Sometimes, you come upon the unexpected.
That's what happened to me yesterday. I had an appointment in the morning and, upon finishing with that, decided to drive north to Vancouver, Washington. Now, ask me why I went to Vancouver? Hell, I don't know; seemed like the thing to do at the time.
Actually, I'd hoped to meet up with a buddy for lunch but, for whatever reason, I wasn't able to leave him a voicemail. His phone just kept dropping out. So, since I wasn't going to be having lunch with my buddy, I decided to follow the advice another friend had send me in a text, and go check out Fort Vancouver. I didn't have the 5D or the 40D with me, so the trusty Canon G12 would get the nod:
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| The entrance to Fort Vancouver... |
Fort Vancouver wasn't a fort in the traditional sense, as it wasn't built for the Army to have a forward, yet protected, presence in the Pacific Northwest. It was originally built by the Hudson Bay Company in 1824, as an outpost to facilitate trade. In June of 1860, HBC abandoned the fort, and the fort was immediately taken over by the US Army. It contains a large parcel; some 166 acres, and contains a number of facilities, including the US Army's Pearson Field:
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| The hangar at Pearson Field... |
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| The hangar at Pearson Field... |
Fort Vancouver is also the site of what's believed to be the largest fireworks display west of the Mississippi River. In 2008, the display featured over 5,400 shells, and it lasted for over half an hour.
Today, volunteers and docents take visitors back into the mid 19th century to try to convey what life was like here, on the Columbia River, 150 years ago:
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| This is Carpenter Tom Holloway. The block of Maple he's holding will soon become a potato masher... |
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| The Carpenter Shop at Fort Vancouver... |
For me, Fort Vancouver simply solidifies my position that there are things to see; very cool things, right here in our own backyard. Everyone loves to travel, but not everyone knows that the trip doesn't have to be a long one. Fort Vancouver sits a whopping 15 minutes or so north of Portland, just over the Columbia River.
How hard is that?
Thanks very much for stopping by, Steve, for taking the photos, and for posting them. Anyone wanting to know more could do a Google search on "Fort Vancouver National Historic Site" if this URL gets filtered out: .
ReplyDeleteAnd for some more bits an pieces on the history of the place you could check out my blog, Fur Fort Fun Facts
But nothing beats a personal visit to the real thing.
Tom Holloway, carpenter shop volunteer
Tom, thanks so much for taking time yesterday. A truly cool experience, and I hope you got that potato masher made!
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