We hopped across the Columbia into Washington for a visit to Fort Vancouver NHS. The fort was the base for Britain’s Hudson Bay Company in the region. We first visited the recreated fort’s gardens:
The fort was built as a trading post for beaver pelts, so our son tried on the sample beaver fur hat. I asked him to give me the same expression as that in the photograph of the fort’s manager, John McLoughlin:
Here’s the original:
The volunteers at the fort’s blacksmith shop were excellent:
Inside the main house:
I noticed a large (3” long”) praying mantis on the back of one of the volunteers. We removed it from her and put it on the flowers:
Here’s our son’s head for scale, it’s under he flower he’s looking at, facing the left edge of the photograph:
We visited the fort’s other buildings, including the bakery and doctor’s office:
McLoughlin’s house:
We visited the jail:
Another junior ranger badge for our kids. Our daughter is promising to guard the national parks and not litter, etc.:
After leaving Fort Vancouver, we visited a museum built by the local water utility. Most displays dealt with conservation, like this display that demonstrated how much energy is required to illuminate a light bulb:
This giant mobile depicting the life cycle of a Salmon is made of landfill trash:
Returning to Portland, we visited Ground Kontrol, an arcade that has only classic games from the 80s and 90s. Ground Kontrol has the best bathroom ever. I love the Pac-Man floor tiling and the sink with the glowing trim that cycles through the color spectrum:
Teaching our son important life skills:
My cousin Jason met us there and the two of us played Dig Dug for half an hour on one quarter each:
Our son plays the original Star Wars vector game:
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