The Oregon Garden & The Gordon House

Five days until Moving Day!!!  

I can hardly wait and yet I can, because I have a lot to do between now and then, like all the packing and cleaning.  

With our time so short in our current area, we're trying to see all the cool places before we leave.  There just isn't enough time left to visit everything we'd like to.  So we had to be choosey about what we wanted to see.  

We chose The Oregon Garden.  We also chose a gorgeous day to go.  It was warm and sunny with great, puffy, white clouds.  I think it was a good choice all around.  

We went with our good friends from Corvallis.  The children have so much fun together and we all love hanging out with our dear friends. 

We'd never been to the Oregon Garden before.  It's a very cool place.  

It has many flowers, 

but the trees seemed to be the main attraction.  There were trees everywhere.  

 The Conifer Garden turned out to be one of my favorite areas. 

 A Japanese Maple.  I love the color.

On this tree you can see the new pine cones growing upright on the tree.  I don't think I've ever paid attention to how pine cones grow before.  Usually I just see them on the ground after they've dropped.  

 Trees in the Bosque are planted in individual boxes.  

And this is Signature Oak, it's an Oregon Heritage Tree that's over 400 years old.  It's in a grove of White Oaks, many of which are hundreds of years old.  

Birds and Waves sculpture amongst the landscaping.  I love the clouds in this picture.  What a beautiful day it was.  (Today, it's raining, so I'm really enjoying these sunny pictures).

Taylor is standing in front of the Lupine Fugue sculpture. 

This criss-cross path and it's landscaping is called the Axis Garden.  

I've always liked the look of flowers growing amongst the rocks.  This would be the perfect place to get landscaping ideas for your own yard. 

Studying the map.  "I know there's a kid's play area around here somewhere." 

Maybe it's past this sea serpent.  
 

This way to the children's area?  

Not here. 

Or here.  The only thing here are some silly kids.  

 Fanciful fish shrubbery must mean we're close.

A leaping dolphin and "pot people" in the background.  We finally found the children's play area.  Yay!

This butterfly bench,
 

the Hobbit Hole,

and digging for dinosaur fossils were the kids' favorite things in the play area.  

They ran through the Hobbit Hole for awhile, 

but they spent the most time trying to uncover the dinosaur bones buried in the sand. 

In fact, the only thing that convinced them to leave their digging behind was their rumbly tummies.   It was lunch time.  

We enjoyed our lunches in the garden and then wandered around some more.  

When it was time for us to leave, we still hadn't seen everything and we'd spent 4 hours (and over 3 miles) walking and playing in the Oregon Garden.  

On the Oregon Garden property, yet separated from it, is The Gordon House.   The Gordon House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957. 

It was built near Wilsonville, but it was saved from demolition and moved to it's current location at the Oregon Garden in 2002. 

Zoomed in on the wood and glass section, called "fretwork." 

The side porch.  Those French doors have floor to ceiling glass that's 12 feet tall.  The Gordon House is 2,133 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms, plus a den and 3 bathrooms.  It also has a 2-car carport (no garage).  

It's definitely a unique home and it's the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oregon.  Tours are available, but we didn't want to take the time or spend the money.  I would love the chance to tour it someday though.  Maybe when the kids are older and don't feel the need to pick up everything they see.  

So, that was our day at the Oregon Garden.  It was a great day!

I suppose I should really start something in way of packing, but it's still a little early yet.  I can bring in empty boxes, I guess.