Things to Do in McMinnville

The 20,000-square-foot facility showcases hands-on exhibits and simulators devoted to the importance of forests and their role in providing habitat, water, recreation, wood, and a number of other one-word wonders. With the family-plus membership, two adults and all children 18 and younger in the family are free to explore the museum's two floors for a year. The first floor focuses on the Pacific Northwest, entertaining visitors with interactive exhibits such as the Timberjack Harvester Simulator and River Raft Adventure, where visitors can take a simulated trip through class-IV rapids. On the second floor, guests can learn about forest art, history, and culture—hitching a jeep ride in South Africa, touring the Trans-Siberian railway, or swinging through the Amazon rainforest's canopy just like Tarzan did. A number of special exhibits are also available on a rotating basis.

Run by a team of Portland fanatics and passionate cyclists, Pedal Bike Tours shares their enthusiasm for the city through entertaining and accessible tours. The routes take advantage of Portland’s extensive network of bike lanes to meander through downtown, along the Willamette River, and through lush Forest Park. Each guide’s expertise comes in handy on food tours and microbrewery tours, as riders stop for bites or pints and soak up info about each of their stops. A few tours take riders beyond Rose City limits, and include van trips to explore Oregon’s coast or wine country. Pedal Bike Tours keeps tours as safe and comfortable as possible by providing helmets, locks, and lights, as well as rain jackets and jousting lances if necessary.

Hosted by the Rose City Rollers, who dubbed it the Bridgetown Brawl, the 2011 Western Regional Tournament for all-female, flat-track roller derby sends the top three leagues to the WFTDA championships. The ninth bout caps Saturday's brawl bracket with a one-hour avalanche of speeding limbs, determining a contender for the tournament's championship round and, ultimately, WFTDA's domination of every doll-parts factory in the world. Like a turf war on skates, these ferocious femmes use their concrete-inspired blocking skills to get the team's lead jammer from the back to the front of the pack, evading elbow thrusts, hip checks, and both literal and metaphorical clotheslines.

Founded in 1898, a year remembered by fashion historians as "the year of President McKinley eyebrows," the Oregon Historical Society has sought to preserve and promote the history, politics, and culture of the nation's 33rd state through publications, lectures, and the exhibits at the Oregon History Museum. Befriend the past with the Oregon My Oregon exhibit, an award-winning, interactive look at the state's odyssey that features more than 50 displays showcasing numerous artifacts and antiques, including a 9,000-year-old sagebrush sandal. Peace Corps: 50 Years of Service, which runs through June 19, celebrates a half century of peacemaking with photographs, testimonials, artifacts, and personal correspondence from more than 80 Oregonian and Washingtonian volunteers.

Rolling out bikes outfitted with rocket launchers and overdrive, Portland Bicycle Tours is the city’s oldest bike-tour company with experienced guides who prefer bipedals to bipeds and know the area like the back of a hand doubling as an unsanctioned cheat sheet. Regardless of your shape, size, or time dimension, a winsome fleet of two-wheeled rubber burners is gearing up to guide riders. During the River City Bridge Tour, pedal through the sound barrier, causing windows to smash all along the East Bank. There will be a quick pause at the bridge for some scenic snapshots and carefree bungee bicycling. The tour continues across the Willamette River to the roads of West Side and Old Town, where public art displays, parks, and swaying trees compete for the attention of your bucking mechanical beast.

Brody Theater’s battle-tested improv artists throw themselves onstage and embrace unscripted chaos, creating hilarious shows for eager audiences. Friday's 8 p.m. slot is often occupied by "Micetro" or "Theatresports," both competitive improv-offs where observers offer suggestions to build the scenes from scratch. Sixteen improv gladiators stride in to "Micetro," which runs through March 25, but only one rises victorious after the audience votes their numbers down to a one-on-one joke duel. "Theatresports" splits performers into two teams who issue challenges to each other, using audience suggestions to out-funny their opponents. Unlike "Micetro," "Theatresports" is scored by Brody's judges, to whom the audience should direct boos and marriage proposals. Crowds can carbo-load their chuckle muscles with a selection of food and drinks, including wraps (starting at $6), beers (starting at $2.75), and wine (starting at $4).