Stopping to Smell the Roses

I took my brother and his wife to Washington Park for the afternoon.

Washington Park

Did I mention that it was GORGEOUS in Portland on Thursday? It’s really summer! We walked around the Rose Gardens and smelled all the flowers.

Some had no scents.

Some were so aromatic I felt intoxicated by them. I didn’t want to stop smelling the beautiful rose.

We did a lot of walking amongst the roses. It seemed like everyone else in Portland decided to come out and enjoy the gardens too.

Rose Garden

There were some fantastic views of downtown Portland and also Mt. Hood. I wish I could have gotten some photos of that!

It was actually pretty hot on Thursday! I was wearing shorts and tank top, flip flops, and was sweating. It’s a nice change from the rainy, cold winter we’ve had.

Next to the Rose Garden was the Shakespeare Garden: “Dedicated in 1945, the Shakespeare Garden, donated by the LaBarre Shakespeare Club, was originally designed to include only herbs, trees, and flowers mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. The garden continues to honor the Bard with roses named after characters in his plays.”

It looked like the perfect place to have a wedding. The Rose Garden is a very popular wedding place in Portland and there’s a very long wait-list! I think the Shakespeare Garden is the perfect location. It was beautiful.

After exploring the Rose Garden, we went up to the Hoyt Arboretum and walked around the trails there for a bit.

Hoyt Arboretum

We saw a deer on the trail! He was too fast for me to get a picture! I was so surprised to see a deer in the middle of a very popular part of Washington Park–and in the middle of the day, too!

I’m standing on a hill in that picture above. 🙂

After the hike, I dropped them off at the train station.

Train Station

It was a sad goodbye for me. They live in Philadelphia now and I only get to see them once –maybe twice a year. I wish I had the money to visit them back East.They are up in Seattle for the next few days visiting family and then they head back to Philly.

On another note, I went swimming on Thursday morning before they arrived. I felt okay in the pool. I felt even better in the hot tub. I didn’t have too much hip or butt pain. Really, the only pain or discomfort I had throughout the day was whenever I went up or down stairs. Clearly, the stairs are what did me in, so I need to stop that.