Forest Park

Forest park is the largest park inside city limits in the U.S. Here is the stone house, a wpa project built as restroom facilities. Locals on the trail stopped to tell us it has the nickname of the witches house. Does anyone remember that movie Swamp Thing? I had little snippets of imagery from that movie as I glanced at moss growing on everything!

Beautiful trees and moss. We decided that this park must be a place where photographs are taken for calendars!

Farmageddon

A beautiful farm about 15 minutes west of Portland.

Jacques made himself useful by inspecting the chickens, sorting the dirt, and providing general charm for everyone's viewing pleasure!

Saturday morning we went out to an organic co-op farm and helped spread mulch, plant potatoes, and transplant tomatoes.

Mount Views

At the rhodedendron garden our camera went dead so Tanner snapped this pic with his phone. It doesn't do the park justice but will give you an idea. There were ducks everywhere and Jacques enjoyed watching them!

Jacques and Tanner enjoying the view.Here is Mount St. Helens with an Ikea below :)

Today we drove to a little park that allowed us to get excellent views of the mountains of the area. The one with the jagged top is Mount Hood and is closest to Portland. Mount St. Helens is actually located in Washington but on clear days is visible.

Portland Pleasures

Jacques contemplates a colorful tunnel, and finally decides to walk through. Today was pretty uneventful. We didn't make it to the rhodedendron gardens, but hope to see them tomorrow! The weather was beautiful again today, I can't help but think that we brought some Texas sunshine to the area!

Here are a couple of garnishes left over from our meal yesterday. A goldfish made of tomato skins and a radish embellishment.

Yesterday we parked on the street and found this lovely planter box attached to a telephone pole. It is intricately carved with 3 different designs, all of impressive craftsmanship. You have to zoom in to appreciate it. This is one of the reasons we like Portland so much...literally art on every corner and telephone pole!

Parks of Portland

Yesterday we visited the Washington Park area which has the Japanese Tea Garden and the Rose Gardens too. Here are some pictures of the area. Unfortunately the Japanese Gardens were closed but I peeked in and snapped a few shots!

Chinatown in Portland

At the end, Jacques rang a bell to say thank you.

We visited the Lan Su Chinese Garden where we enjoyed the beauty of manicured nature. Jacques enjoyed peeking through at the goldfish and pushing the stroller around.

After the Saturday Market, we ventured over to Chinatown.

Today was a beautiful Saturday with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70's. We went down to the waterfront park to attend the Saturday Market. There were over 300 artist booths, ethnic food vendors, and alot of live music.

Children's Museum of Portland

Here is the backyard with lush wetlands where we have been staying the past week in Hillsboro, Oregon, just outside of Portland. A friend of ours from church hooked us up with her parents and they have been terrific and gracious hosts! Below are pictures at the Children's Museum where Jacques had a blast.

Portland

Hey everyone, we are in Portland, Oregon right now and are staying with some lovely folks in a beautiful home. Unfortunately we haven't been able to put pictures up...maybe tonight or tomorrow. We've got some good pictures of Jacques at the children's museum coming up! The weather has been beautiful here, sunny (which is unusual for March) with highs in the 50's and 60's and lows in the 30's and 40's at night. Check back for more later.

This picture looks alot like a painting I did in college. Tanner always hangs it in his office at work. It was amazing to see my painting in real life.

The drive was one of the most beautiful we have ever made. Some images of what we saw...