What’s to Love: Playdate PDX features a 7500 square foot indoor play space for kids, which is certainly one of the nicest I’ve seen in the last three years of Portland Family Adventures. The facility is perfect for parents who want to both interact with their kids and relax a bit. The business model is another home run in a town that offers so many great opportunities for families.
Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve is just outside downtown Hillsboro, Oregon. It’s a nice location for hiking with younger children and viewing birds/wildlife. There is a beautiful Education Center with a gift shop and exhibit hall.
Read More
What’s to Love: Foster Burger hand-grinds local (Lexington, Oregon) beef into some of the best burgers we’ve had in Portland. They are just ridiculously good. If you don’t believe me, perhaps you’ll believe Bon Appetit Magazine who named Foster Burger as one of the Top 10 Best New Burger spots for 2010! “Burgers here taste of local artisanal ingredients: house-ground beef from Lindsey Ranch, Beecher’s cheddar, and Rogue Creamery blue cheese.“ The buns are made in-house as well as pickled vegetables, hand-cut fries, and some very good coleslaw.
What’s to Love: File this under “MUST VISIT NOW!” This place is AMAZING! Even a week after the visit, our kids were still talking about it, and I’m trying to fully grasp and articulate our experience. I cannot believe we hadn’t visited these incredible museums. Out in what seems like the middle of nowhere, Portlanders have access to aviation and spaces museums that rival anything you’d see at Cape Canaveral or Washington D.C., or anywhere else for that matter. These museums are squeaky clean, full of helpful volunteers, and will literally make you just stare around in awe.
What’s to Love: When we used to live in Northeast Portland, we’d frequent Fernhill Park with our dog. As you can see, there is PLENTY of green space for romping, stomping, running, and jumping. With the tall trees providing cover on the north end, this is a stunning park and the perfect destination if you feel like you need a little space.
What’s to Love: Located just to the west (and below) Sellwood Park, Sellwood Riverfront Park often gets passed-up as bikers cruise the Springwater Corridor and cars zip by on the way to Oaks Amusement Park , Oaks Rollerskating Rink, or hiking in the nearby Wildlife Refuge. Too bad! Just like many inner southeast parks, this is one you don’t want to miss.
What’s to Love: North Portland – so many parks, so little time! Yes, Columbia Park is awesome, and it has a pool. Pier Park has a pool, an 18-hole disc golf course, and an amazing skatepark. Of course, there is Peninsula Park, Smith & Bybee Wetlands, Kelley Point Park, and many other little gems scattered across “the Gateway to Nature.” How does Kenton Park rate? Well, if they were to add a new playstructure, Kenton Park would be right on-par with the many beautiful parks in North Portland. Chances are, if you don’t live in North Portland, Kenton Park isn’t even on your radar – until now!
As adventure-loving-parents, you must become familiar with Portland’s very own Joe “Metal Cowboy” Kurmaskie. I can’t believe I just read my first book by Kurmaskie (Mud, Sweat, and Gears). Where have I been? I rarely do this on the site, but I want to encourage you all to order his book as soon as possible! If you PayPal him directly at: mtcowboy@teleport.com, he’ll give you free shipping and the book for only $20! That’s an incredible deal!
This book will inspire you to get up, get out, and have even MORE fun with your family. His wife’s footnotes add to the outrageous, (at times) self-deprecating, bust-out-loud-laughing-humor. I couldn’t put the book down, and I still can barely believe that any family has enough guts (or whatever you want to call it) to do what they did. How did I finally stumble into the Kurmaskie circle?
There I was at a Portland biking event (Expo Center) with my two kids. I was telling one of the event’s sponsors about my Portland Family Adventure website. I went off on how the site has propelled me into travel writing, and how I’ve been able to have so many exciting adventures with my family. The sponsor listened politely. When I finished, he said, “That sounds great, but you gotta go check-out that dude over there – calls himself the Metal Cowboy.”
I quickly answered back, “Oh yeah, what’s so great about the Metal Cowboy.” Actually, I didn’t really say that, but I was thinking it. I was also thinking, “Metal Cowboy?”
The sponsor said, and I could barely believe what I was hearing, “That guy pedaled 4000 miles across Canada with his wife and 3 kids!” What? I made him repeat it to me again. Yep…same thing I thought I heard the first time. Wow…I had to go meet this guy. Mud, Sweat, and Gears chronicles this amazing journey. While bikes certainly make the story impressive, it’s really about how adventure can pull a family together.
So, I did finally make my way over to meet Joe Kurmaskie. He is an engaging guy, which clearly stands out in his writing. In a short conversation, I learned that he has written several books, biked across African nations, the Australian Outback, and across the USA with his sons and his father’s ashes. I stood there in disbelief. Really? I had about a million questions I wanted to ask him, but he seemed more interested in my own kids, and listening to a story I told about my son Rhys riding Pedalpalooza when he was 3 1/2. What a day…
Technorati Tags: family, cycling, adventure, kids, bikes, distance, Kurmaskie, Metal Cowboy
What’s to Love: Despite being sandwiched-in between some nasty industrial businesses, Smith & Bybee Wetlands Natural Area is an excellent family-biking destination with several options for family fun. You may just need to hold your breath every now and then.
“The Playground Gym provides kids with an environment that nurtures physical, mental and emotional development. Kids are built to play, and skills learned from physical activity combined with social interaction are the foundation of a healthy life. For many parents, its easy to forget the energy and curiosity that we took granted as children.” (http://www.theplaygroundgym.com/about/)
Read More
The Department of Skateboarding is an indoor skate park in North Portland near the Rose Garden arena. They have kids’ lessons every Saturday morning from 9AM – 10AM. The kids who participate in the lessons get to stay until 1PM. Excellent for beginners!
Read More
Pier Park is yet another excellent North Portland Park featuring an challenging 18-hold disc golf course, an outdoor skate park, and an outdoor pool! This destination park has a little bit of everything for the whole family. If you have yet to visit, I suggest heading up to St. Johns before the rainy season hits in North Portland.
Read More
Ibach Park is located 15-20 miles south of Portland off I-5. It has an award winning playground with some interesting playground gear. The park is super clean and well kept.
Read More
Columbia Park is located in the Portsmouth neighborhood in North Portland. It has one of the new water/spay features for kids to play in. It also has a nice indoor pool.
Read More
What’s to Love: Beaverton City Park is located right next to the city library. We first visited on a very hot day when my son was around 3 years old. As you can see in the first video clip below, he was pretty spooked-out by the vertical row of spraying jets, so he just hung out on the fringes. I literally had to pick him up and run with him through the spray. This is your basic fountain with nothing too fancy, but it certainly can cool you off on a hot day. Plus, it’s a good fountain for all ages.
What’s to Love: Spielwerk has long been my favorite toy store in Portland. The owners (Sonja Barclay & Stacee Wion) filled a stellar Sellwood location with Waldorf-inspired toys, games, tools, and art supplies. Forget about the plastic junk you’ll find at places like Toys R Us – this is a Portland original featuring toys that you’ll hang onto for years and years.
Plus, you’ll feel good about supporting a local business like Spielwerk. It’s obvious Sonja and Stacee realize the importance of building strong relationships with their customers and the community, which is why they host some inspired “werkshops” for kids and their parents.
Read More
Safari Sam’s Jungle of Fun has Oregon’s largest indoor jungle-gym/playstructure. Your kids will have a great time running around in the jungle gym, playing 18 holes of miniature golf, and having fun with arcade-type games. It’s the perfect location for a birthday party. They also have a sports-gym that can be rented out.
Read More
I don’t think it’s a big revelation to anyone that our incredible fall weather is winding down. At Portland Family Adventures, we had a very active summer. Since June 1st, we’ve published 34 articles, and experienced a 2500% increase in site traffic! We published two of our most popular articles “Tips for Biking with Kids” and “Top 10 Summer Activities.” In that same vein, I’m going to highlight some of our favorite rainy-day-activities. Although the outdoor activities may start to decrease, remember that Portland Family Adventures documents indoor activities as well.
Read More
What’s to Love: Awesome indoor playpark! When I’m out investigating businesses that bill themselves as “family friendly,” it’s obvious that the majority of these businesses have good intentions. However, all too often, I’ve discovered the list of caveats to be as long as the list of good intentions. For example, your kids may have a great time somewhere, but exorbitant costs come close to driving you into bankruptcy! It’s definitely hard to find a place with high marks in a wide variety of areas (e.g., decent food, fair prices, accessibility, plenty of options for fun, low stress, etc.). Well, I’m happy to report that “Out of This World” owners Don and Linda Milford used their good intentions wisely, and absolutely nailed the indoor playpark concept! This is without a doubt the best multi-use, indoor playpark in the greater Portland area. Here is why…
