Wilsonville Oregon - World of Speed Museum

 We made a family trip to the World of Speed Museum for one specific exhibit. I will write about that next time, but I wanted to give some attention to the overall museum first.

 With a wide variety of racing items in the permanent collection, there is a lot to help convey the excitement of racing.

 It does not end up being only about racing. Seeing the sponsorships on early cars reminds you of old logos and ads that you may not have seen for a while.

 There are also movie posters for car-themed movies.

 Because you listen to music in your car, and there are songs about cars, there is a lot of music.

There is even a little bit about car versus horse, though it was an old car and a really fast horse.

But there are some other things that stood out that seem especially worth mentioning. There was a children's area and there are family programs.

There is an appropriate Northwest focus with a lot of Sasquatch.

Also, with all of that fun memorabilia, the prices were not bad. That includes both the gift shop and the price of admission.

And they did a good job of setting context with the exhibit, but more on that next time.

http://www.worldofspeed.org/

PDX Christmas - Viewing obstacles

My knowing about Maddax Woods, and wanting to go to Peacock Lane because of a photo of a peacock, and wanting to go to the Grotto because of the trees -- all of that came from one Oregonian feature:

http://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2017/11/the_10_best_holiday_light_disp.html

(The pictures online do not match the pictures that were in print, which I was searching online for peacock pictures and found yet another illuminated peacock.)

 The feature nonetheless raised other ambitions, and in some ways led me astray.

That is not only the paper's fault. Something else came from a sense of urgency expressed by my sisters for seeing some things, as life seems so much less stable now. I found I wanted to see them all, and some were certainly not possible (I was sure I was not going to make it to Silverton or Colton), but at least wanted to see what I could do. Then there were issues with inclement weather, human frailty, and also wrong information in the paper.

The first snag was in a plan to go see the Miracle of the Million Lights at the Victorian Belle. My error was in planning to go with other people.

The mansion is easily accessible on the Yellow Line MAX. There is not much room for parking. (We had noticed this last year, stopping on the way home from Portland International Raceway.)

There was some effort to find a ride, which indicated a reluctance to ride the train. (Not everyone is as content with public transportation as I.) Knowing that they had made many visits to Oregon City, I suggested that we go to the Christmas Fantasy Trail at Wenzel Farm instead. The only problem is that we did this on a Sunday night, and they are closed Sundays.

http://www.fantasytrail.com/

Well, I say the "only problem", but it had at least a co-problem in that the Oregonian feature said they were open nightly. That was a long way to drive for nothing, and a waste of valuable time.

I saw neither the trail nor the mansion this year.

I knew I could make it to the Grotto and the Lane on my own, but the first night I had free was one with a refreeze that made the sidewalks very dangerous. It was good that I turned around after getting off the final bus, because the Grotto had closed due to the weather anyway, but that was four hours on public transportation for nothing again.

There is no doubt a valuable lesson here about verifying information and considering weather conditions before you go, though in some ways my lesson felt like it should be more trust no one and get a car, but I did still see some things. We did make it to Maddax Woods, and that would not have been possible practical on the bus. Some plans work out, but there are no guarantees.

Perhaps the greatest failure was not making it to Storybook Lane in Forest Grove, which is only open every other year. Things like that should be considered when priorities are set.

On the plus side, I seem to have found the story behind this display:

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2016/12/300_santa_clones_take_over_a_p.html

And I did see some things I wanted. It could have been much worse.

Next year I'm going to start earlier and be much more aggressive.

PDX Christmas - Peacock Lane

It had been many years since I had visited Peacock Lane. What brought me this time was the peacocks.

I assume the name relates to how the street gets all lit and decorated at Christmas, or maybe that was the original name and it helped inspire the display, or maybe they are all completely unrelated. I had still never literally seen any peacocks there, but a photo in the paper seemed to show one. Trying to find another view on line, I found a different one. It turns out there are four.

I am a sucker for adhering to a theme. Sure, the theme of Christmas (plus one Hanukkah house) is already present, but I really appreciated the residents who incorporated peacocks.

It was also nice to see Zero, at a Nightmare Before Christmas House. Actually, many of my favorite displays referenced beloved holiday entertainment.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (yes, also a book)

A Muppet Christmas Carol

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I'm assuming this is a general Star Wars reference (out of two on the street) and not specific to the Star Wars Holiday Special, based on the inclusion of Yoda, and the special not being beloved or entertaining, at least not in the ways the others are.

The most common criticism I hear of Peacock Lane is that lots of streets (and people) do amazing Christmas displays that make them superfluous now. I get that, and I don't imagine going every year, but it is nice to have traditions, and a place that has been doing this for close to a hundred years now.

https://www.peacocklane.org/

PDX Christmas - The Festival of Lights at The Grotto

The line at the Grotto was long. I don't know if that's because I got there right at opening, because it was the last night of the season, or because Michael Allen Harrison was going to be playing later - maybe it was all of the above - but it was long.

 I definitely saw the value of having purchased tickets in advance. Since I hadn't, I had to stand in a very long line waiting to get them, before then getting into another line to enter.

 I have to say, though, that everyone was pretty good about it. I assumed that most of the labor was volunteer. Some of it may have been paid, but everyone was really friendly, courteous, and helpful. I appreciated that.

 You can tell that a lot of thought has gone into the design.

 As you wind down the initial path, there is another procession alongside: a caravan of sheep, camels, and even people. Recordings play of scriptural passages from the Nativity story.

 Then there is the star, and a sky of angels, and the stable itself.

 That takes you to the main area, and there is plenty to do there.

 There are places to sit and listen to music and there are concessions. I glanced at these but did not really pay any attention.

 I was there for the lights.

 Mainly it was the way that they lit the trees, but also the way some things were hanging.

 There were the reindeer and other shapes as well.

All of that worked together. And honestly, without knowing how crowded or comfortable it gets, the $11 admission getting you a concert is pretty good.

But mainly I was there for the lights, and they were very beautiful.

https://thegrotto.org/christmas-festival-of-lights/