Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery

April 8, 2009 By

bonneville_ladder1

Exit 40 of I-84
Cascade Locks, Oregon

The first time my husband convinced me to stop at the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery, I was skeptical at best. To me, a fish hatchery sounds about as exciting as a coma, but kids love it. You also can’t beat the price (free!) or the stunning Oregon scenery. The dam is about 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon, and perfect for a quick stop after or before entering the city. (Another great–but widely known and easy to spot–option is Multnomah Falls, a bit further west, toward Portland.) The hatchery is set in a nice wooded area featuring lots of, well…hatcheries…and ponds, some featuring sturgeons up to six feet long! At the adjacent dam, learn about the Columbia River’s history and then go downstairs to the large glass viewing window to watch wild salmon ‘jumping’ up the fish ladder as they migrate to the other side of the dam (or go outside and see it up close in nice weather).

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KidZone in Club Northwest

April 7, 2009 By

2160 N.W. Vine Street
Grants Pass, Oregon

You can’t miss KidZone from I-5 (see photo of the outside of the building), but you will be left wondering what it is you’re looking at, it’s so poorly marked from the outside. Put simply, it’s kid-heaven: 60,000 cubic feet of tubes, slides, and ball pits, housed within Club Northwest, a fitness and health club. It’s open to the public, and while it may lean toward the spendy side for a quick pit stop ($6.95 per child admission, parents free), it’s worth its weight in gold on a rainy Oregon day.

KidZone is divided into three sections: Bigs (5 and up), Gettin’ Bigs (2-5), and Lil’ Bitties (under 2). If you have a ‘Bitty’ who has no intention of spending his or her time in the designated 0-2 section, or a ‘Big’ who would rather play in the smaller, more manageable areas designed for younger kids, don’t fear: as long as a parent stays with the child, he or she can wander wherever. The age categories are put in place for local members of the adjacent gym, who have the option of dropping off kids to work out. (But if you see yourself spending quality time in the tubes with an excited toddler, ask for kneepads at the front desk…trust me on this one.)

KidZone also has a great security system in place: no child can leave the facility without his or her wristband matching a parent’s.

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Columbia Park

April 7, 2009 By

559fb87b-cdd6-4d12-912d-c3820bff5253

 Highway 240, W. Columbia Drive
Kennewick, WA

Columbia Park is located in Washington’s Tri-Cities, just off Highway 395 (from I-84 from Portland, OR or I-90 form Spokane). It’s a great place to stop to stretch legs and have a quick picnic. Situated along the Columbia River, the park is over five miles long, but the section you want is at the west end where a large fort-style climbing structure awaits.

The park is free, and there are half a dozen fast food restaurants nearby if you need to grab something to go. Dig swimsuits out of the car, because a great splash park, with fountains, squirt nozzles, and cascading buckets of water is adjacent to the play structure. Picnic tables under shade canopies are available, but fill up fast in the summer. The park is year round, although the splash park shuts off for the winter months.

The only downside: Unless you’re route is taking you northwest on 240, you do have to go several miles out of your way in that direction to get back onto 395 East or West to resume your trip.

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Fairytale Town

April 6, 2009 By

fairytale_town_entry
3901 Land Park Drive, Sacramento CA

I’d like to start this, my first review on this site, with a short story. In the summer of 2008, my mom and I found ourselves six hours into a 10 hour drive with my three kids when we became desperate for somewhere fun to stop. The eight-year-old was squirmy, the six-year-old was getting carsick, and the three-year-old was…being a three-year-old. It was about 2 pm, but despite the 95 degree heat as we rolled through Sacramento, CA, we were ready and willing to break free of the confines of the air-conditioned car for a break. Any break.

I remembered that I’d once heard from a friend of a friend that somewhere in the vicinity was a park to die for: splash pool, huge climbing structure, the works. The problem was, we didn’t know what it was called, so our map and navigation system could only tell us so much. We could see that there were three parks within a ten-mile radius, but without knowing anything about the area, we could only guess which one might be the one we were looking for, or failing that, at least shaded and in a safe neighborhood. We ended up wasting precious time and energy traversing suburbs seeking out a place to stop…and by the time we gave up, the kids were about ready to revolt.*

We ended up at a tried and true favorite for more than one generation of our family: Fairytale Town. …read more»