Over the summer my friend Fida informed me that the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center was open again. (Some of you may remember our disappointment over it closing the day after we arrived here.) We had to go check it out as soon as we could. After following the Oregon Trail ourselves, anything surrounding it has a special spot in our hearts.
When we got there we saw that the center hadn't fully re-opened but they had a nice little museum/gift shop open for the time being. It was full of children's activities and bits and pieces of history. The girls enjoyed making paper dolls, playing dress up, dipping candles and more.
Seeing the stairs carved with the names/locations of stops we made ourselves on our ten day trail ride put a shiver in my bones. (Unfortunately I couldn't photograph them well with the angle of the sun, but hey this is Portland, the sun will disappear again for nine months soon and then I can go back and retake my shot.) It brought back the memories of literally standing in the same place so many pioneers stood before me so long ago, visiting forts they stopped at for provisions, seeing with my eyes the very same surroundings they saw (like Chimney Rock). History(geography, too!) really came to life for us and what a spectacular lesson we all had, with a lot of fun along the way to boot! And isn't that really the best way to learn such things - by living them? I know I didn't pay much attention to the Oregon Trail lessons in grade school - but if I was able to travel it the way my family and I did three years ago, well things would have been a lot different... I would probably be different. Even though I am too tired to articulate at the moment, I am typing this here because I want to remember that thought for when it comes time to teach my children. I want them to truly enjoy learning and experience it through the way we choose to live our lives.
But I am off on a tangent of sorts, so back to the center...
A highlight for me was seeing the maternity and children's clothing from the time period, knowing it was all made by hand. Then I spotted the write up on boys clothing and the little boy's pink dress in the corner. I am not one to believe in colors being specifically for boys of girls so this intrigued me. Click on that picture and read what it says about boys clothes - very interesting. I remember a friend telling me long ago that pink used to be a boys color and blue was feminine because the Virgin Mary wore blue. So maybe I could use all the reasons they had back in the 1800's as my excuse why Little L sometimes wears pink hand me downs... Something tells me my family still wouldn't buy in to it.
Before we left, we spoke with a volunteer and found out that they hope to have the whole center open again within a year. I hope it happens! I know that my family and I would be there with bells on to see it all brought back to life.
