August Adventures, Part I

We attended Richland's Night Out Against Crime at the beginning of the month. It was held in one of the local parks on a fairly hot night. (Thus the rosy-colored cheeks.) We skipped the free hotdogs, but took advantage of the bounce houses, the face painting, and the public service vehicles.
Ally seemed right at home in the back of the patrol car, but Cora preferred to be the one driving it.

We saw a water rescue boat, an ambulance, two fire trucks, a mobile command unit, and a SWAT tank.

After talking to the paramedic and impersonating the firemen and the SWAT guy, Ally stood in line to control the bomb-diffusing robot for a few seconds.


That next weekend, we ventured out to Fort Walla Walla for the day. We had heard there was a lot of interesting stuff on the site, but we were left wondering where they stashed it all. Maybe we should've saved our trip for an interpretation weekend when people walk around all dressed up nice and fancy in clothes from the late 1800s/early 1900s. I learned that "old" and "interesting" really are relative terms. When we walked into the old schoolhouse, Chris made the comment "I've lived in houses older than this building." I was expecting an actual fort, or a recreation thereof, or at least a plaque describing the fort/outpost as it had been. Instead, they had an eclectic collection of "old" buildings from various decades that were relocated to a grassy area. I guess we are just a family of east coast history snobs.

I am not saying it was a wasted trip. We did find a few interesting and/or amusing things to keep us smiling as we wandered through the buildings and museum.

Inside the train depot I learned how to defend myself against tough hoboes. I am now prepared if I ever encounter one.


Inside the schoolhouse we found a picture of Walla Walla High's male cheerleaders from 1926. Such hunks!


Inside the museum Chris discovered that this flag, which flew over the fort at the turn of the century, was given to the newspaper boy when it was retired.

I learned that Washington State license plates have always been made by the convicts. I thought that was just a story about the "big house". Speaking of which . . . When Cora and I got sent to the slammer, she diligently tried to chew us out. Then when Ally ended up in jail with me, Cora attempted to eat through those bars too.

Cora enjoyed peering in the doorway of the playhouse that was built in 1900. She also liked picking the crab apples off the ground and swinging on the playset at the end of the day. She did not appreciate all the life-sized animal replicas that were found around every corner in the farming section. I'm sure this 33-mule harvesting set-up was her worst nightmare.

We also saw a covered wagon, antique cars, old farm equipment, a teepee, dresses from the 1920s, military uniforms, beaded cloth made by the local tribes, and a flytrap that could hold gallons of flies. Think about that one. Yuck!

I learned that, when Clark once traded a sword for a horse, 5 translators and 9 different languages (or something ridiculous like that) were required to make the statements understood.

Ever wonder what some of those weird Pacific Northwest names mean? Here's a little translation lesson while you look at my kids hitching a ride to nowhere.