Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #121 – Seeing The Zoo and A Little Trim

Friday, September 14th, 2018……  This morning we had to get up pretty early and get rolling. The Oregon Zoo opens at 9:30am but it takes a while to get up there, given it’s a workday. We fed and walked Rylee and then left the house about 7:30am. We stopped at McDonald’s and picked up breakfast then went to pick up Penny. We ran into little traffic and made good time so we chose to take Hwy 99 into downtown Portland and then we worked our way to the west side of the Willamette River and up the hill to the zoo. We got there about 9:45am. Not bad timing. We read that parking was $25.00 for the day but we had free admission due to the Oregon Fun Pass we purchased in the spring. Admission was $17.00 so we would still be ahead. Turns out that all day parking – right up by the entrance! – was only $8.00 all day. Cool! We paid that and showed our passes and made our way through the park. The Oregon Zoo is the oldest zoo west of the Mississippi, opened in 1888. Of course, it is completely remodeled and looks as good as any zoo we’ve been to. They have several specific areas: Great Northwest, Elephant Lands, Pacific Shores, Predators of the Night, Africa, Condors of the Columbia. They are rebuilding Polar Passage, Primate Forest, Black Rhino, Chimp Viewing so they were not open. Something to go back to at another time.

Penny says we need this pool in our back yard for Rylee! 

 

After we left there, we headed up the hill to the Pittock Mansion. 

One of Portland’s first families, Henry and Georgiana Pittock had both crossed the Oregon Trail in the 1850’s. Henry started the Oregonian newspaper and together they helped put Portland on the map. They built their mansion with the latest and greatest amenities and lived the ‘gilded age’ rather nicely. Their home is certainly grand and the City of Portland has saved it and restored it to the glorious stately manor it is today. Our pass also got us free admission here. The self-guided tour lets you see all of the floors and rooms at your own pace. Plus, you can roam the grounds and get a great view of the city sprawled out before you. It was a little cloudy but we could even see some of Mt Hood in the distance.

Georgiana also was instrumental in establishing the International Rose Test Garden, farther down the hill, in Washington Park.  We stopped there and Penny and I walked it a bit (Lydia’s feet were telling her she was done for the day!). Even though it was past its peak blooming season, the grounds were still very pretty, with hundreds of thousands of roses looking and smelling wonderful.

We finally made our way back home, fighting the usual I5 southbound traffic along the way. On the way down, we called the jury hotline number and found that both the girls have to report in. Penny goes in on Wednesday, Lydia on Thursday. We dropped sis off and then went to get dinner at Stick a Pork In It, the food truck we love up here. Penny called ahead and ordered and told them she was paying for us so they wouldn’t take our money! We had porkadillas and street corn and brought it home. Yummy!  Rylee was sure glad to see us. Kirk and Caleb came by and made sure she got fed and exercised mid-day, but she was ready to have us come home! After dinner, we played with her and then we were pretty much done for the day and hit the bed early after a long day!   

Saturday, September 15th, 2018…...  We decided to stay home for the day. Turns out super mutt wouldn’t leave our side anyway!  She wasn’t going to let us go unless we took her too! So, the only thing we had planned for today was to cut back the grapevines a bit. They have taken over the apple tree and made their way over those and on to the tops of the blueberry cage.  I only had so much room in the trash container so we had to cut each vine into small pieces so they would compact better. My sister came by and she and I cut vines. Lydia came out later and harvested some grapes (now that she could see them!) for Tim & Dana and for Penny and her neighbors. Even with Kirk and Caleb taking what they wanted, we still have a mess left out there. We filled up the trash container plus three extra cans for next week and called it a day. Penny went home and we came in and cleaned up and rested for the day.

Sunday, September 16th, 2018…...  Today we rested and did absolutely nothing. We got rain last night and the field grass got a good soak. We have on big-leaf maple out in the back along the tree line that I was going to run a garden hose to, but I think we’re past the heat now so we should be fine. I will do one more mowing before the rains come and it gets too wet. I also will have the west 40 mowed one more time before it’s too late. It was nice and dry after noon so we could get Rylee out for a while. She did find Ollie out and hightailed it over there before I could tie her up. She knew she was in trouble but at least she got some exercise!   Like I said, we did nothing – watched tv and took naps.