These last few days have been restful. And Champoeg State Park was a great place to do so. It was right along the river with hiking and biking trails. We didn't do much these three days except get some rest.

On Tuesday, Cricket had to do some work that was going to tie her up for the day so the boys and I drove into Salem to visit the capital building. It was actually the third building used as Oregon's capital. The first two were destroyed by fire in the 1800's. This one was also unique in that they had rotunda tours where we were able to take a guided tour up onto the top of the dome. After the rotunda tour, the guide led us around and gave us some history of the rest of the building including the House, Senate, and Governors chambers.



A couple of other times I also did some Geocaching. One of them took me over to the other side of the park where there was a monument setup to commemorate a historical moment in United States history. It marked the spot of debate where the settlers voted by a narrow vote (52-48) to form an American type government. This was the first American government in the west. That led to the Oregon Territory and eventually statehood.

Overall Champoeg State Park is a great place to stay. Because of that though, they were booked for the weekend and we couldn't stay. So this morning we're leaving here and going a short distance down the road to Aurora, Oregon. There we will be able to stay until mail arrives.

See you back here in a few days with more.

Mark








Some of the flowers from out in front of the capital: