Two different kinds of stink.

So today S and I did something a little different: a candlelight dinner and twilight tram tour at NW Trek, an animal park way out on the road to Mt. Rainier dedicated to primarily Northwest animals. We've been there before, but this time we'd be there after the park closed, and for once our tram tour wouldn't have any children on it. Why? Because we're in the middle of elk rut, and we were heading out to watch those bad boys strut their stuff. So the overall theme of the event could be summed up as "have a romantic dinner with your sweetie, go spy on some elk getting it on, then go home and shag." Except for the part about dinner being romantic and actually seeing any elk. Oh, I guess dinner was okay. They have their own catering group but it was pretty low-end buffet fare. The tram tour was really nice because it was at twilight, doy, so it was quite different from what we're used to. How, you ask? Well, the light is different, the air is crisp and cool, and the animals are in surprisingly different locations than usual. The bison herd was up in one of the woods, and the deer were grazing on the bison plain. The elk were uncharacteristically reclusive, tucked into thickets that were difficult to peer into from the road. (Well, and wouldn't you? Can't an ungulate rut in peace?) The younger moose cow had recently been injured by an elk bull because she got too close to the herd, so we didn't see her. We saw a couple of the bighorn rams trying it on, nothing serious, just that thing that guys of all species do when they want to show off a little. ( What's this about the stink? )