Fort Walla Walla Days

Each summer there are couple of events at our local historical museum, one of which is Fort Walla Walla Days.  Fort Walla Walla Museum  To paraphrase a Neil Diamond song of we "packed up the babies, grabbed the old ladies and everyone go..." We even got a break from the weather, sunny and around 73, so my 13 year old grandgirl, her great grandmother and her sister, plus myself climbed in the van and off we went.  There was music, food, sunshine, live reenactments of fur traders, Lewis and Clark (who actually trekked by here), and the last few years a Civil War encampment and several staged skirmishes. 

The woman who served as narrator on the sidelines with the audience told us this 40 pound cannon was built by one of the participants and it took him four years to build.  I'm sorry to say I wrote the man's name down and other pertinent details but lost the paper on the trek home.  He's part of the reenactment group of the 3rd Michigan Volunteer Infantry Co. F.  They and their cannon have been invited to participate in the 150th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg in July of 2013. 

3rd Michigan



Here's a view of the Confederate soldiers from afar beginning their charge.  There were three skirmishes over the weekend.  Not wishing to offend anyone, one went to the Union, one to the Confederates, and one was a draw.  Walla Walla had received newcomers after the Civil War from both sides, I imagine this area would have seemed a very long way from the wreckage of that war and a place for people to start over.

It was kind of fun to have three of our four existing generations together this way and while this is not where I grew up it is the home town of the rest of the ladies young and in their 80's.  It's fun to see the museum anything and to view some of the plentiful local history.  If you come bring your walking shoes, its really large and hilly in spots.  You can catch a ride on a golf cart though so don't let that stop you.

The Grandma Van Takes a Break

The Grandma Van has been in go mode all this week delivering kids to Vacation Bible School, to the Fort Walla Walla Museum Lewis and Clark Camp, and visiting the extended family with our young guest. The kids who went to camp got to learn or practice archery. My eight-year old nephew hand sewed a "possibles" bag to carry all your possible required tools to trek across country in the early 1800's. He enjoyed it so much he came home and contructed a hand sewn bear and then found himself a stick and wove a grass and straw line and tried luring crawdads from a nearby stream into his clutches.

Thanks P. Franzmann Fort Walla Walla Museum.

Today I am enjoying a quiet moment alone with a cup of coffee. My lovely daughter-in-law invited our nephew to overnight on their farm with their six kids last night. A much more lively mix, kids, room to roam, hay, tractors, piggies, goats, chickens, woo, woo! We ate take-out and watched two episodes of "Six Feet Under," from Netflix. Ah, off for another cuppa.