Cheap Motel Saga Continues

Chris and I had some real fun with our cheap motel quest on our road trip in May. We had some pretty interesting rooms, including one that had just been painted in enamel. It was yellow on two walls and purple on the other two walls. And I do not mean subdued or pastel colors, either! I have a picture of it, just not on this computer. I can show you the picture at a later date.
Becky and I are in a little motel in Ilwaco tonight. We came to the Long Beach area to attend a cultural event involving the Columbia Confluence area which is basically where the Columbia River meets the ocean. The weather has been off and on today, sunny one minute and blustery and rainy the next. We started out early this morning and took our time meandering to the ocean. On the way we saw these cute little Alpacas. Oh my goodness. Look at this cute little face!

There was an "Artisan Fair" in Tokeland that we wanted to attend. As it turns out it was actually in Ocosta and it was actually a craft sale to help benefit Children's Hospital in Seattle. We perused the goods and bought a few things and well....that certainly did not take up three days. It is running for three days, but we only needed an hour to figure out what to buy.   As it turns out there was also this event in Long Beach (technically it is in Ilwaco) and so we headed there. Here are a few of the pictures I took along the way:

The first part of this event was a lecture by an anthropologist about ....it's too complicated to go into. It was sort of about Thanksgiving. He talked a lot about Potlatch, which has to do with keeping the balance in the environment and with people so that there is an equal amount of give and take.  Boy, that man can ramble. So we got through the lecture and then so many people wanted to ask questions which he answered with all the same information that he had just given in the lecture. Sigh. I just wanted to yell, "Can you all just shut up now, so I can figure out where Becky and I are going to spend the night?" LOL. He did have a lot of interesting information about the tribes of Coastal Washington and Oregon. It was just a LOT of rambling and saying the same thing over and over that got to me.
So we finally got released from the lecture and set about trying to get a room. Yikes! Long Beach is a much more expensive area than Grayland and Tokeland. We found a room for 65.00 and jumped for it. She said it was the only room she had left. We told her we would head over there and she said that she lived a few doors down and would meet us there. (Weird). So we found it and pulled up. There was an open sign so we walked over to that area of the building. She was in there in what appeared to be a  storage and laundry room. SURPRISE. It was also the front desk. LOL. We squeezed in (literally!) so we could pay her and get our key. She acted very much like a deer caught in headlights and each time we had a question...well, I don't know. It was all I could do to not laugh out loud at how much we were inconveniencing her by actually wanting to get her remaining room. She could have told us she was full. We wouldn't have known the difference. LOL. So we are standing there waiting to check in and she just keeps looking at us. Becky said to her, "So is there paperwork to fill out?" At this she seemed put out but said "yes" and got the  little clipboard and put the paper on it. Then Becky wanted to pay in cash using a hundred dollar bill so she asked if there would be change for 100. She took a money envelope out and looked in it and said yes, but then whined it would use up all her cash. LOL. Like I said...it was all I could do to not laugh out loud. I am not sure if it was the way she kept looking at us, or the way she seemed like she didn't know what to do or the fact that in the middle of us trying to get things settled she turned around and threw stuff in the dryer and turned it on...or how when she said, "Here let me show you where the room is.", she walked around the building and started moving the patio furniture around while saying, "it's at the top of the stairs". At which we asked, "is there only one room up there?" and then she said, "No, there are two." At which point we both asked if it was the first one. And she said, "You have your key right? the number is on the key. Number 9." LOL. At that point I almost lost it. Maybe you had to be there.
So we got our stuff and walked up the stairs and came in our room. Nice clean room. Lots of stuff for coffee or tea and a microwave, refrigerator and toaster. Two queens and a twin bed. The rooms weren't that bad. And we even have a tiny little pet spider hanging from the tv's wall mount! LOL.
Anyway, we are only sleeping here, so all we really wanted was the beds, although I did make coffee to have with my banana cookies and yogurt. We have to get up early in the morning to FOLLOW the tour bus that is FULL to where the next part of our cultural experience will be, which is at the Columbia Confluence. I hope I get to see lots of birds and that  the rain and wind slow down a little for our outdoor walk. There are three events and the last one is a salmon dinner put on by the Chinook Indians. We may or may not stay all day. Hopefully the other speakers won't ramble quite as much as that first one did.
I am looking forward to seeing this area in daylight. The last time we headed this way we had very little daylight left by the time we got here, so we didn't get to see everything. I think we will go see both lighthouses and also drive around the peninsula and see the sights and maybe stop at a couple of the historical areas. For now I am going to go play my gnome game and then get some shut eye. I want to be ready for tomorrow!

On the Farm (another picture heavy blog).

Back in the day, it was quite common for mental institutions to have fully functioning farms. One of these was Western State Hospital in Lakewood. It is located in what used to be Fort Steilacoom, which was an early military post for the army. It was decommissioned as a military post in 1868, and, in 1871, a mental hospital was established there. Farming was introduced to mental institutions in the early 20th century as a way to provide occupational therapy for the patients. Western State's farm was a Dairy farm, although they also grew chickens for eggs, and pigs and turkeys for meat. The men patients took care of the animals and worked the fields and orchards, and the women took care of the seeds and the canning of the produce. In the seventies it was ruled that patients could no longer work without pay and farming was gradually ended in most institutions because it was no longer viable. There is a synopsis of Western State's facility here Scroll down to page 3 to read specifically about the farming.

When the kids were little we used to love hiking up on the hill where the old hospital was. It was still partially standing at that time, and we used to climb up the stairs to the upper floors and look around. Eventually, they tore it down for safety reasons, more because of the drug activity than the actual deterioration of the building. They have since put a memorial up there where the building used to stand.

The grounds are still beautiful, although not groomed. It is a nice place to walk. There is a mile path around Waughop Lake, which is to the back of the property. There are many paths up and down the hill, and lots of room to picnic and/or just while away the day. When the kids were little we often went there for dinner, cooking on the built-in grills and sitting and relaxing while they played on the big toy. When I was there yesterday for the photo shoot with Alex and Logan, I took the time to get some new pictures of some of the farm buildings.


Looking through the loft at the bare roof.



This side still has most of it's roof.



The path we took down the hill. This in no way shows the steeper path we came down with Logan in his stroller. Oh my, we were happy to get to this spot!



The covering over the old floor of the hospital building.

These are the original steps up to the building that we used to take when we entered to look around.

Some of the buildings are lacking paint. Such a nice rustic look.



This silo is cement. As you can see the wooden structure around the ladder is crumbling.


I love the look of these two silos. They are faced with stone tiles and have a rich tone to them. I don't know if you can see it, but the date is on them. They also give the dimensions. They say:
Built in 1931. Size 14 X 28 ft. Capacity 88 tons. The one on the left says Silo 2 and the one on the right says Silo 3.



The silos with the surrounding barns.



In this picture you can't even tell the silos are in there.