From Washington to Oregon……..

Posted by drivinguscrazy on October 21, 2011

The city of Portland A street in Portland....beautiful "Fall" colours

We left the friendly town of Kelso, Washington and drove 20 minutes to arrive in Portland, Oregon. This seemed to be a pretty city, reinforced by the gorgeous Japanese Gardens in the centre of the city. We parked near a pretty cool playground, which was filled with young children and their parents. There was also some great artwork scattered around, created with natural materials.

You think it would only be the young 'uns who enjoy the playground!!! A "natural" art sculpture Akaisha and Cathy enjoying the art in nature.

The Japanese Gardens were awesome, and if Trev had his way, I would be showing all 120 of his photos………..but alas…………I can only show a few!

Entrance to the Japanese Garden Buddha and the 7 tigers Koi ponds

The Gardens were very well set up with activities for the kids to do (great way of keeping them occupied so they didn’t get bored). We found the gardens very peaceful and relaxing and could have stayed there all day.


Waterfalls Blue Heron statues Stream meandering slowly.

As it was, we took a few hours to see everything. Everything in a Japanese Garden is about balance, harmony, space, odd numbers, art form, creativity and the flow of life. Every rock is carefully placed to represent something or balance another object in the garden. I think Trev would like to create an area in his own garden someday that reflects this beautiful Japanese Garden.

Simple artistry Symmetrical harmony Tower representing the chakras of the body.



































After visiting the garden and getting our fill of the peace and tranquility we crave at the moment, we drove onto the Oregon Aquarium. I chose to stay inside and “spring “clean with Akaisha whilst the rest of the family went inside. It’s amazing how cleaning can be “therapeutic” after spending so much time with 8 other people. It gave me at least two hours to myself. But as a result I am not the best person to tell you about the experiences of seeing the aquarium….so Amber is going to take over the writing of the blog…………

Looking through the jaws of a shark. Kit and Chayse playing hide and seek





















Aquarium for a Day

Wow, what a day at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, thanks to Mum and Dad that we got to go.
While Mum and Akaisha stayed in the RV to do some spring cleaning (but not in Spring), we were on our way to the aquarium.
Amber, Jai and Kit A seal

The Aquarium was half inside and half outside. On the outside, there was artificial rock and some of the animals like seals, sea lions, otters, birds and vultures. I don’t know why there were birds in an aquarium, but they were still interesting.

Artificial rock A type of seabird

On the outside, with all of the animals, there was also a kiddies playground. It was made of stone animals which we climbed on and slid down.


Amber on a tortoise Kit on a dolphin Chayse on a tortoise
















Flynn in a zen-like pose Jai doing pushups on a tortoise Kaitlin joins the crew

We watched the otters breaking open clams and shells. It was very funny watching them roll over and over.

Feeding the otters Kit watching the otters On the balcony outside watching the birds
















































On the inside, there were jellyfish, fish, piranas, clams, sea animals, alligators, crabs and a touch pool.
I liked the fish tunnels which showed all the different types of fish, sharks, stingrays, rocks and coral.

Kit, Jai and Amber looking through the windows of the aquarium. Variety of fish








































My favourite thing on the inside was the touch pool because you could touch sea anoemas and clams and watch them close up.
The touch Pool was a favourite Jellyfish galore


We liked to feel them. Some were very sticky and we had to pull them off our fingers. The Aquarium was really fun and I hope you enjoyed my blog post.
By Amber


Our Yurt The RV parked near the Yurt Inside the Yurt

After leaving the Oregon Aquarium, we didn’t have much time to find a campsite, so drove to a nearby place called South Beach State Park. It turned out to be lovely and we even booked a Yurt for the night to give each other a little breathing space. Trev ran a quiz night with the kids whilst I read quietly in the RV with Akaisha sleeping.
The teams take their game....... .......very seriously!! Trev also taking this very seriously ....with his glass of red wine!
We didn’t have to worry about the kids venturing too far with signs like these posted around the camp grounds.
Tsunami signs keep us on our toes. Sign warning of a cougar sighting. Map to California (we're in Los Angeles now)