CLE ELUM, Wash. -- A special family has just moved into town.

Seven chimpanzees traveled across the country to move into their new digs: the newly-opened Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. It's a retirement home of sorts.

The chimps arrived by truck first thing Friday morning.

The trucks' back doors swung open to an explosion of sounds as seven chimps panted, hooted and rattled their cages.

Volunteers huddled near the back of the truck and started talking to the chimps.

Diana Goodrich mimicked a hoot-pant while another volunteer used her arm to make what's considered a submissive gesture, extending her right arm and waving it up and down.

It calmed 28-year-old Burreto almost immediately. He is the youngest and the only male of the group.

"It feels very good to recognize that we are making a connection," said a grinning Goodrich.

The last time Goodrich, the sanctuary's outreach director, saw the chimps they were caged in a Pennsylvania lab where they were mostly being used to test vaccine for Hepatitis B. Some were being used to breed, Goodrich said.

Burreto and six other chimps were all housed in the same lab, some for 30 years. Sanctuary board members say the Buckshire Corporation in Pennsylvania agreed to release the chimps and paid for their transport.

Until now, Zibby Wilder has only seen pictures. She wanted to be one of the first to see Missy, a 33-year-old chimp. Because the name of Wilder's mother is also Missy, she feels a connection with the chimp, she said.

"She's so pretty," said an emotional Wilder. She works with Born Free USA, an animal protection organization based in California. She's also a board member and volunteer with the Cle Elum sanctuary.

"I've been waiting two years to see her little face, aww," said Wilder snapping pictures, "I'm going to cry now."

All seven chimps have officially retired to the new non-profit sanctuary. Keith LaChappelle built the retirement house.

"No more experiments, no more testing; just retirement," he said.

LaChappelle was so moved after reading an article about chimps in captivity that he started fundraising. He then bought land in Cle Elum, left Seattle behind and, with the help of volunteers, built the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest where he and his family now live.

"I needed to do something," he said.

LaChappelle said four of the seven chimps have never been outside; they all lived in a basement lab without windows.

Their new home has lots of windows. LaChappelle hopes the windows will allow the chimps to acclimate to the outdoors, and eventually become comfortable with it.

"There are nine chimp sanctuaries in the U.S. At one of them, the chimps were so intimidated by the outdoors, they had to pour a concrete sidewalk just to get them outside," said Wilder.

The chimps have gone from 5-square foot cages, to an 1,800-square foot sanctuary.

They immediately made it their home, eating bananas, chasing each other and building nests. Some of them even smiled, showing their bottom teeth.

The sanctuary was specifically built for the seven chimps in order to provide them with a space where they could live together. No others will move in because they're highly territorial.

The non-profit home is still raising money to complete its outdoor play area. (You can donate online here.)