with the Eagle perched on top.

One of my favorite animals are bats and the Oregon Zoo has an awesome fruit bat exhibit. I probably spent more time here than anywhere else in the zoo,

When I volunteered at the LA Zoo, I spent a couple thousand hours watching flamingos for a big behavioral study. I am not fond of flamingos! I thought that it was funny to see a group of kids from the zoo camp with clipboards, watching the flamingos.

I saw two hippos passing a ball back and forth.

The lions were also very alert and active. Two of them were shredding a cardboard box, another behavioral enrichment tool.

The zoo has a very pretty indoor aviary filled with tropical birds.

If you want an opportunity to feed Lorikeets, go here early in the morning. I visited Lorikeet Landing hours after the zoo had opened and the birds were no longer interested in food. I spoke to a keeper and found out that they often will not feed when a lot of people are in the exhibit, as the noise scares them. Make sure to bring a dollar cash for a cup of food.

It seems like every place has a simulator ride, including the Oregon Zoo.

I finished my trip to the zoo with a late lunch at the Cascade Grill, located at in the entrance plaza. This was by far the nicest zoo restaurant that I have ever experienced. It had an extensive menu, including seasonal salads and soups. The style was pay at the counter and take a number to your table, so it was a little nicer than struggling to find a seat with your food. I found there to be ample indoor and outdoor seating. Adjacent to Cascade Grill is a really nice coffee bar. Both can be accessed without paying an entry fee for the zoo. I had a very delicious veggie burger, fries and latte.

The Oregon Zoo has a great layout, beautiful grounds and plenty of animals. I really felt like they go above and beyond to make sure the animals are happy and well cared for, while making it an educational and fun experience for human visitors.

Portland August 2013- Aerial Tram

If you want to get some amazing views of Portland, the Portland Aerial Tram is a must- do.

The tram is more than a just a tourist thing. The primary function of the tram is to take commuters to the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), located in the Marquam Hill District.

As a tourist, tickets to ride the tram are four dollars for a roundtrip experience.

We went on a Sunday afternoon and it seemed to be exclusively tourists taking the tram ride.

It's a quick ride, approximately three minutes to the top. We decided to stay on the tram and ride back down immediately, so the whole experience was approximately ten minutes. As a tourist, I'm not sure that there was any benefit to getting off of the tram to explore. We had a few minutes to step out on the top and take some city pictures unobstructed by the tram.

It was beautiful.

Dan took a great panorama shot from the top.

The admission price is definitely worth it for the views of the city. The operational hours are limited, so make sure to check out their official website prior to showing up for a ride.

Portland Aerial Tram Website