Chinese Gardens

This morning we woke up and went to downtown Portland. They have a wonderful Chinese Gardens there that Gaynelle and Von have a membership to so we can go any time we like. I had never heard of the Chinese Gardens before but it sounded like fun so we bundled Chance up and off we went. The Gardens really are beautiful even in the winter. They brought in real artisans and designers from China when they built the gardens and it realy shows. There are small mostly open air buildings with walkways in between them and a lake connecting the buildings and flowing under bridges. Within the building and along all the walkways are plants some of which are flowering even in the cold. There are false windows that create a view of a view of a view with plants in between each window. It really is pretty. I can not wait to come back next time we are here to see what the Gardens look like in another season. There is an authentic Chinese Tea Room in the Gardens where we went and Gaynelle and I had some tea and some mooncake which was suprisingly sweet to be made of beans. Chance was very good and really seemed to enjoy the gardens especially all the water and the waterfall. Grandpa Von took Chance out walking around while Gaynelle and I drank our tea. Chance stands up to the cold very well as a matter of fact most of the time he does not even seem to notice except for his nose getting a little red. Next time we come he will be able to toddle around the Gardens himself. It was really nice to see this little piece of tranquility in the middle of such a large city. It was a great idea to come here I really enjoyed it. These last few pictures are just building in the gardens that I thought were pretty. There are more pictures of the Gardens in the Portland trip folder at our New Pictures site.