Traveling with John Colter

We took the weekend to break our driving "fast" and to get out of town a little. The sun was out at last! Late Friday afternoon we visited the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton to see a regalia exhibit there. We got to talk to the makers and artists about their craft and cultural backgrounds as well as see a great collection of regalia gear. http://www.tamastslikt.org/

Saturday with my son Chris, we went south again to Pendleton to visit the Pendleton Center for the Arts http://www.pendletonarts.org/index_files/exhibits.htm. We saw an exhibit of work by Julia Henning. We narrowly missed her in person; she was heading back for Portland just as we arrived. I am truly sorry. I would have like to have talked with her about her art, maybe drawing our own conclusions is part of the experience. Several of the pieces were apron-like in design and covered with objects relevant to women’s reality. Maybe it’s just the Mrs. Kravitz in me but I’d like to know the personal side. Her art possessed great imagination, pathos, and great craftsmanship, or craftswomanship. I could imagine all kinds of stories about the pieces and I would have liked to asked her if she had a story she'd share about them. The Center unfailingly has excellent exhibits, kudos to the art lovers in and around Pendleton.

The Umatilla River runs by the Art Center and was running fast and hard through a few trees on the banks. We watched it from the bridge over Main Street for a while, it was high, dark, and yet sparkling in the sun. We drove back down town to have lunch and noticed that Pendleton is also growing a new crop of shuttered storefronts just like Walla Walla. Our favortite place for lunch is still open and serving delicious stuff. Then we walked down to the old train depot now converted to the Pendleton Historical Museum. There's one room school building that has autographs on the blackboard by people who went to school there, none past 1940. You can explore a caboose, and see artifacts of a typical train depot of the area, also of farm and ranch life in the area.

Today, Sunday, Chris and one of my granddaughters went to the Fort Walla Walla Museum http://www.fortwallawallamuseum.org/ to watch my husband Paul in beaded buckskins portray John Colter telling his story of his travels with Lewis and Clark. This is the first time I’ve seen him do it and I was both entertained and proud of him. Basking in the long missing sun didn't hurt me either.