Tigard, Oregon: Return to Cook Park

 It is a matter of great personal triumph to tell you that we found all five pumpkins this year.

Last year we tried, but an icy wind chased us from the park before we could complete the hunt.

https://sporktogo.blogspot.com/2020/10/tigard-cook-park-and-pumpkin-scavenger.html

We wanted to visit the park again well before the next scavenger hunt. We even made plans, but that day the park was closed due to flooding after a lot of rain.

One thing I saw more this year is how the scavenger hunt works well to get people more familiar with the park. The overall path of the pumpkins gives kind of a circle of the park, and covers different uses.

We did not even know there was a basketball court or an area for volleyball.

While there are several soccer and baseball fields, one set of them is in use much more frequently, and we have avoided that side. Turns out there is more than busy game fields over there.

We knew there was a dock, but we hadn't made it there. In fact, we had not quite understood where it was located within the park.

We knew we were getting closer when we so people carrying kayaks and inner tubes, but we also found some nice seating areas there, for those who just want to watch the water.

One thing we had not thought about is that only following foot paths would not get us there. There needed to be something more like a road. Even small water craft can be difficult to carry.

That being said, the paths were often wide enough that they could be hard to distinguish from the roads.

There was a pumpkin in the butterfly garden again, though one possible issue with only making it to Cook Park in October is that we have never seen any butterflies there. There have been plenty of bees.

One of the most interesting sites was a newly added accessible play structure, with some fun features that allow for trying different things.

Accessibility: This has seemed pretty good, even before the new play structure. Individual bathroom stalls did still seem like they might be difficult to navigate for some mobility aids, but I am not sure.

COVID-19: Everything is outside, so it was less of an issue, but I did see people observe masking and social distancing. That would probably be more important at the soccer, baseball, and softball games.

Pumpkins will still be out through the 31st, but I assume the prizes have all been claimed now. The prizes were for free admissions to Kids' Night Out, continuing with the theme of getting to see what Tigard Parks & Rec has to offer.

Those offerings are impressive.
 

https://www.tigard-or.gov/recreation/

OMSI: 15 Days of Laika, through October 31st

OMSI is celebrating Laika's 15th anniversary with 15 days of all five Laika film screenings in the Empirical Theater.

That gives you an average of about three years to make an animated film. That sounds about right, though the release schedule doesn't exactly match up.

During this time, they also have special exhibits of characters and sets.

The display cases don't allow for perfect photos, but I love the action of the zombie clinging to the van in ParaNorman, so that picture with glare is included.

Enriching the exhibits, there is some explanatory signage with the displays, but there are also scheduled talks from various Laika personnel.

For example, today's speaker is Brian McLean, Director of Rapid Prototyping (3-D printing).

That makes this a great opportunity for people interested in animation and film and those technologies, but it could probably be pretty interesting just for fans of the films as well.

15 days isn't very long. It's already half over. If you have any interest at all, better get there now! Access to the exhibits is included with either film or general OMSI admissions.

https://omsi.edu/laika-at-omsi

COVID19: OMSI is enforcing masking and social distancing.

Accessibility: OMSI has accessible parking, elevators, and seems pretty good for mobility issues. The lighting in the Laika exhibit is fairly low with some small spotlights, and nothing strobe or flashing.

Wilsonville, Oregon: Spooky Farm Walk at Frog Pond Farm

 We returned to Frog Pond Farm last weekend for some Halloween fun.

The Spooky Farm Walk is available Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights for the month of October.

We reserved the 5:00 PM time, not because it was $3 cheaper ($12 versus $15), but because we wanted to do the course in the daylight. That seemed a little safer, in terms of avoiding falling in mud.

The path was surprisingly dry given the downpour that had just happened between our arrival at the farm and our starting the path. They do recommend dressing weather appropriately. Another group there had a member in shorts, and we heard him saying he wanted to go home.

It was a hard and cold rain, but then, after a few minutes it cleared up, and we started on our path. It had an awful lot of evil babies.

A two-headed rodent of somewhat unusual (but not Princess Bride) size.

So many clowns.

We had friends who did it at night, and found it much scarier. Not only does the darkness add to the atmosphere, but after dark the trail is "haunted", with live people who may or may not jump out at you.

I don't regret how we did it, but even in daylight there are some things that are pretty effective.

For one thing, they do use animatronics, but they are on a delay. You often don't know that something is going to move at all until it moves right next to you.

Also, there are constant sounds, where you don't always know where it is coming from. That would be much worse in the dark.

It doesn't seem like this could provide that much illumination.

This little girl's foot fell off right as we were coming to her. I am not sure how intentional it was, but it still worked.

Even the weather added to the atmosphere. In addition to the sky being dark, many of the creatures had tarps near them. I assume it was for rain, but they seemed to be forming ghostly shapes, or perhaps a bag to catch you.

Just keep in mind, sunset is going to keep getting earlier, all through the month.

And some things are going to feel different in the dark.

The Spooky Farm Walk is not the only way to enjoy the farm.

There is also the pumpkin patch and farm zone, with farm animals and play areas.

As long as your children don't get mixed up with those evil children on the trail, it should all be fine.

COVID: As most of the activities are outdoors, this is not too much of a concern. Employees are masked and visitors should be masked when in the store or at the ticket booth.

Accessibility: The farm zone would probably be fine, but the trail for the spooky walk has a mix of ground, gravel, and bark pieces, and it does have elevation changes and one short tunnel to crawl through, so probably not ideal for mobility issues.

https://www.thefrogpondfarm.com/

Powerland Pirate Halloween Trolley Adventure

You may know that in Brooks, Oregon (just outside of Salem) there is a 62-acre parcel of former farm land that provides space for 16 museums, societies, and associations, mostly related to vehicles and farm equipment.

You may also know that one of these museums is the Oregon Electric Railway Museum, with a large collection of trolleys and streetcars from all over Oregon, as well as historical information about their use in Oregon. (The museum was formerly located in Gale's Creek, Oregon, but the harsher weather was not good for the trolleys.)

What I am telling you in case you don't know is that they are celebrating Halloween with a pirate-themed adventure!

On weekends through the rest of the month, you can have a fortune teller send you on a quest to retrieve the portal stone. The portal sucked in a pirate ship and let strange creatures out, so finding the stone will allow things to be set right again.

A pirate map provided three important landmarks to look out for on the way to Yellow Bone Park, where the portal stone resides.

Obviously, the event is designed for children, where they are encouraged to call out the landmarks and keep track of the password and help keep the adventure on track.

But also, they get to ride a trolley, past other trolleys, looking for Halloween-themed things.

A scarecrow was one of the land marks...

... as was a skeleton on a watch tower.

"Fire" truck may have had a double meaning.

Once arriving at Yellow Bone, the password was provided so that the portal stone could be given to our pirate conductor. However, it still needed to be placed on the Wizard's Pillow.

That involved gaining access to the FBI guarded warehouse, full of strange creatures from the other dimension where the pirates had gone.

I was especially impressed with the efforts put into the decorating of the trolleys.

Obviously, we dared.

The low light pictures don't really capture it, but as we went past trolleys fulls of ghosts, spiders, and levitating objects, there was a lot of fun, and a lot of attention to detail.

Nothing should be too scary, even for young children.

We worked our way through one corridor of haunted trolleys, and then we found it: the Wizard's Pillow, ready to receive the portal stone.

All was restored, and suddenly it was like you left the Haunted Mansion and got on to Pirates of the Caribbean (which is completely plausible, as that is all New Orleans Square).

At that point, the next corridor of trolleys was all pirates and parrots. Kids like those too.

The had some nice backdrops set up for photo opportunities, with ships and treasure.

There was some time to mingle with happy pirates, grateful to be brought back to their own dimension

(Actually, everyone was enthusiastic and friendly. The museum and the activity are all volunteer-run, and the volunteers are passionate about their work.)

And then we stepped outside and into the pumpkin patch.

Everyone could choose a pumpkin. They were small, but that did make transport easier. There was also a jar full of fortunes for the adults. (Minors could probably have asked for fortunes if they wanted, but they were not just handing them out.)

At that point there was the option to walk back, and we decided to do that. Everyone else got back on to the trolley.

They pulled up about the same time we did; at that point, there was not much ride left.

And we already had our souvenirs.

https://powerlandhalloween.com/

https://museum.oregontrolley.com/ 

https://www.antiquepowerland.com/ 

Note: In past reviews I have often tried to include information about accessibility and COVID issues, but lately I have been forgetting this as I get into the flow of the review. I shall be including those as separate sections going forward.

COVID-19: While part of the activity was outside, everyone pretty much just kept their masks on, which I think worked well. Parties were scheduled in smaller groups so that social distancing could be maintained as well.

Accessibility: There was no obvious wheelchair option, but I would call and ask, as I found them all very accommodating. Our party did have one cane user, and he seemed to do well. Surfaces were smooth and easy to navigate, though there was one big step onto the trolley.