Getting in the pool to warm up

Only in Portland do you think to yourself, "It's kinda cold and wet outside... I know, let's go to the pool!" Jr. Villager and I piled in the car and headed over to The Southwest Community Center Pool today for "family swim". We were not alone. Well, We met one of Jr. Villager's school friends there, and quickly ran into another one in the water. I'm telling you, half of SW Portland was at the pool today. It was a mob scene in there!

If you haven't been to the Southwest Community Center, you should consider a visit. The center is quite large, although it only takes up about a quarter of Gabriel Park's 90+ acres. I was just thinking to myself last night how big the park was before the center went in, and it's still huge. If not Portland's largest park, certainly high on the list. But I digress.

We stashed out towels in one of the cubby holes and hit the water. The center features a full-on lap pool, but that's not really the point. The point, especially for those of us with small kids, is the activity pool. There's a sloping bottom entrance and an expansive shallow end with one of those Rube Goldberg water squirting contraptions that will look familiar to anyone who remembers the game "Mousetrap". But the main draw is The Big Blue Slide. Oh yes, this is a major waterslide. This ain't no 70's era ladder-and-slab slide, oh no. We're talking about a serious slide. One that adults can enjoy. Gotta carry kids below 48" on your lap, but you can still pick up speed. This thing is tall. So we went down the slide a few times, and hung about in the water.

If you think I'm joking about going to the pool to warm up, I'm not. The pool is heated to 89 degrees (says the website) and it's true. It's rather bath-like in there. Just the thing for a chilly summer day. Don't you just love Oregon summers? However, the heat, and the pool's popularity remind me of the big downside of the pool - it is heavily chlorinated. Goggles are highly recommended.

Lots more stuff goes on at the community center. I'll write about it sometime. I remember when the things was approved, Mrs. Villager and I were rather upset that "they" were stealing so much of our park for this huge center, but in retrospect - it's been great. The City did a great job. As you would expect in present-day Portland, it's all puffed up with eco-features and political correctness, but in the end it's just a great place to hang out.

Except for the chlorine. Man, it's hard on the eyes.