NW Kid Chaser

    While you are at the Museum, be sure to visit the Discovery Center on the 3rd floor. There are books, exhibits, costumes, art supplies,  and furniture all designed with young museum visitors in mind.   
       After walking through almost all of the exhibits, my boys were ready for action. My youngest loves a good mummy fact. My oldest, began a portrait of a "young Roman guard" for the wall. I tried my hand at tin-foil sculpture.

For years I’ve heard of Portland’s Eastbank Esplanade, but have never had the pleasure of exploring the 1.5 mile path.  Following along the east side of the Willamette River, the Esplanade officially extends from the Hawthorne Bridge to the Steel Bridge. Even better: there are a variety of connection to east-side destinations.

 My family recently accessed this amazing bike path from OMSI. After enjoying a few hours of science museum fun, we jumped on our bikes and followed the path all the way to the Portland Saturday Market on the north end of Portland’s Waterfront Park. Highlights included the floating portions of the Esplanade path, crossing the Steel Bridge (on a level completely separate from cars), ice cream cones at Saturday Market, water fountains in Waterfront Park, and (of course) little boys who love to ride!

Here’s a bit of info for out-of-towners like ourselves. Free parking for your car, can be found just south of OMSI near the SE Caruthers Street Portland Spirit and Portland Opera offices. East access to both the Eastbank Esplanade and the Springwater Corridor are available. We rode just a bit of the Corridor near OMSI and found it to be mostly undeveloped. The railroad is on one side and the unmaintained river’s edge is on the other. That currently makes for a feeling of seclusion. The day we were there provided enough traffic that I felt safe – but generally, I would not want to take the path without my husband along for the ride. This was in sharp contrast to the Esplanade which was more open, visible from a distance and heavily in use. I felt very safe, as the path seemed expertly integrated into the urban landscape.

I recommend that all riders bring water, sunscreen, a bike-lock, and money for ice cream along the way. If you don’t have bikes of your own you can transport to the big-city: Never Fear! Kerr Bike Rentals is right along the way and has everything needed to set you up for the day (including tagalongs and bike trailers for wee ones).

    I was determined to make our Yellowstone National Park memorable and so researched and planned our time in the park carefully.  At the half-way mark of our visit, I asked my oldest son how he liked our vacation so far. He told me, “I like the doing-things more than the looking-things.”

    This completely made sense to me. Yellowstone is a HUGE park with so many “sights” (and “sites”) to see, but little boys are little boys (and need to move, touch, and actively engage with their world). Here are the highlights of our “seeing things” time in the park.  I’ll cover the “doing things” in another post.

Different sections of the park offer different landscapes. The NE corner is high mountains and low valleys, the NW corner is dramatic rock fields, canyons, and cliffs; the Canyon Area reminds me of Oregon, and the Hayden Valley offers the large grassland/meadows where bison herds often roam. We drove the full figure-eight and I enjoyed the change of scenery.

Our other sightseeing stops around the park included the Mammoth Hot Springs (which vary widely based on season – ask others if the hike up the stairs is worth it before you take little-ones); the Fountain Paint Pots (a short, easy walk that offers visitors the chance to see all four geo-thermal features active in Yellowstone Park), the Norris Geyser Basin (with its magnificent view of a geyser/hot spring field); the West Thumb Geyser Basin (a very short boardwalk with a great view of Yellowstone Lake); and the Sheepeater Cliffs (visible from the parking lot and a great spot to see marmots).

With something interesting to see at every turn, I chose just two locations a day as “must see.” This allowed us to stop and discover unknown treasures – some which we preferred to the big-name sites – along the way. By the end of the trip, each family member had a geothermal favorite.

Here’s the final tally:

     Artist and hometown boy Christopher Marley has brought big, beautiful bugs to town.  Mr. Marley’s shop/art gallery, Pheromone, is nestled right downtown between Starbucks and Straight from New Pizza on Liberty Street and shouldn’t be missed.

     Having spent many days in the rain forests of South America I have had my share fair of bug encounters. For years it didn’t bother me. I once saw a moth the size of a bird; a spider web designed to catch small birds, and a family of cockroaches who assumed mi casa was sus casa. I wasn't phased.

     Then I suddenly seemed to reach capacity and now even sugar ants give me the heebie-jeebies. Then just this spring, I was bit by a spider while gardening, and half my face swelled to the point of losing feeling for two days. It was awful! I’d file a restraining order against insects if I could. I want them 100 yards away from me - at all times.

     And then…we step into Peromone. My son ooos and ahhhhs. The colors are displayed so exquisitely. The arrangements are so precise. Strangely, I find that I’m drawn toward these creepy crawly beasts instead of being repelled by them.

Perhaps it is time for a peace agreement.

        Salem Art Association has opened its Project Space at the Metropolitan Building at 160 Liberty St. NE. This summer show of art if free and open to the public - right in the heart of the city.

My youngest and I stopped by today to take a peek.....

     Stepping inside this empty commercial space, we found another world; a world of possibility; a world of wonder; a world to explore.

Creative artists,
Adam and Rosalynn Rothstein,
took these:

 And made this:

     The exhibit is titled: Please Treat Things As You Would Like Them To Be Treated. Like 95% of art -I’m not sure I get it, but I like it! My son liked it as well. Look closely     ---–    that’s him crawling through the structure. Even at a young age, he’s an art lover!

Stop by soon to see this amazing structure before it’s too late! Exhibits are set to rotate at the start of July and August.

The old railroad bridge/new bike path at River Front Park (The Union Street Walking Bridge) is reopening and families are invited to help celebrate. Festivities last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each family is invited to pick up a passport and visit a variety of locations in River Front Park and Wallace Park to receive a passport stamps. And if enjoying these great Salem parks isn’t fun enough…. your family receives free admission to A.C. Gilbert Village once you have filled your passport!

Should be a fun outing – bring your bikes, your skates, or your strollers and (if we’re lucky) your sunscreen!

Spring is here and that means it’s time for all those interested in getting a bird’s eye view of Salem to
head up to the top of the State Capitol Building.