Things to Do in West Linn

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.

On the screen before the trainee, an officer is down in the doorway, while down the hall within the scenario, an assailant shields himself behind a hostage. This is just one of the 160 high-definition real-world tactical scenarios—in addition to 180 virtual-range options—that play on the single-screen Threat Alley and 300-degree Threat Arena platforms, immersing marksmen in the kind of training used by law enforcement, the military, and special operatives. Using modified firearms that eschew ammo for an infrared laser and a CO2 system to produce recoil, each computerized simulator calibrates shooters' virtual shots, producing a recap for up to five shooters per round. The tactical scenarios also supply guests with return-fire belts, which deliver a small shock when either "hit" by virtual enemy fire or when one falls for, "Hey, what's that over there?"

Beyond overseeing their simulated tactical training and virtual ranges, Threat Dynamics' instructors—possessing a mix of military, law-enforcement, and NRA-certification backgrounds—lead classes in both armed and unarmed self-defense.

The entire Earth spins inside of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It's as if visitors have launched into outer space, where they can see everything—clouds forming over North America, hurricanes churning in the tropics, and millions of animals in migration. Night falls, and the major cities light up Earth's continents like misshapen Christmas trees. Just then, the planet disappears, and in its place rises a spinning orb of fire and violent solar storms: the sun. The display, appropriately titled Science On a Sphere, is actually a 6-foot animated globe powered by a series of video projectors. It serves as the perfect centerpiece for OMSI's Earth Hall, which explores geology, tectonics, and everything else that makes Earth a living planet. The hall's exhibits let visitors control wind turbines and launch satellites into space.

Earth Hall is only one section of the museum, however. More hands-on activities wait within Turbine Hall, where kids design bridges and boats. Visitors can tour the USS Blueback, a U.S. Navy attack submarine that guarded the Pacific for 31 years, or gaze towards the heavens inside of Kendall Planetarium, which uses real-time 3D graphics to transport audiences into the very heart of black holes. Even Theory, the onsite eatery, has an educational focus. The restaurant's displays explore food sciences while Chef Ryan Morgan and his team use local ingredients to cook meals in full view.

Although every corner of OMSI sparks scientific curiosity, the museum's educational programs take things one step further. The faculty hosts astronomy camps and teaches 50-minute interactive labs in which kids might make soap or dissect a squid—a requisite skill for any future biologist or sushi chef.

It was 1869 when the Lee family planted its first seed in the soil of Tualatin, Oregon. Today, three generations of the family still keep Lee Farms' lights on and its scarecrows vaccinated. They stock the country store with local produce, 18 flavors of honey sticks, and 17 varieties of jam. In the bakery, the staff hand makes pies each day, baking perennial favorites such as apple and seasonal flavors such as pumpkin.

To keep things fresh, Lee Farms rotates the selection of food and activities each season. In May a greenhouse surrounds visitors in flowers, and in October the farm transforms into a celebration of the harvest season, when guests can pick from 12 varieties of pumpkins. Lee's staff cuts down stalks to make a corn maze and drives visitors on scenic hayrides across the farm while they sample kettle corn and homemade cider.

Movable walls, luminous rocks, mirrors, ramps, and unexpected dead ends. These are just a few of the obstacles players face at Ultrazone Laser Tag, a two-level, 5,000-square-foot arena that, much like a spring-break DJ’s apartment, is always flooded with black light and fog. Before separating up to 36 players into three teams and setting them loose in the arena, a game master delivers rules and moves teammates to the vesting room, where they grab laser guns and flashing vests. As the beat of pulsing music hammers the arena, players stream into the field, launching beams at opponents and attempting to seize their strongholds. When players are hit they aren't eliminated from the action; a computer keeps a running tally of points throughout the mission and awards champion status to the team with the highest count after the game. The facility also includes an arcade packed with video games as well as air-hockey tables, pinball, and a snack area.

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.