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BORN LOSER

This is me!  Has this dilemma happened to you, too?  ;-)

American Stonehenge

Yesterday we visited the not-so-famous Stonehenge near Maryhill State Park.  It was built as a memorial to the young men who lost their lives fighting World War I.  It was raining while we were there and we were the only ones visiting at that time. 

Stonehenge Memorial

This Stonehenge, an almost identical copy of the more famous English Stonehenge, was built by Sam Hill, a road builder.  Dedicated in 1918, the memorial wasn’t completed until 1930. Hill passed away soon after he finally saw his masterpiece completed.

The dedication plaque on this American Stonehenge reads:

"In memory of the soldiers of Klickitat County who gave their lives in defense of their country.  This monument is erected in the hope that others inspired by the example of their valor and their heroism may share in that love of liberty and burn with that fire of patriotism which death can alone quench."

      

Some of the memorial plaques

From Stonehenge, we had an excellent view looking south across the Columbia River to Oregon.  The bridge at the far right is the bridge at Biggs Junction which we crossed to get to Maryhill.  A closer view of the bridge, looking over the trees of Maryhill State Park and the nearby orchards.  The view to the north of Stonehenge

Sam Hill’s American Stonehenge, as well as his mansion, are now part of the Maryhill Museum of Art.  Tomorrow I will post pictures of the mansion and the gardens of the Maryhill Museum.

Day Trip to Wasco and Maupin, OR

While staying at Maryhill State Park, we decided to drive south on Highway 97.  After leaving crossing the Columbia River and leaving Biggs Junction, we drove through a canyon area.

The scenery soon changed towheat fields and then range land.  We had excellent view of several mountains:  Mt. Hood,  Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, a small view of Mt. Rainier, and Mt. Jefferson, as well as the Three Sisters.

This dilapidated windmill shows off the scenery.

In the small town of Wasco, we saw this former school. 

When we got to Maupin, we crossed the Deschutes River.  Maupin City Park is the "take-off" place for rafting in the summer.

Site #29 at Maryhill State Park--home sweet home for the next few days.

Be sure to read Dave's blog if you want to see more pictures and information about our trip today.

Maryhill State Park, Washington

We arrived early this afternoon for a stay at Maryhill State Park.  It's located across the bridge north of Biggs, OR, about 20 miles east of The Dalles. 

This is a first come, first served park during the winter months.  There were about eight rigs already here, so we had many open sites to choose from.  We picked pull-thru site #29, with a view of the Columbia River out our front window. 

We paid our nightly fee of $6 (senior off-season discount price) and plugged into the 50-amp service and the water and sewer hookups.  The downside to this park is that we are only able to get low-speed Verizon cell signal for our internet.  It's like having dial-up service, which works fine for phone calls, and for email, but not as well for reading blogs and other internet sites.

This is the view out our front window.  The I-84 interstate highway is across the river.  Freight trains run fairly frequently to the north of the park, so it's not the most tranquil park.  This part of the river does not get big ship traffic, but we saw several barges this afternoon.

One of the trees just outside our door has already dropped most of its leaves.

Fall Color in Vancouver

Welcome to two new blog followers, Amy, and Judy and John, who write a blog called Tire Swing Travels.

Vancouver, Washington does not have a lot of fall color.  After all, we are called the Evergreen State for a reason.  I was able to take a few photos of some pretty trees in our neighborhood.

  

The last two trees had more leaves on the ground than on the tree.  We have had a lot of rain the past couple of days, so even more leaves have dropped.  Now the leaves are plugging up the street drains, which makes for some very big puddles on some of the streets.

A Musical Weekend

While we were at Cape Disappointment State Park last week, I was surprised to see how many of the yurts were rented.  I snapped some pictures of some of the empty ones.

This yurt is located near the tsunami warning siren.

 

We've never been to this park when the siren has gone off. 

One of the reasons for camping at this park was to attend the 26th annual Water Music Festival in Ilwaco, which is always held the third weekend in October.  The concerts were held at two venues, Hilltop Auditorium which is part of the high school, and the Inn at Harbour Village, a historic chapel turned into a bed and breakfast and event center.  In 1928, this was a Presbyterian church.  It was fully renovated and now offers ten guest rooms and a venue for weddings, concerts, etc.

I attended all five concerts, which featured everything from "baroque to ballads, and beyond".  I am already looking forward to attending this festival again next October.  In the meantime, the group is offering a "Tuba Christmas" concert in December which sounds like a lot of fun. 

Reflections

I still expect to see Margie's blog pop up each afternoon.  I was happy to see her daughter, Stephanie, post an update yesterday.  My tears are starting to dry up but I am fully aware that the emptiness is just beginning for Margie and Bruce's family members. 

Many of us knew Margie through her blog, but we weren't as familiar with Bruce.  I was surprised, when we visited with Margie and Bruce in person, to find out that Bruce was just as interesting and captivating as Margie was.  Bruce had a lot to say!  So even though Margie's voice and personality was the one that came through on the blog, Bruce was right there with her. 

We know from Margie's blog and pictures that Bruce was a very active grandfather.  He seemed to have infinite patience with the "Grands", even though he sometimes pretended to be reading or sleeping so he didn't have to play one more game of beauty shop or restaurant!  The pictures of him playing chess with Mackenzie on the computer were precious.  Margie was the scrapbooking grandma, and both grandparents played a lot of games with the girls.

Together, Margie and Bruce were quite a team.  I really can't picture one of them without the other, so in a way, maybe it was a blessing that they entered heaven together, just as they spent their lives here on earth together.  I'm sure it was harder on their family to lose them both at the same time, though. 

So carry on we must, even though one of the lights in my life has burned out!

Margie's last comment to me referred to the logo pictured above:

"Cute logo, Carol, and it really would be great for your blog. Congrats to Dave on the re-election results. Hope you enjoy a lovely weekend."

sent October 15, 2010 7:04 PM