Don and I had an interesting walk this morning. We left the RV Park and went down a street next to it which soon turned into a field of weeds, wheat, and berry bushes. Except that the field had well-defined tire tracks through it, leading to houses that were not located on any street, but just set down in the field with only a muddy rut through the wheat leading to them. Must be a new direction in urban planning. It gave me a lot of territory to explore, though, so I’m not complaining. Good walk, not too long, not too short.
We took a leisurely morning, ‘cause it was still kind of drizzly out and we wanted some sunshine before we started our wanderings. We had our lunch, and, right on cue, the sun came out and we piled into the truck. We headed down the road to downtown Vancouver, where even Don had never been before, and found Fort Vancouver, an old Army post with buildings dating back to the Civil War era. Lots of famous Generals had been posted there, including General U.S. Grant and General George C. Marshall. The grounds are very nice and most of the buildings are still in pretty good shape. Parts of it are still being used for National Guard activities. I found the grass to be in excellent condition for rolling, and roll I did! We talked to a couple of guys who worked nearby, who told us that some of the buildings on the base were leased by big Hedge Funds, who liked the fact that Washington doesn’t have an income tax. Of course, their employees were able to go across the bridge to Portland to shop, where there is no sales tax; talk about the best of all possible worlds!
We found the original old Fort Vancouver, which was established by the Hudson Bay Company back in the early 1800’s, and is now under the National Park Service. None of the buildings are the original construction, but the NPS has reconstructed many of the buildings based on drawings and paintings from the time of the heyday of the Fort, and archaeological discoveries at the site. I wasn’t allowed in the Fort, due to species restrictions, which I detest, but Geri and Don looked it over and reported to me. They were interested in the fact that the Hudson Bay Company was British, and in Vancouver, they were operating in a location that was involved in a dispute between Britain and the United States. A lot of their customers were American settlers in the Oregon Territory, and there was some tension between the Company and the settlers. Eventually the matter was solved when the international border was determined, and Washington became part of our country.
We next visited the Museum at Pearson Field, which is billed as the oldest continuously operating air field in the United States. Again, species discrimination kept me from joining my humans in the Museum, but they were very good about telling me what they had seen. They agreed that it was a really well organized display, with a number of antique aircraft and many very interesting exhibits on things like the China Clippers, the role of B-17s in WWII, women in early aviation, and a lot of other subjects. They were lucky to have a volunteer museum docent, a retired Marine Corps jet jockey, to show them around and give them additional information on many of the exhibits. They liked the museum a lot, and recommend it highly to anyone visiting Vancouver.
Finally, Don had to find the location of the Kaiser Shipyard that operated in Vancouver during WWII; it’s an article of faith in this family that if Don is within fifty miles of a shipyard, even if it isn’t there anymore, he’ll have to pay it a visit. We found it, with Garmie’s help, and there isn’t much left to show it was there, though the old shipways, or their remnants, are still evident and some of the buildings in the new industrial park are left over from shipyard days. Anyway, he was pleased to have found the place, and that’s what really counts.
We made our way back to the RV Park up old Highway 99, which is now one continuous shopping center, offering something for everyone. Don saw a sign for a business called “Wash-Tan”, which he thought was a place where you could do your washing while getting a tan. Maybe it is! When we got back to the rig, Don cooked a nice chicken dinner with Marsala and caper gravy, resulting in very tasty plates for me. Geri took me for another good walk, Don and I worked on the blog, and we all turned in fairly early. Travel day tomorrow!
This place is older than Geri or Don!
Some of the Infantry Barracks
Don with the Big Shots at Fort Vancouver
Getting a little brushing
But dat Fokker vas a Messerschmitt!
I know there's a shipyard here somewhere!
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