Portland Hop-On, Hop-off Trolley Tour

You may have seen a big pink trolley going around Portland. We hopped on it last week.

I have always found hop on/hop off tours to be a good way of getting the lay of the land, as well as for transportation to attractions. 

I have used that for getting around in Toronto and Philadelphia, and we had recently taken Gray Line's waterfall tour in the Gorge.

This was the first time we had done it with somewhere so familiar.

I enjoyed the tour information. While there were things I knew, there were other things that I didn't know or had not thought of. 

For example, as we were headed from downtown to Washington Park, the driver pointed out the Pittock Mansion, which you can see. It makes sense, but I had never noticed.

At the same time I had been thinking that with all of the various public transportation options, the hop-on, hop-off option would not be practical;  there are much easier ways to get around.

However, there were people who got off at the Rose Garden and on the Waterfront. They did seem to be from out of town, so they wouldn't know that you could just hop on the streetcar or train or Bus 20, but that makes sense.

We just got on at the first stop at Director Park, and rode the whole thing through once. 

That is a reasonable option, but not the only one.

COVID: We were sitting right by an open window and they were not particularly full, so you could argue for or against masking. Use good judgement.

Accessibility: All of the trolleys have a wheelchair lift, but they do ask for 48 hours notice.

https://www.graylineofportland.com/grayline-of-portland-faqs/ 

https://www.graylineofportland.com/portland-hop-on-hop-off-trolley/portland-hop-on-hop-off-trolley-schedule/

Jurassic World by Brickman at OMSI

Hey look! A baryonyx!

This is the newest of the dinosaurs created by Brickman, but also a relatively young dinosaur, its first fossil being discovered in 1983.

It opens up the Jurassic World exhibition at OMSI, running through September 1st. 

I had thought maybe it was just some prehistoric synergy, but in fact the exhibit is largely influenced by the movie, with various sets and activities relating to the new film. 

For example, the movie currently playing in the Empirical Theater is T-Rex, which deals with three kids discovering a teenage Tyrannosaurus rex fossil and is narrated by Sam Neill. There's not a direct connection, but it's a good fit. Synergy.

Then, looking at the many, many Lego kits on display, I might be a bit more cynical, that it's all just merchandising.

 It's a mix.

 The creations themselves are incredible. There also weren't that many of them.

A lot of the space was taken up with different stations where kids could make their own attempts at building an amusement park or footprints or hybrid monsters.

 I did think it was really clever that for the baby dinosaur enclosure the building material was Duplo.

This means that your children can have a great time with you just letting them play, with lots of different bricks available, interesting themes, and even tips from Brickman.

They are probably also going to request more kits. Check out the displays by the theater!

This made my biggest challenge trying to get pictures without kids in them. I find I don't have any I can use of the first room. Here is a juvenile sinoceratops instead.

 In that photo, you also get a preview of one of the more unique spatial solutions.

Even a juvenile brachiosaurus is quite large. So you have a head here, and then realize that those aren't trees, they are legs.

Then the tail is all the way at the end of the room.

There are things that are cool and interesting about the exhibit, but if you are not going to stay and play with Legos, it is over very quickly.  

 That's okay; I'm just glad we went on the cheap day.

Those ones mean more if you have seen the movie!

(For the record, I have only seen Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World (1997), and I'm okay with that.

COVID: There were so many germ vectors, I mean people, running around. I stayed masked, but I have also had something in my throat all week. Higher population may be one of the downsides of the cheap day.

Accessibility: This is pretty good, including a full and sturdy ramp for the photo opportunity in the Jeep(also made of Legos and with flashing lights!) being pursued by the T-Rex 

However, the path of the exhibition does include a pretty long flight of stairs. You can exit the room and take an escalator or elevator, then get back in, but it does disrupt the flow.  

 https://omsi.edu/exhibits/jurassic-world-by-brickman/

 

Hillsboro -- Neon Momo Claw Machine Arcade

We loved Neon Momo!

Okay, us enjoying a claw machine arcade is not that surprising, but I think we liked it more than Claw City.

The arcade is smaller than some, but there is a great selection with it feeling more airy and spacious.

Some of that may be timing. We had apparently missed one rush, and shortly before we were done a couple of other people came in. As it was, our experience was that there were plenty of machines and room to move.

Part of that is that instead of cramming in multiple aisles of machines there are some coloring tables. If you have a mixed range of ages, younger ones might get tired of the machines sooner and be glad for the coloring break.

That does not mean that young children cannot use the machines as well. There is a range of difficulty including some that are very easy.

Two machines will keep going until you win a prize with only one swipe.

There were more difficult machines, as well as some different designs.

Regarding degree of difficulty, with the standard machines I would say that it is not cycling through the various levels and they keep them well-stocked. Knowing how to guide the claw still helps, but is the primary risk factor. So, you can do pretty well.

Also, they will still come and offer to fluff up the animals for you if they notice you having difficulty. I finally said yes after I picked up and dropped Pegasus four times. Then he jumped out of the claw again and they gave me a free swipe.

I know I could have gotten more help, but I have my pride and we were all doing okay.

It is currently their one year anniversary, so they are having promotions including raffles and a bingo game. They also gave us each a free tanuki key chain.

The celebrations end July 6th, so today is a great day to go, open from 2 PM to 8 PM. You could get a free tote bag.

Staff was really friendly and prices and rules seem reasonable. We are recommending!

COVID: It is indoors so I do recommend masking. It does feel better ventilated than most arcades I have been in, but you should still wear a mask.

Accessibility: In addition to giving the arcade a more open feel, that there are not multiple aisles would make navigating with mobility devices much easier than some places and the restroom was accessible. Even with plenty of bright lights there were no strobes, and with the easier levels manual dexterity is less of a must. I think this could be a better clawing experience for multiple disabilities.

https://neonmomo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558804125962 

https://www.instagram.com/neonmomo.inc/