Even tots can trek Wildlife Refuge

Story and photos by Heather Caro

Looking for an excuse to take a walk on the wild side this summer? The Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge may be just what you’ve been waiting for.

Nestled in the lower Yakima Valley, this protective wetlands habitat has been created to enhance natural, historic settings and encourage wildlife habitation.

The tall grasses and secluded waterfowl sanctuaries make this outing perfect for budding bird watchers and nature aficionados.

More than 250 species of birds — including ducks, geese, hawks, eagles, herons, owls and songbirds — are known to reside here at varying times throughout the year. Other animals make the refuge their home as well. So, be on the lookout for river otters, badgers and beavers.

What to Expect
Though the refuge sprawls across nearly 2,000 protected acres, the most easily accessible trail ambles over a mile of mowed grass. The trailhead begins at the first parking lot and leads to the headquarters/maintenance office. The hike is flat and can be easily trekked by all age groups; however, there are no amenities available, so plan accordingly.

Getting There
The Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge is located approximately six miles south of Toppenish on U.S. Highway 97. The drive from Yakima is about 35 minutes.

The refuge entrance is located on the west side of the road. Parking is available in front of the Wildlife Observation viewing gazebo. No fees are required.

Tips for Wetland Walkers
For best bird watching, remind children to try to stay quiet so as not to frighten away wildlife. Binoculars are also helpful though not mandatory. The birds are most active during early morning and evening hours, and populations are most plentiful during spring and early fall. However, the refuge can be enjoyed year-round for wildlife observation, hiking and seasonal hunting in designated areas. Hours are from 5 a.m. to 30 minutes after sunset.

For a quick lesson on habitats, ask your kids what they need to survive (food, water, shelter). Then talk about how the refuge is providing those same needs to the animals that live in it. They’ll learn something before they even saw it coming!

The refuge encourages discovery, but please leave all plants, animals, rocks and artifacts as you found them. Bring a camera instead, and take pictures of your discoveries to identify together later.

Watch for ticks in the spring and summer and bring plenty of sunscreen and water.

For more information, call 509-865-2405 or visit www.fws.gov/toppenish.

NW railroads host Thomas rides

If you know a little Thomas fan, here’s some really “useful” info: Kids can meet Sir Topham Hatt and take a ride with Thomas the Tank Engine during upcoming “Day Out With Thomas” events at Snoqualmie’s Northwest Railway Museum and the Mount Hood Railroad in Hood River, Ore.

Both railroads make regular excursion runs throughout the year, but during these special events, they’ll offer additional entertainment and activities aimed at young Thomas fans:

• Mount Hood Railroad | June 19-22 and 26-28 in Hood River, Ore., 42 miles west of Biggs Junction on Interstate 84. Drive time from Yakima is two hours. Trains depart on the hour, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets are $14-$16; advance purchase is strongly recommended. For more information, call the railroad at 800-872-4661, or visit mthoodrr.com.

• Northwest Railway Museum | July 10-12 and 17-19 in Snoqualmie, three miles off I-90 at North Bend. Drive time from Yakima is just shy of two hours. Trains depart every 45 minutes, 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Tickets are $18; advance purchase is strongly recommended. For more information, call the museum at 425-888-3030, or visit trainmuseum.org.

Remlinger Farms (Carnation)

For a fun and different change of scenery, take a drive over to Remlinger Farms and Country Fair Fun Park, open May through October, in Carnation, Wash. The drive from Yakima takes about two hours.

This quaint miniature theme park is a perfect day-long excursion for the entire family. In season, the farm offers U-Pick strawberries, raspberries and pumpkins. There’s also a variety of produce, baked goods and gift items in the market.

The Country Fair Fun Park has more than 25 rides and attractions, mostly aimed at young children. There are pony rides, barnyard petting pens and live entertainment by songwriter Eric Ode who puts on a fantastic interactive show that younger kids are sure to enjoy.

Most rides are suitable for children ages 2 and up, including a mini canoe ride, the Tolt River Railroad Steam Train and antique cars. Older and more adventurous kids will enjoy the roller coaster, a spinning pumpkin ride and a pint-sized Ferris Wheel.

In the Pioneer Homestead, you can visit with the pioneer woman who will explain and demonstrate some of the “olden days” ways.

Then find your way through the covered hay maze to the hay pit and try the rock climbing wall. In the fall, the farm also offers a corn maze and wagon rides to the U-pick pumpkin patch.

Admission is a bargain at $11 per person, but this varies during special festivals. There’s no admission fee for the market, restaurant or U-pick fields.

For more information, call 425-333-4135 or visit remlingerfarms.com.

— Melissa Paul

How to get there:
Take I-82 north toward Ellensburg, then merge onto I-90 west toward Seattle. Take Exit 22 (Preston/Fall City).

Follow the signs through Preston into Fall City. At the stop sign in Fall City, go right over the Snoqualmie River Bridge. Take an immediate left on the other side of the bridge. Traveling north on Hwy 203, continue 5 miles toward Carnation until you see the Remlinger Farms sign. Turn right onto NE 32nd Street (in front of the sign). This road dead ends at Remlinger Farms.

Maryhill Museum of Art

Looking for an easy day trip? Pack up a picnic, pack up the kids and head down to Maryhill for a day of art. Just 90 minutes south of Yakima, you’ll find Stonehenge, an art museum and a chateau dedicated by a queen. (For real.)

Set in a three-story mansion overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, the Maryhill Museum of Art offers 26 acres of park-like gardens and shady picnic grounds. Be sure to take a stroll through the Outdoor Sculpture Garden and admire the (literally) gorgeous view.

The historic Beaux Arts mansion was dedicated in 1926 by Queen Marie of Romania. Built by Northwest entrepreneur and visionary Sam Hill, the castle-like structure is now an art museum featuring an extensive Native American collection and more than 80 sculptures and watercolors by the French master Auguste Rodin, including a pedestal-sized plaster version of The Thinker.

The museum’s EyeSEE Resource Room features games, kid-friendly exhibits and artwork by kids from throughout the region.

The museum is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., March 15 through Nov. 15. General admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and $2 for children ages 6-16; younger children are free. Kids receive free admission with a paying adult during the museum’s Family Fun Day events. Check the museum’s Web site for the schedule of events and exhibit information. Café Maryhill serves espresso, pastries and lunch, and there’s also an on-site gift shop.

GETTING THERE
Maryhill Museum is south of Goldendale on State Route 14.
It’s well marked with signs. (Just a few miles away from the museum, you’ll find life-size replica of England’s Stonehenge. Stop and let the kids out of the car for a few minutes; it’s funky and it’s free.)

For more information, call the Maryhill Museum at 509-773-3733, or visit maryhillmuseum.org.

Elk Feeding Station (Naches)

January and February are the best months for viewing elk at the Oak Creek feeding station near Naches. Kids will enjoy bundling up for a ride on the safari-style truck tours that provide an up-close look at the animals.

Each winter, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife provides a supplementary feeding program for up to 1,500 elk — including as many as 150 branched-antler bulls — to keep them from damaging private property. (Humans, you see, have inhabited the herd’s winter range.)

REMEMBER! • Dress warmly. • Bring a camera. • Make reservations if you’d like to go out on the truck: 509-698-5106. • Be quiet. Wild animals don’t like loud noises

For families, the feeding station is a cheap and easy field trip, located about 20 miles west of Yakima on U.S. Highway 12. The elk are fed daily at 1:30 p.m., though you’ll find animals there throughout the day.

A fence separates the elk from the viewing area, but the animals are free to head up to the hills, so their numbers vary throughout the season. More will visit the feeding station when snow and extreme cold prevents them from grazing naturally.

Also worth a stop, bighorn sheep are fed mid-morning at the nearby Cleman Mountain feeding site, just a couple miles up the road. Feeding season for both the elk and bighorns is typically mid-December to early March.

There’s a visitor center at the elk’s Oak Creek Headquarters, open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily during the elk’s feeding season. The center has a video program, exhibits and a hands-on kids’ corner where children can get a feel for elk fur and antlers. There’s no charge, but donations are accepted to help support the feeding program.

Volunteers can take you for a ride into the feeding area on an old open-air Army truck. Tours typically depart at noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tours are first-come, first-served, but reservations are accepted; call ahead at least 48 hours in advance if you’re visiting with a large group, as the trucks are limited to 14 passengers. Call 509-698-5106 for tour reservations.

During the tour, the truck will drive slowly out into the field and then kill the engine so you can quietly observe the elk. A docent provides some information and answers questions. Bring a camera, and be sure and dress warmly; the tours typically last about 30 minutes.

If you have preschoolers, please note that the volunteers prefer a 1:1 adult-child ratio for younger kids. Also, the children need to refrain from yelling or making other loud noises since the elk are easily startled.

If you’re hungry for more details, there’s a ton of information about the animals and the feeding stations on the Naches Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Web site. Or, call the Oak Creek Wildlife area at 509-653-2390.

HOW TO GET THERE
Oak Creek Headquarters (elk): Drive west on U.S. Highway 12 and continue past Naches. At the junction with Hwy 410, turn left, continuing on Hwy 12. About two miles past the junction, the feeding station will be on the right.

Cleman Mountain feeding station (bighorn sheep): Drive west on U.S. Highway 12 and continue past Naches. At the junction with State Route 410, stay straight, heading west on SR 410 for about one block, then make a sharp right on the Old Naches Highway. The feeding station is on the left.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK FACTS
• Rocky Mountain Elk from Yellowstone National Park were introduced to Yakima County in 1913.
• Bulls weigh an average of 450-900 lbs.
• Cows are pregnant for 270 days (about 9 months).
• Twin calves are rare.
• Antlers (found only on the bulls) fall off in the spring and regrow by August.
• Wintering elk may eat 3 to 10 lbs of hay per day at the feeding stations.

— Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

ABOUT BIGHORN SHEEP
• Both Rocky Mountain and California bighorn sheep are native to Washington.
• Can live up to 17 years, but general life expectancy is 10-12 years.
• Rocky Mountain bighorns are larger than the California sub-species. Rocky Mountain rams weigh 160-315 lbs, while a California ram weighs about 180-205 lbs.
• The gestation period for ewes is 180 days (about 6 months).
• Twin lambs do occur.
• Both rams and ewes have horns, which never fall off and continue to grow through the sheep’s lifetime.

— Source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Leavenworth at Christmas

For me, Leavenworth was love at first sight.

Half-timbered store fronts, horse-drawn carriages, quaint little bakeries, bratwurst, beer. And a whole store filled with Christmas, every season of the year.

In fact, each season offers something new to love about Leavenworth. But Washington’s little Bavarian-themed village is particularly delicious at Christmas.

Someday, my husband and I would love to take our kids to the real Christmas markets in Germany. But the kids are still young and plane tickets aren’t cheap, so those plans are on a semi-permanent pause.

However, the kids have been going to Leavenworth since they were breastfeeding (discretely, in a dimly lit booth at the restaurant mentioned a few paragraphs further down). We tend to skip most of the tchotchke shops but always find enough fun in Leavenworth to fill at least half a day. (Hint: Leave the stroller at home.) Here are some highlights:

First, check the city’s festival schedule to see what’s going on the weekend you’d like to visit. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the town lights up first for the Christkindlemarkt (the closest thing this side of the Atlantic to the previously noted Christmas markets) and, later, literally illuminates during the Christmas Lighting Festival. Both events would appeal to families.

Throughout the year, you can find holiday cheer at Kris Kringl, a two-story ornament shop at the east end of downtown. This one can be a little dicey if your kids are touchy-touchy, but the miniature villages are fun to peek at if you’re able to keep little fingers under control.

For that very reason, we avoided for several years the little sign further up the street that pointed towards a nutcracker museum upstairs. Museums and kids don’t mix, right? Wrong!

The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum is fabulous for kids. Open weekends in the winter, the museum offers scavenger hunts for kids to search through the 5,000-piece nutcracker collection for kiddy favorites from Mickey Mouse to Darth Vader. Those who complete their task receive a prize.

On the same block, The Hat Shop and adjoining Wood Shop toy shop are perennial favorites. For Mama and Papa, however, the trip wouldn’t be complete without popping into The Cheesemonger’s Shop, where the monger is always eager to hand out a few tasty samples.

For dinner, we like to head down the nearby stairs to Andreas Keller, where the jägerschnitzel’s good and the atmosphere even better. Through the end of the year, they’ll have live accordion music every night. The rumpus is great for dining with kids, who couldn’t possibly cause a stir amidst the dining room’s healthy clamor.

Be sure to pick up some fudge for the road before you say auf wiedersehen. Then it’s time to head back home, thankfully some 4,700 miles this side of Germany.

— Sara Bristol

GETTING THERE
Leavenworth is about a 90-minute drive, north of Yakima. Take I-82 north and merge onto I-90 west to Ellensburg. Just past Ellensburg, take Exit 106 and follow U.S. Highway 97 toward Wenatchee. The highway will make a few turns, so follow the signs toward Wenatchee until you reach Highway 2. There, turn left and continue 5 miles to Leavenworth.

WHERE TO GO
Andreas Keller Restaurant, 829 Front St., lower level; 509-548-6000. Dinner menu starts at $10.99. Children’s specials are $5.99 to $6.99.

The Cheesemonger’s Shop, 819 Front St.; 509-548-0778.

Hat Shop/Wood Shop, 719 Front St.; 509-548-4442.

Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce, 940 Highway 2; 509-548-5807.

Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, 735 Front St.; 509-548-4573. Admission is $2.50 for adults, $1 for students and free for children 5 and younger.

Kris Kringl, 907 Front St.; 509-548-6867.