Local Trip.....Fort Vancouver Historical Site

On September 24th I had the privilege to meet up with two fellow bloggers. Marsha blogs at Always Write, and Terri blogs at Second Wind Leisure. Marsha lives in Arizona and Terri lives in Spokane. They were planning to be in Portland for that week and meeting with a few other bloggers. It didn't work for me to get together on the day they all met, but we worked it out and spent about 4 hours together on that Saturday morning. It was such a blessing and my soul was full!

I have lived in the SW region of Washington for 30 years and I don't think I've ever actually visited the Fort Vancouver Historical Site. I know....I know! A woman at the airport suggested it to Marsha, and since I hadn't been there before, we decided that's where we'd go. 

Vancouver, Washington sits on the Columbia River, with Portland, Oregon on the other side of the Interstate Bridge. Vancouver is about 197 years old. It was incorporated in 1857 by the Washington Territorial Legislature. 

I did not realize that Ft. Vancouver is one of the few urban national parks in the nation. It consists of the historical site that we visited, the barracks, Pearson Air museum and probably officers row. It is a wonderful parklike setting. I'll have to go back and photograph other parts. Today will just be the historical site. There are many websites that will do much better justice than I will at explaining things. Here are a few I found interesting: 

Friends of Ft. Vancouver

National Park Service

NPS History

Legends of America

Marsha and Terri pausing outside the fort to take a few pics. Before we entered, we enjoyed walking around the large community garden. I want to visit it in the spring and summer and enjoy all that the garden has to offer.  

It was so fun exploring the different buildings and seeing the types of cookware, etc, that they might have used.

Aren't these plates stunning! 

I think the kitchen at the fort was my favorite. 

I loved this room so much and wished I could go inside. 

This gal was cooking gravy and bread over the fire. She had the bread a bit offset from the flames. She told us that is a part of a group that cooks over open fires. How cool would that be. 

At first I thought this was chocolate but it's actually cakes of tea. I was trying to find information on this but didn't find anything that seemed overly helpful. I'm sure I could've but I'm babysitting and that doesn't lend much time to research. 

This was what would've been a blacksmith shop. 

Probably the infirmary or apothecary.

I just loved this door! 

This was how they packed the animal pelts. 

I had so much fun with these ladies. I hope we have an opportunity to do it again.

The exteriors of some of the buildings

With Joy Unquenchable,