I visited with my two grandchildren on a hot day in August and we had a great time. There are many…read moredifferent gardens (butterfly, bird watching, and more). They are interconnected by trails and very shaded. There are many benches to sit on and cool off and enjoy the wildlife. There's a separate hiking trail to a forest and pond. The kids loved the pond and we saw lots of big frogs. I highly recommend spending a couple hours here.

Beautiful botanical garden! Came with a friend for the Art in the Garden exhibit…read more Plenty of flower, shrub and tree varieties. Very calming atmosphere. Plenty of trails to explore and lovely birds singing throughout. There are benches scattered throughout in case you just want to sit and take it all in. There is a parking lot by the entrance and a donation was requested to enter (not sure if this is everyday, or just for the Art in the Garden exhibit). If you're in the area, I would highly recommend!

Stopped by to visit the Musuem to visit and look at artifacts. This Musuem has area maps…read moreavailable for you to pick up. They sell items promoting the City of Sandy. There are coasters and stickers available for purchase. In the Musuem, there is an area to look at the city development . The first church and school built in Sandy. How the city has changed through the years. There are some artifacts that are protected in the glass case. Quite fun to just explore and read about the items . Adequate parking in the Musuem front. It is located in downtown Sandy.

Small museum packed with history and charm. We had the most helpful staff person, Carol, and she…read moreguided us through various exhibits and provided lots of additional context on the local history. Enthusiasm goes a long way when teaching history, and we really appreciated our time at this little gem with its very friendly staff!

Came here for the heritage holiday event, which includes free entry to both the McLoughlin House…read moreand the neighboring Barclay House. We enjoyed it. People were dressed up in period costumes and showed us around the McLoughlin House - it was neat to learn the history, though it could have been made more engaging, particularly for younger people. The house is very dark and it's hard to see - it will be nice to return after the renovation to see it in a better state. The Barclay House is half office, with the other rooms set up as a gift shop and multi-purpose room. Also, the McLoughlin's are buried on the grounds, so that was interesting.

So glad this important piece of history was saved for posterity! John McLoughlin is the Father of…read moreOregon - even through he was a British subject, Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company at Ft Vancouver, Oregon Country. Oregon City is well worth a day to explore - and this museum should be part of your day. 5 excellent historic preservation stars!

We attended the 6th annual Clackamas County Lavender Festival which is held just outside of Carver,…read moreOregon. What a great location. I didn't realize this location was there. I had a great time listening to the band and drinking lavender lemonade. They had several craft vendors on site as well as free demonstrations on how to make lavender wreathes. The Clackamas River Basin Council had a nice set up of native plants in a portable display kind of fun to check out, however, the placement was next to face painting so I don't think they got as much foot traffic as they had hoped for. They had plenty of u cut lavender. I'm sure they will continue to have that throughout the season. Check out the scene. It's really nice there.

Went to their 10'th Annual Lavender Festival for my first time here and it was so lovely! The first…read moresite of seeing fields of lavender just blew my mind as I was in the parking area from afar walking in. I was welcomed with the sound of festivities with live bands, drinks, food, various vendors, and u-pick lavenders with a choice of making it into a lavender bouquet or wreath. This place is beautiful and has efficient sprinkler mist system and waterfall ponds for kids to play in, which was perfect for this very warm sunny day. The festival lasts for two days, so this year it was on June 25-26, 2016. The event is free! I was bummed that I forgot to bring a nice camera. Great lavender fields for photography! The scent of lavender everywhere just adds that aromatic touch to the whole experience. *These lavender bushes attract a lot of bees. There will be many bees per lavender bush, but they don't really bother you.

If you are looking for a unique experience in Portland, you should definitely visit this museum! It…read morewas in a middle of a residential area, as it was inside a residential house structure. From the moment you step inside, you are surrounded by interesting items that catches your attention. The first floor is more like a workshop with few things you can purchase, like really cool looking postcards. The second floor is where you will gasp over and over again. Every inch of the space was filled with oddities and curiosities. It was honestly so memorable and fun in so many ways. The gentleman owner (and creator) of the museum was very welcoming and friendly. We had such interesting time in this museum!

Oddities galore, a very unique museum! It is inside a house on two floors, but I stayed in there…read morefor almost an hour because it was so different from any museum I've ever been to! Some of the displays made me cringe lol (see photo I posted of a skeleton with two heads in a glass dome from artist Kiyomi Hessling). There were other skeletons by her, hair-raising...

If you want to take your family to an old-school county fair, one that isn't over-run with…read morecommercialism, one that is FREE to enter, then here you go! Multiple-generation 4-H clubs! A parade! Carnival rides! Carnival food! Horsies! Moo Cows! Piggys! A Timber Carnival for kids and adults! A FREE fair trolley! Arts, crafts, musicians, way too much to list. And, the most beautiful, awe-inspiring views this planet of ours ever built. Usually the second or third week in August, but check the website: http://www.skamaniacountyfair.com/

So much fun! Small town fair, I have gone since I was a child! If you are looking for an…read moreinexpensive day with the family this is the place to go!

As a person of Japanese descent, I've been meaning to come to JAMO for quite some time. It boggles…read moremy mind that I exist at all. I mean WW2 ended in 1945, my dad was stationed in Japan in the 50s. That's when he met my Japanese mother. Growing up, I did see a little of the prejudice towards Japanese people, and I never understood it. But I grew up sheltered, and had never heard of places like Minidoka. In fact, I was pretty ignorant about this time in history, until I was much older. JAMO has exhibits that are permanent as well as new ones coming in. I saw that they do free First Sunday. I'm glad I went to learn about a dark time in our history.

What a museum! If your grandparents were in the internment camps, you will be emotional. They have…read morea map where the camps were and I saw where my grandparents were. You are immersed in what they went through. I'm happy that this is shown in this museum, a lot of people are unaware this happened to Japanese American's. I hope one day to bring my step Mom, my girls Oba. She is Nisei. I highly recommend coming and experiencing this amazing museum.

A lot of photo (and other) galleries fail somewhat with basic space layout and presentation. Not so…read moreBlue Sky. This is a gallery designed to showcase work and is one of the better laid-out spaces I've encountered. Exhibitions run for just a month, not the more typical six week showing by most galleries.

This was the last stop on my travels around the Pearl and the many art galleries in the area. There…read morewas a showing for two artists going on. Fernando Brito and Kent Krugh. Brito's work was basically crime scene photos in South America but shot within really great landscape pictures. Some were a bit gory, but it was an interesting contrast between great farm scenes or sunsets or a winding dirt road and then you have a body or several with bullet wounds or half covered by tarps. It was a little disturbing. The second photographer, Kent Krugh shot pictures of many different types of trees. The pictures were overlaid and made them appear ghostly with stark blacks and whites to contrast everything. I enjoyed this work a bit more than the other. I was told at another gallery that Christopher Rauschenberg, the son of artist Robert Rauschenberg, and photographer in his own right is the founder of Blue Sky. The space is large and I can't wait to come back to see more great photography here.