Week 6 of my 52 Week Challenge

This week we drove up to Washington and hiked to Woodburn Falls, and we went for a second hike with Lake's school.  We also played at two new parks, neither of which was 'planned' in our schedule.


Hike and Park #6
Date: February 6, 2018
Place: Lacamas Lake, WA
Route: Woodburn Falls, Lake Loop
Distance: 3 miles

The drive to Lacamas Lake is an easy one, about 30 minutes from our house, up the 205 then east on the 14 to Camas, WA. We met up with folks in the parking lot for Lacamas Park, and hiked around Round Lake with a short detour to see Woodburn Falls. There are three bodies of water at this location, the largest is Lacamas Lake, to the south of that is Round Lake which is separated from Mill Pond by a dam.  The trail was mostly flat/very slight incline, with a little downhill, and then up, from the main trail to and from the falls themselves.

This was the largest group of hikers yet! Anna and her kiddo made it again, a few seasoned HiB hikers and two new families. I was reminded that I owe my parents some thanks for giving me the outdoor experience of my childhood. A) It gave me a lifelong love and appreciation for nature, and B) it gave me experience such that I know how to hike, what to expect one the trail, what to bring, or not bring...things I kind of take for granted now. It was nice to be able to support and share with new hikers.


The timing for this hike was fantastic, nice dry, chilly winter weather and the volume of water in the creek was as was just right for a beautiful site. The falls were totally worth it.

Back at the trailhead there is a playground and one of the ways I kept Lake moving on the trail, was to tell him he could play there once we got back. I always bring more than enough food and water for the day and we didn't have anything else to do, so we had no reason not to stop at the playground....and it meets the Challenge for the week for visiting a new playground/park per week. We stayed for two hours, Lake made a friend and played and played...so much for sore feet.

Hike: Bonus hike - we've been here before
Date: Wednesday February 7, 2018
Place: Lower Macleay Trail - Witch's Castle
Route: Out and back
Distance: 2.7 miles

On Wednesday Lake's playschool class meet at the Lower Macleay Trailhead and took a hike to the Witch's Castle and back. Lake and I have done this hike once before, last year on Halloween. I really like the old stone structure, it looks so well built and yet abandon long ago. Last fall the trees were in full color, dropping leaves like crazy, it was beautiful. I was happy to return to this trail and see how the area looks in the winter. Now, the trees are covered in emerald moss, bare limbs letting in the winter light.


Lake's class quickly separated into two groups, the handful that included Lake ran ahead, and the other ones, who enjoyed the scenery. We all met up again and explored the old stone castle together. On the way back the kids separated again, and then gathered together for story time and snack at the end/beginning of the trail. I'm sure we'll come back to this trail again, maybe in the spring to see flowers and bright green leaves.

 

Park #7
Date: Wednesday February 7, 2018
Place: The Fields Park, 1099 NW Overton St.

On the way home from our hike with Lake's class, I took a couple 'wrong' turns and found myself driving around a part of The Pearl that I don't think I've been to before. I could tell Lake still had some energy to work off so when I saw a park with a playground on the corner, with parking, I pulled over. The Fields Park has a great view of the 405crossing the Willamette River, the Fremont Bridge. I have a fondness for the industrial, it's part of what I like about living in the city.

While we were there, kids from some type of school program, or maybe it was an after-school program, came pouring into the playground. There was a mixture of ages, but all were older than Lake. A group of boys started a chase-ball-throwing game and Lake was all about it. He chased them around the play area, even into the field that is the dog park before I could stop him. He wanted so bad to be included in the group and had the tenacity to keep trying. He never got the ball, but the older boys seemed ok with Lake chasing after them. One thing for sure, he did run off a bunch of energy....and fell fast asleep in the car on the way home.

Week 5 of my 52 Week Challenge

 

Week 5 - A hike, a park, a festival and free forest school...and although the ground was wet, no rain on our outdoor adventures this week!

Hike #5
Date: Tuesday January 30th, 2018
Place: Oaks Bottom Nature Reserve
Route: Out and back
Distance: 2.02 miles

On Tuesday Lake and I headed over to Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge for our weekly hosting of a Hike it Baby Hike. And, as it turned out, we also got a visit to a never been to before city park. Oaks Bottom is down on the Willamette River in Sellwood. We’ve played in the water at the Sellwood Riverfront Park a bunch of times, but never have hiked the refuge or played at Sellwood Park up on the bluff.

Anna, one of the HiB Portland Ambassadors, has been to all of our hikes so far, and was there again with her little one. And, once again we had a new to HiB mama there with her kids. The first part of the trail was a steep decent down the bluff to river level...with a steep drop off down the hill. Lake was walking/running ahead and I got ever so slightly worried about his ability to stay upright while moving down a rocky trail a high speeds....but we made it down the hill with no disasters.

 

My plan was originally to do a big loop, heading north along the bluff side and returning via the Springwater Trail closer to the river. But the kids were letting us know that they were done hiking before we got to the looping part, so we just turned around and returned the way we came. We did push the kids a bit so we could check out the the huge bird mural. The mural can be seen all the way from I-5 across the river, and it's huge from up close!

From Wikipedia:

Portland Memorial Mausoleum Mural is a 2009 mural by Dan Cohen of ArtFX Murals and Shane Bennett, painted at Wilhelm's Portland Memorial Funeral Home (also known as the Portland Memorial Mausoleum Chapel) in Portland, Oregon's Sellwood neighborhood, in the United States.

Park #5
Date: Tuesday January 30th, 2018
Place: Sellwood Park

We were able to meet both our weekly goals in one day, score. One of the reason the kids were not too into the hike is because they saw the play ground across the field from the trailhead and wanted to go there instead. We told them they had to hike first. Once we got back up the bluff, back to the beginning of the trail, Lake and both of the other kids took off across the muddy ball field and made a bee line to the play ground. There is a nice tall slide and some cool tunnels to crawl through, fun was had. Lake and I have driven past this park many times on our way to play in the river, good chance we'll stop here again. There is even an outdoor pool here which looks to have much more shade than our own Creston Pool...maybe we'll make it there this summer. 

 

Thursday, February 1st, was the first night of the Portland's Winter Light Festival. This was the third year of the festival and the third year that I've attended. Lake went with me the first year, but I went alone last year cuz the weather sucked. I really like this festival, it's so beautiful and the art is amazing and so creative and it was great to bring Lake with me this year. 

This year the festival organizers hosted the event in four different hubs throughout the city. I think it is a fine idea to spread out the wonder and lights across the city, however there is no way a person could see it all in one night. Lucky for me, the festival web site was full of information, including schedules for the performances, detailed maps, info on the art pieces and the artists, even sample itineraries for each day, assuming one could/would come all three days of the festival. I was not spending three nights at the festival unfortunately, I only had one night available. So, I spent a fair bit of time looking through the on-line festival info and created my own custom itinerary. We saw a working Tesla coil, a fire breathing dragon, projections on buildings, huge blinking eye ball, got to interact with art pieces, and so much more. Genuine moments of wonder were experienced by us both. I heard it was crazy busy on Friday and Saturday, so glad we went on Thursday. Oh, and the festival was free, even the streetcar to get around to the different hubs was free for the festival, so fantastic.

This robot likes do do a bit of light gardening to relax on the weekends.

 

 And finally, on Friday February 2nd, Lake and I went to Free Forest School. He was a bit resistant to the idea at first, but as usual, once he got out and started moving around, he was into it. He's one of the older kids in the group, but I think it's good for him. He actually sat and ate his lunch and listened to a few poems being read...that's a win in my book. We probably got another mile, mile and a half in at Powell Butte, at toddler speed, but still, it was nice to be there. We won't be able to attend next week, we have a shift at HFP, but look forward to our return.

   

Week 4 of my 52 Week Challenge

Week 4 of my 52 Week Challenge

This week I was able to make it out to both our Hike it Baby Tuesday hike and to a park for Free Forest School. But I'm telling you, if I had not put a hike on the Hike it Baby calendar, there is no way we would have gone out on Tuesday.

Hike #4
Date: Tuesday January 23, 2018
Place: Mt. Tabor
Route: Loop - Green/Blue trails, with a stop at the top
Distance: 2.3 miles

It was wet and miserable out and Lake sure didn't want to. He even tried holding on to the car seat to prevent me from getting him out of the car once we arrive at the trailhead. I told him that if no one was there for the hike, we would go back home...two other moms showed up with their kids, so off on a hike we went. Once we got moving Lake started to enjoying himself.

About half way through, when we were almost to the top of the hill, he starting getting fussy, but managed to make it to the play ground and had a miraculous recovery and didn't want to leave. At the crest of the park is a bronze statue of Harvey W. Scott, editor of The Oregonian newspaper from 1865-1872 and from 1877 until his death in 1910. Of course I had to spend a few minutes doing research to see if we were related...I do have a Harvey Scott in my family tree, but not this one.

This was also the last week of Hike it Baby 30 Challenge. The challenge is to get you and your children outside for 30 miles in 30 days or 30 minutes three times a week. There is only one more day left in the challenge, and we are going out tomorrow to add a few more miles to our total. So far we have 18.98 miles, so #atleastwetried on the miles. But we totally crushed the outdoor time with 1245 minutes tracked so far.
                          

                            

Park #4
Date: Friday January 26, 2018
Place: Powell Butte Nature Park
Event: Free Forest School
Distance: one-ish miles

Although we have been hiking at Powell Butte before, I am super interested in participating in the Free Forest School that has just started meeting at Powell Butte on Friday mornings. Part of the idea is that the same group of people meet every week at the same park so the kids can see and get to know one another and notice the change in nature over the year. The school is kid lead, is intended to give them confidence in themselves and in nature. I believe that Lake will thrive in this environment.

It was windy and cold last Friday but about a dozen families braved the weather and joined us at the trailhead. After introductions, the kids took the lead and headed up the trail. We didn't get very far that day but did find a nice protected place to have a snack and a story behind a couple Douglas Firs.  Lake and I were one of the last two families at the end...he was having fun.

Week Three of My 52 Week Challenge

Week Three

We did a lot this week! Started and ended with cultural events and had a few hikes and visited a couple parks in between. And Grandma Carol and Pap Pap Al arrived half way through the week!

On Sunday we headed up to Dawson Park in NE Portland, and although it has been well over a year since we've been to this park, I did not count this as one of our new parks for our 52 Week Challenge. We went for the tangle ball climbing structure which Lake likes, and because Chris had recently reminded us of this park. I wanted to take Lake again now that he is older, also, I can't get over the 70's ashtray merry-go-round.

 On Monday we did two different things for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. First we headed over to the Mittleman Jewish Community Center in SW Portland and attended their toddler MLK Service Day program. We donated some new socks, gloves and a few of our gently used jackets. Lake listed to a few songs, colored a place mat, and picked out a new book from the book table. After that, Lake enjoyed some time at their indoor gym, jumping on the trampoline, riding cars down a ramp, and navigated an obstacle course.

Then we took a trip to North Portland and joined a few hundred other folks in the 4th Annual Children's March for Social Justice. Lake was great, if not a bit serious when he joined in the chants. I was both proud and very sad to hear his little voice "Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter", "Brown Lives Matter, Brown Lives Matter, Brown Lives Matter", "Hands Up, Don't Shoot, Hands Up, Don't Shoot, Hands Up, Don't Shoot". That last one was particularly hard...and I'm a white mother with a white son, I can't even imagine how terrifying it must be to raise a child of color in today's America. I hope that I am doing right by Lake and the future by teaching him (and reminding/learning myself) that it's up to us to be peaceful and loving towards all people.

Hike #3
Date: Tuesday January 16th, 2018
Place: Cooper Mountain Nature Park
Route: Loop - Cooper Mountain, Blacktail, Little Prairie Trails.
Distance: 2.9 miles

Cooper Mountain Nature Park was lots of fun. This was supposed to be my second Hike it Baby hike, but I put the wrong date on the form when I submitted my hike to the calendar. I sure hope if people did show up when I wasn't there, that they had a good time anyway. Lucky for me, I had let a friend know that we were going on Tuesday and low and behold, she and her two boys were there when we arrived. I sure was happy to have them with us on our adventure. Along the trails are hearing funnels...to better hear the bird life. It was pretty windy that day, so all we really heard was the wind...the boys didn't care. We did see a pair of Red Tail Hawks flying overhead which was awesome.

Park #3
Date: Thursday January 18th, 2018
Place: Oxbow Regional Park
Route: River trail from the boat ramp
Distance: 1 mile

On Thursday we took advantage of Portland Metro's free day in the park program and took a drive out to Oxbow Regional Park. Even though it is only $5 to get in usually, it was nice to not have to pay. Although we have been to this park before, I've decided it does count towards my 52 Week Challenge because we explored a part of the park we have not visited before. After playing in the sand and rocks down by the river we took a short hike down the river trail and checked out one of the group camping areas. Grandma Carol came with us and we toughed it out even though it was raining. Once we started moving it wasn't at all cold, so that helped for sure. We all loved looking for special rocks and each of us brought home a few super pretty ones.

   

On Saturday. I wrapped up the week with two cultural experiences/events. First I went to a Chinese dumpling cooking class. It was offered for free through the Multnomah County Library and even though it was taught in Chinese, I was still able to get quite a bit out of the demo and practice. At the end of the class we were asked if we'd be interested in another class, we all said yes and suggested bao. Will be keeping my eye out for that one!

  

After cooking class I cam home and got Lake and we went to the Winter Pow Wow at PCC Sylvania Campus in the far SW. We got there just in time to get in line for the free community dinner of chili and corn muffins with fruit and cake. After eating we wandered up stairs and found a seat to watch the Aztec dancers and listen to the drummers. Somehow, through all the noise, Lake fell asleep in my lap for about an hour. He woke up just in time for the grand entrance, a parade of representatives from all the attending tribes in their amazing outfits and head dresses....the drums got really loud!

After that we headed home and relaxed at the end of our big week of hikes, parks and cultural events.

The Best Deal

Question: Which one local museum membership will get us into 11 other museums for the least amount of money?

Answer: Deepwood Museum and Gardens in Salem at $30 for an annual membership.

Background Info:  Ever since we've moved to Portland I have been aware of the reciprocal program shared by some of the local museums and attractions. With membership to one location, members can get into the other attractions one particular month per year.

The first year we were here Lake was on WIC and because of that we qualified for an annual membership to the Children's Museum for only $10...it usually costs close to $11 per person per visit, so it was a fantastic deal. And that year, the Children's Museum was part of the reciprocal program. We went and saw a few other places in town which was great. The next year, we were gifted a membership to the Oregon Zoo from Lake's grandparents and we again enjoyed a few of the reciprocal benefits. Last two years we had no memberships and I didn't really look into getting one. This year I knew I wanted to see who was participating in the program and figure out our best membership deal.

Current Participants: In 2018, members of the reciprocal program are the Oregon Zoo, Oregon Coast Aquarium, World Forestry Center, Columbia River Maritime Museum, Oregon Historical Society, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Architectural Heritage Center, Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks & Minerals, Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, Washington County Museum, & Deepwood Museum & Garden.

Analyst: With this list in hand, I started looking up membership costs and figuring out the right choice. Turns out that two of the locations, Oregon Historical Society and Washington County Museum are actually free to visit, no memberships needed. We had just visited the zoo in January, the free month for the reciprocal program, and I figured that by going on the $5 Day we could go to the zoo at least 7 more times this year for less than a membership, so that one was out too. Looking at the list I didn't see a location that we would likely visit more than once per year...so that in mind I was looking at the one with the lest expensive membership. So come March, Lake and I will be heading to Salem to visit the Deepwood Museum and Gardens and be getting our annual membership.

• Oregon Zoo - $69
• Oregon Historical Society - $60
• Deepwood Museum and Gardens - $30
• Lan Su Chinese Garden - $60
• Architectural Heritage Center - $40
• Columbia River Maritime Museum - $65
•  World Forestry Center Discovery Museum - $60
•  Clark County Historical Museum - $40
•  Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks & Minerals - $50
•  Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum - $75
•  Oregon Coast Aquarium - $80
•  Washington County Museum - $40

 The list of attractions has also prompted some future plans. A trip to Salem in March, to Astoria in June, Hillsboro in September, McMinnville in October (maybe more than once!), and Newport in November.

Perhaps you will join us on one of our museum adventures!

Schedule:

• January 2018: Oregon Zoo 
• February 2018: Oregon Historical Society
• March 2018: Deepwood Museum and Gardens
• April 2018: Lan Su Chinese Garden
• May 2018: Architectural Heritage Center
• June 2018: Columbia River Maritime Museum
• July: World Forestry Center Discovery Museum
• August: Clark County Historical Museum
• September: Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks & Minerals 
• October 2018: Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
• November 2018: Oregon Coast Aquarium
• December 2018: Washington County Museum

The benefit is valid for the whole month, just as it would be for members of that attraction. You may use it as many times as you like at the featured attraction each month.
Visitors must show their proof of membership along with photo ID to the gate attendants at the designated attraction to receive 4 admission tickets.
This benefit is solely for attraction admission during regular business hours. The membership benefit does not extend to discounts on classes, camps, store merchandise, or special events.

52 Week Challenge - Week Two

Week Two went really well. Although I've taken the time to plan out our hikes and park visits for the month, flexibility was the name of the game when it came to our park adventure this week.

It was raining and I was not feeling like a long drive to the planned park. So, instead of going to Marshall Park, we went to a different sort of park, we went swimming at a new-to-us indoor pool. I checked the schedule and saw that there is family swim at the East Portland Community Center on Thursdays, 11:30 - 1:00, perfect. The pool was not at all crowded, just half dozen or so families consisting of a couple young moms and a few grandparents.

Lake loves the pool...although not quite ready to put his head under. He went down the kiddy slide, laughing all the way, having such a blast. He really likes the river current part of the pool and after a few times around with me holding him he was comfortable enough to float in his life jacket by himself...with me just inches behind him. He's getting so brave! One of the things I like about Portland Parks and Rec is that they provide life jackets and I don't have to worry about getting/bringing one myself.

And to be clear...I'm not going to let a little rain stop us from our 52 Week Challenge!

In addition to my own 52 Week Challenge, I remembered that I am also part of the Hike it Baby 10K Woman Trail Project. The 10,000 Women Trail Project, is an initiative to get women and girls on trails all across North America. The goal is to encourage women to bring female friends and family on a trail at least once a month.I totally can do that, already did it this month, with hike #2 and see no problem being able to make this goal as long as I keep going/hosting Hike it Baby hikes. My last hike on Tuesday there were two newbies who had never been on a HIB Hike and four of us total.

The other challenge I discovered and joined this week was the 52 Hike Challenge. From their web page: The 52 Hike Challenge is a global movement empowering you to take a personal journey to discover the physical, mental and spiritual benefits gained though hiking once a week for an entire year. Again, I feel like this challenge fits in perfectly with the challenges I've already set for myself for this year. And, it's another way to help me stay motivated and accountable.

Hike #2
Date: Tuesday January 9th, 2018
Place: Hoyt Arboretum
Route: Loop - Spruce Trail to Redwood Trail
Distance: 1+ miles (I forgot to track the miles, this is best guess by the group)

This was my first time hosting a Hike it Baby hike. I was happy to have three other women with their kiddos join Lake and I on our hike. I picked this trail because I was feeling a bit homesick for Humboldt and I hoped a stroll though the Redwoods would cheer me up. Have to say that although it was beautiful, there is nothing like an old growth grove in Northern California. The Redwoods in the arboretum were not the towering giants with their humongous trunks that I am used to seeing, at least not in the old growth groves. But they did have those split rail fences that seem so iconic of the Redwood parks in California, and for some reason that made me happy.

The hike was short, Lake still had tons of energy...and we were in Washington Park where it was $5 day at the zoo. So off we went to the zoo, were we almost had the place to ourselves. I was surprised that there were not more people taking advantage of the discount day...I guess there was rain predicted, although we did not have to deal with any. We must have added another 2-3 miles to our day walking around that place. Lake is finally old enough to start noticing the animals, which is nice, because that means that I can start noticing the animals, instead of chasing after my small squirrel child.

These are the pictures that were taken of us by the folks at the zoo, that I did not buy, hence the watermark. I just couldn't bring myself to pay $15 for one picture. We're cute though.