As you’ll be aware by now, I’m not trying to see and do everything in my travels, or even to see the most popular tourist attractions, but merely to do things that interest me at the time.  When I reached Portland, Oregon, I was in a quieter mood, and just wanted to do something peaceful for the day.  Washington Park in the center of Portland is home to the International Rose Test Garden, and also a lovely Japanese garden, and wandering around there was just the perfect way to spend the day.

I don’t know if it’s always like this, but the number of roses in bloom was almost unbelievable, and the scent of them all together was extraordinary!

There were quite a few people around, but I had no trouble finding parking, and there were fountains and benches enough for anyone who was tired of walking.

I’m a fan of apricot roses, so loved this mass planting.  In general, similar types and colors seemed to be grouped together.

How perfect…

And this sweet little miniature rose was just flawless….

These tea pots in the rose garden gift shop might have become part of my collection… if I still had a kitchen…

The Japanese garden was a bit of a climb to the top of the hill, but worth the effort.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find it as peaceful as I had hoped — I like to sit and think in these miniature landscape gardens, but others like to talk.  Hm.

The koi in the fish pond were some of the biggest and most colorful I had ever seen, and obviously used to being fed, so very friendly.

My favorite are of the garden was this waterfall pool…

Just as I was leaving, after a beautiful and relaxing day, I found this lovely view of Mount Hood over the city of Portland.