I tell myself over and over again that I will not continue to zoom through Portland and miss the chance to explore it, which is what has happened the last few times I was in the Pacific Northwest. Again I'm afraid I held to my old habits. I had hoped to spend a little time in this interesting city, but instead I was in and out of there in a matter of hours. Well, counting an unexpected detour into Washington State while trying to find the Portland Airport, I guess I was in and out of there twice for a couple of hours :) I knew we would have a little extra time after checking out of Edgefield, since Dad's flight wasn't until mid-afternoon. He was up for one more photo opportunity, so we looked over the map and then headed across town.
Well worth the wait, we were the first to step into the Japanese Garden when it opened, walking through the lower antique gate and up a winding path to the entrance. Once inside, a sense of peace immediately overtook any pre-airport anxiety. Every inch of the garden is beautiful. We knew we weren't likely to have time to walk through the entire area, so we looked over the brochure and headed in the direction of The Strolling Pond Garden (chisen-kaiyu-shiki), one of five garden styles featured on the grounds. We passed through a wisteria-draped arbor, set to compliment a five-tiered stone pagoda lantern - a gift to the city of Portland from its sister city, Sapporo, Japan. Continuing left along the walkway, we soon arrived at a breathtaking landscape of ponds, iris beds, crane sculptures and bridges, where we meandered in zig-zag fashion, just soaking in the beauty. We would see other areas of the gardens before leaving, but this was absolutely my favorite. The largest of the various gardens, this area consists of a lower pond and upper pond, both equally gorgeous. I paused on The Moon Bridge to watch Dad as he took photos of an outstanding bank of flowers that ran alongside the upper pond. This was the perfect ending of our trip together, this paradise of stone, water and plants - the three elements of Japanese garden design.
We did not have time to make it to The Natural Garden (shukei-en) or The Sand and Stone Garden (karesansui/zen-niwa). But you know what I always say. Just another reason to go back. Leave it to me, however, to bypass the spiritually-rich landscapes of the other garden areas, but find time to stall in the gift shop before leaving. Aside from being a gift shop fanatic (mostly browsing, little buying,) this particular shop had a fabulous assortment of items pertaining to Japanese culture and art, from teapots and sake sets to garden books and jewelry. Proceeds from the gift shop help support the gardens. One especially nice offering is a bundle of admission tickets, which lowers the regular adult fee (6.50 - and well worth it) to as little as 4.50. Lucky Portland-dwellers who can take advantage of this. I lingered as long as possible, or at least until Dad started to pace a little, one or the other ;) Then basically flew across town on the freeway to reluctantly put him on a plane back to the San Francisco area. Fortunately, we had plenty of time, since, as I mentioned earlier, I took a wrong turn on the Interstate and ended up crossing the bridge over into Washington State. Thanks to the help of my AAA map, we just drove along the Washington side of the river and dropped back into Oregon just north of the airport. We had time for a quick lunch after Dad checked in, then off he went into the skies and off I went to find new adventures.
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Portland's 
Before heading out, we had a little time to walk a few more pathways. The Tea Garden (roji) was under renovation or some type of repair, but we saw The Flat Garden (hira-niwa), an expanse of raked sand with two islands of plants. This area was also very calm and serene, with lush, pink azaleas bordering the rippling sea of sand. The plant islands, which rest very low to the ground, portray a gourd/bottle and sake cup, symbolizing a wish for happiness and pleasure for those who visit. Additional Buddhist symbolism of the sake cup's circle represents enlightenment.