More Plans and the Ulysses S. Grant House

We were zonked after our drive back from the San Juan Islands. Waiting for two ferries added an extra few hours to our day but we finally had that behind us.  I sat down to write my review of our kayak outing to post on Trip Advisor and on Yelp.  I usually do that.  Before it was posted I got an email from the tour company.  I sent him the draft post.  He asked us to come back and go on another tour.   Of course, they want us to come back.  I’m thinking the tour company wants another $195 from us!  That’s not going to happen.We will certainly go back to the islands but not for a while.  

It didn’t take long to start planning another trip to Port Townsend. The problem is we don’t usually make reservations well ahead of time and the good parks book up early.  We wanted a week in a waterfront site so we could take the kayaks back and forth to the water without loading and unloading them.  All the premium sites were booked but we did get a waterfront site for 4 nights.  We’re hoping someone cancels and allows us to stay longer.  We also booked a week in another park with a waterfront view but I can’t tell our friend, Joe, where that is yet because it’s just a backup.

I currently have a project.  It's to transfer all the personal stuff off of my computer and onto Terry’s.  It’s time to get mine into the shop and get the screen to stop blinking.  By using the “transfer program” it was easy to get this done.  I also deleted  all the bookmarks and the passwords stored on my computer and especially those stored on the internet browser.  It’s not that I don’t trust the computer techies ……….. but I don’t trust them.   Anytime you take your computer in to get it fixed, you’re putting all your personal information into the hands of the repair person.  That’s something I’m not interested in doing.

 

Monday was my day to spend with Michael.  He’s out job hunting and I thought of a few places he might want to look.  For lunch we stopped at Wendy’s.  I love salads with a few strawberries and blueberries added in and make a few of these myself.  They happened to have a new one on the menu.  It was awesome.  So, what did I have the next evening … another one just like this but without the chicken.  Yummy!

The US Army arrived at Fort Vancouver in 1849.  Right to begin with they built nine log cabins.  The US Grant House was the first one to be built.  It was eventually covered with plank but we did see some of the original logs inside the home.  

The house was the home of the Commanding Officer at that time.  U.S. Grant never lived here but he was stationed here and visited often when he was a quartermaster.  The home has served many purposes over the years including a home to an Officer’s Club and even a brothel …. or so the rumor goes.  It was named Ulysses S. Grant after his many achievements.

We had planned on eating lunch at the U.S. Grant House many times but never seemed to make it …. well, we never made it until Tuesday.   I love unique places to eat.  This one was especially unique and the Reuben and fresh fruit, perfect.

Nummy Reuben!

Built as quarters for the post commander in 1886, the house was named for General George C. Marshall who served as commander of Vancouver Barracks from 1936-38.

There are still many reminders that Vancouver has been around a long time.   The Barracks are still intact and many buildings have been updated and converted to office space and even to homes.  The town started as a fur trading “outpost” on the Columbia River about 1824.  It was called the Columbia District and served as the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company.  The name was changed to Fort Vancouver about 1849 when the fort was established.   Today, a full-scale replica of the fort has been built and is open to the public as the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

 

Many of the original buildings are still around.




 That's what we've been up to plus a few trips back and forth to the local kayak shops.

‘Tis life on the road.

I know only two tunes; one of them is “Yankee Doodle” and the other isn’t.  -- Ulysses S. Grant