Last Day in Stevenson, WA

July 5, 3017

Today is our last day in the Stevenson area though not in Washington State.  We took time to do to the Skamania County Interpretive Center in Stevenson.  What a lovely museum and very interesting.  The building sits atop a hill which overlooks the Columbia River and lets in lots of natural light even on cloudy days.

The Museum has some short term as well as permanent exhibits.  

The first floor is the history of the area and some large displays such as the logging truck, the old fish net system of catching fish (outlawed in 1934) and an Indian fishing.  The Indians in the area (in the past and today) fish from long docks using nets to catch the fish as they swim upriver. 

Hanging from the ceiling of the building is a Curtis 14 airplane and on the mezzanine floor a theater with a video explaining the geology of the area including the 1894 flood, taming the river and building the dams. 

The second floor is a display of local artifacts and people who had lived in the area, a huge display of rosary beads collected by a priest 

and a lovely display of antique and new large quilts. You know I enjoyed seeing these.

The grounds of the museum have some railroad cars and old antique equipment of various kinds.  I especially like the view of the river through the trees as seen in the photo below.

Returning to our RV we begin our preparation for leaving tomorrow moving on to Longview, WA where we plan a visit to Mt. St. Helens and a trip along the mouth of the Columbia to the ocean.