Hoyt Arboretum

I can't keep myself away from this beautiful place. I took my friend, Alyssa to the Hoyt Arboretum for a little friend venture on Sunday. I want to take everyone to see this beautiful place. I can't believe I never discovered it before Spring Break, but now that I have discovered it, I am visiting the Hoyt Arboretum often. Before heading out to Washington Park, Alyssa and I stopped at Starbucks and grabbed some drinks for the trip. It was a perfect day for the trip, and frankly, it was the best part of the day. 

Since I forgot my tripod, I propped my phone against my bag, and supported it with my egg and sausage sandwich bag on the tree info sign, and I used the timer on my phone. 

Every time we saw an interesting tree trunk, we felt the texture. The Hoyt Arboretum encourages visitors to touch and feel the textures of what is growing there at the living museum. This tree here is from Japan and South Korea. I think it is so neat that this Japanese pine is so different from the pines we have here in America. When I see the trees that aren't from America, I imagine a foreign forest filled with that particular tree, and it is beautiful. 

This redwood was magnificent. 

Alyssa captured this prize moment of me being very cautious about climbing this fallen log. I had to bear crawl across the log because it was the only way that I felt safe. 

This is what we were looking for. The last time that I visited the Hoyt Arboretum, my sister I couldn't find the root system. Alyssa and I trekked down below the Redwood Trail, and we found this beautiful root system. It is huge, and amazing, and so magical. I was smiling, and I was in awe the whole time. I wanted to bask in the moment of finding what we came here to find. This was the highlight of the trip, and I am so excited that we found it! 

We started on the more foresty side of the arboretum, and then made our way to the scenic side that faces the Zoo. I had to show Alyssa my favorite tree, and the Magnolia Trail of course. We will have to come back to venture around the trails that we didn't get to visit. 

We took pictures of each other taking artsy pictures. The things we do to get a good picture. It's funny. 

This maple leaf was incredibly soft. I did a lot more touch and feel on the plants and trees this trip than I did last trip. It adds to the Hoyt Arboretum experience when you touch and feel the plants. It is amazing what nature can do. 

We went on the right side of the pavillion, and down the path, we found this Grecian Fir tree. The trunk is so different from our fir trees that we have here. There are similarities of course, but with it being from Greece, there are differences of course. 

Washington Park is my favorite place in Portland. It is the park of education with the Oregon Zoo, the Children's Museum, the World Forestry Center, the Vietnam Memorial, the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, and of course the Hoyt Arboretum. After a crazy, hectic past few days, I need another trip to the Arboretum just to clear my head. I think I might head over there next Sunday. There is a lot happening right now, and it has been stressful and overwhelming. When things calm down a bit, and when things start ticking off my list, I will write more details about it. This is a rather large life event :).

This is definitely one of the things that I will miss dearly when I move. The Hoyt Arboretum will always have a place in my heart. 

To learn more about the Hoyt Arboretum, visit here.