Moving and Another Ride

We were lucky enough to be able to extend our stay at Columbia River RV RV Park, but we had to move from our premium spot, site #37, to site #155 in an older section of the park.

It was extremely tricky to get into the site. The approach road is not very wide and there is a concrete block wall along the edge. The site is narrow, and in the back there are obstacles on both sides of the drive (a tall post with a sewer vent pipe on the driver side and a large red concrete post on the passenger side). Our turning radius is not small, so we really had to thread the needle to get into the site with only inches to spare. Then we had to reposition carefully side to side to allow for our slideouts. It was a real triumph of teamwork that we got in with no mishaps and still friends!

After lunch we biked to the Columbia Children's Arboretum. We had seen posters advertizing a neighborhood picnic and potluck there coming up on July 30.

It's a small park with an interesting history (see excerpts from a Portland Parks webpage about the arboretum below). We saw several of the state trees, each with a label featuring the state bird, state flower, and state motto in addition to the state tree. Some trees are so popular that two or three states have chosen them.

The Blue Spruce is claimed by both Colorado and Utah. Colorado calls it the "Colorado Blue Spruce."

After we left the arboretum we headed out to ride along the Mighty Columbia River once more. I find it fascinating and awe inspiring.

Here's part of a Portland Parks website describing the history of the arboretum (http://tinyurl.com/gtdc7v7):

Columbia Children's Arboretum

10040 NE 6th Dr 

General Info

Acreage: 28.80
Acquired in 1999

.........

When Portland School District acquired Columbia School, it was designated as a middle school. The local youth who attended the school were primarily a very transient population, well below the city average in both education achievement and economic levels. In a goal to strengthen the basic curriculum through science-centered projects, Principal Bill Warner proposed a new program titled Growth through Research, Organization & Work (GROW). Students studied math, language arts, social studies, health, and science as they worked on the 28-acre site that became known as the Columbia Children’s Arboretum.

The land started out as a tangle of blackberries in 1965, but by 1970, students and families had planted 8,000 trees. Students began by planning three different scenarios for the development of the land. An orchard and organic garden was chosen for the area adjacent to NE Sixth Ave. An arboretum was designed for the land on the south side of the drainage ditch with intentions to solicit and plant trees from every U.S. state. The area furthest from Sixth Ave was planned as a natural area where indigenous plants and animals could provide a tranquil setting for study.

Before long, the creation of a garden and arboretum became a community project. Organizations of all sorts began to help the school create its dream. Edward Maddix, a Tigard architect provided construction drawings for the site. Students and staff approached the U.S. Marines for assistance with heavy land moving. Bulldozers were brought in to remove the blackberries and create a pond with an island. The Oregon Association of Nurserymen supplied trees, the Rose Society donated roses for the garden, the pond was stocked with fish by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Rotary Club provided tree labels, and the list goes on. The architect worked with students to design a study shelter that was adopted by Women in Construction. Remnants of the beginning of the shelter still remain, although its construction was limited by the fact that utilities could not be brought to the site.

In 1977, Portland Public Schools built a bus barn on the site of the organic farm area. Eventually, changing demographics in northeast Portland reduced the need for Columbia Middle School, and it closed in 1983. Classes at Whitaker School, located three miles from the arboretum, adopted the GROW program in the 1980s and planting increased. However, the distance between the school and Arboretum became a problem and the program only lasted until the early 1990s. A few classrooms around the district continued to use the Arboretum for field trips. The most constant visitors were neighbors from the new housing developments on the east side of the Arboretum. The neighborhood association created a Columbia Children’s Arboretum Preservation Committee to develop goals and activities in the Arboretum. It has sponsored work parties on a monthly basis for over 10 years.