Portland: Leach Botanical Garden

We visited Leach Botanical Garden for the first time on a chilly but sunny day in January.

We like botanical gardens in general, but we were especially interested in the aerial tree walk.

While boardwalks are a common feature for many gardens and wetlands, this one stands out due to its position on the hillside terrain.

Most of the garden is on one level, then down a relatively steep hill there is the Manor House and East Terrace. (Then if you cross the Back 5 and the creek, there is an outdoor kitchen and stone cabin.) 

Trees grow everywhere, and the walkway gives you a view of the garden level, the house level, and the trees all around.

There were also many interesting and inventive resting spots.

This included some more sheltered areas and areas where you might be able to get warm.

There are rental and event options available.

There is an emphasis on education, largely with school programs but also with signs and labels. 

Being there in winter is a different experience than we might have in spring or summer, but there were still some blooms.

There can be the option to go back, but there have been some funding issues, a common problem for many institutions lately.

Information on donating and volunteering is available on the web site. 

Some of those volunteering opportunities relate to the "Back 5" project, focusing on ecosystem restoration and habitat enhancement.

There are always plenty of good things to do.

Also, this dinosaur may seem kind of random, but I like it.

COVID:This was very much outside for us, as we did not visit inside the Manor House. 

Accessibility: This is mostly pretty good. Paths are smooth and navigable up top. 

However, if there is an interest in going to another level, that is probably best done by driving. Even though there are switchbacks and short steps to keep it from being too steep, that makes it longer. Then you would need to get back up.

There is limited parking below, so the web site recommends letting them know at the Visitor Services Booth. They were very friendly and should be able to make sure that there is a spot available. 

https://www.leachgarden.org/

Wilsonville, Oregon: Walt Morey Park and heARTs of Wilsonville

My family lived in Wilsonville until I was six and we moved out to Aloha. (The old neighborhood is now Bullwinkle's.)

A lot has changed since then, including a proliferation of parks with some interesting features. I remember one park from when we were there. 

There are also considerably more homes, businesses, and public buildings, so that tracks, but it was mostly the parks we recently visited.

Our first object was viewing heARTs of Wilsonville, where ten fiberglass arts were painted by local artists.

The hearts were introduced in April, then placed in the parks in May. 

They are slated to be on display for at least a year. That phrasing leaves the possibility of longer, but there is always the possibility of them being moved or auction, looking at similar projects other cities have done. 

I appreciated that the hearts were easy to find.

Sometimes the parks were not so easy to find. The map we were using was not to scale, so even though none of the distances were that far, they were farther than the map indicated.

However, once you got to the park, the heart was usually in plain sight, possibly even visible from the road as you approached.

Even with the largest of the parks, Memorial Park, where there were two, the map told us that they were at the tennis courts and the Nature Play Area. 

There was a nice variety of arts and art styles. If flowers were a common theme, there's a certain logic to that when you are walking around parks.

Exploring the heARTs exhibit can also be a good introduction to new parks and neighborhoods.

I didn't know all of this was there.

That also goes for Walt Morey Park, where there were no hearts.

Speaking of a long-ago childhood, Walt Morey was a popular author of books for young readers, generally focused on animals. There are some similarities to Jack London, but writing for a younger audience.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Morey 

His most famous creation was Gentle Ben, a big Alaskan brown bear befriended by a boy.

I read as many of those books as the library had after he visited my school (around 1980). Not only was the 1965 book popular, it inspired a movie, then a television series that ran from 1967 to 1969. Clint Howard played the boy, but Ben's portrayer Bruno has a pretty impressive resume as well:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4184248/?ref_=tt_cst_t_4  

Walt Morey park has the small bust and plaque for Morey, but also a big bear statue, as well as several smaller bears scattered around. I can't really fault the logic. (The library has a statue of Morey.)

The park is part of Morey's Landing, a development built on Morey's property after it was sold by his widow. It seems like a nice neighborhood park, but we were there for the bear.

COVID: This is all outside and there were no situations that were really crowded, though obviously that can change. The weather was nice considering, but it was still February.

Accessibility: This is also pretty good, with smooth paths and nothing too far hidden. Getting right up to Ben would involve going on grass. 

Some of the parks did not have great parking options, but we were not spending a lot of time in any one spot so that did not affect us.

Then, for other park amenities it would just depend.

https://www.wilsonvilleoregon.gov/bc-achc/page/hearts-wilsonville-many-cultures-one-heart 

https://www.wilsonvilleoregon.gov/administration/page/public-art-exhibit-open-may%C2%A0ten-hearts-be-placed-around-wilsonville

https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/35069