Rain Train

Yesterday was a cloudy but pretty nice day outside and we had a showing of the house in the afternoon, so I took D to the zoo. Just as we were approaching the seals (the first exhibit) it started to sprinkle. Up went the hoods, not a big deal, we put up our hoods and continued. The rain stopped and we dried off. The polar bears were quite active, the elephants were not. After a snack it was time to head home. D had the choice of seeing the alligator or taking a train ride. He chose the train (high-insight is 20/20).

It was 3:45 and the last train is at 4, so we were catching the last ride. As we stood in line for tickets, it started to rain again. It's OK b/c the train is covered. We get seated on the train - the metal train (it's important that I tell you this) and we're waiting for the last stragglers to get their tickets and get on board. When suddenly....

the sky opens up the flood gates and it is a down pour with high winds. While the train may have a roof, it has no sides - we were getting rained on. Then the flashes of lightning followed by thunder. I immediately had a 4yo scrambling onto my lap. Luckily D has a book called Drumheller Dinosaurs where dino's are the ones making thunder. He was fine with thunder once I reminded him it was just the Drumheller Dino's. So, the downpour continues along with the wind and then....

HAIL It was pea sized, but once it was all over, there was about 1/2 inch of the stuff on the ground. Remember, we're still sitting on this zoo train w/out any sides. We were being hit with hail. Thank goodness it had a roof - that would have been aweful! Once the storm passed about 10 min later, they made us all get off the train....UGH! Now the temps have dropped and we're freezing. Luckily they were giving refunds if you didn't want to take the train - which we decided against. We were wet and cold. D started crying b/c his hands were so cold.

The mass exidous from the zoo was incredible. They had all security and staff out and about making sure everyone was ok. All of us leaving looked as if we had been through a battle. At the Oregon zoo, there aren't many places to go that are covered, so I'm sure that some people got caught out in the open during that storm - those poor things.

Yes, I will return to the zoo. It's one of our favorite activities. We're supposed to get lions this year, so that will be VERY exciting. Next time, I'll be sure to check the weather report first.