Archive | March 2019

The weekend of the annual Rose City Yarn Crawl took my sister and me over the greater Portland area visiting local yarn shops. One of these lys was in Vancouver, WA, Blizzard Yarn and Fiber . To get there we drove through Fort Vancouver.

Despite living in such close proximity to the site, I don’t recall ever visiting it and was surprised to see how much was there. So after visiting Blizzard, we went back, stopped and wandered around. The spacious well-kept park grounds of the reconstructed site with its informative signs made the spontaneous Sunday self-tour fun. Because it was Sunday we were unable to go inside the Fort as it, along with the Visitor’s Center and the Pearson Air Museum were all closed.

Looking through the fort wall.

We did walk around the perimeter of the Fort and peaked inside the buildings. And we were not alone in our jaunt. Being a sunny spring day, the park was busy with kids playing on the playground and riding bikes along the paved walk way, dogs chasing balls through the grass and clusters of people sitting at picnic tables chatting away. Through our walk, we had beautiful views of Mount Hood over the Columbia River.

As we walked, we read the signs we came across. From these information signs, we learned how the location has changed over the years. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site was inducted in the National Parks System in 1948 and is part of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve. Native Americans, the Hudson’s Bay Company, a fur trading company, as well as the military and the city of Vancouver have all used the land. Over the years the landscape has changed with buildings being erected and torn down, and the current set-up is much closer to what it looked like in 1855. For the history buffs and those wanting a more details, this is a place to visit on a day when things are open. For those just looking for a new park to play in, come any day!

March 19, 2019

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Lynden, WA

Visiting my grandma in Lynden, WA is always a good thing, and the visit always goes too quickly. Despite her struggles with dementia and her limited mobility, she tends to keep good spirits and always recognizes me. Her faith is so strong that it’s second nature. Our favorite pastimes are singing hymns and looking at photos. When we part, she always prays for me and asks when I’ll be back. It’s tough being so far from her and not knowing when I will see her again.

But on a happier note, here are few photos from that trip. The weather was so cold, but the sun was shinning and the snow clouds of days earlier had cleared. The snow-covered mountains were stunning. I’m not sure which mountains these are, but I believe most of them are in Canada. I know at least the one over Wiser Lake is Mount Baker!