Camas / Wasougal

"Let's drive east on Hwy 14 and check out Bonneville Dam.   We've never gone on the tour before."

So we ended up in Wasougal before we knew it.  We saw a sign for a museum and found it right across the street from the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store.  The sign stated, "No Tours today", but we went inside to see what was there.  The store was full of anything and everything Pendleton from shirts to coats to handbags none of which seemed to be any kind of bargain.
  Then it was across the street to see what was inside the small-town museum.  The couple that were working, Joe and Dorthy, moved to Wasougal in 1947 so they were very familiar with the stories of the area.  We spent over an hour talking to these nice people. 
   It was after 1:30 and past "time to eat" and we ended up in downtown Callas, a very cute tree-lined downtown area.  Lunch at Natasia's  ( Russian Goulash for R, Chicken and Mushroom Lasanga for me).
Good choice followed by two antique stores made a great day. 

Yesterday Sunday 8/7/11

Busy day at FOVA.  A wedding on a grassy area with nearby evergreens.  The area was set up when I got to work at 9am.  The ceremony was at 2pm and the area was back to its original state by 5pm.  The transformations in this park are amazing.
  Sunday, a Concourse de Elegance ( which means a fancy car show) was staged on the grass of Officers Row.  Officers Row is a row of about fifteen homes that were built in the 1880s by the Army for their officers.  They have been restored and belong to the city of Vancouver.   Most of them are rented out to businesses, but one (the Grant  House) is a restaurant and the other (the Marshall House) is open for tours week-days and used for parties and weddings on weekends.
  As I walked the girls early sunday morning, cars were arriving and concessions were being set up.  All day long folks came and went to view the beautiful automobles and by 6pm the visitors were gone, the cars were gone, the concessionaires were gone, and just a few folks remained to complete the final clean up.  This morning, the only trace of the event was some pressed down grass in certain areas.  Another successful event came and went.

Being Near the Airport

We are about 1/2 hour from the Portland Airport.  It is convenient if you fly often, but it does have it's drawbacks.  Large commercial jets take off and climb into the skies over the Columbia River which is just south of us.  This is especially frequent in the early morning.  The flights seem to leave PDX every 10 minutes from six to eight am and then several an hour all day long.  If I lived here I would get used to it, but after a month here, I still stop to look.  I am usually walking the dogs and have been checking the departure of a plane with Southwest markings.  Six days a week it passes by at 6:45am give of take 5 minutes.

Vancouver Public Library 7.21.11

Today after water aerobics, R and I went looking for the new brand new Vancouver Public Library.  It open Sunday July 17^th at ‘C’ and Evergreen just west of I-5 in downtown Vancouver.  And what a beautiful place it is!  Five floors, lots of windows, a nice contrast of concrete and steel meeting bright colors.  The third floor is entirely devoted to kids with at least 1/3 of the floor filled with hands-on activities for young ones.   Lots of things that slid, twirled, rotated, stacked, lit up, and generally stimulated young minds.  Made me wish I was young enough to play with them.  (I did turn some wheels and move some balls.)   If you find yourself in Vancouver and have some time check out the library.  It is well worth your time.

     R and I stopped in to see if we get some reading and video items checked out.  We walked up to the counter, told the clerk what we wanted to do and her response was,  “Do you have a library card from somewhere else?  If so you are welcome to get one here.  It is a provisional card meaning you can reserve and check out books from our any of our regional libraries, you just can’t get items from outside.”  She went on to explain that regular members can request books from any library anywhere in the country!  How about that?  We filled out a form and were issued a provisional card which is good for two years.  There was no cost for this transaction.

     It is such a contrast to Eugene’s library system.  Instead of encouraging use of the library, the Eugene library system has an isolationist policy concerning personal use by folks from outside the city boundaries.  If you are not a resident of Eugene, the annual cost of a library card is $80.!!!   I think that it is outrageous!! 

Faucet

    Before we headed to our gig at Cape Blanco, I replaced the RV bath faucet in the trailer with one designed for a home bath.  It looked better and felt much better.  However, within 3 weeks, it failed and the cold water refused to shut off.  There is no Home Depot within 150 miles so I visited a hardware store in Port Orford which had a total of two bathroom faucets to choose from.  The installation went well and did not leak.  I put the defective device in the storage area for later returns.
    When we got settled here in the Portland area, I found the nearest Home Depot, which is about two miles away.  I did get the orignal purchase price credited to my account.  After listening to our story, the female clerk wrote "enternal failure" on the return slip.  Our new faucet has not failed yet.

Fort Vancouver

 

Last night I actually enjoyed a baseball game.  It was a vintage baseball game played here at the parade grounds here at the park.   The rules were those of game in the 1860’s which meant there were no gloves, no cleats, the baseball was soft, no base on balls, fly balls caught on the first bounce were outs.  The two teams were volunteers dressed in period costumes.  A good time was had by the players as well as the hundred plus spectators. 

Fourth of July at Fort Vancouver

Lots of sun, lots of activities, lots of people.