Renee June 30: The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

With a full day of rest behind us, we all now had cabin fever. Seven people in an RV gets a little tight during the day so we looked to explore some of Portland today. The day dawn bright and sunny and after just two days of rain, this was going to be a nice one.

We set out with directions for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, or OMSI is what the locals call it. It is a great Science center that had much to discover. Bodyworlds 3 was playing but a couple in the group seemed a little more than squeamish and I had already seen it, so we skipped that and instead took in a Planetarium presentation entitled, “Black Holes”, and an OmniTheatre movie titled, “Hurricane on the Bayou”, which gave a 270 degree view of Hurricane Katrina and its effects on the Low wetlands of Louisiana as told through the eyes of a young fiddler girl growing up in the bayou. That last one was a bit dizzying, but was entertaining for all.

The actual museum is reminiscent of the Science Centers of San Diego, only much larger and extremely kid friendly. We explored Reptiles, Food and Nutrition Displays, the Physics Lab, the Chemistry Lab, the Brain Teaser Room and the kid’s ball center. Check out some of the exhibits:


After we had had our brain fill of Science, we returned to Gresham, the suburb in which we are staying , to attend a Barbeque at my Cousin Steve and Cathy’s Home
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This is Steve and Cathy. Steve and Cathy’s daughter Holly had just graduated from college and is headed to graduate school for a degree in Counseling this fall so we celebrated her successes with burgers and dogs, a dip in the pool for the throng a youngsters, and much catching up between all the families. The last time I had seen Holly she was 7 years old so we all had fun discovering how everyone’s lives had changed. The kids had fun with all their new cousins they had never met.

Leah June 30: OMSI

Today we went to OMSI, a science museum. At OMSI we did a lot of things. First we looked at a few experiments. Then we went and saw a movie in the planetarium called Black Holes. A planetarium is a dome shaped building that has the screen on the dome. After the movie we looked at some things that you could do. After we finished the first room there was another room that had brain teasers. I did most of them. When we went into the next room, we did so many things I couldn’t even count.
We did water things and all kinds of other things. Then we went to a movie in the Omnimax Theatre. It was called Hurricane on the Bayou. It was about a family that was living in Loisiana during the time of Hurricane Katrina. The movie was over really fast. So we left for Steve’s house.

When we got to Steve’s house we went swimming. I met Abigail while we were swimming. We played together in the pool until dinner. After dinner we went back in the pool for a while. Then I got dressed. We played keep away with all the kids and Steve and Abigail’s dad Jack for a long time. Cathy made some really good cake. So we ate and played more keep away until we had to go back to the motor home.

Matthew June 30: OMSI

Today we went to OMSI. Are you wondering what OMSI stands for? Well, it stands for Oregon Meusem of Science and Industries. At OMSI we saw two movies. The first movie we saw was called Black Holes. It started at 12:30. Black holes is about how black holes are created. Black holes are created when supernovas blow out. A Supernova is a burnt out star.


When we were done with the movie we went to an excibit. There we got to see reptiles and got to play games. The reptiles we saw were tame rats, a snake, a crab, chameleon, a tree frog, and cockroaches. Next we wet to the Brainteasers room. There we did stuff that confused our brains. My favorite puzzle was where you had to arrange the numbers 1-9 without any touching each other. For example 3 couldn’t touch 2 or 4 diagnal, horizontal, or verticly.

Next we went to the sience playground. At the playground we built an arch, and raced toy boats. In order for the toy boat to go you had build it and then twist the rubber bands around.

Then we saw the second movie called Hurricane on the Bayout. It started at 3:00. It was about when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Then we rode the bus back to the parking lot.

Then we went to second cousin Steve’s house. There , we met for a family reunion. Before dinner went swimming. The pool wasn’t in the ground it was above ground. Soon we had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. After dinner we played keep away from Steve and Jeff. Soon it was time to go.