One more State Capitol!

 

Our last state capital visit was Salem, Oregon where we enjoyed the artistic representations of The Oregon Trail and The Journey of Lewis and Clark. Each Capitol is so different based on the time the state was accepted into the union and the history represented in its construction.

We each purchased a book with pictures and descriptions of each of the state capitols. I highly recommend it as a way to see our history.

Fifty State Capitols
The Architecture of Representative Government
By Jim Stembridge

Lewis and Clark at Fort Clatsop

 Shirley teaches about The Northwest Passage in second grade and was eager to see the end of the trail at Fort Clatsop. After following our own trail, we arrived to spend several hours at this national museum and were delighted with the views and historical perpective represented. After visiting the Fort and seeing the flag flying overhead, we were told that we could purchase the flag flown that day or any previous time. I was able to go down and help the museum volunteer take the flag down and fold it to bring home to my second grade classroom. Kay also purchased a flag flown in March for her daughter and son in law. This is a representation of the only U.S. Flag that had fifteen stripes. This amazing museum was a wonderful final step on our Lewis and Clark journey.

15 Stars and Stripes 

Statue of Lewis and Clark

Sacajawea 

Portland and Sarah

Sarah at her home picking lettuce for supper.

One of the best parts of our travels is the opportunity to catch up with people who come into our lives through our children. Sarah was my daughter Kendra's roommate at KState and works in Portland. She is getting married soon and we were so glad to meet her fiancé Darrel.
Thank you Sarah for welcoming us into your lovely home and cooking a delicious meal for the Sisters.

Then this happened.....

Sister Shirley will fill you in on our fabulous day at Astoria and Ft. Clatsop.   But, I thought you might like to know that our travels and days don't ALWAYS go as planned.

First is the issue of shoes!  Since 2013 we've been fans of Fitflops.  This year we are wearing our  beige, cork Fitflops.  The problem is that we don't wear the same size and after a long day of sightseeing they end up in a jumble!  Secretly, we think that when we fall asleep at night they leave the hotel and go visit all the other places we have missed that day!!!









Also, sometimes our hair misbehaves and delays the start of our day's agenda!

And, lastly we try to comply with all emergency rules while we travel.  Today was no exception!

Our trip is about to move to Part III --- fun with our adult children -- cooking, playing games and a newly added Imax trip to view Jurassic World on Saturday!  But, first, Shirley will tell you about Ft. Clatsop, Lewis and Clark and traveling 8 miles on the Portland freeway in just over 1 hour!

The End of the Oregon Trail

I made it to Oregon City! 

Anyone who was in school during the 1980's remembers the computer game The Oregon Trail where you travelled the trail fording rivers, hunting and fishing for food, getting cholera, scarlet fever, and dysentery! My students have played this game in my room for over 30 years and it was a thrill for me to visit Oregon City today the end of the trail. Kay and I spent almost four hours here today touring the museum and seeing all the places along the trail. We even got to see a class celebrating the end of school on a field trip.

State Flags of the Oregon Trail Route

Oh, the places we go - Part Two

One of my long-time hobbies is genealogy....and while I knew we might be close to where our Neff family had orchards inWashington, I wasn't sure.  Luckily I had my laptop with me and my trusty Family TreeMaker program!  and, luckily Sister Shirley was agreeable to visiting a masoleum in Puyallup!

In the early 1900's our great-great grandparents, Rudolph Neff and Sarah Jane Loper Neff moved from Kansas to Pierce County, Washington.  Two of their adult sons moved with them and they established orchards.  In 1908 a third son (our great-grandfather) moved there, too.  Our grandmother was only three and the arduous trip was made by train.  In 1910 our grandmother's sister was born and only lived a few hours.  The little family was so sad and decided to move back to Kansas.  Our grandmother had a few memories of the baby and the train and of her mother being so sad.  Our grandmother already had other siblings and more were born after their return to Kansas but she never forgot the baby girl left in Washington.

We were able to find the beautiful marble crypts where our gggrandparents were laid to rest.  They were both born in Indiana and Rudolph served in the Civil War.  We thank him for his service and for Sarah's sewing gifts which were passed down to us.  Shirley thanks her for her middle name of Jane which was passed down to her, Shirley Jane, through great aunt Alta Jane!

Family Times

This weekend we travelled on the Northwest Passage to Bremerton, Washington where our Aunt Roma and Uncle Ernie live. We left Spokane Valley on Sunday and couldn't quite figure out why it was going to take us over an hour extra time to get to Bremerton. Then to our surprise the car GPS took us into Seattle to the Ferry. We had a delightful rest as we waited for the Ferry and then a calm ride across to Bremerton where our Aunt and Uncle were patiently waiting for us. We ate together, shared stories and memories, caught up with cousin Cindy, sang hymns around the piano, and did a load of laundry. We also added Skype to Aunt Roma's iPad and she called her sister Mary (our mother) in Topeka. It was so delightful to watch these two sisters sharing together.

Thank you to our family for a restful break on our journey.