Last night in bed, I attempted to read the following story aloud to my husband. For 10 minutes I yelped and wheezed with laughter as I tried to get through the funny parts. It’s anybody’s guess why he didn’t just smother me with a pillow.

Please give a warm welcome to guest blogger Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt. She’s an award-winning writer, author of You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?, and an unapologetic nature-phobe.

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Most days run about the same, right? You wake up, stumble toward the coffee, and assume that if there’s hot water, no zit on your nose, and all family members are present and accounted for, the day is good.

But some days hand you surprises, little gifts that warm your heart and rekindle that childlike sense of wonder. I received such a gift during a recent trip I made to Oregon with my 11-year-old niece, Emily.

Emily and I started our week of exploration in Portland. I’ll admit right now that I’m a card-carrying city slicker, much more comfortable within walls than I am in open, rural areas. I’m talking places populated with poorly marked dirt roads, people missing teeth, and lots of nature. Ugh. Nature gives me hives!

It’s the mosquitoes, the dirt, and okay, I’ll be honest-the possibility of having to pee behind a bush. Camping? Fuhgitabouit! Get up close and personal with God’s wildlife? Happy to—in a steakhouse!

And yet, I decided to get out of the van when it arrived in the small town of Molalla, at Rosse Posse Acres, a 55-acre elk farm run by Alan and Brenda Ross and their four young daughters. My motivation? The Ross’s offer up a room in their home as a B&B. Guests are invited to spend time with all of their animals—or not—whatever feels comfortable.

Behind the house are the fenced-off fields in which the elk strut their stuff. From afar I could tell the elk were big. But when the brutes finally deigned to make their way over to us-thundering over after Brenda repeatedly called to them as she shook a container of dry food-I felt my heart seize. “Nice doggie,” I kept saying in my mind, wondering if they’d ever thought to test the fence.

In a nearby barn, I was introduced to four-legged animals much more to my liking: cute, cuddly, and smaller than me! The Rosse Posse Petting Zoo contains 12 pygmy goats, four miniature donkeys, four turkeys, and seven miniature bunnies. Just a bit of hand sanitizer is all Brenda requires of guests. Trust me: not even gloves would have enticed me to touch one of those ugly turkeys!

Then Brenda brought out the big gun, the show-stopper, the You-Can’t-Top-This! pet that soon had me grinning like a drunk monkey: their baby wallaby. Still under a year old, this big-footed-long-tailed joey likes nothing better than being swaddled all day by anyone willing to hold him.

Who knew? One day, I wake up dissing nature. The next, I’m pining away for a wallaby. I’ve got to get back to Rosse Posse Acres soon!

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Like vacationing with the animal kingdom?  Who doesn’t?  Besides Sheri, I mean.  Check these out:

Bosque del Cabo: Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
The Fleming Jones Homestead B&B: Apple Hill, California
Pennard Hill Farm Estate: Shepton Mallet, England