Twin Falls, Idaho
We over nighted in Twin Falls, and with some time on our hands we visited the famous Gorge. We couldn’t miss it, we had to drive over the Perrine bridge over the Snake River to get to our RV park! To us, it was quite unexpected to find since a scenic place in the middle of flat farmland.
To put things in perspective, perhaps one of the most famous draws here was Evil Knievel attempting to jump the Snake River, just downriver a ways.
One of the views of the bridge
A little different view of the bridge
The view looking north. Beautiful golf course down there!
And looking south, where Evil Knievel made his famous jump attempt
One of the many waterfalls along the rim
Maryhill, WA
Yesterday we stopped in Maryhill, WA to visit the museum, war memorial, and winery. This area was home for Sam Hill, the late 18th century magnate who was so instrumental in building roads in the northwest.
The War Memorial was patterned after Stonehenge in England, and bears the names of local Clickikat residents that were killed in WW 1. Later, an addition was made for WW2, Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan.
The Museum was built as his house, but he never moved in, donating it for use as an art museum. It was christened by Queen Maria of Romania, who was a close friend. She donated many items to the museum. Some featured exhibits we saw:
The Winery has earned some top awards, has a great location, and a eclectic tasting menu. The winery is also well know for hosting some famous bands (next week it’s Earth, Wind and Fire, an ’80’s rock band)
- a number of sculptures by Auguste Rodin;
- Native American artifacts,
- stage sets and mannequins from 1946 Theater de la Mode,
- over a hundred unusual chess sets,
- Orthodox icons and painings donated by Queen Marie,
- a permanent exhibit on the dancer Loie Fuller,
- a permanent exhibit on Hill’s life and projects,
- an outdoor exhibit of a variety of statues.
There were many pictures to take, below is a representation.
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- The outdoors concert seating at the winery.
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- That didn’t last very long
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- Aha — wine tasting at the bar
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- An original Indian headpiece. Photos are also on display of famous historical chiefs wearing it.
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- Hand made moccasins on display
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- Some intricate basket weaving in the Native American section
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- Some of the local artist paintings on display
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- A complete fashion show in scale models
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- After WW2, there wasn’t enough material to make fashion clothes in Paris, so scale dolls were used to show new designs
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- Some intricate chess pieces
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- The museum has some outstanding (and unusual) chess sets
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- A “portable” chess set
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- One of the Russian icons on display
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- A very unusual sculpture… made from stainless steel plates, from the side it almost dissapears
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- A metal flower sculpture
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- A scrap metal horse
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- Looking at the Maryhill Museum from the entrance driveway
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- Romola taking a break to view the scenery
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- Looking west from Stonehenge
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- A view of the Stonehenge memorial
Stopped at Maryhill, WA
Fort Vancouver Lantern tour
Now that the days are getting shorter, Fort Vancouver is hosting their evening events. Last night, it was the Lantern Tour. A limited number of people are given lanterns, and Fort Vancouver Guides give tours of the facilities. There is no electricity or modern facilities, everyone experiences how things were in the 18409’s.
There are volunteers in period costumes to re-enact typical evening activities. Experiencing an evening in this manner is a lot of fun. All in all, a very pleasant (and educational) and interesting evening.
Entrance to the fort
Mike getting ready for the presentations
Eva showing of her dress
Mike and Roma showing how to make fire
Fur press to make shippable bundles
Fur weighing scale
Dr. Barclay and wife discussing events
Kitchen ladies discussing events
Roma explaining the master dining room
Mrs. Douglas and friends in an evening chat
Our last Farmers Market visit
Vancouver, WA has a great Farmers Market. Lots of fresh veggies and fruit, as well as breads, crafts, prepared foods, and more. It’s a weekly event for us to pick up whatever is fresh (and a lot of other goodies!) Today was our last Farmers Market since we will be on the road next Monday. Looking forward to being back next year already!
On the street
Captain Vancouver has been prettified
Lots of pretty flowers
Lots to pick from
It’s nice to have a variety
Last week for fresh basil
Terrific breads too
Paella! That’s for dinner tonight
Puppy in training
Oregon and Washington have some great up and coming wineries
Bonneville Dam
In the 1930’s, the Bonneville Dam was built as a WPA project. In the ’80’s, a second addition was added for more power. Now, it supplies enough electricity for 900,000 homes. We took a tour today, but the smoke from nearby forest fires made outdoor photography pretty well impossible. So here are some of the images of our visit to the power station and hatchery.
Inside the Power Plant in the new section.
A view from lower down. The river water level is just about at the crane tracks you see running along the sides.
One of the huge generators
Below the floor, looking at the main rotor shaft
Looking down into the generator
Looking down at the fish ladder
Hey, there’s some fish now!
Hard work for those salmon, swimming upstream
But, somehow, they make it
At the neighboring fish hatchery, a top down look at a 8 foot long sturgeon
And, an underwater look at another huge sturgeon
Horsetail Falls
We haven’t done much hiking this year, so with our time in this area limited, and beautiful weather, we thought it was time to get out the old hiking boots. We took the short drive into the Columbia Gorge and hike the full Oneonta Trail, which leads to three waterfalls. It was nice to get out again. We’ll miss being so close to such wonderful scenery when we leave.
Just so we know where we are….
Recent high winds added some obstacles to our hike
Romola isn’t sure if she’s Lewis or Clark
Signs of fall are evident
Oneonta Falls, a small fall along the way
Upper Horsetail Falls. You can walk under the falls
A view from behind the falls
There’s quite a bit of space behind the falls
Lower Horsetail Falls. Easily accesible from the Historic Highway.
Candles and Campfires
Last week was the Grand Finale of this year at Fort Vancouver. It is an evening presentation, with interpreters depicting life from the 1700’s to present day. Visitors were encouraged to walk down a timeline of period re-enactors, from WW2 down to the Oregon Trail days. I was in the 1870’s group, as a soldier fighting in the Indian war.
Because of my schedule, I had limited opportunities to take pictures but here is an album showing some of the representative periods.
Last black powder demonstration
This summer, I participated in various on site activities at Fort Vancouver. One of this was to dress up like an Indian War soldier (ca. 1870) and fire rifles and canons. The Dress Department gave me a full, authentic uniform (heavy wool!) and I grew a beard to match.
Although I have posted some pictures about this before, we just had our last demo and one of the visitors took and gave us some really cool pictures. These are shown below. Thanks, Susan!
Our small but representative group – drummer, 4570 rifle, 1861 Springfield (me), late 1700’s muzzleloader, and canon crew.
Waiting our turn to act
Firing of the muzzle loader
And, firing the Mountain Howitzer
A look at the Howitzer
And now, for a REALLY close look at the Howitzer!
Looks like I mean business…..
Flying in a biplane
A while back the Pearson Flight Museum had an open house. There were lots of display aircraft, as well as flying ones. But for us the excitement was in being able to get a ride in a 1929 biplane. At first, Romola was a bit reluctant to go, but after it was over she agreed: Fantastic!
There is something magical/historical to fly in an open cockpit plane, one with an original radial engine. The experience… sound, vibration, wind… all add to the feeling. Here are some images; the aircraft is a 1929 Travel Air E-4000.
Here comes our ride!
Tight fit in that cockpit, sure wouldn’t want to make a long flight!
On takeoff, you can see the Fort Vancouver site itself
Flying over the Port of Vancouver
Shipping on the river
A steep bank over one of the ships
Starting our “crop duster” pass
On the deck, below the tree top level, full speed!
That dike up ahead is looking rather large
Flying over Vancouver Lake, again below treetop level
Another tight bank at full speed over the Lake
There is Fort Vancouver, on the horizon
Making a Fort Vancouver pass. Runway visible.
Lining up on the runway
Back on the ground. That was such fun!
1860’s baseball game
Every year, Fort Vancouver Historic site hosts an 1860’s vintage baseball game. Participants, and many spectators, are dressed in historically correct clothing. Participating teams are the Shermans (military) and the Vancouver Occidentals (local favorites).
It is quite a spectacular event, and well attended by Fort Vancouver personnel, as well as the general population. By Northwest standards, it was kind of hot, it was 80 degrees. No laughter from the Dallas gallery, please!
It was a great game, with the Shermans pulling it off with 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th. Final score: Shermans, 11 and Occidentals, 10. Below are some pictures of the event, both the game and the attendees.
The Whiskey River Orchestra provides some topical music
Cassie looking spectacular in vintage dress
More pretty ladies on parade
Even more ladies in their fineries
Discussing pre-game strategies
A hit by the Occidentals
Watching the game
Here comes the pitch
Looks like the shoes are kind of hot….
A big grin from Roman
Having a drink, 1860’s style.. no plastic bottles!
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